Category: Indie author

Working, working, working . . .

Posted on by Maggie McGuinness

There’s been lots of very serious work going on around here lately, just like in this picture. In fact, that’s me in disguise in the middle, madly tapping away at the first draft of Book 2 in the Mirrabooka Romance series. Having just gone over the 30,000-word mark, I’m calling that halfway! Meanwhile, it’s springtime here on the coast, which means wind, wind and more wind – a bit like Tilly after she’s eaten too many of the revolting, squidgy things she finds on the beach.

We haven’t had anywhere near enough rain, unfortunately, which means everyone’s a bit nervous as fire season approaches. To quote one of our fire station personnel: “We’ve got 1,000 houses and two fire trucks. You do the maths”. Yikes! I’m glad my place is in a fairly cleared area. Even so, I’m doing lots of cleaning up in the yard to lower the fire risk as much as possible. Here’s hoping we get some decent rain soon.

Dog derails author’s attempts at everything

Posted on by Maggie McGuinness

My hopes of finishing my romance novel, Mirrabooka Magic, by Christmas were completely derailed by the arrival of Tilly – an 18-month-old rescue dog. She’s an Australian cattle-dog cross, and the ‘cross’ part is anyone’s guess. It’s lucky she’s cute, because it’s taken a lot of time and energy to settle her into our household. She gets very anxious when I leave her, and that anxiety manifests itself in house-destructing tendencies, which has been a challenge. Of course, it’s not her fault that I went crazy and bought a house too, and then had to transport her, the cat, and all my belongings 300 miles to a remote coastal village – but that’s a whole other story.

So is the time I went out to dinner and left Tilly in the house, then came home to find she had jumped up on the kitchen bench, got the lid off a container of cooking oil, eaten it all and then been sick on the brand-new rug in the living room. Twice! When I’ve recovered from the trauma, that and other Tilly exploits may become a new blog post. Now that life is settling down, I’m back to making progress on the romance, so stay tuned for more news about that. In the meantime, here is a picture of my gorgeous bundle of trouble, because she’s just so damn CUTE!

First romance novel is on the way

Posted on by Maggie McGuinness

I’m happy to announce that I’ve been working like a slave – or perhaps a slightly obsessed accidental cat owner (see below) – on my new manuscript. Mirrabooka Magic is the first book in my Mirrabooka Sweet Romance series, which is planned to be a trilogy.

I’m in a frenzy of editing at the moment, and in my attempts to get enough peace and quiet to allow me to focus on the book (i.e. not getting interrupted by young-adult offspring, demanding cat, friends who think I should actually socialise, or other assorted life inconveniences) I look like this:

Then, when I knock off for the night, I look like this:

It’s all fun, fun, FUN!

To be serious for a moment, the book is coming along very nicely, and I’m excited about getting the editing finished, choosing a cover, and then doing a final proofread and writing the marketing blurb. Not long to go, so watch this space!

(Re the cat: I’m not a cat person, right? But when you realise some poor frightened cat is living under your house and slowly starving to death, what do you do? You feed it, that’s what. And, eventually, that cat realises it’s on to a good thing and begins to roll out its plans for complete household domination. It’s a pretty smart cat.)

Death of the Hope Fairy

Posted on by Maggie McGuinness

Hope fairy 3Sometimes, I reckon that being a writer really sucks, and this is one of those times.

For years, I’ve been scribbling away on a fiction manuscript, giving it all the TLC I’d give one of my babies. I’ve cooed to it, coaxed it along, and suffered through the sleepless nights it gave me. I never gave up, even when it was stubborn and horrible and spat words back in my face like clumps of mashed pumpkin. Sometimes, I wondered why I persevered, but mainly I just loved it. I loved watching it grow and I marvelled at what it taught me. Finally, my baby took shape and grew up, and it was time to send it out into the world.

Now, as a writer, I know a few undeniable truths. I know the chances of a publisher snatching up a fiction manuscript from an unknown like me are teensy-weensy. Apparently, there’s a higher probability that I’ll be mauled to death by a rabbit. Even so, when my manuscript came of age I still lovingly dressed it up and brushed its hair with a neat side-part, and sent it off for its great adventure.

Continue reading “Death of the Hope Fairy” →