UPDATE: The winner is…Cindy!
*~*~*

For my own health, I have to tune out, unplug, and turn away my gaze. I have to find ways to re-center myself. I’ve faced a lot since late summer. I’ve come to terms with my personal battle. I worry about the family I’ll leave behind, but I have to show them how to get through hard times and, more importantly, how to stay happy and together.

So, I put together my little list of things I am going to concentrate on for a while. For a chance to win your choice of a download of one of my stories, what would you add to this list?

For you U.S. citizens, today’s the day. Thankfully, some chose to vote early. Our family lives in a rural area, so our polling place is never too busy.

Yesterday was chemotherapy day, and yes, I feel like hell today. However, my family, at least all four voters, is going together to vote this morning. I’ll stay in bed until time to go, then drag my ass there.

I hope you all vote. For a grandmother of five granddaughters, there’s not been a more important election.

UPDATE: The winners are…Debra Guyette & Mary McCoy!
*~*~*

Hello, everyone! First, a huge thank you to Delilah for letting me join in the fun. I’ve been following this blog for a while and finally found my motivation to write about my experience.

When I set out to write my first novel almost a decade ago, I figured it would take all my efforts just to write a Regency romance that balanced the more erotic components I wanted with a full-fledged romantic arc.

However, my brain would not let me stop there. As a modern woman who’d had a thirty-year career in corporate America, I kept wanting the women to have more power.

So entered the idea of a secret school for young women that would teach them everything from household and money management to owning their own pleasure, and thus, the School of Enlightenment series was created.

But what Regency men would love these women? Imagining that they’d also need to be ahead of their time, I dove into Parliamentary laws and scientific developments. My contemporary perspective drove me to focus on those that impacted women, children, and the working class.

Here are a few significant events I mention in my books:

• Corn Laws – In an effort to combat imported grains competition to British farms, The Corn Laws were passed in 1814. These helped only the landowners of the farms, not the agricultural laborers, and caused more extreme poverty for the working class.
• Insolvent Debtors Act of 1813 – This was the first step in Poor Law reform, relieving the overcrowded prisons by releasing debtors if they could reach an agreement with their creditor regarding the distribution of present and future assets. There were further reforms proposed and a few passed, although greater reform did not come until the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, which standardized the treatment of debtors and the use of workhouses. Prior to that it had been up to the parishes throughout Britain and varied widely.
• Macadam roads – Principal routes were dirt until the first few years of the 19^th century when John McAdam’s innovative ‘paving’ was implemented. This was the precursor of what we consider ‘chip and seal’ and saved many horses and carriages from accidents due to poor road conditions in bad weather.
• Steam engines – Steam engines had begun development centuries ago, but in the early 19^th century they became more viable for commercial use – in factories, boats, and locomotives.
• Salamanca – The first commercial steam locomotive, which ran between Middleton and Leeds.
• Robert Owen – Welsh textile manufacturer who was a philanthropist and founder of utopian socialism and the co-operative movement. Even as a factory owner, he led reforms in working conditions, child labor, and life-long education. He was famous for the slogan, “eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest,” and helped get the Cotton Mills and Factories Act of 1819 passed.

After my school-focused series, I continued to search for ways to write women’s independence. In my most recent book, Charlotte’s Control, the widow Charlotte has a knack for investing and does not need to worry about money, but she hungers for the educational opportunities afforded to men in secondary school and university. Most classes were taught in Latin, so she wants to learn that. William, an Oxford student, helps teach her using ancient poets:

• Catullus – (full name Gaius Valerius Catullus Carmina) who wrote sexually explicit (for Roman times) poetry and was a contemporary of Virgil.
• Ovid – The Heroides (Epistulae Heroidum) and Ars amatoria.
• Homer – The Odyssey, both the Pope translation and the Chapman translation, as well as Keats’ poem about the latter.
• Chaucer – Canterbury Tales, from which I drew snippets particularly about the Squire, the Prioress, the Knight, the Reeve, and reference a debate between William and Charlotte over the Wife of Bath.

For giggles, I also created this as an older woman/younger man age gap romance with a bit of femdomme sprinkled in.

Charlotte’s Control

A young rake soon to inherit an impoverished estate…a lonely widow unable to produce an heir…a love they must forsake.

Widowed at thirty, Charlotte, Dowager Countess of Peterborough, finds herself on the lonely edge of Society, caught between the young chits vying for a husband and older matrons. In a moment of vulnerability, she meets a young rake who tempts her to forget propriety and reclaim her feminine powers of seduction…for a while. Their affair can only last until he marries a wealthy debutante who can give him what Charlotte cannot. An heir.

In his final year at Oxford, William Stanton, heir to the Earl of Harrington, is forced to manage the earldom for his drunken father and provide for his family. With the prospect of an advantageous marriage looming in his future, he yearns for the frivolity of his peers. But when he encounters a lovely widow, he’s drawn to her keen mind as much as he is to her beauty. She believes they are destined to part. To keep her, he must battle Fate, time, and the rules of Society that conspire against them.

Get your copy here!

Contest

To win your choice of one of my ebooks, tell me your favorite older woman / younger man romance or your favorite femdomme romance. (Also a sneaky way for me to find new fun books.) Giveaway will be open for one week from the date of posting.

For more about Maggie, visit:
Website: http://maggiesims.com
Newsletter signup for a free novella: https://maggiesims.com/newsletter-signup/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maggiesims.author/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/maggie-sims
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4092694.Maggie_Sims
TikTok (sometimes): https://www.tiktok.com/@maggiesims.author

Report Card

Last week…

1. I worked on edits for one author.
2. I worked on revisions of The Demon Lord’s Cloak, which releases November 12th. Have you pre-ordered your copy? 
3. I worked on revisions of the first chapters of Ignition to help me get back into the story while cleaning up my nits.
4. I had a CT scan with contrast to see how chemo is working for me. I read the report and can see two cool findings. The “shadow” on my spine is gone, and the “bubble” on my liver is gone. I can’t tell much about the cancer in my ovaries, uterus, and omentum. The doctor will have to tell me all about that when I see him tomorrow.
5. I was able to work past noon every day—sometimes, even coming back to work a bit in the evenings. That extra week of recovery I got when they cancelled my treatment on Monday (due to my low platelet count) was a blessing.

This next week…

1. I’m back in the chemo chair on Monday for another round of infusions. I’ve put a few things on my work schedule for the week anyway. I’m stubborn like that.
2. I don’t care how crappy I feel the day after chemo, I’m voting on Tuesday!
3. I’ll be finishing edits for one author and beginning edits for two others this week. Not huge page count goals, but I need to chip away at them.
4. I’ll continue trying to work on editing the pages I’ve already written for Ignition and, hopefully, finishing a new chapter.
5. I’ll complete revisions of The Demon Lord’s Cloak and upload it to Amazon. 
6. I’m going to participate in NaNoWriMo this year, even knowing there’s no way in hell I can hit the 50,000 words in November goal. Whatever wordcount I achieve will be a victory.

Open Contests

Be sure to check out these posts and enter to win the prizes that are still up for grabs!

1. Lacey Davis: Enchanted Deadlines (Contest + Excerpt) — This one ends soon! Win two FREE books!
2. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Trick or Treat! Favorite Halloween Treats! This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Nannie Helen Burroughs – Specializing in the Wholly Impossible (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. October into November (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Puzzle-Contest: Hello November! — And a Reminder! — Win an Amazon gift card!

He’s the best man I’ve ever known. He came from very humble beginnings, joined the Air Force to make a better life for himself, and sent money back to his parents to provide for them, even after he married my mother. He loved my mother, gave her a good life, and built the house I live in now with his own hands.  We lost him in 2019, and we miss him. And if I tend to write heroes who are quiet and stoic and brave, well, I had a great role model.

It’s his birthday today, and I’ll be thinking about him.

UPDATE: The winner is…Beckie!
*~*~*

I’m posting the puzzle-contest early because tomorrow’s a special day for our family.

It’s the first day of November! Can you believe it’s already here? I can’t. This year flew by. I can’t say I’m sorry 2024 is drawing to a close. I’m ready for what’s next. I also look forward to the holiday season. I have some of my Christmas list covered already, but I have to pull out everything I have stuffed in closets to see what’s left to acquire. My daughter has a shelf in the pantry already filling up with things for the Thanksgiving meal. We decorate for Christmas early because my dd loves-loves-loves decorating and likes to see it for longer than a month, so she’s been gathering new things to add—another tree, good Lord! I love to watch her and the girls with boxes filling the living room as they hang ornaments and set up little houses with lights. It’s nuts how much “stuff” we have.

So, I’m happy it’s November. There’s so much to look forward to—Thanksgiving, the start of Advent, Krampus Day, St. Nicklaus Day (we love setting out our shoes!), Christmas, New Years! Our family loves any excuse for a celebration. This season is our favorite!

How about you? Solve the puzzle, then share what you’re looking forward to during this holiday season for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card! 

A Reminder!

Looking for a sexy read, featuring a lonely, taciturn lord of the manor? 

Coming November 12th!
Free in KU!
Pre-order now!

UPDATE: The winner is…Beth!
*~*~*

October

1. I wrote zero words! Zero! I didn’t even revise anything I’ve written, although I have a book coming out soon that needs it!
2. I completed 3 editing projects for other authors in October.
3. Still, with so little productivity, I feel like I climbed mountains.

Health-related:

1. I underwent my third round of chemo and noted how I felt during the days after so I could try to figure out how to work around the chemo schedule. The fatigue continues to be the worst part. My 4th round, which was to start on the 28th, was canceled due to my extremely low platelet count. The chemo-induced anemia is kicking my butt. The aches only last a few days. My white blood count takes a beating, too, but the shots they give me after chemo bring it up quickly. They are going to adjust one of the medicines they give me to try to address the platelet issue.
2. I’m maintaining my 20 pounds weight loss.
3. I’m losing muscle tone. I know I need to add some sort of exercise to my schedule on days when I can get around, but I’ve just been so tired I tend to sleep a lot.
4. I had a CT scan with contrast yesterday. The “shadow” they previously saw on my spine is gone. The nodule on my liver is gone. They see reduction in the thickness of my omentum and the sizes of the tumors in my ovaries and uterus. I won’t know any numbers until next Monday. But progress! 🙂

Happiness-related: 

1. The family has been wonderful, doing takeout and watching movies nearly weekly, so we have family “events” to share.
2. I didn’t paint a thing this month. No drive at all. It’s like the writing—anything that requires imagination takes too much energy.

November

   

1. To revise, format, and upload The Demon Lord’s Cloak for its release on November 12th.
2. To complete Ignition, the fourth book in the Delta Fire series during November’s NaNoWriMo.
3. To complete 4 editing projects in November!
4. To write at least 1/4 of Built Like Mack during NaNoWriMo.
5. My writing goals may be pie-in-the-sky goals, given I have two bouts of chemo sceduled for the month, but I have to shoot for something.

For health related, I plan:

1. To go through two more rounds of chemo, which when I look at my calendar seems overwhelming, but I’ll get through it.
2. To continue to watch what I eat and hope I can manage to drop a few more pounds.
3. To up my physical activities so that I don’t lose any more muscle. Maybe I’ll give myself stairstep goals or walk the driveway to the gate and back goals—on days when I’m not sick as a dog.

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To fiddle in my art room!
2. Attend the local art guild’s Potluck Dinner.
3. To spend time with the family—movies, meals, and flea market adventures! I’m not overly ambitious.
4. Enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas decorating with the family!

Contest

Comment on anything you’ve read in this post. Tell me what you’re doing to make yourself happier and healthier, or tell me what you plan to read in November…

Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!