Happy Valentine’s Day Eve, everyone! What better time to win some free stuff than right before the day dedicated to love? Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day? Is there a particularly special one that springs to mind whenever the day of love rolls around? Or are you like me? I’ve been married for over thirty-two years –so they’ve all started kind of blending together? Blending is nice –as long as I don’t have to play the “Do you remember…?” game. ‘Cause I will ALWAYS lose!

Anyway –here’s the deal. If you leave a comment telling which you prefer:

1. Candy
2. Cards
3. Jewelry
4. An unforgettable night out on the town.
5. You’d prefer not to say but you know exactly what you want.
6. Well, duh. All of the above.

On Tuesday morning (the day of love, itself), as soon as the coffee kicks in and I’m able to focus, one commenter’s name will be drawn to win the following:

An ARC of my upcoming release ETERNITY’S MARK

A lovely signed cover flat of ETERNITY’S MARK

And various and assorted items of SWAG that I’m taking to RT in Chicago.

I will post the lucky winner’s name in the comments section of this post on Feb. 14^th  AND I’ll tweet it and Facebook it too. By the way, I’m @maevegreyson on Twitter and my Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/maeve.greyson.page in case you want to watch for your name there.

Let the comments begin!

During this busiest time of year, I tend to careen a hard left into the path of silliness. Must be some sort of survival mechanism deeply ingrained in my psyche…or the result of a sugar-induced high from an overload of holiday treats.

While procrasta-tweeting on Twitter instead of attending to proper writerly assignments, I veered off into a bit of nonsense I thought I’d share with you today.

A Writer’s Five Days of Christmas (I didn’t think you could stand twelve.)

(You know the tune. Feel free to hum along.)

On the first day of Christmas my Muse gave to me:  A blank laptop screen with a blinking cursor.

On the second day of Christmas my Muse gave to me:  A two book series idea that I should’ve written down. 

On the third day of Christmas my Muse gave to me:  Three plot holes big enough to hide a mother elephant with her twins.

On the fourth day of Christmas my Muse gave to me:  Four chirping crickets echoing in the silent space between my ears.

On the fifth day of Christmas my Muse gave to me:  FIVE SWEATY LOVE SCENES…badum dum dum…

Four chirping crickets…

Three plot holes…

A forgotten two book series…

And A BLANK LAPTOP SCREEN WITH A BLINKING CURSOR…

Happy holidays, everyone. May your days be filled with silliness and your dreams filled with smiles.

My best to you,

Maeve

P.S. Next month, I’ll be giving away an ARC of ETERNITY’S MARK because we’ll be within a few of months of release day! 

Down through the years, I’ve discovered (usually the hard way) that my frame of mind is entirely within my control. No matter the circumstances, whether I’m going to be miserable or happy is strictly up to me. Perception. How do I choose to perceive my reality?

Take this example:

After nailing down an elusive health problem, my rapid weight loss finally halted. In fact, it’s reversed. After regaining thirty pounds over the past few months, I’m now approaching slight plumpdom. I have two choices:

1. I can now fret about being almost overweight and worry about controlling my sudden expansion.

2. I can enjoy shopping for new clothes because I can’t fit into anything in my closet and be thankful that eating no longer causes me pain.

I choose option #2.

In my upcoming release, ETERNITY’S MARK, my hero thinks he’s cursed because he’s actually part beast. Taggart struggles with the fact that he’s a Draecna hybrid. His natural form is a heart-stopping combination of a man and what some might call a dragon. But if Taggart wasn’t such a gifted beast, he’d be powerless against Hannah’s enemies. So could his curse really be a blessing? It’s all Taggart’s perception of his reality.

What do you think? Is perception half the battle?

By the way, I received a wonderful box of ETERNITY’S MARK ARC’s the other day. I foresee several yummy contests in the near future where these advanced reading copies will make the perfect prizes. Not today. But soon. I promise.

We’ve all seen lists of a writer’s woes:

1. Rejections.
2. Writer’s Block.
3. Grammar Godzilla’s.
4. Rejections. (Yes. I realize I listed that one twice. Trust me. It’s a biggie.)
5. Writing Software FUBAR’s. (In case you’re not familiar with the acronym – it means: *Effed* Up Beyond All Recognition).

Anyway, you get the idea and if you happen to be a writer, I’m sure you can relate.

But due to a very WONDERMOUS email I received a few days ago, I decided to make a list of a few writerly pleasures and the responses they evoke.

1. Typing “The End”.  Immediate exhale, stretch numbed arms over head while flexing stiff and aching back.

2. Completing the wicked synopsis, pitch, and query letter for your polished manuscript. Relieved sigh, shut computer down and ransack kitchen in search of chocolate and coffee to replenish dangerously low levels of brain steam.

3. Email from targeted editor that just received evil synopsis, pitch and query. Email doesn’t begin with “Although the premise of your story sounds interesting…”  Instead, it contains a short, crisp paragraph requesting a partial. Emit quiet writerly war cry of joy. Save several copies of email to folders on hard drive, secondary email address, secondary server and iPhone so there is no danger of losing it and wondering if it was only a dream.

4. Email from same editor requesting a full. Same response as Writerly Pleasure #3. However, quiet writerly war cry of joy is replaced with blood curdling whoop of joy that launches unsuspecting, napping dog into immediate attack mode and sets him searching for the intruder that caused the scream.

5. EMAIL/PHONE CALL OFFERING A CONTRACT. Dry mouth. Rapid heartbeat. Dizziness. If Writerly Pleasure #5 is in fact a phone call, I strongly recommend allowing the recognized number to go to voice mail so that you’re able to speak coherently when talking to your soon-to-be editor.

6. Completing edits. Happy, satisfied sigh. Gratitude for an editor who just helped “tweak” your book into an even better story.

7. Receiving email with the jpeg file of the proposed cover for your book. Another whoop of joy. Same napping dog reaction as in Writerly Pleasure #4 and same saving of this email as in Writerly Pleasure #3.

8. ARC’s (advanced reading copies) Have you ever hugged a book as though it were made of solid gold?

9. Holding your just released “baby” in your hands.  Pet the shiny cover. Excitedly lick your lips. Smell the pages. Channel Gollum from Lord of the Rings. “M’prescioussss is sssooo pretty”.

In reference to Writerly Pleasure #7, look at my lovely cover for ETERNITY’S MARK (scheduled to release in April). Isn’t m’presciousss…I mean…*ahem*…isn’t it gorgeous? 

If you’re a writer, do you have any writerly pleasures you’d like to share? If you’re a reader, how does a shiny new book affect you?