8/25/25 It's An Author's Life

Wow! The first full week of school, and the stomach bug is running rampant per the HS counselor. I had to go pick up Miss M from school Thursday morning with stomach cramps (not those kinds of cramps) and slept most of the day until Dad (my son) picked her up after work. He picked up some OTC medication and kept her home on Friday, although she did spend the day at my house. As of Sunday, she was feeling a lot better and is back at school. Now all Dad needs to do is get her flu shot, and she should be set for the rest of the year—hopefully. 

The Chickasha Area Arts Council (CAAC) first annual book signing on Saturday was good considering that it was the last day of the fair and that the downtown area isn’t known to be busy on Saturdays. All 6 authors, including myself, sold and autographed books. Since I’m on the CAAC board, I believe we are going to discuss moving the event next year to the spring and advertise it as a CAAC Summer Author Event, and have it on a weeknight from 5-8. That way, people who work downtown will be able to stop by. 

I’m so excited!! Just this morning, I accepted a publishing contract for my erotic time-travel, Eternally Yours, with Rowan Prose Publishing! It will be published sometime in 2027. This title was on my backlist from back in the day when erotica was a hot ticket. I’m so happy that it has found a home with RPP. 

Well, back to work. This next book isn’t going to write itself! LOL 

Have a great week! Get your pumpkin spice beverage and open a good book to lose yourself in. 

I can never thank you enough for continuing to read these snippets into my life as an author. I hope I haven’t bored you too much with them. 😊 After all, other people's lives are never as glamorous as we may think. 

May your ereader or bookshelf overflow with great books to read!

Maxine 

8/18/25 It's An Author's Life

It’s fair week here! Will I be going? Most likely not, because I don’t have any little ones to take. Plus, it is always hot during this time, AND I have a book signing on Saturday. 

School started here last week as well. My youngest granddaughter, Miss M, is a junior this year. It is also the first year where cell phones or any electronic device, for that matter, are not permitted to be on from the first to the last bell of the day, which includes lunch. She’s not a very social person in school, but has found a way to occupy her time during lunch and free time by drawing in a notebook. The first week is always just going through any classroom rules and what is expected. Once the real work begins, it’ll be interesting once again. She always tends to have to play catch-up to get her grades where they should be each quarter/semester. She must like the pressure because it’s a wash, rinse, and repeat every school year. 

Had a great CROW (Central Region of Oklahoma Writers) meeting on Saturday. The program was on homicide crime scenes, and the speaker was an Oklahoma City homicide detective. She was great and answered all the questions presented. Oh, and the pre-meeting lunch at Clark Crew BBQ was delicious with a full table of 10 authors!! Both the lunch and the meeting were well attended, with new and some familiar faces from the past in attendance. 

Well, back to work. This book isn’t going to write itself! LOL 

Have a great week! Love, laugh, and love like it’s your last time with those you love. 

I can never thank you enough for continuing to read these snippets into my life as an author. I hope I haven’t bored you too much with them. 😊 After all, other people's lives are never as glamorous as we may think. 

May your ereader or bookshelf overflow with great books to read!

Maxine 

8/11/25 It's An Author's Life

I wasn’t sure if I’d have anything earth-shattering to share with you, but here I am giving you the skinny just in case. 

My youngest granddaughter picked up her schedule for 11^th grade last Wednesday. School starts here in a few days. Since she didn’t pick her classes and allowed her advisor to, I was surprised to see she was back in an art class and that she not only has Algebra 2, but Chemistry 1 as well. And there’s PE Wellness; she’s never had a PE class due to her heart, so that’s something my son will have to monitor this year. And yes, the school has all her medical records, so not sure why the advisor signed her up for PE. Even though it appears to be a tough schedule for her, I have the utmost confidence that she’ll get through it. 

What I do wonder about is how the students are going to feel about not having their phones on from the first bell of the day to the last. Miss M is very vocal about the ban before and after it became state law. She wants the option to be able to text either her dad or I when she needs or wants to during lunch, not to mention if there’s an emergency of some sort. I think this might be the biggest challenge of the year. 

I finally got through the re-read of DP yesterday and started to implement the changes/revisions onto the computer. I plan on finishing that up today and then moving on to finish writing this book. I really need to start the next one no later than the end of September for an April 2026 release. Plus, it’ll take a mind reset when I go from the 1890s to modern times. 

That’s it for this week—short and sweet. 

Have a great week! Love, laugh, and love like it’s your last time with those you love. And remember to hydrate before spending time in the heat. 

I can never thank you enough for continuing to read these snippets into my life as an author. I hope I haven’t bored you too much with them. 😊 After all, other people's lives are never as glamorous as we may think. 

May your ereader or bookshelf overflow with great books to read!

Maxine 

8/4/25 It's An Author's Life

Don’t try this at home! LOL Seriously though, I tried to fry an egg last week. Let’s just say after 5 bottles of water, the egg that slid down my driveway was washed away. It has to be way hotter than 101 to try frying an egg on cement. Someone suggested I do it on my car…well, that wasn’t going to happen. My 2007 has been through enough during its long life of service. It has many more miles ahead of it to be disrespected by frying an egg on it. 

BTW, when I told my mom about it, she laughed, and it was the best sound I’d heard from her for several weeks. Praise the Lord. 

I have been re-watching Outlander in preparation for Blood of My Blood, which starts on Friday. I am really enjoying revisiting Clair and Jamie’s journey, as well as the rest of the characters. But I am looking forward to knowing how it all began and meeting the parents who started such a great love story, penned by Diana Gabaldon. 

It actually rained here Sunday morning and in the early morning hours today. It was nice the ground got a drink from Mother Nature. There’s more in the forecast but who knows for sure. The temps are going to be in the 90s, and although there were a few days this past week where I would turn off the a/c until it got too humid in the house, I don’t think I’ll be doing that again for a while. 

A quick note about my mom: she is doing so much better. Thank you for your prayers. 

I know I haven’t mentioned the book club I belong to, Chapter Chat, for a few months. To be honest, I haven’t been able to get into reading lately. This month, the theme is the “David Bowie Reading Challenge.” David Bowie had a list of his favorite 100 books. I was surprised to see titles such as A Clockwork Orange, The Great Gatsby, 1984, and several others on this list. I’ve chosen a few to hopefully be able to get into: 1984, Lady Chatterly’s Lover, and Madame Bovary. The latter is on PlutoTV, so I may cheat and watch it if I can’t get into the story. Stay tuned! 

Now for working on Deceitful Promises. I am re-reading what I’ve written so far before writing the last couple of chapters. And it’s good that I am, because I discovered my hero needed a bit of attention, and a surprise storyline needed to be incorporated into it from the beginning. Oh, the things my characters always come up with that I must go back and write in. But I love it when my characters spring a surprise or two on me; it means they trust me with their stories! 

Have a great week! Love, laugh, and love like it’s your last time with those you love. And remember to hydrate before spending time in the heat. 

I can never thank you enough for continuing to read these snippets into my life as an author. I hope I haven’t bored you too much with them. 😊 After all, other people's lives are never as glamorous as we may think. 

May your ereader or bookshelf overflow with great books to read!

Maxine