Deborah Macgillivray's Blog, page 40

A Convenient Marriage by Maggie Tideswell

The idea of two complete strangers getting hitched has always intrigued me, for one simple reason—why would they do such a thing? Could such a relationship succeed? By successful relationship, I understand not only the longevity of the marriage…but is it possible for the participants to actually fall in love with each other in such a strange arrangement? Love is found in the most unexpected places.



A Convenient Marriage grew over a number of years. The basic story was simple—a divorcee with two children, an ex-husband being difficult over visitation, as well as a fiancée unable to commit. Holly’s friends suggested that she needed a new husband, placing an advert in the paper for one behind her back. Joshua was struck by a simple plan when he saw the ad and responded to it. Why would Holly marry a man she’d never met, and why would Joshua respond to an ad for a husband, then actually propose to a woman he had never clapped eyes on? So, in came the dawdling fiancée, Nicole. Both Holly and Joshua were justified in not planning the marriage to be a real one, because they each had an agenda of their own, but Nicole was the injured party. For their plan to succeed, they had to marry—the real kind, down to that all-important piece of paper married—and they had to seem to be totally in love with each other. That it is all a scam, only they would know.And here comes the ‘but’. Holly and Joshua’s plans go awry from the moment they meet on the steps of the chapel where their fake marriage is to take place, when both recognize the immediate attraction. Back at Joshua’s wine estate—yes, he is a rich landowner where Holly expected him to be a pauper—Holly meets Joshua’s mother, his brother and sister-in-law, and Nicole, the fiancée, who found out about Joshua’s duplicity in a room full of people. No one can blame Nicole for being a tad upset. Or can they? To add to Holly’s woes, she seems to have acquired a ‘ghost’ demanding she tell a story.
Amidst Nicole’s shenanigans, Joshua’s mother’s disapproval, Holly’s ex’s aggression, and the ghost following Holly around, will these two accomplish what they set out to do? Or will life get in the way?
Joshua’s and Holly’s journey through the uncharted seas of a blind marriage, where no rules apply, is a stormy one. Place your order here:  http://tinyurl.com/hqfmhcu
About the Author Maggie Tideswell lives in Johannesburg—South Africa, with her husband, Gareth. She began writing when her kids were still very young, squeezing a few paragraphs at a time between the hectic schedule of raising three children, and working full time in the catering industry. She wrote many books before considering having them published. Now that the children have all made lives for themselves, there is more time for writing.
After much experimentation, Maggie writes passionate paranormal romance, of varying levels of heat. The paranormal, things that happen for which there are no logical explanations and ghosts are of particular interest to Maggie. What events in a person’s life would prevent that person from ‘resting’ after death? The ‘Old Religion’ is another special interest. And love, of course. Why do people fall in love? What keeps them together for a lifetime when so many relationships fail?Maggie’s advice to aspirant novelists is two-fold. Never give up, and write every day. Writing is a craft that has to be honed with practice. And the only way to practice writing is by doing it. And a bonus, never stop reading your favorite genre. Reading it and writing it is the only training for a writer.


“Maggie Tideswell's latest novel, A Convenient Marriage, will have you turning pages as her characters cope with a marriage of convenience, well-meaning but nosy friends, a meddling ghost, jealous exes, and more. My advice: Make room on your Keepers shelf for this story!” (Loree Lough, best-selling author of 107 award-winning books, including Harlequin Heartwarming's "Those Marshall Boys" series.)

Pagan Pride Day in Louisville -- was a perfect day!!

Me on Pagan Pride Day in Louisville


Candy at the Pagan Pride Day
  
  
Candy with Dragon Bob of Once Upon a Dragon Time

Candy getting a hug from Cap'n Amos (Bob Watters) of Drunk 'n Sailor
  
Erika Napier working the coward

Monica Boes one of the Princesses of Louisville helping Dragon Bob with his show.

Whitney Christensen arriving with Bob Watters.

Monica Boes
 



Bob Watters socializing 


Lady Blacksmith!!

Bob Watters and Erika Napier

Ghost Stories on the Square

Me having supper on the square before Ghost Stories on the Square takes place. PERFECT evening for it.

 
Candy looking great after a minor set back with her heart.



Crowd gatherings for the storytellers.

 

Nancy Paradis's amazing kiddos -  Mallory and Macy!!
   
The two Barbaras --- Barbara Todd of BD Beads and Barbara Manely, with Barbara M. opening the Ghost Stories


The Langlois.come to join the festivities -- all they way from Canada


The first storyteller opens with a cautionary tale about black bubble gum

One Nineteen West Main was all aglow 

Twilight brought on a parade of colors
  
Beautiful lights cast into the trees - a beautiful eerie effect

A tale of BB and CC and the Ghost in the Closet
   
What a wonderful night....

Birthday spent at the Kentucky State Fair

Me with my Snoopy Cake.  Not too great of a pictures because my makeup was MELTED.  Candy and I took in the Kentucky State Fair.  And then we lunched at One Nineteen West Main.  Later I had a non-surprise party.  (I really HATE surprise parties).




Me at the State Fair


Candy  at the State Fair





Candy watching the train going by while we had dinner at
One Nineteen West Main





One Nineteen West Main for dinner.

Shards of the past sadly fading into only memory

It is sad when "progress" drives out or destroys old institutions that are near landmarks. When my father and mother broke up, I spent the school year with her, and then holidays and most of the summer with my father in England. 
They didn't like to meet face-to-face for the transfer, so oddly, it was decided that Nicholasville, Kentucky was the point.  

 Every summer I journeyed to Nicholasville.  A very small town though little evidence of that remains today.

One of the stops along the way that mum always made was to get a new set of dishes or such from Carpenters Dish Bar.  It was a "wonderland" of trinkets, figurines (inside and out). You would roam up and down the magical aisles and find something you just couldn't live without. Well, US 27 is now doing a redevelopment to align entrances in and out of Nicholasville. Not sure what they are aligning, lol, because it was all changed when I was through there two years ago. 


We bought the Escalade online and went to pick it up--very hauntingly enough-- the car dealer was on the the very site of the Old Windmill Restaurant and Drive-in that I used as the setting in my novel Riding the Thunder.  The restaurant was long gone. Only a sign left to note it once stood there. The drive-in could be spotted by the light polls that still stood nearly consumed by the massive overgrowth of neglect. Nature has a way of claiming what we don't hold onto.

I was thrilled because Candy got to ride along with us. She smiled at my sadness over the forlorn Windmill sign. At least, she got to stop at Carpenters Dish Barn on the way back. Much of the childhood magic was gone, naturally. It had the feel of a large Garden Ridge (which has also gone the way of things). But still she did get to visit there.This time of year, I get "homesick" for a spot that was never really a home. I was only passing through for a week here, or a week there in the spring and fall. Yet, something about the places and businesses linger in my mind, special in a way that defies description or explanation. I am not sure why I cry over losing something that was only a very minor part of my life. I just do.
With the passing of Carpenter's Dish Barn...another tangible place that witnesses my yearly pilgrimage is now gone. I was glad, though, Candy did get to visit it.

A silent portal (with a ticking clock) witness to the past that was once Kentucky

Montlake Showcase for The Ravencliff Bride - only 99 cent Kindle edition

STARTING TOMORROW and runs through end of September Montlake Romance/Amazon Publishing is running a special price for KINDLE version of Dawn's The Ravencliff Bride Beginning 9/1/2016, you will see the promotion here:https://www.amazon.com/b?node=13819721011.

Celebrating a 11th Anniversary of signing my first contract

Eleven years ago I signed my first contract, selling my Dragons of Challon series to the amazing Hilary Sares are Kensington Books.  I cannot thank her enough!!

Magic: Summoning Thunder

Where Inspiration is Found  or How to Summon Thunder
by
Deborah Macgillivray



I leave pieces of myself in my contemporary paranormal romances. In The Invasion of Falgannon Isle and now Riding the Thunder I draw heavily on memories of growing up, of places and people that touched me in some form. Most of these people and many spots are now long gone, though they still live in those shining memories dear to me. In The Invasion of Falgannon Isle, it was the Scots and their wonderful humor, the ability to accept there’s more to this world than just what we see, their ability to laugh at any situation. Not just at, but with. I took those wonderful memories and spun a fantasy that created an imaginary isle with 213 bachelors and with only three unmarried women―two were gay and the remaining one was a woman the males couldn’t court because of an ancient curse! It’s a Brigadoonish romp that came straight from my heart.

When I moved to the second book in the series, I wanted to do something fresh, not a carbon copy of the first book, so I looked to the other half of my roots―Kentucky. One reader who recently read Riding the Thunder said she loved the book so much she wished there really was a place called The Windmill. Well, in truth there was. There actually was once upon a time a small restaurant with that name on Lexington Pike, that was about halfway between Lexington and Nicholasville. Long ago, the suburban sprawl of Lexington saw the distance between the massive college town and the small southern community fade. My parents were separated, then later divorced; Father lived in Britain, while my mum lived in Kentucky. I stayed with her during the school year, but holidays and summers I spent in England and Scotland. Sadly, my parents still cared about each other, so it was too painful for them to face each other when they ‘handed me over’, so for a week or two I was sent to stay with Mum’s step-sister, until I was collected by the other parent. I always enjoyed those stays.

I got to see the beautiful horse farms in the bluegrass area. I enjoyed the small town pace, where everyone knew each other, where eccentrics and oddballs were relished, much in the same manner the Scots did. These out of way places have their own pace, and it touched my imagination. So, yes, the Windmill did exist. A horse farm was across the road from it. It had a Wurlitzer that tended to play the wrong tunes at times. There was a swim club, a motel and a Drive-in. And there was even a young man nicknamed Oo-it!

Over the years, I visited the area less and less. It hurt to see the city sprawl, the giant Lexington pushing closer and closer, until finally consuming the tiny town of Nicholasville. All its special flavor, its quirkiness was lost. Only those images, those seeds lived in my mind. I wanted to capture that timeless feeling, so thus my stage was set for Jago Mershan and Asha Montgomerie.

My stories always evolve with the questions of who and why. I see a scene in my head, such as the opening of Chapter One. I saw Jago sitting at the bar, waiting, and drinking a beer.
Who is he? Why is he there? Whom is he waiting for? Why is he waiting? He’s waiting for Asha naturally. Then when Asha enters, it’s more questions. Where did she just come from? I knew who she was basically, since she was the little sister of the heroine in the first book in the series, but the questions then moved me to defining Asha and her quirky world.

Cats seem to wander into my stories, so I wasn’t surprised the nameless cat appeared and took up with Jago. I kept trying to name the black cat, only he defied being named, so that became a part of the story as well.
As for the tune Tell Laura I Love Her―the song was very popular when I was a child and it seemed play endlessly on the Jukebox at the real Windmill Restaurant. Everything is so sharp in my mind. I recall the beautiful Wurlitzer, the wallet changers on the walls by each booth, the way the sun came through the plate glass windows that ran across the front. The Drive-in showing Vincent Price movies, the scent of baby oil and chlorine from the swim club, the smells, the diner’s chatter, the Kentucky River, Lock 8, all of these elements created vivid memories within me that lived and were nurtured within my heart.

The one day, Riding the Thunder was born.






This article was originally written when the novel was from Dorchester Publishing's Lovespell.  The book is now published with the other books in the series by Montlake Romance/ Amazon Publishing and is available in Kindle and Tradesize paperback.

Lazy birthday lunch at One Nineteen West Main

Candy and I has some errands to do, so we stopped by One Nineteen West Main Street (the name and address of the nifty restaurant in La Grange, to sit out on the sidewalk and enjoy a leisurely meal since it was my birthday.  I introduced Candy to the joys of friend bologna...another southern dish that she took to immediately.  And we were entertained by the trains (four in the less than an hour we sat out there.)  We had a great waitress, Olivia -- the same one that served us with Chuck and his family came a couple weekends ago.  She is just great (and pretty too!)  So ask for if you stop by.  It was a perfect weather day that we enjoyed knowing autumn would soon be on the horizon.  A lazy day, but one much enjoyed
 

The Dragons of Challon™ series

novels
A Restless KnightRavenhawkeOne Snowy KnightRedemption
novellas
The Selkie's DaughterGambit, Check and MateArrow to the Heart