Peggy Jaeger's Blog - Posts Tagged "mfrwbloghop"

I’m sure this is an easy feat for most writers, but not for me. I agonize over book titles. Are they too long? Too short? Do they convey the correct theme of the book? Do they even convey the theme of the book? Will it be a memorable title, or one that is easily forgotten in the myriad of published books these days?

Titles can, in all truth, make or break a book. Would you have read any of these books if these were the titles?:

The High-Bouncing Lover
The Last man in Europe
The Dead Un-Dead
Mistress Mary
Nothing New in the West
Wacking Off
The Don’t Build Statues to Businessmen
The Kingdon By The Sea
At this point In time
Private Fleming, His Various Battles
I was a bit surprised at a few of them, and I can in all truthfulness say I wouldn’t have read any one of them except for the Dead Un-Dead, because I think it was a cool, really out-there title. To see the titles these books were actually published as, scroll down when you’re done reading.

You can’t, apparently, trademark a title. I found this out when I wrote my third book, FIRST IMPRESSIONS ( which, BTW was the original working title of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice) and did a search to see how many books with the same title there were (423). My second book I called THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME. 366 other authors also called their works of fiction that. SO, how the heck can I can up with a title that (1) hasn’t been used before, and (2) will make the random reader interested in it enough to pick up the book and check it out? Again, no easy feat.

I used to make lists, pages of lists, with book titles. Even then, choosing just one was torture.

I’m so lame at coming up with my book titles I left the naming of my second book in the Will Cook For Love Series from Lyrical/Shine to the editors. They came up with A SHOT AT LOVE. When you read the book you’ll know it’s the perfect title, but I didn’t have anything even close to that I was working with! Thank God for the people in the know who really really really know what they are doing.

Naming your book is an awful lot like naming your child. You want to give it something with character, essence, personification, and beauty. And your book, to the writer, is your baby, your child, your creation, so you don’t want to let it down by giving it a crummy moniker; one that will inspire ridicule and laughter. Honestly, I pity the poor children of celebrities who have been named after fruits, compass directions, and astrological projections. Sad.

See? You probably thought the title was the easiest thing to come up with. I bet you didn’t know how hard it really was to name a book? Well…at least it is for me!

Here’s what the above titles were actually published as, and thank goodness they were!!!

The Great Gatsby
1984
Dracula
The Secret Garden
All Quiet On the Western Front
Portnoy’s Complaint
Valley of the Dolls
Lolita
All the President’s Men
The Red Badge of Courage
When I’m not agonizing over naming books, you can usually find me here:Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//

Since this is a 52 week blog hop challenge, here are some other authors who are also taking about how they name their books today. Stop by and check out their blogs.
1.
Tonight you’re mine
2.
Book Titles: How I Choose
3.
By Any Other Name
4.
A Book By Any Other Name Still Needs A Title
5.
Must Have a Title
6.
Welcome to the World Baby Book–Your Title Is. . .
7.
titles titles whos got titles
8.
My Process The Perfect Book Title-MJ McCoy-Dressel
9.
“Too Hot to Handle” and other titles…
10.
What’s In A Title?
11.
Working Title
12.
How I Hatch My Books From a Sentence & a Title
13.
Name the blossom – Rose or Tulip Henderson
14.
How to Select an MPNTLP Title Without HCs
15.
Choosing a Book Title
16.
A Rose by Any Other Name (Shari Elder)
17.
Robin Michaela – How To Choose a Book Title
18.
Mission Impossible: book titles
19.
What’s in a title? A lot more than you think. . . . .
20.
A Rose By Any Other Name
21.
Branding that Book Baby
22.
Titles and Other Paintful Decisions
23.
It’s All In The Name
24.
No, I have to Choose a Book Title?
25.
Name That Book In ~One Line Cathy Writes Romance
26.
Struggle to Choose a Book Title – Linda McLaughlin
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to see images, click:


https://peggyjaeger.com/2017/03/03/wo...
I could write a dictionary here, folks. Truly.

Okay. Words have power.


Anyone who’s ever been bullied or taunted as a child ( or even adult) knows this in their soul. Words can spear you straight through the heart, cut you off at the knees, and slice into your gut.



Late comic George Carlin made a million bucks doing a routine called the 7 Dirty Words. In 1972, he said these 7 words in a comedy club, forever immortalizing them:

Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits.

It is now 2017. 45 years later than when Carlin first spoke those words in public. Since that time, society has shifted in what it deems inappropriate language use. Even just a few years ago you wouldn’t hear commercial television characters uttering anything worse than an occasional “Crap!” as an invective or a curse. In a recent show on NBC, I heard two characters say the second and last words above before the first commercial break. Cable television has no such restrictions on language and I can tell you truthfully, I have heard every one of the above words – and a few more I hate – said without a flinch by the actors.


In America, we live by the law of freedom of speech. It’s a good freedom. We can share opinions that differ, dialogues that intrigue us, and books that elevate and entertain us. And while that basic freedom is challenged every single day, it still stands strong.

But…

There are some words, expressions, and phrases that shouldn’t be said aloud. Remember, words have power to hurt, maim, and incite. As a writer of romantic fiction, there are some words I would never use in a book. You probably think those words are slang ones for things related to the sex act. You would be wrong. I have no problem using words – slang or otherwise – to describe anatomy. What I do have is trouble using words that are mainly pejoratives. Words that do not belong in public speech or on the pages of books.


So…words that make me go “ick.” In no particular order, here they are:

twat, cunt, retard, any variation of the “N” word ( I can’t even write it, it’s so hateful). Any word that is derogatory to an ethnic group ( kike, wop, etc. You know the words I mean) I truly hatehatehate the word MOIST. I shudder when I write it.

Every word mentioned above ( except for moist, because that’s just my own particular hatefest word) is a pejorative. A word that makes me quiver and quake with anger, because they are used in totally negative ways. I see no positive translations in any of those words.


Words that DON’T make me go ick? Any word that falls into this category:

words6

‘Nuff said.

Because this is week 9 of the 52 week MFRW authors blog hop, here are some other authors who are also writing about words that make they go “ick” today. Check them out…



1.
Sweet is definitely better
2.
Icky Words
3.
I Love Words. Except These.
4.
Things that make me go WTF?!?
5.
Ick words aka Million Dollar babies
6.
The Power of Words (Shari Elder)
7.
Ewww, Did You Say That
8.
Words that make me squirm-not in a good way
9.
When the Reality in Your Story is a Fantasy World
10.
GAG! Words I Don’t Want To Hear
11.
Words that Make me go “ICK”
12.
Rick kick stick ick?
13.
Words I Detest
14.
Keep It In The Bathroom Please

16.
A guy’s guide to ick
17.
I’m Over These Things
18.
The ICK! Factor Words
19.
barriers
20.
Only Cake is Moist

to see images click on the link:

https://peggyjaeger.com/2017/03/10/7-...

This post gave me just a little trouble. Not because I couldn’t come up with 7 guilty pleasures – but that I had sososososo many, I had to whittle them down to just 7!

Well, here goes nuthin’.

In no particular order, here are the 7 things that (I think) are guilty pleasures for Moi:

a total jammie day – no bra, no makeup, hair in a messy bun, glasses
Girl Scout Thin Mints – if you’ve had them, no further explanation is necessary

Binge reading a new favorite author without any interruptions


finding a new mascara that: doesn’t smudge and make me look like a raccoon, lengthens my non-existent eyelashes, and ISN’T waterproof ( I hate waterproof mascara!!!)

Tweeting – I can’t explain this one, but I just know it’s a guilty pleasure for me

having dessert without counting points. (Some will get this, most will not).


It’s very telling that the only writing/reading pleasure I mentioned was binge reading a new favorite author. And that there are 2 references to food!! Very telling, indeed.

Because this is week 10 in the MFRW 52 week blog challenge, here are some other authors who are blogging about their 7 guilty pleasures today. Drop by and leave them some love.


1.
Guilty Pleasure – Who Says?
2.
My Not-so-Guilty Pleasures
3.
Sara Watler Ellwood: My Gulty Pleasures
4.
Can Pleasures Be Guiltless? Absolutely
5.
My own 7 Heaven
6.
It’s Good To Indulge
7.
What are Your Guilty Pleasures?
8.
A Few Guilty Pleasures
9.
A writer’s to-don’t list
10.
Seven Guilty Pleasures
11.
Sexy Erotic Romances by Peyton Brittany Clarke
12.
Seven Guilty Pleasures – A Writer’s To-Do List
13.
7 Guilty Pleasures
14.
Inquiring MInds Want To Know. . . .
15.
Guilty Pleasures-Food, Drink, and Luxury
16.
Seven Not So Guilty Pleasures
17.
7 Guilty Pleasures or are they deadly sins?
18.
Want To Make Something Of It?
19.
Guilty or Not Guilty (Pleasures)
20.
Shhh. . . Don’t Tell a Soul
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This is one of the easiest blogs I’ve ever written. I didn’t even have to think because I really only have 1 strength – my perseverance, or to put it in terms I like to use, The TAO Of NGU NGI.

Perseverance is defined as: steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

Yeah, that about says it perfectly.

I’ve done several blog pieces on the TAO of NGU NGI and written of it often in interviews. It’s what keeps me motivated and inspired when sometimes the daily grind of life gets to me.

Basically, The TAO OF NGU NGI means “Never give up; never give in.”

I’m Irish, so the part about never giving up is genetic. Seriously! My Irish ancestors were sturdy, stalwart souls who faced famine, pestilence, religious persecution, and poverty of the most egregious sort. And they never gave up on the hope of a future at the end of a rainbow. Love that!

I’m the product of divorced parents, so the never give in part is the nurture part of my nature vs nurture upbringing! I never give an inch. In a childhood filled with bullies, substance abuse, and mental anguish, I never gave in to the negativity I was surrounded by. I never allowed myself to be engulfed in to its destructive storm. I simply never gave into any fight or disturbance, no matter how inconsequential it may have seemed. It’s been said of me by people who know me that I have a backbone forged in steel. Truth.

So, my greatest strength? Perseverance.

When I’m not persevering, you can find me here:Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triberr

Please visit the other #MFRW authors who are participating in this week’s 52 week blog challenge:


1.
Maureen Bonatch – My Greatest Strength in Writing is Also My Weakness
2.
The Drive Inside MJ McCoy-Dressel
3.
Allysa Hart – But I’m scared!
4.
Sherry Lewis – The Quality of Being Strong
5.
Kenzie Michaels – Faith, Compassion, Forgiveness
6.
Ed Hoomaert – The strength of a bald Samson
7.
Meka James – I Am Good At It?
8.
Elle Mack – Author Superpower
9.
Cathy Brockman – Riisng from the Ashes
10.
Caroline Warfield – Strength, Weakness, and the Day Job
11.
Leigh Anderson – Can’t Stop Me
12.
Sonya Dane – Wearing My Underwear Over My Pants
13.
Shari Elder – The One Two Punch
14.
Helen Henderson-No Detail Too Small
15.
Peggy Jaeger-My Greatest strength
16.
Alina K Field-Strength Training!
17.
Theresa Stillwagon-Greatest Strength

to see images, click this link:

https://peggyjaeger.com/2017/04/28/oh...

Be it ever so humble…..

I’ll admit this freely – I don’t travel well. My husband calls me the “ugly American” and it’s too true. I am a spoiled homebody. I like nothing more than staying in my house, in my jammies, reading a book or cooking for friends and family. Yeah, I know. I live and lead a very boring, limited life, so this blog topic was one that required a huge amount of thought on my part. The last time I traveled anywhere was when my daughter was in college, doing a semester in Barcelona and then in Dublin. My Husband and I went to visit her in both places.

And just FYI, she graduated in 2011. What year is it now, hmmm? Yeah. That’s the last time I went anywhere.

So, the Top 5 places I’d like to visit.

Well, let’s see…

I actually had to go out and buy the book 1000 Places to see before you die because I couldn’t even come up with one.



I don’t like planes – they are a necessary inconvenience, though. I dislike trains even more, and forget about being in the car longer than an hour without stopping to stretch my legs. Total torture.

So…those 5 places.

Hawaii might be nice because it’s like…Hawaii!! Lava and beaches and leis. But it’s such an asshugging long trip from the East Coast to get there. I might have to make a few stops along the way, like Washington DC. The architecture, the history, the scandals. I could spend a few days there without problems. But I’ve been there already. Numerous times. This is supposed to be a post on places I haven’t visited yet.

Okay, so #1. Hawaii.

2….hmmm. Tuscany. I think I’d like to see Tuscany because I loved that book Under The Tuscan Sun. It would be great for my cooking skills to learn how to make authentic Tuscan dishes using fresh Tuscan ingredients…like wine!



3…..(scratching head) The Swiss Alps because I liked Heidi. My in-laws actually went to the Swiss Alps on a trip once and my mother-in-law told me it was absolutely her favorite part of that vacation. Seeing the Matterhorn, riding the Glacier Express. She loved it and since she’s such a good judge of things, I figure I would too!



4….(biting nails, now) Australia, and mainly Queensland because I lovedlovedloved The Thorn Birds. I was so heartbroken when Colleen McCullough died, I actually went to Church that day and said a prayer for her soul. She brought the Australian outback to full, vivid, life with her writings and she is sorely missed.



5….(really digging deep now!) Got it! San Fransico because I loved the JoyLuck Club. Amy Tan is a fabu writer and I remember reading this book in a day because I was so invested in the characters and their lives as they navigated through their heritage, culture, and tried to assimilate into the American lifestyle and the Bay Area without trading in their old world ways. Her writing is lyrical, fluid, and flows from the page.



So. I could stop In San Fran on the way to Hawaii, and after a week swimming the Pacific shores, move on to Australia. Next stop from there, Tuscany and finishing in the Swiss Alps.

That wouldn’t be so bad.

Le sigh.

This was a hard blog to write, peeps. Really hard considering I don’t leave my house much!

Let’s see if the other authors in the blog challenge have as hard a time as I did coming up with 5 places… I’m going to bet they didn’t.

.
Robin Michaela – Travel? Here’s my Bucket List
2.
Over There!
3.
Where in the World? (Ed H)
4.
Shari Elder On the Road Again
5.
When Wanderlust Strikes
6.
Cathy Brockman – If I Could Go Any Where. . . Cathy Writes Romance
7.
Maureen Bonatch – I’d Visit Once I Stop Striving to be a Hermit
8.
Sherry Lewis – Oh the Places I’ll Go
9.
Dream Vacation Spots–Sara Walter Ellwood
10.
Helen Henderson – Out and Away – Dream Journeys
11.
Peggy Jaeger – Oh, the Places I’d go
12.
Linda McLaughlin – Linda’s Top 5 Places to Visit
13.
Alina K Field – My Top Five Places — Alina K. Field

You will really need to click on this link for the full benefit of this post. Especially if you want to laugh out loud!

https://peggyjaeger.com/2017/05/05/be...
I grew up a child of television. As a latch key kid there was no one around routinely to monitor what I watched after school and in the evenings my mother was so tired from working all day she never asked me what I was watching because she was just glad I was occupied so she could relax. Because of that I had a very extensive comedic childhood, watching way too many shows I probably shouldn’t have.

Having said that, the shows I watched were comedic gold and my favorites then are still my favorites today. If I happen to catch an errant episode on TV land, I’ll stop whatever I’m channel surfing for and settle in for a good old fashioned guffaw.

My favorites?
Well, I LOVE LUCY jumps to the head of the line. Remember VITAMEATAVEGAMIN?



And who could ever forget the Carol Burnett Show’s spoof, WENT WITH THE WIND?



I can recite every line, every nuance, every word of those two skits. Perfectly. And when I’m not saying them out loud, I’m laughing out loud. Big, body shaking belly laughs.

Another one? The Robin Williams interview on INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO. Watch it and I dare you not to laugh. I double dog dare you!



Recently, I rewatched a comedy classic on Comedy Central, the REDNECK COMEDY TOUR. I will admit, I am almost embarrassed about how funny I find these guys! And at how loud I laugh when they’re on.



Since this is a blog hop, you might want to stop by these other authors and have a good belly laugh, too!





.
Laughing With My Family—Sara Walter Ellwood
2.
It’s No Laughing Matter- Wait, Yes It Is Maureen B
3.
My Life: Laughing Out Loud
4.
Robin Michaela: Lol – What Makes Me Laugh Out Loud
5.
To Laugh Or Not
6.
Good For A Laugh, Meka James
7.
Tickling My Funny Bone
8.
#MFRWauthor ~LOL and ROTFL~ MJ McCoy-Dressel
9.
Laughter Is The Best Medicine
10.
ROTFLMAO
11.
Fluffy Chickens, Shari Elder
12.
Keeping a Straight Face
13.
Linda’s LOL Funny
14.
I Love to Laugh
15.
Belly Shakers and Comedic Genius
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I retired from my long time job in 2015 when I got my first book contract. So many people asked me at that time, “What are you gonna do with yourself now that you don’t have to go to work every day?”
Hello!!! After informing them that I was trading my hated job for a life long dream job and explained that I would now be writing full time, they still said things like, “But surely you can’t write all day?” and “But what else are you going to do to fill your days?”

I remember thinking at the time that people, for lack of a better word, can be really stupid. But that’s another blog… This one concerns word counts and I told you the story above as a precursor.

I approach word counts like I approach a job: all in. What that means for me is that I have a minimum goal I have to reach every single day that I write ( and I write every single day) before I can do anything else. You wouldn’t just leave a job in the middle of the day to go grocery shopping, or to have lunch with friends. You’re working. You have a job to do and you get paid for it. That’s my approach to word counts.

Every day I write 2000 words minimum in whatever book I am currently working on, my WIP ( Work in progress). After that 2000 is done, I then decide if I want to keep going, or do the stuff I need to do to, you know… adult. Like, grocery shop, laundry, ironing, clean the house, do banking, pay bills. Even take a shower!

The fact that I’m blessed with chronic insomnia (and I never thought I’d hear myself say that was a blessing!) helps. I can get so much written between the hours of 3 and 6 am every day, that’s it ridiculous. My entire first book SKATER’S WALTZ was written during these times.

Word counts are, to many writers, a bane. A necessary evil. If they set a goal and then don’t make it, they feel many things: unworthy, like a failure, inept.

To them and all writers, I say STOP! Word counts are simply ways of tracking what you have written. Only during the month of November if you participate in NANOWRIMO should you worry about how much is “good enough” to write every day. Creativity can not be forced. And it shouldn’t be. If you write 6 words or 6ooo in a day, so be it. Those 6 words are probably the best you’ll wring from yourself, so good. Yay. 6 is better than none, right?

Now, you’re probably thinking, “but she said she writes 2000 every day before she does anything else, and yet she’s telling us not to worry about how much we write?” Correct. I am. But that’s what I need to do. Every writer, like every book and every story, is different. I know a contemporary romance writer who sets as her goal 100,000 words per month. If you take a month at 30 days, that means she has to write 3,333 words every single day no matter what. She has an assistant, so she doesn’t need to do the mundane things like social media updates, laundry, and grocery shopping. Lucky her. Most of us don’t have assistants, though. So again, whether you write 6, or 6ooo words a day; 10000 or 100000 per month, word counts are individualistic.

And necessary. Oh, so necessary. Don’t try to compare yourself with others when it comes to word counts. Like I said, everyone is different. As long as you write – and what you write is good – then, so be it.

Because this is a writer blog hop, click on some of the other authors here to see how they approach their writing word counts…or even if they have them!!



1.
Ed Hoornaert – Keep that Nose to the Keyboard
2.
Robin Michaela – Do Word Counts Matter?
3.
Word by Word #amwriting
4.
Shari Elder – Word Counts Don’t Matter
5.
Meka James – Keeping Count
6.
Kenzie Michaels – Reality vs Ideal
7.
Whoa, That’s A Long Book!
8.
Why Do Writers Have to Do Math?
9.
Too Many Words? Too Few?
10.
How Many Words?
11.
Gemma Snow – We’ll Be Countin’ Words
12.
One word down. . . Ahahaha Cathy Writes Romance
13.
Helen Henderson – I’m Not Counting
14.
I’m a word banker. . .
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