M.J. Parisian's Blog

Sometimes we have to accept our lives the way they are and know they won’t stay like that for long. 

Sometimes we need faith.

The third book in the Frankfort Beach Series 

by M.J. Parisian

Hello Friends…

I can’t believe the countdown for this beauty is finally happening. The files have been uploaded, proofs ordered, the book signing date is set, and now we just wait.

You know how much I love waiting, right?

So, I thought it might be fun to give you all a little teaser – something to tide you over while we all wait for the release of To Live in This World. I can’t wait to share the entire book with you, but for now you’ll have to settle for Chapter One.

This book was such a labor of love, and I’m so proud of how it turned out. For me, it is the perfect farewell to the characters we have all grown to love, and to a little beach town that created the perfect setting.

Here’s a couple dates for you to remember:

November 25,2019: Pub Day!! You can get your copy at Amazon, iBooks, and Nook.

December 9, 2019: Book signing at Cask & Co from 6:30-8:30 pm
3415 E. Saginaw
Lansing, Michigan 48912

*Like my Facebook page for the latest details on this and future books!

I know the next couple of weeks are going to fly by! Thank you for checking in and supporting me through the last few months! It truly means the world to me to see your comments every day

This may go down as one of my favorite posts I’ve ever written… Since I first started this publishing journey 2 years ago, I have had so many people ask me questions – great questions – about the writing process, indie-publishing, inspiration… you name it. Since I have a small break before I get my book back from my editor, I thought it would be a great time to finally answer some of these questions for everyone to see. If you still have one at the end, please ask in the comments and I’ll answer it there.

So let’s get this started…

1.What inspires you to write?

Honestly, what doesn’t inspire me to write? I will literally find a character or topic just going about my day. I have always been interested in human nature and the topic of transformation. I love a good story where there is a change from bad to better or weak to strong. I believe we all have the power to transform our lives if we could just see what we wanted on the other side. It isn’t easy, but it’s always there.

2. How long did you think about your first book before you started writing it?

First of all, my first book will never see the day of light. Neither will my second. It was my third stab at a book that turned into What We Know Now, and I’m completely okay with that. But to answer the question, I don’t always think too much about a book before I start writing it. I need a character and a problem they have to overcome… that’s the thinking part. With What We Know Now, it all started with the setting, which led to other questions. Who would live in that house? What kind of life does she have? Then you just start piecing it all together. Yes, it’s as easy as that, but also as hard. I’m extremely curious by nature, so asking the questions was never a stretch for me.

3. How does your writing style change as your deadline approaches? Are you more methodical or does it just flow?

This is a really good question. I tend to be really organized, AND I also know my limitations. I know I can’t write an entire first draft in 6 weeks, nor would I want to. I used the deadline for this last book more as motivation, not necessarily as a punishment. Writing a book during the summer months, all the while maintaining a full-time job isn’t for everyone. I said no a lot, but I also said yes to balance and taking care of myself. I always set a deadline the manuscript needs to get to the editor first (thanks, Susie!), and work backwards from there. This last book took about a week to plot out (I had a vague idea of the story ahead of time), then I took one month each for the beginning, middle, and the end parts. I still don’t know how I did it, but it seemed to work! So, to summarize this long-winded answer… methodical, everyday and twice on Sunday

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” ~ John Lennon

Sigh… Hello, Friends.

It’s been a while, I know.

I could give you hundreds of excuses of why I haven’t written in so long, but none of that matters…. I’m here, now, and so excited about what’s to come.

First of all, can we talk about the speed of life these days? Just yesterday, Blake started kindergarten, and today, he’s away at college. That really happened. AND there are days I don’t know whether to laugh because I made it through the trenches of motherhood… or cry because I made it through so fast. Everyone tells you when they’re babies, to savor those moments – E V E R Y O N E – to the point that you smile and nod, thinking they’ve gone off the deep end.

But, it’s true.

One day, they’re in Mini Mites, then boom, it’s senior night for high school hockey, and you have no recollection of how you got there. The best thing you can do is take endless pictures to remember those moments.

Secondly, I have writing news

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It’s been a while, I know.

No one knows more than I how long it’s been since I’ve written to you.

But thankfully, my life is finally becoming something I recognize again. And you know what that means… it’s hockey season! That beloved chunk of time that is spent in chilly ice rinks, or on snow-covered roads getting to those chilly ice rinks

It’s official… We’re half-way through 2018.[image error]

How the hell did that happen?

It’s less than 6 months until Christmas, and that means it’s even less than that until my next book comes out (cue the scary Jaws music). Yes, I’ve set a tentative date of December 16, 2018, so I guess the next step is to get my a** in gear.

The working title I have is To Live in This World, inspired from a poem by Mary Oliver. (This changes almost daily, so don’t hold me to this one!) I have become obsessed with her work while researching for this book, and it only seems fitting to have this title. Now, this is ALL you’re getting from me, so don’t ask….

resistance: [ri-zis-tuh ns], noun

1. the act or power of resisting, opposing, or withstanding.

2. the opposition offered by one thing, force, etc., to another.

“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.”

― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

This post is part book review and part life review. My life to be exact.

To say 2018 isn’t going as planned is a bit of an understatement. Oh, everything is fine, humming along as it should, but I have had my share of distractions along the way, and they continue to haunt my daily life. We’re talking first-world problems, here, but for a type A personality, distractions are the devil.

For exactly one year, I have claimed my place in the writing world. Obviously, I had written for a long time before that, but nothing ever came from it until I bravely started putting my work out there. And I say bravely, because you have no idea how hard that was (and still is) for me to do. Do I consider myself brave?

Hell no.

But sometimes I will do brave things. Like this post.

It’s been sitting in my head for weeks, maybe longer, just wanting to be written, but I kept finding other things to do (catch up on Grey’s Anatomy). Other reasons not to write it (no one wants to hear about your issues). More excuses every day (the ever-popular: I don’t have time). The truth is I’ve been in limbo for months now, probably since my dad’s accident. And now, we have to throw in job hunting, and I’m back in my teenage years wondering if I’m good enough. For me, there is nothing more humbling than updating a resume. This toxic combination of worry and doubt have been swirling in my thoughts for a while now, and quite honestly, I’m done with it, thank-you-very-much.

“Are you paralyzed with fear? That’s a good sign. Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember one rule of thumb: the more scared  [image error] we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.”

― Steven Pressfield

The mind is a tricky thing, and I’m still learning how to make mine work in positive ways instead of the usual Captain Destructo mode it likes to go into. For me, the first thing I do when I get to this point of self-defeat, is to 1. recognize it’s just resistance, and 2. Re-read The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield.

It’s mostly written for writers, but I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t benefit from reading this little gem. It’s short, concise, and doesn’t beat around the bush. In a nutshell, fear is the reason we stop ourselves from doing the things we love (or should be doing), and fear = resistance.

So, be patient with me as I dive back into the deep end of writing another book. I’m still wrestling with the plot, and understand now, that it’s just resistance mocking me once again. I’m going to start it anyways. And every day I’m going to keep diving into the deep end I finally find that place where I can float.

If you have something in your own life that you are resisting, take a step back and figure out what is really going on. Getting out of our own heads is sometimes the best medicine.

“If you’re are paralyzed with fear it’s a good sign. It shows you what you have to do.”

― Steven Pressfield

Get this book!!

I hope you’re all reading something beachy this summer

Now that the weather has decided it’s spring (finally), the best season of the year is upon us, and this year it’s going to be an amazing one! Summer Book Season is what I’m talking about, and while I don’t read nearly as much as I used to, these are the books I’ll be picking up this summer. (FYI, you can click on the book or the title to take you to the link to buy

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The birds are singing. The flowers are blooming. The bees are buzzing.

Can you feel it?

It’s May!

It’s as if the Mother Nature finally looked at the calendar and decided to give us a break. And while I’m extremely grateful for the change, there is a small part of me saying ‘It’s about time!‘

Given my love and appreciation for the month of May, I decided to do a little Top 10 for you this month. Feel free to add to my list in the comments

LAST TURN HOME, release date May 1, 2018[image error]

A dream job, a loft apartment all to herself and a relationship with one of Chicago’s favorite sons is all Tessa 

Wallace thinks she needs to be happy. Life is moving along exactly how she planned it. When a phone call from her hometown comes with news of her estranged grandmother’s passing, Tessa is faced with a decision she never thought she’d have to make.

Going home was never an option, until it became the only one…

Do you all see that name at the top of this beautiful cover? I want to scream it from the rooftops, THAT IS MY FRIEND!!! And not just my friend, but someone I’ve been working with for as long as I’ve been writing.

She giggled when I went into Best Buy and bought my first laptop on a whim (because writers owned laptops).

We would skate past each other on sessions and give tidbits about what we were working on, or books we were reading, or which kid thought he was Spiderman.

We’ve always shared the common interest in books, and reading the same book with her always made me understand it better. She can dissect a book, a chapter, a paragraph, a sentence better than anyone I’ve ever met. And all that knowledge has made her a beautiful and lyrical writer, something that makes me sigh and long to achieve someday.

My favorite thing about us is we both have strengths and weaknesses that leave us texting for hours on end about how to fix something we’ve written and shared. But her ability to describe something as simple as a white linen napkin would cause you to hop on Amazon to buy it. She’s just that good, and so is this book.

And now, my dear friend and writing partner is publishing a book, and I couldn’t be more proud and excited about this for her. I have been nothing but blessed by the publishing process, and can’t wait to watch her go through the same experience.

So continue to support your local Michigan Authors!! The link to her book on Amazon is above for the pre-order of her ebook. The paperback will be available on May 1st at the same link. You won’t be disappointed