Today I received an email from one of my bestest friends in the whole world entitled Fun Things About Me. Maybe you guys have already received this type of email, responded to the email and or deleted the email...but I thought answering it was fun.
Four things about me that you may or may not know in no particular order:
Four jobs I have had in my life 1. server 2. attorney 3. Motion Picture agent 4. popcorn maker
Four movies I would watch over and over 1. Steel Magnolias 2. Ocean's Eleven 3. anything with Brad Pitt 4. Sixteen Candles
Four places I have lived: 1. Chicago, IL 2. Washington, DC 3. Denver, CO 4. Hollywood, CA
Four TV Shows that I watch: 1. The Biggest Loser 2. Real Housewives of OC 3. The Girls Next Door 4. Project Runway
Four places I have been: 1. Mexico 2. New York 3. Big Sur 4. Grand Canyon
Four People who e-mail me (regularly): 1. Nealie 2. Ally 3. Renie 4. Molly
Four of my favorite foods: 1. salmon 2. sushi 3. mashed potatoes 4. Chocolate ice cream
Four places I would rather be right now: (really nowhere else because I'm writing this morning but if you insist....) 1. Paris 2. Big Sur 3. Telluride 4. Reading
Four Things I am looking forward to in 2008: 1. Secrets of The Hollywood Girls Club in Bookstore April! 2. San Fran in July 3. Baby number two sleeping through the night 4. An end to the writer's strike
And finally...my addition to these fun facts
Four Books I Could Read Over and Over (and have) 1. Paradise by Toni Morrison 2. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee 3. Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain 4. Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
So have fun with this...take out my answers and send the questions to friends. Or, I'd love to hear your answers...leave me a comment. xoMaggie
Today is the paperback release of The Liars Diary by Patry Francis. Patry was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, which she chronicles in her blog Simply Wait. Because of her fight with cancer Patry won't be able to go and promote The Liars Diary. Now, I'm an author and a mother, and being unable to promote a book I wrote would be similar to being unable to escort my child to school the first day. So a number of authors who respect Patry's work are trying to get the word out about the paperback release of The Liars Diary today. We want to let the readers know that The Liars Diary is now available in paperback and worth the eleven dollars. So if you are looking for a new paperback book, take a chance on a new writer, and pick up a copy of The Liars Diary by Patry Francis.
So yeah...a blog about things I need (want)...and am thankful that I will get...soon....
1. A mani-pedi...oh you don't even want to see my toes.
2. A new pair of glasses. So I'm legally blind and usually wear contacts but when I'm writing a lot (like now) I get eyestrain and wear my glasses. And my glasses...circa 1993...oh and that's not the half of it...these are glasses I got before law school when I was really really broke and guess what they were 2 pair for 20 dollars...you read it right (excluding the 50 dollar eye exam). Oh I did have a nice pair that I purchased after law school but somehow baby number one thought those would be fun to bend and wear and eventually break.
3. An annual yoga membership. So I can go every day.
4. A babysitter...(see number 3 for explanation)
5. A housekeeper...once a week. I've determined that when someone other than me or the hubby is cleaning the homestead that I will actually be very very well off in the world.
6. To remodel the kitchen and the bathroom. Oh yes, granite counter tops or cement...I'm not sure...but nothing with grout...I do so hate the tiles with grout...because that comes with toothbrushes and meiers scrub and me bent over brushing the grout...(see number 5)
7. A treadmill. It rains sometimes and although I don't mind hauling myself to the gym, so simple to roll out and onto the treadmill. (and w/out 4 it makes the gym tricky...see 3)
8. A mommy makeover. I'm considering it. The full meal deal; tummy tuck, breast lift, a little lipo around the belly and hips...hmmm....I'll let you know.
9. A haircut. (again, see number 4 to understand why this is so difficult.)
10. A new wardrobe. I am notorious for sitting around in jammies and writing all day. And while this is a-okay....for writing. I've found that people give you funny looks when you go to lunch in fleece bottoms...just kidding...I don't go to lunch anymore! (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9 for explanation)
So what do you do on a rainy day in LA? Well if you're me, you write. Of course, I have that marvelous sense of accomplishment with Secretsgetting a great review and coming out in April. Plus Hollywood Girls Club, book one, comes out in paperback in February. I just finished the second draft of my first YA (Young Adult) book and gave it to my brand spanking new YA agent; the uber-cool Kristin Nelson who blogs...check it out. But of course that's not enough. Because it's never enough. As a writer you write; you have to, or you die....or become a little kooky in the head. So what am I working on now? Hmmm...I am currently writing a new Women's Fiction book. Yes, new characters, new place, new problems. And I am loving it. I hope you will too. xo Maggie
Now my dream a long long time ago when I was an attorney and writing as a hobby was to someday get published...maybe. But the idea of having a book reviewed by PW...I mean WOW! And now to have two books reviewed by PW...Super WOW! And to have a good review?! Well that made my day.
I mean, I know I shouldn't care about reviews, and I know reviews aren't as important as doing the work. But hey, I spend a huge part of my life sitting alone at my computer wondering if what I'm writing is even half-way good. So when a publication like PW tells the world that I did a good job stringing all those words together into a story...well it feels good...darn it!
REALLY good. So for the review, the feeling, the story and this great day, I am grateful.
I remember as a little girl being totally irritated with the fact that God made Jesus a boy. I mean, come on, supposedly he sent this guy to save the world. Why not a little girl? Why not a woman? But now I know the answer. Fight Club. Yes, this Fight Club:
In Fight Club, I see a little of every man. The yang to the female yin. The male destroyer to the female life-giver. And it is in this, this moment that I realized God had no choice but to make Jesus a man. Not because Jesus was in his image, as I believe God is a force, a sexless entity. But to send a woman to save humankind would be too easy. A billion mothers every day give to the point of non-existence. But to send a man, filled with testosterone, power and an endless desire for more, and through love turn him into an empathetic healer, who selflessly gives his life to save those who torture him? To have a man, become that full of compassion? Well, that transformation my friends is truly the domain of the divine. xoMM
So am I the only person in America who is completely fixated on Miss America: Reality Check? Okay, I admit it, there is still enough big-haired Midwest in me to like (okay LOVE) the pageants. Okay? I mean what girl just doesn't want to cake on the make-up, spray the aquanet and be a princess for a night...perhaps with the right evening gown, a year? And get paid for it? Forget about it! Much like a whole lot of women though, my love for the yearly runway scene was turning into a melancholy longing for a much simpler time...like say 1978... Like enjoying the idea of Macaroni and cheese but then when you actually taste the stuff made by Kraft...not so good. But stop the press because when I saw this:
And then I thought, Wow, she's back. Miss America! Now not only can I get to know all these contestants, I can now truly root for someone during the pageant. Plus I get to VOTE! Too Good To Be True! xomm
For anyone who wants great strike news...or just to fully understand what the WGA is fighting for and how huge the stakes are for the writers, their families and every creative in film and tv please take a look at United Hollywood.
Okay...so my favorite awards show (with the bestest parties ever) is canceled this year. And as much as I will miss the swag, the red carpet show, the parties, and the booze I wholeheartedly agree with the WGA in their fight for fair pay for honest work. Notice I said fair. Because, it is fair. It is fair that writers get paid for their labor. It is fair to expect when you create or manufacture a product that you get paid for that product. That in fact, a corporation, doesn't get to take the product you create and choose not to pay you for it. And then, when the corporation makes money on the product whether it be from direct revenue ie purchase or indirect revenue ie ad revenue generated by people using or viewing your product that the corporation can't then turn to you, the creator, and say 'oh, so sorry, but we're really not making any money.' One question, since when do corporations do anything that doesn't make money? Nuff said. Good-bye Globes. xoMaggie
So I've completed 7 days of my 1,000...SEVEN days in a row of exercise. And gotta say....like the infamous James Brown I feel good! Of course there are a few aches and pains...uhm who goes from walking from the bed to the computer to the refrigerator to actually walking outdoors for a 1/2 hour daily without a few aches? So what has my first week entailed? Two days of yoga (90 minutes kick your butt Anasura yoga) and five days of walking.
Now as my fellow Los Angeleno's know...no one walks outdoors in LA. No one. We go to the gym to walk, kay. We do not walk outside. When I embark on my daily constitution, the sidewalks are like a scene from I Am Legend...empty. Which is some ways is nice, because, I'm finding I enjoy taking in my surroundings quietly and alone. I mean our neighborhood is relatively new to me, we moved here 15 months ago. And driving in a neighborhood is totally different than walking in a neighborhood. If I only drove, I would never have discovered that my neighbor down the street has a pomegranate tree. A tree with pomegranates. Why is this important you ask? Well, I don't know, maybe it's not. It's just I don't think I've ever seen a pomegranate tree before and for some reason I think it's kind of neat that my neighbor has one. That they can just, you know, walk outside in January, and pick a pomegranate, off their tree. They can have a pomegranate any old time they want...breakfast, lunch or dinner...or even for a snack. Somehow that seems wonderful to me. I mean we have an orange tree...well our neighbors do and a huge branch hangs into our yard...so guess what those oranges are ours...but pomegranate? Pomegranate somehow just seems more exotic. I get visions of belly dancers and arabian nights and horses when I think of pomegranates. Wow, and all because I took a walk. xo MM
Happy New Year! I wish everyone great happiness and success in 2008! So, I will be avoiding the yearly tradition of making and then breaking resolutions. However I am making a commitment. A commitment to myself, my health, and my family. I (sedentary writer that I am) am committing to 1,000 days of exercise. Yes, that's right one THOUSAND as in 2.73 years of daily exercise. Of course, as with any endeavor, there are parameters and here are mine.
1. Exercise every day for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Now this exercise can be greater than thirty minutes but never less and it must be thirty consecutive minutes.
The type of exercise? Well it may be any exercise of my choice as long as it gets the blood pumping and the heart rate up. Walking, running, weight lifting, yoga (not relaxing yoga but heart pumping sweating my tushy off yoga), swimming, biking, hiking...you get the picture.
Now the thousand days are to be consecutive...never to be missed...unless (here is the exception) 1. Illness: fever, vomiting, or congestion ( you know the kind where you really can't breathe).
And that's it. Of course I will be keeping a journal of my progress. Because, this truly is a great adventure for me. I have dabbled in and flirted with exercise throughout my life, but never have I fully committed. So here it is, my commitment; 1,000 days thirty minutes daily me and my muscles.
I am an attorney, author, and independent producer. My Hollywood adventure began as a motion picture literary agent (after pushing the mail-cart!). Since then I've written for film, TV, and ghostwritten multiple celebrity books, (sorry can't tell you which celebrities). I am blessed to share my LA life with my outrageously good-looking husband (seriously--I get older and he gets better with age) and my fabulous children.
