My Debut Novel is now Available!!!

After a lot of blood, sweat and tears ... my debut novel, "CLUB JUSTICE," is now available on Amazon! I hope you will check it out and let me know what you think!

CLUB JUSTICE ~ Kindle Version

CLUB JUSTICE ~ Paperback

Dominoes

Conflict is paramount in a good story. As much as we love our characters we must put roadblocks in their way, creating hardship and drama, to write a compelling tale. In thinking about the plot for the second book in my Trinity Falls Series this week, I've been pondering crisis and climax, looking for "THE BIG ONE," and then real life reared its head and threatened to bring a friend to her knees. While my heart broke, it reminded me that sometimes it's the little things that pile up and tumble like dominoes.

I'm sure most of you have had those times in your life when you throw up your hands and ask yourself "What else could go wrong?" "Could things get any worse?" I know I always knock on wood after asking that last one. It always seems things can, and do, get worse before better.  Your problems don't have to be big things. Maybe alone none of them would even be a blip on the radar, but combined, they bury you. The same is true for your characters. Stop and think about consequences. You make one mistake and everything snowball’s from there.

An everyday example could be making an accounting error in your checkbook. What starts out a simple mathematical error causes a check or more to bounce. Each bounced check results in a thirty to thirty-five dollar overdraft fee. When you're short of funds to begin with, this just adds insult to injury. The fees add up, cutting into the money you have for the next week’s bills and make you short. If this is your story, what happens then? Does your hero/heroine bounce more checks in an effort to catch up, piling on the fees? Maybe there's no money for groceries. Without gas money they can't get to work, which puts them further in the hole. How embarrassing is it when the school starts calling because there are no funds in your child's lunch account? Does your character's electric get turned off? Does the bank threaten to repo their car or foreclose on their house? It is the domino effect.

This is just one example, but I think you see where I’m going. One tiny error and you can lose everything.  If you can see the reality, so can your readers. Create conflict that they relate to. Your readers will bond with the characters as they go through trials and tribulations that they themselves have been through or fear. Building this connection will draw your audience in and invoke their heart, and that is what makes for a great story.

Love & Creativity!

~ Mara  

Well .. it is the New Year. No more excuses of holidays to put off editing, promoting, and writing. So ... my first novel is now in the hands of a couple trusted people for a read over. I started a website last night. (It's a WIP and not public yet) And I have dusted off 2009's NaNo novel and started revisions. 2012 is looking good.  

Love and creativity, 

Novel decisions ...

I've been busy this past week with preparations for both Christmas and Club Justice. My family will all be home this year! My youngest brother is a MP and just returned from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He will be stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri now, but will be bringing his wife and two sons home to Indiana for a visit. The second to the youngest will be coming in from a more tame local of Houston, but we will be happy to see him just the same! LOL The other three of us just stayed right here. *wink* 

Between the phone calls, emails, and texts that surround this time of year I have found little time to write. Don't think I have been idle though! I commissioned a book cover made for Club Justice that I can use to publish it in ebook format and in part for print through CreateSpace. So part of those emails flying was looking at mockups, requesting changes, and trying to bring the vision/dream in my head to fruition. I also spent a lot of time looking into CreateSpace. If anyone has any experience with it I would LOVE to hear about it, bad or good. 

Other than that ... I've sent the MS to a trusted friend for a read over for story line and have spoke with another who is very good at proofreading for both content and technical aspects. I don't expect anyone to have time until after the first of the year, but it feels good to be shuffling forward in my quest. So that is my update. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and are gifted with family, love, and creativity. 

Love, 

     

I Finished my Novel!!

Yes I have been writing something, just not BLOG entries! LOL 87,608 words of blood, sweat, and tears! Finishing felt AMAZING! I was on top of the world. I read through it, start to finish tweaking and editing, and loved it! *Thank God I trusted my writing partner in those moments of doubt* Call it vanity, but it is a good feeling to read back over your work and enjoy it. 

So, with that finished, I have a couple people that have agreed to read over it and offer their thoughts and expertise. *hugs!* However, what no one warned me of ... now comes the hard part. What do I do with my baby now? Do I go for ease and instant gratification and put it up on Amazon through the KDP program, or do I shop it around to try and find a publisher interested? It doesn't fall easily into a genre category. The tale is of family and love. It involves drama, crime, & passion. Maybe the encompassing mainstream? Ughhh I'm in uncharted waters here people. Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated! 

Love, 

Mara   

BLOGGER procrastination of the worst kind!

I can't believe it has been 6 months! *BLUSHES* Unbelievable! I wish I had some fabulously creative excuse that would inspire you all, something to tug at the heart strings and put you all firmly behind me ... but truth be known it was just pure laziness and life that kept me away.

For much of those six months I've indulged my creative side with little tales inspired by contest prompts on Writing.com or played at a round robin story with a dear friend. TONS of fun, but not the step towards further publication I had hoped for. I've recently picked up my novel WIP, Club Justice, and dusted it off in hopes of digging back in. I hope that I can stick to the task there, as well as here, and continue my journey towards publication of a longer piece. Funny how you have to finish it first. lol

Oh! And what would a BLOG visit be with out a bit of shameless self promotion?  LOL I did have a couple more short stories hit the Amazon site while I was gone. These stories are of the naughty erotic variety, always a genre near and dear to my heart. *Wink* Give them a peek if you get at chance!

http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Flashes-Erotica-Quarterly-April/dp/1617060984/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3

http://www.amazon.com/Erotica-Quarterly-July-Shauni-Barencourte/dp/1617061158/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

It is good to be back and I look forward to catching up with everyone! <3

~ Mara McBain

Bernard Pivot BLOGFEST!

What is your favorite word? ~ Minion ... I don't know why other than it makes me laugh and I want one! 

What is your least favorite word? ~ Cunt ... enough said.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? ~ Reading, Incense, laughter

What turns you off? ~ Noise and confusion 

What is your favorite curse word? ~ Fuck .. it can be used sooo many ways!

What sound or noise do you love? ~ Water 

What sound or noise do you hate? ~ Fingernails on a chalkboard ... random noise and confusion.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? ~ Hmmm other than author ... serial killer has often intrigued me. 

What profession would you not like to do? ~ Child Protective Services ... it would send me into the serial killer profession for sure. 

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? ~ "Ahhh there you are! Come on in." 

Fear ...

I don't know if it is a case of mid-manuscript blues or laziness. I've surpassed the 50k mark on my WIP and crept to a near halt. I have maintained my 5k a week goal for a month and a half now, but this week ... this week it is like I am afraid to write. I know that sounds crazy, but that is what it feels like. I don't know if it is fear of not meeting my weekly goals, I mean after all I am only answering to myself, or if it is fear what I am writing is just not going to be good enough as a whole.

My calender for February is brutal when it comes to things that will cut into my writing time. Hitting my 5k mark will be all but impossible with the mixture of no school days, dentist appointments (not to mention the haze I will be in after my wisdom tooth is cut out), working on normal days off, holidays, an anniversary, and two birthdays!

Spilling all that to my beloved writing partner,  Adriana , yesterday she quietly suggested easing up on myself. Her thought was backing off on the word count goal would allow me to breathe and break through the icy fear, allowing me to move forward, even if at a slower pace. Soo we are going to try that. I've backed the magic goal off to 2k a week for this month, obviously more when/if I can manage it. I ended up with with a little over 900 words yesterday, which are the first words of the week. Not a bad start.

Wish me luck.

Love,

MM

Weekly Word Count and Another Publication!

It has been a strange week for writing. I have Wednesday and Friday off and I have to thank God for previously unheard of production this Wednesday. I ended up with 3026 words. That's A new high for me. In comparison, Friday's word count was a paltry 973. This wouldn't be such an issue, I have my 5000 weekly goal broke into 833 words a day 6 days a week with a day off, BUT I didn't write a word Mon., Tue., or Thurs. *winces* I'm not sure what the problem has been this week. I'm confident I will meet my goal with today and tomorrow yet to churn out a mere 1000 words, but it bothers me that really slacked off this week. I could have had 7-8 k this week if I had followed my normal schedule the other days.

Onto good news, two of my short stories, On the Chance and Promise of Tomorrow, were accepted to the Static Movement Anthology, Something from the Attic 2! The editor, the fabulous Chris Bartholomew had such kind words to say about my writing. It is amazing how a couple words of praise can inspire a writer's confidence.

Lotsa Love and Creativity
~MM

A bit of Exposure and Progress

I had a bit of wonderful news the other day...the anthology Literary Foray is now available on Amazon for purchase and they used an excerpt from one of my stories in the description! It really was unexpected and an honor not to mention a great little bit of exposure for me.

Literary Foray

Those that know me well know I am an incredibly slow writer. Those that don't know me ... now you know too. LOL So with the success of my short stories the last two months of 2010 I wanted to build on that in 2011 with my WIP novel. I have a horrible track record of setting novels aside and never picking them back up. I did not want that to happen to Club Justice. I knew I needed goals to keep me moving, but really struggled with what type of goals to set for it. I finally settled on 5000 words a week. Many of you can blow that out in a day, I know, but not me and I figured it was another step in the right direction and a way to keep the words flowing. I started December 27th with 18589 words and when I closed up Word last night I was at 30965. It is humbling to mark the progress and it gives me great hope. I've added a word count widget to my BLOG to publicly track my progress. Maybe it will help keep me on track.

Another thing that I did for the first time is I created an outline for my WIP. How professional of an outline I can't say, however it is something for me to jot down ideas and high points for the story and refer back to when I hit those blank moments at the beginning of a new chapter. Is there anything as terrifying as a blank page? UGH!

I know it has only been two weeks, but as I am getting fond of saying ... it is another step in the right direction. Wish me luck and the same to you my friends.

~ Love
~ MM



Wishing all a Happy, Creative 2011!

I wish all my BLOGGER friends a Happy and CREATIVE 2011! Welcome the year of the Novel!

Love,

MM

Another Short Story Accepted!

I submitted my newest short story, The Library Lady , this morning and it was accepted to the Literary Foray anthology where it will be joining my two previously accepted stories!

Thank you Nicole for your amazing feedback!

~ MM 

Looking Back ~ November 2010

Who is good at keeping New Year's resolutions? Anybody? Anyone? I didn't think so. The old proverb says, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." When it comes to New Year's resolutions I think most of those intentions are forgotten before the hangover subsides. Perhaps knowing this a writing site I belong to, Writing Dot Com, encourages us write them down and post them up for the world to see in the form of a Dear Me letter. This could be either to humiliate us later when we fail miserably, or because we are writers, take your pick. Whatever the reason, this provides us the opportunity towards the end of the year to dust the list off and see how we've done.  When I was asked to do just that, I cringed.

Maybe a little background will shed some light on why I found this request so painful. At this time last year I was immersed in the craziness known as NaNowrimo or National Novel Writing Month. I wrote over fifty thousand words in just a month. I let loose, ignoring my inner editor and wrote more on one project than I had ever written before. I was stoked! My confidence was soaring through the roof! But, I was burnt out. Holding down a fulltime job and cranking out 1667 words a night during the holiday season had taken their toll. I thought I just needed a little break.

I took the month of December and most of January off citing the holiday distractions and burnout as excuses. In the last two weeks of January I managed a short eight hundred and sixty five word tale to win that weeks round of The Weekly Quickie and, of course, my aforementioned Dear Me letter. By now you are probably thinking 'that's not too bad, a month and a half off, and it was over the holidays.' Uh huh ... except I didn't write again until July 21st.

Now maybe the cringe makes sense to you. So, I went back and re-read my Dear Me letter, peeked at my Portfolio, and low and behold, the sun crept from behind the clouds. Maybe my dear friend Giselle saved me by taking over The Weekly Quickie contest, or maybe it was just time. Either way I entered round one of her reign on July 21st and it was like the dam broke. I've wrote fifteen short stories since then. Most have been for The Weekly Quickie, short and sexy, but there have been a few longer pieces mixed in there including a 2nd place entry in The Paradise Cove and an entry to the October Short Shots Contest.

Taking a good look at the goals outlined in "Dear Slacker...err...Me," this is what I found.

1) I will clear the mental hurdle of the novel and complete one, even if it is only for my satisfaction.

          I completed revision on my novelette His Pet,  posting up the final thirteen chapters of the tale and making at least one reader, who had been waiting patiently for two and a half years, very happy. I also worked sporadically on my WIP Club Justice  that sits at just under twenty thousand words to date.

2) I will enter at least eight contests on the WDC site.

          To date I've entered eighteen. Of those eighteen I've placed or rated an honorable mention in twelve, with two others still open for judging.

3) I will submit at least eight items for publication off site.

          I've submitted six so far. Three have been accepted for publication in anthologies and three are pending. UPDATE: The other three were accepted to Daily Flashes of Erotica Quarterly Anthology!

4) By the end of the year I will be able to show at least one of my works off in print, or a sheaf of rejection letters telling me what I must improve.

          Today I held the anthology, Something from the Attic,  in my hands for the first time. Inside its beautiful covers is my short story, "Muse." I can honestly say I am a published author.

When I cringed this morning I thought 2010 was a bit of a disappointment on the writing front, with the exception of my three short stories, none of which were wrote this year, being accepted for print. Doing research for this contest has really opened my eyes and I am amazed at what I have accomplished in what amounts to less than four months. This challenge has encouraged and inspired me. Once again it highlights the finer things about our community.

Thank you.

The Hating Game ~ BLOGSPLASH!!!!

Help Talli Roland's debut novel THE HATING GAME hit the Kindle bestseller list at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk by spreading the word today. Even a few sales in a short period of time on Amazon helps push the book up the rankings, making it more visible to other readers.

Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/hNBkJk


Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/hX2ieD


No Kindle? Download a free app at Amazon for Mac, iPhone, PC, Android and more. Coming soon in paperback. Keep up with the latest at http://www.talliroland.com/.

About THE HATING GAME:

When man-eater Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she's confident she'll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she's perfected from years of her love 'em and leave 'em dating strategy. After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy £200,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it's revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes. Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end?

[If you'd like to help promote Talli's book, please copy this post and paste it onto your blog or FaceBook wall.  Christmas and Hanukkah are right around the corner -- and this would make a great addition to your gift-giving list!] 

~MM

Another Foot in the Door!

Great news tonight ... I just found out that I've had 3 short stories accepted to an Erotica quarterly anthology called Daily Flashes of Erotica. These 4 books offer an erotic tale for each day of the year. Talk about starting your day with a tingle. LOL Just to increase my bookshelf, or decrease my cash *wink*, ... "Voyeur" is slated to be in the Apr-Jun, "Kiss of Leather" in Jul-Sep, and "Solace" in Oct-Dec! Here is a link to the first in the series that while it doesn't have any Mara smut, is currently available from Pill Hill Press / DFE.

Daily Flashes of Erotica

~ MM

Fifteen Books ...

A little bit of fun borrowed from the world of Facebook. Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. 

Okay ... in no particular order ... 

1) Clan of the Cave Bear ~ Jean M. Auel

2) Kushiel's Dart ~ Jacqueline Carey 

3) Lord of the Rings ~ JRR Tolkien

4) The Bears of Blue River ~ Charles Major

5) Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH ~ Robert C. O'Brian

6) Blue Adept ~ Piers Anthony

7) The Minds of Billy Milligan ~ Daniel Keyes

8) Dragon Riders of Pern ~ Anne McCafferey

9) The Wolf and the Dove ~ Kathleen Woodiwiss

10)Passions of the Realm ~ Joan Balser

11)The Black Lion ~ Jude Deveraux

12) Palomino ~ Danielle Steel

13) Anne of Green Gables ~ Lucy Maud Montgomery

14) The Sleeping Beauty series ~  Anne Rice writing as A. N. Roquelaure 

15) All the awesome HORSE books of my youth ... Pounding Hooves ~Dorothy Grunbrock Johnston, Fury ~ Albert G Miller, Man O' War ~ Walter Farley, Misty of Chincoteague ~ Marguerite Henry, The Black Stallion ~ Walter Farley, My Friend Flicka ~ Mary O Hara, and Black Beauty ~ Anna Sewell

LOL An eclectic list to be sure, ranging from childhood on up these are some of the tales that stuck with me. <3 

On a more serious note, doing this made me think of what I've read lately, and if it wasn't on-line, I haven't. I miss curling up with a good book. When did I get too busy to enjoy the simple things??? 

~ MM

When Blessings Hurt

My sister-in-law, Connie, passed away Saturday morning. She was only 40. Her life has been full of medical maladies ... Juvenile diabetes, a car accident that left her in a coma for a month ... she was never the same, Dialysis, kidney and pancreas transplants, then the kidney being unknowingly nicked in a "routine" biopsy ... she nearly died from the internal bleeding before they figured out they had screwed up, and then this past July she had a stroke.

She has spent the last 5 1/2 months bouncing back and forth between the hospital and a physical therapy center. For every step forward there were three steps back. She continued to have strokes. Finally the doctors told us that the anti-rejection medicine she has been on for years because of her transplants, had weakened the walls of her blood vessels. This meant the strokes would continue. There was nothing we could do, but wait for "the big one." I felt like we were at Talladega. *small smile* Those of you who aren't NASCAR fans might not get that, but it would have amused Connie.

Her passing was without question a blessing. She is in a better place. She is no longer suffering. So why then are we? Perhaps we are selfish wishing her here with us. Regardless, she will be missed. I pray she is happy and the pain is gone. I know that one day I will think of her and smile again. It has been a lot of years since I could say that.

Rest in peace little sister.

~ MM

It arrived today!!!

My copy of  Something from the Attic arrived today! It was an amazing feeling to hold a book in my hands and read one of my stories. I can't even imagine the thrill of those blessed with a book deal. I can't stop grinning over a short story!

Celebrate!

If you are not a follower already I highly recommend you check out The Alliterative Allomorph ! Not only is Jessica an incredible author, but her BLOG is fabulous AND ... as if that wasn't enough for us writers ... now she is giving away three Amazon Gift Cards!!!! All you have to do is be a follower to enter! As our amazing host has already pointed out ... Easy-Peasy!!! So check it out and tell her Mara sent you .... so she can say WHO? lol Just kidding!

Love,

MM

My First Time in Print!

I am proud, down right giddy actually, to announce that my first short story to make it to print is now available! My tale, MUSE, is included in an anthology, Something from the Attic, from Static Movement Press and is available through the Pill Hill Press store. Below is the cover art and a link if you are interested!

Love,

MM

Something from the Attic