Tag: Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga

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Summer Updates:Writing Plans, Readathons, and Publishing! Oh My!

Maggie Hemlock
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The mind of a writer full time!

Hey guys! It’s been a while. A long while in fact! I’ve been so caught up in writing novels that I haven’t since the end of May! I’m such a bad blogger! But rest assured, my time away from the blog has been put to good use!

If you followed along with my Camp Nano blogs back in April this is the novel I started that month and finished the next: Omega’s Homecoming I’m not participating this month, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be hard at work. Camp was fun, but once a year is enough to lay the pressure on my creative process.Good luck to everyone participating this month!

Last night I finished up my next novel. I haven’t made the cover or even talked much about what it’s about on social media. Though, lots of details will be coming your way soon. This morning, I feel a little sad that my book is with the editor and no longer waiting for me to work on it. I’m really going to miss Rhett and Brendan. They were a really fun couple to write.

So what’s next on my schedule for this summer? Waiting for my editor to get me the first rounds back so I can do rewrites for my upcoming novel The Sleeping Omega Prince. I won’t be sitting on my hands while I wait though. I still need to concept a cover and get my outline ready for my next book. Hint: It’s book 6 of the Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga! I fell in love with a sexy half-elf wolfman I overlooked in the first 4 books of the series while writing Omega’s Homecoming. So, in the true spirit of Juda and Frost I scoured my little Mpreg universe until I found him the perfect true-mate! If I’m feeling refreshed before I get the first chapters of The Sleeping Omega Prince back I’ll go ahead and start the next book.

Next month I have N.E.W.T.’s readathon on my schedule. In April, I participated in the first half of the readathon (O.W.L.s Magical readathon) and can’t wait for the next part. Don’t quote me on this next part but I believe Dewey has another readathon next month too which I plan to take advantage to help me make the grades I need to be a writer in the Wizarding World.

I hope you’re enjoying summer!

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Omega’s Homecoming Book 5 of the Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga

Maggie Hemlock

Omega’s Homecoming Book 5 of the Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga

Hemlock Academy is just a temporary home for omega, Blake Knight. He enjoys his classes and adores the little boy who nearly cost him his life. Blake wouldn’t trade Duke for the world but living as a single omega parent isn’t easy. Between early mornings and late nights Blake’s just about given up on a love life. Unless his true-mate waltzes into his Daddy and Me Classes he’s going to be single forever. Still, when he looks into Duke’s eyes, it’s more than worth it.

His peaceful, if lonely, life is turned upside down when a crush turns sinister. Even after the threat is eliminated Blake feels on edge. Something deep inside of him knows he hasn’t seen the last of the danger. He flees to the home of his birth to find safety, but danger has a way of following the Knight Brothers around.

Alpha and rock star, Jonah Darnell, lives in the limelight. His band, The Grim Howlers, is known and loved worldwide, but his patience with Moonscale Records is wearing thin. He’s ready to settle down and raise a family. The only problem is he’s traveled the world over and hasn’t met his true-mate.

Since life in the fast lane didn’t bring his dreams to life Jonah thinks it’s time for a slowdown, but where does a rock star put down roots? Anywhere, his omega calls home. Well, if he could only find him.

A chance meeting brings Blake and Jonah together as true-mates, but things don’t go as smoothly as either of them imagined. With drama, betrayal, and danger around every corner will their love be enough to keep their family safe?

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Reader Q&A

Maggie Hemlock

This post has been a long time coming. I apologize for running a little later than I thought I might. I was really excited to hear what you guys wanted to know about the Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga.

Anna asks: How do you come up with the names and what one is your favorite book and why?

Hi Anna! Thanks for your wonderful questions.

Names can be complicated. A lot of the names for my book characters are borrowed from role play characters I played when I was younger. I’ve altered a lot of them to keep them separate from my awesome memories, but I do use a lot of them. For minor characters I have a baby names book that lives on my desk to thumb through if I’m stuck. Sometimes, the names just come to me from the mysterious place that drops ideas into the brains of writers.

I’m always a little shy to answer which book is my favorite, because I don’t want to sway readers on which book, they should like best. If I had to pick one it would be Omega Sight. Monta was so much fun to write. He’s from the part of the country I was born too and really trying to overcome prejudices he grew up with both about himself and other people. Also, Ross and Monta loved to argue for the make up sex. It took them a while to get it right, but when they did they made a lovely happy family. Monta is still one of my favorite characters.

Rachel asks: Two questions: 1) what made you decide to write MPreg 2) are you going to miss this series.

Hi Rachel! Thank you for asking!

Mpreg was a big part of my old role plays. I don’t remember how they were first added in. I think it was just to thumb out noses at science that said two people of the same gender couldn’t have a baby together. It took the real-world frustration and did something about it – at least in the role play. Also, I’ve never lived within ‘normal’ gender binary. So, why should my characters?

Then a friend introduced me to the concept of Mpreg romances as novels. I knew I had to try my hand at it.

If the Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga were to end, I would miss it, but there are some big things coming up in future books. I’ll keep writing the Saga as long as there are readers who enjoy it.

Sabella asks: Do you have an idea of how a story will turn out before you begin writing? Also, can’t wait for Sky’s story.

Hi Sabella! I wish I knew how long books would be. In the beginning of the Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga I definitely had a better grasp of just how long the stories would be. Now, I can guess, but most of them end up a bit longer than I thought. As a reader, I know that books in series tend to grow as the series progresses, but I never understood why until I was working on Healer’s Oath (AKA Doctor Bane’s Book.) There are a lot more characters and forces at play and to do justice for the series I need to give them all the time they need to tell the story.

I’m so excited to write Sky’s story! I’ve had it mostly planned since he and Darian came into my head. Yes, they’re twins so they came together. Okay, I’ll admit Darian came first. That’s why he’s the Hemlock Wolf Pack Patriarch and soon to be Pack Alpha. There are still a few books before Sky comes home. I know Darian and Bane are excitedly waiting on his return, but it’ll take something really impactful happening to bring Sky home. There are a lot of scars between him and his twin and old wounds heal slowly. Just talking about Sky’s story makes me want to work on book 5. That way I can write Sky’s story sooner. In future books there will definitely be more dragons.

Karsyn asks What is your favorite locale of your books and why do you like it the most?

Hi Karsyn! My favorite location was introduced in Omega Sight. At the very top of Hemlock Mountain sits a statue of Juda and Frost the founders of the Hemlock Wolf Pack. It’s a beautiful monument to what the pair went through to start and maintain their family. Eventually there will be a prequel where I finally share Juda and Frost’s story. I’ve shared bits and pieces including a few scenes of a play based on Juda’s life in my stand alone Ardan’s Oath, but I want to share the story that brought all of the Hemlock’s to where they are now.

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Camp NaNoWriMo Day 18: An Excerpt from Book 5 of the Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga

Maggie Hemlock

I don’t have much to say about today’s writing. I’m coming up on some twists that would definitely be spoilers if I talked about them. So, instead I’ll leave you an excerpt from the book.

Sorrow cuts through my life like daggers. Memories of lost laughter echo in the background of my thoughts. During the day I drag my pencil across the page and the pain leaks out. At night it sits on my chest. Then morning comes and I see Duke’s lopsided smile as he climbs into my bed. Two-year-olds are faster than wild horses and he’s the reason I don’t give up. My precious little boy is the light of my life and my daily path out of the darkness.

My parents are gone and I’m farther from home than I ever wanted to be. Lee’s so happy though. Millie and Travis run him and Bane ragged, but at the end of the day they get to fall into bed together exhausted but in love. I don’t begrudge them their bliss. I just wish it was contagious. Things could be worse, but there’s always room for improvement.

“Blake!” Zooey’s voice cut through my thoughts. “I thought we’d find you out here hiding in the trees. What are you doing? Writing the next great Hemlock novel?”

“Maybe someday,” I laughed and slammed my journal shut.

I smiled at the women who became my best friends after I moved to Hemlock Academy two years ago. What started as a work project to aid in Zoey’s self-produced herbalist manual grew into a mutual affection based on music, annoying brothers, and of course being some of the youngest students at Hemlock Academy. It didn’t take long for Lotus to fall into our circle when she returned from her father’s European business trip. While the rest of the world worked on stepping past what was now just called ‘the tragedies’ the three of us lived in the shadows of the events. Zoey still caught the occasional headache from her injury, Lotus had nightmares about large men dragging her from her bed, and I hovered over Lee like Jeb might sneak through the bathroom window and steal him from me again.

These were the things we couldn’t talk about with the others. The Omega Liberation Front solved the problem and saved the day. Every Tuesday and Sunday we attended chatroom meetings of survivors. Lotus and I were invited because of our proximity to the events. I attended them, because it was the only time I heard Lee say he was okay. Most of the survivors were okay now. They lived their lives and pushed away memories as if they didn’t happen. There was only one memory I couldn’t push away at night, but the past fled from the bright sunlight over Hemlock Academy.

  It was time to get down to business, because Zoey’s thick dark trademark Hemlock hair was pulled into a messy bun on top of her head. Her shoulders squared and she looked like Darian when he walked into a pack meeting. I never understood why everyone compared her to Ross. She lacked his gentle nature and tact. She was all bullheaded like the Patriarch and her other Alpha brothers. The man she married better have a steel set of balls, because she’d settle for nothing less. Zoey didn’t hold her punches and I liked that about her.

“Lotus did it!” She grinned as she plopped down on the grass next to me. “The little vixen actually got in contact with The Grim Howlers’ agent and scheduled a conference call for tonight! I can’t believe the operator even put her through.”

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Camp NaNoWriMo Day 17: Fred the Dragon

Maggie Hemlock

Brain cells? Do I have any left?

Well, yes, in the literal since, but I didn’t want to drag my butt to the keyboard today. Nicotine withdrawal is still kicking me every chance it gets. If this were any non NaNoWriMo month I wouldn’t have wrote today at all. I would have vegged out and gave my brain a break. But since it is Camp NaNo the show had to go on!

I fell back on my secret weapon. Thee one weapon which never fails me on brain dead days: Writing Sprints! You know the ones. You set a timer and write until the buzzer cuts through your soul. Then you do it again. And some days again. You sprint until the words actually add up. For me, that meant 6 writing sprints of 15 minutes each totaling just under 3.8k words. Bringing me to a total word count of 31,885. I’m technically two days ahead by the NaNoWriMo calendar, but since I’m taking weekends off I’m right on schedule. Speaking of weekends… Is it here yet?

In all honesty, tired or not I really enjoyed the part of the story I was on today. It’s really close to Blake’s first *time* with his mate and though first sex scenes can be challenging I think I’ve gotten the flow of both characters down so it won’t be too difficult. I may even get to it this week.


One thing I keep thinking about today is how many readers have asked me about “Fred the Dragon.’ I didn’t expect this big of a response about a man who never actually appeared on the page. Answers will be given in the next book, but rest assured Fred is gloating in all the adoration and curiosity. What red blooded dragon Alpha, wouldn’t?

Fred would like to apologize to his fans. He will not star as a main pov character in Book 5 of the Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga.
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Camp NaNoWriMo Day 16: The Day Things Started Coming Together

Maggie Hemlock
A realistic portrait of me working out the plot of my current WIP.

I didn’t write over the weekend and I didn’t blog yesterday, because I was caught up in perfecting the plot of book 5 of the Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga. My plot’s verging 6k words all by itself. I thought everything was perfect. Then today at the end of my writing time I realized it’s not. I left a gaping hole! I yelled plot twist in my head and moved on. I’ll have to fix that in a few chapters, but for today that’s okay. I can live with the knowledge my plot is only *almost* perfect. lol

Today’s word count was my best of the month. I’m just over 28k words in total. Meaning I’m back to being a little ahead of schedule. Since writing the blog yesterday today the words just rolled off my fingers. This proves it. I’m a plotter at heart and mind.

I wrote 3,690 words today. I’m on chapter 17/37. That final chapter count is subject to change when I go back in to tweak my plot, but for now I’m happy with my progress. I might not finish writing the book this month, but it’s likely I’ll make it to my 50k word goal. I did a couple of fifteen minute writing sprints to get me started today. I think my nicotine levels are evening out. (I’m just over 3 months quit and still using the gum.) So, I’m excited for the rest of my work week. I’ll likely break 30k words tomorrow and then around Monday hit my 40k mark.

Yesterday I wrote about the importance of taking breaks and there’s no better advice for me to give. I took the weekend off and on Monday everything started coming together. So, if you’re feeling burnt out today. Take a break and practice some self-care.

It’s only about 4pm (EDT) and my writing day is over. I plan to settle in and read a book as my part of my O.W.L.s Magical Readathon. Today I’ll be reading The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White.

I won’t talk about this book here, because I plan to talk about all the books I read throughout the month for O.W.L.’s Magical Readathon in a post next month.

That reminds me Amazon is doing a great deal for 2 months of their Kindle Unlimited Membership for just 99 cents. Seriously, if you guys haven’t tried it out go take a look. I’m not sponsored by them or anything like that. I just really enjoy the service. I’ve found some of my favorite books on there. And yes, if you subscribe you can read all the Hemlock Mpreg Universe books as part of the subscription.

How’s your Camp NaNoWriMo going this month? Happy writing and reading! Book on!

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Camp NanoWrimo Recap Day 12: TJIF (Thank Juda It’s Friday!)

Maggie Hemlock

Today was about as great as yesterday. I’m just dragging along, but I’m still on track to finish 50k words by the end of the month. I’m looking forward to two days off this weekend to recharge my batteries and squeeze in some reading time. (I need to work on my books for O.W.L.s Magical Readathon). Blake’s story (Yep. I still need a title. lol) is moving along fine, but thank Juda it’s Friday!

****For those of you who haven’t read The Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga, Juda Hemlock is one of the two founders of the Hemlock Wolf Pack bloodline.****

What I accomplished today:

Despite being really tired today I did write through the ending of chapter 15. I have some fleshing out to do come Monday, but that’s Monday Maggie’s problem. lol

Snags Along the Way:

I had a major case of the Fridays. I’m ready for a weekend of not dancing and sparring with my keyboard.

How today went:

Starting Word Count: 22,224

Total Words Written: 1,988

Ending Word Count: 24,212

After thoughts:

TJIF! Seriously! I’ll be happy to get back to work on Monday, but for now I’m off to enjoy the weekend!

Happy writing and reading! Have a great weekend!

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Camp NaNoWriMo Day 10 Recap: Am I pantsing this book??

Maggie Hemlock

This morning I woke up feeling great! Which was a good thing since we’re a third of the way through camp! Though, as I was writing today an odd thought occurred to me. I’ve trashed two plots so far for this novel! The beginning is still coherent and it’s still moving towards the same ending. I knew the ending since before I started writing the book, but the middle has evolved more than any book I’ve written before. For most of my life, I’ve been a hardcore plotter. Knowing what I was going to write the next day and the day after was what kept me going. Now, I know what I’m writing tomorrow. I know what happens in the next few chapters. (Inside my head at least) but I don’t have a plot outlined. Please don’t take my plotter’s membership card away! Lol

In some ways, this has been more fun than usual. I’m not saying I’m converted to pantsing forever, but this book I might be half-pantsing. I feel like I’ve written more in a shorter amount of time since taking the stress of an outline out of the picture. Maybe it changed when I quit smoking. I’m just 3 days shy of 3 months quit now. Maybe it’s unfolding this way, because I didn’t decide for certain I was participating in camp until the last minute (so to speak.)

Whatever’s happening, I’m enjoying it.

What I accomplished today:

Today I fleshed out chapters 7-9 and wrote chapter 10. It’s an exciting part of the story that I can’t wait for you guys to read.

Snags Along the Way:

I really didn’t hit any snags today. It was a nice normal boring (around the house not in my book) writing day. Which, of course, are my favorite sort of writing days!

How today went:

Starting Word Count: 17,329

Total Words Written: 2,745

Ending Word Count: 20,074

After thoughts:

I’m almost 4k ahead of schedule! Which is freaking awesome! But I’ve reworked my schedule to take weekends off. I’m bad at taking vacations from work. They usually last two or three days and I’m back to work. Maybe, I can start taking off days for the sake of taking them off instead of just for errands or sick days.

I’m really excited to write chapter 11 tomorrow. It’s a very unique chapter the likes of which haven’t been seen in one of my books yet. Y’all can’t see my devil horns, but they’re there. I swear! Lol

Goals for Tomorrow:

I’m just aiming for about 1.2k words tomorrow and I hope to finish chapter 11 tomorrow. I spent this afternoon cross checking characters to make sure I had all my details ready for tomorrow.

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Camp NaNoWriMo Day 9: The Day of Changes

Maggie Hemlock
Today I was dragging ass to the keyboard. I’m in the middle of cutting down my nicotine gum dosage and it’s kicking my butt. Somehow, I still made it to the keyboard. Though, I confess somewhat reluctantly. In my early twenties I took Aikido classes with my then roommate. Before each class I dreaded it. I came home after working in a small parts factory exhausted and the last thing I wanted to do was drag my lazy behind to a class. When I arrived and things got started I usually enjoyed myself. My daily writing usually feels much the same way. So, today I dragged my ass to the keyboard and got to work.

What I accomplished today:

Today I deleted my plot and went rouge. I finished chapters 8 and 9. Today, I found my groove. I’ve also resigned myself to the fact this book is likely to be as long as Healer’s Oath. I don’t mind writing longer books. I just feel sometimes they take longer to publish and I make you guys (my readers) wait longer for the next part of the story.

I’m still only aiming to write 50k words this month. It’s a decent writing goal to accomplish. Without taking into account any surprises coming up later this month this is when the Camp NanoWrimo site predicts I’ll finish up the first 50k of the book.

Of course, I’ll be trying to beat this. I’m very competitive with myself.

Snags Along the Way:

Today the biggest snag was being tired, but the most problematic for me was tossing out my plot. I spent a lot of time tweaking it the other day, but I wanted more action in this book. Jonah (the Alpha) is a man of action. He’s been cooped up in the so called civilized world for too long and he’s ready to break loose. I wanted to give him a chance to show off his mad protector skills. So, that meant deleting about 500 words of what I wrote yesterday. Don’t worry I made them up today and my word count reflects my up to date word count for the story. Soon, I’ll need to start thinking of a title. With my first 3 books I didn’t change the titles at all. I knew what they’d be called from the moment I sat down to write. With Ardan’s Oath and Healer’s Oath I went through a handful of titles before I settled on one. This time I’m clueless. Soon, I’ll think of something. But for now it’s still just Blake’s book.

How today went:

Starting Word Count: 14,260

Total Words Written: 3,069

Ending Word Count: 17,329

After thoughts:

As a reader I love the moment at the end of the book where all the pieces of the books add up. As a writer those pieces have to come together a lot sooner for me than the end of my book. I have to know pretty early on how they come together. (Okay, pantser do this differently, but I’m not a pantser. lol) Today, I feel like I’ve found the flow of the story and of both of my main characters. With this discovery I know what’s next for the Hemlock Wolf Pack as a whole. This is building up to some very exciting books for the future! I can’t wait to wake up and write tomorrow.

Tomorrow is another day and another fight scene. Jonah is ready to kick some ass! I hope the world is ready for him! I love Blake and Jonah together! ❤ I can’t wait to share their story with all of you!

Goals for Tomorrow:

Tomorrow I want to break the 20k barrier! I also hope to finish the next plot scene and start working on getting Blake pregnant! Yep! It’s time for me to play matchmaker and fertility goddess. Though, Hemlocks usually ask Juda for help with fertility. Oh well, since I’m his creator Maggie will have to do instead.

After thoughts:

Happy writing fellow campers!

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3 Weird Things I’ve Done to Research My Novel

Maggie Hemlock

It’s no secret that all writers are on numerous watch lists because of our search histories. Okay, maybe we’re not, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we were. For older works I’ve searched such things as how long does it take a human eyeball to decompose and how long would it take someone to die if you buried them alive.

If you’re saying that happened no where in my Hemlock Mpreg Universe books – you’re right, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t searched weird things or done other weird forms of research for my Hemlock Wolf Pack Series. Even before writing the series someone looking through my search history might have assumed I was a zoologist student, but now if I type ‘W’ into the search Wolf/Wolves/Wolf Packs are just a few of the thing searches suggested to me. That’s not even the weird parts yet.

Without further ado here are 3 weird things I’ve done to research for my novels.

1.Watched Old Boy Band Music Videos/Concerts

Yes, even something as small as Zoey’s favorite boy band took some research to put together. The Grim Howlers play small, but important roles in Omega Magic and Healer’s Oath. And I have it on good accord that we haven’t seen the last of them either. The boy band will make an in person appearance in book 5. To prepare for this I started watching old boy band concerts. Of course, I fell into the rabbit hole and ended up on some popular/favorites from my younger days. I turn 30 in May. I’ll bake you a virtual cookie if you can guess who I was watching.

2.Nagged Relatives for Childhood Stories

My earliest funny childhood memory is morbid to my now adult self, but it was hilarious to the 8 year old Maggie. My brother (then 3) would freak out whenever someone said they got ‘fired.’ The poor brat thought they meant they were set on fire. Til this day we don’t know where he came up with the idea. -No. That isn’t my sly way of saying I told him. I thought it was funny that he was clueless, but I didn’t come up with it.-

As someone who writes M/M Mpreg Romance I’m obsessed with the parent/child bond and the unique experiences each person has. I’ve explored this theme and the theme of siblings throughout my series. No, I haven’t borrowed any story from relatives, but hearing stories I wasn’t a part of does get my creative juices pumping.

3.Walked Around the Baby Section of Stores Despite Not Having A Baby

I will do just about anything to get inspired to write. While writing Omega Magic I was stuck and needed to do something to get into the groove of things. I found myself at Walmart and walked past the baby aisle. Two seconds later, I was exploring the world of baby clothes, diapers, car seats, snacks, and everything in between. I was wondering/deciding which items Logan and Jessie would choose for their baby and if it would hold up to a baby dragon shifter. The answer of course was a resounding no. Nonetheless by the time I left the store I couldn’t wait to get home and write!