So here I am, the husband and kids are all thrilled to NOT be working today.  Yet the district I sub for doesn't start until tomorrow, and last year I only got called to sub one day in September.  So I'm not quite as happy to be home today as they all are.
Did you stay home with your kids when they were young?  I did.  I always worked at part-time retail jobs, but nothing career-oriented.  Eight years ago when they were all in higher grades, I took some classes in education, got re-certified, and started subbing, since I had been told that was how to get back into teaching.  Uh, no, it's not.  Districts hire teachers so young the ink on their degrees hasn't dried yet...but they are invariably related to someone...nepotism rules!
I sometimes wish I had kept my full-time marketing job and put the kids in daycare.  At least then I would be able to help put them through college.  Now I find myself competing with high school students for retail jobs that pay me the same money the kids make, yet I have a college degree and years of experience.  When students ask me what they should think of majoring in once they get to college, I tell them all to choose to either: follow their hearts and hope they can make a living at it, or choose a major based on it being a proven money-maker, if there is such a thing anymore.  But I tell all of the girls to stay employed and not stay home with their kids!
That way they will be able to enjoy spending Labor Day at home!

http://www.elainepcantrell.blogspot.com
Come here what I had to say when I visited with Elaine Cantrell, a fellow author at Wings ePress.  She got me to confess how I overcame feeling bad that what some people consider what I write to be "cotton candy for the brain".  Among other things...

This a reminder that EPIC™ is currently open for eBook entries for the 2011 eBook Awards Competition.  If you have works that meets this year’s criteria, I encourage you to enter! You can check out the current Competition Guidelines at:
http://www.epicauthors.com/ebookawardrules2011.html.
I also want to invite you to be part of the oldest eBook competition still in existence, one that continues to grow every year! There are a lot of great books to be read, and new authors to discover, in EPIC's 2011 eBook Awards Competition.
EPIC is seeking industry professionals (authors, publishers, and editors) to judge all genres - from fiction, romance, erotic romance, non-fiction, and poetry, to children's and YA. Judging information is available at: http://bit.ly/eBookJudges.
So what are you waiting for?  Enter the contest!  Volunteer to judge, and get to discover some great new authors!

So go check out the page on my Reyes Family Romance #6!  This one is available as a free download on Smashwords.  Enrique Reyes is the oldest boy in the family.  Read all about him and how he finds the love of his life!

Fiona McGier's Smashwords Author Profile: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/fionamcgier
Book page to download FREE!  Prescription For Love: http://smashwords.com/b/18367

Read what was published in the TribLocal on-line news this week!               
Local Novelist to Reveal Spicy Romances June 19 at Glen Ellyn BookFest By tellwallace  | Posted 6/13/10 |  Which is sexier? The negligee or the steamy novel? Kathryn Hudson, left, owner of Knickers of Glen Ellyn and Fiona McGier, adult romance author and Wheaton resident, compare "notes" in anticipation of the first annual Glen Ellyn BookFest Saturday, June 19. McGier, creator of The Reyes Family Romances series, will be selling her books until 3 p.m. in the intimate setting of Hudson's lingerie boutique, located at 492 Main Street. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at retailers throughout the downtown area and feature local authors paired with stores sharing themes. Photo by Lisa Wallace.

So here's the cover!  What do you think?  That I have a great cover artist?  Yeah, I think so too.  As I keep telling him, women don't want to see a sexy woman on the cover...they want to imagine THEY are the sexy woman the man wants!  Just put a hunk on the cover, preferably wearing very little, and the cover alone will get attention, right?

Now for those who have not read all of the books, here is an overview of the characters who weave in and out of the stories.

Alejandro Reyes is the hero of Never Too Old For The Game Of Love, which is Reyes Romance #1.  He is the oldest in his family, at 42.
               Tegan O'Neill is the woman he falls in love with, and she  turns                40 in the book.  She is divorced with 2 kids, Katie and Kevin.
               Her best friend is Patti Johnson, who turns 40 in her book, and is
               also divorced with 2 kids, Chelsea and Jake Jr.  Patti gets 
               involved with a Roma biker in Recipe For Love (RR#2).
Edgar Reyes is one of Alejandro's brothers...Roberto is the youngest and he is gay, and Jorge is the other brother; there are also 5 sisters. 
               Edgar's wife Juanita was in a playgroup with Tegan and Patti, so
               that's how Tegan and Alejandro met.
Rosa Reyes is the oldest child of Edgar and Juanita.  She is only 15 in the beginning of the first book, and she babysits for many families in the neighborhood, as well as for her 7 younger siblings.  She is 30 years old when she is the heroine of the 3rd book, Love By Design.  She falls in love with a tall, blond, rich, successful businessman who immigrated with his parents to the US from Russia when he was a child.
Enrique Reyes is the 2nd child of Edgar and  Juanita.  His story is the one I put up as a free download on Smashwords.  He became a doctor and moved to the small town in Mexico that Edgar and Alejandro's father was from.  He falls in love with a bi-racial research biologist who carries what seems to be insurmountable baggage with her, that might preclude a relationship.
Pablo Reyes is the 3rd child of Edgar and Juanita.  I'm not done with his story yet.
Miguel Reyes is right before Catalina in birth order, so they are really close siblings.  He is 38 when he is the hero of Love Therapy, the 5th book...that's right, he's the hunky firefighter on the cover.  He's still pining for his high school sweetheart...but how does she feel about him?
Catalina Reyes is the 5th child of Edgar and Juanita.  She is 35 when she is the heroine of the 4th book, Analysis of Love.  She falls in love with a blind analyst who can't even see how sexy she is!
Teresa Reyes is the 6th child of Edgar and Juanita.  She gets married while still in college during Love By Design.
Susana Reyes is next, then last is Amalia Reyes, who is conceived when Edgar and Juanita get overcome with "baby-lust" when Tegan has her first child with Alejandro in Recipe For Love.

My husband keeps telling me that I should try to get these stories sold to a producer of tele-novellas.  Anyone know any that I can send my books to?

So my one Jazzercise instructor told us she is going to a semi-formal party tonight.  The birthday girl was born on this date in 1955, and she is turning 55 today!  Born on 5-5-55, turning 55!  Yup, I'd be partying too!

But let's talk Hispanic romance for a moment.  Am I Hispanic?  No...but today everyone in the U.S. is a Hispanic-wannabe, just like on St. Patricks day everyone is Irish.  Any excuse for a fiesta, right?
But I AM the child of immigrant, as most of us are, if we look back far enough.  One of the hallmarks of immigrant families is that usually there are lots of children, and that is a good thing for our economy.  In insular countries like Japan they are worried about their entire race disappearing not too far in the future, what with their birthrate being too small to even replace those who are already there, much less produce the workers needed for tomorrow.  Lucky for us, we always have a new wave of immigrants seeking the freedom guaranteed by the extraordinary promise of the USA. 
How have Hispanics contributed?  Hello, tacos anyone?  Salsa is the biggest condiment in the grocery stores these days, and no one blinks an eye at hot foods anymore, though some like it hotter than others.  Mexican is the second most popular ethnic genre of food for restaurants.  Don't believe me?  Just try to get into a Mexican restaurant today!
And that's not even to mention bailar...to dance!  Salsa as a music style has been infiltrating our ears for years...Carlos Santana was just a youngster when Desi Arnaz and Tito Fuentes were making our grandparents dance.  And what is music but the enjoyment of life, of having bodies that can move to the rhythms of life?  ¡Oye como va!

So my Reyes Family Romances are all about the various Reyes family members looking for love while living their lives, and finding it when they least expect it.  They fall in love, realize they can't live without that person, then they get married and have children.  That is the way of life.  As it is, as it has always been. 
So check out the next few pages to see which one you want to read first.  Then pull up un refresco frio of your choice, and ¡bienvenido a mi imaginación!

     A comment was posted in response to my last posting, and the comment suggested that originally the copyright laws were designed to ensure that those who produce a piece of work, be it a book or a piece of music, would be paid for the resources they had to use in its production, ie, the paper, ink, and printing press; or the vinyl that had to be pressed with the grooves.  This idea suggests that now that the only thing necessary to deliver, say, my books to an audience, is the typing of pixels on a computer keyboard, that no money needs to change hands anymore.  I should be glad to write and have my stuff disseminated for free, since it cost me nothing to produce. 
     While I can kind of understand that viewpoint, what that person is forgetting is that it takes me TIME to write my books, and an even greater amount of time trying to connect with readers.  The writing is actually the easy and fun part for me.  Publicizing my works is much harder and more time-consuming.  And considering that I work 2 part-time jobs which are  only the beginning of the familial demands on my 24/7s, it is a wonder that I find any time at all to write!  I love to create new characters and new worlds.  But if I am essentially doing it for free, then I can no longer fool myself into thinking that I will someday be able to recoup even just some of the money I spend on publicity, by selling my books.  I'm already running a net loss, spending some of what I make in my 2 other jobs, to try to connect with readers. In that case, I'd be better off getting a third part-time job, and not writing anymore. 
     While that is not a choice I want to make, I'm at a loss as to how to explain my feelings to someone who sees my spinning of yarns as so easily-done that they feel I don't deserve to be paid for it.
     In times past, composers like Mozart, and writers, painters, etc. were all supported by wealthy patrons of the arts.  The patrons commissioned artwork they wanted to own, and anything produced by the artists was owned by the patrons.  Essentially this made the artists the property of, or slaves of their patrons.  But at least they were able to eat and pay their bills.  When asked why there were so few female artists, the obvious answer is always that they were taking care of the artists' children and home, while he was busy creating what his owner wanted, so that they could all eat.
     Now we are in a new age where males AND females must work.  While I am the first to admit that I love to write my books, and I love to hear about readers' opinions of them, if I have to admit that I will never make any profit from my writing, then I have to seriously ask myself if I should perhaps put it off until some time in the future, when all 4 of my progeny are out of college, and the bills are not quite so urgent.
     Now multiply that times the multitude of writers/musicians who are creating today.  Do we really want to diminish what is available, by taking for free from a creator, something they labored over, that gives us pleasure?  Or do we need to come up with a new paradigm that will still encourage creativity, but reward it in a different way?  Any suggestions?

So I have joined a bunch of chat loops to try to publicize myself.  Some of them are reader loops, where I am seeking the holy grail: some readers who are interested in my characters. 
But some of the loops are for authors to share information with our peers.  The big hot button that is being discussed all over now is piracy.  Some people, mostly younger ones (like my 3rd son, a senior in high school), think nothing of paying to download something, then sharing it with their friends.  Their rationale is that they paid for it, so it belongs to them now, to do whatever they want with it.  Including making copies and giving them to each other.  Reality is that this goes on all over, everyday. 
                                    Right or wrong?
Reality also is that this is illegal.  When you download something, like an e-book, you have bought the right to own that one copy of that book.  If you choose to copy it to your e-reader from your computer, theoretically you should delete the copy in your computer.  You only bought the right to own one copy.  The illegality enters into the picture when you give your e-reader to a friend so he/she can read the book.  Now there are 2 copies (one in your computer, one in the e-reader), and you are sharing the book illegally with someone who has not paid for it.  EVen worse is you send a copy of the book to your friend(s).  Now you have compounded the illegal act.  Many people are reading something they didn't pay for. (Here it might be useful to remember that if you buy a paperback, and loan it to a friend, there is only 1 copy...when your friend has it, you don't.  That's the main difference.)

To defend themselves, many insist that this is a victim-less crime, that they haven't actually taken something from anyone, and that if any royalties are not paid, well, the rich publishers and authors charge too much for their books anyway, and so many are not worth the price.  Who cares if a few are copied? 
The reality is that many publishers, particularly of e-books, are small houses who operate on a shoe-string budget.  My own publisher is an example.  There are many helpful and knowledgeable people who help me get my unfinished manuscript to print.  Editors read and make suggestions; the cover artist usually talks to me a few times, sending me artwork until I'm happy with the cover; then it needs to be typeset into a readable form; and last of all, it is created as a POD (print-on-demand) paperback, which means none are printed until they are ordered.  Each of these steps take time and effort.  And none of these people are getting rich from what they are doing. 
Neither am I.  It can take many hours to write a book, then to revise it until I feel it is the best I can produce.  I don't make much from each book that is sold...but even though the IRS considers what I do to be a hobby, since I don't make enough for them to consider it a business, I still feel proud of being a published author. 
We are the people the pirates are stealing from.  When you copy my book without paying for it, you are telling me that you don't feel my effort is worth anything. 
Do you agree?  Disagree?  Let's discuss...

Okay, you women readers who are not happily-married, or who are not currently involved with the man of your dreams, might be asking, "What about me?"  I think that for YOU, romance novels are a way for you to imagine yourself in the kind of situation you'd like to be in.  Like the title of this book says, you are "Never Too Old For The Game Of Love". 
After all, good sci-fi imagines what our future might be like, based on what it's like today.  All things created, were once only in someone's imagination.  Did you know that Leonardo da Vinci drew working plans for helicopters, submarines and tanks, back in the 1500s?  But he wrote the instructions backwards, so you needed a mirror to read them...and he often left out crucial parts, so that if you tried to build his machines, they would not work.  Sneaky?  Oh yes.  But effective.
So reading romance novels lets you imagine yourself as the heroine in a love story...to imagine what kind of man would be the hero you want to have come into your life.  This can only be a good thing.  While it is true that no man is perfect, many can be "perfect for you".  The male characters I write are "real men"...they have their own ambitions, their own dreams.  They are not just cardboard cut-outs, who exist only to satisfy the woman's every desire.  Men like that would be boring.  Just as women like that are boring.  We are all interesting human beings, who need to discover who we are, to know who would make us happy.  Don't look for a man to "complete" you.  Complete yourself.  Then look for a man to raise your temperature and make your heart (and other parts!) sing!  Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!