Author Archives: maggieshayne

The Art of Feeling Good (Maggie)

Posted on by
3

Dozer at 1, Running with an Apple

“If you had one goal, and that was to feel good, you would never again need to hear another word from anyone. You would live successfully and happily and in a way of fulfilling your life’s purpose ever after.”
~Abraham

This is one of my favorite quotes. I have many favorite quotes, and I enjoy sharing them far and wide, but more than that, I enjoy picking them apart and trying to figure out how to turn a pithy bit of what sounds like ingenious advice, into a life-enhancing habit.  And this seems like an easy one. Feel good.  Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But many of us might not think so. How does one go about just feeling good when the things around them are bad?

Well, here’s the thing. It’s not what’s happening around you that makes you feel bad in most cases. It’s not what other people are doing or not doing, or where you live or how much money you have. It’s what you think and feel about those things. Short of a health crisis or the loss of a loved one, nothing else really has the power to make you feel bad. And we’ll come back to those great big things too.  So let’s look at this.

Here are the key things. First, we have to get a very firm handle on the simple truth that it’s

Niblet’s favorite thing: A Mud Facial

not anyone else’s job to make us happy. If we really truly believe that, then the notion of, “I’d be happy if only my husband would change,” or “if only my kids would help out more,” or “if only (anyone) would do or stop doing (anything)” would never occur to you again. You see?

Second, we have to get just as firm a grasp on the concept that it’s not our job to make anyone else happy. First, because it’s impossible to do. No matter how hard we try, we can never do enough to please everyone in our lives because they all want different things and without being in their heads, we can’t even be sure what all those things are. And because no one can make anyone happy. Your one and only job is to choose to be happy yourself.

The third thing is to live in the current moment. It’s cliche, but think about it, pick it apart. What does it mean? When you’re walking or sitting or resting or trying to sleep, what’s going through your mind? A million things, I know. But most of them fall into one of two categories: Past, that is the reliving of what happened yesterday (or last week or last month) and thinking I should have done this or I should have said that. Or future, which is worrying about tomorrow, or next week or next month and thinking I’ll never make that deadline, we’re going to run out of money, that huge bill is due, I’ve got some unpleasant thing I have to do.

Daisy and Niblet’s other Favorite Thing: SNOW!

How often do we really stop to just BE in the present moment? To feel the soft pillow beneath our head, the warm body beside us, the snuggly covers keeping us warm. How often do we look around the room and smile at the colors we picked or the curtains we chose, or take comfort in the pictures on our walls? How many times do we stop what we’re doing to pause and just bask in where we are in that very moment? Almost never.

When you are worrying, you are actively creating your future. The thoughts you think become the beliefs you believe, and what you believe is what comes true for you. If that doesn’t make you want to stop worrying, I don’t know what will.

So when the worries come, ask yourself why you’re thinking about this thing that makes you feel so badly. Can you fix it right now? If so, do it and get it off your mind. If not, then why dwell on it? Why not think about something that makes you feel good instead? You’re in charge of what you dwell on, after all. No one else, just you.

“Selfishly seek joy, for unless you are in your joy, you have nothing to offer anyone else.”
~Abraham

Do you know anyone who is always complaining? About life, their marriage, their bills, their job, their kids, etc? It’s exhausting and draining to be around them, isn’t it?

Do you know anyone who is always upbeat, positive, happy? Do you notice how you always feel better when you’re around them?

So here’s your question. Which person do you want to be? Why not be the person that others feel better around? Why not beam with so much peace, serenity, and calm that everyone around you feels calmer? Why not beam so much joy and giddiness and love of life that everyone around you feels happier?

Now back to those big bad things that life can bring us. Health crises, losses of those we love (we don’t really lose them you know, but that’s another blog post.) Studies of happiness have shown that those people who have a normal state of happiness that’s in the high range, tend to bounce back from tragedies more quickly and deal with them more healthily. Those who are always down, tend to be crippled by the same types of losses. People return to what is their “norm.”  What’s yours?

Dozer (upright) Daisy & Niblet playing in sprinkler.

Dogs don’t worry. Dogs are always, always in the moment. And they find more joy in their short lifespans than humans do in our much longer ones. Be in the moment, and find joy in what is there. Like a dog with an apple or a mud-puddle or new snow or a sprinkler, find something to be utterly giddy about in every moment of your existence. Make happiness be your normal state. And every single thing in your life will improve…not just a little bit–it’ll snowball. And it will begin immediately.

Choose Joy. It takes nothing more than accepting that it is a choice, and realizing that you are the one in control of making it.  And then consistent practice, every day, with every thought, choosing to focus on what feels good and refusing to dwell on what doesn’t.

 

 

The Meaning of Appreciation (Maggie)

Posted on by
3

During this month of Thanksgiving, everyone is talking about gratitude and appreciation.  Over on my Facebook page, we’re sharing 22 Days of Gratitude, where we all post things for which we are grateful every single day through Thanksgiving Day itself. This sort of habit is a beautiful one to develop, but it can soon become rote. Looking around you, you start listing things you’re really glad you have, and then you’re done.

But that’s not true appreciation.  True appreciation is a lot more, a lot deeper. Let’s look at the word for a minute. Appreciation: To increase in value. You know, as in, the opposite of “depreciation.” Get it? Okay, so let’s apply that now to the things in our lives.

I’m walking the dogs. I notice how pretty the frost looks on the trees way up high on the surrounding hilltops. I think, “I’ll add that to my list of gratitudes for today.” And then I continue walking the dogs.

That’s not true appreciation. That’s noticing. I haven’t made the view any more valuable. I’ve not even observed the value it already has. Not really.

I’m walking the dogs and I see the beauty of the frosty trees on high. And I stop. I stand for a moment, just looking at it, and truly seeing the beauty. As I watch, a hawk launchers herself from one of those frosted limbs and soars off with a loud battle cry that stirs something to life in my heart and feels like a rush of adrenaline. The clouds move a little, and the sun beams directly down onto the hilltop, and suddenly the frosty trees look as if they’re sculpted crystal. It’s like a fairy land. I think for a moment how lucky I am to live amid such breathtaking beauty. I think how some people travel to find views like these, and how when they do, they often express envy of those who get to live there year round. Well I’m one of those, I realize. I mean, my town is not a tourist spot, but I definitely live in a place as beautiful as any destination out there. I am one of those lucky ones who get to see a panoramic photo opp every time I look out my window.

Suddenly, my home’s value has increased to me. The view I saw is no longer just another item to add to my list. I have truly basked in it, truly relished it.  This is true appreciation.

So when you’re giving thanks for things this month, remember to spend a few minutes really appreciating each and every one of them. Stop and notice, and think and feel and experience the blessings in your life, instead of just counting them.

Now, I’d be lax in my duties if I didn’t mention that my new book, DAUGHTER OF THE SPELLCASTER, book 2 of The Portal Series is on sale now in both print and ebook! (Book 1, Mark of the Witch, is an RT Book Review Magazine Nominee for Best Paranormal of 2012.)

BN.com

Amazon.com

iTunes

Kobo

And Book 3, Blood of the Sorceress, the third and final (I think) installment in this series, comes out right after the new year, 2nd week in January. More about The Portal Series is at its special site, www.ThePortal Books.com

See you next week! Happy Gratitude Month!

Gratitude (Maggie)

Posted on by
2

An attitude of gratitude is my topic for this week. We’ve been hearing about gratitude for a while now. It’s trendy and new age, and everyone is doing it. It feels like a good thing, seems positive, apparently makes a lot of people feel better, so lots of folks feel funny about questioning it. That would be negative, right?

Wrong. Knowing why this idea is good for you is as important as implementing it. There is science behind this now. There are books and workshops, Ph.D’s, MD’s, and others agreeing that gratitude is important. There is proof that your genes react to your state of mind. To what you believe. Beliefs and ways of thinking that feel good, activate genes that keep your body feeling good, and beliefs that feel bad activate genes that make your body feel bad. Your cells react to your thoughts and feelings. Your immune system. Every part of you. Stress causes measurable negative reactions from every part of you, and stress here, is defined as anything you perceive as “bad.” And the bad thing doesn’t even have to happen to you. You can get the same physical results just by worrying about the bad thing happening to you.

There’s science out there now that proves these claims, and I’m not going to waste time here trying to convince you. When you have an hour, watch this video by Dr. Bruce Lipton, The Biology of Perception, and he’ll explain all the science behind it. The undeniable fact he will prove to you is that feeling good makes you healthy, and feeling bad makes you sick.

So the key is to feel good. And one of the best ways you can do this is to train yourself to be happy where you are, and eager for more. No one has any trouble with the “eager for more” part. But most of us have a lot of trouble being happy where we are, no matter where that is. It’s vital we figure it out, though, because we cannot move up from where we are, until we are okay being there. It’s only when we give up our desperate yearning for improvement and honestly and truly find contentment with our present moment, that we can improve the moments to come.

One of the most powerful tools for finding your way to that contentment, is a sincere and persistent practice of appreciation, or, a juicier word for it, basking. Learn to bask in what you have, and you’ll bring yourself more and more things to bask in. But it has to be sincere.

In honor of our American Thanksgiving holiday (November 22nd) I’m instituting 22 days of Gratitude on my Facebook Page and on Twitter (@MaggieShayne) and I hope you will join me. Every day from November 1st (today) through Thanksgiving Day on November 22nd, I want every participant to post a handful of things in your life right now, for which you are truly, deeply grateful. Things that make you happy, make your life easier or more pleasurable, things you love and honestly appreciate. Get a journal, as I have done, and write these things down.

You can join in our Attitude of Gratitude month at my Facebook page and/or on Twitter by posting with the hashtag #Gratitude so we can all follow along. I encourage you to post pictures of the things you appreciate as well. I know I can hardly wait to get started!

See you tomorrow! Happy Gratitude Month!

 

Slowly coming back…. (Maggie)

Posted on by
4

As many of you probably know, we lost my beloved Mother-in-Love, Lee. Since then we’ve been up north on Black Lake with family for her services and many family gatherings. We’re back now, but gearing up for another memorial service locally this weekend, so we’re still scrambling. Still missing her, still struggling with the hole she left in so many lives, and still feeling her everywhere in all we do. She’s been making sure we know she’s okay and still with us in many ways.

So my blog will be brief today, but I found something today that really made me smile, and I wanted to share it with you, because in the midst of any hard time, anything that makes you smile is a happy big of relief.

These are 28 photos of grooms’ reactions upon first glimpsing their brides on their wedding day.  They’re just wonderful and really smile worthy.  (click the link) I hope you enjoy it, and I’ll be back with a more thorough post next week.

Lots of love,

Maggie

The Bliss of Surrender (Maggie)

Posted on by
15

Our family has been struggling for the past seven weeks. It doesn’t seem possible it’s been that long since my partner’s beautiful mom went into Crouse Hospital in Syracuse for a cardiac cath, thinking she’d have a stent put in and be home in a few days.  That revealed bigger issues than a stent could fix, so she was sent to St. Joseph’s Hospital to undergo triple bypass surgery.  Something went terribly wrong, though no one still knows what, and she end up being moved to Strong Memorial in Rochester where she remains on a ventilator, on dialysis, in multi-organ failure.

This isn’t the only such struggling happening at the moment.  My beautiful Aunt recently lost her adult son to a motorcycle accident. My beautiful sister and her family are struggling with my brother in law’s cancer. A dear friend and colleague has an adult niece with two small children, just diagnosed with a dire illness.

So we’ve been struggling. We’ve been praying, vision questing, magicking, shamaning, Reiki-ing, positive thinking, bedside vigiling, and straining in every possible way.  We are fighting to stay hopeful, to stay positive, to share energy with, to stay upbeat, to believe our loved ones will be well again. We’re fighting for miracles here.

But fighting and struggle are never good.  All of this comes from our intuitive human tendency to stave off death at all costs. To see it as the worst possible thing that can happen.  We all kind of believe that deep down.  No matter how philosophical we might be about death the rest of the time, when it comes to us or to someone we love, death becomes the enemy. No longer a natural part of an endless cycle. No longer a blissful passage into ultimate understanding and peace and oneness. We go from viewing the end of a lifetime from the perspective of Touched by an Angel, to viewing it from the perspective of Final Destination. And we do it in the space of time it takes a doctor to utter the words, “We’ve done all we can.”

So now, in the midst of this struggle, I’ve been growing more and more tense. Yesterday I was very near a breaking point as I drove to town to get my oil changed, resenting that life would dare interrupt me in the middle of a family crisis. I was going down the road, with a thousand things racing through my head, and I suddenly heard my inner self shouting “STOP!”

So I stopped. I pulled the car over. I stepped on my mental brakes at the same time. I made the noise in my head go silent. I thought of Eckhart Tolle saying that there is no past and there is no future, there is only NOW.  And when we spend our Now reliving the past or worrying about the future, our Now is being wasted.

 ”Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.”
― Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
I took a few deep, cleansing breaths, and looked at the blue blue sky, the puffs of white clouds floating lazily by, the way the trees have already begun putting on their Fall display. I put my windows down and breathed the crisp, chilly autumn air. I stopped my mind from racing ahead, stopped my mental reciting of the infinite to-do list, stopped the what if, what if, what if, worry-chant that’s been hammering away inside my head.  I focused on Now. The very moment I was in.  And I realized that it was a good moment.  I opened myself up to the appreciation of this good moment, to really relishing it, smelling it, tasting it, feeling it, experiencing it.  Living it.  Another message came to me. And it was the message of surrender. “Just let it go,” it whispered. “This isn’t your journey, this isn’t your job, stop struggling and straining. Surrender.”
The answer to every impossible problem is simply to surrender to it. Know that it will be as it will be. Every one of us is on this planet until it’s time for us to move on. We can be okay with that, or we can miserable about that. But it is as it is.  We ebb and we flow, we wax and we wane with the cycles of nature. Our human perceptions and emotions, our magnificent brains, like to think they can figure a way out of or around or through those cycles, and we strain and struggle because what we’re fighting against isn’t something that we can change. Trying to change these cycles would be as logical as me going outside and spending my time willing the leaves not to fall from the trees as Autumn unfolds, trying to enforce my will on those leaves to stay put, and fearing that if I look away, even for a second, they’re going to fall because I wasn’t vigilant enough.  But no.  Leaves fall. That’s simply what Autumn is. And it’s not a bad thing, and spring always comes again, and this is the way of nature.
If a person is meant to spend more time on the physical plane, there is nothing anyone can do that will make them leave early. No one dies before their time. No matter how young, no matter how tragic. And if a person has reached the end of their earthly journey, there is nothing anyone can do to keep them around longer. The length of each lifetime was chosen before each of us came into it. Surrendering to that gentle truth allows us to stop struggling, and straining and trying to force our will onto the eternal cycles of nature. It allows us to stop our angry, furious, raging against, and questioning why. Once we know we can’t change it, that it’s not our job to change it, that everything happens exactly the way it’s supposed to for reasons we will understand perfectly once we cross the Veil ourselves, once we accept that, we can relax a little more. We can be a little bit easier inside ourselves.
I don’t believe all the prayers and healing and magic we send to our ailing loved ones is ever for nothing. I am convinced the energy reaches those we love and helps them enormously.  But whether they channel that energy into making a more peaceful, easier transition to the other side, or whether they channel it into making their recovery faster and more complete, we cannot know ahead of time. And this is where surrender can bring the nearest thing to comfort in times like these.
Surrender means letting go. Breathing deeply, and letting go, and knowing that the outcome is already decided. It will be as it will be, and it will be as it’s supposed to be. It’s not up to us. It will be as the Divine Source from whence we come, that part of us that IS that Source, knows it must be, because that’s the only way it can be, and it will all make perfect sense to us when our turn comes.
So we continue to pray, to meditate, to send energy in whatever means feels right to us. And we trust that it will be put to the best possible use, and that all will be as it will be. And it eases the struggle a little bit. It takes the pressure off of us to know we’re not in charge of ensuring that the moon continues through her endless cycles. We’re not in charge of ensuring that the sun will rise each morning. We’re not in charge of telling the wild things when it’s time to begin mating season, or when it’s time to give birth. We’re not in charge of how long our fellow creatures choose to romp around in the physical world.
We’re not in charge of how many moments we have in this lifetime.
But we are in charge how we use each and every one of those moments. And that is the most empowering bit of knowing I think we can have.
Maggie

Small World (Maggie)

Posted on by
4

Maggie’s Mother-in-Love, Lee & hubby Brian

Happy Autumn 2012!

Before I get to today’s topic, I want to ask a favor.  If you’re reading this, please wing a prayer, a spell, some Reiki, a chant, a wish to this beautiful woman.  She’s my Lance’s mom.  I call her my “mother-in-love” cause she’s not exactly a mother-in-law (Lance and cohabit but have no contract.)  Anyway, Lee just had to have a triple bypass due to damage done by the radiation that saved her from cancer twenty some years ago.  Things went bad after the operation and she’s been in the ICU for a full month now. We’ve nearly lost her three times that we know of. This past Monday she was given a 2% chance of surviving by her doctors. And in my head, I saw her put her little hands on her little hips and say, “I’ll show you 2%!”  Just in the last few days she’s begun to improve in teeny tiny bits, but measurable ones. So I’d be eternally grateful if you would take a moment to wish her well, and try to imagine her as you see her here in this very recent photo, happy, healthy, pink, and sassy.  Thank you. You know I’m always happy to reciprocate.

Now, on to today’s post which is ever shrinking size of our world. And the reason for it is this thing you’re surfing right now as you read this. The Internet. I release a book in the US and I get immediate complaints from readers in France, in England, in Australia, in Germany, asking why the heck they can’t find it! That never happened before. I think it’s very cool, too, that when I self-publish my own backlist books, I can release them worldwide all on the same day.  The big publishers take longer to change, because, as my editor recently told me, it’s like turning an ocean liner around. It takes time to move something that big. But everything is shifting from a this nation, that nation point of view, to a global one. Everything.

I believe that we are in the midst of major worldwide change, due largely to the Internet.  The wider its reach, the smaller the world. And one of the biggest changes I’m seeing is the elimination of the middle man.  Many, many people have launched successful businesses with the help of the ‘net. Publishing is a perfect reflection of this shift.  A writer can now create a book, and sell it directly to the reader without anyone else standing in between the two taking a cut. Now that’s always been the case-vanity presses have been around forever.  Writer pays the press to print the book, then tries to sell it by hand.  (And that was still a middle-man.)  But today, the writer can sell thousands, even hundreds of thousands of copies, without ever leaving her home.  And yes, there’s a still a middle man of sorts–Amazon or Nook or iTunes or Sony or Kobo. (Just until someone figures out how to duplicate what they’re doing from their own living room, that is.) It’s only a matter of time before there’s a single agreed upon universal format and from there things get even more personal.  And the cut being taken by these current giant middlemen is a lot smaller than that taken by traditional publishing up to now. And the cut being taken by the genius in his living room is going to be even smaller.

It’s happened in the music industry. We see artists posting their work to Youtube (for free!) and selling CDs independently, and via sites like Amazon, CD Baby, iTunes, and so on. And they get a much bigger share of the cover price than they ever would get from the old giant record labels. I’ve seen it in film. Indy actors & filmmakers are releasing their series on the net, very much like Joss Whedon, Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion & company did with Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. I just watched one of these net series: Exorcists Local 667. It has a full 6 or 7 episode season ready for viewing and it’s an absolute RIOT. Here’s the teaser.

http://youtu.be/X8zq1FaR9Bk

So where is this trend going?  I think the balance of power is gradually shifting from the mega-corporations and governments, to the people, and that is a very positive thing. When the women who make baskets and jewelry in a small village in Rwanda can sell them to a dairy farmer in Iowa and a supermodel in Paris within the same five minutes, there will no longer be any reason for poverty. The Internet gives everyone far easier access to the same pool of abundance. All we have to do is give everyone access to the Internet.

There are a lot of philosophers, scientists, spiritual leaders, and mystics, who believe this shift is a big part of what the next “World Age” will bring.  The current “World Age” is ending–not the world itself, just this particular age of it. This is what ends on 12/21/2012, though the change is a very gradual one. It won’t happen in one big boom on the 21st of December. We’re seeing its beginnings, and the death throes of the old way of being as it struggles to hold onto its power. People feel this change, they sense that it is time, and that’s why they’re rebelling against the old way.

I remember when I first started using the Internet. I was amazed at how easy it was to put together groups of people, brainstorm a solution to a problem with them, plot a course of action and then implement it, all while sipping coffee in my jammies.

The world is small and getting smaller.  I can chat in real time with a reviewer in Romania while filing my nails and petting my cat, all from the comfort of my own home. Revolutionaries overthrow governments with help from Twitter.  It’s truly amazing.

The Internet is changing the world.  I’m amazed to watch it all unfold and eager to see where it leads next. It’s certainly excellent fodder for my fiction.

What do you all think is coming next? What are some of the changes you’ve noticed, and what others do you think we can expect?

PS: LEGACY OF THE WITCH is Free right now on Kindle, Kobo, Nook, iTunes. Grab yours today!

 

Avatar Me! (Maggie)

Posted on by
Reply

Newsflash!  Within 33 years, we will all be able to upload our brains into a robotic “avatar” and live forever.

Here’s the article about it.

It’s a fascinating read.  Scientists funded by a Russian billionaire (who’s not yet 50, like me, so he doesn’t know any better) are working on this project.  Here’s a tiny excerpt that nutshells the stages of the plan.

2015 – 2020: A robotic copy of a human body remotely controlled by a brain-computer interface

2020 – 2025: An avatar is created into which a human brain can be transplanted at the end of  life

2030 – 2035: An avatar that  can now contain an artificial brain into which a human personality can be transferred at the end of life

2040 – 2045:  A holographic avatar emerges

–Kevin Dovak, ABC News Science

Great plan, right?  But the Russian billionaire and all his scientists are overlooking something that’s pretty obvious to me. It’s already been done.

We, the bigger WE, the huge big blob of…oh, let’s go with my cupcake batter analogy and make this simple.  First, we’re a big bowl of batter known as spirit, only without the bowl.   It’s all one batch.  Some people call it God or Source or The Whole.  The batter turns its attention to becoming physical, and smaller, denser, more focused bits, and the batter pours itself into various shaped cupcake cups.  Those cups are our bodies.  Our “avatars.”  They are created by us, to hold that which is our consciousness.  (Consciousness originates not in the brain, but in the spirit that created the brain. But it’s a wider huger infinite sort of consciousness.  Human-ness allows spirit to narrow its focus to the perspective of one unique individual part of itself.)  Each bit of batter, separated out from the rest, is slightly different.  It has minuscule variations in the amounts of sugar, and flour and vanilla extract and cocoa powder, because no matter how much you blend, you can never get every single droplet to be the same as the next.  Tiny variations.  Like .0001% of a difference, but it’s enough to make each individual cupcake come out slightly different.  The thing is, each cupcake form or mold (body) is specifically created by and for that particular bit of spirit that will fill it.  In fact, it’s more than that.  The spirit doesn’t exactly fill the tin, it becomes it, THEN fills it.  So the body we have in this lifetime is perfect in every way, a perfect reflection of the spirit riding around in it. It can’t be anything else. My crooked nose is the only nose that could have been formed by the spoonful of batter that is my Spirit. That uniqueness is one of the reasons The Whole wanted to become physical in the first place.

So, sorry Russian Billionaire.  You wasted your money.  We are already in our avatars. And they’re better than robots.  They’re biological, like the ones James Cameron made, only, you know, not blue.

No, our amazing beautiful perfect for us bodies don’t last forever.  But neither would the robots.  Eventually, parts wear out.  They would rust. Their warranty would expire.  And the consciousness that was transferred into their mechanical brains would have to leave them behind, just like it does when our biological bodies wear out and we move on.

Where do we go?  Back to the bowl of batter?

No, even better.  Forward, into a new batch of batter that is being made better and better by all the ingredients we collected in our most recent physical journey.  And there it gets remixed with all the other new ingredients brought forward by all the other consciousnesses who’ve left their avatar-bodies behind.  So that by the time it (you, me, WE) decide to go pour itself/ourself out again, to be physical cupcake people again, it/we/The Whole are even better and wiser and older than before.  We come into the next life with more knowledge, more experience, more understanding from all parts of the Whole.

And that’s evolution. It’s the expansion of the Universe. It’s why that expansion is speeding up instead of slowing down.  It’s why death is so scary, because we’re going forward, not backward, into a future that hasn’t yet been created, a future we are actually creating by the act of moving into it.

And I got all of that from seeing that article, and mainly, from writing the Portal Series. The books took me to a deep exploration of what it really means to be human.  They’re my deepest, most important projects to date.

And yes, they’re going on sale very soon.  Legacy of the witch will be free on Saturday.  It’s an ebook prequel to the 3 main books, Mark of the Witch, Daughter of the Spellcaster, and Blood of the Sorceress.

MARK OF THE WITCH goes on sale September 18th in print, October 1st in ebook.

Visit ThePortalBooks.com for excerpts, links to buy, free trading cards, book trailer videos and more!

#Portal on Twitter

Make it a great week, folks!  Enjoy the encroaching Autumn.

 

Newsy Post (Maggie)

Posted on by
Reply

Great news for me this week, so this blog is mainly going to be me sharing it all with you.  I think the most timely bit is that you can grab the book to the left, FREE all month long, just by entering my “Enter the Portal” contest at The Portal Books site.  In fact, every book on the left hand side of this blog is FREE so read on.

Here’s how the contest works.  Each Wednesday of August I post a new question on The Portal Books.com and give you the link to the answer, close by on the same site.  Every time you answer a new question correctly, you get another chance to win the grand prize of a new Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet on September 1st.  Second place is a Tarot reading and and a copy of MARK OF THE WITCH, third prize, a copy of the book. But every entrant wins, because if you answered Q1 correctly, you got a free, newly reissued novella, MUSKETEER BY MOONLIGHT.   This week we posted Question 3, and if you answer that correctly, you get THE BRIDE WORE A FORTY-FOUR, also FREE.  So everyone’s a winner.  And the questions are super easy, with the links given.  Q1′s answer was in the video trailer for MARK OF THE WITCH and Q2 was in the excerpt.  Q3′s answer is found in the book description for LEGACY.

Of course all of this is to ramp up the anticipation level for my brand new series, THE PORTAL which is only two tiny weeks away from launching with yet another FREE BOOK.

 

LEGACY OF THE WITCH is a novella length prequel to The Portal Series, being released in E-only.  You can pre-order already, but the price listed is $1.99.  That’s because you can’t list a book for free, you have to give it a price.  Rest assured the price will change to  FREE on September 1st, the very day the book is released. And it’s only two weeks away!

After that, Book One, (not free, sorry) MARK OF THE WITCH goes on sale on September 18th in print, and on October 1st in E.

Here are some links to pre-order, or just to check them out:

MARK OF THE WITCH on BN.COM

MARK OF THE WITCH at Amazon.com

LEGACY OF THE WITCH at BN.com

LEGACY OF THE WITCH at Amazon.com

So that’s the big contest news, and the big free book news.  Now for the even BIGGER news!  I’ve just agreed to a new four-book deal with MIRA and I couldn’t be happier.  And you’re going to love what we have in store, because the first book of this deal is going to introduce a continuing character based on a combination of two of my best pals, (of the canine variety.)  My beautiful bulldogs, Niblet who’s alive and well, and poor old Wrinkles who’s moved to the Other Side.  I LOVE being able to put my dogs in books. Niblet/Wrinkles (I think she’ll be called Myrtle in the book) is a blind bulldog (as Wrinkles was in later years) who’ll wear protective tinted goggles and a pretty scarf while riding in the passenger seat of my heroine’s yellow 2002 T-bird convertible.  And as you probably guessed, this is a paranormal thriller with a serial killer. Wait, I’ll go find a photo of the car.  I have many, because I want one.

So that’s what’s up in my life right now.  Everything else is going just as beautifully and I could not possibly be in a happier, healthier place right how. Hope you all are too.

Enjoy all the free books!

Maggie

 

 

 

10 Ways to Make Time Your Bitch (Maggie)

Posted on by
3

We’re all busy. (And by we, I mean, women.) We spend our days trying to complete a bottomless to-do list and our nights worrying about the stuff we didn’t get to, mentally adding it to tomorrow’s list, and wondering how we’ll ever manage to catch up. So today I’m going to give you ten tips for making your to-do lists shorter, your days last longer, and your nights be restful. Ready? Okay!

1. Accept that you, and I, and everyone, will leave this lifetime with an unfinished to-do list.  Therefore, spending time and stressing over getting it done is completely and utterly ridiculous.  You’ll never get it done.  Let it go.

2. Think about the end of your life, when you’re on your way to the other side, maybe your very last day on the planet.  Imagine yourself sitting there, knowing it’s the end (of this round) and looking back on the life you’ve lived.  What will you regret not doing more of?  Working? Chores? Items on the endless silly list?  Or having fun with your soul mate, you kids, your grandkids, your best friends, playing with your pets?  That’s a quick way to put the to-do list into perspective.

3.  Take a good look at your to-do list, and pick off the things you really want to do, the things you’re eager to do, the things you’re dying to do.  Move those to the top of the list.

4.  Take another good look at your to-do list, and pick off the things you are absolutely dreading.  The things you just don’t feel any eagerness or excitement about, the things you wish would just go away.  Now take those things and put them on another list.  This list is for the Universe, God, Source, Goddess, The Whole, your higher self, your higher power.  Put their name at the top of that list.  Set that list aside, and let it go.  Don’t think about it again.  In a few days, when you go back to check, you’ll be amazed to see a few of the things on that list have somehow vanished.  Either someone else did them, or the situation changed and they no longer need doing.  (Do this with confidence, and don’t do it with anything you’re going to worry about until it’s done, because it only works if you can take your focus OFF the task entirely, basking in confidence that it’s out of your hands.)

5. When lying awake at night worrying, apply this technique.  IF the thing you’re worrying about is something you can fix right this minute, then get out of bed, and fix it.  Poof, it will no longer keep you awake.  IF the thing you’re worrying about is something you cannot possibly fix right now, then understand that worrying about it is kind of useless.  You will fix it when you can fix it, and until then, worrying about it does no good whatsoever.  On the other hand, if you can let it go, it might just resolve itself by the time you get around to taking action.  Also, make a note of the thing that keeps you awake most, and fix it at the first opportunity, so you’ll sleep better.

6.  The above advice, “fix the thing that worries you most first” seems to be in conflict with “do the things you really want to do first.”  But the key is to do what feels best.  You’ve got to be able to weigh your options according to what is going to feel good while you’re doing it, (the stuff you can’t wait to do) as well as what is going to feel good once it’s done (the stuff that worries you and keeps you up nights.)  If doing the dreaded task and having it off your list feels better than dreading the task and still having it looming over you, then do the task.  Always do what feels best.

7. Whatever task you decide to do, focus every particle of your energy on that task.  Be completely present and attentive to the moment.  Let yourself get immersed in the job at hand (or the fun at hand for that matter.)  Whatever you’re doing, do it completely.  Most of us do one thing while thinking about the next five things on the list.  But our lives are NOW.  There’s no such thing as the past, because it’s gone.  And the future only exists in the future.  Right now, there’s no such thing.  Only this current moment.  So whatever the moment offers you, relish it, and try to see, hear, smell, taste, feel, experience every single part of that moment.  Give it your full attention.  It will add so much more to your experience that way.

8.  Even the unpleasant tasks can be fun if you make up your mind that it can. When I’m doing housework, I put on loud music.  I dance around, sing at the top of my lungs, really rock out while I’m doing mundane things like scrubbing the bathroom or washing Dozer-slime off the walls.  (He’s a mastiff, you see.  Did you see Turner & Hootch?)

9. Multi-task, but only with the really mindless stuff.  Okay, yes, I did say to focus entirely on whatever thing you’re doing to experience it fully.  But let’s face it, there are some tasks that are just really not full of all that much to relish.  Like folding laundry, for example, or emptying the dishwasher. I always jump up and do those tasks while having daily phone chats with my girls.  Because with five of them, that adds up to a whole lot of phone time.  I can’t do a lot of things while talking, because I want to focus on the conversation, and complex tasks distract me.  But simple, mindless tasks like these are great to do while chatting.  Gets them off the list, and you’re enjoying yourself while doing them.  Your mind is on your phone call, while your hands are working on auto-pilot to put the clothes away or stack the plate.

10. Make the good things as important as the “jobs.”  Important enough to go on that list of yours.  And break up the tasks by putting the fun stuff in between.  Also try to put physically demanding tasks in between the more mentally demanding ones that are done while sitting still. Intersperse these as much as possible.  Fun, then boring, physical then mental. “Pay the bills.  Meditate for 20 minutes.  Read the Galley Edits.  Go for a jog.  30 minutes in the hot tub. Mop the kitchen. Make the bed.  Watch Oprah’s Master Class.  Write ten pages. Play on Facebook.  Weed the garden.  Write the blog post.

But above all, remember that the list is inherently endless.  The things you check off it today will reappear tomorrow or next week or next month, and new things will come to replace them or join them. Life is about having fun, not getting it done.  The world will not end of your lawn isn’t mowed on time.  And it would be healthier for you to go swimming instead.

Let it go and relax a little.  It’s really more important to enjoy your day than to check items off that list.

Try it out and let me know how you do!  What are your tips for making time work for you instead of against you?

PS: We’re in Week Two of the ENTER THE PORTAL Contest!  Every week there’s a new question to answer (Yes you can still answer Question 1, no worries.)

Each answer gets you another chance at our grand prize, a Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet.  Every single entry gets a free copy of my newly reissued e-book, MUSKETEER BY MOONLIGHT.  And next week, we’ll offer another FREEBIE for every entrant too.  Contest runs all month, at The Portal Books, Contest Page

 

Busy but FUN Week! (Maggie)

Posted on by
Reply

I’m having a month of giveaways, prizes and fun like nothing I’ve ever done before, all leading up to the release of my HUGE new series, The Portal.  So let me fill you in so you don’t miss a chance at some fabulous prizes.

First, there’s a BIG, ENTER THE PORTAL Contest happening at The Portal Books website.  Grand prize is a Kindle Fire or Nook Touch, with many other prizes including tarot readings and signed copies.  You can enter once a week (we post a new question each week) and every time you do, you get another chance to win.  Final drawing Sept 1st.

Second, there’s a promo going on all month long at FRESH FICTION where you can win $50, $25, or $15 Amazon or BN.com gift cards along with signed copies of MARK OF THE WITCH.

And today only (I think) there are more prizes at both LITERAL ADDICTION and BOOK MONSTER REVIEWS.  At both of those you can win some cool Maggie Shayne swag, signed copies of MARK OF THE WITCH before you can buy them, and collectible trading cards.

This is all, as you probably know, because of the new series beginning in September.  I’m more excited than you can possibly imagine about the launch of The Portal Series.  It starts with a completely FREE prequel ebook, LEGACY OF THE WITCH on September 1st, and then MARK OF THE WITCH, the first novel, goes on sale in print on September 18th and in E-formats on October 1st.  You can pre-order now at most outlets.

My favorite astrology, Susan Miller at Astrology Zone, says my career is supposed to hit a never before seen high around month’s end and into September, culminating late November.  (Book 2 comes out in November!) so I’m even more excited.

So excited I forgot today was my day to blog, and now I’m running late for my boy Tanner’s baseball game, so I’ve got to dash.  But do check out all the contests and join me in my giddiness.  I can’t wait to see what happens when these books hit.  Times list, (single digits) here I come!

Until next time, Hakuna Matata!

Maggie