Bio
A scientist by training, a romanticist at heart, Maggie Toussaint loves to solve puzzles. Whether it’s the puzzle of a relationship or a who-dun-it, she tackles them all with equal aplomb and wonder. For two years she edited a writing newsletter, and she’s judged local and national writing contests. Maggie’s a member of Mystery Writers of America, Southeast chapter; Florida Sisters in Crime; and 2 Romance Writers of America chapters, First Coast Romance Writers and Washington Romance Writers. She’s married, has two children, and lives in coastal Georgia.

My Writing Journey
As far back as I can remember, books have been gateways to other worlds for me. I could open a book and my imagination would take flight. As I grew up, there was always a part of me that whispered “I want to write,” but the practicalities of life took precedent.

When I moved away from my hometown in coastal Georgia, I corresponded at length with friends and family. Back in those pre-technological days, there were no emails or cell phones. You wrote a letter, popped it in the mail, and waited a week or two for a reply.

College beckoned, as did marriage, family, and career. There were times when I was so busy I couldn’t remember when I’d last read a book. In time, my schedule eased. and I heard that little voice still whispering in my ear. Though I turned my science job into a writing-about-science job, that didn’t satisfy my need to write.

I found myself jotting ideas down on little scraps of paper. I clipped interesting newspaper and magazine articles. I studied faces and products in catalogs, wondering if I were to ever write a book, would my characters look like this? I saved photos of interesting gardens – I might need them someday.

About that time, I realized how different my carefree coastal Georgia childhood had been than my daughters suburban childhood, and I decided to write what I remembered about growing up. This prompted calls to old friends and family, and a lot of letter writing. I got it all down and sat back and thought about my accomplishment – I’d written a book. Could I sell it?

Writer’s Market in hand, I made a few submissions, but I never advanced beyond an impersonal rejection letter. On a visit home, I learned that a cousin was now the editor of the weekly newspaper. When contacted, he thought my book was great, and he offered to run one chapter each week as a newspaper column. I was really excited. It wasn’t a book, but it was publication. The columns were so popular that the paper proposed printing a book of the newspaper columns. Suddenly my work was a book again. My mother-in-law did the illustrations, and off to the press we went. The hardcover book, titled Remembering, sold through it’s 500 book print run.

Meanwhile, I took creative writing classes. I wrote several very bad romances based on an old family legend. I got my first agent, but that didn’t work out. I disentangled myself and sought out the local chapters of Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters In Crime.

I joined critique groups. I edited a writing newsletter for two years. I learned how to write fiction. I transitioned out of a science career into freelance writing, first as a technical writer and now as a freelance reporter. My writing improved. I signed with another agent, Janet Benrey of Hartline Literary Agency, who is currently marketing my work.

I write. It’s what I do best.