in
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Friday, August 29, 2014

Guest Post with Author Maggie Shayne and Giveaway


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:

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.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

37 comments :

  1. great tips! I loved your post

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elena, thank you so much for stopping by and leaving a comment. Have a great weekend!

      Delete
  2. Maggie is a new-to-me author even though she has been around for awhile! I think it's great that her older works are being brought back. Gives those of us a chance to catch up with her backlist.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, Karen! I have a freebie right now, (can't remember if I mentioned it in this post) The Littlest Cowboy, book 1 of my western contemp series. Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  3. My mom read her books until she passed away last year, and I just never got around to it. But I love the sound of this book, so I will be adding it to my ever increasing TBR list!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lori: I'm so sorry about your mom. I lost mine in 2006, and my husband, just two years ago. But we still hear from them all the time. They send little signs and things to let us know they're still nearby and paying attention. I hope you get some of those too. So comforting. Hugs!

      Delete
  4. I'd never heard of these books before, so thank you for the post and giveaway! Fingers crossed. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am new to this author this sounds good thanks
    Penney

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is new to me too. Great tips! Thanks for the giveaway chance!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for stopping by Marcy. Good luck!

      Delete
  7. Cant wait til the book comes out.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love your books and have been reading them from the beginning. They first brought me into a world where vampires were sexy, fun and irresistible. I don't have much money to spend but your vampire books are on my "must buy list" along with just a few other authors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That means the world to me, Teri. Pre order to get it a couple dollars cheaper, okay? Price goes up on release day and I don't want you spending more than you have to. Enjoy!

      Delete
  9. I am usually not a fan of vampire books but this book sounds interesting. I am going to check it out and see if it changes my mind.
    I really liked the 5 tips. I could use some of those in my life. I work with several complaining women and after awhile they just drag you down and I just think life is too short to be complaining all the time. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You'd love my Brown & de Luca series. My heroine Rachel is a self help guru who gives these kinds of tips, but doesn't believe in them herself (at first.) Thrillers, through and through. Sleep with the Lights on, Wake to Darkness, Innocent Prey, and Deadly obsession. There's a free novella, Dream of Danger, that goes in between 1 & 2. 3 & 4 are releasing this fall.

      Delete
  10. Maggie is a new to me author too. I'll have to check out her freebie mentioned in one of the comments. Wonderful tips especially #5.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely check out the freebies. My vamps and my cowboys though, are like two different writers. And my thrillers are a third. Multiple personalities, I guess. :) Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete
  11. I had heard of Wicca, but not WicN. Learn something new every day!
    Speaking of which, I learned about #1 years ago when Oprah wanted her viewers to start a "gratitude journal", where they listed five things every day for which they were grateful. I started doing that, although I only wrote down three things daily. I must say, though, that after a bit, it was easy to write down at least ten things a day without giving it much thought. Today, some of those entries would be, "I am grateful for all the authors taking time to write such entertaining stories for us" and "I am grateful for all the authors providing contests/blogs so that readers can learn more about those authors and their stories" and "I am grateful for the Internet to allow us to communicate so easily (as opposed to written fan letters in years gone by)". The list could easily continue, but I'm sure you get my drift.
    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Laney (that was what everyone called my mom, btw, so I love your name.)
      "Wiccan" - someone who practices Wicca. :) It's all the same. I love the gratitude idea, and thank you for your thoughts on that. It's the best way to shift the attitude from negative to positive! You spend your time looking for things to appreciate, (and what you look for always shows up.)

      Delete
  12. Love paranormal so I'll have to start reading Maggie's books :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you'll like them! I sure hope so! :) Thank you for giving me a try.

      Delete
  13. I love your Wings of Night series and am so happy you are bringing it back! I can't wait to visit with all the characters in previous books and meet the new characters!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you SO MUCH! I think this book might be one of the best yet. Hope!

      Delete
  14. Hi Maggie. Twilight Guardians sounds very good. I like your 5 points on making yourself happy as well. Good advice. Thanks very much for this giveaway!
    Sue M. Van/Haven Malone

    ReplyDelete
  15. I haven't read anything you're written...yet, Maggie. I'm sorry! But I believe that's going to change... and soon. :-) I already love romantic suspense and I'm anxious to get into those that you've written. But I started reading vampire stories with Anita Blake and Sookie Stackhouse and Christine Feehan's Dark series years ago...and it's time I read about some again. This blog post has brought back fond memories of those other vampire stories I've read. So I've not had the pleasure of reading your "most beloved series of all time." This newest release of yours will not be, for me, a return to your prior stories of vampires, but a new beginning for me. Unless you suggest I start at the beginning with your old series? I'd really like to know what you think. Thanks for this post! jdh2690@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thank you for sharing the five tips for a happy life. I'm not much for writing things down in a journal but I'm going to try #1. I enjoy the variety on your blog, a bit about books, a bit about you and a bit of helpful advice.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I love this series! It's going to be so fun to see what happens next!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Sounds like a great book! Definitely gonna have to read it :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Danielle! You are the lucky eBook winner of Twilight Guardians. Can you please email me your desired eBook format and email address to literaladdiction (at) gmail.com. Congrats!
      ~Chelle - Maggie's Virtual Assistant

      Delete
  19. It's almost release day! I have my schedule cleared so I can read this!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thank you for the post. I really enjoyed your tips. Thank you for sharing them and for sharing your stories.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Maggie is new author to me. Great tips!
    Thank you for the chance o win :)

    ReplyDelete