Maggie Clare's Blog

Every couple of years, I inventory my career as a whole – from the writing projects I’m working on, to the events I attend, to the marketing and promo side of the house. I ask myself if I’m focused on what’s most important to me or if it’s time to make some changes.

Over the course of my career, I’ve taken meaningful detours, like spending nearly a year working with a non-profit organization to profile kids with cancer. As a fiction writer, it was quite the departure, but I felt honored to have ...

Dear Maggie,

I am writing my first book, and I have a hard time getting myself into a creative space after working my day job. Any advice?

Sincerely,

A Teacher in Tacoma

Dear Teacher,

I understand the challenge. I wrote my first book when I was working full time, all four of my kids still lived at home, and my husband traveled a lot for work. It was tempting to come home after a full day and just crack open a bottle of wine and chill after cooking dinner and helping with homework. But, it sounds lik...

Dear Maggie,

You mentioned that you’re back to working on your dragon book. Any chance we could have a sneak peek?

Sincerely,

Fantasy Lover in Fayetteville

Dear Fantasy Lover,

I’m currently immersed in a world of dragons and magic and epic battles! For my MFA thesis project, I’m writing the second half of my romantasy novel tentatively titled The Dragon Dancer of Krysh. When I started school last summer, I left this story at the literal half-way mark, and I’m really excited to get back to it. Fanta...

Dear Maggie,

Weren’t you writing a romantic comedy? How’s it coming?

Sincerely,

Waiting in Walla Walla

Dear Waiting,

Yes, and I am writing the last chapter as we speak! It’s the best feeling when the end of the novel is in sight. All the heavy lifting is behind me, and the words tumble out. This romantic comedy titled Run, Harry, Run started as a short story for one of my writing workshops at school, and I liked the characters and storyline so much that I decided to turn it into a full length novel. ...

Dear Maggie,

Do your kids read your books?

Sincerely,

Mom in Modesto

Dear Mom,

Well, all my kids are adults now. In fact, the youngest just turned twenty-one, so we can officially drink together–#familygoals, lol. They are all creative types in their own way too, and they all appreciate that mom is a writer. They’ve read, or listened on audio, to my science fiction series, and most of them have read my short fiction. It gets a little trickier with the romance, because, as you may know, those books a...

Dear Maggie,

When are you finished with school? How was your semester?

Sincerely,

Scholar in Skokie

Dear Scholar,

I just turned in my last assignment for the year yesterday, and the semester officially ends this week. My first full year of grad school is in the books, and, wow, it was a busy, challenging, creative, productive year! This semester alone, we read about twelve novels and wrote discussion board posts for each of them, we were assigned seven creative writing exercises, penned two short st...

This year for school, I tried my hand at writing a mystery. When we started our study of the mystery and thriller genres last semester, I wanted to challenge myself to lean into the mystery side of storytelling. I don’t read many mysteries, and I’ve never written one, so I thought it would be good to push myself. The inspiration for this particular story came from a couple of different places…

First, I’ve been obsessed with the Lizzie Borden case since I visited the museum a few years ago. Yes, ...

Dear Maggie,

Now that spring has sprung, where are you heading next?

Sincerely,

Wanderer in Wichita

Dear Wanderer,

Ray and I are excited to hit the road again. In fact, we’re leaving the Palm Springs area in just about three weeks. Our winter ‘breather’ did its job and gave us a little time to rest, work, and play, but we are both getting a little stir crazy. Our upcoming itinerary is pretty exciting. From the desert, we’ll head back to the SoCal coast to hang out with our kids, attend a few gradua...

Dear Maggie,

It’s been a while since you’ve published anything. What’s going on?

Sincerely,

Impatient in Ipswich

Dear Impatient,

You’re right! It has been a while since I’ve published anything, at least in the romance world. I’ve mentioned before that I’m in grad school working on my MFA in creative writing. For the program, I’ve been doing a lot of creative writing, so my creative output is pretty great at the moment, however, not all of it is romance.

Here’s an update on what I am working on…

In th...

“Writing in itself is radical resistance, a triumph - people can try to stop you from speaking your truth, but no one can take your words from you.”― Eternity Martis

I think most artists ask themselves – why do we create? Art happens through words, music, paint, sculpture, movement, film, various combinations of the aforementioned, and in ways we probably haven’t thought of yet. Essentially, art happens anywhere and anytime human beings express themselves through their unique creations. Art is pe...