M.A. Leslie's Blog

Well...  It's been a while.  It has been a long while.

I'm sorry. 

I don't know what happened.  I think it's a mix of a bunch of factors, but writing has taken a back seat to life and we haven't done much lately.  I didn't mean for the break to take so long, but it did and now it's time to get back into writing.

The last few nights I've blown the dust of the laptop and hit the keys.  It feels great to do some writing and letting my creative side out.

I don't know what's going to come of this, but it feels good to get back to putting words on paper.  I hope everyone has been well, I can't wait to start talking to everyone again.

Well, life has been just as crazy as ever. Amy's been plugging away at the books and is doing well on her studies to become a nurse. My new, old, job has slowed down from the craziness that super storm sandy brought... For now.

Between dance practice, wrestling practice, and matches our time has been filled in.

Recently I allowed myself to become obsessed with reading and finishing Game of Thrones - the first book of the Fire and Ice series by George R.R. Martin, which I absolutely loved. But, even my reading has been slow.

Which brings me to writing. Amy and I have been working on the old stuff, slowly, and are now talking about turning and old idea into a trilogy.

Amy suggested that before we think to even query or publish the first book, we should finish the last book. They are going to be intertwined and maybe we are going to want to add to the first or second as we write the third.

Have any of you ever tried this?

I hope everyone has been well. As always, sorry for not posting more often.

Today I get to observe in the OR. I am super excited and nervous at the same time. I learned that as an LPN you can work in the OR as a scrub nurse. This really excites me and I think I would love it, however I need to see how I can handle the sight of surgery today. Hopefully all will go well and I won't pass out!

It's that time of year again. The holidays. There isn't much I don't like about this time of year. Mostly I love the traditions that seem to grow every year.

Our newest tradition is Fred, the elf on the shelf. Every night he goes from one place in the house to the other, watching over the family and reporting back to Santa. Recently though, he has been found hanging with a Barbie doll and last night he must have gotten completely out of hand at a party. I am starting think we may need to report his recent behavior back to Santa.

Either that or keep posting his photos. Happy holidays everyone I hope you are having a great holiday season.

Watching the Giants in bed with my golden and my moms golden. They are having a sleepover. Love football season!!

I am still loving school and have really learned a lot. I have started clinicals and am working with patients 3 days a week. I was really nervous at first but not so much anymore. After this week I will be finished my secound out five terms, and as of this moment I am holding an A average.

For me writing has been put on hold. Mike has done a little, but since out home was struck by Sandy he has been working like crazy. We were very lucky and sustained no damage or loss unlike so many of our neighboring towns.

Our home is under attack, yet again. As I sit in our living room and listen to the wind batter out house, I wonder, is everything going to be okay this time?

Honestly, this is crazy.

Amy, the kids, our friends from Wildwood, and I are all huddled around the TV. We watching, waiting and living the largest storm that I can remember. Of course. We are watching for now, as the lights flicker and the electric threatens to go out.

For all those on the east coast, be safe. And for all others, we will let you know when the storm is done and how it has inspired our next manuscript.

Hey everyone, it has been a while, but I wanted to check in and see how everyone has been.  Lately, writing has taken a back seat to work, school, and the kids, but we are still slowly working on it.

Even though writing hasn't been the priority, it doesn't mean that we've stopped.  Actually, just the other day I was given a chance to do an interview for a local paper.  It was a fun story about a man and his wife that have been married for 50 years.

They were a great couple and the story was exciting to write.  It was the first time I've ever written an interview and probably won't be my last.  I just can't wait until it comes out, but I think it won't be published until May.

I guess it getting published in May is much better then not at all.

Hoping all has been well with everyone.  I will be checking back in soon.

Here’s a fun fact for you!  Our title, Liberty will be a year old on Monday.  I still can’t believe it, but it has been a year since we self published our first paranormal YA novel.
I know that Liberty was around way before her pub date, but it is still just as exciting.  We both remember creating the cover, writing each chapter – rewriting each chapter, and setting it out for query after query.  But after several months of giving the traditional road a try, we self published.
I don’t really know how many people have read it as of yet, but I would venture to say around a hundred or so.  While we both had our reservations about self publishing and using Amazon as an outlet to distribute our books, I can honestly say now, I trust the process.
If you are on the fence about just letting it out there, I would say go for it.  But, like us, if your dream is to have an agent and a publisher – don’t stop trying.  Some day we will figure out how to sell our story in three paragraphs on one page, when, I don’t know.
For now though, we will celebrate our book-a-versary and keep working on the second Liberty – Sytes Awakening!  Happy reading and writing!

Get out the virtual broom and dust pan.  It’s time to stop neglecting the blog like a closet that nobody looks in or a junk drawer.  It’s not that I didn’t want to blog for all this time and it really isn’t that I haven’t missed all of the people that follow us.  It’s just, to be 100% honest, that I was just being lazy.In the past few months, I’ve found every reason not to blog and every reason to say, “I’ll do it tomorrow.”  Truth is though, as you’ve seen, that’s gotten me nowhere.  Thankfully, Amy has been blogging when she is able, but with her new school and countless hours of studying to become a nurse, she has no time.Anyway, what I really mean to say to any of you that are still kind enough to read this, “I’m sorry.”I know in the past I’ve taken a few days or weeks off, but this time was just too much.  I really have missed talking to everyone on here.  I’ve missed going on and reading all of your posts and how your lives are doing.  It isn’t that I wasn’t interested, it’s just that I have been a rotten blogger lately, and plan on getting better.In the past few months, I have been letting work spear my creativity.  I have been so wrapped up in what I was doing to get the job done well, that I’ve let go of some of the things I love.  I haven’t been writing like I should, I haven’t been blogging, and I’ve kind of fell slightly out of the social media world.Sure, I still tweet here and there, but that only gives me 140 characters to say what I want to say.  A lazy writer’s dream, only needing to say a few words!  Well that has to change.  I need to get back to blogging, because that is like writing exercise.  You know, like going out and jogging for several weeks before you run a 5K, which by the way I need to be doing too.  But really, blogging is practice.  I need to find a way to stay on task and get more blogs out, get my feelings out, get my words out, and most importantly mend the connections with many of you that I’ve lost.I look forward to reading more of your blogs and talking to all of you about books, writing, and life.  Please forgive the absent minded, somewhat lazy blogger and join me as I get back into the swing of things.