Information Overload

 By Maureen Bonatch

Many of us suffer from FOMO, or pride ourselves on our multi-tasking abilities and end up with too many things that you feel like need done ASAP, or overwhelmed with TMI.

So many acronyms! Are we so busy now that we can’t take the time to write things out?

• FOMO: Fear of Missing Out
• ASAP: As Soon as Possible
• TMI: Too Much Information 

Multi-Tasking Machine

I pride myself on being a multi-tasking machine and find it difficult to do just one thing. If I’m stretching, I’m often listening to a podcast. I’ll walk on the treadmill while editing. I’ll check emails on television commercials–or while watching the show. I try to sleep and my mind is spinning with to-do lists which resume as soon as I open my eyes in the morning. 

Many studies now say that multitasking should be reduced because it can cause gaps in our thinking, may make it difficult to perform more than one task successfully, and make us feel tired quicker. 

I can’t say I can give up multitasking all together, but I do know what to do if I start to feel like I’m suffering from information overload. 

Slowing Down

It’s difficult to maintain my full attention on one task, unless I’m reading a book. A good book gets my total focus, and helps me slow the whirring to-do list in my mind, reduce feelings of overwhelm and quiet my thoughts to sleep.

I always have a book. You never know when you might be stuck waiting for a few minutes. 

Have Book, Will…Whatever

I like to read books here and there.

I can read a book anywhere.

I can read a book in the house.

Get so engrossed I might ignore a mouse.

I can read if it starts to rain.

For a long ride on a train.

My kindle lights up to read in the dark.

I can take it to the park.

I can read in a swing hung under a tree. 

It’s how I spend my time with me.

I can read while I wait to see the doc.

It keeps my mind off the clock.

I can read while I wait in a line.

It keeps me from wanting to start to whine.

Books make sure I never feel alone.

I travel the world without ever leaving home.

Try a book! Try a book, I say! You just might like it, anyway.

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Just a small-town girl, Maureen Bonatch leads a double life. She lives in a magical world as a novelist, and as a nurse leader in reality. Maureen’s first novella was a paranormal romance published when blogs were a new-fangled thing. She’s since changed her focus to writing paranormal cozy mysteries as M.L. Bonatch and urban fantasy as Maureen Bonatch. 

While she’s not busy writing or doing nurse-things, she’s a mom to her twin daughters, bicycling in the beautiful woods of PA with her hubby, doing the bidding of a feisty Shih Tzu, and dancing as much as possible. She believes music can be paired with every mood, laughter is contagious, and that caffeine and wine are essential for survival.

 Follow M.L. Bonatch all through cyberspace! 

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Planning a Book Series

 When I started working on my book, Blood Red Moon, I didn't expect to have it be part of a series. Originally I had an idea about a woman who hunts vampires and ends up being caught by the Vampire Lord. At first it was an enemies-to-lovers type of story, but it eventually became the story of reunited lovers.

 In this story a group called the Alchemists are in charge of the magic that binds phoenix shifters and the portals. When they regenerate, they create new portals to different worlds. Phoenixes have connections to elements or to other shifters and vampires. Those connections act as triggers for the phoenixes to transform. 

Meanwhile, I had to put the book aside for a while so that I could work on my novella, Metamorphosis. Since it was going to be part of the Pets in Space 6 anthology, as it turned out it was going to be published first. I mentioned a few things that were also included in Blood Red Moon, such as portals and phoenixes. 

Another thing that's mentioned in both books is the Floating World, which is where the Alchemists live. It's a place that is between the portals and it's the center of learning for studying the magical texts. In Metamorphosis the Floating World is featured prominently as the home of the heroine. 

I'm planning to add a couple of other books to the series, one about a cyborg and another about dragon shifters. The books don’t have to be read in a specific order, however. The characters don’t have to interact with characters in other books though I might have that happen at some point. But for now, they're on different worlds that are connected by the portals, which is the element that connects them (which is why the series is called Worlds of Fire). 

It's challenging to have an overall idea of how the stories will intersect, while building individual worlds and developing characters. I have to remember to tie things together in a way that there is a mention of the common elements. But on the plus side since the books don't have to fall into chronological order – or any order to be honest – that also gives me a lot of freedom. 

Creating a series provides a way to write related stories while not having to use the same characters or settings (unless you want to). And it gives the readers a chance to find "Easter eggs" and familiar elements. 

If you're interested in find out more about my Worlds of Fire series, check it out here: https://dbaileycoach.com/brightbooks/worlds-of-fire-series/

 

 

HERE BE NEWS for Monday February 14, 2022

 

 

                            

Monday February 14, 2022 

Welcome to HERE BE NEWS, where each monday we bring you all the latest from the fantasy romance authors at Here Be Magic:

Tuesday February 8, 2022: PG Forte celebrates National Pizza Day with an excerpt from The Name Game

Sometimes forever begins after forty. 

These fiery and passionate contemporary romances feature characters in their 40’s, 50’s and beyond. These authors don’t close the bedroom door on the good stuff, so be prepared to get hot and bothered in the best of ways. After all, lust has no age limit! 

From billionaires and alpha military heroes to nerds and single dads, this limited-edition collection of sensual and sexy stories will keep you up all night and daydreaming all day! The one thing they have in common? They’re about to discover it’s never too late to fall in love. 

 https://www.amazon.com/Season-Love-Limited-Collection-Contemporary-ebook/dp/B09HQD7Y52

Alligator, Bear, Cougar, Deer, Eagle
They found each other by accident.
They became a team for life.

Blurbs and Buy Links

Bring It Back(List) - Subwoofers, a Paranormal, Contemporary Fantasy Romance Series by Linda Mooney

Alligator, Bear, Cougar, Deer, Eagle
They found each other by accident.
They became a team for life.

Blurbs and Buy Links

Pizza My Heart

 Since tomorrow is National Pizza Day I've decided to share an excerpt from my newest release, The Name Game. Technically, the book is part of the Sandwich Shop series, but it turns out the hero runs a pizza place. It's set in New Jersey--if you know, you know.

 

This time, when their gazes met, they stuck. And Carly found it hard to look away. Desperate for a way to distract herself, she glanced around his restaurant where he’d chosen to meet her, closed now in the interim between lunch and dinner. 

Tay, are you seeing this? She silently queried her sister. Taylor would have appreciated the quirky design elements. The simple reclaimed wood and metal tables and matching benches gave the space a quasi-industrial look, as did the acid-stained floor, the bare brick of the street facing wall and the exposed beams overhead. 

One long wall had been painted black with what appeared to be chalkboard paint. It was covered with hand-drawn pictures done in colored chalk depicting pizzas, pizza toppings, fresh produce; and, of course, the restaurant’s name, Pizza My Heart, and its logo—a heart-shaped pizza with a missing piece. And, in case anyone still didn’t get the late-sixties rock ‘n’ roll song reference, the restaurant’s motto: “…it makes you feel good,” was scrawled across the wall immediately below it, right next to a sketch of a woman wearing granny glasses and a reggae slouch hat, who appeared to be eating the missing slice. 

The hat was striped in red, white and green, like the Italian flag, and the woman’s resemblance to the singer Janis Joplin may or may not have been intentional. The fact that the same sketch also graced the menu, with yet another lyric-inspired quote: “Nona says, ‘have another little piece!’” suggested it wasn’t a coincidence. 

Carly wasn’t sure whose idea it had been to reimagine the legendary rocker as an Italian grandmother, but her money was on the man seated across from her. He was fun to look at, but she could already tell that his ideas were a little bit out there. 

 “Where’d you go?” Tino asked, obviously having noticed her distraction. “Did I lose you?” 

“No, I was just admiring the décor,” she told him and watched as his face lit up. He might be nuts, but he might also be her kind of nuts. Plus, he was kind of adorable—especially when he smiled. She had a feeling Taylor would have appreciated that, as well. 

“Thanks,” he said, sounding pleased. “I’m happy with how it turned out, but it took some doing, lemme tell you. It wasn’t easy.” 

“Really?” That surprised her. She’d thought the whole point of the look was that it hadn’t taken much effort. 

“Oh, hell, yeah. The building was a real mess when I took it over—storm damage, you know? We ended up having to gut the entire ground floor. The whole downtown area got hit hard. Everything was boarded up. People were losing hope. It would have been simpler and probably quicker to have just razed the entire few blocks. But we really wanted to preserve as much of the original buildings as we could—at least the facades. And I needed to get this place up and running as quickly as I could, to give everyone a place to gather. I wanted something cheap and cheerful to brighten things up and bring people in; something that wouldn’t take too long to implement. This seemed to fit the bill.” 

Carly nodded as she looked around again with greater awareness and a new understanding of the playful aesthetic. This was something more than just a purposely distressed, industrial-chic eatery. This was a post-apocalyptic clubhouse, a welcome port for people who’d survived an actual storm.

*  *  * 

And, if I've put you in the mood for a pie, here's a link to some Special Deals and Freebies: https://kiisfm.iheart.com/content/2022-02-07-here-are-all-the-national-pizza-day-freebies-deals-you-need-to-know/

*  *  *

He knows what to do to save her business. She knows what he needs to fix his life!

 

Atlas Beach is experiencing a retail renaissance—and Carly Meyer is determined to be part of it.  But she and her sandwich shop, The Lunch Box, are struggling to stay afloat.

 

Luckily, help is on the way thanks to the Chamber of Commerce’s innovative mentoring program—partnering successful Atlas Beach business owners with some of the newer start-ups. Too bad the mentor assigned to her is the delectable—and highly annoying—Tino DiLuca.

 

Tino knows exactly what’s been hurting Carly’s business and—exactly how to fix it. But his number one solution, changing the name of her signature sandwich, is the one thing she’s not prepared to do.

Buy links:https://books2read.com/u/boaKv1

HERE BE NEWS for Monday February 7, 2022

 

                            

Monday February 7, 2022 

Welcome to HERE BE NEWS, where each monday we bring you all the latest from the fantasy romance authors at Here Be Magic:

New!

V NEGATIVE
Paranormal/Contemporary Fantasy Romantic Suspense
by Linda Mooney
Word Count:  56.7K
$3.99 e / $9.99 p

In today’s society, vampires are mostly accepted, though there are still those who don’t think vamps deserve to be trusted. Truth is they’re far superior to humans in every way, and a huge asset to the military and law enforcement. That’s where Saoirse Bronner comes in as one of the newest vamp officers on the force. When humans and vamps both start turning up dead, what better way to solve the case than to have humans and vamps working together?

Saoirse is teamed up with Detective Jake Valenti, who has his reservations at first about working with a vamp, but he quickly learns what an asset she is and how much he can learn from her. But personal feelings for the vamp were not expected at all. They adopt an honesty is the best policy approach for their partnership, and Jake soon learns she’s not all that different—other than the occasional need for blood to survive. And she really is far superior to humans, both physically and for his heart.

The police are trying to prove the lies the media is spreading about vamps isn’t true, but with the cases all pointing to vamps as the instigators isn’t helping their image. Tensions are high between vamps and humans, and a relationship between Jake and Saoirse will raise issues, but their time together could be ended before it even has time to start.

Dead vamps, dead humans, missing blood thinners, and a shady underground group. What does it all mean? Together, can they crack the case as well as protect their growing feelings for each other?

Warning! Contains mugs of warm blood, a handcuff key, hay and horse manure, mutual trust, and two people discovering the depths of their attraction to each other, even though they're two different species.

Excerpt and Buy Links

New! V NEGATIVE, a Paranormal/Contemporary Fantasy Romantic Suspense by Linda Mooney

New!

V NEGATIVE
Paranormal/Contemporary Fantasy Romantic Suspense
by Linda Mooney
Word Count:  56.7K
$3.99 e / $9.99 p

In today’s society, vampires are mostly accepted, though there are still those who don’t think vamps deserve to be trusted. Truth is they’re far superior to humans in every way, and a huge asset to the military and law enforcement. That’s where Saoirse Bronner comes in as one of the newest vamp officers on the force. When humans and vamps both start turning up dead, what better way to solve the case than to have humans and vamps working together?

Saoirse is teamed up with Detective Jake Valenti, who has his reservations at first about working with a vamp, but he quickly learns what an asset she is and how much he can learn from her. But personal feelings for the vamp were not expected at all. They adopt an honesty is the best policy approach for their partnership, and Jake soon learns she’s not all that different—other than the occasional need for blood to survive. And she really is far superior to humans, both physically and for his heart.

The police are trying to prove the lies the media is spreading about vamps isn’t true, but with the cases all pointing to vamps as the instigators isn’t helping their image. Tensions are high between vamps and humans, and a relationship between Jake and Saoirse will raise issues, but their time together could be ended before it even has time to start.

Dead vamps, dead humans, missing blood thinners, and a shady underground group. What does it all mean? Together, can they crack the case as well as protect their growing feelings for each other?

Warning! Contains mugs of warm blood, a handcuff key, hay and horse manure, mutual trust, and two people discovering the depths of their attraction to each other, even though they're two different species.

Excerpt and Buy Links