Maggie Thom's Blog, page 2

Writing the Catchy Book Blurb - Difficult or Not

I would love your input - what challenges you when writing a catchy Book Blurb?
Thank you for participating in my survey (it's anonymous).

Click here: http://www.maggiethom.com/writing-the...

I Read... to Never Know the Reality of Boredom

Sometimes Life Throws You a Curve

You may have noticed I've been away for a while. Sometimes life throws you a curve and you have to drop everything. It was one of those things that was taken out of my hands but was a good reminder of what is important in life. After spending a week with my mom, she peacefully passed away. It was a really tough week to watch her go down hill but it was also an amazing time - we reminisced, we talked, we laughed and we just spent time as a family. In the last few hours we sang to her, many songs she knew, although I don't think our rendition was quite what she remembered and I am sure our off key singing will keep her smiling for a very long time. That whole week but especially those last few hours are very special to me and I know meant a lot to mom. They are a gift that I will always treasure.

I wanted to share a wonderful poem my sister wrote:

Mom
(by H. D.)

You taught us to be free,
You taught us to question,
You taught us to try,
You taught us to love.

You taught us to be independent,
You taught us to go for what we wanted,
You taught us to live each day,
You taught us to forgive.

These lessons were not always easy,
We had some struggle,
We had to fall a few times,
But you were always there to help us up.

You inspired us
To be more,
To do more
And to live more.

You showed us how to shine our light upon the world,
By shining yours upon us.
Thank you for these gifts
And for allowing us to live life!
We love you Mom!

I think it is so beautiful and so true. The song we played during my mom's video of her life was, "I hope you dance" by Leann Womack. I truly hope that we can all make that our mantra... and dance.

Thank you everyone who continued to stop by my blog and tweet my stuff. I so appreciate you doing that. I will catch up with everyone but it will take me a bit of time. Thank you all for being a part of my journey.

To read more: http://wp.me/p2ydBl-1bO

Rethink What You Are Capable Of

I think the biggest disservice we do to ourselves is we don't believe in ourselves, in our gifts and talents. I know it took me a very long time to share my writing with others and then with the world. It's not easy but then we often focus on not being good enough. When I wrote, I loved getting lost in the creating, the plotting, the writing of the story... but I could not ever fathom someone wanting to read what I wrote. Thankfully I have had people in my life who managed to shift that belief. Many people have inspired me to see myself differently and to see life differently. I truly hope to pay that forward.

Please watch this video of a young man, Chris Koch, who just happens to be from my home town. He lives his life to the fullest. Not only is he a farmer but he has climbed the stairs to the Calgary Tower, all the way to the top - 802 steps in 24 minutes. Wow! He then went on to do the same at the CN tower in Toronto in 50 minutes. I don't know many able body people who would or could do either.

The only thing holding us back is what we believe... Please watch this short video, I think it just might change your life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9S3n...

Originally posted here: http://wp.me/p2ydBl-1b7

An Interview with the Lovely Dii from Tome Tender

I am so excited to be able to bring to you today one of my favorite book reviewers. Yay! And in honor of her doing an interview we are doing a – we are giving away Giveaway $10 Amazon gift card and some of Dii’s favorite ebooks. Check it out below and be sure to enter.

I am honored that I convinced Dii to do this interview with me. I ‘met’ Dii about a year and a half ago or so. I’m not sure how we met. I think I might have pestered asked her to read and review my first book, Captured Lies. She graciously said yes. Not only does she read an insane amount, yay! (read below) but she is so helpful and supportive of all authors but in particular Indie Authors. Yay! And if that isn’t perfect enough she does reviews. Yay! She is funny. She makes me smile a lot. Yay! And as you will read in her interview, we both have an odd affliction of keeping pillows (I too am starting to get rid of them. Anyone keep pillows, just in case?).

I am thrilled that Dii has done this interview with me. Honestly it will make you chuckle.

Please check out her website: http://tometender.blogspot.com/

Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DiiBylo

Like her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TomeTender

I promise you won’t be disappointed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now to the interview:

A Book Blogger’s Journey through Reading – Dii from Tome Tender

1. When did you start reading?

Wow, I think my first book was on papyrus paper! Hmm, probably around six years old.

2. What was the first book you remember reading?

Read full interview here: http://wp.me/p2ydBl-19K

Winners from Emerald O'Brien Giveaway

There were three winners of the Ebook - Darkness Follows by Emerald O'Brien.

Rebecca Vance
Lynn Worton
Alice Quinn

Congratulations to the winners. Emails have been sent to them all.

Contest was hosted here: http://wp.me/p2ydBl-16T

Darkness Follows by Emerald O'Brien

Today I am excited to bring you a brand new author... and she's Canadian. :) So please help me welcome Emerald O'Brien and her brand new release (May 2014) Darkness Follows. She has graciously done an interview with me. I love reading about what got people started reading, what books they like to read. And what inspired them to become a writer. To top it all off Emerald is also giving away three ecopies of Darkness Follows, a new age mystery. Don't you just love the cover? Very intriguing.


Giveaway Click here to enter: a Rafflecopter giveaway http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/disp...

To read the full interview, click here: http://wp.me/p2ydBl-16T

My Muse

I think I'm like most writers, I have a ton of ideas and not enough time to get them all down. The ones I think I'll remember I don't. I've learned to write down anything that I think I might want to use later on. My muse likes to bombard me with plots and scenes and people until I put the brakes on and choose one to play with for a while. It's not turning it on that's the problem, it's turning it off.

Here's how it works for me. Inspiration for ideas come from anything and everything. Seriously. I see someone flip a page and I'll start the 'what if' game. What if the person had no fingers. What if the person had suction cups on their fingers. What if in turning that page, they are transported to another world. What if they were on the moon doing that. The fun part is to connect things I normally wouldn't link or think of in my everyday life.

I play this game with different things I see until I find something that really intrigues me. So I take a simple thing I see, hear, smell, taste, sense, feel, and take it out of context, put it in some other situation - real or imagined - and then I play with it like a puzzle. Move this piece here, move that piece there, until I find I have something that is really interesting. Sometimes this will happen right away and other times I just need to leave it ruminate around in my brain for a while and then usually out will pop ideas. I then choose to either keep playing with the stories that are forming or I let them go. Or sometimes it all just gets lost in the abyss of my mind. :)

My muse never really takes a break. Needless to say my brain is pretty active most of the time. Don't get me wrong I've learned to shut it down so that I have quiet time, however it doesn't always play by my rules. And it doesn't always just choose the convenient hours to play this game. Some days I'll be doing something and this brilliant (well it seems like it at the time but sometimes it isn't once I really look at it) idea will come to me. Some nights I'll wake in the middle of the night with a fully formed idea, scene, outline. So then I scramble to get it down on paper so that I won't lose it.

After I have an idea I like, I'll start looking at what the story could be - the back story, who the characters are, where it is happening, why it is happening.... and on and on until my story is built and it is something I like. That's what happened with Captured Lies. The idea started simply enough, from a plane flying rather low over us. The 'what ifs' started coming to me. I ignored it for a while but then the story kept bugging me and soon I was writing scenes in my head. That's when I knew I better start getting it down on paper.

My muse is really demanding, entertaining, and fun - now that I've learned how to harness it. Well at least most of the time. How do you manage your muse?

Posted here: http://wp.me/p2ydBl-14C

Deceitful Truths Book Tour and Giveaway

Hey Deceitful Truths is currently on tour, starting today for the next month. I hope you'll help me thank the blogs by stopping by some of them. Be sure to enter your name in the draw. The book tour was organized by Girls Heart Book Tours. Here is the list of stops. It's going to be a busy month but whoohoo! it's fully booked.



Tour Schedule

March 24th-
Girls Heart Books Tours- Schedule
Kelly P’s Blog- Excerpt/Spotlight

March 25th-
Big Girls Heart Books- Top Tens

March 26th-
Romance Bookworm’s Reviews- Dream Cast
Bawaka's Book Fair - Excerpt

March 27th-
We Stole Your Book Boyfriend- Playlist

March 28th-
Turning the Pages- Book Soundtrack

March 29th-
Book ‘Em North Carolina- Guest Post

March 30th-
Pretty in Pink Books & Reviews- Book Soundtrack and Dream Cast
Book Lunatic Ramblings- Excerpt/Spotlight, Playlist

March 31st-
The Pleasure of Reading Today- Review , Excerpt/Spotlight

April 1st-
Turning the Pages- Playlist

April 2nd-
Indy Book Fairy- Book Soundtrack

April 3rd-
We Stole Your Book Boyfriend- Excerpt/Spotlight

April 4th-
Bookmarks, Spoilers, and Happily Ever Afters- Excerpt/Spotlight, Top Tens

April 5th-
Gone Insane Will Be Back Later- Review , Author Interview, Excerpt/Spotlight, Dream Cast, Book Soundtrack, Playlist

April 6th-
Movies, Shows & Books- Book Soundtrack

April 7th-
My Devotional Thoughts- Book Soundtrack, Dream Cast

April 8th-
The Avid Reader- Excerpt/Spotlight, Dream Cast, Book Soundtrack

April 9th-
Big Girls Heart Books- Review

April 10th-
Turning the Pages- Excerpt/Spotlight

April 11th-
Sun Mountain Reviews- Book Soundtrack, Dream Cast

April 12th-
Bookworm Betties- Excerpt/Spotlight

April 13th-
KJ Reads a Lot- Review

April 14th-
Kimber Leigh Writes- Book Soundtrack

April 15th-
Paperrdolls- Top Tens

April 16th-
Kristina’s Books & More- Dream Cast

April 17th-
That Bite’s Book Talk Reviews- Playlist

April 18th-
Big Girls Heart Books- Author Interview

April 19th-
Lindsay & Jane’s Views and Reviews - Excerpt/Spotlight

April 20th-
Sweet Treat Reading Reviews- Book Soundtrack, Dream Cast

April 21st-
Turning the Pages- Dream Cast

April 22nd-
We Stole Your Book Boyfriend- Dream Cast

April 23rd-
Booklover Sue- Excerpt/Spotlight

April 24th-
Lindsay & Jane’s Views and Reviews- Playlist

April 25th-
My Family’s Heart Book Reviews- Excerpt/Spotlight

Release Day for Deceitful Truths

She hugged her son tight...


Well today is the day, Deceitful Truths is published – whoohoo! I can’t believe it. Yay! Yay! Yay! Okay I’m now pealing myself off the ceiling.

Originally posted here: http://wp.me/p2ydBl-Zt