Maria's Journal

In Ancient Greek folklore, a phoenix is a long-lived bird that cyclically regenerates. Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life by rising from the ashes of its predecessor. Over the years, I have thought about this folkloric tale time and again. Perhaps, it's the thought of being reborn that makes the etymology so captivating. After all, who can honestly say they haven't thought about being 'renewed' at least once in their lives. This leads me to the subject of starting fresh. In the world of romance writing much has transpired in a sixty-day span (and yes, it feels like it's been much longer than that). One can only hope that what remains of our former agency can survive by 'rising from the ashes of its predecessor'.  The task of correcting systemic issues won't be easy and even more challenging: the task of restoring trust with the writing community, talk about a tall order. The optimist in me wants to believe that there's a g...

My thoughts in a tumultuous time.. It is said that writers should write what they know, or what they can imagine. In my case, I’ve always enjoyed reading and writing romantic stories, so I’ve been doing just that, writing love stories for ten years now. Some stories were published and flunked, some were published and received praise, some even received awards. And all along the way, I relied on the support and encouragement of other writers in my writing community. But, now that this renowned organization – that was there to support and encourage romance writers – has fallen apart, I begin to question…well, a lot of things. Not all hope is lost, though. Most of us have fostered relationships with fellow writers and many of us have our own smaller writing communities, our inner circle: critique partners, beta readers, agents, other writer friends. We need to trust that these relationships will help us though this very tough time in romance writing history. Hold your writer fr...

Making New Year's resolutions is an age-old tradition.  In a recent study, researchers found that about 60 percent of us make New Year's resolutions but only about 8 percent are successful in achieving them. Are you curious to see how your resolutions stack up? Read on. Below is a list of the top 10 New Year's resolutions (according to a survey of 2,000 people) 1. Diet or eat healthier 2. Exercise more 3. Lose weight 4. Save more and spend less 5. Learn a new skill or hobby 6. Quit smoking 7. Read more 8. Find another job 9. Drink less alcohol 10. Spend more time with family and friends Do you have any of these resolutions on your list? Maria Source: www.inc.com

Confidence is the new sexy. In the last couple of weeks I spent time doing research for a new project geared toward women and happen to come across a few interesting articles on the topic of aging and self-esteem. Interesting fact: national polls indicate that people over 50 make up 34% (2014 data) of the U.S. population, and numbers are expected to rise significantly over the next ten to fifteen years. In reading several articles, a theme emerged, a theme that resonated with me as a mature woman (and I’m certain it does with women of all ages as well): confidence . What does confidence mean for women of a certain age? Here are a few points to consider: Confidence is sexy Confidence isn’t restricted to a specific age group Confidence is not a trend, so it will never go out of style. I want us to keep in mind that confidence exudes a type of sexy that speaks for itself. Remember, confidence is the sexiest accessory you can ever have no matter what age, and guess what, it’s free...

Hispanic Heritage Month In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month I present to you five world renowned Hispanic authors you should get to know. Please see below in alphabetical order: Isabel Allende is a Chilean writer who also pens in the “magic realist” tradition.. In 2004, Allende was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and she received Chile’s National Literature Prize in 2010. Jorge Luis Borges was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator. But he was much more than that. Borges contributed to the so-called philosophical literature movement, and he became a literary icon beyond frontiers, though never recognized with a Nobel Prize. Carlos Fuentes was a Mexican novelist and essayist. This great author was honored with the Miguel de Cervantes Prize as well as Mexico’s highest award, the Belisario Dominguez Medal of Honor. Fuentes, like Borges, never won the Nobel Prize. Gabriel Garcia Marquez also known as ‘Gabo’, was a Col...

Read, read, read! Writers hear this all the time, “If you want to be a better writer, you need to be a better reader.” This is very true, but, what is also true is that we need to read effectively. See, reading effectively can help make a huge difference in the quality of work we produce. Below are simple tips to ensure you’re getting the most out of your reading experience this year: 1) Be sure to read books you enjoy. This may seem logical, but many a time we may feel as if we have to read ‘certain types’ of books because it is expected of us as writers. But, really, reading should be fun so reading mandatory books (e.g. poetry, Shakespeare, etc.) is counter-intuitive. Read what you enjoy and you’re likely to read more, simple. 2) Read the type of material you aspire to produce. If you wish to be a best-selling author, you should be reading books written by best-selling authors. So, find an author you admire and read as much of his/her work as possible. 3) Keep a lo...

Friends, The Romance Writers of America (RWA) National Conference is just a few days away and this year the conference will be held right here in NYC! Now, I have been reviewing this year’s line-up, and it promises to be a star-studded event with best-selling authors facilitating many of the sessions. In fact, I’m all booked with back-to-back workshops from Wednesday thru Saturday. Hope to see many of my fellow romance writers at the event. Happy summer folks! Maria