Muddy Waters - successful blog tour

My recent release Muddy Waters is making a great showing. I'm very excited by the reviews that I've received, which I'll recap in a later post.

At my first Muddy Waters signing this past weekend, 40 books were autographed - pretty darned fabulous by my standards!

I mounted a supercharged blog tour to promote the release. I'll provide a recap here for those.

On Oct. 25, Vicki Hinze posted chapter 1 of Muddy Waters at her Chapter1Zone. Elise Stone won a copy of Muddy Waters. Congratulations Elise! http://web.mac.com/vickihinze/Chapter1Zone.com/Home.html



Also on Oct. 25, I was a guest at Long and Short Reviews, where I blogged about heroes who make you go ahhh. http://lasrguest.blogspot.com/2010/10/guest-blog-maggie-toussaint.html



On Oct. 26, I hosted a discussion on the Sisters In Crime yahoo loop about expectations.

That same day, I appeared as a guest on the SOS Aloha Blog, another interview, where I got to dish about the south and what part southern culture and conflict play on the stage of my books. Kim's blog is a great place to visit. http://sosaloha.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-10-27T20%3A28%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7



Oct. 27 found me at Between the Lines, Carol Ann Erhardt's blog, talking about Muddy Waters.
http://carolannerhardt.blogspot.com/2010/10/muddy-waters-by-maggie-toussaint.html

On Nov. 2, I returned to LASR for an interview where I got to talk about handwriting and the south. Joelle won an ebook copy of Muddy Waters. http://longandshortarchives.blogspot.com/2010/11/author-interview-maggie-toussaint.html

I hit Liana's place next and I had a blast talking about the kayaking trip that provided a key story moment for Muddy Waters. There are lots of photos too! http://lianalaverentz.blogspot.com/2010/11/maggie-toussaint-talks-about-muddy.html


Next up was my appearance at Between The Lines hosted by Linda Coker where I wrote a character interview of Sloan Harding, the leading man of Muddy Waters. I had many interesting comments on this one! http://betweenthelinesandmore.blogspot.com/2010/11/author-maggie-toussaint-guest-blogs.html



I blogged all week long from Nov. 7 to 14, that's right, 7 posts, about my writing journey. Allie, the site host, was amazed that I had comments throughout the week. Thanks so much to loyal fans for slogging through my personal history and the nuances for registering at this site! This was at Novelspotters in their Behind the Scenes feature: http://novelspot.net/node/3515 is the first column.



Over at the Lovestruck Novice, I blogged on Nov. 15 about obstacles in writing and the importance of Point of View. http://thelovestrucknovice.blogspot.com/2010/11/lovestruck-novice-welcomes-maggie.html

Whew! That was some marketing campaign. I had a lot of fun and made some new friends who I hope will be along for the entire ride.

Maggie Toussaint

www.maggietoussaint.com

Baby Thoughts or a min-baby rant

With a new baby boy in the house we've been supplying words to the baby's every gesture, movement, diaper change, etc. While I have no way to knowing if any of this goes through a baby's head, I thought it might be entertaining to put down in a blog. Here we go:

What's with the brightness and the cold air? I liked it better when it was all warm and the light never changed. Heck I didn't even know what light was until a few days ago. I just enjoyed my cozy little den. Now I'm out here in the open, and it's not the same at all. I make little noises to show my discomfort and get lots of handling, but none of them seem to get it. Put me back in my baby-cave! That womb was just how I liked it. There was none of this clothes and diapers stuff, none of this sour liquid that burns up my throat.

Speaking of liquid, why does milk come in one flavor? Why isn't there a rainbow of flavors so that I'd get a little variety? Hour after hour, it's the same thing. Milk milk milk. I hate that I love it so much. Except for when it comes back on me. Then I want those curdles out of my mouth. Bleeck!

These people keep wrapping me up real tight and putting little hats on me. I've about got the hang of removing the hat. A few turns of the head and an arch of my back and the dreaded hat slips right off. Course, they keep putting it back on. It appears my staff aren't trainable. And the swaddling, Lord, I hate that. Don't they know I need to stretch out when I sleep? My right hand belongs right up next to my face, where I like it so that I can suck on my wrist when I like. A couple of times I outfoxed them and slipped my arm out of my sleeve and got it in position, but darn it all, they clothed me back up, wrapped me tight, and I fell asleep. Drat. I hate it when that happens.

Now they've got me in a sleep sack. Why didn't they think of this at first? To heck with wrapping me up like a tootsie roll in three blankets. In the sack, I'm warm as toast, and I can move my arms, thank you, Jesus. God bless the man who engineered sleep sacks.

And while we're engineering stuff, can we get a warmer for the baby wipes? Those things are cold, real cold, and I get startled and sometimes pee when I get wiped, then the whole clothing thing starts all over again. Can't they just let me be? I can hardly get any sleep for all these clothes changes. I'm not a fashion model.

Why don't they ask me my opinion? I'd tell them. Favorite position? In mama's arms. Favorite song? Silent Night. Favorite meal? Milk (Hey, i'm a one-trick pony at meals). Favorite blanket? Baby sack. Favorite diaper changer? My dad. He understands about boy parts. Favorite person? Mom (Hey Mom!). She makes the food. She's the best. Favorite dog? My Maddy. She likes to smell everything. I've got a pretty good smeller too. Least favorite thing? Hiccups.

And let me do a language decoder too. Big cry means I'm pissed. Little cry means you've got about twenty seconds before the big one comes, so hop to it. Whimper means I'm not ready to wake up but some lousy body process is happening. Clearing the throat and little grunts means I want my arms out. Enough with the swaddling folks. My arms need to express themselves.

See? Not much to this baby stuff. Now hold me again. I need a cuddle as I fall back to sleep.

- -
That's my take from a two-week old infant. Sound familiar?

Maggie Toussaint
www.maggietoussaint.com

Read Chapter 1 of Muddy Waters

Chapter 1 of my just released book, Muddy Waters is available at Vicki Hinze's Chapter 1 Zone. Share Roxie and Sloan's adventure as they search for lost treasure in a coastal paradise. Here's the link: http://web.me.com/vickihinze/chapter1zone.com/home.html

The book is available in digital and print formats at Amazon (kindle!) and The Wild Rose Press.

http://www.amazon.com/ and http://www.thewildrosepress.com/

Enjoy the read! Let me know what you think!

Maggie Toussaint

A super review of Muddy Waters!

Muddy Waters is out today. In honor of the new release, here's a review for my brand new romantic mystery:

The beauty of small town life is the sense of community and neighborliness that pervades everyday interactions and provides comfort in a time of crisis. The ugly underbelly is everyone knows what you did, what your daddy did, and what your granddaddy did, and those same neighbors are slow to forget or forgive.

Author Maggie Toussaint explores this yin-yang of small communitites in her delightful romance Muddy Waters-a book definitely worth staying up too late to finish.

Heroine Roxie Whitaker has sunk her roots deep in the small Georgia town of Mossy Bog. Despite the lack of eligible men, she loves the slower beat, the complicated interactions of its residents, and the fact that everyone knew and liked her grandmother, and by extension, knows and likes her. Yet she is fearful of missteps and the town's censure.

Sloan Harding grew up the town pariah thanks to his father's constant drunk and disorderly conduct, his grandfather's reputation and his own wayward youth. Yet he found freedom in not having to live up to expectations, and after leaving Mossy Bog, he became a successful Atlanta businessman. Now back to fix up the family home-and hopefully find the rumored Harding fortune-he must face the disapproval of a town that doesn't let go of the past.

And though Sloan and Roxie have to navigate the muddy waters of his past to reach their future, it's clear from the start that Sloan is the perfect complement to Roxie's take-no-risks nature.

Toussaint's book is a delightful, contemporary romance spiced with a mystery that keeps you guessing whether the Harding fortune exists or if it was just a figment of a drunken imagination. Sloan and Roxie's relationship unfolds in a natural way that draws the reader into their story. And the barriers between them and happily ever after are so organic to their personalities and their past that the reader truly wonders if these two will be able to work it out.

-Keena Kincaid, author of Enthralled

MUDDY WATERS IS OUT TODAY. IT'S AVAILABLE IN DIGITAL FORMAT FROM THE WILD ROSE PRESS AND IN PRINT FORMAT FROM THE WILD ROSE PRESS AND AMAZON.COM. If Blogger wasn't being stupid I could paste the direct buy links in here, but I'm on a borrowed computer for now and can't manage to find the right combination of keys. I hope stalwart readers can handle a little internet navigation.

As always, thanks for reading!

Maggie Toussaint

author of mystery and romance

http://www.maggietoussaint.com/

SEMWA Skill Build at Honey Creek

A picture is worth a thousand words, well maybe, 820 after our revision workshop at the Skill Build. Hope you enjoy the photos.






What a perfect weekend! We had mild temperatures, a nice breeze blowing off the marsh, and eager writers excited about our Skill Build.

My friend Holly McClure, who's a literary agent, an author, and an ordained minister, helped me pull this workshop day together. We had sessions on revising your work, on marketing yourself, on getting yourself into print, and an extended question and answer period about the state of the publishing world.

Jack McDevitt made it sound so easy, but he also handed out great advice. Jack's been publishing fiction for more than 25 years. If there's anyone who knows what it's like day in and day out, it's Jack McDevitt.

Though our attendance was somewhat low, those who were there expressed pleasure at coming and of getting new information. Whether it was prologues, critiques, or editing, the meeting room buzzed with interest.

Thanks to Holly McClure and Jack McDevitt for making this such a success. (Maybe I should change my last name to McToussaint?) And thanks to Southeastern Mystery Writers of America for sponsoring the event and providing the seed money. Couldn't have done it without you!

Enjoyed it!

Maggie Toussaint
MUDDY WATERS COMING OCT. 22
www.maggietoussaint.com

WWND?

What would Nora do?

I was stunned when my husband asked me this question as I dithered over outfits for a recent newspaper interview. I didn’t have to think about what Nora (Roberts) would do – intuitively I knew.

As a member of Washington Romance Writers, I was privileged for many years to hear Nora speak at our yearly Retreat at Hilltop House in Harper’s Ferry, WV. Nora’s talk religiously fell on Sunday just before high noon.

Over the years I’d heard about Nora’s childhood, about the beginning of her writing career, about a book tour (or two) from hell, and many more snips of her life. From this limited association, I could tell that the sass and spunk in Nora’s heroines comes as naturally to them as their dry wit.

Growing up with brothers and raising sons gave Nora a Clint Eastwood glint to her eyes when trouble strikes. She doesn’t suffer fools, and her conduct in public is strictly business professional.

When it comes to her appearance, she always looks put-together. You never get the feeling that her top came from the Macys clearance rack, the pants from Target, and the bag from an outlet mall. That’s not the Nora look; further, I believe her look is more than the clothes (and hers are flawless, of course!) or the hairstyle.

What would Nora do?

She’d wear whatever the heck she wanted to, and she’d do it with verve and class.

Just thinking about how she presents herself had me squaring my shoulders and raising my chin. The difference in the mirror, and in my attitude, was immediate.

Holy cow.

Just like that, my dithering ceased. I could do this, and I could do it in style.

WWND?

Well, I liked how that catch-phrase carried me through the interview so much that I’m keeping it around.

(By the way, this is my friend Holly McClure, on the left, with me)

Maggie Toussaint

MUDDY WATERS, coming Oct 22 from The Wild Rose Press

Ta Da!!! Fab new cover

I had a wonderful knock-my-socks-off moment today when I opened the email containing my brand new bookcover. On The Nickel won't release until late March 2011, but still, I have a "face" to go with it.

In the story, the murder happens at the church. Mama's car runs over the church lady. The cops think Mama murdered her rival, but Mama swears otherwise. Sleuth Cleopatra Jones isn't about to let her mother go to prison, so she takes action.

This is the second book in the Cleopatra Jones series. The first book, In For A Penny, is out in hardcover. Visit www.maggietoussaint.com for buy links, reviews, and an excerpt.

And now, without further ado, my beautiful cover for On The Nickel:



Maggie Toussaint
doing the happy cover dance
www.maggietoussaint.com