Peggy Jaeger's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing-tips"

here's the link to see it on her blogsite.
http://www.norahbennett.com/blog/auth...

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING PROFESSIONALLY?
Since 2014.

WHAT GENRE DO YOU WRITE?
Contemporary Romance, but I am dipping my writing fingers (and toes!) into Romantic Suspense.

IF YOU COULD GIVE NEW WRITERS ONE PIECE OF ADVICE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
I love this question. If you are a new writer and are consumed with the need to get words down on the page, or just have to write down the stories drifting around in your brain, then, like NIKE says, JUST DO IT!! Don’t give up. Don’t listen to naysayers, critics, or people who don’t believe in you. Just keep writing. I heard Nora Roberts once equate writing with a muscle. If you don’t pay attention to it, exercise it constantly, you start to loose tone, mass, and strength. I think that’s very profound!

IF YOU COULD RECOMMEND ONE BOOK FOR ALL WRITERS TO READ WHAT WOULD IT BE?
This may just be the hardest question I’ve ever been asked, because there are so many great reference and tool books out there. I guess the best book for any writer – whether pro or not, is, THE BLUE BOOK OF GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION. Writers need to write WELL! This book teaches you how to avoid common pitfalls that will send an editor or literary agent to toss your work into the delete pile.

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH REJECTIONS FROM PUBLISHERS AND EDITORS?
Badly. I usually have a Pepperidge Farm Layer cake and a bottle of soda after I get one. Then I go walk for two hours to burn all those wasted calories off! And then…I just get back to writing.

MANY WRITERS ALSO WORK OTHER JOBS, DO YOU?
I’m living my dream. I retired in 2015 and have been able to write full time since then. Please don’t hate me!!

HOW DO YOU MAKE TIME TO WRITE?
I have a set goal of 2500 words per day. I have to get that done before I do anything else. When that count is achieved I then do the stuff I need to do: grocery shopping, laundry, exercise (see how I put that one last!) Then if I have any more time left over, I write again. I’m lucky to be retired, but my husband still works full time so he is gone all day, affording me the privacy to write.

WHERE DO YOU LIKE TO WRITE?
I write in an attic loft in my house that overlooks my property. This winter, though, I am refurbishing another room where I’m going to set myself up.

TELL US WHAT YOU LIKE TO READ AND WHO?
So of course, my all time favorite author is Nora Roberts and her twin sister JD Robb. Any of the JD Robb IN DEATH books are fabulous, but if you haven’t read them then start with the first, NAKED IN DEATH.

Jill Shalvis is always a winner in my house, and her LUCKY HARBOR books and her newest series HEARTBREAKER BAY are wonderful.

WHAT OR WHO INSPIRES YOU TO WRITE?
Really, it’s just something I’ve always loved doing. I read at a very young age – I finished all the kids books in the local library by the time I was 7. The librarian was a little leery about letting me read the older, teen books at that time, but I did it anyway! I think when you love reading as much as I did—and do—you just kind of naturally fall into wanting to be a writer. At least that’s how it worked for me. And since I LOVELOVELOVE to read romance, that’s what I write. My website tagline is WRITING IS MY OXYGEN. Can’t say it any plainer than that.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SNACK WHEN YOU WRITE?
Oh, God!! What isn’t???! Hahahaha.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR WRITING HABITS. WHEN DO YOU WRITE, HOW OFTEN? GIVE ADVICE TO NEW WRITERS ON HOW TO ORGANIZE THEIR DAY AND WRITING HABITS.
Again, I’m a lucky one because I get to write full time. But like I said above, I write 2500 words, 5 days per week, before I do anything else. I suffer from chronic insomnia, so most of those words are usually written between the hours of 3 am and noon. After that, I do the life stuff. Many afternoons I plot out my books, or make my vision boards for each story I’m doing. Pinterest has been a God-send for this.
Most writers also have a day job. So if you do, the best thing to do is find that one hour or two a day that is just yours. Write when you get up before you go to work. Or if you get home before your spouse/children/significant other, type a few pages. If you can spend an hour watching the mindless junk on television these days, you can devote an hour to your writing by eliminating that tv hour. And just think how much happier you will be!

DO YOU HAVE A GREAT WEBSITE, SOFTWARE, BOOKS…SECRETS THAT HELP YOU WITH YOUR WRITING?I have a full library of REAL books I use for reference/secrets. I’m not a mean girl though, so I’ll share!
THINKING LIKE A ROMANCE WRITER by Dahlia Evans
MASTER LISTS FOR WRITERS by Bryn Donovan
THE ROMANCE WRITERS’ PHRASE BOOK by Jean Kent and Candace Shelton
THE EMOTION THESAURUS by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
THE WRITER’S GUIDE TO CHARACTER EMOTION by Sherry Soule
NAUGHTY WORDS FOR NICE WRITERS by Cara Bristol
And the above mentioned Grammar Blue book


DO YOU HAVE A MENTOR? HOW DO THEY AFFECT YOUR WRITING?
I do not.

WHAT'S THE FIRST BOOK YOU HAVE WRITTEN?
SKATER’S WALTZ published by The Wild Rose Press in 2015
Wild Rose Press: http://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/a...
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Skaters-Waltz-...

HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU WRITTEN?
To date, 39. 6 have been published, 3 more are due out next year. The other 30 are just too horrible to let the book buying public read!!!

WHICH BOOK DID YOU ENJOY WRITING THE MOST?
That’s like asking which child is your favorite!! The book I have coming out this November, A KISS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS, I wrote in 2 week and laughed the whole time I was writing it, so I guess that was the most enjoyable writing experience.


WHICH WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT?
The next one….


TELL US ALL ABOUT YOUR WIP.
A KISS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS is a mistaken identity story. My heroine, Gia, thinks the hero, Tim is something he’s not. I won’t spoil the plotline with telling you what she thinks he is, but believe me, you’ll think the same thing as Gia until all is revealed.
This story was a complete labor of love for me because it is the sequel to my 2016 Candy Hearts Romance, 3 WISHES. That book told Chloe’s story, and this one tells her younger sisters’, Gia’s. I LOVELOVELOVE this family, the San Valentinos. They are a large, loud, and loving Italian/American clan who live big, and love bigger.


OPEN COMMENT: TELL YOUR FELLOW AUTHORS, NEW AUTHORS, AND INTERESTED READERS ANYTHING YOU WANT THEM TO KNOW THAT I DIDN’T ASK YOU.
​
Wow! This could be a loaded question! I’m taking this directly from my website – the 10 things you need to know about me:
10. My favorite book is THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD
9. I lovelovelove scary movies — the scarier, the better.
8. My favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz, because there really is no place like home.
7. My left eye is smaller than my right eye.
6. The best decision I ever made was to marry my husband — a man who can’t live without a strong woman!
5. The best gift I ever received was my daughter, who’s now 27 but whom I will always refer to as “my baby”.
4.My favorite song is Secret Agent Man by Jonny Rivers.
3. I’ve been on a diet in some form for the past 45 years.
2. I’m very direct and don’t suffer fools, false prophets, or suck ups.
1. Writing is my oxygen!


Norah- thank you so much for letting me visit with you and your readers today! I am so happy I met you at the NJRWA conference!!! You are, truly, a gifted writer and an amazeballs woman!

2016 has exited the building – thank you, Jesus! Now it’s time to figure out what I’m going to say here, in this forum, for the next 365 days.

No pressure….not!

I started this blog because I wanted to talk about writing with people who enjoyed writing as well. Over the past 2 years, it’s morphed into something more. More substantial; more funny; at times, more an internal reflection of my feelings and emotions about…stuff. I’ve been able to introduce you to new authors who are fab and promote their work. I’ve had some serious discussions about life, writing life, family stuff, and current events. I’ve veered away from anything controversial and/or political/ and negative. I’ve wanted this to be a fun place to spend a few minutes getting to know new writers, and to challenge you with ideas. I hope I’ve done my job…

So, 2017. What the heck am I gonna talk about??

Well, I do have some new author interviews lined up already and I can’t wait for you to meet these talented writers.

I’ve also got at least 2 books of my own coming out this year ( maybe 3!) and I know I’ll be going gungho with promoting them.

The publishing world seems to be changing daily, so we’ll talk about that.

I’ve got at least 4 writing trips coming up this year, so you know I’ll be showing you pictures of your favorite romance authors whom I’ll be meeting and fawning over, plus writing about my traveling experiences.

And I guess I’ll be divulging some more personal stuff – only the funny stuff, though!!!

2017 promises to be a life-changing one for me – I’ve got lots going on!!! All good and all exciting.

So, stay tuned and we’ll discuss……lots of stuff!

to see images click on this link:

https://peggyjaeger.com/2017/01/30/no...

First, a disclaimer: this is not a post about football. I would be the last person on the planet to ever post about a game I know nothing about. I can’t even bulls**t my way through a discussion on it, so there.

Now. I was listening to a podcast recently about advice. How to give it, how to take it, when and why you should offer it. For the record, I don’t like to give advice routinely simply because I don’t like getting unsolicited advice. There’s always THAT person who thinks they know everything that will make your situation better and easier, and believe me, they are usually wrong. Having said that, there are two pieces of advice that I’ve heard throughout my writing career that I’d like to offer. One, I listened to.

First, the good piece of advice. I heard this at my very first RWA conference in San Antonio in 2014 from a chat with mega-wonderful Nora Roberts. Her advice to the following question, “How can I find the time to be a prolific writer like you?” was simply the best thing I ever heard anyone say. It was:

"A writer never finds time to write, A writer makes it. If you don't have the drive, the discipline, and the desire, then you can have all the talent in the world and you aren't going to finish a book."

See how good it is – someone made a Pinterest board for it!

Added to that advice was this little gem which I remind myself of daily:

"Stop whining and writer. Stop fucking around and write. Stop making excuses and write,"

Words for a writer to live by.

Now to the worst writing advice I’ve ever received. Here’s the backstory: I entered a contest and this was part of one judge’s critique. “If you change the name of the heroine, make her younger and give her a tragic background, you MAY ( and yes, she put may in capitals!) have the beginning of a decent story here. Otherwise, I don’t see this book ever getting published. I also feel your hero is dumb.”

And I paid to enter that contest. Last one I ever entered, that’s for sure!

Well, the laugh is on her, because I took none of her advice and that book, COOKING WITH KANDY, is coming out in April from Kensington/Lyrical Shine and I didn’t change a thing about the book/characters/backstory.

So here’s the Monday morning quarterbacking mentioned in the title to this blog in the form of my own writing advice- completely unsolicited.

Write for yourself, first.

I don’t have a Pinterest block to put up on that one, so I just bolded it in the hope that it makes a statement. YOU are your first reader. If you don’t write something for you, that you love, that sings to you, it won’t do so for anyone else. Remember that. I do. Everyday.advice4

‘Nuff said.

When I’m not giving out unsolicited advice, you can find me here:
Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//

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 the images, click this link:

https://peggyjaeger.com/2017/04/04/wh...

I’ve been going at 120 miles per hour the past 3 months – ever since the New Year. I’ve got two books in final edits and galleys, I’ve got three more I’m working on for release at the end of this year and hopefully the beginning of 2018. I’ve committed to blogging more and am going to the gym 5-6 times per week. I’m doing a presentation at a conference next week, in addition to traveling 4 major times this year ( airplanes, people!) to other conferences. I’ve got a brand new book out TODAY and am doing promo for it as well.

This is all in addition to my normal life stuff. You know: cooking, cleaning wife-ing

Oh, and I’ve got Dancing With The Stars in 15 friggin’ days, so practice, practice, practice!

It’s only the beginning of April, but I feel like I’m burnt out already. Or I did, that is, until this past Saturday. Saturday night I did something I haven’t done in a long, looooooooooong time: I went out with friends.


Thank God and all that’s Holy for friends.

These friends don’t write.

These friends are all my age ( give or take a few months).

These friends all have children the same age as I do.

I have a history with these friends that doesn’t include plot lines, story arcs, or Capezio dance shoes!

And these friends keep me grounded while at the same time recharging my soul.

It was so wonderful to spend a few hours just talking about nothing and everything. I didn’t think once about how terrified I am of giving my presentation to a (hopefully, fingers crossed) large audience next weekend. I didn’t for one second agonize over a line of dialogue that I just couldn’t get right. I didn’t think about my feet, sore, and huddled in Merrel’s because they were so swollen from dance practice.

I didn’t do anything other than simply be, have fun, and laugh.

My hermetic existence is a given. I accept that I need to spend long stretches of time alone just so I can get my stories on the page. I know I let world changing events float by me without so much as even a comment or a consideration just so I can finish a chapter. I get that sometimes I’m grouchy and pale and my eyes look like they’re bleeding because I spend countless hours staring at a computer screen. I accept all this and I go with it.

But it felt so blessed GOOD to not think about anything other than the conversation drifting around me.

God gave the world so many wonderful things. Free-will; faith; chocolate; wine. But the best thing he gave us was each other. People. Friends.

If you haven’t talked to or seen a friend in a while, call them TODAY! Not email, not a text, Actually put your mouth to the phone and speak to them. Believe me, you’ll be glad you did.

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

And as an added reminder, TODAY is the day COOKING WITH KANDY is released. If you haven’t gotten your copy yet ( and that begs the question “why not?”) here are the links:

Amazon //B&N // Kensington // Kobo // Apple // Google

This past weekend I attended the NECRWA 2017 conference in Burlington, MA. Historically, this is a fabulous conference for romance writers to network with professionals, learn about craft, catch up with old friends, and make new ones. This year was no exception. Ii fact, this was a banner year for the conference and for me.

Let me ‘esplain….

For the conference itself, the committee tried several new “things” conference-wise that just worked. A bigger and expanded book fair; an exceptional cocktail hour and meal service; a large and varied collection of conference topics, and two break-out sessions after the conference was completed. I don’t think I ‘ve ever heard so many participant comments in the past that were so glowing of all aspects of the conference, so Kudos to the conference committee. You should all pat yourselves several times on the back!

As for me, well, this was the first time I’ve ever given a professional writing speech. Okay, speech isn’t the correct word. It was a workshop on writing romance stories for people over the age of 40. I’d given this presentation to my local NHRWA chapter last month and it was warmly received. I even wrote a blog about my nerves concerning it. But they’re all my friends. I didn’t think they’d be mean and they weren’t ( of course they weren’t!!!) This time, the presentation was for a room full of people I didn’t know. At all. Now, some of my chapter mates attended to support me ( gotta lovelovelove that, right!!) And I knew the moderator from previous conferences. But the majority of that room was alien to me and boy-oh-boy was I nervous.

Turns out, I didn’t have to be. They all laughed in the right places, asked en-pointe questions related to the topic and I never once saw people yawning, checking Apple watches, or fidgeting.

Nirvana for a speaker!!!!

The best part? A few hours later I met one of the attendees in another workshop and she stopped me and told me how much I had inspired her and that she’d had an immediate story plot jump into her head. When she told me about it I started to well-up because I could see – really SEE – how the talk had inspired her. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so emotionally invested in a stranger before! Sniff…sniff…

So, now I’m home, getting back to the editing and writing grind today. Although, it really isn’t a grind. It’s an absolute delight in every way, especially, now that I know my words and thoughts actually helped another writer.

Le sigh…..I’ve got a great life.

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

Last week I divulged that I am a dyed in the wool nosey parker. Really. I’m also a world class eavesdropper. The reason I’m telling you this is because I attended the NECRWA conference in Burlington, Ma, this past weekend and I got there early – Thursday night ( conference started on Friday) and spent the better part of the early evening hanging out in two places: the concierge lounge on my floor and the hotel lobby.

Talk about opportunities to eavesdrop! Holy Moly!

In the lobby was ( wait for it…) a lounge, aka a bar, and my little eavesdropping heart just went pitter patter with glee at all the fun, tips-i-ly things that were said by the patrons. Can I just tell you how much fun I had!!! I know it’s probably a horrible thing to admit, but I really get a kick out of watching people drink and then flirt/talk/flirt some more and keep drinking.

I’ve mentioned before that I don’t drink alcohol… and this is one of the reasons why I don’t. I never want to be on the talking end of a conversation that people make fun of. I mean, let’s be honest here. I say enough stupid things when I’m stone cold sober. I can’t even imagine what the heck would come out of my mouth if I was…inebriated.

Anyway, back to my lobby eavesdropping. Here’s one little snippet I “overheard.”

30 something on her way, way passed being tipsy: “Hey, this hot guy I saw the other night had these cool shots . They looked good. I think they had cimmanon. I wanna try one.”

The other 30 something she was with, not as tipsy: “You mean, cinnamon, right?”

Drunken reply; “That’s what I said. They were called fire crotch, cause they were hot. So was they guy. Hot, I mean.” A twitter of hiccuppy laughs followed this.

Not so drunken reply: “Fireballs.”

Drunken Reply: “What?

Not so drunken reply, only louder this time, as if that would help her understand: “He had fireballs.”

Drunken reply through wide eyes and opened mouth: “Really? How do you know that? Did you, like, do him in the bathroom to find that out?”

See? As far as research goes, this is pure gold, people. Pure gold.

When I’m not eavesdropping you can find me here relating what I’ve eavesdropped: Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triberr

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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My interview on http://affairedecoeur.com/AuthorInter...

When did you start writing?

I’ve always been a journal-er, what most people call a diarist, ever since I was a kid. And I wrote stories in my journals all the time about girls who weren’t like me, who led amazing lives, and had adventures. I still write in my diary every day, but now I actually get to publish the fiction stories!


What have you learned about writing since you started?

That it’s my oxygen. My drug of choice. The thing I need to do every day in order to feel total joy and remain happy.



Tell us about your new book or series.

CAN’T STAND THE HEAT is the third book in my Will Cook for Love series from Lyrical Shine. CSTH tells Stacy Peter’s story. She’s a television producer who’s developed a show she thinks will be perfect for her network. Before the programming chief will give her the green light for the show though, he asks her to do one more programming favor for him and executive produce an upcoming cooking competition called Beef Battles for the network. She’ll need to deal with famed director Dominick Stamp who is no fan of producers, or anyone else who interferes with his directing style. Dominick and Stacy are about as opposite as opposite can get in every way – physically, emotionally, the way the treat the staff, you name it. But you know what they say about opposites and attraction!



What is your idea of a perfect writing day?

Basically, I have the perfect writing day everyday! I write for 3-4 hours in the morning, then go to the gym and do all the adult stuff I need to do like laundry, grocery shop, etc. Then after lunch I write for another 4-5 hours until my hubby comes home from work, I cook dinner, and then we relax for the rest of the evening. Yup, that’s my life. Don’t hate me!



How/where do you get your plot ideas?

I am a world-class people watcher. And eavesdropper. All my plots start out with the characters. I see a person in a restaurant, or the bank, or even on line at the movies, and I start to imagine their backstory. My first character is usually my heroine, so I give her a life, a career, and a problem. Then I think of a hero who will be integral in either resolving her problem, or adding to it. From that, a plot develops.



What is the most difficult thing about creating and developing characters?

Making them real to the reader. I’ve read books where there is no way on God’s green earth the main character could survive in the real world. Either too stupid, too arrogant, too just plain dumb to be real. I try – and I try hard – to make my characters seem like you’d meet them as neighbors, or at work, or even standing behind you in line at the grocery store. I give them faults, real emotions, issues. See? Real people! When I get it right, and a reader tells me that they could see, hear, and relate to my characters, I do a happy dance, because that’s the highest praise you can give me.



What is your favorite thing about being an author?

Knowing I touched a reader’s life, or made their day when they read something I wrote.



How many books do you currently have out on the market and what genres do they fall into?

With CANT STAND THE HEAT it’ll be eleven and they all fall into the contemporary romance genre. If there was a genre called small town, family oriented, humorous contemporary, that’s where my books would fit.



Will you be attending any book signings or conventions?

A couple coming up:

April 15, the 2018 Author’s Night by the Sea, sponsored by the New England Author’s Expo. http://www.newenglandauthorsexpo.com/...

April 27, The New England Chapter of RWA LET YOUR IMAGINATION TAKE FLIGHT Book signing https://www.eventsinusa.net/event-rom...

RWA2018 – Denver Nora Roberts Readers for Life Literacy Book Signing: https://www.rwa.org/literacy

I will also be part of a panel of authors (I’m the only romance writer!) at the Toadstool Bookstore in Keene, NH on April 21, 2018

I will be speaking at the Maine Romance Writers retreat in May 2018 http://www.maineromancewriters.com/p/...



Pass on some words of wisdom, please, to aspiring authors.

Simply, don’t worry about writing to trends, or anything else. Today’s teen vampire love story will be taken over by tomorrow’s billionaire baby series. Just write the story of your heart. That’s what I did. I knew my story was a little unusual for a contemporary market, but it only takes one editor to say YES for you to be published. So just write the best story you can and make it the story you would want to read if you weren’t the author!



Purchase Can't Stand the Heat by Peggy Jaeger

Contact information:

Personal web page : https://peggyjaeger.com/

Twitter https://twitter.com/peggy_jaeger

When an author you admire includes you in a Favorite pleasure read list, it just makes the new year full of wonderful potential!
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http://nancyfraser.ca/wordpress/notes...