Monday, July 6, 2015

~ The Distractions of A FRIENDLY ENGAGEMENT ~







Guest blogging today ~ the incredible Christine Warner! Welcome back, Christine, and take it away!



The Best Laid Plan



Okay, I so admit it. There are times when I’m on a writing blitz and nothing can pull me away from the laptop. I’m on a roll and the words are flowing and everything falls into place.

I love days like those. I wish I had more.

Then there are the days that I plan to write, have the characters and story circling around in my head with a million and one ideas, but when I sit down with fingers on the keyboard, I keep allowing myself to get dragged away from the screen. I can’t focus no matter how many times I bribe myself with a reward if I just add some words to the word count.

I use silly excuses that either have me jumping up and away from my laptop (only for a minute, I promise I’ll be right back…lol), or ones that keep me in my chair in front of the screen, but surfing social media sites instead of concentrating on my WIP.

Here are my Top 10 excuses. The ones I seem to let myself use when I have time to write, but don’t get anything done.
My Golden Retriever, Libby, keeps tossing her ball on my keyboard, coaxing me to go play ball outside. (Though she loves it, and I love her, she doesn’t need me playing ball with her every hour on the hour)
I wonder if there’s a science project growing in the fridge? Hmm, I better go clean it. (This is a popular excuse on Monday since the house is calm from a busy weekend and I have no clue what the guys used the fridge for…sometimes I find scary things in there…lol)
Laundry, I’m sure I can scrounge up a load and I should really stay on top of it before it gets out of hand.
I think I’ll cook something amazing for dinner…complete with carrot cake made from scratch. Yes, I’m going to do it. I better make out a list and head to the grocery store.
What? I haven’t talked to my sister in almost 12 hours. Time to give her a call.
Wonder what’s happening on facebook?
Am I missing any awesome tweets on Twitter?
I should write my blog for next week and get it out of the way.
Emails might be piling up, I should sort through them and check out any new blog posts, new twitter friends, posts on facebook.
I think I saw a Hershey’s candy bar with almonds in the fridge when I was cleaning it out. I should take a sweet break. (yes, I put them in the fridge, I love em that way:))

Whew…I did manage to get all three books in the Friends First series completed and to my editor. That’s an achievement, even though I did have days that were a little more challenging than others…thanks to some of the things I mentioned above. I’m so excited about A Friendly Engagements release and can’t wait for the other two books in the series to come out. YAY!!



What about you? What are some of the excuses you come up with so you don’t have to get the job at hand completed?


And now, let's learn a little bit more about the book she finally did sit down and write...


Blurb ~ 


What's a little engagement between friends?
Omar Esterly is married to his job. But when Omar sets his sights on a potential, family-oriented client, his confirmed bachelorhood becomes a problem. Fortunately, his friend and employee, Devi Boss, has the perfect plan...

Okay, so it wasn't exactly Devi's plan to become her friend's fake fiancée. Lies aren't her style. However, Omar offers her a big, beautiful raise - enough to track down the missing father she's never known - and Devi reluctantly agrees to the whole engagement hoax...

This was supposed to be a no-strings-attached win-win for both Devi and Omar, but when they cross the line between friendship and...well, something more, Devi realizes she's made a huge mistake that just might cost her both job and friend - falling for her fiancé.


I love how Christine put in the little twist in the end of the blurb! She sent me three excerpts, which were all excellent, but I chose this one for you...


Excerpt ~ 

He checked his watch. “Lunch will be over if you…”

The bathroom door squeaked slightly as it opened, and he turned. His heart galloped, then went into a full-blown stampede.

Devi walked across the room. Although her hair fell down past her chest in two loosely gathered pigtails, they bounced with each step. So shiny, he wanted to reach out and touch the fullness, grab a handful, and smell. Hell, he wanted to slide her hair from the two flower clips and tangle his fingers through the silky-looking waves. She chose that moment to spin in a circle.

“What do you think? Too old school?”

“What?”

“The suit. I bought it on a fifties replica website online. I like the style, but I know most people don’t swim in suits like this. It’s a swimdress actually. Don’t you love the cute black and white polka dots? I adore polka dots. And how it gathers at the waist, and the sweetheart neckline, how cool…”

Her words were lost to him. All his focus centered on the rays of sunlight illuminating her face as her mouth moved, each word forming on glossy red lips but never quite reaching his ears. The way her eyelashes fluttered over her cheeks as she inspected her suit, tugging at the waistline and running her fingers along the edge of material that nestled against the swell of her breasts.

And then there were her legs. Where the hell did she get legs like that? Long, toned, and tanned the perfect shade of light brown. They looked smooth, and his fingers ached to reach out and touch them.

What the hell? He’d seen her legs thousands of times when she wore a dress—the mainstay of her wardrobe— even caught glimpses of her upper thigh from time to time, but to see the entire package…

Holy shit! She spun around again.

“O, I want your opinion.”

Damn. Her legs were incredible, but her ass. That suit did amazing things to her ass. He couldn’t stop staring, and when she turned back around to face him he craned his neck to try to follow the view.

Love it! Now, more about Christine...


Author Bio ~ 


Christine Warner is living her dream in Michigan along with her husband, three children, one laptop and a much loved assortment of furry friends.

Besides laughing and a good round of humor, Christine enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, reading, writing but no arithmitic. A confessed people watcher, she finds inspiration for her stories in everyday activities. She loves to read and write about strong heroes and determined, sometimes sassy, heroines.

A girl gone wild, at least where social media is concerned, Christine enjoys meeting other avid readers and writers on Facebook, Twitter and her website.


You can find Christine at:


Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Newsletter | Street Team | Amazon Author Page


You can buy A FRIENDLY ENGAGEMENT at:


Giveaway ~ 


$15 Amazon Gift Card (International Winner) or
Spiderman DVD, Popcorn, Slippers, and Mug (Continental US Winner)






Why Spiderman you ask? Well it has to do with one of the character's fantasies ~ you'll just have to read it to find out!


a Rafflecopter giveaway



14 comments:

Christine Warner said...

Hi MJ! Thank you so much for having me back on your blog :) It's always fun coming here.

MJ Schiller said...

Well, I sure enjoy having you on, Christine! You have such talent! I loved your excerpts and can't wait to have an opportunity to read more of your work. And boy, can I identify with your guest post. Even when I'm into my story I get this nagging feeling I'm forgetting or ignoring something important and have to stop and check email, and Facebook, and Twitter, and Instagram, and... One thing leads to another and I've wasted all of my writing time. Glad you made it through and brought us this book. And thank you for coming back!

Alicia Dean said...

Fantastic blog post. Many of my excuses are similar to yours. One of my favorite ways to get pulled away from my writing is to get online to research something, even if it's just to run a word through the online thesaurus, then I think, while I'm here, I'll just peek at my email, Twitter, FB, online to do list, etc, etc. Sigh... Sounds like a great read. I love stories where friends become lovers. Best wishes for mega sales!

Kara said...

Nice excerpt! Enjoyed reading it. My excuse usually has to do with the Astros or the Texans. I almost always find myself hunting down news on my favorite teams. Or Text Twist. I like to play that addictive word game!

Unknown said...

My distractions - facebook, primarily, and silly Mah Jong games online. I write better when I'm not at home, because the house distractions do not call to me then!

MJ Schiller said...

You and me both, sister! My kids used to make fun of me because I'd have like ten windows open at the same time. (I burnt through several laptops that way so I'm better about closing them now.) I've always been like that, though. I don't want to miss anything so I'm everywhere all at once. Thanks for being distracted by Christine's blog posting today and stopping in. Hope you can go back to being productive now. ;)

MJ Schiller said...

I have a girlfriend that always writes at Panera's for that same reason. But Facebook is at Panera's, too, unfortunately. I appreciate you stopping in today, Susabelle!

MJ Schiller said...

OMGosh! We're Text Twist players, too! It is addictive! Our record for consecutive games without a loss is 107. That is probably a sad statement and indicative of my production level. ;) Still, nice to have a Text Twist sister around. Have a great night, and thanks for stopping by, Kara!

Margo Hoornstra said...

Man, I could so identify with the excuses. I always know when I'm stalling with my writing because drawers I haven't looked at in years get cleaned out. Good for the house and such, bad for my career. Excellent excerpt, too! Best of luck.

MJ Schiller said...

Funny! But you're right. It is kind of strange how I distract myself from my writing when it's my writing that I enjoy the most. Thanks for sharing in our discussion today, Margo! May your drawers be ever clean and your words ever flowing! :)

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for participating in Christine's A FRIENDLY ENGAGEMENT Blog Tour, MJ - You are absolutely AWESOME!

Leah St. James said...

Great excerpt, Christine! I love the marriage-of-convenience storyline.

MJ Schiller said...

As always, it's been my pleasure!

MJ Schiller said...

Yes. Always good to throw people in close quarters and watch the fireworks! Thanks for joining in the conversation, Leah!