Mary E. Thompson's Blog, page 60

When Life Gets In The Way

January was a hard month for me. If you follow me on Facebook you already know that. I didn’t have one week during all of January that allowed me to work. It sucked. But it reminded me why I do this.

We spent the first few days on January on vacation – still visiting family from Christmas. It was great. It was bitter sweet since we were leaving. But it was a nice end to our vacation.

The first week we were home princess’s school was closed on Monday, had a half day Tuesday (because of the cold weather), she was sick Wednesday and hubby hit a deer. The rest of my week involved dealing with insurance and repair shops to figure out what we needed to do to get the car fixed. And yes, that’s a picture of it above.

The following week princess was sick again on Monday. Tuesday we took the car to the repair shop and I spent the rest of the week shuttling everyone around since we were down to one car. When I only get about five hours of work on a normal day, cutting that hurt my productivity. A lot.

The next week princess was off school again on Monday (and we picked up hubby’s repaired car) then I got really sick. I spent Tuesday at the doctor’s office and getting meds, Wednesday sleeping, Thursday and Friday trying to figure out which end was up.

The last week of January brought two and a half more snow days.

All total, in the four plus weeks of January, I had exactly four full days to work and another six partial days. How do you get anything done? I certainly didn’t.

The most frustrating part for me is that I wanted to publish Work For It. I was really excited to get the book out. But I still haven’t even finished it. I’m hoping it’ll be out next week, but I don’t know if that’ll happen either.

2014 is my year of Growth. I look at every experience as one I can learn and grow from. I learned in January that life doesn’t always happen the way we want. I also learned I need to take care of myself and that being able to work from home is a blessing. Yeah, it’s hard for us. Money is tight. But this is truly the best situation for our family. And I’m grateful we have it.

I guess all this is to tell you that I haven’t disappeared. I’m working hard on getting things together. You’ll see me more active on social media and back to publishing soon. Even better, next month I’ll be releasing my next book which will be free on all platforms!

Thanks for sticking around!

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Work For It

I’ve been working hard at getting Work For It out. This book is killing me! I wanted to write this story because I think it’s a great story, but I’ve struggled every step of the way. It’s not as exciting as writing about two people falling in love or meeting for the first time. There’s baggage, there’s history, and there’s drama. And showing all that to you without dragging down the whole story has been tough.

I had hoped to publish this book earlier in the week, but it just hasn’t happened. Personal issues have plagued me so far this year and I’m behind, already. But I wanted to give you a little insight into our male lead, Aaron.

A little history…

Aaron and Lizzy have been married for eight years. Lizzy got pregnant in college and they got married. Eight years later they have two kids, Aaron is an accountant who works too many hours, and Lizzy is a lonely housewife considering divorce.

“What did you do?” Steven asked, automatically assuming Aaron was to blame.

“She thinks I’m cheating on her?” Aaron said after a swig of his beer.

“Are you?” Steven asked.

“Fuck you, man. No. I love Lizzy. I’d never cheat on her,” Aaron said firmly.

“So why does she think you are?”

“I have no idea. She said she was talking to her sister and best friend and told them we don’t have a great relationship and that she thinks I’m cheating on her. I flipped out and left. She told them she thinks our marriage isn’t going to last. I told her she’s right.”

“Hell, yeah. If you’re done with Lizzy, give her my number. I’d love to have a woman like her to come home to every night,” Steven said unapologetically.

“Are you kidding me? I show up here to tell you my wife thinks I’m cheating on her and you want me to hook you up with her? You’re an asshole. Why are we still friends?”

“Because you’re jealous of the freedom I have in my life and I’m jealous of the stability in yours.”

Aaron looked at Steven and knew he was right. There were days when he wanted nothing more than to just chill out or go out drinking after work or anything, but he always went home to his family. At the same time Aaron knew Steven was sick of the dating scene and wanted a family.

“I guess the question is, do you want the freedom I have or the stability you have?” Steven asked. “Because if you love Lizzy like you say you do, you need to make things right. Get over your stupid pride and do anything possible to make your marriage work. If you’d rather have the freedom I have, cut your ties and give her my number.”

 Aaron is a great guy, a kind husband, but Lizzy isn’t sure what’s going on. His behavior is a little suspicious and she doesn’t know what to do. But Aaron isn’t an angel. It takes two to tango.

Work For It will be available soon, I promise! I’m working hard on it and hope to have it available some time next week. Aaron and Lizzy are rattling around in my brain and I’m ready to let them out into the world!

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What I Read in 2013

I read a lot. I’m an author so I guess it’s expected. In 2013 my focus changed dramatically. I went from wanting to be a blogger / speaker / author / etc for working moms to realizing that wasn’t my true passion and changed everything. In all reality I thought (because of books I’d read) that it would be the way to make a decent living until I could write fiction for a living.

Bad plan. In so many ways.

I ended up accepting that it really wasn’t what I wanted to do and I really wasn’t equipped to do it either. So I made the jump to what I wanted to do and started writing contemporary romance novels. And boy has it been fun!

But I wanted to share what I’ve read. If you’re reading this blog, you are a reader. I’m not here to tell you I’m the best and you shouldn’t read anyone else’s work. That would be dumb of me. I’m a huge fan of a bunch of different writers out there and I want you to have some other ideas of great people to follow. So, without further ado… my list from 2013 (organized, I hope)…

Business / Writing books

What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast

Do the Work

Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

Personal Improvement / Entertainment

5 Minutes a Day to Living Beyond Rich

Get Rich, Lucky Bitch!: Release Your Money Blocks and Live a First Class Life

Lucky Bitch: A Guide for Exceptional Women to Create Outrageous Success

One Word that will Change Your Life

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir)

Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon Self-Control, and My Other Experiments in Everyday Life

Are You Living or Existing?

Life’s Golden Ticket

Contemporary Romance / Chick Lit

Breaking the Rules

The Buggy List

Losing It

Faking It (Losing It)

Finding It (Losing It)

Falling Into You

Falling Into Us

Simply Irresistible (A Lucky Harbor Novel)

The Sweetest Thing (A Lucky Harbor Novel)

Head Over Heels (A Lucky Harbor Novel)

Lucky in Love (A Lucky Harbor Novel)

At Last (A Lucky Harbor Novel)

Forever and a Day (Lucky Harbor)

It Had to Be You (Lucky Harbor)

Always on My Mind (A Lucky Harbor Novel)

One Pink Line

Kat Fight

Nothing Stays In Vegas (The Escape Collection)

Unexpected Gifts (A Castle Mountain Lodge Romance)

Hidden Gifts (A Castle Mountain Lodge Romance)

Sand Castle Bay (An Ocean Breeze Novel)

Wind Chime Point (An Ocean Breeze Novel)

Sea Glass Island (An Ocean Breeze Novel)

Perfect for You (A Laurel Heights Novel)

Close to You (A Laurel Heights Novel)

Return to You (A Laurel Heights Novel)

Looking for You (A Laurel Heights Novel)

Dream Of You (A Laurel Heights Novel)

Sweet On You (A Laurel Heights Novel)

Tamed By You (A Laurel Heights Novel)

Here With You (A Laurel Heights Novel)

Chasing Justice (Book 1) (Piper Anderson Series)

Beach Combing

Build A Man

Temporary Fiancée

Seeing Stars

Socially Awkward: A Novel

Actions Speak Louder

Worth The Weight (The Worth Series Book 1: A Copper Country Romance)

Champagne and Lemon Drops: A Blueberry Springs Chick Lit Contemporary Romance

Whiskey and Gumdrops: A Blueberry Springs Chick Lit Contemporary Romance

Prior Engagements

The Cell Phone Lot

Sammi Ever After

Love Unlisted: A Novel

If You Loved Me

Cross My Heart (A Contemporary Romance Novel)

Falling Star

Golden State

Hot Summer (The HOT CARIBBEAN LOVE Series)

Summer Lovin’

Against The Wall

Between The Sheets (Against The Wall)

Resisting the Bad Boy (Nice Girl to Love, Book One)

Nice Girl to Love: The Complete Three-Book Collection (#1 Resisting, #2 Falling, #3 Choosing)

Finding the Right Girl (A Nice GUY to Love spin-off)

Mine ‘Til Monday

The Proposal (A Perfect Match Series)

Melting Point (Seattle Steam)

If The Shoe Fits (Book 1, Once Upon A Romance Series)

Happily Ever Afton

Touching Helene

Love Divine

You Make Me Feel Brand New

Double Dare

Untouched

Unbroken (Beachwood Bay)

Fresh Temptation (Barboza Brothers)

Not Dreaming of You (Romantic Comedy)

Always Dreaming of You

Mia Like Crazy

Secrets of a Shoe Addict (Shoe Addicts Anonymous)

Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy

Wow, I think I might have a problem! 85 books! Seriously though, there were books I couldn’t finish and books I didn’t like. All the ones here are ones I enjoyed at least somewhat. If you see a series, chances are I really liked it! If you see an author repeated, I enjoyed what I read and wanted more. There are some fabulous authors out there, and there are some horrible ones. But everything on this list offered something that I liked. Oh, and even better, a lot of these books are free!

I hope you’ll check out a few of the books I read in 2013. I think they could be awesome for you to pick up too!

 

Disclaimer: The links are affiliate links. That means if you click on one of the links above, it will take you to Amazon, and if you buy something, I will get a percentage of your purchase. Yes, your entire purchase. So if you’re in the mood for a new computer or flat screen TV, click on over and pick one up!

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What Is Love?

I’ve been thinking about love a lot lately. It’s my job, but it’s been strange lately to think about it in a different way. I’ve been wondering what love really feels like or seems like, to others instead of just me. In reality, I’ve been wondering about what I think love is also.

There are different kinds of love. We all know this. You have family love – the first love we all experience. Then there’s love for your close friends. You have love for your significant other. And love for their family and friends.

When I was thinking about all this, I tried to figure out how love really feels.

Family love is steady and always there. We took our kids to see Frozen last week and saw a tremendous example of family love. I think family love is something we always feel but don’t really acknowledge. But family are people we would do anything for.

Love for friends is something we choose. With family, we always love them and accept that it’s always been there. With friends you choose it. The people you are close friends with, the ones you love, are people you choose. Many times they are people you have something in common with, or people who challenge you to be a better person.

Love for your significant other is the love we usually think about. It’s the love I write about. It’s what we all dream about. It’s love that starts as friendship love and grows into family love. It’s love that brings everything to you and makes you feel like you’re the luckiest person around.

But love in books is rarely what we feel. Maybe at first you feel a spark. You connect with someone. You know something is there that’s different.

Over time that love fades and changes. It becomes a love that you accept is always there, but one that you take for granted. The spark is gone and you no longer think it’s special or wonderful.

But it’s still the best sort of love.

In my next book, Work For It, I’ve been thinking about this a lot. The main character is Lizzy Greenwood (you’ll remember her as Cat’s best friend in Wait For It). Lizzy feels like something is missing in her life. She worries her life has lost it’s meaning and she has nothing left to hold on to. Lizzy isn’t sure if she loves her husband, Aaron, anymore and tries to figure out how to get things straight in her life.

I think we all feel that way. I’ve certainly questioned my relationship at times. I read about people falling in love, and write about it, and I wonder why my life doesn’t look like it does in the books.

But then I remember that my life is exactly what it should be. I think that’s the truth about love. Love is not always going to be exciting and new. It’s not always going to be passionate and take you by surprise. But it’s true and it’s there. It’s comfortable and it makes you feel like you’re all that matters. And for me, that’s worth more than new and exciting any day!

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Focus On The Future

A few weeks ago I was watching this video. I’ve only recently started following Danielle LaPorte and the video was another introduction to her.

I’m big on goals. I’ve always been big on goals. I love setting goals and striving for them each year. Sometimes I hit my goals and sometimes I don’t, but I always set goals. But Danielle’s view on how to set goals really resonated with me. I love the idea of setting goals based on how you feel – and how you want to feel – instead of just what you want. Setting a goal based on how I want to feel will give me a way to achieve that goal daily instead of having to work hard and never feel like I’m getting anywhere.

I’m just getting into all this now, but I love the idea of looking at my goals in a new way. I highly recommend you watch the video and check out Danielle’s work, especially her book The Desire Map to set your own goals for 2014 based on how you want to feel instead of just what you want to do. Think about the things you want to do, and the underlying reason for it. What feeling are you trying to get by achieving your goals and how can you get there daily?

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More Than Adopted

My latest book, More Than Adopted, is almost ready. I’m heavily into editing it and will have it finished within a few days. And the best news is, it’ll be free!

What I’ve decided to do with this book is offer it for free to anyone who subscribes to this site. This story is very personal for me. It was the first book I ever wrote. I loved the story. And it held a lot of personal elements. And I struggled with putting it out there. I wanted it to be special. I wanted it just for you, my faithful readers.

The story is of Autumn Alexander. She is a wedding planner who’s struggling to find herself, literally in many ways. Autumn has always been in love with her best friend, Ben. Ben barely knows Autumn exists, at least as anything other than his friend.

Autumn was adopted as a baby and decides to search for her birth parents. She’s scared and confused and needs her friend to rely on. But just as she gets into her search, she meets another man. One who knows she’s there and treats her like she’s always dreamed Ben would treat her.

Go with Autumn on her discovery to find who she is, where she comes from, and where her heart really lies.

Like I said, this story is very personal for me. I was adopted as a baby and I’ve never sought out my birth parents, but I identified with Autumn a lot in this story. She is someone I liked learning about, enjoyed writing about, and was thrilled to see happy in the end.

Sign up below or in the header for my mailing list and get your copy of More Than Adopted, plus other great goodies!

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When I Die

I watched this video on Tuesday and it really made me think about my life. As December ticks past, and 2013, I’ve been reflecting on where I am in my world and where I’m going. A lot has changed in my life over the past 12 months, but I’m not entirely sure all of them were great changes!

Twelve months ago I was employed full time. I hated my job. With a passion. In January 2013, I was fired. It took me a long time to admit that to people. I was embarrassed. I hated the job and planned to quit three months later, but they beat me to it. I’ve realized over the last year that getting fired was the push I needed to get out of there because chances are I would have chickened out and stayed because the money was good.
Along with that, twelve months ago I was struggling to find time to do what I really wanted to do because of my day job. I would come home every evening frustrated and in a crappy mood. My relationship with my kids and husband was less than great. I still get irritated frequently, but I think it’s better!
A year ago we had a house, a credit card left to pay off, and one car. We sold the house in February, paid off the  credit card in March, and bought a new car in April. All of that was in the works before I lost my job, and I’m really happy those things still came true.

But today I sit back and think about where I’ll be in a year. I thought a lot more things would have changed in 2013. We are trying to move to Buffalo, but are stuck in an apartment in South Carolina until we can move. We want to build a new house, but don’t have the money for  a piece of property, let alone the new house I’m dreaming of. We are pulling money out of savings every month to make ends meet instead of living off what we bring in.

These things make me frustrated. I want our life to be exactly as I dream, but I know in many ways, these things don’t matter.

At the end of my life, it won’t matter what house I lived in or where. It won’t matter if I had $250,000 in debt or none (although I’d rather have none). It won’t matter if I worked a job I loved or not.

Or will it?

I love writing. And I’m good at it. If I have to go back to engineering, I won’t survive. Yeah, the money is good, but the job made me feel like I was suffocating every day. I can’t do it. Being in debt was the same way. I was always worried about someone knocking on the door and taking our house to pay our credit cards. And we weren’t ever behind on payments! And as for the house… I had a great house. Truly beautiful. But I hated it because it wasn’t really home. I want to be near family and friends. I want to have people in my life I can count on and enjoy spending time with.

I don’t know if any of this will show up in my obituary or not. But really, I don’t care. What I care about it how I feel and how much I enjoy my life while I’m here. And I’m going to do everything I can for however many days I have left to be happy and to enjoy my life!

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Life Is Love

I was browsing online and realized something. There are books out there for everyone. I know not everyone is going to love what I write, but I also know there are people out there who do. Plus, I need to be true to who I am about what I write and what I like.

But I’m always thinking up new ideas. Two of my ideas this week are about new series I’m hoping to write over the next few years. I love my Better In Bed series that just started with Wait For It and Cat and Ryder. I can’t wait to see where the entire series is going and the other interesting people we will meet. But I know myself well enough to know that I will get bored if I feel like I’m writing the same thing over and over again – meaning the same characters and scenery and general feeling. I need something different once in a while.

Then I realized there are other things I love and other ideas for me. So, I’m planning on a series about sports. I haven’t worked out any of the details yet, but I think it’ll be a lot of fun to write. More women enjoy sports then we really talk about, but sports is something I’ve always been involved with. Whether it’s playing sports, watching sports, or writing about sports, it’s a part of me. And I think it’ll be fun to work on.

Another thing I love is the holidays. With all the focus on Christmas right now, the holiday spirit is running wild with everyone. I think it could be fun to write a series based on holidays. This one is going to take some more work, but I like the idea of it.

Maybe you like these ideas and maybe you hate them. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll never actually write these books. But for right now, I know I’m feeling great about the new inspiration. Especially when my brain is on overload!

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Love At First Sight

I’m one of the lucky ones. When I met my hubby, I knew I would marry him. I’m not kidding. It’s weird. What I didn’t know was his name. Yes, I’m totally serious.

Hubby and I met the first day of our senior year of college. I was talking to a friend I hadn’t seen in almost a year (I was on an internship the second semester and summer of my junior year and hadn’t been at school in nine months). Hubby walked in and sat down, then joined our conversation with a smart-ass remark.

Typical for him.

But he got my attention. It was funny, but I don’t remember what he said. We started sitting near each other in class and talked almost every day, but it was three weeks before I found out his name.

We talked regularly in class, but didn’t see each other outside class. I thought he was dating another classmate, until she got married (again, yes I’m serious). We started flirting a little more heavily in February, five months after we met and two months after the classmate got married. It was still three more months before our first date, but we never looked back.

If someone had told me the day we met that I would marry him, my first question would have been, “What’s his name?” But I would never have doubted it. Not for a second.

In May we will have been married ten years. It’s strange that today I’m writing love stories but in real life I live the story every woman dreams of. It took hubby and I a while to get together, and we learn something new about each other all the time, but there’s never been a doubt that we are meant to be together.

And that’s what I want for my characters. It sounds silly, but I think of my characters as friends and I want them to be just as happy as I am. I’m glad I get to create their happily ever after, just like I get mine.

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Wait For It Review On Best Chick Lit

I’m so excited to announce Wait For It was reviewed on Best Chick Lit! You can read the review here and of course, pick up your copy of Wait For It at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

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