writer | Mary J. McCoy-Dressel ~ Contemporary Romance

Tag: writer
- My words
  
  Posted at 7:26 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on January 29, 2019
  
  Readers, for today’s Tuesday Inspiration for the Muse post, I bring you beautiful poetry… What can be more inspirational for my muse than sensuous words that make me swoon?
  
  Do you like romantic prose and poetry? I do, and it’s the reason I’m Reblogging “My Words” written by Stefan Maxima–a writer, poet, literary critic, and author of several books .
  
  Maxima
  
  My words
  
  by: Maxima
  
  Burning with the flame of your heart
  Are not meant only for talking…
  You see, they caress you gently
  And pinch your cheek softly…
  Spreading tentatively
  Lured by your inviting look
  Dazzled, they descend
  To the hills covered with
  Blades of silky grass…
  Steamy windows
  As my heart pours into your hot breath
  My verses into your true soul…
  
  Midnight slips away
  My words smell
  Of your white apples
  Warmed by the fire in your heart
  They chatter and chatter
  And fondle and kiss
  And yearn and love
  
  I tasted, my beloved,
  The magical touch of your lips
  Now I ride in the chariots of happiness
  Travel in a wonderland
  Where I love you endlessly
  Where I kiss you ceaselessly
  And place you
  In my poems
  To live there eternally
  
  View original post
  
  Posted in #AmWriting, #WritersLife | 8 Comments | Tagged literary critic, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, poet, poetry, Stefan Maxima, western romance, writer
- What If I Couldn’t Write for a Living? #MFRWauthor Week 4
  
  Posted at 10:02 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on January 26, 2018
  
  Welcome to Marketing for Romance Writers 52-Week Blog Challenge Blog Hop 2018. #MFRWauthor
  
  Week 4: What I would be if I couldn’t be a writer
  
  Good topic since I’ve considered not being a writer in the last two weeks. I should say I considered not publishing new books. I’d still write. No one is taking that away from me.
  
  “Perhaps imagination is only intelligence having fun.” ~George Scialabba
  
  To adhere to the topic though, I’d say if I couldn’t be a writer, I’d be a photographer. I’d say photo-journalist, but this topic is about “if I couldn’t be a writer.” I like landscape photography. I’d travel to the landscapes I’ve always wanted to visit, plus whatever amazing landscape I’d come across along the way and capture the moment to keep with me always. I love creative photography, too. A photographer doesn’t have to go far to get creative with a camera. This has been lost to me for a while.
  
  My other option would be teaching. However, for years before I had proof of being a writer, other than some foolish love poems and stories scattered here and there, I worked in public schools with elementary and middle school age students. I’ve already done this when I couldn’t be the writer I wanted to be, and I’d do it again. However, I can’t explain my career working in noisy and crowded schools since I’m a loner at heart, but I loved the job enough to stay in it for nearly thirty-years. I was a paraprofessional/ teachers aide working with kids with learning disabilities.
  
  I always wanted to open a bookstore. Nowadays, I wouldn’t open a store, but I’d work in one.
  
  There was a time I wanted to be a social worker until I took Sociology in college.
  
  I could work with rescue animals, specifically dogs and horses. I love other animals, but I prefer the two mentioned.
  
  A big office, factory, or department store setting isn’t for me, but I have worked in a big office and factories, and they worked out fine at the time.
  
  If it came down to this in reality, I’d need a lot of time to consider other options if I couldn’t be a writer. Have you writers out there ever thought of what kind of job you’d have if you couldn’t be a writer? Tell us in the comments.
  
  This is a BLOG HOP. Please join in by visiting the participating authors.
  
  Enjoy your weekend. Enjoy life. Enjoy being a writer.
  
  Note: Are you aware that you can edit the Tweet or preferred social media that is shared with your post? I publicize to Google +, Facebook, and Twitter.
  
  In the sidebar in my dashboard, under PUBLISH where my publicized posts are shared to social media, it has an Edit option. You can add your hashtags and your Twitter name, etc. I’m not sure how Blogger works because I no longer use my blogger blog. Some WordPress templates may be different. WordPress.Org blogs might be different, too.
  
  However, I’ve removed the sharing option to my Facebook Page. Through my investigations about their new changes, I’ve read that shared posts may not show up due to Facebook’s new algorithms. I’ll add my post link to my author Page manually instead of having it automatically sent there. It’s a slim chance any of our Page posts will show up anyway unless we pay to boost or create an ad. IMO. I don’t know how a shared post will be affected if shared to our regular profile. I’ll have to experiment by sharing to my regular profile instead of my Page.
  
  Posted in #AmWriting | 15 Comments | Tagged #MFRWauthor 52-Week #BlogChallenge, #WritersLife, author, blog, blog hop, books, camera, landscapes, Marketing for Romance Writers org, Photographer, social work, teacher, western romance, What If I Couldn't Be a Writer? #MFRWauthor Week 4, what would i be if I couldn't be a writer, writer
- Ask the blogger: how did you get so many followers?
  
  Posted at 11:54 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on September 7, 2017
  
  Blogger Milly Schmidt says she “went out on a limb” to contact some of her blogging idols… Check out Milly’s post to see how many took the time to answer her question:
  
  “How the hell did you get so many followers?”
  
  Way to go, Milly!
  
  Source: Ask the blogger: how did you get so many followers?
  
  Posted in #AmWriting, #WritersLife | 6 Comments | Tagged author, blogger, Blogging, writer
- Tuesday Inspiration for the Muse: You
  
  Posted at 10:53 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on January 26, 2016
  
  Hi there! I could’ve chosen cowboys, horses, my laptop or cameras, music, quotes, you, notebooks, or pens, which all inspire me to do what I do. But, today I couldn’t quite put my finger on what I wanted to post for my Tuesday Inspiration for the Muse post. Then, I came across the image below. The more I thought about it, the more this little quote made sense. It’s true. 🙂
  
  Every moment is…
  
  Guess what else is going to inspire me today? YOU are. Won’t you let me know what inspires your muse, or inspires you in general to do what you do?
  
  Some of you are photographers. What makes you take that special picture I see posted on your blogs? It calls to you, doesn’t it? Why?
  
  Writers? Cooks? Wine Connoisseurs? Poets? Friends? Musicians? Readers? Soldiers (Military)?
  
  Moms? Dads?
  
  Anyone?
  
  Your turn.
  
  Sending warm hugs to all of you affected by the recent #Blizzard2016. Been there and done that more than once in my lifetime, so I know what you’re going through. Stay positive and warm. Please be safe while shoveling and getting around. Waving to the rest of my country and the world, too. 🙂
  
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  Photo Credits: Pixabay
  
  Posted in #AmWriting, Tuesday Inspiration for the Muse | 8 Comments | Tagged #AmWriting, #AuthorLife, #WritersLife, author, Cook, inspiration, mary j mccoy dressel, muse, Photographer, poetry, Tuesday Inspiration for the Must: You, writer
- Ritualistic Book Reader
  
  Posted at 5:52 pm by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on November 18, 2012
  
  I picked up three or four new Kindle books this weekend, and I think one at Smashwords during the week. (←Link goes to my book) When you have a lot of author friends and acquaintances, you know when their books first come out. You also know when they’re free or at a reduced price. I adore books! Being a writer, this should come as no surprise. Reading is a need I love, and I would like to do more of it. I try to make bedtime my reading time. During the day I’m busy writing and working on marketing, so in order to fit it in, I have to have my laptop off. I admit to having the TV on in the background though.
  
  There are more books in my Kindle then I’ll ever get to at the rate I’m going now, but I am planning on more reading time in the near future. What do you do when you get a new book? I noticed I have a ritual when I buy a new book. Right away I have to open it, scroll back to the beginning, read all the pertinent information—title page, copyright, all that good front matter stuff. I love it if there’s a cover inside on the very first page. Then, if there’s a prologue I have to read it. Sometimes I even have to read chapter one. I look at the table of contents and will check out other books by the author, if included. I may not go back to that book for awhile, so if the blurb is in there, it sure helps when I get back to it. I do this ritual with print books, too.
  
  If you look at my Goodreads page you’ll see I’m always reading more than one book at a time. (Don’t be afraid to add my book while you’re there.) It’s because I follow the ritual above. Sometimes I don’t stop at the prologue or chapter one. It depends on my mood. If the book is a short story or novella, I might finish it right then, depending on how long my eyes will stay open. In that case, it never gets to Goodreads, unless I rate it like I did this one.
  
  After reading back through this post, and thinking about it, I realize I am a book addict. As a child I didn’t start out liking to read, although I was always a good reader from an early age. My dad made me read. I remember he joined a book club and books were delivered periodically. *Children’s Classics like Hansel and Gretel, Silver Skates, and Heidi. When I didn’t want to read, these books just kept coming, and my dad insisted I read them. As if that wasn’t enough, I had to tell him what I read. Today, I thank him for teaching me to love and appreciate books and stories. He also made me do school work in the summer, but that’s a different story. And write? Yes, he made me write! Thanks, Dad.
  
  If you love books and reading, do you have a ritual when you first purchase a book in hard copy or eBook? Am I the only one with this quirky ritual?
  
  Since I am a writer, as well as a reader, I’d like to invite you to sign up via email (Sidebar) or click Follow at the top of the page to receive updates about my books. It would make me very happy if my books found their way to your library. While I’m asking, I see I’m pushing toward 999 Likes on my Facebook Author Page. One thousand is my next goal, so if you care to… (I’ve turned into such a promoter. I hope you don’t mind.)
  
  *I used Amazon as an example. You can find children’s classics at many book stores, either online or brick and mortar.
  
  Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments | Tagged books, children's classics, Goodreads, Kindle, Reading, ritualistic, smashwords, writer
- Rejection Letters
  
  Posted at 8:45 pm by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on January 2, 2012
  
  I just read a post from a blog I subscribe to about sending out her ships. Her blog post reminded me of an article I wrote a while ago. It starts like this:
  If you’re a writer, you might as well face it – You’re going to get a rejection letter sometime in your writing career. Would you give up on writing if you received one? Better not.
  
  Read more: http://writinghood.com/writing/on-literary-rejection-letters/#ixzz1iM62RPAx
  
  I hope you read it.
  
  To read the post by Sue Healy about sending out her ships, go to her website HERE. She can explain better what she means when she sends out her ships.
  
  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged career, literary rejection letters, mary j mccoy dressel, rejection, sue healy, writer, writing, writinghood
- “Can’t Broke the Wagon Down,” said my dad.
  
  Posted at 12:45 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on June 19, 2011
  
  When I was a child, my dad never allowed me to say “can’t” or to believe I couldn’t do something. If I said, “I can’t do it” he would remind me I can do anything I choose to do. I guess he was right, but it made me angry. I’m not even sure what it means. Maybe it means “can’t” is a burden and carries a heavy load.
  
  My first book was dedicated to him. He never got to see it published, but he knew I had written a complete novel. As a kid, every summer when I was out of school, he made me write daily. It didn’t matter what it was, but I had to sit down and write something. (My brother too.) It didn’t stop at writing though, for he also made me do math problems. Yuck. I don’t like math to this day. Could it be my dad had a small glimpse into the future, knowing one day I’d be a writer? Did he somehow know that I’d always write through the summer, and now when I’m out of work, I write novels instead of short little writings?
  
  My dad didn’t like when I thought I couldn’t do something and he spent a lot of time trying to make me realize I could. In fact, he must have said it so much that I caught myself saying it to a student when I worked. I sure got a strange look from him. I explained to the student that he could do anything he chose to do. Dad would be proud!
  
  Little things through life bring back different memories of Dad. Some weren’t good. Of course, we butted heads in my teen years. I know dad wanted me to do more, and had expected more from me instead of running out with my boyfriend, or getting behind the wheel of my first car and drive, drive, drive. One day he took a part out of my car before he went to work so it wouldn’t start. It was a punishment. When he came home from work I asked him to put the rotor back in my car. He was surprised I knew what part he had removed. He hid a smile. But again, he’s the one who had taught me to figure things out and believe I could do whatever I chose to do. Well, that day I chose to find out what part he had removed. He put it back . . . a week later.
  
  Maybe it was his teaching that gave me the attitude that I can be strong when I have to be, and I can do what I think I can’t do. My strength has been proven over and over. When dad got sick I never thought I could take care of him the way I did. My brother helped, I’m not trying to cut him out of this. He was strong through it too. I never thought I could load a syringe with medicine and inject it into him per Hospice directions. I never thought I could sit on the floor beside his bed as his breathing came to an end. And in the very end, I never thought I could lay my head on his chest and listen to his last heart beat. Thanks to him and his preaching to me when I was a child, I’ve been able to do a lot more than I ever thought I would. I’ve learned not to give up on things I believe in, and not to say can’t, because “can’t” breaks wagons down.
  
  Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I miss you.
  
  Posted in #AmWriting | 0 Comments | Tagged a walk with words, can't, car, dad, fathers day, Hospice, mary j mccoy dressel, memories, writer
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