Author Archives: S.J. Maylee

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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

ROW80 check-in #24

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First week working my new grand list. Am I ready to throw in the towel? 😉 No, I’m actually pretty pleased at how hard I pushed it this week. That’s not to say I could not have done better, but it’s a start.

The Goals – week-1 results

  • Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters– done
  • Pick a title for Voyage Novu #1 & #2- I’ve picked a series title: The Love Projects and I’m tossing around the idea of She’s Mine for the title of the first book. I’m not sure.
  • Write 3,000 words each week or 33,000 for the round- done, I added 3,020 this week!!
  • Spend time editing at least 3 times each week- 24-pages done, I got a great idea from Julie Glover’s goal post and I’ve added a page goal to my edit sessions. This will help to keep me on schedule for the next goal in the list.
  • Send Voyage Novu #1 to 2nd beta- I’ve had a brief discussion with my 2nd beta and we have a rough idea when I can send her the WIP, very exciting.
  • Finish Editing Voyage Novu #1- to be done after feedback is received from 2nd beta
  • Voyage Novu#1 Query/Synopsis: finish, polish, get 2nd opinions, finalize AND send out 1st round- lots going on in this goal and first up is finishing the Query/Synopsis. This week I’ve gathered all my ideas into the two documents and reviewed some of the tips I’ve gathered along the way. I’m tweaking each as I go on the edits and the pattern seems to be working so far.
  • Finish first draft of Voyage Novu#2 and begin to edit- at 3k per week this goal should beginning in Mid-August
  • Finish reading current craft book and start another- confession time, I did not finish Plot & Structure during the break, but I did read a whole chapter this week. Amazing how much more interesting a book is if you can read more than a couple pages at a time.
  • Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit- my workouts slipped during break too, goodness. I didn’t get all 200-minutes this week, but I was close. Everything else was good, so close on this one. WEEK 2 PRIORITY
  • Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week- Pelvic Circles: stand in “A” stance, move your hips in a fluid motion, as if you were playing with a hula hoop. Sense the motion of the ball of your hip joints rotating in their sockets. Keep your knees soft. Play with the speed and direction of your hips.
  • Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)- no new work on the bars, but I practiced teaching the 3-songs I know real well and feel much more comfortable there. I need to see progress on the bars next week WEEK 2 PRIORITY
  • Finish needed continuing education, enter all credits on PMI site and save my PMP certification for another 3-years- I’m almost finished with my first 12-hour course, score. I did work on this during break and almost finished the first course this week, but the last goal on the list took way to much time on Friday.
  • Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities- I’m on top of this one. As long as I keep plugging away I should be golden. I have a reasonable list to take care of this week before the first tuition checks are due, so it will be important to stay on top of this goal.

Motivation Jars (14-goals in all & $7.50 is up for grabs each week): 12-goals had real good progress or they’re in line for progress, but in 2 (workout minutes and Sanjana bars) I just didn’t get it done. Wardrobe Jar gets $6.43 and NOT my political party of choice jar gets $1.07

One novella WIP in edits, a second novella WIP is started (actually two WIPs are started, more about that in the next round), craft education continues and PMP continuing education in progress. Happy dance, lots done. BUT, Nia Sanjana still needs work, I need to get back to consistent workouts and I’m not in query mode yet…I’m not published yet

Back to work for me. Hope you have a fabulous week.

Links of the week #26

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Wow, did that week go fast or what. Hot and fast. The only way to recover from that kind of week: relax with a good book.  So, now that you know what I’m doing today, well, for as long as I can anyways 🙂 below I have as many fabulous blogs as I was able to read this week. And Jeff is finally back this week. His music pick this week even has a follow-up pick for next week.

Act 1

The Writers Alley : Showing C.A.R.E. in Your First Chapter

Margo Berendsen : 17 tips for starting a story

Characters Development

Adrienne de Wolfe was at The Creative Penn : 20 Tips for Writing Lovable Romance Novel Heroes

Plot

At Joan Swan’s : Martina Boone: Using GMC to Add Romantic Tension

Kara Lennox, a.k.a. Karen Leabo was at Writers In The Storm blog! : Is Your Conflict Strong Enough?

The Other Side of the Story : Going Both Ways: Outlines for Plot, Pantser for Character

Prose

From @smoulderingsea #editortips on 7/3/12 : Using “S/he could tell that…” to interpret another character’s actions is a cheap way to avoid breaking POV.

Pitch

From @smoulderingsea #editortips on 7/2/12: Challenge yourself to write a query pitch/blurb in only 150 words. It’ll force you to cut out anything extraneous and focus.

Editing

Seeing Creative posted about her experience with SmartEdit!! 🙂 : Edit Smartly

The Other Side of the Story : The Spit Shine: Things to Check Before You Submit

Music from Jeff

My hubs is a drummer, you knew that right? Okay, so his theme this week and next is…

Really great drummers who are also really great singer/songwriter/guitarists.

The first one is obvious:

“Rope” by Foo Fighters, from the album “Wasting Light”

After having seen them live together, we both know just HOW MUCH they rock.

What I really like about Dave Grohl’s approach is that he released the first album under the band name with no attention to himself.  He could have easily used his post Nirvana fame to push the project through, so to speak.  Instead, he decided to let the music do the talking.  I think that’s admirable, but I also think it was a smart move.  It gave people the chance to judge the music purely on…the music.  What a concept!  No preconceived notions or other celebrity crap – just music.

Over the years, the band has been extremely successful at taking Dave’s songs and making them their own.  I think this album is one of the best examples of this.  They all play their roles to a perfection and sound like a BAND.

That freakin’ rocked!

What you might have missed here:

Six Sentence Sunday #24

Flash Fiction #14

Flash Fiction #14

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Thanks for stopping. Another picture…another 100 words.

Behind her eyelids she felt the rising sun, not even daylight would get her to move. For years she dreamed of a moment like this. John was either dating someone else or she was living away from home. His hands roamed over her backside in a caress that awoke her desires. One night wouldn’t be enough.

Two nights ago, on a drunken whim, she let her feelings slip. She thought she dreamed his response.

“Do you know how long I’ve loved you, my sweet, Emily?”

After last night, there was no longer any question. He loved her, all of her.

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.

Savannah Chase http://www.savannahchase.com/blog
Julez S Morbius: http://morbiussworld.blogspot.co.uk/
Kendel Davi: http://kendeldavi.wordpress.com
Naomi Shaw: http://midnightfantasieswithnaomishaw.blogspot.com/
Bonni Sansom: http://bonnisansom.blogspot.com/
Benjamin T. Russell http://incubuschronicles.blogspot.ca

ROW80 -Round 3 2012- The Goals

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

This will be my third round of 80-days. I started out slow and easy in round-1. In round-2 I got a little more serious. I took on my first ever word count goal and I incorporated my non-writing goals to help me keep my whole life moving forward.

Now what for round-3? Status quo or no?

NO. I want more. I want more commitment. I want to query. I want to get published. Status quo will get me there, maybe. I’m going to put my antsy pants to good use.

The Goals

  • Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters
  • Pick a title for Voyage Novu #1 & #2
  • Write 3,000 words each week or 33,000 for the round
  • Spend time editing at least 3 times each week
  • Send Voyage Novu #1 to 2nd beta
  • Finish Editing Voyage Novu #1
  • Voyage Novu#1 Query/Synopsis: finish, polish, get 2nd opinions, finalize AND send out 1st round
  • Finish first draft of Voyage Novu#2 and begin to edit
  • Finish reading current craft book and start another
  • 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)
  • Finish needed continuing education, enter all credits on PMI site and save my PMP certification for another 3-years
  • Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities

Okay, I know. That is one full and possibly disastrous list. I’ve done a ton of thinking over the past couple of weeks. If I back off I’ll just slack. I am capable of doing more when I am busy. These last couple of weeks proved it. No stressing, just moving forward and get busy with it. But there is some fun to be had here. Suzanne Rock gave me a fantabulous idea: Budget Creativity: Using Mini-Goals to Motivate.

I’ve got two jars. One labeled with the political party that is NOT my choice and the other is labeled wardrobe. Each week I’ll divide $7.50 based on the weeks results. At the end of the round I’ll have $100 in my jars. I really don’t want to help out the other guys, especially this year, and I’d really like to get something new for fall. so…

Let’s go round-3! It’s on.

Six Sentence Sunday #24

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Happy Six Sunday. Thanks for visiting and I’d love to know what you think!! I’m continuing this week with another 6 from my Novella WIP. Last week: Lydia got a little shove from a helpful stranger and Jake pinned her to the wall of the L train exit ramp. This week: we pick up with them all untangled and they’ve just arrived inside Lydia’s apartment. The moon is shining through the window. This six is from Jake’s POV and the line is Lydia’s.

Photo Credit: Joseph H. Dennis

The effect was a dream. Here she was standing before him, this woman who intrigued him and challenged him. His mind had one thought.

Mine.

“Stay there and I’ll get the light.”

The light clicked and before she could turn around he made his order.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!! he, he, he, I promise to give you his order next week. Please come back. 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!

Links of the week #25

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Happy weekend folks!! Boom, bang look at all those cool links for writers. Jeff took another week off from picking out great music. Not to worry, SYTYCD had loads of fabulous performance I wanted to share this week, so which one was my favorite?

Mommy Ninja

K.B. Owen via Jenny Hansen’s More Cowbell : A Ninja Mom’s Guide to Limiting Computer Time <–must read for any parent

Pitch Contest

Brenda Drake: Entangle an editor with your pitch!

Dialogue

Lynnette Labelle : The Secrets Behind Buried Dialogue Part 2 take away tip: can can bury narration, but not dialogue…read the post and the tip will make sense 🙂

Descriptions

Stina Lindenblatt over at Seeing Creative provided a cool idea : All In The Details

Character Development

Kristen Lamb : Making Heroes Heroic–Why Flaws are Important

Prose

Joe Bunting over at The Write Practice : 5 Elements of Storytelling

Plot

Darcy Pattison over at Fiction Notes : End of Act I: 5 Functions Determine Plot

Editing

Tiffany Lawson Inman was at Writers In The Storm yesterday 😀 : Worse Than a Cliché

Writer Business

Rick Carufel at Angie’s Diary : Disappearing Reviews at Amazon?

Writer’s Life

Suzanne Rock, Romance on a Budget: Budget Creativity: Using Mini-Goals to Motivate

Michael J. Scott at Author Culture : How To Write More…and More Often

I’ve completely fallen for @smoulderingsea and his #editortips, if you miss the daily tweets you can still catch them on his blog. Here is my fav from yesterday: When editing down backstory and inner monologue, keep only what the reader needs–not what you needed to sort your story.

Dance to inspire

So many great performances this week as SYTYCD season 9 revealed their top 20. This performance was by far my fav, enjoy

What you might have missed here:
Six Sentence Sunday #23
Spotlight: The Wager (Touch of the Gods) by D. X. Luc
Flash Fiction #13

Flash Fiction #13

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Thanks for stopping. Another picture…another 100 words.

He claimed her like he had the right. Sara was not likely to take his advances without a hitch. Any moment now she would push him away.

Bret continued to dominate her mouth. His fingers tugged at her hair and clamped onto her jaw. A tingle started in her mind and spread over her body while his mouth continued to plunder her own. His control held her firm, held her to him.

A corner of her brain reminded her of all the damn reasons she should pull away. Her shoulders tensed, but she couldn’t do it.

She gave into him.

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.

Savannah Chase http://www.savannahchase.com/blog
Julez S Morbius: http://morbiussworld.blogspot.co.uk/
Sherri Hayes: http://sherri-hayes.blogspot.com/
Bonni Sansom: http://bonnisansom.blogspot.com/
Naomi Shaw: http://midnightfantasieswithnaomishaw.blogspot.com/
Yvonne Nicolas: http://yvonnenicolas.wordpress.com/
Davee Jones: http://finless.blogspot.com/
Venus Cahill: http://www.venusbookluvr.blogspot.com
Leann Mitchell http://www.leannmitchell.blogspot.com
AuroraRose Andromeda http://rollingmuseintheroses.blogspot.com
Veronica Fredricks: http://authorveronicafredricks.blogspot.com
Patricia Logan http://naughtypassions.blogspot.com/
Cyril J. Michael: http://authorcyriljmichaels.blogspot.com

Spotlight: The Wager (Touch of the Gods) by D. X. Luc

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The Wager (Touch of the Gods) by D. X. Luc

Released: May 4, 2012 ~ 228 pages

Blurb:

When love and war makes a little wager, what could possibly go wrong?

I am Hephaestus. God of inventions, blacksmiths, and volcanoes. Sounds like I’m awesome right? Well, I’m not. In fact, I’m the loser of Olympus and a new bachelor to boot. Living the single life is great until a decade passed. Honestly if my divorce from the Goddess of Love wasn’t bad enough, I am still being rejected by the other women of my home.

Because of an incessant need to make me a pawn in his game, my brother, Ares convinces Eros to make a little bet. A wager that puts my lack of love life to the test. Sent to Earth, I’m skeptical, when suddenly I lose myself in the sensual scent and beauty of the full bodied Vanessa. She is my everything, my perfection.

Sadly, from a single caress upon her silky flesh, I sent our lives into a downward spiral of hell. To save her, I must get beyond my demons of the past. And to save me, she will have to decide if I’m worth giving up everything for.

Bio:

An avid reader since I was a child, I never found a book I disliked. Mostly, you could find me lost in Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, or Ernest Hemingway, and my most favorite, Ancient Greek literature. Taking my love of books, I started writing poetry, short stories, and even helped with screen writes for my drama club.

By the time I was in my teens, my older sister introduced me to my first romance novel, The Hawk and the Dove by Virginia Henley. The moment I fell into the world of love, I was hooked, and my addiction for more grew until I found myself delving deeper into the erotic.

After being convinced that I had the skills to try my hand at writing, I went to work on my first story Down the Yellow Brick Road: Finding Home. And since being published, I’ve not looked back.

Now, as a busy mom of three, that homeschools, drives to activities, and manages to find time to just cuddle with my husband of ten years, I have to say, I love being naughty when I get the chance. It’s freeing and I wouldn’t want it any other way!

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon

Six Sentence Sunday #23

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Happy Six Sunday. Thanks for visiting and I’d love to know what you think!! I’m continuing this week with another 6 from my Novella WIP. Last week: Last week Lydia had no luck, more like no courage, rolling out her seduction plan. This week: we pick up with them getting off the train near Lydia’s apartment. A rushed stranger gives her the push she needs.

A swirl of arms and legs…momentum kept her moving…Jake’s fingers squeezed around her forearm as she flew past him towards the wall of the exit ramp. Her back landed with a thud against the wall, his body followed.

“Oh, sorry, I was pushed from behind. Did you see that guy?” She didn’t even pretend to look for the helpful stranger. Her eyes stayed locked on the man pressing into her body.

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!

Links of the week #24

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It’s a week of transitions for me, but one thing that doesn’t change: I’m still learning tons from my blog reads. Good stuff this we folks. Hubs is getting another week off, but I’ve picked something for you.

Social Media

Thank you for this smart advice Rachelle Gardner : Should Unpublished Novelists Be Platform-Building it will most certainly help me to keep my priorities in order

Meghan Ward’s Writerland : Where to Get Photos For Your Blog

Janice Hardy on The Other Side of the Story : The Great Twitter Experiment: What Does “More Tweets” Really Get You?

Promotion

The totally awesome Savannah Chase was at Chris Redding’s : MFRW Summer Camp: Savannah Chase

Editing

I found this site from QueryTracker’s post Question: is anyone familiar with SmartEdit? It’s currently a free product.

Dialogue

Lynnette Labelle : The Secrets Behind Buried Dialogue Part 1

Fight Scenes

my fav Jenny Hansen posted twice at Writes In The Storm : Do Your Characters Fight in a Way That Advances Your Story? & Ramp Up The Fight To Amp Up The Tension

Music to inspire

The hubs was given another pass this week, another crazy gigging week for him. Don’t feel bad for him, he had a ton of fun, we just didn’t get to see a lot him, bummer.

I’ve picked “If You Want Me” by The Swell Season. Marketa Irglova’s voice is hauntingly beautiful, enjoy