Peggy Jaeger's Blog, page 30

#throwbackthursday

This little ditty is from June, 2020 and describes my life perfectly at the time!

TITLE: When you’ve got nothing, do you punt or…go home?

I’m chockful of weird and wacky blog titles this week, eh?? Hee Hee

What it boils down to is that I’ve been living a very boring life of late, self-isolating and writing/editing my next indie book, and reading other books for review on Netgalley. In addition to taking care of home and hearth and my parents. And their home and hearth.

I have no new news, no witty stories, no personal revelations with which to fill this blog up. I even missed the last two Long and Short Reviews Wednesday Blogging challenges because I was immersed in writing.

If you open the dictionary and find the definition of “pathetic lifestyle” you will see my picture.

Not kidding. Not even a little.

So…do I try and make something up that will delight and titillate you? Do I – once again – try to get you to buy any of my books by putting up snippets to intrigue you? Do I comment on current events? I am truly at a loss for what to write today.

I could tell you about the DIY wasp traps my husband discovered on the Internet to fight our growing wasp problem, and which he made all by himself. I’m truly happy all my empty liter Diet Mountain Dew bottles didn’t die in vain. Nothing in the traps yet, though.

I could tell you about my wonderful summer vacation plans….but I don’t have any.

I could share how I’ve started yet another diet in the attempt to fit into my dress for my daughter’s wedding – the one she has had to postpone twice now due to the pandemic – and how I’m literally starving most of the day. I might even admit that I bought two boxes of Girl Scout cookies in the grocery store yesterday and WHAM!!! Gained 6 pounds by the time I got home. But that seems too…depressing and self-revelatory.

I could share how happy I was when I finally – after 12 weeks – got my hair colored last week. But then I wonder: did you know I color my hair? Did I just ruin your opinion of me??

Truthfully,  when I read all of those things back they are really pretty pathetic and boring….

Kinda like me.

So, I guess I’ll go do some more editing and then maybe take a walk…on the treadmill of course,  because…you know….social distancing and the pandemic.

Le sigh…

Until next time, peeps, when I sincerely hope I have something to write about  ~ Peg

#wednesdaywisdom

Release day for RETRIBUTION

Release, or launch days, never get old. That is the absolute truth I’ve experienced as a published author, and today is another one of those fabulous day.

RETRIBUTION holds a very special place in my heart since it was the first complete, full-length adult book I ever wrote. It sat on my desk top for thirty years until I finally decided it was time…

The early pre-launch reviews have been heart-stopping for me – the best reviews of anything I’ve ever written. I am humbled and a little awestruck by that, to be truthful.

If you’d like to read it, if you haven’t preordered it yet to show up on your Kindle today, there are a few ways to do so. You can either get a print, autographed copy from me, here: PRINT or you can order a Kindle copy on Amazon, here: Kindle. The book will also be in KU for a while.

Other ways you can show your support if you like the book is to add it to your Goodreads want to read list, write a book review, and recommend the book to your family and friends. Word of mouth is a great way for an author to garner new readers.

Thank you – and now, I get to celebrate another book launch- hopefully, a successful one!

TOMORROW is the day of…RETRIBUTION

Book launches either sneak up on me or they drag out forever, just waiting for release day.

With Retribution, it felt like it was going to take forever, and now, tomorrow is book release day and I can’t believe i haven’t done more to promote the launch.

Some day, I will have a PR team to help with all this.

Some day, I will have the time to do an effective launch, one that truly sells more than 5 or ten books.

Some day, the 1000 book preorder goal I keep setting myself up for ( and failing, horribly!! lol) will actually manifest.

Doesn’t look like tomorrow is any of those above days, but it is release day, and that just never gets old in my book!

Read it in print of Kindle or KU here: AMAZON

Order an autographed print copy directly from me, here: RETRIBUTION

Add it to your GOODREADS Want to read list, here: GOODREADS

And as always, kids, happy reading. ~Peg

#mondaymusings #Musingsonamonday

It’s gonna have to be chapstick, moisturizer, and baby powder for me!!

#Fridayfive – what NOT to say to a writer!

This one’s been ruminating in my brain for years!! Years, I tell ya.

Okay. None of us like unsolicited advice. I don’t, especially. I never listen to it and I rarely accept it. But over the years, when I’ve told people I write for a living, these are just some of the things I’ve been told or that have been said to me in the guise of being good advice I should listen to – and my mental, unspoken, responses.

I’ll let you decide if they are snarky. ( I think they are!)

No one reads books. ( I beg to differ since…BOOKTOK!)No one can afford a book. ( Um, that Starbucks grande in your hand costs more than an ecopy of my books. WAaaaaaaay more.)You’ll never be able to support yourself writing. (Want to see my tax returns?)Romance books are only for single women who can’t get a man. They probably have cats, too. ( My hand to God, I almost punched this guy in the mouth. I had to seriously think, “get behind me, Satan” before I did!)Aren’t you embarrassed to have people know you write that smut? ( This one still makes me laugh. I mean…have you read me??? Smut?? Me?? Some of my books don’t even have a hand-holding scene, LOL!!!)

Believe it or not, there are waaaaaaaay more of these I could share. But I’m not going to give them breath.

13 months…

One year plus one month…

Reflections seem to be taking over my psyche lately, so I thought I’d share some of them today. I think this will be the last time I blog about this because…it’s time.

What I’ve learned in the past 13 months.

I’m stronger than I ever imagined.

I can still learn how to do grownup things I never had to deal with before, like banking, selling a house, finalizing an estate.

Greif comes in waves, tsunamis, and sometimes just raindrops.

You never really get over your guilt. But you can learn to live with and accept it for what it is.

My mother hid a lot about herself and her life.

The reason she did was to protect me.

My mother was smarter than anyone – including me and her husband – ever gave her credit for.

She lashed out when she felt: threatened, hurt, or like she was being taken advantage of.

Her capacity for love and forgiveness was truly God-like.

Things that got me through the hard days…

Watching TikTok videos of screaming, drama-queen Huskies behaving like Huskies, or puppies doing puppy things on Reels on Instagram. They made me laugh and smile for a few minutes.

Staring at pictures of my grandson.

Hugging my grandson.

Taking care of my dog.

Crying. Yeah, I know this one is a little counterproductive, but sometimes you just have to let it out, you know?

Blogging about my struggles. Even though I am an insanely private person – despite being in the public eye – writing about what I was going through truly helped me compartmentalize and deal with the emotions flooding through me.

Hugging my dog.

Watching mindless Housewives Reality TV. Don’t judge me, lol. It really helped take my mind off the grief.

Here’s what didn’t help me get through those dark days…

People close to me telling me to get a grip. That everyone dies. That no one can live forever.

People telling me that I should just think about the wonderful long life my mother lived. It’s obvious they didn’t know how she struggled in it.

People telling me it was “her time” to go. Like that made it better, somehow, knowing there was some cosmic plan for her sudden death.

Isolating myself.

The uncomfortable looks people gave me when my emotions got the better of me, or if I answered honestly when they asked how I was doing. If you don’t want me to be truthful, don’t ask me because I don’t lie.  Hence, the isolating.

People saying things like, “The grief will lessen with time,” or “you’ll feel differently in a year.” It’s a year…still feel the same.

Things I’m taking into the future with me…

Life goes on. Cliché, but so very true.

There really is something beneficial to getting out of bed every day, making it, and moving one foot in front of the other even when you have no mental energy to do so.

I’m not the only daughter to ever lose her mother. I am, though, the only daughter to lose my mother. Even so, we, the motherless daughters, now belong to an exclusive club and can empathize with everything we’ve each gone through like no one else can because we get it.

People die, but memories don’t.

Having faith helps. It doesn’t necessarily have to be in God, but having some thought of a power greater than yourself does make the bad things easier to deal with.

It’s okay to cry for no apparent reason and no one should judge you when you do.

Understanding that the price you pay for loving someone is the emptiness you feel at their loss.

I’m going to butcher this quote, but I do remember hearing it, somewhere. “Grief is the price we pay for love.”

And I think that’s the most important thing I’ve learned during these horrible 13 months.

Grief is the price we pay for love.

Miss you, Mommie ~

#wednesdaywisdom

I tend to think we don’t do this enough.

Being kind to yourself can take many forms, all of them soul-lifting.

don’t talk s**t about yourself. To yourself or anyone else!don’t put yourself down, especially in front of others. Not even for a joke.get enough sleep. And if you can’t, take a nap during the day.drink lots of water and cut out the caffeine and sugary drinks. They are doing you and your hips no good!check in with your mental health: how are you feeling? Are you upset or sad about…whatever? Limit your alcohol consumption. Drinking to excess doesn’t kill the pain, make the bad thoughts go away, or take you out of a situation you’d rather not be in. It simply makes you drunk, sloppy, unattractive, and sicktake a walk. 5 minutes, ten. Just get outside and get some fresh air. take deep breaths before speaking and responding in anger. ( I need to practice this one more often!)say goodbye to the negative people in your life no matter how much it hurts to. Kick them to the curb and then don’t look back.get a massage/facial/manicure, whatever, to make you FEEL fresh.

There are a million more ways to take care of yourself – write some down of your own and then….do them!

#Tuesdaytease #teasertuesday LOVE MATCH

I’m getting all the final edits together for LOVE MATCH to release on May 21st so I decided to give you a little tease today on what’s to come between the pages.

First, this is a slow burn, small-town, small-town boy, cinnamon roll hero, careerwoman heroine love story. The intimacy is behind closed doors and the emotions are high.

But…it still has some lightheartedness, lest you think it is a heavy tome. LOL

This scene is Layla’s re-introduction to the home she spent many happy childhood summers in. The place needs some…fixing up, to say the least.

Her expectations of a hot shower went out the window after two minutes, naked and lathered up inside the claw-footed tub when the water suddenly switched to ice cold. Shrieking like a banshee running for the hills, she turned the knob all the way to the left, then right, in a feeble attempt to heat the stream up again.

No luck.

Switching the shower off, she grabbed a towel, shaking like a naked maraca, her hair still dripping with shampoo, some of it running into her eyes, wrapped herself into it and climbed out of the tub. She flipped on the sink hot water tap and as soon as she felt the temperature go warm, shoved her head underneath it to rinse her hair. She considered it an actual miracle she got the shampoo all out before the tap went icy like the shower.

Layla never got toweled off and dressed so fast in her life. With her hair slung up in a twisty towel and her cold and still shaking body now clothed, she turned the shower hot water tap again just to see what would happen. Cold water continued to flow even after three minutes.

“So much for that promised hot shower,” she mumbled as she donned thick socks.

Down in the kitchen, the unwashed dishes and wine glasses from last night’s dinner were propped on the counter. She tried the sink tap and found the same issue. No hot water.

Back in her bedroom she tugged her laptop case from the floor and pulled out the notebook she routinely used when making notes for a client and wrote at the top of a clean page hot water tank.

Might as well see what else needs fixing.

“But first, tea.”

Back in the kitchen, she found her grannie’s old metal teapot, the one she remembered using as a teenager, filled it with the cold water and then put it on the stove. When she turned on the flame knob, the persistent clicking sound indicated the pilot light needed to be engaged.

Rolling her eyes, she found matches in a side drawer, struck one, and then lit it, forgetting that she’d turned the knob to high heat status. A burst of red-hot flames ringed around the burner. Jumping back with another shriek, Layla lost her grip on the match, and it fell, still lit, to the floor. Before it could damage the faded linoleum, she stomped it out with her foot, forgetting she wore only socks.

As the subtle burn scorched through the wool, stinging her foot, she jumped up on the other and grabbed the now scorched one, letting loose with a stream of curses her mother would have fainted at if she’d been within hearing distance.

Once the stinging stopped, she dropped her foot and placed the tea kettle on the now-lit burner after regulating it down to a medium/low flame.

On a sigh, she muttered, “Why the heck did I think this was a good idea?”

While the water heated, she wrote stove on her list, then added linoleum under it.

Watching a kettle boil wasn’t the most exciting thing in the world, so Layla puttered around the kitchen to discover what else needed attention or updating.

Before the water came to a boil, she’d discovered the wood was rotting under the sink, the cabinet shelves above the stove were all warped, and the microwave, which looked like it had been an original model back in the 80s, didn’t work.

Reinforcing herself with a strong cup of tea, she carried it about the house with her to see what else needed attention. Now, her tea long gone, the cup sitting somewhere in Grannie’s parlor, she considered her list.

Her two-page list.

It’s gonna be a fun challenge to fix this place up!!

You can preorder your copy here: AMAZON

Or directly from me, if you want. ( save money with this option, plus get it autographed!) Order form

Put it on your Goodreads WANT TO READ LIST here: GOODREADS

#Mondaymusings #musingsonamonday

“Do what you love, what gives you joy, what brings you the most pleasure imaginable. It will never be a job, but always be a constant source of happiness.”