Bugs and Windshields…
Have you ever noticed that when a
bug splats on your windshield it always manages to hit right in your line of
sight? And then it smears when you turn on the windshield wipers as if to say,
“Oh hell no. You’re not getting rid of me that easy.”
When you’re a writer, you’ve got to
be like that bug: tenacious, unyielding, and make sure you splat smack dab in
the middle of the publishing windshield’s line of sight. Here are a few tips to
be the stickiest writer bug you can be:
1. Never
stop learning. No matter how successful, how many books published, how many
awards received, there is always more to be learned. The publishing world is
ever-changing. If you don’t change with it, you will become extinct. Even the
craft of writing changes: point of view, pacing, backstory. What was acceptable
a few years ago may not be what publishers are looking for now. There is always
something to be learned.
2. Find
your tribe. While writing is mostly a solitary sport, sharing thoughts, ideas,
triumphs and angst with like-minded people keeps you human and helps you grow.
See Tip #1. If you can’t afford the membership dues to a writer’s association,
there are free groups on Facebook, Yahoo and other social media. Check your
local library. Start your own group. You might be surprised just how many folks
out there could be looking for a group that shares your interests.
3. Be
patient. I’m not going to write down all those adages we all know about good
things coming to those who wait. You don’t want to hear that. I know. I’m the
same way. When I want something—I want it right now! But it doesn’t work that
way. It takes time to write a story. It takes time to find a publisher. And
even after you’ve signed that coveted contract—it takes time for cover art,
content editing, copy editing and all the other delightful little stages your
book goes through before it lands in a reader’s hands. Nagging, pestering and
gnashing your teeth will not make the process move along any faster. However,
doing those things will brand you as an author that’s difficult to work with
and word like that travels faster than that bug when it smacks across your
windshield. Be patient.
4. Don’t
give up. This is perhaps the most important tip of all. If you want this, if
you want your story to be published, you have to make it happen. You have to keep
getting back up, brushing yourself off and running at it again and again until
you make it. It’s hard. But you can do it. Be the biggest bug on the
windshield.
My Highland BrideHighland Hearts # 2
By: Maeve Greyson
Releasing August 25th, 2015
Loveswept
Perfect for fans of the Highlander novels of Karen Marie Moning and Janet Chapman, Southern sass meets Highland heat in Maeve Greyson’s scintillating new Highland Hearts romance.
With bedroom eyes and racetrack curves, Kenna Sinclair seems like just another pretty Kentucky girl. But she can also read minds, erase memories, and jump through time—a skill set that comes in handy when her matchmaking granny sends her back to thirteenth-century Scotland on the pretext of visiting her older sister. When she encounters the clan’s womanizing man-at-arms, Kenna instantly knows the gorgeous Highlander has only one thing on his mind. She vows to steer clear of him, but after a single electrifying touch, she finds that playing hard to get won’t be quite so easy. . . .
Bewitched by the first lass who could ever resist him, Colum Garrison will do anything to prove his devotion, even ask for Kenna’s hand in marriage—and swear off his chosen form of recreation until their wedding night. It’s a burden for a man of his thunderous appetite, but the sinful temptation is not his alone: Colum’s fetching bride-to-be is practically trembling with anticipation for a moment that can’t come soon enough. When she’s willing, Colum will be ready and waiting—with a love that lasts a lifetime.
Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/05/my-highland-bride-highland-hearts-2-by.html
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23636546-my-highland-bride?from_search=true&search_version=service Goodreads Series Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/137240-highland-hearts
Excerpt
Scotland—The
Highlands—Thirteenth Century
“Have
ye e’er seen such a lovely set o’ bosoms?”
Colum
Garrison lowered his cup enough to peer past the metal rim. Aye. Diarmuid
had the right of it there. The man had a keen eye when it came to the lasses.
The newest serving girl was indeed a comely maid blessed with a bounty of
curves.
Colum
drained the tankard, licking the last of the tangy ale from his lips as he slid
the empty mug to the table. “An untapped MacKenna keg against that fine ale ye
bring all the way from Ireland. What say ye? I gi’ ye fair odds. Whoe’er leaves
the hall with her on his arm claims the spoils.”
Diarmuid
squinted one eye shut while scrubbing his fingers through the short black beard
curling along his jaw. “Fair odds, me arse. If I win the gift of the lass’s
charms, ye’ll gi’ me yer best bow along wi’ that keg of fine MacKenna whisky.”
Colum
tapped a thumb against the handle of his empty tankard. Yon sweetling would
easily choose him o’er Diarmuid, but wager his best bow? O’er something as
flighty as a woman’s druthers?
Instinct and past experience with Diarmuid’s less-than-scrupulous wagers gave him pause. The man’s terms reeked with the stench of a carefully laid trap. Colum drummed his fingers atop the rough table. “That bow was a gift from the chieftain. There’s none like it in all the Highlands.”
Instinct and past experience with Diarmuid’s less-than-scrupulous wagers gave him pause. The man’s terms reeked with the stench of a carefully laid trap. Colum drummed his fingers atop the rough table. “That bow was a gift from the chieftain. There’s none like it in all the Highlands.”
Diarmuid
grinned, held up his index finger, then slowly allowed it to droop at the
knuckle. He gave a sly wink as he flipped the sagging appendage, making it
appear boneless. “What ails ye, m’friend? Are ye no’ feelin’ up for the
wee challenge?”
Colum
banged his empty mug atop the long trestle table and waved the girl toward
them. “I’ll show ye ‘up.’ After the lass has been with me,
she’ll no’ have a hunger for yer wee sausage.”
Diarmuid
rubbed his hands together, his impish grin widening into a devilish smile. “We
shall see, man-at-arms. We shall see.”
The
teasing look in the young woman’s eyes, paired with the coy tilting of her
head, settled the matter nicely. Aye. The lass is as good as mine, and
so is another keg of Diarmuid’s fine ale. Colum slowly
traced a fingertip around the curve of his mug. Soon his fingers would trace
along much finer curves.
The
girl tucked her broad wooden platter under one arm and sashayed toward them.
When she reached the men, the red-haired vixen leaned across the bench and
propped a hand atop the table. Her smile widened as she not so subtly arched
her back, providing an even better view of the creamy cleavage about to spill
free of her tightly laced kirtle. “Aye, master. Can I be a fetchin’ anythin’
for ye?”
Colum
released his most beguiling smile, leaned forward, and ever so gently slid a finger
beneath the young maid’s silky chin. Diarmuid ne’er stood a chance. This wee
filly was already his. The truth of it shone in her clear blue eyes and her
barely parted lips, already beggin’ for his kisses.
A
deep voice boomed across the crowded hall. “Colum! Here. Now. The MacKenna bids
ye see him in his solar at once. Best be about it, man.”
Colum
let his hand drop to the table, clenching his teeth to keep from cursing aloud.
Damn Galen and his ill-timed interruptions. What the hell was wrong wi’ the man?
Could he no’ see there was serious business at hand?
Diarmuid
chuckled and scooted Colum farther down the bench, bumping his way in front of
the still smiling maid. “Dinna worry, friend. I’ll make sure this fine young
lass doesna feel neglected by yer absence.” Diarmuid tickled a finger up and
down the maid’s lightly freckled forearm as a beguiling smile lit up his face.
“Do ye happen to fancy sausages, m’dear one?”
A
low-throated growl escaped him as Colum swung out from the bench and stood. He
searched the far wall of stone archways for Galen. ’Twas a sorry day when he’d
been fool enough to make that clot-head his second in command. Aye, Galen was a
fine warrior, but the stubborn bastard had a talent for bein’ a verra large
pain in the arse.
Barrel-chested
Galen grinned and waved from the widest of the arches leading up to the private
rooms of the keep. He nodded and winked, rolling up on his toes to bounce a bit
higher than his stumpy height, which barely brought him to Colum’s shoulder.
His smirking grin widened to a toothy smile as Colum closed in on him. “Now,
lad, dinna fret. I’m sure ye can win the lass back from Diarmuid as soon as the
chief is done wi’ ye.”
“Ye
just cost me m’best bow and a keg of whisky.” Colum shoved Galen aside as he
shouldered through the doorway.
Galen
lowered his broad shoulder and effectively bounced Colum a few steps sideways
into the opposing wall. The man might be short of stature but he was nearly as
wide as he was tall and stood as solid as Beinn Nibheis. He jabbed a
short stubby finger toward the center of Colum’s chest. “I saved ye from yer
chieftain’s wrath, ye ungrateful bastard. Were ye no’ just tellin’ me how the
MacKenna warned ye to leave the maids alone for a bit? Did he no’ tell ye he
grows weary of gettin’ his arse chewed by both his wife and her grandmother for
how ye run through the women in the keep? Good Lord, man. Ye should be a
thankin’ me. I saw Mother Sinclair herself headin’ toward ye from the
kitchens.”
Damn
the squat bastard. Colum rolled his shoulder, still stinging
from scraping the rough stone of the wall, and glanced back behind them. Sure
enough, Granny Sinclair was currently blessing out Diarmuid. She had one bony
hand clamped around the serving girl’s elbow while she shook a bent finger just
inches from the tip of Diarmuid’s nose. The old woman didna even pause for
breath as she whipped around and shook the same scolding finger in the face of
the wide-eyed maid.
It appeared a debt
of gratitude was owed rather than a swift kick in the arse. Colum clapped a
hand to Galen’s meaty shoulder and hurried them both farther down the hall. “I
owe ye greatly, m’fine friend. I swear t’ye, I’ll do the sword dance at yer
next weddin’.”
About Maeve Greyson
No one has the power to shatter your dreams unless you give it to them. That’s been Maeve Greyson’s mantra since she was a girl. When she’s not at the full time day job at the steel mill, Maeve’s writing romances about sexy Highlanders and the women who tame them. Tucked away in a five acre wood, Maeve listens to the wind singing through the trees and hears her characters telling their stories. Her work is proofed by her sharp-eyed dog, Jasper, and her greatest supporter is her long suffering husband of over thirty-five years who’s learned not to throw away any odd sticky notes filled with strange phrases.
~~~oOo~~~
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Ebook copies of:
JUST A LITTLE CRUSH by Renita Pizzitola
CRUSHED by Lauren Layne
AGAINST THE CAGE by Sidney Halston
POSSESS by Laura Marie Altom
AFTER MIDNIGHT by Kathy Clark
MAKE YOU BURN by Megan Crane
MY HIGHLAND LOVER by Maeve Greyson
BREAKING NOAH by Missy Johnson and Ashley Suzanne
A FASHIONABLE INDULGENCE by K.J. Charles
FORBIDDEN by Jacquelyn Frank
