About S.J. Maylee

S.J. Maylee fell in love with storytelling at a young age and with it came a deep-seated desire for everyone to find their happily ever after. She’s finding the happy endings for her characters one steamy story at a time. When she’s not reading or writing, you can find her caring for her garden, laughing with her two young sons, or dancing to her husband’s music. She’s a PMP (Project Management Professional), Nia instructor, and coffee addict. As a writer she has a tendency to break hearts, but she always glues them back together

Links of the week #13

Posted on April 7, 2012 by S.J. Maylee

I don’t know how they all do it, but man I loved the posts this week…

Craft Books

I’m starting with the big guns, Jennifer Crusie put together a list of writing craft books: The Argh Writing Craft Reading List

Plotting & Prose

Kara Lennox, a.k.a. Karen Leabo joined Writers In The Storm and her first post is fantastic! Plot Fixer – Part I: Your Premise Isn’t Compelling

Katie Ganshert was at Rachelle Gardner’s this week and provided the 2-3 punch, seriously good stuff: Balancing Story and Prose

May 14th! So exciting, that’s when…well check out the post from The Bookshelf Muse: Official Deets About The Emotion Thesaurus

Blurbs

Sharla Rae, was also at Writers in the Storm this week: Gotcha Blurbs: Easy and Fun To Write

Social Media

Molly Greene has an updated one of her popular posts: How To Succeed On Twitter

Writer Business

Do you have the patient’s to be a writer? I’ve read a lot on the web about the coming and goings of would be writers. Not all of us have what it takes or the patience to do the training it takes. Here’s hoping I’m still around next year and I just might, because even the title of this next post didn’t scare me away 🙂 Thanks Rachelle Gardner for the reality check: Writers and Taxes

Place Descriptions

Lydia Sharp over at The Sharp Angle provided good food for thought: Finding Excitement Potential in a Potentially Boring Setting

Characters

Becca Puglisi of The Bookshelf Muse was over at write to done and gave us: Beyond the Cliché: How to Create Characters that Fascinate

Editing

Janice Hardy hit it right out of the park with this one Seems So: Are Your Characters Making Misleading Assumptions?

Backing-up

What’s your back-up plan? Is it a wish and a prayer? Do you email your most import files to yourself? Do you have a flash drive? Do you use a service? I’ve used all theses including drop boxes free service, it’s only 2 GB, but it’s free. I don’t know about you, but all of my writing stuff is not yet 2 GB. If you refer folks they’ll give you even more free space…here’s my referral code if you’d like to give it a try: http://db.tt/EiAxz9qS and if you do, don’t forget to share the love and send out your referral code. Help a friend day: do you know someone who’s plan is a wish and a prayer?

Thank you Susan Hanniford Crowley, I like this check list and I’m going to create my own: What A Writer Needs, Part 9 – Encouragement

Hope you all are having a fine weekend and maybe a little chocolate. Tomorrow I’m looking forward to the deviled eggs, yummy 🙂

Flash Fiction #2

Posted on April 6, 2012 by S.J. Maylee

Welcome to my Second Flash Fiction Friday. Thanks for stopping by and please follow the link to get to the other FFF posts. Flasher Fiction Friday. Don’t forget to let me know what you think of my second 100.

“You’ll look good in whatever you decide to wear, Angie.” His roommate was gorgeous, but it was her heart that healed his soul and made him fall in love with her. Too bad he could never tell her.

“That’s easy for you to say, Jack. I mean would you look at you?”

She stood there half dressed with concern evident in her dazzling eyes. “What?”

“When are you going to start dating? James and Liz left us over a year ago. At least I’m trying to move on, I think you should too.”

“Angie, I’m fine right where I am.”

ROW80 -Round 2 2012- The Goals

Posted on April 2, 2012 by S.J. Maylee

What’s Row80? A round of words in 80 days is the writing challenge that knows you have a life.

This is my 2nd round of 80-days and this time I’m digging in with both feet and a few other parts too. I actually have other goals in my life besides writing. What did you say, really, you do too? There is no reason to dissect my goals, especially with the ROW80 theme. Besides some shiny new writing goals, I will also be sharing my healthy journey and Nia training goals.

2011 was my year of active change. Not only did I start writing my first serious WIP (the others will go unmentioned), but I started and stayed on a healthy journey and I fell in love with Nia. On April 4th I opened my Simply Sidney blog and a few short months later was introduced to Nia by a fellow blogger. On October 23 I started this blog. Right now SJMaylee is my writing home base, but some day, who knows when, I will be mentioning my published books. In November I took The Nia White Belt Training and ever since I have been studying and trying to learn a routine. And there is that Project Management certification that requires me to do continuing education. Lots of stuff going on for sure, but 2012 is a continuation of forward movement.

On a personal front I’m working on my writing chops, my WIP, my health and Nia. On a family front, I’m raising two active little ones, taking care of my husband of 12 years, our home and that evil day job, which can thankfully be done at home. My goals for round 2 will be based on my personal goals, but I will be keeping my family in mind. No crazy bouncing stretches for me, smooth yoga is the way.

We have a life and that life nourishes our soul and comes out in our writing. Ah…..feels good.

What does my soul want? It wants to finish a book!

My only goal last round was to spend an hour a day with my characters. Living with my characters keeps them close and talking to me=happy place. Last round I also flirted with a word count goal. No more flirting, it’s time to get serious, but what should the number be? I was handling 2,000 words a week pretty well WHEN I managed my time (ended the round with almost 11,000 words). Some day soon I want my weekly number to be 5,000. I need a challenge right now, not a set-up for failure.

The Goals

Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters
Write 2,000 words each week or 22,000 for the round
Spend time editing at least 2 times each week
Finish reading current craft book and start another
Participate in Before You Hit Send Self-Editing Workshop in April
Turn 2nd draft chapters to my writer friend for her critique
Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit
Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week
Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)
Listen to the Nia sound track for the Sanjana routine each week and add Opal when I get to their bars
Plan out and start participating in the last of my needed continuing education credits for PMP certification

That’s one long list, especially compared to my list for the 1st round. Well I wanted to get serious. Wonder how drama filled my updates will be? I’m a pretty reasonable person so I hope to get the drama limited or interesting at least 🙂

Six Sentence Sunday #12

Posted on April 1, 2012 by S.J. Maylee

Happy Six Sunday, thanks for visiting AND commenting!! I’m continuing this week with 6 from my Novella WIP. Jake and Lydia are in the room where they will be working on a new project. Lydia has been working desperately to quiet her internal fantasies & Jake has been trying to remember to keep his hands off Lydia. The two seem to be doing a bang up job of crossing their signals, lets see if they do any better this week…

“Let’s start by creating a list of policies we need and then we’ll start writing. I want to get a couple started before we order lunch,” he grumbled.

“Lunch, well I…,” she attempted to explain her lunch was in the frig down the hall, but stopped short when their eyes locked.

“Forget your lunch plans; you’re not leaving my side until we’re done here.”

The demand made her heart leap in her chest and heat pool in her core. She wondered what excited her more, time with Jake or the threat shining in his dark eyes.

Hmm, is Jake turning on his dominate side unknowingly and does he realize she likes it? Thank you so much for stopping by today!! I’d like to know what you really think of my 6. I need the advice, I’m a newbie and have much to learn. Don’t forget to check out the other Six Sunday authors. Lots of good stuff at Six Sunday. Try to find a new favorite today. happy hunting!

Links of the week #12

Posted on March 31, 2012 by S.J. Maylee

Hope you are having a happy weekend. Below are lots of good tidbits, don’t miss the video at the bottom. Enjoy!

Writer Business/Life

Rachelle Gardner started a series of posts this week: How to Make a Living as a Writer, Part One, Part Two & Making a Living as a Writer: Challenges

Shelley Munro gives a gold mind of good stuff in her post this week: Tools for Writers. She includes links to posts on her journey, a post on dealing with the mean pirates, a post on some cool free tools from Google, and a link to Roni Loren’s fantastic post in which she provides books for your writer woes…Plus she provides information for joining a yahoo loop that provides free classes- Marketing for Romance Writers

David Gaughran provided this cool bit: Selling Ebooks Direct: How To Set Up A Simple E-Bookstore

Kait Nolan shared her playlist in this post: Daughter of the Hunt Playlist

Promotion

Toni Kelly is back this week with Promotion: Stage 3

Character Development

Sharla Rae was at Jenny Hansen’s site this week for Keep Your Characters True To Themselves

Point of View

Are you over complicating your story? From The Other Side of the Story Lost in the Crowd: Working With Multiple Point of View Characters

Backstory

Also from The Other Side of the Story: Baby Got Backstory: Dealing With Backstory in Your Novel

The above link pairs really well with this link from The Sharp Angle: Good Flashback vs Bad Flashback

Social Media

Thank you Kristen Lamb for this one, I do feel better Understanding Author Platform Part 2–All the World Wide Web’s a Stage

Over at The Other Side of the Story I found a real treat: Guest Author Tiffany Reisz : A Twitter-Sweet Love Story

I hope everyone found something.

To end I have a little treat. My dear husband found this video for me. My original love, Eddie Vedder is singing Falling Slowly with Glen Hansard!

Six Sentence Sunday #11

Posted on March 25, 2012 by S.J. Maylee

I missed the last couple of Six Sentence Sundays due to a wonderful vacation, or was that a day-dream? No, because a day-dream would have better coffee 🙂 I survived my in-laws pre-ground coffee and do have many precious memories stored away.

Anyways, I’m back at it and continuing this week with 6 from my Novella WIP. I left Jake and Lydia in the room where they will be working on a new project. Lydia has been working desperately to quiet her internal fantasies & Jake has been trying to remember to keep his hands off Lydia. They are both now standing at the window looking out over the ravine… and now for another 6

“I’m sorry, just lost in my thoughts,” she rushed to reassure him. “Sometimes I get lost in the view,” she was not at all tempted to return her gaze to the woods.

“I remember when that tree fell a couple years ago. I’m glad they haven’t taken it away,” he murmured.

“Agreed, sometimes things should be left alone.”

Jake looked at her like she had slapped him.

Oh boy, I think these two are going to be getting their signals crossed. Well come back next week and see what I reveal next.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!! I’d like to know what you really think of my 6. I need the advice, I’m a newbie and have much to learn. Don’t forget to check out the other Six Sunday authors. Lots of good stuff at Six Sunday. Try to find a new favorite today. happy hunting!

Links of the week #11

Posted on March 24, 2012 by S.J. Maylee

I’ve gathered a little bit of this and a little bit of that this week. Hope everyone finds something.

One of my fav reviewing sites, Delighted Reader, is taking applications!! Check it out: Taking applications for reviewers!

Editing:
Systematic Revisions (redux) from Sierra Godfrey

Over at Anne R. Allen’s Blog: When Should an Author Hire an Editor? How to Avoid Scams

Grammar:

Freshen up on word confusion with Julie Glover this week and her post Miss Spelling Returns: Words that Get Confused

Promotion:

Toni Kelly at Nights of Passion is back this week with Promotion: Stage 2

Social Media:

Love Kristen Lamb, you know that, right? When Jacqui Murray mentions Kristen in her Write Anything post How to do Social Media Right I had to click through and it was excellent food for thought.

Roni Loren asked this week: Are You Hiding Behind a Wall on Your Blog? she provides examples AND solutions

Query Letter

Scott Eagan lists the points that need to be caught in the troubling blurb paragraph: Your Story Blurb Has To Be Precise – Rejections Come When These Aren’t

Plotting

I enjoyed Lydia Sharp’s post this week about The Secret Plot immensely, must read for plotters!!

Characters

Janice Hardy from The Other Side of the Story provided: What’s My Motivation? Tips on Showing Character Motivations

Write Fresh

Jenny Hansen’s blog had Margie Lawson this week for #Writing 50,000 Inimitable Smiles by Margie Lawson

Place Descriptions

Janice Hardy from The Other Side of the Story also provided: The Literary Tour Guide: How Much do you Need to Describe Your Setting?

Everyone needs a good laugh

Still laughing my ass off about this one, thank you Jenny: The Almost X-Rated Garage Sale

Well that’s all for this week folks, have a good one.

Flash Fiction #1

Posted on March 22, 2012 by S.J. Maylee

Welcome to my FIRST Flash Fiction Friday and my first M/M mini-scene. Thanks for stopping by and please follow the link to get to the other FFF posts. Flasher Fiction Friday. Don’t forget to let me know what you think of my first 100.

John seized Sean’s neck and their eyes locked. Pent up anger would loosen its hold over Sean if they stayed connected. Nothing about their relationship was easy except these stolen moments in the woods. John took in the rage which threatened to overtake Sean. A tentative caress would be the sign Sean was released from the anger’s hold and John yearned for the touch. Sean’s blue eyes darkened, it was starting to work. The connection stole his energy, but it would return with Sean’s first touch. The Seconds continued to tick by, but John would wait, he would always wait.

ROW80 check-in #12

Posted on March 21, 2012 by S.J. Maylee

The end of the my first round of 80-days has arrived. I survived. More importantly I wrote. I continued working on my first ever WIP and started my second, adding just shy of 12,000 words. Not bad considering I WAS the girl who was too afraid to even have a word count goal. I have continued to find like-minded folks through the social medias and I’m finding my stride.

This round helped me to dip my toe at a word count goal (2,000/week, which I hit a few times during the end of the round) and that more than anything is helping me to claim the name of writer.

Writer is NOT my only goal here, so onward I must march.

I’m excited an anxious to start my 2nd round of 80-days. My mind is all a crazy with goal ideas. I took it easy with my first round goal, but it helped me to take a firm step forward. My goal for this 1st round was to simply spend one hour a day with my characters. The hour helped to spur word count sprints and would leave me giddy all day long!! I have a strong desire to challenge myself in the 2nd round. My hour will remain, but word counts and edit goals WILL be added.

Thank you to all the other ROW80 participants!! We hung in there and I’m very proud of us all.

Goodbye round 1, you will always be my first and for that alone I’m taking fond memories with me.

Links of the week #10

Posted on March 17, 2012 by S.J. Maylee

Finding incredible posts to read while you are on vacation is like finding the perfect shell on the beach, found a couple of those too. Per my pattern I have a great list below, enjoy

1st things first, the end of the paypal trouble. Morticia Knight at Daring Adventures in Writing provided: #Paypal #Censorship Fiasco is Over!!! (At Least For Now). Sara York the Author of Sexy Books for Smart Women and Men published: PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, Censorship and Writing, which includes a great quote from Sara and an update from Mark Coker Founder Smashwords

Toni Kelly from Nights of Passion started a new series this week!! Promotion: Stage 1

Ann Cory reminded me we are not alone with her post: Insecurities and Synopsis Writing

Jenny Hansen had a guest this week, Tiffany Lawson Inman, and she included a guest too, Teel James Glenn: What Is More Dramatic Than A Fight? by Tiffany Lawson Inman

Sonia G Medeiros posted yesterday The Art of Stumbling in the Street, she talks about StumbleUpon and the street art she’s found there- love when art gets my mind all a plotting, thanks Sonia

Janice Hardy at The Other Side of the Story helps us strengthen our prose this week with Do or Do Not. There is No Try: Clarifying What Your Characters Do. Do you have half-finished manuscript? The Other Side of the Story can help with that too: So Where Were We Again? Salvaging Half-Finished Manuscripts.

Molly Greene provided the Best Editing Tip Ever #2 – Mobi Files!

Lydia Sharp had a fantastic post this week with Writing Toward Your Midpoint

I’ve had a wonderful vacation week. Sadly today is my last full day and tomorrow is a travel day, bummer. Great memories and lots of pictures in my camera and mind will carry me home and back to finding posts to share with all of you.