<![CDATA[ - Blog]]>Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:58:38 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Trying to find time to write!]]>Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:13:42 -0800http://www.fionamcgier.com/1/post/2012/01/trying-to-find-time-to-write.htmlAs always, you can read my blog on the Sweet 'n' Sexy Divas website on the 16th of each month, but other than that, I've been busy working my two jobs, to keep my 3 kids in college!  I'm trying to find time to write, and have at least 3 books I'm working on!  Stay tuned, and look for me to participate in Drea Becraft's Valentine's Day blog hop, offering autographed paperbacks this time!  See you soon!
]]><![CDATA[Christmas Blog-hop winners!]]>Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:19:02 -0800http://www.fionamcgier.com/1/post/2011/12/christmas-blog-hop-winners.htmlThanks to everyone who commented!  It was great to see that so many were interested in my most recent book, Undercover Lovers.  So who won?
(Drum roll.....)
Megan won an eBook of The Reluctant Bride!
Cathy won an eBook of Undercover Lovers!
Judith won an eBook of Undercover Lovers!
Sonia won an eBook of Undercover Lovers!

I hope you all enjoy your books!  Remember there is a free download on Smashwords of an entire novel, Prescription For Love (see sidebar on right for the link) for those who have not yet read any of my books and want to see if you will like my style.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Solstice, and may your new year be all that you hope for!  And if as the Mayans predicted, there is going to be a major change for the human race in 2012, let's hope it's for the better!
]]><![CDATA[Big Christmas Blog Hop!]]>Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:34:05 -0800http://www.fionamcgier.com/1/post/2011/12/big-christmas-blog-hop.htmlWhat could be better than the fun many of you readers had during the Halloween blog hop?  A bigger, better blog hop with tons more authors and lots of fun things to win!  So get set to win yourself some presents you really want!  From your friends, the authors whose books you read!

Once again I'm offering 4 eBooks to readers who leave comments below.  Check out my book pages, read some reviews, drool over the heroes on the covers, then follow the links for some excerpts.  Decide which book you would like to read if you win, then leave me a comment telling me which book you would like to read...maybe why?
Good luck and Merry Christmas!
Picture
Click on picture to find other participating authors! Have fun and good luck!
]]><![CDATA[Want to share your opinions with publishers?]]>Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:07:23 -0800http://www.fionamcgier.com/1/post/2011/11/want-to-share-your-opinions-with-publishers.htmlI always say that I have a million opinions, all of them strong, and all of them available for free, even if you don't ask for them!  ;-D
AllRomance.com is asking you to share your opinions and experiences with eBooks for them to share with other publishers.  Here is their blurb and their link, if you are interested.  It only takes a few minutes.

Ladies First: Lessons from the Romance Ebook Model
Romance books went digital faster and more readily than any other genre in publishing. Fledgling ebook-only publishers have thrived. Ellora's Cave, now a decade old, started doing erotic romance ebooks when the big players wouldn't touch it. Harlequin's ebook-only imprint, Carina, even publishes DRM-free! And the larger publishers all have robust roma nce offerings that add important dollars to their sales ledger, even though they are often outsold by scrappy competitors that people outside the romance business have never heard of.

Why did romance ebooks take off so quickly, and so successfully?

At Digital Book World 2012, we'll take a close look at the romance publishing business to find out what it can teach us about selling ebooks in other genres and to other audiences. Original data developed from surveying the customers of AllRomance.com, along with an examination of the players in the romance community, will provide the background for a discussion among publishers and retailers of how romance publishing practices differ from what is done in general trade. We'll tease out lessons we can apply to other genres as they work on catching up with the ebook uptake romance has pioneered.


https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Romance-eReading ]]><![CDATA[Happy Thanksgiving!]]>Fri, 18 Nov 2011 20:44:50 -0800http://www.fionamcgier.com/1/post/2011/11/happy-thanksgiving.htmlHi, I'm the blogger on the 16th of every month at the Sweet n Sexy Divas blogspot.  I gave an extended excerpt from Recipe For Love, which has a Thanksgiving scene to be remembered!  Please come by and take a peek.

http://sweetnsexydivas.blogspot.com/?zx=19b6edcc01df32d2

Unfortunately I'll be working Black Friday AND Black Saturday.  Like all sensible people, I will be enjoying my family on the actual turkey day.  I can't understand why people rush out to stand in line to shop in the middle of the night, and I'm grateful I don't have to work until the sun is actually up on Friday...I think retail workers should get extra pay for working weird hours, but then my view is colored by being one of them!  And if I wasn't working, I'd be sleeping late...

Anyway, happy Thanksgiving everyone!  May you get the bigger part of the wishbone, and may all of your relatives behave themselves this year!
]]><![CDATA[HAPPY HALLOWEEN BLOG HOP! Friday 10/28-Halloween Day!]]>Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:44:43 -0800http://www.fionamcgier.com/1/post/2011/10/happy-halloween-blog-hop-friday-1028-halloween-day.htmlPicture
So Drea Becraft wanted to set up a little blog hop so us grown-up readers and writers could have some fun over Halloween weekend.  Guess what?  She got about 100 authors to join in her party!  We are all offering free goodies to treat you this weekend.  So don't be shy!  Now's the time to discover a new author...or a new series.

After you are done having a look around my website, reading excerpts, drooling over hot heroes, and leaving me a comment to indicate which book you'd like to win...click on the icon above to go to Drea's site for links to the other authors who are offering treats.  And good luck to everyone!  Boo!

For my treat I'm going to draw 4 random names from the readers who offer comments below.  I'll draw 4 winners because this blog-hop will last for 4 days.  Unless you request otherwise, I'll be sending you my latest book, the 2nd in my Spies in Love series, about agents who are trying to save the world, one case at a time.  They know they aren't supposed to fall in love, but they are, after all, only human!


Picture
Ameena quit her life as a spy after her last assignment involved her being tortured by a psychopath...and she volunteered for the job! Now he's escaped and her ex-handler is assigning 2 gorgeous agents to protect her, 24/7. Will they catch the killer before he gets to her? Will she get to kill him this time? And which of the hot agents will she choose when they are both actively working to convince her to let them under her covers?
This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.
]]><![CDATA[Time to write...my holy grail!]]>Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:41:57 -0800http://www.fionamcgier.com/1/post/2011/10/time-to-writemy-holy-grail.htmlOh how I wish I was retired, as many authors are, writing about how their day began with a cup of coffee out on the porch as they admired the mountain scenery, then they wrote for a few hours, then blogged, then settled down to enjoy some quality time with their loved ones.
<sigh>
Me?  I wake up early, pack both a lunch and a dinner (yogurt and fruit lately), and run out the door to sub in a local high school.  Then I drive to the parking lot of the retail store I work at, where I eat a light snack, then catch a quick nap with my trusty phone alarm set to wake me if I really fall asleep.  Then I work a 5-hour shift on my feet, then drive home, arriving about 10pm.  I try to squeeze in some blogging about my books if I'm not too tired, but I sometimes fall asleep sitting up.  Then I go to bed and sleep until the whole thing starts again!
There's the old joke about how a recession is when your neighbor loses their job.  A depression is when you do.
I've been job-hunting for 8 years now, and still can't get a full-time offer, unless I want to do retail full-time, and I'm not sure my feet/back could handle that!  I've been a high school English teacher, a salesperson, a marketing executive, and a department manager.  But now I've got 3 kids in college, so I have to consider myself lucky to have my 2 jobs!  Sheesh!
Land of opportunity, my eye!
How about you?  How are you making out in today's economy?  And when do you find the time to write...or if you are a reader, when do you read?
]]><![CDATA[The first review for Undercover Lovers is 5 Hearts!]]>Wed, 21 Sep 2011 21:28:42 -0800http://www.fionamcgier.com/1/post/2011/09/the-first-review-for-undercover-lovers-is-5-hearts.htmlI'm so excited!  This book has only been out for a week, and it got a 5 hearts review from the Sizzling Hot Books site!  Please go check it out to see if you want to enter below for a chance to win a free eBook of Undercover Lovers!

http://www.sizzlinghotbooks.net/search/label/5%20hearts ]]><![CDATA[Hispanic Heritage Month!]]>Fri, 16 Sep 2011 10:24:23 -0800http://www.fionamcgier.com/1/post/2011/09/hispanic-heritage-month.htmlSeptember 15th kicks off the start of Hispanic Heritage Month! The first celebration took place in 1968 when President Lyndon B. Johnson declared Hispanic Heritage Week. In 1988, President Reagan expanded the observance to a full month. During the period of September 15-October 15, Hispanic culture and the contributions of people of Hispanic descent will be celebrated across the country. The 2011 theme is “Heritage, Diversity, Integrity, and Honor: The Renewed Hope of America.” For more information, visit  http://hispanicheritagemonth.gov/.

My husband used to travel to Guadalajara for business, and last year he was  there for a week in the middle of September.  When he called me the night of the 15th, he laughed that work had ended early that afternoon, and the entire town was involved in celebrating Independence Day, with partying in the streets, drinking lots of tequila and cerveza, eating great foods, and dancing to the various mariachi bands.  He said he was going to be careful, but he was headed out to join the party and I don't blame him! 

Why is the celebration on the 16th?  
El Grito every 16th of September is the Mexican Fiesta par excellence! On this day Mexicans all over the world celebrate Mexico’s independence from Spanish rule.
Read more at: http://www.inside-mexico.com/featureindep.htm

The USA has always been a country of immigrants.  Each new wave from different countries has been met with cynicism and hostility, with the long-time residents positive that this new culture won't be able to blend well or contribute much to our society.  Yet time after time, their fears have been proven wrong.  The Hispanic people living here are no exception. 

And if you want to see a movie that celebrates the Mexican people, that makes you cheer for them as the good guys, and be glad you understand enough Spanish to know what they were really saying, instead of what the sub-titles showed, rent the movie Machete, directed by Robert Rodriguez, who says that as a young boy growing up in the USA, he wondered why he never saw anyone like his family in the movies.  He now makes the movies he wanted to see.  It's got some violence in it, but to me it's a "feel-good" movie that makes me cheer for the good-guys at the end! 

And the books in my series, The Reyes Family Romances, are about the romances had by the various people in a large, multi-generational family.  Each book is stand-alone, but the characters in previous books make appearances, because this is a family that loves and supports each other.
Click on the links above to read about the books, read excerpts and reviews, and find out where to buy them, or to download the book I put up as a free read on Smashwords.  Bienvenida a nuestro familia!

To read about more caliente romances with Hispanic characters visit Delaney Diamond's website:
http://delaneydiamond.com/2011/09/15/celebrate-hispanic-heritage-month/
]]><![CDATA[Undercover Lovers now available!]]>Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:38:48 -0800http://www.fionamcgier.com/1/post/2011/09/undercover-lovers-now-available.htmlI'm going to be making some blogging appearances to talk about this book and give excerpts.  Tomorrow I'll be doing my usual spot on Sweet'N Sexy Divas.com, and on Sunday I'll be at Tina Donahue's site, then on Wednesday I'll be at Coffee Beans and Love Scenes.  On each site I will be offering contests to win an eBook of Undercover Lovers. 
But I thought I'd run a contest here as well.  If you have read Secret Love, then you will be glad to know that Sheena, Cory and Malcolm all appear in Undercover Lovers.  Since there are 3 main characters in my new book, I'm going to offer 3 eBooks.  This is how you win:
1-Be the first person to e-mail me with Sheena's middle name, and who she was named that after.
(click on my Contact me! link above.)
2-Be the first person to e-mail me with Cory's mother's name, and why she chose that name.
3-Just comment below, and I'll pick names out of a hat a week from now, on Thursday, the 22.
Now let's celebrate my 10th book being published!  Yay!
]]>