Peggy Jaeger's Blog - Posts Tagged "characters"

MY Sexy Saturday # 117

While you were sexy.....This week’s theme is a take on the movie, While You Were Sleeping, and can be fun, quirky or not. So many things can happen while you were sexy…things like falling in love with someone other than your boyfriend/girlfriend…or maybe taking a risk you wouldn’t normally take. That’s what the movie is all about…having a dream and risking for that dream…only to find it wasn’t what you really wanted or needed anyway. Our stories have lots of those type themes.

Love is a dream for some, a risk for others. Sometimes it’s fulfilled or sometimes it just isn’t what the characters imagined. Remember Scarlett O’Hara at the end of Gone With The Wind…she realized she never really loved Ashley to begin with…it was Rhett all along. We think you get the drift of what this week’s theme is. But we want more and we definitely want it hotter than ever before. So show us those sexy, hot characters in those sexy, hot stories.

Sexy can be anything, such as romantic moments like walks on the beach, a home cooked meal or even in another galaxy. It could be two lovers here on Earth dreaming about the day where they go on a magical vacation to another planet. Or staying right here at one of those wonderful places we can find in our own world.

Sexy has nothing to do with looks or status or even wealth. It doesn’t demand perfection and it isn’t pretentious but it does make us want to read those books.

click on this link to read the other authors in this weeks MSSBlogHop.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS


Here’s a little thought process from Pat Cleary. He’s beginning to realize Clarissa Rogers may just be what he’s needed in his hectic busy like.

He grabbed his cell phone from where it rested on his desk, and pressed the screen. He’d programmed one of the pictures he’d taken of him and Clarissa in the apple orchard as his screen display. He’d stared at it so many times since that day. Just seeing how happy and relaxed they both looked made him feel better no matter how busy or tiring his day was. He wanted to see her smile like that every day.

And at him.

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The little book that could

It is no secret to anyone who knows me or has ever read an interview I’ve done, THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD is hands down my favorite book of all time. Even at the age I am now ( 21++++,etc) I still feel the message in that children’s book is the most empowering one I’ve ever read. The entire book screams with the treatise of self-motivation and dedication to a goal. That little engine thought he could get over that mountain, and because he had confidence in himself and self-will and determination, he did.

littleengine



I’ve started writing a new series of books about another family ( of course!). My MacQuire Women series is almost complete, so when the idea for this new family burst in my brain, I went with it. The reason I’m telling you this is because the first thing I do after the idea pops up is to discover my characters and their motivations. Why a character acts the way she does, does the things she does, and says what she says is very important for me to know ahead of the writing. I’ve said before that using Deb Dixon’s book Goal, Motivation and Conflict (GMC) has been instrumental in helping me get inside the heads of my peeps and knowing what’s what with them. The book makes you dig deep into your characters to find out what their internal and external goals are, what’s behind their motivations for each, and then asks you to detail the conflicts that will make attaining their goals difficult.

gmc

I usually devise one wipe board per book with my major characters on it, listing the GMC’s. Here’s the current one for the new series. This is book one, as of yet untitled. You can’t really tell from this shot, but I’ve got my heroine, hero and the “villain” all plotted out here. What they want, how they can get it and what will keep them from achieving their goals.

This keeps me focused – something I have real trouble with – and will hopefully eliminate plot holes along the way. Sometimes I do discover something about the character I didn’t know in the beginning and it will be added to this board, with the concurrent problems and motivations added.

Character Motivation is important when writing, especially in writing romances because if we didn’t give our characters fully formed goals and obstacles, there wouldn’ be anything interesting to write about. It would simply be boy meets girl. Boy gets girl. The End.

Boring, no?

COMING SOON:: 3 Wishes, A Candy Hearts Story…check back soon for buy links! 2/8/16 release from The Wild Rose Press



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A picture is worth….?

What my characters look like is important to me. I’m one of the most visual people you will ever meet. Yes, I’m nosy, and will ask 1 million questions when I meet you, but…

I will also be looking you over from head to toe. Not blatantly; not rudely; but very, very intensely. The color of your hair, eyes, the way you carry yourself, the clothes you wear, if you wear flats or high heels… all those things are important to me. And the reason they are is because when I think about you, the person, I get a mental picture of what you actually look like. One of the greatest things about smart phones is when you’re receiving a call from somebody now you can actually have their picture show up on the display as the phone is ringing so you know exactly who it is calling. Love that.

But I digress.

Whenever I start a new book and I get to meet my characters, I always look for pictures online or in magazines of people I think they will resemble. For instance, in my most recent novel, First Impressions, Clarissa Rogers in my mind was a young looking Julia Roberts. Think Steel Magnolias. Mid back length curly cinnamon colored hair, flashing chocolate colored eyes. Padrick Cleary is a dead ringer for Matt Bomer. A simply gorgeous, delicious man.


When I was writing the book and creating dialogue between the two I actually had their pictures on my desk so that I could refer to them while I was writing dialogue tags and visceral descriptions. I do this with all my stories. I need to know what my people look like when they are smiling, frowning, crying, and even eating. It shouldn’t surprise you to discover you can find pictures of just about anyone well known doing anything from sleeping to running, online. And yes I will admit, I feel a little voyeuristic when I do this, but for the creative processes of description and narration it really is beneficial for me to have an actual photograph of what I think my character looks like.

We live in a very visual society. How we look to others is way more important than it should be, but is a very telling fact. When someone reads my novels I really want them to get a feel for what the characters look like. I do this when I read other people’s books. I have a picture in my mind based on the author’s description of the character and I try to liken it to someone well known to me, be it an actress, actor or even a personal friend. This really gets me invested in the story. I simply love knowing what people look like, characters as well. I’ve read some stories that will describe the character as, “a young Julie Andrews” or “Marlon Brando –ish.” That’s all well and good and it does bring a picture of what the character looks like to your mind. But for my purposes I would rather describe the young Julie Andrews, denoting her short cropped golden blonde hair and centered, angular chin to my reader than to let them fill in the blanks. This may have something to do with my sense of wanting to be in control of what the reader thinks when they read my words. I’ll have to ponder on that and get back to you…

So, when you write your character descriptions, do you have someone in mind they resemble? Do you, like I do, go online or research through magazines looking for someone who can depict your character to perfection? And if you don’t, then how do you come up with a description? Does it come out of your head? Do you base it on someone you’ve seen on a corner? In the Mall? How does this person jump to life for you so you can make the character jump to life for me?

You knew this was coming… Let’s discuss…

Coming soon:: 3 Wishes, A Candy Hearts Story 2/8/16 from The Wild Rose Press. Buy Links available soon



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The art of Storyboarding...

On Saturday, my New Hampshire chapter of RWA was given a treat: our chapter President, Christyne Butler, gave us a masterclass on storyboarding. What is storyboarding? I am so happy you asked.

Typically used in visual media, a storyboard is defined as such: a sequence of drawings, typically with some directions and dialogue, representing the shots planned for a movie or television production. This helps the film people plot the story, frame by frame, sequence by sequence.

But writers use storyboarding as well.

Most books are comprised of chapters, scenes within chapters, and actions within scenes. Instead of framing the novel action by scene by chapter, writers approach the storyboard a different way. Christyne showed us her way, which is how her characters are plotted out. She boards each individual character and things that might pertain to him/her when she starts to write. She has a complete visual reference for the entire book at her fingertips when she begins to write her story. She must be doing something right because she is a multi-published, very popular author!

Now, when I plot a new story it looks something like this:

dashboard2 dashboard

I write everything out longhand once I find pictures of my characters. I fill entire composition books with pictures, descriptions, motivations, and backstory. It takes a while, but so far it has worked for me. With Christyne’s method – a more visual one – it seemed like it was worth a try, so I did it. Here’s where I’m at after 2 days: ( those are my feet in the bottom of the photo – damn crop app didn’t work!

dashboard3

This is a three book arc. My heroines are on the left side of the board, my heroes on the right. Just from viewing this I can see I know a whole bunch more about my girls than my boys!! SO right away, this has become a valuable tool for me. Since I am character driven, I have pictures of my peeps, their bedrooms ( I always want to imagine where they sleep!), things about their careers – quotes or pictures of occupations, and the colors on their individual blocks are foils for one another. For instance, the top is black and white because those two love interests perceive everything emotionally in shades of black and white – no gray. My goal is to get them to the gray! I love assigning colors to characters because I think of them in shades of colors. It’s hard sometimes to explain how my brain works, but the black and white instance is the easiest way for me to get you to understand how I envision people/characters.

This is all after 2 days. I’m hoping ( wishing?praying?) to have it done this weekend. I’ve already written two chapters, but I feel as if now I’ll know my characters much better when I write the rest.

So, if you’re a writer, do you storyboard? Write out everything in longhand? Fly by the seat of your pants? What? let’s discuss……

New release 3 WISHES (A Candy Hearts Romance)perf5.000x8.000.indd

Valentine’s Day is chocolatier Chloe San Valentino’s favorite day of the year. Not only is it the busiest day in her candy shop, Caramelle de Chloe, but it’s also her birthday. Chloe’s got a birthday wish list for the perfect man she pulls out every year: he’d fall in love with her in a heartbeat, he’d be someone who cares about people, and he’d have one blue eye and one green eye, just like her. So far, Chloe’s fantasy man hasn’t materialized, despite the matchmaking efforts of her big, close-knit Italian family. But this year for her 30th birthday, she just might get her three wishes.

Get it here: Amazon // The Wild Rose Press // Nook// Kobo //

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Starting Anew

I’ve started a new series of books ( see my previous post about storyboarding) and this time I’ve invented an entire town in New Hampshire as the setting.

Scary stuff…but also a little exciting.

I wanted a town with a specific name ( no sharing details for you yet, peeps!!) because the name is integral to the stories and it needed to be made-up because I needed to have total control over the street names, store names, etc. Can I just tell you how HARD this was?!! To not only come up with the town’s name, but the street names to go along with the theme and then the stores, businesses, etc, to further it? My head hurt after an hour of planning. There’s a reason I didn’t go into municipal development, folks.

city

But, after a while, the names started flowing and I felt…okay, I’ll admit it: omnipotent. Tycoon-ish. I made a town, I named the streets, shops, roads and government office buildings. It was like playing Monopoly, but for real!

All the other stories I’ve written have taken place in actual settings; cities like New York; states like Connecticut. This time I wanted a New England feel, so, of course, I chose my home state of New Hampshire, the prettiest state in the east, and built the town somewhere between Concord and Peterborough. A large enough geographic divide that I could play around with it, but far enough distance between the two where I wouldn’t be stepping on another town’s toes. Does that make sense?

Anyway, this is kind of cool. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all comes out and together and what the reader response will be.

So, writing peeps… ever make up your own setting? How hard was it? Or, how easy? Let’s discuss…..



New release 3 WISHES (A Candy Hearts Romance)perf5.000x8.000.indd

Valentine’s Day is chocolatier Chloe San Valentino’s favorite day of the year. Not only is it the busiest day in her candy shop, Caramelle de Chloe, but it’s also her birthday. Chloe’s got a birthday wish list for the perfect man she pulls out every year: he’d fall in love with her in a heartbeat, he’d be someone who cares about people, and he’d have one blue eye and one green eye, just like her. So far, Chloe’s fantasy man hasn’t materialized, despite the matchmaking efforts of her big, close-knit Italian family. But this year for her 30th birthday, she just might get her three wishes.

Get it here: Amazon // The Wild Rose Press // Nook// Kobo //

Tweet Me// Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me //Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//
To see the actual images, view the blog on my website at http://peggyjaeger.com
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A little post-Valentine’s Candy…

I’ve had several readers write to me asking for Chloe’s candy recipes. Now what kind of a professional chocolatier would she be if she divulged all her secrets and recipes?? She was persuaded to give you all one, though, and I’ve listed it below.

You’re welcome, from Chloe!

Caramel Oreo Cookie

***I’m giving you the easy recipe for this one – you don’t have to be a chocolatier to make it. Just know in my shop I make and temper my own caramel and chocolate pieces. Chloe San Valentino

1 bag of Oreo cookies – the REAL kind, not the generic, cheaper kind.

1 bag of baking chocolate ( Baker’s semi sweet chocolate pieces is the best brand commercially.)

1 package Brach’s caramel pieces

1 bag of white baking chocolate ( again Bakers is the best)

Method:

1. line a huge baking sheet with parchment paper because nothing sticks to that.

2. Melt the white chocolate in a double burner under a very low heat until it is smooth, stirring constantly. The color will be slightly dull. Pour it into a decorating bottle or into a pastry bag and add a #1 or # 2 tip to the bag. You want a small round opening to drizzle the chocolate out.

3. At the same time you are melting the white, melt the baking chocolate in a double burner under a very low heat until the chocolate is completely melted and smoothy. Dip each individual Oreo into the chocolate letting the excess drip back into the sauce pot. Place on parchment paper and let cool at least 15 minutes.

4. Once cooled, drizzle the oreos with white chocolate forming criss-cross, thin lines around the entire cookie. Place on the parchment paper again let cool at least 15 minutes. ( you may have to heat the white chocolate up a little before deorating – just put the bottle into the bottom of the double boiler to let it stay hot, or don’t put the white chocolate into the bottle or pastry bag until you are ready to drizzle. Either way works.

5. When all the cookies are decorated in white chocolate and the outer chocolate coating, melt the caramels using the double boiler method until they are smooth and shiny, stirring constantly. Once again, you can drizzle the cookies, but I use the prong ends of a fork because the caramel will harden by the time you get it in a pastry bag or decorating bottle. Let cool.

6. Eat..Enjoy..Share.

Love, CSV

New release 3 WISHES (A Candy Hearts Romance)perf5.000x8.000.indd

Valentine’s Day is chocolatier Chloe San Valentino’s favorite day of the year. Not only is it the busiest day in her candy shop, Caramelle de Chloe, but it’s also her birthday. Chloe’s got a birthday wish list for the perfect man she pulls out every year: he’d fall in love with her in a heartbeat, he’d be someone who cares about people, and he’d have one blue eye and one green eye, just like her. So far, Chloe’s fantasy man hasn’t materialized, despite the matchmaking efforts of her big, close-knit Italian family. But this year for her 30th birthday, she just might get her three wishes.

Get it here: Amazon // The Wild Rose Press // Nook// Kobo //

Tweet Me// Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me //Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//

to see the actual pictures click on to my website http://peggyjaeger.com
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One down and now gearing up for another…

So I guess this isn’t really something to complain about, but….lol

I just finished my book/release tour of 3 WISHES and now, on March 11, my 4th book in the MacQuire Women THE VOICES OF ANGELS is being released into the book reading world. Two books in two months! Yeah, I’m a little full of myself at the moment (hahahah).

To get you as excited as I am about this, here’s a little sumthin’ sumthin from VOICES. For those of you in the know, this is the story of Carly Lennox and Mike Woodard, Tiffany and Cole’s parents from SKATER’s WALTZ, my debut novel. I went prequel with this one because I loved the story of how Mike and Carly got together and wanted to share it.

And, of course, I’ve enclosed the pre-order buy link, just in case, you know, you want to…buy it!

THE VOICES OF ANGELS

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Love is the last thing Carly Lennox is looking for when she sets out on her new book tour. The independent, widowed author is content with a life spent writing and in raising her daughter. When newscaster Mike Woodard suggests they work on a television magazine profile based on her book, Carly’s thrilled, but guarded. His obvious desire to turn their relationship into something other than just a working one is more than she bargained for.

Mike Woodard is ambitious, and not only in his chosen profession. He wants Carly, maybe more than he’s ever wanted anything or anyone else. As he tells her, he’s a patient man. But the more they’re together, Mike realizes it isn’t simply desire beating within him. Carly Lennox is the missing piece in his life. Getting her to accept it-and him-may just be the toughest assignment he’s ever taken on.

Excerpt:

“I…” Carly began, then stopped.

“Oh, hell. I’m not good with words in situations like this.”

His laugh came quick, charmed by her nerves. “Pretty pathetic declaration for a writer.”

Carly stuck out her bottom lip in a very alluring pout. He was tempted to stop and take her mouth with his again.

“Don’t mock me. When it’s on paper I can get it right. Real life has no re-writes, no editing.”

“Granted.” The sunlight played with the alternating auburn and fire-red highlights in her hair as they began to walk again. He was convinced no color had ever been so alive.

Carly squared her shoulders. “I don’t want you to get the wrong impression about me. Concerning men.”

When he didn’t comment, she continued. “It’s only, well…I haven’t been involved with anyone since my husband died. I’ve been busy with my daughter and my writing. I haven’t met anyone I’ve been interested in, I guess.”

“Until now.”

Carly turned to look at him. Irritation crossed in her narrowed eyes. “You’re pretty sure of yourself.”

“No,” he replied. “I’m more sure of you, though.”

“Excuse me?”
Mike laughed again. He stopped and cupped her cheeks. “You’re even more beautiful when you’re angry. Your left eyebrow arches ever so slightly and your eyes turn the most incredible forest green.” He kissed her and felt her pulse trip again under his fingers.

Buy Links: The WIld Rose Press /// Amazon

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Reality check....

writingfebruary
Sometimes I get inspiration for a writing blog from the universe and sometimes I go in search of a topic. I found today’s little meme when I was Googling Reality in your writing. And it’s perfect.

As a fiction writer my brain is continually turned to the “on” position as far as making stuff up goes. Fiction writer, remember? But there are times when something has either happened in my life, or I’ve seen a report on the news, or someone tells me a story and I just think “Wow. I can use that in a book.” The pitfalls of knowing a writer, being their friend or spouse, is that this may happen more times than you think.

Truth.

So, here’s why today’s cartoon is so perfect for what I wanted to say. In my new book releasing on March 11 from the Wild Rose Press, THE VOICES OF ANGELS, my heroine – a writer – pens a book about the experiences people have had with what they say are Angels. Her addition to the book is the birth of her daughter. I’m including a little bit of it here so you can reference what I’m talking about: Just for a starting point, Carly is being interviewed on a morning chat show and has been telling the host ( my wonderful hero, Mike !) about a car accident she had that propelled her into labor with her daughter. The baby is in distress and Carly is given the option of two anesthesias because she needs an emergency C-section -a spinal injection where the baby will be out in 30 minutes, or general, where they can take her from her body in less than five. She bases her decision on something she hears and tells Mike about it this way:

The spinal, the doctor said, was the safer choice for the baby. I was beyond exhausted from the labor and the stress of the accident and I didn’t know which way to go. My husband left the room to speak in private with the doctor, when out of nowhere a small voice whispered in my ear to take the general. I turned my head, but I was alone. The doctor came back a second later and I told him I’d made a decision. After I woke from the surgery, he assured me I’d made the correct one.”

Mike uncrossed his legs and leaned in closer. Even though he’d read the excerpt from the book the night before in preparation for the interview, hearing her tell the story in her gentle, melodic voice had a hypnotic effect. He wanted to hear more. “What did he mean?”

Carly’s smile turned sad. “Well, my baby had been lying on her umbilical cord. The accident must have shifted her position. At birth, she had no pulse or reflexes. The doctor couldn’t get any kind of response from her. After five minutes of resuscitation efforts, though, she started to perk-up. If I’d opted for the spinal and waited for it to work, he wouldn’t have been able to save her, because too much time would have elapsed between the injection and the operation. With the general anesthesia, she was born in less than five minutes. So the little voice in my ear helped me make the right choice.”

Now, to tie this little excerpt together with today’s theme: that story is true. I know because it happened to me. I had an accident the day my daughter was born – my 120 pound dog knocked me down while I was out walking her and, because I had her leash wound around my hand, she dragged me on my belly for a good twenty feet before help arrived. My body instantly went into labor, the baby was in distress, and the choice of anesthesia was given to me. The story about the voice in my ear is true as well. I did hear someone whisper into my ear to take the general when my husband slipped into the hallway for a second – and I was left alone.

I wrote about that experience in several magazine articles for years after my daughter was born. When I wrote Carly’s biography I knew I needed an inciting event for her new book, so…

I bet you can guess today’s question without even thinking, but I’ll ask it anyway: have you ever used a real life event that happened to you, a loved one, or a that you heard on the news, etc, in one of your stories? Let’s discuss….

THE VOICES OF ANGELS, available 3/11/16, pre-order now at THE WILD ROSE PRESS or AMAZON

perf5.000x8.000.indd

Tweet Me// Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me //Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//

to see the actual images, go to http://peggyjaeger.com
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Reality check....

Sometimes I get inspiration for a writing blog from the universe and sometimes I go in search of a topic. I found today’s little meme when I was Googling Reality in your writing. And it’s perfect.

As a fiction writer my brain is continually turned to the “on” position as far as making stuff up goes. Fiction writer, remember? But there are times when something has either happened in my life, or I’ve seen a report on the news, or someone tells me a story and I just think “Wow. I can use that in a book.” The pitfalls of knowing a writer, being their friend or spouse, is that this may happen more times than you think.

Truth.

So, here’s why today’s cartoon is so perfect for what I wanted to say. In my new book releasing on March 11 from the Wild Rose Press, THE VOICES OF ANGELS, my heroine – a writer – pens a book about the experiences people have had with what they say are Angels. Her addition to the book is the birth of her daughter. I’m including a little bit of it here so you can reference what I’m talking about: Just for a starting point, Carly is being interviewed on a morning chat show and has been telling the host ( my wonderful hero, Mike !) about a car accident she had that propelled her into labor with her daughter. The baby is in distress and Carly is given the option of two anesthesias because she needs an emergency C-section -a spinal injection where the baby will be out in 30 minutes, or general, where they can take her from her body in less than five. She bases her decision on something she hears and tells Mike about it this way:

The spinal, the doctor said, was the safer choice for the baby. I was beyond exhausted from the labor and the stress of the accident and I didn’t know which way to go. My husband left the room to speak in private with the doctor, when out of nowhere a small voice whispered in my ear to take the general. I turned my head, but I was alone. The doctor came back a second later and I told him I’d made a decision. After I woke from the surgery, he assured me I’d made the correct one.”

Mike uncrossed his legs and leaned in closer. Even though he’d read the excerpt from the book the night before in preparation for the interview, hearing her tell the story in her gentle, melodic voice had a hypnotic effect. He wanted to hear more. “What did he mean?”

Carly’s smile turned sad. “Well, my baby had been lying on her umbilical cord. The accident must have shifted her position. At birth, she had no pulse or reflexes. The doctor couldn’t get any kind of response from her. After five minutes of resuscitation efforts, though, she started to perk-up. If I’d opted for the spinal and waited for it to work, he wouldn’t have been able to save her, because too much time would have elapsed between the injection and the operation. With the general anesthesia, she was born in less than five minutes. So the little voice in my ear helped me make the right choice.”

Now, to tie this little excerpt together with today’s theme: that story is true. I know because it happened to me. I had an accident the day my daughter was born – my 120 pound dog knocked me down while I was out walking her and, because I had her leash wound around my hand, she dragged me on my belly for a good twenty feet before help arrived. My body instantly went into labor, the baby was in distress, and the choice of anesthesia was given to me. The story about the voice in my ear is true as well. I did hear someone whisper into my ear to take the general when my husband slipped into the hallway for a second – and I was left alone.

I wrote about that experience in several magazine articles for years after my daughter was born. When I wrote Carly’s biography I knew I needed an inciting event for her new book, so…

I bet you can guess today’s question without even thinking, but I’ll ask it anyway: have you ever used a real life event that happened to you, a loved one, or a that you heard on the news, etc, in one of your stories? Let’s discuss….

THE VOICES OF ANGELS, available 3/11/16, pre-order now at THE WILD ROSE PRESS or AMAZON

perf5.000x8.000.indd

Tweet Me// Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me //Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//

to see the actual images, go to http://peggyjaeger.com
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Blank, blocked, and bored….

Can you guess what today’s blog is about? Here’s a hint: it’s not Cookie Monster’s version of a dictionary filled with the letter B!

For the past three weeks, I have been in the throes of a blockage the likes of which I have never experienced before in my adult – or even childhood- life. NOOOOOO – get your minds out of the gutter and the bathroom! I have a severe case of writer’s BLOCK and it is driving me batty.

writersblock

I would think this is funny – and by funny I mean hahaha funny, not “oh-shit-I’m-terrified-I’ll-never-wrte-again-funny” if I had nothing going on for the next few months; if I had time on my hands to just wait for inspiration to flow through my fingers, piped directly from my brain again.

But NO. I don’t have the luxury of time. What I do have are deadlines. 4 big ones, in fact!!! And no ideas…no inspiration…no insights. Nothing. Nada. Niente.

writersblock2Even my dreams have been boring and uninspired of late. I have listened to many writers’ treatments to cure writer’s block. I’ve walked away from the laptop for a time; I’ve forced myself to sit down at it and write something, ANYTHING, just to keep my hands and fingers busy. I’ve taken a walk – too many, in fact. I’ve got shin splints. I’ve taken a nap; I’ve made enough soothing cups of tea until my teeth need to be whitened professionally, they are so stained.

I’ve read, watched tv, painted, cooked. I’ve had a manicure, pedicure, gotten my blonde hair dyed. I’ve gone grocery shopping, therapy shopping ( women will get this!) and cleaned my house until it glows like a binary nuclear assault has come. Oh, and I’ve procrastinated myself into a stupor and still – STILL – nothing.

writersblock3

So here’s what I’m going to do…….

Sorry, I fell asleep because I’m boring myself…. For the sake of discussion,( because, really? What else do I have to do?) how do you get through writer’s blockage if you suffer from it? And if you don’t – I hate you. Just saying.

While I wait for inspiration, at least I have a new release coming out on 3/11/16 that I can talk and write about. Here’s a little sumthin’ sumthin’ from THE VOICE OF ANGELS and the buy links if you are so inclined….please be inclined!THE VOICE OF ANGELS and the buy links if you are so inclined….please be inclined!

Blurb

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Love is the last thing Carly Lennox is looking for when she sets out on her new book tour. The independent, widowed author is content with a life spent writing and in raising her daughter. When newscaster Mike Woodard suggests they work on a television magazine profile based on her book, Carly’s thrilled, but guarded. His obvious desire to turn their relationship into something other than just a working one is more than she bargained for.

Mike Woodard is ambitious, and not only in his chosen profession. He wants Carly, maybe more than he’s ever wanted anything or anyone else. As he tells her, he’s a patient man. But the more they’re together, Mike realizes it isn’t simply desire beating within him. Carly Lennox is the missing piece in his life. Getting her to accept it-and him-may just be the toughest assignment he’s ever taken on.

Excerpt

“Now for a check on the weather. Carl?”
When the monitor light changed colors, Mike turned back to her. “Well done.”
“Thanks for being so patient. I almost lost it for a second there.”
Her beautiful mouth quirked at the corners, and his own went drought-desert dry. He swallowed and ran his suddenly sandpapered tongue across his lips.

“You know, I read parts of your book last night as prep,” he said as she stood, noticing how long and shapely her legs were under her short green skirt. “I was taken with the stories and the details in it.”

“Thanks.” She glanced down at her wristwatch and then offered her hand. The shockwave electrifying through his body at her touch staggered him. A bolt of lightning, hot, fast, and bright surged straight to his core.

What seemed like confusion clouded her eyes as she looked at him. “I-I have to go. I’ve got to be across town by nine. God only knows what the traffic’s like. Thanks again for plugging my book. Tell Sharon I’ll call her soon. Bye. And thanks, again.”

Mike watched her bolt through the studio doors and was only brought out of his musings by the director calling him back to the news desk.

For the rest of the broadcast he was distracted by thoughts of her, resulting in him flubbing some of his lines and intro’s, something he rarely-if ever-did. How compassionate and warm her face had been as she’d told her touching story; the subtle fragrance of roses surrounding her; the deep coppery sheen of her hair as the hot, bright studio lights intensified its color.

By the end of the program he vowed he’d find a way to see her again.

Buy Links Amazon // The WIld Rose Press // Nook // Kobo

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*** to see the actual pictures and memes goes to the address: https://peggyjaeger.com/2016/03/04/bl...
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