Balance of Life

Dear God it's me, Margaret, can you hear me?

Have recently come to realize that the people who walk around constantly tossing out sayings like: "Don't forget to stop and smell the roses." have a good point and aren't just saying it to sound annoyingly holier-than-thou.

Between trying to write on SILENCING SAPPHIRE full time, work full time, be a half decent wife who actually spends time with her husband, grocery shop, eat, breathe, those sort of things, plus catching a few hours of sleep, I don't leave much room for smelling the roses. Metaphorically or otherwise.
If somebody would literally come up to me with a bouquet of fresh roses and kindly ask: "Ma'am, would you like to smell these roses?"
First of all I'd say "Ma'am?" and look around for somebody older than myself who they might have been talking to, then -- realizing it was me -- I'd most likely reply "F**k off! I don't have time." After which I'd rush off to make up for the two seconds I wasted by telling someone to f**k off.

Point is, I will now try to live while being alive -- crazy, I know-- and do just that, stop to smell the roses.

Feel free to do the same.

XOXO
/Mia

Vacation countdown!

Dear humans,
(If anybody happens not to be a human being then I suppose I greet your too, though I find it highly unlikely)

Am counting down the days until my vacation (14 days to go) to my home town in Sweden. Although I'm sure to a lot of people the concept of not seeing your family for 2 1/5 years sounds like music to your ears, I've missed mine terribly and will be happy to sit for hours and appreciate the things that normally would annoy me, like my father -- bless his heart -- giving repeated and detailed explanations on who somebody is, despite the fact that I've known the person my entire life.

Though I'm afraid that as a writer -- who is yet to make it in the well-known and highly lucrative "big time"-- there is never much of a vacation away from writing.
I'm almost positive that I will end up sitting by the computer in my sisters apartment, hung over, wearing sweats along with last night's makeup,  typing away on SILENCING SAPPHIRE; crying out indistinct words out of self pity from time to time.

Still, looking forward to it!

XOXO,
Mia

Interview!

To check out an interview with yours truly...that would be me...click on the link below and learn some more about me, the Sapphire series, and what I do besides writing.

http://thepartypitnews.com/?p=846

Warning: avoid looking straight into the eyes of the horrid picture. They're much like medusas!

xoxo
/Mia

Do Not Fear the Rewrite

Hear ye, hear ye,

To other writers out there:

Do not, I repeat, do not fear the rewrite. I know of tons of writers, especially "beginners", who are so intimidated by the rewriting process that they convince themselves that a rough or first draft will do just fine.

But they say writing is rewriting and it's true.

I've spent the past few months working, cleaning, dressing up, and putting lipstick on SILENCING SAPPHIRE, the second book in the Sapphire series (published by Diversion Books later this spring), and I go into it everyday with one easy frame of mind. 

This is just my tip, and hopefully it could work as well for you as it has for me: 

Do not dig back into your first draft thinking about the 300 to 400 pages as a mountain of loose ends, plants unaccompanied by pay-offs, and underdeveloped character arcs. 

I go in and try to view it section by section, problem by problem, and it does wonders from the brain. Instead of dreading the moment when you turn your computer on, it allows you to actually enjoy the process and enjoy the opportunity to make the story, characters, and plot stronger than it was the day before.

xoxo

/Mia

What's that yellow thing in the sky again?

Hi,

I swear, I have not seen the sun in three days and just took my first step outside.
Wish I could say I have been busy going tap tap tap on my computer, head down, and all focused on working on SILENCING SAPPHIRE, the second in the Sapphire series, but I haven't.

Like the rest of the states I came down with the horrid flu. Very reminiscent of the Winter Sickness, which is a popular way to torture people in Sweden (where I grew up) every winter, but not quite as bad.

On the upside, I now get to be the person who watches everybody around me get sick, and I'll be able to give them that sympathetic head nod, with a slight  "mmm" which says: been there, done that, you're in for hell.

A proper update will come as soon as I'm done with the "mmm" ing and the sympathetic head nodding.


Stay welll,
Mia

Due Date

Hello Earth,

Due date of STALKING SAPPHIRE is creeping up, soon the manuscript is going back to Diversion for publication. Just doing the last read through as we speak and forcing my dear husband to do the same.
Come springtime the book will be available for purchase on Amazon kindle, Barnes and Noble's Nook, Apple, etc.

The second in the series, at the moment titled SILENCING SAPPHIRE should be out shortly after the first for purchase as well.

You can also go to www.diversionbooks.com to check out some of their other titles. Personally, I just started Birdcage Walk by Kate Riordan and loving it!

Sincerely,
Mia