Guest Post with Author Maggie Shayne and Giveaway

Meet Maggie Shayne, author of Twilight Guardians.

Maggie Shayne is best known as the New York Times bestselling author of more than 50 novels, nearly 30 novellas, a former soap writer, (The Guiding Light, As the World Turns,) a former advice columnist (Shayne on You,) and RITA Award winner. But what’s less known about her is that she’s been a practicing Witch for almost as long as she’s been a published author.

Known within the Craft of the Wise as LadyHawk the Mythmaker, Maggie studied in the Black Forest Circle Seminary for three years, earning her 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree elevations there. A licensed minister of Wicca, Maggie was later made a Craft Elder, and co-founded a new Wiccan tradition called RavenMyst Circle. Her coven, The Coven of the Redtail Hawk, turned out five new high priestesses, several of whom went on to form covens of their own, and making Maggie, according to the Old Ways, A Witch Queen.

Maggie has published westerns, category romances, romantic suspense, paranormal romances, urban fantasy, women's fiction, and just about everything in between. She's a winner of the RITA Award, the romance fiction industry's most prestigious prize, and has won countless others including several RT BOOK RREVIEWS "Reviewer's Choice" Awards, two RT Career Achievement Awards, the Daphne du Maurier Award, The Golden Leaf Award and numerous others.

Maggie's "Twilight" series of vampire novels, officially known as Wings in the Night, began in 1993 with TWILIGHT PHANTASIES from Silhouette Shadows. The series concluded with TWILIGHT FULFILLED in October 2011, but has come back to life now that she has gone indie.

Find Maggie at:

| Site | Facebook | Twitter |

Maggie Shayne’s 5 Tips for a Happier Life

The one thing I haven’t yet done on this blog tour is to delve into my “Advice Columnist” side for a piece. I had a long running newspaper advice column, Shayne on You. Later, I compiled highlights from the column and put them into an ebook by the same name. Since I couldn’t go through an entire tour without touching on that area, today’s post is going to give you 5 steps I have taken to make positive changes in my life, so you can try them too!

We complain. I think it’s humanity’s biggest flaw. We’re a society of complainers. We love it. We complain about the traffic, the government, the world, what’s on TV, what’s not, the economy, the line at the DMV. We discuss our illnesses, aches and pains as if they’re front page news.

The complaining habit is old, ingrained and hard to break. But if you do , your life will improve. Because you cannot get good things when all your focus is on bad things. So it’s worth it to try to shift that focus. So my five tips are largely geared toward that.

1. Start a journal. Every night before bed, write down ten wonderful things that happened that day.

There’s a very long explanation about why this works, which I am not going to tell you. You’ll know exactly why it works a few days after you begin. Here’s a big hint: You always see what you’re looking for.

2. Try the “Complaint Free World” Challenge. You put a little rubber (or any elastic) bracelet on one wrist. If you complain, you switch it to the other wrist. Your goal is to go 21 days without switching. Every time you have to switch, you start counting the days over again. Not complaining means not complaining at all, not in email, texts, phone calls, under your breath, to your partner.... Once you see how hard it is, you’ll understand why we have a problem. We’re addicted to complaining.

3. As much as humanly possible, do only things you want to do. Don’t agree to do something and then resent having to do it. Likewise, don’t refuse to do something and then beat yourself up with guilt about it. Either figure out a way to enjoy it, or don’t agree to do it at all, and be guilt-free always.

4. If you have to do things you don’t want to do, (like going to work or cleaning the toilet) then start listing good things about the task. How good you’ll feel when it’s finished. The reward that doing it brings, the paycheck or whatever. The relief of not having to dread it anymore. Find as many good things as you can, and really work hard to do this. Psych yourself up to do that thing. Then and only then should you do it.

5. Re-train your brain to understand thoroughly that it is no one else’s job to make you happy. Any time you feel “I’d be happy if only he/she/they would behave differently” you are giving away your power. Be happy because you choose to be. Allow no one else’s actions to have any impact on your mood at all. Likewise, remember that is not your job to make anyone else happy. It’s their own job. Happiness is a choice.

So there you have it, my top five tips for having a happier life. And if you disagree, that’s fine. I’m just saying they work for me!

Enjoy!

They told 20-year-old Charlie O’Malley that they had a cure for the rare blood condition that would eventually kill her–an untested, experimental cure. All they wanted in return was for her to join their elite military team and train to kill the Undead.

She took the deal, not because she cared so much about extending her life, but because it would make her strong–stronger than ordinary humans. Strong enough to kill the vampire who’d pretended to love her, taken her blood, used her body, and murdered her mother.

Killion was the last of his kind, or so he thought. When he found Charlie, he felt the pull. She had the rare Belladonna Antigen all vampires had as humans. Vampires were compelled to protect those rare mortals they called The Chosen. But with Charlie, the bond was different, more powerful than anything he’s felt before, and impossible to resist, even though surrendering to it will probably get him killed.

Ancient vampire elders Rhiannon and Roland come out of exile, risking their lives to help their mortal friend Roxy reclaim her granddaughter. But before the tale ends, their lives will be forever changed.

Join Maggie Shayne as she returns to her most beloved series of all time with this new beginning…

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle |

Check out what's up for grabs.

Up For Grabs:

• 1 $100 Gift Card
• 1 Kindle
• 1 eBook copy of Twilight Guardians

To Enter: 

• Please leave a comment or question for Maggie.
• Please fill out the Rafflecopter form.

Good Luck! 

Special thanks to Maggie Shayne for sponsoring this tour-wide giveaway.

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