Month: September 2020

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How Reading and Writing Entwine

Maggie Hemlock

Since my move earlier this month I’ve read less than in the previous months of this year. There’s been so much to do and it’s eating into my downtime. Sure, years before I’ve read a lot less. Though, I’ve definitely noticed a link between how much I read and how much I write. If I read more I write more.

I always describe this as the feeling I’ve poured all of my words out of my fingertips and onto the blank page. Reading is like going to the gas station and getting a refill. I like variety in my life – so I tend not to read a lot of romance. I just need something different in those two entwined but very different parts of my life. Still, I know if I’m having a hard time writing I need to do some heavy-duty reading. Like sit down and read half the day and repeat until I feel normal. I think it’s partially the downtime of things. I think the other part is that reading gives me my motivation back.

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I’ve never struggled for ideas. They’re everywhere in my life – my brain, my notebooks, my bulletin board, and sometimes on the back of napkins or in my phone notes. I’m never reading for ideas. I have those! lol

I believe reading a really good story reminds me of why I write in the first place. I grew up reading and the stories were at times my best friends and confidants. I grew up in a toxic and abusive environment. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, but the one thing I brought away from it that’s 100% freaking awesome is my love for reading. I read to explore new ideas/places/worlds I’d never visit otherwise. I read to make sense of the world around me and to feel connected to something bigger than myself. I write for those same reasons. Sometimes, I just need to be reminded of that by a good story.

My average for 2020 so far is 15.22 books. I’ve read 12 books this month. I’m a quarter of the way through another and I might finish it today if everything lines up, but most likely not. I know it’s only 3 books less than normal, but now that I’ve reestablished that reading habit – I can feel the absence of those books.

No worries – next month I will more than make up for it with Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon Happening. I’m already excited for that one and trying to figure out which approach I want to take to for this one. I really liked using the last one as a jumpstart for reading IT. Though, I don’t know if I’m ready to tackle another book of that size or if I’m in the mood for it. I still have plenty of time to decide, though.

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Craving Some Variety in My Writing and Creative Life

Maggie Hemlock

Before you say it – yes! Yes, I should be writing on the second book in my new series. I’m taking today off to do some behind the scenes stuff and let my mind wander a bit. A wandering mind is a writer’s best friend.

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I love the world I’ve created. My sexy shifter men and my magic and the places all over the Hemlock Universe I love. Hell, there are worlds I haven’t told anyone about. Like those Starscales the Sleeping Omega Prince is related to? They’re out there in what we’d call outer space just living their sexy dragon lives. I want to take my readers there one day.

This isn’t a blog about “Hey, ya’ll I’m done with this omegaverse I’ve been writing for almost three years now!” Hell no! This universe is my home when it comes to the keyboard. At this point I’d rather cut off my fingers than give up writing in my universe.

But there are other parts of the Hemlock Universe I want to explore. Mainly, the women. Okay, not Zoey. I think she’s the most talked about woman in my universe and I get it – she’s annoying. She’s that one family member everyone has and just wants to grab and shake. She was always going to be that character, though. She’s the combo of a few men I know actually. I just wrapped them up in little heroic but annoying Zoey Hemlock.

Before I wrote MPREG I wrote in a variety of genres. I tried my hand at everything while I practiced for what I didn’t know at the time would be the thing that stuck in the long term. Guys, ladies, my fellow enbies, I miss writing female leads. I’ve missed it for a while, but recently it’s been a strong urge. There are so many interesting women in the extended universe (in my brain lol) that I’d love to bring to the page. Maybe that’s a little evident to readers who read all of my books – Gloria and Lynia (The Crow King’s Heir) and then Hela and Olivia. (The Omega Midwife)

Heck, I miss it so much I gave Hela a chapter of her own in The Omega Midwife. I’d have loved to write her story with Olivia, but alas the Saga is (was? It’s over now.) Mpreg. Gay romance. All about my sexy men who I adore.

I’ve had folks ask me “Then why not write some straight people books?” Ummm… That’s complicated. When I ghostwrote at the beginning of my career I got burnt out on vanilla straight relationship writing. Seriously, it killed me on it. I was writing so much of it to pay the damn bills. And…. the power dynamic most people like to read of the Alpha guy and the little pretty omega woman is triggering to me. As someone who survived sexual abuse that will never be my jam. The romping happening in most of those books is consensual. I get that, but it’s the language and all of that stuff the genre is expected to have.

I’ve thought about writing it the other way – until I figured out that was dipping my toes into what people will dub ‘role reversal’ and ‘femdom.’ I read both of those genres by the way. I just have a feeling they wouldn’t pay the bills and yeah, I’ve made a career of writing. What I write has to pay the bills. It’s my job, after all.

And neither of those is what my creativity is craving. I want to write about women like Gloria and Lynia and Olivia and Hela. I want to write lesbian romance again, but I wanna write it in this universe. I want to open up more of the Hemlock Universe and expose it for all the wonderful people and horrible villains who dwell within it. Except I don’t think the readership for A/O F/F Pregnancy crosses over with Mpreg readers and the last thing I want to do is drive readers away from my universe.

So, maybe I’ll never write these women and they’ll just be a part of the universe readers never know beyond the glimpses in my MPREG books. That makes me a little sad, but I guess unless you’re Rowling (pissed at her at the moment) or King, no one gets to write what they want all the time and that’s okay. I can live with that for now.

I’ve thought about just publishing those books and not mentioning them on my social media. That way readers who want them can find them – but that’s no way to promote a book. I’ve thought about writing them under a different penname, but I don’t want two sets of social medias. I’m bad at keeping up with one.

I’m at impasse with myself – with what I know pays the bills and what I want to write again soon.

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New Apartment, New Writing Routine, and a New Series Set in the Hemlock Mpreg Universe (A Rant and a Rave)

Maggie Hemlock

We can all bluntly admit that 2020 has been a fucking dumpster fire. It’s not just a normal dumpster fire anymore, it’s an f-ing dumpster fire now and it just keeps burning on. It burns on and we all try to live our lives just outside of the flames even if they’re licking us. I could go on about the political state of the US or its implications on COVID19 and all the dead people. I’m acknowledging all of that is going on and it just keeps taking its toll on all of us. I’ve often wondered how people did great things during horrendous times. I’ve wondered how they lived through everything history has thrown at them. I wonder about a lot of things and it’s why I write. This year, I’ve written a lot. When COVID19 started with the lockdowns I gave myself the job of writing more than ever for those stuck at home and needing an escape from our shared morbid and terrifying reality. It’s all I could do and in someways it’s still all I can do for my readers during this time. It’s a little job in comparison to the broken world, but it keeps me sane. I’m starting to think that’s the key to surviving history – somehow staying sane and fighting back when you can.

I’ve been careful in the past to keep politics off my FB page. Yeah, that’s ending. I mean, I know folks come for the books, but it’s my biggest platform and those of you who read my books probably know how much I loathe the current administration and what the future looks like if it comes around for another four years. I’ll keep saying it. I mean, shouting into the void doesn’t help, but it does weed out those toxic people and mark them. I think we need to do more of that. Politics shouldn’t be human rights. Those should just be in place.

The world is a f-ing dumpster fire and my life is no different. I’ve moved three times in a year trying to find the place my CPTSD is the coziest and trying to escape family who has abused me and attacked me and just made my life miserable. I’m in a new apartment. I’m excited, but not that excited. I hate living close to train tracks. I hate not having mail delivery here! Did you guys know that was even a thing? I live downtown of a moderate sized town and there is no mail delivery? What the holy fuck is that about?

So, I’m not optimistic. This is just another stop for me. I’m at the age where I want to put down roots, but can’t find the soil to grow in. I’ve been told I expect too much and want too much and have unrealistic ideas. Well, if wanting to live free from abuse in a house that gets mail delivery and isn’t shaken up like I’m the chicken in a shake and bake bag is too much to ask for, I’m guilty. I’m also okay with that.

During all the chaos of my move – I wrote the first book to a new series. Nope, has nothing to do with the chaos of the move. It’s set in Green Bay (Where my readers will remember Fred Moonscale owned and sold his nightclub, Glitter Bomb!) and explores characters not directly involved with the Hemlock Wolf Pack. After spending most of the year finishing that series I needed a break – a real break and am feeling creatively better while working on this trilogy.

So, I’m trying to avoid the flames of the f-ing dumpster fire that is 2020 like everyone else, but I’m keeping on. What else can we do?

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The Omega Midwife: The Final Book in the Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga is up for pre-order!

Maggie Hemlock

Eek! I still can’t believe this is the final book in the saga! Much more to come in the Hemlock Mpreg Universe, but the main series is complete! Pre-order it today and be the first to read it on September 12th!