2015: A Year of Giving Thanks, Meeting Romance Idols, & Making New Friends

2015 has been a very good year for me. I am so thankful. 

This year, I:

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Eloisa James with Margaret Locke
The ever-charming Eloisa James and I.
The fabulous Sabrina Jeffries!
The fabulous Sabrina Jeffries!
With Pamela Morsi!
With Pamela Morsi!
With the gracious and knowledge-generous Valerie Bowman
With gracious & knowledge-generous Valerie Bowman.
MLockeCMaxwell
With the exuberantly charming Cathy Maxwell.
Sue London getting silly at the West Virginia Book Festival
Sue London getting silly at the West Virginia Book Festival.

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  • met a ton of new people, and, even more amazingly, new fans! I, little ol’ Margaret, now have fans. What, what? But, yes, I do, like the oh-so-fabulous Annie, who even had lunch with me when she was in town.
Annie is a riot, y'all, and we had so much fun at our far-too-brief lunch in October!
Annie is a riot, y’all, and we had so much fun at our far-too-brief lunch in October!
Long-time friends supported me, too, including my grade-school friend Heather, whose animals apparently also want to read A Matter of Time!
Long-time friends supported me, too, including my grade-school friend Heather, whose animals apparently also want to read A Matter of Time!
Some fans read my books out loud to their babies!
Some fans read my books out loud to their babies!
... While others forced their kids to do things like this!
… While others forced their kids to do things like this!
  • solidified relationships and friendships within my Shenandoah Valley Writers critique group and more, and basically surrounded myself with writer friends the whole year through.
Maggie and Rebekah helped me celebrate debut day!
Maggie and Rebekah helped me celebrate debut day!
And these fine characters cheered me on, critiqued my work, picked me up when I felt down, and celebrated my successes!
And these fine characters cheered me on, critiqued my work, picked me up when I felt down, and celebrated my successes!
  • had the loving support of my family, including my very own computer-science-professor-in-shining-armor husband, who read BOTH of my books, just to support me (and help me find typos). He’s that awesome of a guy.
My real-life romance hero.
My real-life romance hero.

Yes, it’s been a very good year. 

And I owe so much of that to you all.

  • Thank You Word CloudThank you to everyone who took a chance on A Man of Character (and now again on A Matter of Time!).
  • Thank you to the friends and family who’ve supported me, and the new readers who’ve picked up one of my books this year.
  • Thank you to the book bloggers and reviewers who graciously gave their time to review my books.
  • Thank you to Tessa Shapcott, my editor, for her invaluable guidance, and to Joy Lankshear, my cover designer and formatter, for making my books look better than I ever imagined they could.
  • Thank you to the fellow writers I’ve met on Facebook and Twitter, whose companionship brightens my day every day, and whose wisdom is lighting this crazy, twisting and turning path I’m on.
  • Thank you to the people who’ve liked my books enough to join my street team, Locke’s Flock, or to review them on Amazon or GoodReads, or even just to tell someone else about my books and/or me. All of those seemingly little things make a HUGE difference.

Simply put, I wouldn’t be here without you, and I wanted to express my gratitude as 2015 closes out and 2016 gets ready to begin.

What does the next year hold?

A Man of Character: One Week In & a Great Big THANK YOU!

A Man of Character Cover Margaret LockeWait, what? It’s been a full week since A Man of Character debuted? I can hardly believe it.

Thank you for the overwhelmingly positive response I’ve received! I’ve shed more than one tear in the last seven days, but luckily they’ve all been happy tears.

Thank you everyone who’s bought the book, everyone who’s reading the book, and to everyone who’s taken the time to leave a review on Amazon or GoodReads.

Y’all rock. 

Here’s a sampling of what I’ve heard this week:

“Mrs. Locke, I just finished your novel, “A Man of Character.” I just wanted you to know that it was one of the best books that I have read this year. I look forward to reading Eliza’s story, and I hope you will write William’s story as well. Thanks for the pleasure of your words.”

“Loved the story. I read way past my bedtime. It was an interesting and thought-provoking romance. Looking forward to more books from this author.”

“I don’t usually read romances, but I couldn’t quit reading this one. It arrived in the mail late Thursday, and I finished it Friday morning. This novel has a clever premise, cool characters, a neat twist toward the end (a perfect set-up for the sequel), and a great sense of humor. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and can’t wait for Margaret Locke’s next work.”

“I loved it! This fun and thought-provoking romance novel offers a great balance of comedic elements, sweetness, and sizzle. Throw in a handful of handsome eligible men, a touch of magic, and journey of self-discovery, and you have a wonderful story. The book was a joy to read, both for the creative content and craft (it is very well-edited and formatted — the author obviously knows her stuff and invested the time necessary to develop an excellent product). I am very impressed and am looking forward to the next book! (I hope it’s about Eliza. I loved her character!)”

Margaret Locke A Man of CharacterThose are words that feed the writer’s soul – especially a nervous Nellie newbie like me!

I hope you’ll continue to help me spread the word about A Man of Character, whether through sharing about it on Facebook, tweeting about it, or good, old-fashioned telling someone about it directly. Word-of-mouth is everything in the book world, and something on which indie authors are especially dependent.

Thank you again, from the bottom of my romance writer’s heart. You know how to make a girl feel special!