About Me

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Hello! I am an Author who just published my first novel My Life With The Movie Star. I also write a weekly blog for patch.com and have blogged for CNN iReports.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Inspiration for my first Novel

The idea for my first novel “My Life With The Movie Star” came to me while I was on a business trip in Dallas Texas. I was staying at the Gaylord Texan, which is an enormous hotel and convention center. If you have never been to any of the Gaylord properties, they are famous for having botanical gardens, themed restaurants. As soon as I walked in the front door I imaged this would Guest Blogger Meaghan Hoffman on Amelia Curzon's Blog - "Carte Blanche"be an ideal hotel where any A List Hollywood star would stay. The story My Life With The Movie Star is about a young girl from the Midwest Abby, who meets actor Grayson Edwards at a hotel while she is away on business. Unaware of his fame, Abby starts a long distance relationship with Gray over the phone, only to have her life turned upside down by discovering Grayson’s fame. Abby then struggles with the pressures of Grayson’s high demanding world, trying desperately to fit.
Once I had the idea for my novel I had to find the perfect city to set Abby’s side of the story in.  I chose my home town of Port Washington, Wisconsin. To me Port Washington is the perfect small town.  Port sits on the bank of Lake Michigan 30 miles north of Milwaukee.Port Washington on Amelia Curzon's Blog - "Carte Blanche" Before moving to Port Washington, I lived in Atlanta Georgia for 14 years.  Atlanta is a large, crowded, landlocked city.  After living in a big city for so many years, I yearned for a smaller community and to be close to the water.  My husband and I were able to buy a house almost two blocks from the beach.  I work from home, and on my lunch breaks, I would go and sit by the lake, eat my lunch, and write.  

Most of the buildings in the downtown Port Washington date back to the late 1800’s. This gives the city a pleasant, historic feeling.  Almost as if you have stepped by in time. You can go buy your meats at the local butcher shop, or your vegetables at the weekend farmers market.    I felt that this small town would be the perfect escape from a busy Hollywood life, which is what Grayson is desperately trying to achieve.
I not only set my story in the city of Port Washington,

I also used many of the local restaurants, stores, and festivals in the novel. The most notable is the yearly Fish Day Festival.  Fish day is the world’s largest outdoor fish fry and is always held the third Saturday in July.  This festival attracts over 20,000 people a year to Port Washington.  Also my two favorit bars Sir James Pub, and the Patio made it into the novel.

 After publishing my novel, I was approached by a local website portwashington-wi.patch.com, to write a weekly “Out and About” blog about Port Washington. This is something that I have thoroughly enjoyed doing and has given me a new outlet to share my love for my home town.  Since publishing My Life With The Movie Star, I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from my new community.  It’s so satisfying to get comments on my Facebook page from local Port Residents and how they enjoyed reading my novel.
Author Bio
Meaghan Hoffmann attended American Intercontinental University where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in Media Production. Meaghan has just published her first novel “My Life With The Movie Star.”  Meaghan also works for RICS Software in the Training department, is a CNN iReporter, and also volunteers for Big Brother Big Sister organization.
My Life With the Movie Star by Meaghan Hoffmann  is currently available on amazon.com

http://portwashington-wi.patch.com/users/meaghan-hoffmann
http://meaghanhoffmann.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Life-With-The-Movie-Star/221470914530920
http://ireport.cnn.com/people/hoffmannmeg?viewingAsOthers=true

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Ettie- Character Back Story- Sabin

As part of my research for my next novel, I am writing back stories for my main characters. I thought it might be fun to share them on my blog.  Sabin is my leading man. He is a vampire and is the first immortal to meet Harriet, my leading lady, after her transformation.   Sabin is typically a loaner but is taken by Harriett's beauty.




Sabin Back Story
Name- Sabin
Birth- July 22 1788.
Date of Transformation- 1810, age 22. Sabin was changed into a vampire in an abandoned bar in Spain.
Hair- Long, blond hair almost translucent in color.
Eyes- Blue
Height- 6’1.  

Physical Description- Sabin was tall for his Spanish heritage, but he always favored his mother’s side. His completion was fair, his eyes were blue.  Harriet describes his eyes - He truly had the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen.  I was shocked by how forward he was, but I was paralyzed by his good looks.  I almost felt that he had a power over me.  I wanted to run, but I was so drawn into his piercing blue eyes.”

Hobbies- Sabin enjoys collecting fine art with his coven members Graham, Blair and Savannah. He also plays piano, and classical guitar. 

Coven- Sabin lives with three other vampires Graham, Blair and Savannah.  Graham and Blair were married when they were human and have stayed together since.  Savannah joined the coven when Sabin, Graham and Blair immigrated from Europe to New Orleans Louisianan.  Blair had hoped that Savannah and Sabin would hit it off, but they were far too much alike and never were a couple. 

Occupation- Sabin and Graham are venture capitalist and own many companies. Most notably a medical supply company that is trying to get FDA approval of a synthetic blood product.

Personal History- Parents- Mother was a French show girl and father was Spanish.  Sabin’s parents met in Paris France but quickly moved to his father’s village in Spain.  They were never married. Sabin spent most of his childhood being teased for looking different than the other children.  He spent a lot of time indoors reading trying to escape his life.  When he was twenty he fell in love with a local girl.  Her father was extremely unhappy that Sabin was dating his daughter and had Sabin turned into a vampire as a way to get rid of him. Sabin was bricked into the basement wall of the bar and was left with only a note telling him what he now was.

Sabin hibernated for ten years after his transformation. Once he awoke he  tried to find his parents and discovered that his mother had died, and his father had moved away.  Sabin went to visit his love only once to find that now she was married and had children.  Sabin knew he could not take away a child’s mother so he moved on.

Sabin traveled through Europe for a few years not caring about what human lives he was taking to be fed.  When Sabin was in London, he met Graham who helped him learn to control his thirst, Graham also invited him into his coven.  In the early 1900’s the coven decided to move to New Orleans which was becoming abundantly populated with Vampires.  Once in New Orleans they met Savannah who soon became part of their coven.  Sabin never had any interest in other vampires until he met Harriett in 2010. She was the first immortal who caught his eye.  He felt a need to protect her and help her on her quest to find her creator.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Where to find Author Meaghan Hoffmann


I thought I would take a moment and share all my social media sites where you can find and follow me.  This is something I wish I would have done in July.




Facebook:  I have several facebook pages

Follow my novel; "My Life With The Movie star"- https://www.facebook.com/mylifewiththemoviestar
This page is dedicated to my first novel and to the main characters Abby and Grayson! Also the City I live in Port Washington WI.

My Author page is - https://www.facebook.com/authormeaghanhoffmann
This page is dedicated to all the different writing I do from my novels, to my articles on CNN ireports and patch.com.  You can find out what I'm working on next from this page.

Twilight Fan Page- https://www.facebook.com/twilightpassion
I'm a huge Twilight fan.  If you are too feel free to follow Twilight Passion! I post updates, pictures, and other fun Twilight stuff.

Sci-Fi Passion-  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sci-Fi-Passion/425746437437606
I also love Star Wars, Dr. Who, Firefly and other Sci-Fi  favorites.


Twitter: 
@meaghanhoffmann
Follow me for updates on all my novels. I also tweet about my patch.com and CNN ireports as well from twitter.

@twilightpassion
I tweet all about Twilight.

Pinterest:
http://pinterest.com/hoffmannmeg/
Follow news about my novels plus anything else I pin.

Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13450093-my-life-with-the-movie-star

I think this is all the site I monitor. Make sure to like me or share me! Also stop by and say hi! Let me know if you read my novel. 


Monday, June 18, 2012

Long Weekend in Atlanta and Nashville


I just got back from a weekend trip down to my old “Stomping Ground” Atlanta and a side trip to visit my best friend in Nashville!  My husband Bret and I had a fabulous time, but our trip started out with a big snag.

We left Milwaukee at 5pm on Wednesday, and the plan was to get to Atlanta by 8pm, head to our hotel The Marriott Grand Marquise, drop our things, and have a fun night walking around downtown Atlanta.  Well weather had a different plan.  On our way to Atlanta, the captain announced that due to storms in Atlanta our flight had to land in Huntsville Alabama.  Bret and I sat on the tarmac for about 5 hours and finally made it to Atlanta at 2am.  By the time we got our rental car, (huge line) and to the hotel it was almost 3am! Our romantic night was ruined.


We got as much sleep as we possible and headed to Taqueria Del Sol for lunch with my Dad! Taqueria is one of my favorite Mexican Restaurant in Atlanta.  If you go be prepared to wait in line for a bit, but the food is so good it’s worth the wait!



On Friday Bret and I treated my dad to a Braves game for Fathers Day. We all had a fantastic time at Turner Field.  After a lengthy game the Braves won!  This was a pleasant change of pace from how the Brewers are going this year.


Saturday we said goodbye to my parents and headed out to Nashville to meet up with my Best friend Joey.  It had been a year since I had last seen him so I was extremely excited.  We had a fun night of eating chicken strips, drinking beer, and going on a late night walk to find a bottle of Rum Chata!  If you’re from WI I’m sure you have had this delicious liqueur made in Pewaukee, but  Joey had never heard of it so we set out to find a bottle.  If you have never tried Rum Chata, it tastes like liquid Cinnamon Toast Crunch! Yum !


Needless to say after the rough start we had a fabulous long weekend and saw lots of family and friends. I hope to get back to both ATL and Nashville very soon!

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Summer Festival Season Kickoff!


With Memorial Day behind us, the summer festival season has officially started.  Resident of Ozaukee County can jump right into the fun with two great festivals this weekend!  The Lucky Street Music Fest in Grafton and Port Pirate Fest offer something for everyone.  Best of all, admission to both festivals is free!


Lucky Street Music Fest- Saturday June 2nd 12pm-10pm Grafton Wisconsin.
The Grafton Blues Association will be hosting the second annual Lucky Street Music Festival. Admission is free to this musically charged festival located in the Veterans Memorial Park Grafton WI.  The music begins at noon and last until 10pm. Feel free to bring a lawn chairs, or blankets and enjoy the day with fantastic music!  Lucky Street Music Fest will also have local food and beverage vendors, along with inflatable activities for kids.  This year’s lineup features several popular favorites:  
·         Nora Collins (an 18 year old up-and-coming singer/song writer) at 12pm
·          Dirt Road Law (2012 WAMI Peoples Choice Winner) at 1pm
·         Carrie Melton & the Minor Fall (mix of blue grass and folk music) at 2:15pm
·         The Itch (current rock and dance party music) at 3:30pm
·         Bob Mittnacht and The Crowning Glories (mix of rock, alt-country) at  4:45pm
·         Katz Sass (high energy Texas blues band) at 6:45pm
·         The Razors Edge (AC/DC tribute band) at 8:30pm
Information about the Lucky Street Music Fest can be found at graftonblues.org.  Veterans Memorial Park is on 13th Ave in Grafton Wisconsin
.
Port Pirate Fest- Friday June 1st- Sunday June 3rd Port Washington Wisconsin.
Port Washington is also hosting its annual Pirate Fest Friday June 1st through Sunday June 3rd. Located in downtown Port Washington’s harbor,  Pirate fest is a fun filled weekend with pirate shows, entertainment, live music, kids’ activities, and fireworks. Reenactors will be taking to the streets dressed up as their favorite pirate and guests are also encouraged to dress up and join in the fun. Need to purchase pirate gear? No worries - stop by the “Thieves’ Marketplace” and pick up pirate essentials.  You also don’t have to worry about going hungry at this festival; the “Gruel Gallery” will feature several local vendors: Tellos, Beanies, and Taste of Africa will all have booths serving hearty pirate grub for just about any taste.  Wanting to try out your sea legs? Flat bottom Cruise Ship, Voyageur, will be offering several themed cruises starting Friday night, continuing throughout the festival.  One of the highlights of Pirate fest will be watching the pirates light up the sky with the annual Pirate Firework Show Saturday night! Fireworks will begin at 9:30pm in the Port Washington Harbor.
Additional information about Voyageur Cruises and all the fun pirate activities and times can be found at www.portpiratefestival.com.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Four things that irk me!



My intent with this blog is to be an extremely light hearted, funny blog about things that recently irk me.  In no way do I mean to insult, or offend anyone on this list except maybe the celebrity moms!

4.  Celebrity Moms- I’m irked by all the celebrity moms out there that have a baby and 1 month latter are back on the red carpet or a beach in perfect shape.  I’m jealous of them since I have never had children and can’t keep up with their perfect bodies.  Now if I were a celebrity, I know that I would have a personal trainer, dietician, and agent all paid, to kick my butt into gear.  Until that happens, I will just gawk at the covers of the tabloid magazines and wonder how the hell they just had a baby, and yet still fit into that teeny tiny bikini!



3.   Road Construction- I live in a small city.  We have three ways to get into the city by car and two of the three ways are currently under road construction.  I’m not talking about repaving the road I’m talking about ripping up bridge road construction.  One of the on ramps to get onto Hwy 45 is now so dangerous; I’m amazed every day that we do not have a fifty car pileup!  To make matters worse, they are behind schedule and the road construction will go on for the foreseeable future.



2. This Season of Mad Men- Mad Men has become one of my all-time favorite shows.  I was so disappointed when a contract dispute pushed the fifth season of Mad Men from July 2011 to March 2012.  The fourth season had ended in October 2010, forced to wait seventeen months before I could find out what happened to Don Draper and company.  Well the start to the fifth season has been slow, to say the least, what made Mad Men enjoyable was the mix of marketing pitches, and the fooling around.  This season has neither.  The marketing pitches limited to Heinz Baked Beans, and the fooling around is non-existent with Don getting married, Joan having a baby, and Peggy in a "living in sin" committed relationship.  I hope that the next 6 episodes go back to the Mad Men roots and have some drama in them.



1. E. L. James and Fifty Shades- E. L. James is a self-published author (just like me), who loved the Twilight saga, (just like me), had a crush on Robert Pattinson (just like me) and wrote a book about her crush, (just like me).   Unlike me, she wrote a highly erotic version of Twilight called Fifty Shades of Grey that caught on like wild fire over the internet. Now she is a famous author with a movie deal.   I should be happy for her. She is one of a few self-published authors to be on the New York Times best sellers list.  She has helped the self-publishing industry, and given hope to many indie authors that maybe someday your book might be discovered.   I just can not help but be jealous of her success.  Our stories and inspiration are remarkably similar.  Fifty Shades of Grey is a story about Ana Steele, normal girl, and Christian Grey, hottie millionaire CEO.  My Life With The Movie Star is  inspired, not Twilight, but by the actor, Robert Pattinson.  Robert was the reflection I used to create the ideal movie star boyfriend Grayson Edwards.   The relationship between Grayson and Abby is similar to Fifty Shades of Grey.  Grayson is handsome, rich and infatuated with Abby.  Abby is an average girl, and not sure she belongs in Grayson’s world.   I do feel that I did give Abby a better voice than Bella/ Ana.  Abby is a confident woman who has been in the work force for several years, she has purchased her own home and can provide for herself.   Bella is still a highs school student so her means to support herself is limited, but Ana who is weeks away from graduating college has no plan for  her career, and her  only living arrangement is to continue being a roommate to her rich college friend Kate.  Grayson has no need to ask Abby to be anything different than who she is. This is something that Christian almost demands of Ana, and Edward reluctantly has to change Bella for their love to last through time.  My Life With The Movie Star does have a bit of “romance” in it, but I would categories it as PG romance. Abby gets to see Grayson’s abs a few times, and that is the extent of any adult content. My Life With The Movie Star by Meaghan Hoffmann is available on amazon.com



Friday, May 4, 2012

Summer Movie Season Begins Avengers Opens!


I’m not a comic book girl, but I have to admit I have been hooked on The Avengers Series ever since Iron Man in 2008. Anyone who stayed through credits got a sneak peak of Samuel L. Jackson playing Nick Furry, and knew that there was so much more to come! What I find neat about The Avengers Series is the buildup of movies leading up to this one:

• Iron Man 2008

• The Incredible Hulk 2008

• Iron Man 2 2010

• Thor 2011

• Captain America 2011

All of these movies can stand alone, but what I fully appreciated was the chance to get to know each of the principal characters in The Avengers years before the movie was even produced. This was genius, allowing interest to build, and exposing more and more fans to the series along the way. Again, I have never read the comics, but have grown to know who Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr), Black Widow, (Scarlett Johansson), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) are.

Josh Whedon, director, is famous for creating and writing several notable Sci-Fi T.V. shows and movies, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and my personal favorite is the Firefly series which was briefly on T.V for a season in 2002-2003, and spun the cult classic movie Serenity, released in 2005. Recently, Whedon also lent his writing talents to the just released The Cabin in the Woods in April, receiving praise for being much smarter than the typical horror flick.

The Avengers starts with a bang! The movie begins at S.H.E.I.L.D. headquarters (a secret security organization led by agent Nick Furry) where the Tesseract (a unique energy source) is being held and examined. Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, comes into our world with the purpose of stealing the Tesseract, taking over our world, and eventually taking over his old home plant Asgard, which he was disowned from. To gain control, Loki takes over several members of S.H.I.E.L.D ‘s minds including Agent Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). Nick Furry now has no choice but to convince the other members of the Avengers to join him and help get the Tesseract back. This is not an easy task since all members have past or present issues they are currently working through. Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as Iron Man, Tony Stark. Tony has been working on new building that is energy self-sufficient. Tony begrudgingly agrees to join, and has girlfriend Pepper Pots continue working on the project without him. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) has the job of convincing Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) to join the team. Bruce is reluctant to take part due to his uncertainty if he can control “The Other Guy” Hulk. Nick Furry approaches Captain America (Chris Evans) to join, but Captain America is still sore that he has been brought back to life and is having a hard time adjusting to the 2000’s.


One aspect I of the movie I did not expect was how much I enjoyed seeing Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/ Hulk. The hulk has previously been featured in two separate movies played by two separate actors. I felt that Ruffalo did the best job showing the two very different faces of the Hulk. I hope to see more of Ruffalo’s Hulk in the future.

The Avengers is fast paced right from the start and has some of the best special effects I have seen in an action movie. The 3D is worth the extra money, and is a great use of the technology. The costumes were also incredible. I have no idea how Cobie Smulders and Scarlett Johansson put on their cat suites, but both actresses looked amazing! The Avengers went beyond what I had expected and is a great way to kick off the 2012 Summer Movies.