Maggie Shayne's Blog: Maggie's Coffee House Blog, page 14

5 LIFE IMPROVING RESOLUTIONS ANYONE CAN KEEP

Tired of Breaking Resolutions? Here are 5 You Can Keep!

Bonus, they’re all going to make your life better.

 

Make a decision to drink more water.

You don’t have to swear to down 10 glasses a day or 64 ounces or whatever. Just drink more than you’re drinking now. You can do that. My favorite method is to buy myself a great water bottle, and then just try to get into the habit of keeping it with me wherever I go. I borrowed this habit from author friend Gayle Callen.Benefits: Dry skin vanishes, as a healthy complexion takes over. Your hair gets less dry, more silky and smooth. You’ll eat less as if by magic, because lots of times we feel hungry, we’re actually thirsty and don’t know it. You’ll detoxify your body. Feel more energized, and be healthier overall.



*Hint: try not to use bottled water, as it’s ‘dead.’ Living water, happy, non-chlorinated water is best. Learn more about water in this fantastic video, THE SECRET OF WATER

 

 

 

 

2. Browse the Internet Standing Up.

If you can reconfigure things so that you are browsing the net standing up, it will become your favorite new habit. I have literally stacked books on top of my with the computer on top of them, so I could work standing up. One California school district replaced their old desks with desks where one could either work standing or sitting, and test scores went up 15%.Benefits: Excellent for back pain, improves digestion, keeps you alert and alive, improves circulation, burns more calories than sitting down, improves metabolism, and just feels great.Hint: They say sitting is the new smoking. Sitting all day is killing us. I now have a treadmill under my desk, so I can walk or stand. Break it up, work a little sitting down, then a little standing up. It’s good for you!

 

 

 

3. Use a Smaller Plate.

In the documentary, IN DEFENSE OF FOOD by Michael Pollan, who has a book by the same name that I highly recommend, they ran an experiment where they had people help themselves to food. Then they made up some reason about why the food was cold, took it all away, and asked everyone to go back and get themselves a fresh serving. Only this time, they gave them smaller plates. People ate WAY less.Benefits: Lose weight without even trying! No need to count calories, or weigh or measure. Just use a smaller plate. I love psychology!Hint: In the same program, they noticed that if you put the fruits and vegetables first in a buffet lineup, people eat more of them. One school district went from 25 lbs of carrots per month, to 75 lbs of carrots per month just by putting them at the beginning of the food lineup!

 

4. De-clutter

I can’t tell you how much de-cluttering is changing my life. It’s an ongoing project of mine, but my house seems to be sighing in relief as I donate and throw away tons and tons of unnecessary stuff. I feel lighter. My energy feels better. It’s far easier to keep the house neat and tidy now. And it’s easy, because you just do it a step at a time. My declutter guru is Marie Kondo, whose book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up is a godsend.Benefits: Your house stays cleaner. You can find what you’re looking for. You save time usually spent hunting to do other, fun things. You are more organized. And believe it or not, getting rid of clutter makes room in your home for wonderful things to come in.Hint: Just take it one little bit at a time. Do it by categories. First, clothes, for example. But when you do clothes, do all the clothes in the house, not just one closet or dresser at a time. This is far more effective. Baseline: if it doesn’t make you smile or feel joy, toss it.

 

 

5. Let it Go!

Find or make a pretty box. Make it special. Make it sacred. Beside it, put a little notepad and a pen. They can be special too if you want. Name it. Call it your God Box or your Spirit Box or your Higher Power Box or your Universe Box. Then, when stressful things happen in your life, things that you can’t fix on your own, things that keep you awake at night, write them down, fold them up, kiss them goodbye, and put them in the box. When you do this, you are handing it over to your higher power.Benefits: Lowering stress improves every aspect of your life. When you surrender things you can’t change to a higher power, it takes the weight of it off your shoulders. There’s a psychological benefit to letting go and letting God. And besides that, it actually works.

Hint: The more you believe, the more effective this method will be. Try it first with a couple of small problems that you have an easier time believing could just evaporate on their own. Once you see that it works, your belief will be stronger, and you can apply it to bigger and bigger problems. 

So that’s it! My 5 Easy to Keep New Year’s Resolutions! Do you have resolutions of your own? Suggestions for easy ones to share? Let me know in Comments!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The post 5 LIFE IMPROVING RESOLUTIONS ANYONE CAN KEEP appeared first on Maggie Shayne.

The Appeal of Holiday Romances

Never fails, my bestsellers every single year are always the holiday romances, so I thought I’d delve into why I think that is. At least, why it is for me. I know why I love them, and I know what I love most about them. Why you love them remains to be seen. (Tell me in Comments!

Because I want to believe in Santa Claus! All my life, my favorite Christmas stories have been the ones where Santa is proven to be real after all. And I cannot believe there’s a single adult person who wouldn’t give their eye teeth to believe in Santa Claus again. To really believe, like we did when we were kids. So holiday romances where Santa puts in an appearance that cannot be explained are the ones I love best. (Favorite film of this type: MIRACLE ON 34th STREET.)
Because I want to believe in the magic of love! That’s no surprise, is it? It’s what I’ve spent my life telling stories about. I like stories where one party or the other is broken or wounded and the power of love heals them. Combining this all powerful force with the magic of the holiday season just thrills me to no end. (Favorite story of this type: The Brands Who Came for Christmas. Yes it’s my own, but I love love love it.)
Because I want to believe in miracles! And that’s why I have a miracle in every single one of my holiday stories. Christmas is the time for miracles, and in truth, they happen every day. (See GODWINKS, a book by Squire Rushnell where true miracle stories fill every page.) So why not talk about them in fiction too? 
Because sometimes in the midst of the hustle and bustle, I need to escape into a world of holiday magic and love. And truly, what can sweep me away more than a holiday romance? From Thanksgiving until Christmas Day, I am either reading a Christmas romance, or watching one on the Hallmark Channel. There are reasons these stories touch our hearts. 

Here, before the season is over, are two very special holiday releases from the Shayne family.

Buckles, Boots & Mistletoe

Features the debut stories from 3 of my daughters! A total Christmas wish come to true for me.

It’s only in E right now, but we’ll be doing print editions as well as publishing each title individually before next year. And we might even have a couple more stories to add! Also, this kicks off my upcoming Mcintyre Men trilogy (Brands spin-off) and series by each of my daughters! Whoop whoop!

Amazon  BN.com  iTunes  Kobo  Smashwords

 

 

A Brand of Christmas: FREE!

This two-in-one includes Book 1 of my Texas Brand series, The Littlest Cowboy, and Book 1 of my Oklahoma All-Girl Brands series, The Brands Who Came for Christmas. If you haven’t read either of these yet, grab them here for free.

Amazon  BN.com  iTunes  Kobo  Smashwords

 

 

Why do you love holiday romances? What are your favorites? Share below.

Next week: EASY New Year’s Resolutions You Will KEEP!

The post The Appeal of Holiday Romances appeared first on Maggie Shayne.

Shayne-Lewis Family Anthology

A Very Special Christmas Collection!

I’m so excited and proud to release this exciting collection of holiday romances from my daughters and me. Let me tell you a little bit more about each of these stories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jessica Lewis is my middle daughter. She’s married to Ben, a decorated military man who’s served for their entire marriage, has had many deployments and has seen a lot of combat. So when she writes a military romance, she knows her subject. She and Ben have four little boys. Jessica is writing a series, The Wakefield Warriors. Her story in this anthology will also be available individually, and that cover is the one you see here. Some might know Jessie from her business, the Authors Lifesaver.

Jessica and Ben’s wedding day

A chance encounter, a one-night-stand, and an unexpected pregnancy result in a Christmas Allie will never forget, when her military brother comes home from Afghanistan for Christmas with his best pal, the man Allie never expected to see again–her baby’s father, only days before her due date!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My fourth born daughter MIRANDA SHAYNE arrives on the scene with her very first love story, FINDING CHRISTMAS, which will launch her western romance series, OKLAHOMA ANGELS. Miranda is a nurse, a quality care director, and a nursing teacher, happily married to her own cowboy and expecting her very first baby in January!

Miranda and hubby Chris

In Finding Christmas, a humbug trucker finds himself stranded in the most Christmassy town he’s ever seen, and falling for the most Christmassy woman he’s ever met. Carlie can’t explain her attraction to the stranger. He seems to dislike everything about her beloved town and favorite holiday. But soon she learns it’s a wounded heart behind his Scroogie attitude and sets out to heal it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My youngest daughter RIVER SHAYNE has penned A HERO FOR HANNAH, in which artist and comic book nerd, Hannah and teenage Cora, whose adoption is nearly final, are running for their lives with killers on their trail. When they wind up in Big Falls Oklahoma, they are forced to accept help from a man too kind and too handsome to be for real.

Can Hannah learn to trust, when life has taught her not to? Will she learn it in time to save her daughter–in time to save her own life?

River Shayne at Comic-Con 2015

River is a psychiatric nurse and a roller derby athlete, and she’s planning at least one sequel to this fabulous story!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maggie Shayne and Jena O’Connor

This entire series was edited and truly made possible by my oldest daughter, Jena O’Connor, of Practical Proofing. She worked as hard as any of us on this volume, maybe harder!

If I have my way, she and third born Katie will each add stories to this collection in time for the 2016 holiday season!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BUY THE COLLECTION FOR $2.99!

Kindle  Nook (coming soon!)   iTunes   Kobo   Smashwords

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maggie’s Magnificent 5: Miranda, River, Katie, Jessica, Jena

New Reader Perks!

There’s a lot going on here at Shayne-Central these days!

1. The Maggie Shayne Readers Group on Facebook

It’s just so hard to keep up ongoing, back and forth discussions on the Facebook Fan Page when only a small percentage of fans see the posts, and you never know which ones will see which posts. A Readers Group seemed like the perfect answer. You can join by clicking the link above, in front of the number 1. I’m taking part every single day, and posting daily questions to get the conversation going. Chelle Olson of Literal Addiction is helping me moderate it. We’ll be giving away prizes there, as well as on the fan page in the coming months. So just to be clear, our Facebook pages now include:

Profile: Maggie Shayne Lewis (Friend me!)

Fan Page: Maggie Shayne (Like me!)

Fan Page: Wings in the Night (Like me!)

Readers Group: Maggie Shayne Readers (Join me!)

This makes day in, day out interaction with my readers even easier!

2. The Rhiannon Chronicles

This serialized novel is going better than I ever could have hoped. Three episodes have been released so far, absolutely free to every reader who subscribes to my newsletter. I release an episode every two weeks at the most and readers are loving the story, as am I. And every new subscriber receives an immediate welcome note with links to every episode they’ve missed. This is win-win. By year’s end I’ll have enough for an entire book, and The Rhiannon Chronicles will be published, but in the meantime, you can read it as it’s being written, in all its raw, straight from my brain glory. Just SIGN UP HERE.

3. Twitter Times Two

If you didn’t know this, we have two Twitter accounts going: @MaggieShayne for me, and @VampRhiannon for you know who. She’s not Tweeting much yet, but she’ll get the hang of it soon.

4. EDGE OF DARKNESS, July 28th

This is huge. This anthology will be released by Berkley on July 28th, and it will include novellas from Christine Feehan, Lori Herter, and me. My tale, Dead By Twilight, is a Wings in the Night: Reborn novella I think you’ll love. And there are already pre-order links up!

 

 

Amazon

BN

iTunes

Kobo

GooglePlay

 

 

5. TWILIGHT VENDETTA, August 4th

We not only have a cover for Twilight Vendetta, Devlin’s story, but we have pre-order links in progress for that as well. This will be Wings in the Night: Reborn, Book 3 (Book 1 is Twilight Guardians, Book 2 is the above mentioned novella, Dead by Twilight.)

Amazon (in progress)

BN (Pre-order link goes live May 10th)

iTunes

Kobo

GooglePlay

 

 

 

 

 

5. Other Series News

I have not abandoned my other series! I love them too much.

*Immediately after I finish writing Twilight Vendetta, work will begin on the next Brown & de Luca Novel, Little Girl Blue.

*The second Little Girl Blue is finished, I’ll begin a new spinoff of The Oklahoma Brands Series which I’m calling The McIntyre Men. My goal is to have the first of those up in time for the holidays, and to write the two sequels immediately after.

*We’re going to be doing some very serious photo shoots this spring with my Niblet, who plays Myrtle in the Brown and de Luca novels, with an eye toward creating a calendar and some other gear filled with Bulldog Beauty and Myrtle’s Wisdom.

For right now, these series will be my focus:

Wings in the Night: Reborn

Brown and de Luca

The McIntyre Men

But later, I would like to link together my fantasy worlds from ANNIE’S HERO, FAIRYTALE and FOREVER ENCHANTED with a fourth book that would tie them together, and I’ve never let go of the notion of another novel in the Immortal High Witch Series.

Do I sound busy? I am, but I’m also loving every second of it!

I hope you will too! So tell me, which of these projects has YOU the most excited?

Ultimate Gift for Desk-Workers

Yesterday, Valentine’s Day, was our first anniversary. Lance and I ran off and got hitched on Valentine’s Day last year, so he, being married to a writer, made up the new term, Valeversary for our day. And it was wonderful and we are blissfully happy. But that’s not the point of this post. The point of this post is to tell you about my gift.

My gorgeous hunk of hubby got me a walking desk. He bought separate components after doing lots of research. First, a Jarvis adjustable electric desk base that raises up and down to whatever height you want and the touch of a button. He didn’t like the desktop offered with it, so he just got the base, and then made the surface from a table we had stored as we didn’t have a spot for it. It’s a pretty table, and it’s big, and it matches the other furniture.

So that was the desk part of the equation. Then he got me a flat Lifespan brand treadmill made to go underneath a standing desk. It goes from 1 to 4 mph, which is plenty. He set it all up for me yesterday at my downstairs work area, which is where I do email, social media, finances, PR, blog posts–everything except writing novels.

Now let me tell you the results. I’m writing this post with the treadmill on. I got my email this morning that way too. And in just that amount of time, time I used to spend sitting, I’ve  walked almost 5000 steps. I’ve been wearing a pedometer wrist band thingie (I’ve had Fitbit and Jawbone, and one’s about as good as the other) and struggling to get 10,000 steps a day into my life. I average around 7000 on busy days, and under 5000 on days when I’m getting a lot of writing done. However, now, today, 5000 steps just while doing my online routine, stuff I do every single day. Add that to my normal daily average and I’m going to be getting way more than 10,000 steps a day.

Recently, I’ve been dealing with some pretty nasty back pain issues. I’m done everything from the Pete Egoscue method in the PAIN FREE book series, to massage therapy, to the chiropractor, all of which helped. But nothing helped as much as the decision to write standing up. Since I’ve stopped spending hours and hours per day seated at a desk, the pain has eased up immensely. I’m working out 5 to 6 days a week, and it’s not hurting my back at all since I’ve been writing standing up. However, I’ve been doing this by stacking my monitor, mouse and keyboard up on piles of large books. (Fortunately, books are plentiful in this household.)

And I’ve said several times, you know as long as I’m standing up at the desk, I could be walking at the desk and getting double the benefit. Which is what inspired my guy to get such perfect gifts for me.

Sitting, say the health pundits, is the new smoking. People who sit at desks for hours on end, die younger, have more illnesses, and more musculoskeletal problems than those who do not. Here’s a great article about the harm sitting does to our bodies.

I just know this is going to change my life. Every time I have any sort of health challenge, it always results in me being forced to do things that will make me way healthier than I was before it. Every single time. This will be no different.

I’ll still spend 2 hours a day, give or take, composing fiction in my upstairs workspace. I’ll do it standing up. (Still stacks of books on that desk.) I’m loving this new setup so much that I’ll soon upgrade to a standing desk up there too, and maybe add a second treadmill underneath. And as a result, I’m going to live forever.

So for all writers, and all of you who spend hours a day at a desk, raise your desk to waist height or so, and start working standing up. This can be done for free (as I’ve been doing with the book stacks) if you have an innovative mind. Adding the treadmill is something I very strongly recommend as well. That can be pricey, but it’s nothing compared to the extra years you’re going to add to your life.

For more info: this infographic is from http://metro.co.uk/2012/10/04/could-sitting-around-doing-nothing-really-be-as-bad-for-us-as-smoking-592637/ If it’s too small to read here, there’s a link there for a larger size.

Enjoy!

Maggie

 

 

My Most Mystical Writing Experience

If you’re looking for my Law of Attraction based Bliss Blog, find it at www.MaggiesBlissBlog.com or CLICK HERE

Of all my novels so far, the most unique and mystical experience I’ve ever had writing a book was when I began the opening scenes of ETERNITY. As I wrote the scenes of a mother and daughter about to hang for witchcraft in 17th century England, I had a sudden rush of sensation in my chest, and the next thing I knew my heart was beating like a hummingbird’s wings. I thought I was having a heart attack. By the time I arrived at the ER, it was back to normal and just as if nothing had happened. But the next time I worked on that story, it happened again.

I had a lot of medical testing which determined that I had developed a condition known as PSVT or Primary Supra Ventricular Tachycardia. Translated, that means sometimes my heart starts racing for no reason. It’s a relatively harmless condition that’s little more than an inconvenience, but until you know that, it can be scary. At any rate, once that was determined, I was relieved, but the darn racing would return every time I worked on ETERNITY up until I was beyond the halfway point, where the story moves into the modern day world.

And that wasn’t the only mystical thing. I had been to a writer’s conference while writing ETERNITY, where a psychic was giving readings, and I signed up to have one. As soon as I walked into the room, she looked at me and said, “Eternity, eternity, why am I hearing eternity?”

I know, I got the shivers too!

When the book came out, I had several readers tell me that they couldn’t read those earliest scenes. They were too real to them. And a dear friend of mine swears that he stood beside me on the gallows from that story in some past lifetime.

I’m not sure I don’t believe him.

This book is too special to me not to share it with everyone who might resonate with it, so I’m giving it away in all ebook formats. If you can’t see the links below, just search “Eternity, Maggie Shayne” at Amazon in most nations, BN.com, the iBooks store at iTunes, Kobo and Googleplay. Enjoy!

Amazon

BN.com

iTunes

Kobo

GooglePlay

What’s in Store for 2015!

I have a lot of exciting projects lined up for 2015 and I couldn’t wait a minute longer to tell you all about them.

The Rhiannon Chronicles

This year, I’ll be publishing a serial novel, one chapter at a time, in my newsletter and best of all, it’ll be absolutely free to my subscribers. Rhiannon tells the story of all that’s going on with her, Roland, The Offspring, and other beloved characters after the end of Twilight Guardians. It’ll read just like a novel, and when it’s all done, I might very well publish it as one. But you will have already read it for free by then. This will begin with the February issue of my newsletter. You can subscribe by using the form just below.

 

 

Twilight Vengeance Release Date Set

That’s the title I gave for Devlin’s book when I teased it at the end of Twilight Guardians. However, I’m not in love with it, so it might change a little. Still, this will be Devlin’s story, and I started work on it yesterday. It will be released on August 4th, 2015. I’ll have cover art and the final title, along with pre-order links coming up in the next couple of weeks.

Brown and de Luca Return in Little Girl Blue

And this time, they’ll be investigating murders in the small Finger Lakes town of Dilmun, which you might recall as the setting for my most popular thriller ever, Gingerbread Man.

Moreover, one of the major characters from that story will be a major character in this one. (Hint: it’s not Holly or Vince, though they’ll make an appearance.) An the most beloved character of Gingerbread Man will also be a constant presence. It’s sort of a mashup. We’re looking at an October release for this book, but I don’t want to set anything in stone until a few months from now.

Brand Family Fans, Rejoice!

There will be another Brand book in time for the holidays. Sort of. We’ll actually be beginning the spinoff trilogy featuring the McIntyre boys you met in Sweet Vidalia Brand. You know, Bobby Joe’s sons; Jason, Robert, and Joseph. And if all goes as planned, the first of those will be ready for holiday release, and of course,  it’ll be another Christmas story.

Those are my writing plans for this year. I hope you’ll come along for the ride!

 

 

 

 

Why I Still Believe in Santa Claus: Part 5

Why I Still Believe in Santa Claus: Part 5
Finally, I offer this bit of evidence, the video story of a woman whose faith brought snow on Christmas to a Tex Mex border town where it hadn't snowed at all in 109 years, and never on Christmas, and who healed her husband's heart just by the power of her belief.
Watch this video (it's right on top of the page, but you have to get through a movie

Why I Still Believe in Santa Claus: Part 4

What it comes down to, in the end, is desire. We humans are creators. We create our entire life experience as we go along, according to a combination of what we most desire, what we most focus on, and what we most believe.

And really, is there anyone who grew up celebrating Christmas who doesn't want, way down deep in their heart of hearts, to believe in Santa Claus?

Of course not. Every one

Why I Still Believe in Santa Claus: Part 3

Why I still Believe in Santa Claus: Part 3

There was this one Christmas Eve Day a couple of years ago, when I spotted a minivan alongside the road. As I passed, on my way home from some last minute holiday thing or other, I noticed the person behind the wheel was...Santa! Full beard, red coat, the whole nine yards.



I couldn't keep going. I pulled the car over, turned around, and went  back