ESTP

Using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), I have identified my antagonist Name To Be Determined as an ESTP. ESTP stands for Extraverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving.

Key Characteristics

ESTPs are very observant and impulsive. They find solutions to problems quickly, without a lot of planning, and take immediate action. This behaviour is often seen as reckless, but ESTPs just make quick decisions based on their impressions and logic.

Cognitive Functions

Dominant: Extraverted sensing (Se)
ESTPs are realistic and learn through experience.

Auxiliary: Introverted thinking (Ti)
ESTPs combine their excellent observation skills with logic to determine solutions that they can immediately apply.

Tertiary: Extraverted feeling (Fe)
ESTPs enjoy being the centre of attention, but may suppress their own needs and feelings to keep others happy.

Inferior: Introverted intuition (Ni)
Although ESTPs may experience the occasional "gut reaction" to situations, this reaction is inaccurate enough times to lead them to believe that they do not have good instincts.

Personal Relationships

ESTPs enjoy being around other people. They are skilled at interpreting nonverbal communication.

Career Path

ESTPs need to work with other people. They are action-oriented and resourceful. They thrive in a fast-paced job that offers variety. Strong communication skills make ESTPs great candidates for jobs in sales and marketing. Careers favored by ESTPs include salespeople, first-responders, and police officers.


[Cherry, Kendra. (August 8, 2019). "ESTP: The Persuader (Extraverted, Sensing, Thinking, Perceiving)." Very Well Mind. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/estp-extraverted-sensing-thinking-perceiving-2795986]

Quote of the Week

Who is my Antagonist?

The next set of challenge questions from #findingthegraypreptober are about the antagonist.

October 8: Describe the antagonist. What do they care most about?

It's a fairly straightforward question... except I haven't identified my antagonist yet. So, I ask, "Who is my antagonist?" First, a quick overview of my protagonist.

Alina Lehrer

• psychic fairy
• cares about her family
• pressured to restore her family's heritage
• certified life coach
• business owner
• INFJ
• recently rejected by a love interest
• recently found proof of her family's claims to the crown
• recently suffered a trauma that resulted in PTSD
• wants to take action to restore her family's heritage

Who would oppose this character? Regaining the crown would certainly be a sensitive topic for those currently in power. Namely, the other sect of fairies. In A Wizard's Choice, the book preceding this one, I eliminated one major threat from that group of fairies and imprisoned another. Antagonist Option 1: threat from Book 2. Antagonist Option 2: introduce another fairy from the other sect. In Alina's story, I reveal the existence of a secret fairy court. Antagonist Option 3: someone from the fairy court. I also plan to have her meet someone on a plane trip who will be connected to her mystery. I haven't decided if this person will be friend or foe... or perhaps a friend but seen as a foe or vice versa. I like a multi-dimensional character. Antagonist Option 4: plane passenger. And, perhaps, the antagonist is someone she already knows. Antagonist Option 5: betrayed by a friend or family member.

After all that internal discussion transferred to blog post, I'm still uncertain about my antagonist. I like the idea of making them seem like a friend, but I'm not sure if Alina has already met this person or not.

For the purposes of this exercise, I'll start with Option 4. A handsome male passenger—tall, dark, and mysterious—is seated next to her on the plane to France. This is not a coincidence. He has been tailing her in Chicago for some time which will come out later in the story. He is perhaps connected to the fairy court (Option 3) and will seem like a friend at first. This character will be outgoing and engaging toward Alina. But he has the aptitude for deep duplicity and military-like strategy. He is extremely intelligent and cunning. His actions are taken to protect a family member, perhaps his sister, and conceal a wrongdoing that will be revealed if Alina's family is in power.

Quote of the Week

INFJ

Using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), I have identified my character Alina Lehrer as an INFJ. INFJ stands for Introverted INtuitive Feeling Judging.

Key Characteristics

INFJs use their intuition and empathy to act on their strong beliefs and help other people. They are idealistic, although they are able to view the world objectively, and want to make the world a better place. They take personal feelings into account, rather than objective facts, when making decisions.

Cognitive Functions

Dominant: Introverted intuition (Ni)
INFJs focus on their internal insights and hold fast to their initial perspectives.

Auxiliary: Extraverted feeling (Fe)
INFJs tend to be more aware of other people's feelings than their own.

Tertiary: Introverted thinking (Ti)
INFJs make decisions based on their intuition when alone and the feelings of other people when around others. Wanting to please other people influences their decision making.

Inferior: Extraverted sensing (Se)
Being aware of their surroundings helps INFJs live in the present moment.

Personal Relationships

INFJs maintain a small circle of very close friendships. They are excellent listeners and care deeply about other people.

Career Path

INFJs tend to work in jobs where they can express themselves creatively. They tend to avoid jobs that involve a high level of routine or strict adherence to rules. With their strong sense of morality, they gravitate toward careers that support their values. Although INFJs have good leadership traits, they often have difficulty exerting authority. Careers favored by INFJs include artists, actors, musicians, counsellors, psychologists, and writers.

[Cherry, Kendra. (August 30, 2019). "INFJ: The Advocate (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging)." Very Well Mind. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/infj-introverted-intuitive-feeling-judging-2795978]

#TirgearrTuesday

Looking for your next read? Check out my Magicals Series at www.tirpub.com/mtyler for #TirgearrTuesday.

What's Your Personality Type?

If you google "What's your personality type?" more than likely a Myers-Briggs personality test will show up in the search results.

In developing the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Briggs adapted the insights of Carl Jung's theory of psychological types into an accessible form.

Carl Jung's Theory of Personality

Jung identified two different attitude types: introverts and extraverts. Then he further classified those types by the functions that controlled the way introverts and extraverts viewed the world through thinking, feeling, intuition or sensing. This resulted in eight possible personality types.

There are a lot of resources to be found on this subject, and I'm not a psychologist, so I'll focus on the Myers Briggs adaption.

Myers Briggs

Expanding on Jung's theory, sixteen distinct personal types were identified based on how one views their world, takes in information, makes decisions, and deals with the outer world.

1. How do you view your world? Introvert (I) or Extrovert (E)

2. How do you take in information? Sensing (S) or Intuition (N)

3. How do you make decisions? Thinking (T) or Feeling (F)

4. How do you deal with the outer world? Judging (J) or Perceiving (P)

Based on your selections, you will identify with a particular personality type. If you are an outgoing person (E) who absorbs information through your senses (S), makes decisions that feel right (F), and approaches the outer world with an open mind (P), your personality type is ESFP.

How does a personality test relate to writing?

A writer can use the Myers Briggs personality types in developing characters. In creating a character, a writer already answers many of the questions that arise in a personality type test.

For #preptober challenge questions, I recently analyzed one of the characters in my work-in-progress. The questions for October 2 and 3 related to identifying the character's dominant (1st) and inferior (4th) functions; and presenting possibilities for the middle functions (auxiliary and tertiary). I was familiar with the Myers-Briggs personality test, but I had no idea that each preference (noted by two letters) was classified as a specific function (dominant, auxiliary, tertiary, and inferior) and assigned according to the level of its development. For instance, your dominant function is the mental function (thinking, feeling, intuition or sensing) that is the most developed within yourself, coupled with whether you are Introverted or Extroverted.

If your head is spinning right now, then maybe the following tables will help. As I mentioned earlier, these function concepts were new to me so I organized the information in the way most logical to me.

The Functions:

Extraverted sensing (Se)

Introverted sensing (Si)

Extraverted thinking (Te)

Introverted thinking (Ti)

Extraverted intuition (Ne)

Introverted intuition (Ni)

Extraverted feeling (Fe)

Introverted feeling (Fi)

Dominant	Auxiliary	Tertiary	Inferior
S	T or F	F or T	N
T	S or N	N or S	F
N	T or F	F or T	S
F	S or N	N or S	T

Inferior is opposite of the Dominant.
Tertiary is opposite of the Auxiliary.
Plus Introverted or Extraverted. If Dominant or Auxiliary is Then thetype is Si SJ Ti TP Ni NJ Fi FP Se SP Te TJ Ne NP Fe FJ See the The Myers & Briggs Foundation website at https://www.myersbriggs.org for more information.

A Practical Application

Last week, I described my character Alina Lehrer. I identified her dominant function, based on her psychic abilities, as Introverted intuition (Ni) and her inferior function (opposite to the dominant) as Extraverted sensory (Se). As a Ni, the auxiliary function could be either thinking or feeling. I identified her as requiring Extraverted feeling (Fe) to balance her decision making. Her tertiary function, opposite of the auxiliary, would be Introverted thinking (Ti).

Since her dominant function is Ni, then her type is NJ. Since her auxiliary function is Fe, then her type is FJ. I concluded Alina's personality type is INFJ.

Stay tuned... More on Alina's personality type INFJ next week.

#TirgearrTuesday

A Wizard's Choice

Four stars for A Wizard’s Choice. Megan, Goodreads says: “I thoroughly enjoyed this engaging and entertaining story… Not your ordinary vampire, wizard and fairy pulp this book dares to explore some modern ideas of the self and age old struggles with do the sins of the past dictate your future…”

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Quote of the Week

Character Description

Okay, it's October. Time to start preparing for NaNoWriMo. Am I doing it again? Yes! Yes, I am. Definitely, yes. I recently found #findingthegraypreptober and thought these daily challenges might make fun blog posts...

October 1: Describe a preptober focus character. What do they care about most?

Meet Alina Lehrer. I first introduced the fairy Alina in A Wizard's Choice, The Magicals Series Book 2. She uses her special gifts, including extrasensory perception (ESP), aura readings, enhanced awareness, and clairvoyance, in her work as a life coach at Vibrant Life Incorporated.

I designed a logo for Alina's company using Canva. I had originally planned to make Alina the love interest for my main character Kurtis Warde, but Kurtis had other ideas. Alina did develop feelings for Kurtis and, for a while, it seemed like he had feelings for her as well. We—Alina, Kurtis, and me—were all terribly surprised when Kurtis ended up pursuing a different love interest. I had been so certain Alina and Kurtis were meant for each other. I even included Alina on Kurtis' family tree.

[I made the family tree in Word so the conversion to jpg came out a little fuzzy.]

In A Wizard's Choice, Alina wants her independence, which includes breaking the contract for an arranged marriage, to start her own company. Later, as her company is more established, she envisions finding love. When she meets Kurtis, he becomes a very viable candidate. He's handsome, intelligent, and connected. Kurtis is a wizard with important familial connections that have the necessary influence to end a long-time fairy-wizard feud. Alina has a vested interest in ending the feud. She wants to reclaim the crown her family lost when the feud first began.

Which leads me to what my character Alina Lehrer cares about most. She wants to restore her family to their rightful place in the fairy monarchy.

#TirgearrTuesday

"...Readers will be thrilled to escape into the magical world Maya Tyler has created... With its beautiful cast of characters, ancient folklore, tales of family dysfunction and betrayal, combined with paranormal happenings, this story flows easily and is vividly brought to life..." -- Alison Ellis for InD'Tale Magazine

Buy now on Amazon. Read for free on Kindle Unlimited until October 3rd.

Quote of the Week

#readwriteplan

I love this hashtag. It encompasses my take on how to improve as an author. Many of the writing tips I've accumulated over the years are from successful authors and other industry experts.

Read

Read, read, read. Read as much as you can. Read the genre you want to write. Read other good books. I love reading. I imagine most authors start out as avid readers who are inspired to create their own works. Reading actually helps improve your writing. When I read an amazing book, especially if it provokes the emotions I want to provoke in my own readers, it's inspirational. I want to write something as amazing. It's like the ultimate creativity charge.

Write

Practice makes perfect. Every book starts off as a rough draft. It's easier to edit something than nothing. And all the other appropriate platitudes. Improving as an author involves a lot of writing. It's about finding yourself, your unique voice. It's about writing for yourself, getting your story down (without getting caught up in semantics). It's self-expression in its purest form.

Plan

Whether you write a detailed outline or simply wing it like a pantster, at some point you need a plan. A writing schedule. A plot direction. An understanding that, despite best efforts, plans change. Making plans involves both time and story management. That's why even a pantster needs a plan. I consider myself a reformed pantster. When I first started writing (seriously as an adult), I incorporated zero planning into my writing. With a little bit of luck, my stories would come together at the end. But, more often than not, I would start and not finish stories. A Wizard's Choice (The Magicals Series, Book 2) was the first book I outlined. I was able to write the majority of it in a month, during NaNoWriMo. Ironically, my original ending didn't pan out, but that's another story.

Short post this week... Back to writing...

#TirgearrTuesday

Praise for A Vampire's Tale:

"Overall a very good story. I really liked the premise of the book and the world the author created... I...would read this author again for sure. Definitely an author to watch." -- Julie, Amazon Customer

***

Excerpt from A Vampire's Tale:

...Preoccupied with the story Marisa had just committed to writing, she finds herself in a sticky situation before Corgan swoops in and saves her...

This story belonged to him, not her, as much as she tried to convince herself
otherwise. Writing it as he revealed it, with no end in sight, unnerved her. The story
emerged like a living, breathing organism. For the first time, she felt like she had
created something real.

But the world would see fiction instead of truth. Oh, the irony. The best fiction
she ever wrote was actually true.

Lost in thought, the last half of her coffee had grown cold, and she didn’t want
more, anyway. The coffee shop was deserted except for the lone attendant. It must
be later than she realized. Her stomach churned, and something akin to fear gripped
her. She had the strangest notion she had to go home. Now.

Leaving the mug on the table, she walked out of the restaurant without a second
glance. Her step quickened as she heard frightening sounds in the darkness. Almost
home. She sighed.

Two strange men, with dark hoodies concealing their faces, stepped out of the
shadows.

“Where are you off to in such a hurry, pretty lady?”

She ignored the speaker and continued walking.

“Hey, we're talking to you.”

The largest man of the duo blocked her path while the other grabbed her by the
back of her neck and yanked her into the alley.

Every fiber of her being wanted to flee. “Let go of me,” Marisa demanded.

“Not until we've had some fun.”

She tensed and clenched her fists. “Maybe you didn't hear me clearly before,
asshole. I said let go!”

The man in front of her pulled out a knife, the metal reflecting in the dim light of
the moon.

Heart racing, she struggled against her attacker, trying to kick her way free.

“The lady doesn't want to play tonight, fellas. I suggest you find a new friend.”

The man behind her released his grip, and the two thugs inched away from her.

“Hey, man. We didn't mean any harm.”

Corgan stepped in front of her and waved his hand in the air. “You were never
here. You never saw me. If you ever see this lady again, you will run away from her
and won't know why. Am I clear?”

They nodded blankly.

“Then go, before I change my mind.”

Marisa fell into Corgan’s arms as her would-be assailants dashed down the
street. Sobs racked her as she shivered uncontrollably. “You saved me.”

“I should've been here sooner.” Holding her tightly, he stroked her hair. “Nothing
will ever harm you again.”

Surrounded by the safety of his strong arms, she had complete faith in him. She
leaned into his embrace and sighed.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Hold on.”

A Vampire's Tale

The best laid plans…

Marisa Clements was never satisfied writing the ‘gossip column’ in the local paper and she quit her job to follow her dream of writing fiction. Floundering in an unforgiving industry, she wrote about vampires, a popular subject she considered fascinating but as real as unicorns, to pay the rent.

Corgan was tired of human misconceptions about vampires and ‘living’ as a vampire. He planned to tell Marisa his story and end his existence. It was no coincidence Corgan selected Marisa to write his story. With the ability to see the future, he knew she would be a major part of it. He knew if they met, she would help him die, but in doing so, she’d be doomed to the same fate. Once they met, their futures would be irrevocably intertwined.

Corgan began to care for Marisa and finally revealed the truth to her. He admitted his quest to atone for his past sins had put her in grave danger from a nest of revenge-seeking vampires. Corgan must claim her for her own protection. But claiming her is not enough, he must ask for help from his wizard friends and his maker in order to destroy his enemy or Marisa will never be safe.

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Quote of the Week

Looking for Balance

I often see myself as two different people. Me, the person. Me, the author. In my real life, I strive for balance. In my fictional world, I create drama. Yin and Yang. Order and chaos.

What is balance?

Achieving both internal and external balance is ideal. Self-care is an important ingredient. So is moderation. There really can be too much of a good thing.

Internal balance can be mastered through equal parts engagement and retreat in your mind, heart, and body. Think, then rest. Give love, and then receive. Make healthy choices, and then allow yourself treats.

External factors affecting balance include work, social, family, and fun. Achieve career goals, and then enjoy vacation time. See friends, and then take time for yourself. Take care of your family and ensure your boundaries are respected. Participate in fun actives, and then rest.

[Tanjeloff, Jasmin. "How to Create a Balanced Life: 9 Tips to Feel Calm and Grounded." Tiny Buddha. Retrieved from https://tinybuddha.com/blog/9-tips-to-create-a-balanced-life/]

I struggle to maintain balance in a life that constantly invites extremes. At times, my thoughts and emotions fall within an incoherent sliding scale. I see life as either very, very good or very, very bad—all or nothing—when an objective evaluation would be a more logical approach. What's logic got to do with it? I take my volatile thoughts and emotions and process them creatively.

How to create chaos?

An important part of writing is creating chaos for your characters—drawing them into impossible situations or giving them problems to resolve. A happily-ever-after is the end goal, but it's all about the journey, right?

In Duet at Midnight, my Chapters: Interactive Stories app contest entry, I threw one problem after another at my main character Drew Parker. I would wake up each morning and ask myself, "What can I do to Drew today?" For my story to work, I needed bad things to happen to him. A lot of bad things And, just when it seemed things were looking up, I rolled yet another hurdle at him.



Duet at Midnight

Drew Parker is headed to college with his girlfriend until he meets his twin sisters. Will he save his old life or find a new dream?

Read for free online or on the Chapters: Interactive Stories app. Download the app on your mobile device through the Apple App Store or Google Play.

*** Spoiler Alert ***

His father walks out on his birthday. His mother abandons him emotionally. His father dies. He becomes the legal guardian of his half-sisters. His high school girlfriend breaks up with him. He loses his job. He worries about losing his financial aid for college.

These trials helped Drew determine what he wants in life. Without conflict—chaos—Drew's life would've been drastically different.

*** Back to the Post ***

Encountering problems helps your characters evolve and grow. A life without conflict, as lovely as it sounds, would be pretty boring. Strife molds who you become and helps you build resilience for future problems.

"What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." -- Friedrich Nietzsche

It's not realistic to hand a character everything they want. Even good things come at a cost. And, truly, the happy ending becomes that much sweeter when the journey there has been filled with trouble.

#TirgearrTuesday

Join paranormal skeptic Marisa Clements in A Vampire's Tale as a chance encounter with vampire Corgan Halton inspires a writing project that surpasses her wildest dreams.

Visit Marisa and Corgan again in A Wizard's Choice as their friend wizard apprentice Kurtis Warde faces some important decisions.

Meet the complex heroes in The Magicals Series.

The Magicals Series

A Vampire's Tale

A Wizard's Choice

Quote of the Week

The Downside of Unpopularity

Never have I ever... been popular. And I (for the most part) really don't care. I have a fulfilling life, surrounded by people I love. Except that life seems to be one big popularity contest.

How do we elect our politicians? How do we select our employees (if not by merit)? How do we pick the restaurants where we eat and the stores where we shop? Why do we buy certain brands or products? A New York Times Bestseller sells more copies than a book published by an indie author. A person with a huge social following will get more views, likes, shares, and comments.

The truth is...popularity is important to success. And, on a day like today, when I feel sick (I have a cold) and all my other physical symptoms are consequently exasperated, it's very difficult to stay positive.

This is not a new feeling... Maybe I was already coming down with a cold when I wrote that tweet. I hate to be the writer who moans and groans about low readership, threatening to quit writing forever. I'm not going to stop writing, but half of being a writer feels like despairing under the heavy umbrella of self-doubt.

I saw a tweet, the other day, asking to dismiss the belief that you need to be damaged to be a good artist. But the truth is, we are all damaged in our own way. We carry our flaws, our mistakes, our heartaches, our tragedies. It is what we do with this baggage that counts.

I am the sum total of everything that has ever happened to me. If I had a time machine, there are definitely moments in my life I'd like to do-over. But, if we've learned anything from time travel fiction, it's that even a small, insignificant change can cause drastic ripples in the future.

So, here's my ween... I'm sick. My throat hurts. My head hurts. I'm dizzy. No one is reading / buying my work. What am I even doing here? And, here's my counter-ween... I'm alive. I have a unique story to tell. And tell it, I will. Maybe tomorrow when I feel a little better.

#TirgearrTuesday

5 stars for A Wizard's Choice:

"I loved how animated some of the characters were and the fast pace story. The author draws you into a magical world of wizards. Every chapter deepens the plot of the story and helps you stay hooked until the end." -- Ash.L.Sctt, Amazon

Quote of the Week

Behind the Scenes of Duet at Midnight

This summer, I had the pleasure of entering the Chapters: Interactive Stories TapTale story competition. You can read Duet at Midnight on the app or online.

Duet at Midnight

Drew Parker is headed to college with his girlfriend until he meets his twin sisters. Will he save his old life or find a new dream?

Reverse Cinderella story in a contemporary setting where the older brother falls for a pop princess.

Read for free on the Chapters: Interactive Stories app. Download the app on your mobile device through the Apple App Store or Google Play.

The Contest

The contest ran from July 1 to August 15. The rules were straightforward. You needed a book cover, title, and blurb to start posting. 20-50 chapters. One point-of-view. Young adult romance. And...the story had to be marked "END" by August 15. No problem, right?

Well... It was a greater challenge than I had anticipated. It's good to challenge ourselves sometimes.

The Cover

I wanted a great-looking cover. I wanted a real eye-catcher, something different from everyone else. A reader—I know because I am one—judges a book by its cover. I tried to make one. I knew exactly what I wanted. But I'm not a graphic designer, and I couldn't figure out how to achieve the look I was going for without looking like total amateur hour. I looked at pre-made covers and didn't see the right one. I finally bit the bullet. If I was in the contest, then I was all in. I contacted Evernight Designs, the company who designed my book covers for A Vampire's Tale and A Wizard's Choice, and ordered a custom book cover. It was worth every penny. Just looking at it makes me happy.

The Title

In order to complete the book cover, I needed a title. After I wrote a rough outline of the story I planned, I thought of Duet at Midnight. Midnight to play off the Cinderella theme. Duet because I knew the love interest was a singer.

The Story

Even though I have published two other TapTales (Heart's Storm and FlyBoy), I had never written a story directly on the app. Thankfully, there was a tutorial. I usually don't title my books or share my work-in-progresses before I'm ready to submit to publishers. This was a first for me. I wrote my chapters, checked my work, typed into the app, checked my work, published the chapter, and checked my work...as I wrote the story. It was kind of like driving in the dark. I knew my final destination, but I couldn't exactly see where I was going or how I was going to get there.

I needed to plan and outline. Extensively.

I jotted down character info, plot lines, possible loose ends, and even a publishing schedule so I could ensure I finished on time. I included my sheets here... I know they are incredibly hard to read because I wrote mostly in pencil... But it can give you a fair idea of my process. A little look behind the scenes, if you will.

 
 

 

I can honestly say I gave this story my all. Despite all the firsts—title, blurb, and book cover before a completed story; publishing on the app as I wrote—I was incredibly pleased with how my story ended. It literally all came together at the end.

The Support

I'd like to thank my family for their time and patience this summer. Writing this story took a bit more time than I'd anticipated. I promised my kids, if I win, I'll share the prize money.

If you read Duet at Midnight on the app, you can "heart" it and leave comments. You can also show your support with a "star." Every user can give out 10 star tickets per week until September 15.

The final judgement will be released on September 20. Writing a complete book (at least 20 chapters) in 6 weeks is a feat. It felt a little like NaNoWriMo all over again. So, completing equals winning...even though there will be actual winners announced. Fingers crossed for Duet at Midnight.

One Question for Author Ellie Gray

This week, Maya's Musings features Ellie Gray and her book Beauty and the Recluse.

Question: What is your favourite time to write, and why?

Answer: I tend to write on a weekend, during the day. I work full time in the public sector and it is a demanding job, particularly emotionally, and I find that I don’t tend to have the energy or drive to write on an evening. However, I do manage to switch off from the day job on a weekend and really enjoy writing – I lose myself completely in the story and the characters and it really helps to relax me. There is no better feeling then having had a really good day writing, when all your characters behave, and the words flow.

Beauty and the Recluse

Following the recent death of her father, and in need of both a job and somewhere to live, Kiya takes a housekeeping job on the spur of the moment.  She soon finds herself living in a beautiful but neglected mansion, working for a strange and reclusive man. 

St. John is a man scarred by the past, both physically and emotionally, and is determined to live out his life alone.  They are two very different people, drawn to each other almost against their will, but can Kiya convince St. John that he is not the monster he believes himself to be? 

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One Question for Author Margie Church

Welcome to Maya's Musings, Margie. The summer series continues with our one question author interviews...

Question: Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

Answer: I feel I really have to do both.   My rule of thumb is to write what I love and know that it might not be a blockbuster if it's not a hot genre. If I'm writing strictly for the market, I still have to love the genre to write a compelling story. I wrote gay romances and BDSM for several years. I really enjoyed that and I love those books. So did my readers. But tastes change, and so has the market. There are some writers who have created series after series of characters they love, in genres that sell well and feed readers who can't wait for more. That notion is always in my sights...like most authors, I'd love to quit my day job!

The Poet's Wife

Lily Holliway's life is shattered when her husband, Gabe, is killed in Afghanistan. A new job and dear friends aren't enough to ease her yearnings for the love she clings to. 

Gabe feels her grief so strongly that his spirit cannot leave the confines of this world. He can't rest in peace until he's sure Lily is going to be okay. In desperation, he reaches out to her using his special gift.

Finding the mysterious haiku makes Lily question her grip on reality. When she sees Gabe face-to-face, can she believe her eyes?

Lily must trust the only man she's ever loved to help her begin again.

Find my books here!

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