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
I had high hopes for this week, thirty-three is one of my favorite numbers. When both of your kids have birthdays in the same week and you’re hosting the huge family/friend party on Sunday, things tend not to go as planned. I got to as many posts as I could and of course I have my fav SYTYCD performance of the week below, but I’d love it if you could help me out.
Nigel reminded me of a George Ballanchine quote, “I don’t want dancers who want to dance. I want dancers who have to dance.” I agree with Nigel, this performance captures that statement, plus the lighting is fabulous.
Thanks for stopping. Another picture…another 100 words.
Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Last week he thought the retreat was a lame idea. This morning he yelled profusely at his brother for scheduling a double massage with Shelia and now she’d scared the masseuse away.
“I didn’t mean for him to leave.” She rolled her eyes. “Who’d have thought a masseuse would be so sensitive.”
“You complained about his hands.”
She sat up, apparently unconcerned with flashing her beautiful breasts. He stared unabashedly, his day was picking up.
“Shit, I’m sorry, Tony.”
“Don’t be.”
“How about you take your eyes off of my chest and come over here and work on my back.”
Hope you enjoyed my flash today!! Don’t forget to follow the link to get to the other FFF posts. Flasher Fiction Friday. Or click away on the links below.
Happy Six Sunday. Thanks for visiting this week and I’d love to know what you think!! I have another 6 from my latest Novella BDSM WIP. It’s a sequel to the WIP I have been sharing these past many weeks. Last Week: while in Chicago for a conference, Janna gets a chance to enter a BDSM club for the first time. She’s found her escort in Master Simon. Last week he walked her to the playroom door and she walked right in and got an eye full of a couple in mid-scene. This Week: Once again, I’m giving you the very next 6.
The man thrust his cock in and out of her mouth, his control clear. Heat pooled between Jenna’s legs and her breasts tingled with desire. She’d read scenes just like this one. It was beautiful. It was true. She wanted to be that girl.
Will Janna get a taste of what she wants and will it be Master Simon at the helm? 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 and its days are now sadly numbered. I’m not crying. Try to find a new favorite today. happy hunting!
All lovely things come to an end, eventually. The end of summer is getting closer, total bummer. I’m thankful Michigan has a law regarding the start of public school, not before labor day. Sure, it keeps families vacationing longer, but it also ensures we have the whole month of August to enjoy, very nice. I’m trying to not freak out about how my days will change. I might need to add mommy chauffeur to my goal list. All the running around will make my days tighter, and although I’ve improved my time management, I’m going to have a real test of my skills this fall. I’ve worked hard on building my writing momentum and I have no desire to slow down. Some things are impossible to avoid.
I want to give a special shout out to my youngest, he turns 3 today. Quarter after four o’clock in the afternoon three years ago you finally came out of my belly at a tremendous speed. You were over a week late, but I’ve forgiven you for that. You are a joy in our lives and I love you very much.
Motivation Jars (14-goals in all & $7.50 is up for grabs each week): 13-goals had real good progress or they’re in line for progress. Wardrobe Jar gets $6.96 (total so far: $47.67) and NOT my political party of choice jar gets $0.54 (total so far: $4.83)
The Goals – week-7 results
Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters– done
Pick a title for Voyage Novu #1 & #2- glad I didn’t put a due date on this goal, because it’s giving me a roller coaster ride. My list of possibilities is growing, though so that’s something.
Write 3,000 words each week or 33,000 for the round- 1,188 words,I think I might have deleted more words then added this week, bummer. I’m going to have to do a read through before I can figure out where I’m going, which halted my word count this week.
Spend time editing at least 3 times each week- done. I spent 3-days editing this week.
Send Voyage Novu #1 to 2nd beta- Goal complete.
Finish Editing Voyage Novu #1- I finished my beta’s notes and I’m in the middle of another read through, great 2-simultaneous reads throughs. Let’s hope I keep the stories from crossing 🙂
Voyage Novu#1 Query/Synopsis: finish, polish, get 2nd opinions, finalize AND send out 1st round- I made a bit of progress this week on the synopsis and I’m looking forward to giant leaps next week. The yahoo group Marketing for Romance Writers will hold pitch camp this week.
Finish first draft of Voyage Novu#2 and begin to edit- With about 5,000 words left to write on VN#2, I’d like to see this goal begin after labor day.
Finish reading current craft book and start another- a whole chapter done, I’ve moved at snails pace on this one, but I only have one chapter left now.
Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorielimit- done. 🙂
Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week- Upward Punch: start in the ready position. Your elbow pushes your fist from the palm up ready position and spirals the forearm bone to a full extension with the palm down. Reverse move back to the ready position. Sense the stop. Benefit: strengthens your core as well as your arm and will enhance your sense of personal power.
Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)- I wrote out the bars for the next song in the routine, next week I’ll need to document the movement.
Finish needed continuing education, enter all credits on PMI site and save my PMP certification for another 3-years- finished the 1st book and now I have just one book left to read and just over a month before my certification is up for renewal. I think I might just squeak by on this one.
Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities- Done, just one parent email and one trip up to the school to pick up the mail. Yeah for another slow week.
I’m hoping we all have a nice smooth week, daily progress, hard stuff first, loads of writing and tons of fun.
It’s Saturday and time to review the treats from the week. SYTYCD was back in a Mia Michaels kind of way. I’ve picked a powerful performance for you and you’re not going to want to miss it.
This week the great dance show was back and all performances were choreographed by Mia Michaels. Oh, bells!! Love Mia’s choreography. But the Top-14 faced a great dancer-challenge. They’d be performing previously performed routines, routines choreographed for past seasons, making it really easy to see where this year’s dancers fall short in direct comparison to past contestants. It may have been a bit cruel, but so is the life of a dancer. One performance stood out. It was not better than the original, but stood on its own. This routine made me cry when Kayla and Kupono performed it in season five, so powerful. I do suggest watching both performances, but please watch Lindsay and Cole first.
Both performances made me cry, how about you?
Lindsay & Cole performing “Addiction” choreographed by Mia Michaels
Thanks for stopping. Another picture…another 100 words.
Photo Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
“The art exhibit opens tonight.” She forced her fingers to relax their grip. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her nerves on edge.
“Fine, what time should I be home?”
“You don’t have to—”
“We agreed to keep up the charade. I’m not going back on my word.”
“Yes, your word.” She wanted to tell him where he could stuff his word.
The kiss they shared a week ago was forgotten and replaced with the cold neglect she’d come to expect. She never wanted him to hate her, but he did and she deserved it.
Hope you enjoyed my flash today!! Don’t forget to follow the link to get to the other FFF posts. Flasher Fiction Friday. Or click away on the links below.
Tuesdays aren’t for flashing…they’re for teasing. The rules of TT: I select the picture and 200 words to tease.
Photo Credit: Dave R Farmer
The mist rolled through the flowers like a long lost friend. She’d never seen the meadow before, but the image kept coming to her. She’d forgotten so much in the accident last year, making her imagination a tricky thing. She’d always wanted brothers and sisters. In her vision she was the oldest of four, no five.
Her mother’s maid packed the picnic and mother encouraged them all to find the Blackstonia before they closed for the day. She and Georgette chased each other to their favorite open meadow, half tripping and full on giggling along the way. They came to a full halted stop at the edge of the plane. The mist was heavier here, it kissed your skin like a whisper. Beyond the tree, Susanna searched. Would he come today? Would she see the man that had quickly and quietly come to brighten her mornings and occupy her mind? She squinted and made out a flick of his cloak.
“He’s here”
“Who’s here?”
“What?” She shook her head from the disorienting vision. “Oh. Hi, Father. I was just breathing life into my imagination again.”
“Susanna, who’s here?”
She thought of the cloaked man, if only it could be him.
Hope you enjoyed my tease today!! This is the beginning of a story I’ve been wanting to write for some time. Don’t forget to visit the other teasers at Tantalizing Tuesday. Or click away on the links below.
Happy Six Sunday. Thanks for visiting this week and I’d love to know what you think!! I have another 6 from my latest Novella BDSM WIP. It’s a sequel to the WIP I have been sharing these past many weeks. Last Week: while in Chicago for a conference, Janna gets a chance to enter a BDSM club for the first time. She’s found her escort in Master Simon. Last week he walked her to the playroom door. This Week: I’m giving you the very next 6.
Club music, with a heavy bass, beat through her chest. Smacks of paddles, whooshes of whips, and bodies meeting wrenched throughout the room. Her eyes wide with trepidation and exhilaration located the nearest scene. Her feet found their way.
The woman knelt before her Dom, her eyes focused on him alone. Her hands bound behind her back displayed her trust. Janna melted in want.
Will Janna get a taste of what she wants? 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 and its days are now sadly numbered. I’m not crying. Try to find a new favorite today. happy hunting!
My first normally scheduled week in weeks. What a relief. The first real test of my new plan, hard stuff first. I started the week diving into edits and the notes from my lovely beta reader and I sprinkled in several things that I usually push till the end of the week. Did I feel more on top of my list? Did I feel less stress?
Typical things happened this week. I started out strong, the week got away from me at the 3/4 point, and I struggled in the end. Apparently, pacing is not just for your prose. For week 7, I’m going to work on hard stuff first and forward movement all week long.
Motivation Jars (14-goals in all & $7.50 is up for grabs each week): 13-goals had real good progress or they’re in line for progress. Wardrobe Jar gets $6.96 (total so far: $40.71) and NOT my political party of choice jar gets $0.54 (total so far: $4.29)
The Goals – week-6 results
Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters– done
Pick a title for Voyage Novu #1 & #2- a couple ideas are brewing, but I’m not going to rush it.
Write 3,000 words each week or 33,000 for the round- last week I was short by 1,295 words and this week I was short by 843 words. Better, but still a miss.
Spend time editing at least 3 times each week- I spent 6-days editing this week.
Send Voyage Novu #1 to 2nd beta- Goal complete.
Finish Editing Voyage Novu #1- I got through a giant chunk of my beta’s notes this week. Next week I hope to finish those notes and start another read through.
Voyage Novu#1 Query/Synopsis: finish, polish, get 2nd opinions, finalize AND send out 1st round- got some new inspiration this week and made more progress on the query.
Finish first draft of Voyage Novu#2 and begin to edit- I’ve been saying all along: at 3k per week this goal should beginning in Mid-August. Mid-August is almost here. Shazbot! I still have about 6800 words to go.
Finish reading current craft book and start another- a whole chapter and then some, I’m so close to done I can feel it.
Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorielimit- done. 🙂
Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week- Downward Block: start in the ready position. Bring one fist and forearm across, down, and out, blocking the area in front of your groin. Return to read position and repeat. The non-blocking arm remains in the ready position to maintain vertical alignment.
Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)- I added the movement notations to the bars I documented last week and made my mirror notes. One more song and I’ll be in the cool down cycle!! I also did a couple of practice teaches on the first 6-songs this week. Each week I’m getting more comfortable.
Finish needed continuing education, enter all credits on PMI site and save my PMP certification for another 3-years- I have two books to read under the self-directed learning category to finish my PDUs and I’m almost done with the the first.
Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities- one parent meeting, a small deposit, wrote a couple of checks and created/sent one invoice. Easy peasy, done.
I’m hoping we all have a nice smooth week, daily progress full of writing and loads of fun.
This is ‘Shoofly Pie’ by The Wood Brothers from the album ‘Smoke Ring Halo’
It’s a team of two brothers. One plays guitar and sings, and writes most of the tunes, and the other plays bass and sings.
The bass player, Chris Wood, has been a part of a very successful instrumental group called Medeski, Martin and Wood. They are definitely an influence on my Jazz trio and on me personally.
Apparently, Chris and his brother never really played music together until later in life. They’ve added a drummer, who also sings, and it seems they’ve really clicked. I’ve enjoyed their previous albums but this one really stands apart. It’s not quite as loose while still feeling greasy and funky.
They have a rootsy sound which allows them to cover a lot of ground. From blues to gospel to southern soul to funk to folk, they’ve got it all in there in one shape or form.
I’m anxious to hear their albums from here on out. I really think they’re on to something!
S.J. Maylee 