Once Upon A Time

 

By: Marcia King-Gamble

www.lovemarcia.com 

So, August is romance awareness month, and I thought a trip down memory lane might be warranted. It seems just yesterday that my first romance was published, when in fact it’s been almost thirty years. Where did the time go? Even now still remember the excitement of receiving my first multi-book contract from Kensington Publishing.

Here is a pic of my very first published book. I had so much fun writing Remembrance. Who doesn’t like a story about a second chance at love? It wasn’t the best written book but it sure as heck came from my heart.

Since then, I have been fortunate to write for the now defunct BET books, St. Martin’s Press and Harlequin. In recent years I joined the Indie world. This allows me to write the many stories in my head.  Here is my last Indie project which made the USA Best Sellers list. I was part of anthology titled Holiday Fake-Out.

Of all the publishers, I enjoyed writing for Harlequin because of the distribution possibilities. It’s always nice to hear from foreign readers, especially when your books are distributed abroad and translated into several languages.  

Since romance is our topic this month, I thought I would share one of my favorite series written for Harlequin. It is part of my backlist.         

The Flamingo Beach series was based on a fictitious beach town in Nowhere Florida.  Over time, this little fishing village grew, and developers came in wanting to build macmansions. Soon the locals were struggling to just hang onto their homes. Flamingo Place was the first in the series of four.  It set the stage for the reader to meet the usual neighborhood suspects. The town gossip being one of them.

First came Flamingo Place, followed by Down and out on Flamingo Beach, then Sex on Flamingo Beach, and the fourth and last, an editor’s error (no Flamingo in the title), All About Me. All four books were fun writes, and it was hard saying goodbye to these characters.     

https://amzn.to/3Sr1HpA

For me, writing romance is like Calgon taking me away.  It’s a relaxing way to escape and who doesn’t like a happily ever after.

 I sure do. Don’t you?

About Marcia King-Gamble

USA bestselling romance writer, Marcia King-Gamble originally hails from a sunny Caribbean Island where the sky and ocean are the same mesmerizing shade of blue. This former travel industry executive has spent most of life in the United States. A National Bestselling author, Marcia has penned over 34 books and 8 novellas. She has contributed to Michael Fiore’s DigitalRomanceInc and served as a moderator on the now defunct eHarmony advice boards.  Having witnessed the bad, the ugly, and the not so good in relationships, she still prefers to write about happily ever after. Caring for her animal family keeps her grounded and sane.

Visit Marcia at www.lovemarcia.com or “friend” her on Facebook: http://bit.ly/1MlnrIS

Interview with author, Meg Cabot (whose last name rhymes with Habit!)

By: Marcia King-Gamble

www.lovemarcia.com

  http://amzn.com/B019RYLW24

 

A great big shout out to Generista, Sarah Raplee, co-founder of The Generistas, for giving up her spot on the blog so that I could publish this interview with Meg Cabot. Thank you so much Sarah.

Just a few days ago I had the pleasure of interviewing Meg Cabot (best known for her series- The Princess Diaries.)  Her last name rhymes with Habit.

On February 05th Meg will speak at a luncheon hosted by The Broward Public Library Foundation; a not-for profit, funded by the Broward Library. The information can be found below:

http://www.bplfoundation.org/litlunch-press-release

Me: How does a Resident Assistant at New York University become a successful writer?

Meg: I always loved writing stories. Romance is my favorite genre to read. I began writing my first story at age 7. My parents were always encouraging. My dad was a professor at a university and my mom was an English teacher. My mom told me I needed to take typing lessons and have a backup job. She suggested I become an administrative assistant as that would give me free time to write. When I graduated college I became a resident assistant and was able to take classes for free. My first book, a romance was published while I was at NYU.

Me: You refer to yourself as a high school freak, why is that?

Meg: I was in theater. My high school was rural. If you weren’t into basketball or football you were a freak. I never go back to my high school reunions.

Me: You’ve written over 80 books and you have a new one coming out.  Tell us about your journey.

Meg: I was published by St Martin’s press at age 30. My first book was a historical romance written under the name Patricia Cabot, because I didn’t want my grandmother to find out. Turns out her favorite author was Rosemary Rogers who was as racy as you can get back then. I write two to three books a year. YA (Young Adult,) Middle Grade and Adult books.  My first e novella, Proposal has just been released. 

Me. I read somewhere you love cats.

Meg:  I’ve never been without cats. We only have one now. She’s a typical Key West Cat.

Me: You mean she has twelve toes?

Meg: No, she doesn’t have multiple toes, but she does have the Key West attitude. She’s very independent. She has a cat door and goes in and out of it, but is always back for breakfast.   

Me: How many rejections have you gotten?

Meg: As a teenager I sent submissions to Seventeen Magazine’s contest and got rejected all the time.  But professors were very encouraging. It was the fellow students who didn’t understand. I would send out a query letter every day.  I got rejections every day. I’ve gotten thousands of rejections.  It was cheaper than playing the lottery with a bigger return. Then one day I got a call and it was that romance I mentioned published by St. Martin’s Press.

Me: You write for multiple genres. Do you write three books at the same time or do you complete one before you move on?

Meg:   I write one at a time. I’m a fast writer. My mother’s advice to take typing paid off. I think of a plot first. As a working writer it’s important to be flexible. Yes, everyone has a book of their heart. I have almost a hundred of them. My first book was about a basketball coach who solves crimes. It was a terrible book, a weird book. At times you have to let go. I knew nothing about basketball. My agent said it’s terrible. It’s going to ruin your career.  

Me: What’s in the pipeline for 2016?

Meg: I revisited a story that was initially a YA a series.  I thought it might be fun to see what they’re up to as adults. I wrote it so that anyone could read it without having read the others. It’s a stand- alone book.  It’s called Remembrance and is out in February. The heroine’s boyfriend is a ghost. My e novella is titled - Proposal.

Me: Will you be talking about your book at the upcoming library luncheon?

 http://www.pbglifestyle.com/pbglm-blotter/2016-litlunch-to-feature-bestselling-author-meg-cabot/

Meg: I’ll be talking about the meaning of life and about pursuing your dreams.  I want to talk about small topics. What are we here on the planet for? How to be empowered like a Princess.  I have another Princess book coming out in May for younger readers.

Me: What’s this fascination with Princesses? You wrote the Princess Diaries.

Meg:  My mother is obsessed with princesses. She grew up in the era of princesses; Princess Grace marrying the king of Monaco etc.  There is no princess I am not familiar with. When I was younger I saw Star Wars for the first time. I write about princesses who rule; the ones who rescue themselves and about embracing your inner princess.

 .

Me: How does the reading public get in touch with you? Are you on Instagram, Facebook etc.?

Meg:  I’m on Facebook and twitter etc. You can find me at http://www.megcabot.com. I’m still catching up with Instagram but I’m on it.

Me: Is there anything else you want to talk about? Your cat? Your husband?

Meg:  It’s been so cold in Florida that my cat is spending more time indoors. Recently my cat came in at 2 am and was screaming so loudly we thought another cat was in the house. We raced downstairs and it turns out it’s the first time she’d seen her own reflection in the mirror. She was trying to fight herself.  

Me: Is there something that keeps you up at night?

Meg: Besides my screaming cat and the election?   We’ll try not to talk about politics.  I feel so lucky and grateful to be doing something I love so much, and that I get to do it for a living is the best feeling in the world.

Me: Thank you for your time. You have a standing invitation to pop in at the Florida Romance Writers meetings. We meet the second Saturday of the month. http://www.frwriters.org/

Meg: Thank you and I look forward to meeting you soon.  Come say hi at the luncheon.

(Off topic) In Remembrance

Happy Thursday Everyone! Thanks for stopping by. I’m Terri Molina, and I write Tex-Mex romance. You can learn more about me (should you choose) at www.terrimolina.com

This month we’re discussing charities, but, as usual, I’m posting in a different direction.  Yesterday I turned 53 years old....a number I never thought I’d see.  Not because I’m sick or anything, I just assumed that because many in my family die at an early age, I would too. Yes, I can be morbid sometimes.  

We didn’t plan anything big....I don’t usually have parties for my birthday. I think the only one I had was when I turned 21 and my sister gave me a surprise party.

This is the cake my daughter made for my
birthday. I think it means I'm officially a dinosaur. 

This year I’m planning my own celebration with all my children (my daughter, Rebecca, is flying in from LA). We’re going to see Jurassic World, then have an early dinner. When we get home we’ll go swimming, then my daughter is going to act out a scene she did in acting class (with an assist by my son) then we’ll have cake that my daughter Amanda made (she loves to bake!) then we’re going to do a Sing Off battle where we lip sync and “perform” a song.  I think my kids are most excited about that. haha

Anyway, yesterday wasn’t just another day for me to ‘ring in a new year’, it was also a day of remembrance because 40 years ago, on June 17th, was the day we laid my mother to rest.  Yes, she was buried on my thirteenth birthday....hellava way to start my informative teenage years.  On January 20th of this year, she would have been 80 years old. As a dedication to her that day I posted a blog about her.  If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to post it here as well.

Josephine Martinez Molina

January 20, 1935 - June 15, 1975 

It's so true when they say your life can change in an instant. I've always believed things happen for a reason, that there's a purpose for why or when. Events in your life, good or bad, build the person you become. You just don't realize it until later if they made you better or stronger.

My mom died on Father's Day, 1975, two days before my thirteenth birthday. I remember the day vividly; waking up at eight in the morning and seeing my oldest sister climbing into my aunt's car. My first thought, before I fell back asleep was, "she must be going to the hospital because mom died." Yeah, pretty morbid thought to have, but I just had that gut feeling. In fact, several months before, when my brothers and sisters and I gathered on the floor around my mom's easy chair and she told us she had to go into the hospital my first question to her was, "are you going to die?"

She spent a lot of weeks in the hospital and in that time I mourned her loss. I just knew she wasn't going to come home. And, a couple of hours later, when my cousin came to the house and ushered us into our Suburban without caring if we'd had breakfast, I knew.

When he dropped us at the entrance and said to go to the nurse's station. I knew.

When we rode up into the elevator to the fourth floor, my younger brother and sister chattering and laughing, I knew.

When the floor nurse told us to go to the room opposite the one our mother was in, I knew.

And when I opened the door and found it full of my family, tears streaming down their cheeks, my brother standing still against the window, his expression blank...I knew.

Over the years, as I got older, I thought a lot about what it must have been like for her, raising seven children, alone, widowed at the age of 36. As a child, I didn't give her the respect she deserved--children rarely do when they're young. But, I was number 5 in the bunch (of 7), and I didn't feel like she cared about me as much as the others. I now know, with that many children, it's hard to give time to just one. Especially when all they do is fight...yeah, we fought often...not physically, verbally. I used to wonder if maybe she begged God to take her away.

When I started having children I used to think: don't let me be like her.  When, in fact, I want to be like her. She was strong and caring and loving and she didn't let anything break her.

I don't know what kind of relationship we would have had if she lived, but I like to believe we would have been close.

I think about her often, especially during the holidays when my children are gathered around me.  I wonder if she knows how much I love her and miss her. And I hope I've made her proud.

There's a song by Christina Aguilera called Hurt, that resonates with me and sums up a lot of what I would say if she were here today. But, most of all, I would tell her Thank You. 

Here are the lyrics and you can click the link to hear the song.

"Hurt"

Seems like it was yesterday when I saw your face
You told me how proud you were but I walked away
If only I knew what I know today
Ooh ooh
 I would hold you in my arms
I would take the pain away
Thank you for all you've done
Forgive all your mistakes.
There's nothing I wouldn't do
To hear your voice again.
Sometimes I wanna call you but I know you won't be there
Oh, I'm sorry for blaming you for everything I just couldn't do
And I've hurt myself by hurting you
Some days I feel broke inside but I won't admit
Sometimes I just wanna hide 'cause it's you I miss
And it's so hard to say goodbye when it comes to this, ooh, whoa
Would you tell me I was wrong?
Would you help me understand?
Are you looking down upon me?
Are you proud of who I am?
 There's nothing I wouldn't do
To have just one more chance
To look into your eyes and see you looking back
Oh, I'm sorry for blaming you for everything I just couldn't do
And I've hurt myself, oh, oh, oh.
If I had just one more day
I would tell you how much that I've missed you since you've been away
Oh, it's dangerous
It's so out of line
To try and turn back time
I'm sorry for blaming you for everything I just couldn't do
And I've hurt myself by hurting you

Thank you for reading.