Saturday Seven - March 7, 2020

Happy Saturday, what have you been up to this week? Here is a rundown of highlights for the week. I hope you find them useful in your life! My goal as a person and a writer are to always Pay-It-Forward, so please let me know how I can help you. YES, YOU!

Enjoy your weekend & this post! Amazing things to come!

~Amy

What am I Reading? - 

So many books, so little time! This week, between unpacking from my recent move, babysitting my granddaughter, working at the day job, Writing Warriors and volunteering in the evening and writing there has been no time for reading! I have several books waiting to be read and I try to keep track of them on Goodreads. If you don’t have an account get one! It is the place to be if you like to read!

What am I Listening to? –  

Unstoppable: A 90-Day Plan to Biohack Your Mind and Body for Success ~  by Ben Angel, Gary Tiedemann, et al. ~ I wasn’t sure about this book but found it fascinating. Check out my review on Sunday!

What Quote am I pondering? –

Earth laughs in flowers. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

What am I Researching? – (an ode to YouTube)

I am constantly dumbfounded by the amount of time my youngest son spends on YouTube. When he was younger, he always watched gaming videos. Grown men giving play by play analysis of the latest game while also screaming and laughing in hysterics. I found it useless and annoying. My daughter has clocked months of YouTube time watching make-up videos. A common phrase in my house became-- headphones, please. I wasn’t bothered by the watching of the videos, but I didn’t have to listen to them as well.

Last night, I was chatting with my son about the flower garden we are going to be planting and composting. He said – out of the blue—Just make sure you don’t throw the apple seeds into the compost pile. I asked why and he replied that apple seeds contain cyanide and if there are too many of them, they can corrupt the compost and kill the plants.

My jaw dropped. I asked him how he’d resourced the information and he said – I saw it on a YouTube video.

Moving into a new house there are lots of things to research. From a new-to-me washer that needs the bearings replaced to how to plant a flower garden, revitalizing an ugly lawn and composting. YouTube is such an amazing resource. I am floored by the way the media channel enables us to educate ourselves as needed! There are YouTube videos for everything!

While my view on YouTube has changed, please, for heaven’s sake, wear your headphones!

Yummy Meal of the Week – 

I found this amazing recipe for making bread in my slow cooker! Check it out here. Bread in 5 minutes!

What did I Learn? – 

As I stated above, I am going to attempt to plant an grow a flower garden in the front and back yard of our new house. For those of you who know me, you know my luck with plants has been wanting. I have a black thumb. This to me is very disappointing. My grandmother could grow a beautiful plant from a dead root and my mother had a huge, thriving vegetable garden in your backyard while I was growing up. The curse of a black thumb is sad to me. The only thing I have been able to keep alive is a peace lily and then it was only because she talked to me. She died last year *sniff* after one of our cats decided it was an awesome place to relieve themselves.

I am not giving up!

I researched and learned how to plant a flower garden with little to no digging. Also learn how to winter grow my flowers in my house as it is still a little chilly and we will inevitably get another freeze before spring.  

I will take pictures and maybe even a video or two of my progress!

Wish me luck!

What am I Watching? – 

No time to watch anything this week too darn busy. I keep hearing a lot of buzz around The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I have looked it over a few times and the trailers look entertaining but never really thought to watch it. Not really my kind of show. I will say I am considering it. If you’ve watched it let me know what you thought!

That is all for this week, my lovelies!
I hope you have an amazing week, and I will talk to you all next Saturday!

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#Friday Author Spotlight Interview with Maggie Blackbird

Suspense for the Romantic Heart ~ Author Spotlight with Maggie Blackbird

1. If you had the opportunity to live anywhere in the world for a year while writing a book that took place in that same setting, where would you choose?

Wellll, I write romance starring Canada’s Indigenous People, so I’d have to stay in Canada haha.  And the stories usually take place in Northwestern Ontario, where I live, so it’d be sort of boring for me since I’ve travelled all over the northwest during my previous job.

2. What behind-the-scenes tidbit in your life would probably surprise your readers the most?

I don’t know if readers would find this surprising or shocking, but I’m a total golf addict.  I watch it and play it. I watch all three tours (PGA, European, and Asian), but the European Tour is my fave.  Some of my top golfers are Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, Henrik Stenson of Sweden, Victor Dubuisson of France, Joost Luiten of the Netherlands, Adam Scott of Australia, Gavin Green of Malaysia, and Tiger Woods of the USA.

3. How do you come up with names for your characters?

Quite simply actually.  They come up with their own names.  Yeah, I know. Weird. LOL.

4. Give a shout-out to a fellow author.

Check out the work of Zakarrie Clarke at https://www.goodreads.com/zakarrie.  She’s an excellent writer.

5. What would the logline be for your book?

My book?  You mean about my life?  Here we go. When she walked her dogs into the woods that morning, she never expected to encounter Bigfoot…

6. What is your favorite word, and why?

Honestly, I have no favourite word.  None whatsoever. But I do have pet words for each MS.  I think my editor Emmy was slapping my hands at the word “before” in the last one haha.

7. Describe your writing space.

I have two writing spaces.  In the evening, I’m in the living room sitting on the sofa that reclines.  I have one dog at the foot of the recliner and another on the sofa with me.  I’m doing my best to answer these questions and watch the golf I recorded over the weekend.  But my satellite has conked out on me, so I’m waiting for it to reset.

8. How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

Do you mean published?  Or books I simply wrote because I simply need to write?  If we’re talking books/novellas/short stories/etc. that I’ve written over the years, I have lost track.  Simply lost track. There are too many to list.

As for my published works, I’d go with Blessed.  It’s my first published book and near and dear to my heart.

9. What is the most surprising thing you discovered while writing your book(s)?

That even when I think I have it all figured out, the characters say differently.  Out goes the nice logline and blurb I wrote before I began tackling the book, and I have to create new ones.

10. Do you have a favorite character that you have written? If so, who? And what makes them so special.

I’d say Emery Matawapit is my favourite.  He’s quite introspective, self-punishing, full of guilt, sexually repressed, and has a ton of hang-ups.  He’s extremely private. I had to wrestle with him to share his story with readers because he didn’t want a POV in the novel.  He wanted his lover Darryl to simply tell the story.

11. Are there any secrets from the book (that aren’t in the blurb), you can share with your readers?

Which book?  Do you mean my latest?  My latest release is Renewed, book four in the Matawapit Family Series.  Yes, there are many secrets that come to light. Many, many. I loved exposing all of those secrets in this book.

12. Does one of your main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?

As mentioned above, Emery from Blessed, book one in the Matawapit Family Series.

13. If one of your books was to be made into a movie, who are the celebrities that would star in it?

Since I’m promoting Renewed, I’ll choose actors for the two main characters.  I’d say Chaske Spencer would be a perfect Jude Matwapit. As for Raven Kabatay, the lovely Ashley Callingbull would be perfect.

14. Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers about?

I’m drafting the second novel for a trilogy.  I wrote the first one during the month of January.  I’m targeting the end of February for my current WIP.  Once the second book is drafted, I’ll begin self-edits for the first book and prep it for submission.  It’s a YA m/m contemporary romance that takes place during the grunge 90s and stars two young guys from the same Ojibway community.

15. How many plot ideas are just waiting to be written? Can you tell us about one?

Way too many ideas.  I’d love to write a trilogy on the fur trade.  Another on the Sixties Scoop. I’m hoping to start on those once my YA/NA trilogy is done.

16. What are you reading now?

I’m currently reading the Kennedy Heirs by J. Randy Taraborrelli.  I have this fascination with the Kennedys, probably because I never knew anything about them while I was growing up.  I can recall Jackie Onassis always being in the National Enquirer as a kid, and the same for Ted Kennedy. I’d think to myself, “Who are these people and why are they always in the gossip mags?”  Keep in mind this was before the Internet, and being in Canada, I learned Canadian history, not American. It wasn’t until my late teens that I finally figured out who these people were and why the press wrote about them.  And how important JFK was to the USA. See? I didn’t know about him, either, until later on. Seriously. They’re a fascinating family.

17. What famous author do you wish would be your mentor?

She has since passed away, but she is my fave romance author of all time:  Johanna Lindsey. And he has since passed away, too, my fave Ojibway author Richard Wagamese.

18. What do you like to do when you are not writing?

Golf, walk, exercise, visit family and friends, garden, work on the lawn (we have five acres cleared on our property), fish, boat.

19. What is the best part of your day?

Mornings.  I love getting up at five to start my day.

20. Would you rather be in a room full of snakes or a room full of spiders?

Either is fine because I adore spiders and snakes LOL—as long as they’re not the poisonous kind!

21. What is your favorite word?

Y’know, I don’t have one.  There is no fave word.

22. What is your least favorite word?

The same thing.  I have no least fave word, either.

23. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Prayer.  Seriously LOL.  It always gets life going for me.

24. What turns you off?

Interruptions.  I’m a very focussed person and it drive me crazy when I’m interrupted.

25. What is your favorite curse word?

I can’t say I have one.  I’m not much of a curser.  I’ve mellowed out over the years LOL.

26. What sound or noise do you love?

When my over-sized Malamute makes his “baby” noises.  He sounds so adorable.

27. What sound or noise do you hate?

The nails on the chalkboard thing.

28. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

Being a pro caddy for a pro golfer!  Yeah, Rory, pick me to carry your bag!

29. What profession would you not like to do?

Anything to do with science or math.  I am not good at that stuff.

30. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Welcome, Maggie, all of your fur babies have been waiting for you to take them for their walk.  They’ve missed walking with you every morning. Now you can spend the rest of eternity doing what you love most—walking the babies outside in nature.

Author Links :

Web Site: https://maggieblackbird.com/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/maggieblackbirdauthor/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlackbirdMaggie/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/maggieblackbird BookbBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/maggie-blackbird Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggie-blackbird-032798169/ Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Maggie-Blackbird/e/B07KQP1FFG eXtasy Books Author Page: https://www.extasybooks.com/maggie-blackbird/ Newsletter Sign-Up: eepurl.com/gJu2VL

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Awesome Excerpt Thursday - The Wolf and the Butterfly ~ Kim Allred

Sometimes the best way to gain control of your life is to simply let go.

Childhood crushes, like childhood toys, are meant to be left behind with the arrival of adulthood. So why is it that Josie Collins finds herself still attracted to her childhood crush, her brother’s friend Simon London, even after eight years?

Eight years which have turned Simon from cute to incredibly well-built and sexy. Josie already has enough issues of her own, including a recent breakup which has somersaulted her onto a path of self-destruction. She doesn’t need a complication like Simon to add to her problems.

Simon London has returned to Portland after an eight-year absence, now a successful architect who can write his own ticket. When he reconnects with the family who accepted and cared for him during a rough time in his life, the last thing he wants or expects is to develop feelings for his friend’s younger sister, Josie. When he overhears disturbing information about what Josie has been through, his protective nature takes over, and he's determined to find a way to protect Josie. So how does one get into the Masquerade Club?

Josie’s friend Emmie suggests the Masquerade Club to Josie as a way to safely blow off steam and redirect her self-destructive tendencies. When Josie agrees to the plan, she doesn’t count on meeting the sexy Wolf. She finds herself thinking about him, even when she’s at work at the gym she owns in downtown Portland. But she also has Simon on her mind far more than she would like. To make matters worse, her ex refuses to take no for an answer.


What’s a girl to do? How do you choose between the unknown and the forbidden?

Buy Now!

Excerpt ~

Portland High School. Friday, noon, September twentieth. Fries and salad for lunch. Standard carb intake.


Like life, my senior school year turned out to be different than how I’d imagined it would go.

At first glance, a person would think I was normal, your average, nondescript, middle-class high school senior. I had a caring mother, and a lovely girlfriend, Melanie Sarkosian. Not too much different than anyone else.

As for my classes, I’d studied hard, crammed on every subject, and my grades showed marked improvement. On the surface, things were looking up. University seemed to be a reality, after all. My teachers had given me my props, and the feedback boosted my ego.

Scratch the surface, though, dig a little deeper, and the reality didn’t quite fit the picture of your average high school scholar wannabe…

“Nate, what are you thinking about?”

That question came from Melanie—Mel—my nickname for her. Tall, green-eyed, and lovely, she and I made a somewhat improbable couple. In high school, looks ruled. The good-looking guys went for the prettiest girls and vice-versa. Those who weren’t gifted in the looks department were relegated to a second-tier.

No, that rule hadn’t been written in stone, but I saw it every single day of the week. No one could ever tell me different.

Truth be known, I got by with my average appearance. The mirror told me the story—five-nine, lean, with a mop of dark hair, gray eyes, and a nondescript, hatchet face.

That’s the way it was, and I’d come to terms with it a long time ago. Short of plastic surgery, which wasn’t an option, this was how I would look forever, and then my thoughts turned to lunch.

Mel was in the middle of tearing through a sandwich. Me, the fries I had were soggy, and the salad was tasteless, but I had to have something in my stomach, and…

“Nate?”

Her question brought me back to Earth. Daydreaming could really throw a person off-target. “Oh, uh, nothing special.”

Right, lie and hope she’ll believe it. A quick glance around the cafeteria told me the story. People were staring at us. No, not blatantly, but they were staring—and whispering.

Mel stopped eating and gazed around the room. I followed her head movement. Sure enough, those who’d been looking in our direction quickly went back to their meals and their lives.

They hadn’t been staring at Mel, pretty though she was.

They hadn’t been staring at the fall weather through the windows.

No, they’d been staring at my right hand.

It seemed that everyone had a backstory. Mine was that I’d been born without a right hand. Up until three months ago, I’d been forced to use a prosthetic, which only invited more gawking, gaping, and the aforementioned staring.

Then Ukiko Monaghan came along. She went by another name—Dividing Woman. A resident of a parallel Earth—that was a mind-bender in and of itself—she’d come here with her powers and tech, and Mel and I had helped her capture two extremely dangerous criminals.

Ukiko’s powers included exceptional strength as well as the ability to divide her body’s atoms and send copies of herself to other places nearby.

Looks-wise, call her a perfect chimera. The left half of her face was Caucasian, with a bright blue eye and short, spiky black hair.

In sharp contrast, the right side was Asian, along with a brown peeper and silky black tresses. When someone talked about being biracial—her father was Irish and her mother, Japanese—she was the perfect symbol of it.

Her appearance had freaked me out at first, but then it dawned on me that she was genuine. Due to her looks, she’d also suffered, and in a kind and wise manner, she’d helped me to realize that having a handicap was really no handicap at all, not if I let it get to me.

At any rate, in a showdown against the main criminal that she was trying to nab—his name was Astral, and he was a truly bad hombre—she’d given me something called Neural Metal.

Here came another mind-trip—Neural Metal could form itself into any shape or thing, flesh or metal that the wearer could imagine.

Initially, I’d formed a hand, a real, human hand, but quickly found another use for it. My first construct had been a plasma cannon—conceive and achieve—but for the past three months, there hadn’t been any burning need to form any weaponry, unless I went on patrol.

For the time being, I amused myself by forming a flower pot, a replica of the Enterprise, the old space shuttle, and a samurai sword.

Each construct was perfect, conceived by my mind’s eye and my imagination. The first and second-year kids thought it was cool—at least, most of them did. In contrast, the seniors looked upon me with suspicion.

In the past, they’d stared at my prosthetic hand, and the obligatory “Stumpy” or “Captain Hook” comments had come my way.

Now, though, the looks were ones of trepidation. Would I turn it against them? In a way, I couldn’t blame how they thought, and truth be known, I was tempted at times. Payback. Revenge for past slights. Kick their butts.

However, Mel kept me grounded, and I willed my hand to the form of a catcher’s mitt, and then back to normal.

Mel grinned at the sights. “You’re really having fun with that, aren’t you?”

“Well, yeah. You don’t like it?”

A thoughtful expression replaced her grin. “I’m still getting used to it, to be honest. Not that I’m not happy for you,” she added hastily. “But—”

“But what?”


She bit her lip. “It’s just that, when we were kids, I got used to you having no hand or wearing your prosthetic. Now, you’ve got some kind of alien tech I can’t understand, and…”

~

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