Trying to get it all together

Still trying to get it all together. After I decided to spend more time on my WIP, wouldn't you know it, I caught the cold from hell. It appears to be getting better, fingers and toes crossed. Anyway, I'll be here when I can, on Facebook also, doing my group blog days, and generally playing catchup while trying to whip out my WIP.

We'll see how it all goes.
Morgan
PS - Here's my Facebook address -
http://facebook.com/morgan.mandel

Tour Turn - Make Up a Story About - Pop Goes Your Powerline

On the way in to work on the train, being the nosy person I am, I happened to notice a headline in the paper of someone seated in front of me. It was called Pop Goes the Powerline.  It made me think of a fun writing exercise. If you accept the challenge, do a blurb or paragraph using this story as a spinoff. For added incentive to participate, if you wish you may include your website and/or blogspot and a buy link for one of your books. If you don't have a book out, you can still have fun with this one.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-talk-mylar-balloon-power-outage-0520100517,0,4109178.story

Plug your book

Plug your book at http://makeminemystery.blogspot.com/ today

Lee DeWyze - American Idol Finalist Celebrates the American Dream

Not often do I hear a feel good story in the news. That's why it was so heartwarming when a Mt Prospect guy who worked in a paint store by the name of Lee DeWyze got into the final three of American Idol. Because of that,  he got to throw out the first pitch at a Cubs game, was in a parade, was on radio stations, spoke at schools and topped it all off with a concert attended by 41,000 fans at Arlington Park.

Anyone following American Idol knows about him already, but just in case, here's the link to the story in the Daily Herald. So, I was happy that Friday was a day of celebration for a change. It beats hearing all the crummy news lately.

http://dailyherald.com/story/?id=380716

Please Welcome My Guest, Blythe Gifford, Historical Romance Author

I'm so happy to host my good friend and twice-a-month dinner companion, the multi-published, talented historical romance author, Blythe Gifford.



BLYTHE GIFFORD is the author of five medieval romances from Harlequin Historical. She specializes in characters born on the wrong side of the royal blanket. With HIS BORDER BRIDE, she crosses the border and sets a story in Scotland for the first time, where the rules of chivalry don’t always apply.


Here’s a brief description:

Royal Rogue: He is the bastard son of an English prince and a Scotswoman. A rebel without a country, he has darkness in his soul.

Innocent Lady: Daughter of a Scottish border lord, she can recite the laws of chivalry, and knows this man has broken every one. But she’s gripped by desire for him—could he be the one to unleash the dangerous urges she’s hidden until now?

Her 2009 release, IN THE MASTER’S BED, has just finaled in the Readers Crown contest. Blythe loves to have visitors at http://www.blythegifford.com/ or www.facebook.com/BlytheGifford.

Cover Art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved. ®and T are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited and/or its affiliated companies, used under license. Copyright 2010 ■ Author photo by Jennifer Girard

And Now For Blythe's Post -

Will the real Gavin Fitzjohn please stand up?

Nearly every author will say their characters “come alive” to them. So when I saw an email in my inbox from “Gavin Fitzjohn,” hero of my May release, HIS BORDER BRIDE, my first thought was: “When did he learn to use a computer?”

A logical question, since the internet didn’t exist in the 14th century, when my story is set and where he “lives” within the pages of my book.

I took another sip of coffee. The subject line was “Your Book.”

My second thought was: “What’s wrong with the way I wrote his story?”

(We shall not psychoanalyze why I didn’t expect a fan letter from him. It’s a writer thing.)

My third thought was: “What the ---?!”

With trepidation, I double clicked.

Alas, not an email from my hero, but from someone with the same name, who obviously makes good use of Google Alerts. He wrote: “Uncannily, this is my name and I have never met or even heard of anyone with the same name. I’m actually from Wales in the UK. How did you come up with this name?”

Thoroughly awake now, I did what, perhaps, I should have done months before: I Googled “Gavin Fitzjohn.” Turns out he is a modest fellow, because he’s not just “from Wales.” He plays trumpet and other “blowy things” with Paolo Nutini, a Scottish singer-songwriter, best known to me for “New Shoes,” a song I really like.

I had a squee moment and emailed my dear writing friend, Pat White, who is a HUGE Paolo Nutini fan. We exchanged visions of being invited backstage at his next U.S. concert.

So I wrote Gavin and explained that his name, or the character’s name, was a combination of “Fitzjohn,” which was medieval for the bastard son of a man named John, and “Gavin,” my tribute to Gawain, the perfect knight. The name is ironic in context since the character’s armor is more tarnished than shiny as the story opens.

The really strange part was that my original name for the character wasn’t Gavin at all. It was Kenneth, which apparently doesn’t sound nearly as dashing in the British Isles as it does in my imagination. The name “Kenneth” was the one thing in the proposal that my editor wanted me to change.

Gavin, I mean, well, Gavin, responded graciously with the history of his name and background. It was not a family name, but his parents wanted something Celtic. He was writing from the airport where he was waiting to board a plane to visit, alas again, his girlfriend.

I trust her name is NOT Clare Carr.

So Gavin, if your Google alert is on, please know I have joined The Gavin Fitzjohn Appreciation Society on Facebook. And if you read the book, I hope it makes you happy.

And if you ever need a romance writer groupie backstage, send me an email.



If you feel the urge, here's a handy link to order Blythe's book.

Remember, Blythe loves to have visitors at http://www.blythegifford.com/ or www.facebook.com/BlytheGifford.




I'm sure Blythe would appreciate your comments, so please be sure to leave one.

Word Play is Going On Today at Blood Red Pencil

Just thought I'd mention the Word Play game is going on today at http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/
Today's word is Spring!
Thanks,
Morgan

Vacation in May?

You may wonder if I uploaded the correct photos from my computer here, but I assure you, these photos were taken today on the last day of our vacation in Wisconsin! For a few more, come on over to http://facebook.com/morgan.mandel

At Acme Wednesday - What Dates Your Book?

Wednesday I'll give some examples of norms which may date your book. Come on over and offer some of your own at http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com/

Thanks,
Morgan

Ask the Editor Free For All on Tuesday

Ask the Editor Free for All Tuesday - May 4 - at http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/

If you have a question, get on over there and ask an Editor in the comment section, and you'll get an answer.

Hint for Authors who want promo - The Blood-Red Pencil has 771 followers!

Reunited with My Facebook Profile

I'm on vacation using my friend's computer and thought I'd check to see if my Profile Page on Facebook was working for me, as it had been out for over a day.

I got some security questions to answer and then, wonder of wonders, I was reunited with my Profile Page!

Thank goodness, because I was really missing seeing it. The one on my iphone isn't nearly as good as the full version.

Has anyone else ever had such a problem where their Profile Page disappears?

Good Paul and Our Little Rascal at Merrill, WI

Sent from my iPhone

Lost in Space

Last night I went to click on my Profile Page at Facebook, http://facebook.com/morgan.mandel  and all I got was the timer symbol. My Home Page was still intact, plus I could click to my Groups, Book Place and Sixty and Savvy.  I sent a help message to Facebook and am awaiting their reply.

What I didn't know was if anyone else could see my page. So, I sent out a message from my Home Page to the effect, can anyone see me?

Turns out people can see me, but I'm invisible to myself. (g) I've been assured by others that this has happened to them and magically the Profile Page will reappear.

In the meantime, if I get really lonesome for my Profile Page at Facebook, wonder of wonders, I can still bring it up on my Iphone!  I guess this is just another vagary of social networking I'll have to put up with.

Has anyone else been Lost in Space for a while?

Annoying Blog at Acme

I've got an annoying blog going over at Acme for my Wednesday offering. Come on over to http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com/ and offer your input.

Thanks,
Morgan Mandel

PS - No, that's not me on the left. I thought it was a funny looking photo from Istock.com.

Please Welcome My Guest and Good Friend, Debra St. John - Romance Writer

I'm very happy to host my good buddy, Debra St. John, here today at Double M, as she tours the cyber world promoting her sweet and spicy romance, "Wild Wedding Weekend."

And now, here's Debra -

Morgan, thanks so much for having me back at Double M! I’ve been ‘touring’ the web promoting my latest release “Wild Wedding Weekend”, and it’s a privilege to be here for one of the stops. Today’s visit is special because Morgan is not only a fellow author, but a dear friend as well.

Over the past few months I’ve had several projects going on: promotion for WWW, edits on my upcoming release “This Can’t Be Love”, and trying to make progress on a new manuscript. With all of that going on, I’ve had to make sure I stay on track and on top of everything, so along the way I’ve set some goals as to what I’d like to accomplish.

As a writer, setting goals is an important part of the process. Without them, at least for me, not a lot happens. I tend to use two different types of goals. What I like to call informal and formal. An informal goal is one I have in the back of my mind that ‘someday’ I’d like to get around to. Someday could be today, tomorrow, or next year. These are nice because they give me a direction to head in, but being fairly open-ended, don’t really provide an impetus to get going.

What works better for me are those formal goals: ones I’ve written down. Somehow putting them in writing makes me more accountable. Plus it’s fun to check off or cross each goal out after I’ve accomplished it! For my formal goals I like to follow an acronym I picked up: S.M.A.R.T. I’ve seen several variations of this acronym used, but these are the phrases that work best for me.

SMART goals are:

Specific – Not I’ll write some pages today, but I’ll write at least ten pages today.

Measurable – Checking the page count at the bottom of my word processing screen will let me know if I’ve reached my goal.

Action-Oriented – Getting those pages done means I’ve actively put my fingers to the keyboard and put some words on the screen.

Realistic – I didn’t say I was going to write 100 pages today. Ten is much more manageable for me. And, I said ‘at least’, so I can go further if I’m inspired.

Timed – I want to get those pages done today, not whenever.

So, in a nutshell, my SMART goal for today is to write at least five pages. (Since it’s a work day and time is a bit scarce, I’ve adjusted my example of ten pages to make it a bit more realistic.) I’ll check back in at the end of the day and let you know how I did!

Now, how about you? What’s your SMART goal for the day?




Here's an Amazon link, in case you feel the urge to buy Debra's book.

And here's here website: http://www.debrastjohnromance.com/

Please leave a comment below to welcome Debra here to Double M.

Facebook and Conference

Things have to settle down soon, but in the meantime I'm torn between getting more established on Facebook and getting ready for Spring Fling Conference this weekend.

I've finally gotten my 25 quota for fans for my Fan Page, so now I can shorten the url. I'll have to figure out what to use for that. My regular Facebook Page is pretty simple: http://facebook.com/morgan.mandel
Should I call it http://facebook.com/morganmandel.fanpage? I'll have to think about it.

Now, for the conference. I've finally figured out what to wear and what to pitch. I'm kind of, but not completely ready, hoping it won't rain to hard trying to get there, and determined to have a good time anyway!

I'll let you know what happens on both Facebook and the Conference.

Morgan

Up in Smoke

How does that saying go about the best laid plans of mice and men?
Find out this Wednesday at http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com/ how my book signing at Cover to Cover for Saturday, May 8 has gone up in smoke.

Facebook, here we come

If you haven't already, please friend me at http://facebook.com/morgan.mandel

Also, I'd appreciate your fanning me at Facebook also by doing a search for Morgan Mandel - Author and Social Networking Addict

I'm not through yet - Also please consider joining the Group, Book Place on Facebook
and if you qualify or want to confess to it, also  Sixty and Savvy

These two groups are replacing my groups at Ning which will be phased out as soon as premium pricing kicks in.

Thanks,
Morgan Mandel

Ning is going premium - Facebook, here we come

I heard Thursday that Ning networks are going premium only, meaning network creators have to ante up to keep their networks. This is one network creator who will be bowing out. No way will I be coerced to pay. Can't afford it and don't intend to collect dues from my members. Too much of a hassle.

So, I've started two groups at Facebook, one called Book Place, for the Book Place Ning members, but all book lovers are welcome to join.

The other is Sixty and Savvy, for the Sixty and Savvy Ning members, and all who are near or over 60 or curious about what it's like. We'll share memorabilia, memories, tips, and more. 

I invite you to come on over and join us. Just go to the Search box at Facebook and type in one or both of the group names.

Thanks,
Morgan Mandel

Academy of Country Music Awards

ACM awards are Sunday night on CBS at 7:00pm Central, 8:00 pm Eastern.  I can hardly wait! It promises to be a great show. They always are.

Who will win Entertainer of the Year? I'll have a hard time deciding, since I love them all. Here are the ones up for the award:

Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, George Strait, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift, Toby Keith or the Zac Brown Band?

You can vote and make a difference at http://www.acmcountry.com/home/index.php

Now I'm going over to the living room to watch the ACM Top New Artists Show on GAC.
http://www.gactv.com/gac/shows_spl/episode/0,3038,GAC_26200_68517,00.html