Peggy Jaeger

My life is filled with love and laughter thanks to the amazing people I get to hang out with. As well as being awesome, they’re creative, talented, generous, and fun! I thought you might like to meet some of the authors I know, so I’ve asked them to come and give us a behind-the-scenes look at what they’re passionate about. I have to warn you though – creativity is contagious!

 

Today’s guest is Peggy Jaeger, author of The MacQuire Women Series, published by The Wild Rose Press. Peggy and I both attended the RWA conference in NYC. It turns out she writes contemporary romance, is also in the medical field, and is married to an ophthalmologist – a twin!!

 

Meet Peggy Jaeger~

Peggy Jaeger is a contemporary romance author who writes about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them.

Her current titles, available now, include SKATER’S WALTZ and THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME, books 1 and 2 in her 6-book The MacQuire Women Series, published by The Wild Rose Press.

Tying into her love of families, her children’s book, THE KINDNESS TALES, was illustrated by her artist mother-in-law.

Peggy holds a master’s degree in Nursing Administration and first found publication with several articles she authored on Alzheimer’s Disease during her time running an Alzheimer’s in-patient care unit during the 1990s.

In 2013, she placed first in two categories in the Dixie Kane Memorial Contest: Single Title Contemporary Romance and Short/Long Contemporary Romance.

A lifelong and avid romance reader and writer, she is a member of RWA and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.

 

Peggy invited me to her blog in August and had some great interview questions, so I had her answer them too!

Part 1: The Writer Questions

1. What drives you to write? Writing, to me, is just like breathing. I can’t NOT breath – I’d die. If I didn’t write something everyday, I really do think I’d die…just a little.

 

2. What genre of Romance do your write, and why? I write only contemporary because I like the here and now of it. The present is immediate and familiar.

 

3. What genre(s) of Romance do you read, and why? In addition to loving contemporary reads, Regency is my second – a close second – love. So much was forbidden to women – the right to vote, voice an opinion, own property, etc, and yet, each well written Regency novel has at its core a strong willful woman who can and does flaunt the conventions of the time for love. Gotta love that.

 

4. What’s your writing schedule? Do you write everyday? I retired from my paying job in April and since then I have written every single day, which was my ultimate fantasy in life. A day without writing for me is a wasted day, and I might as well spend it in a coma. I usually can get about 6-10 hours at the keyboard 5 days a week and then on the weekends I routinely do 3-5 hours each day. This includes working on WIPs, my website blog entries, and my blogs for visiting websites.

 

5. Give us a glimpse of the surroundings where you write. I live in a four-story house set in the woods in New England and I have a finished attic, which is where my writing loft is. No one is allowed to enter without first knocking on the door if it is closed. Ever. My desk is large and wraps around me and sits in front a huge window that overlooks my wooded property. As I write I get to watch the seasons change, the birds come and go, and when it rains, I get to enjoy the sound. But the best sound is the sound of silence.

 

6. Are you the kind of writer who needs total quiet to compose? I need quiet to think. That’s why the attic was a perfect place to set up shop. It’s far enough away from everything and everyone in the house. When the door is closed, the room is practically sound proof.

 

7. Do you listen to music while you write, and if so, what kind? I can’t. If I listen to music I tend to sing along…and then I go on YouTube and call up the videos for the songs and watch them…and I never get anything done. I wasted two hours one day because Lady Marmelade was stuck in my head and I watched the video for it at least 20 times.

 

8. How did you come up with the plotline/idea for your current WIP? FIRST IMPRESSIONS is the 3^rd book in my MacQuire Women Series. Book 2 was THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME and that book had a twin as its protagonist, so when I started plotting out the third, I knew I needed to tell the twin’s story. Padric Cleary is introduced in book 2 and plays a large role in his twin sister’s life. When she found her HEA, I felt he deserved the same.

 

9. Which comes first for you – character or plot? Character…always. I can’t think up a story if I don’t know who the story is about.

 

10. What 3 words describes you, the writer? Persistent/Tortured/Dedicated

 

Part 2

The Person Questions:

1. Tell us one unusual thing about yourself – not related to writing! My left eye is way smaller than my right because of an accident I had as a child and the numerous surgeries I’ve had on both of my eyes. 2 retinal detachments and cataract surgeries., to be precise. It’s extremely noticeable in photographs, which is why I absolutely hate to have my picture taken.
2. Who was your first love and what age were you? Believe it or not, the first time I actually fell in love was with my husband and I was 23. I was engaged prior to meeting him and when I met my now husband I realized I never did love-til-the-end-of-time that other guy. Good thing we broke it off!
3. If you could relive one day, which one would it be? The day my husband told me I was having a baby. He knew before I did!
4. Do you like a guy in boxers, briefs, or commando? Love boxers….adore commando.
5. If you had to give up one necessary-can’t-live-without-it beauty item, what would it be? My eyebrow pencil. I have white eyebrows and when I don’t pencil them in I look like the Mona Lisa. Only not as pretty as she is.
6. What three words describes you, the person? Loyal/Tortured/Anxious
7. If you could sing a song with Jimmy Fallon, what would it be? “I Will Survive” the Gloria Gaynor edition
8. If you could hang out with any literary character from any book penned at any time line, who would it be, why, and what would you do together? Elizabeth Bennett because I really want to know if she loved Darcy for Darcy or because she wanted Pemberley and we’d sit on my porch, drink Pomegranate Cosmos and just hang. And if Lizzy is busy that day, I want to follow Eve Dallas around for a shift.

 

Bonus round

I love the Actor’s Studio show on Bravo, so this is my version of it:

1. Favourite sound: the rain falling outside my attic window – with the window open.
2. Least favourite sound: dogs barking
3. Best song every written: Secret Agent Man by Johnny Rivers – and see: like I told you, I went immediately to YouTube and called it up right as I wrote this!!! Listened to it 5 times.
4. Worst song ever written: You Light Up My Life. Cringe-worthy
5. Favorite actor and actress Diane Lane; Matthew MacFadyn
6. Who would you want to be for 1 day and why? Jane Austen – I want to get inside her head and find out if she ever had a true love.
7. What turns you on? Biting wit
8. What turns you off? Cruelty of any kind
9. Give me the worst 5 words ever heard on a first date: “Is that your real hair?”
10. What’s your version of a perfect day? Up; go to the gym for 2 hours; shower; write 8-10 hrs; fix dinner; read. I’m so easy.

 

Here’s a bit about First Impressions ~

Family Practice Doctor Clarissa Rogers’ first impression of Padric Cleary is biased and based on gossip. The handsome, charming veterinarian is considered a serial dater and commitment-phobic by his family and most of the town. Relationship shy, Clarissa refuses to lose her heart to a man who can’t pledge himself to her forever.

Pat Cleary, despite his reputation, is actually looking for “The One.” When he does give his heart away, he wants it to be for life. With his parent’s marriage as his guidebook, he wants a woman who will be his equal and soul mate in every way.

Can Pat convince everyone – including Clarissa – she’s the only woman for him?

 

Buy Links:

Amazon        |          Wild Rose Press

  

Peggy loves to connect with readers ~

Website/Blog     |     Twitter     |     Facebook      |      Goodreads      |     The Wild Rose Press Author Page

 

Thank you so much for visiting today Peggy! It was a pleasure learning more about you. I really enjoyed reading The Skater’s Waltz and look forward to the other MacQuire Women books! Click on READ MORE for a excerpt from First Impressions.

First Impressions Excerpt
“Have you ever been friends with a girl before?” she finally asked.

“Friends?”

“Yes. Friends.”

“Have a beer and shoot some pool friends? Or the kind with benefits?”

She laughed out loud, shook her head and grinned. “Have you ever been friends with a girl without having sex mixed into the equation?”

“Not since I was sixteen,” he admitted and then felt his neck heat. “Why?”

She cocked her head again. “It’s no secret I’m attracted to you, too. I think my reaction to the way you kissed me proves it.”

“Why am I hearing a ‘but’?”

Her lips twitched at the corners. “But I don’t jump into bed with a man because I’m attracted to him.”

“I never thought you did.”

“Good to know.”

He cocked his head. “So, what’s being friends got to do with anything?”

Clarissa sighed and settled back against the doorframe. “Can I be honest?”

“I would hope so.”

“I’ve been hearing about your reputation with women since I moved here, and I’m not looking to be the flavor of the week.”

He stared at her for a second as hurt washed through him. “When you say honest, you don’t pull any punches.”