Weekend round up

This time change thing has me all messed up. I slept extremely late because my body wasn’t used to losing an hour. Not that it was bad to sleep late – my dreams were cool. I dreamed that I was a woman trapped in a house located on the front lines in the Civil War. The house had a rotating cast of people that flitted in and out, and the war killed nearly everyone and left zombies in their wake (Yeah, I don’t know what zombies had to do with it). My boyfriend was a soldier that died, and I had several younger siblings that died in the war, and all of them were haunting the house afterward.

It was strange. It would make a pretty cool book. Not my book, but someone else’s book, maybe. My books aren’t quite so sad.

Other than that, it’s been an uneventful weekend. I’ve been working on writing, reading beta manuscripts for friends, and watching my husband play Mass Effect 2 (which is an amazing game). We only have one TV, so I watch him play rather than play myself. It sounds weird but it’s more entertaining than you’d think. Of course, now I’m in the mood for more space epic stuff…

I’m hoping I’ll have more exciting stuff to post about soon, but right now I’m dabbling between multiple projects and not feeling particularly ‘attached’ to any of them, so I have no exciting writing updates to share. Boring blog is boring.

Where you won’t find me

I’ve had a couple of people ask me about my Goodreads account recently. I’m there, I check it every day, and I actively participate at Goodreads – I tag my TBR list, mark books I’m excited about, review the ones I’ve read and enjoyed, etc. I chat with people about reviews I’ve left on other books. There’s a major caveat to my participation, though.

My books get reviews or ratings almost every day. As an author, I love this and find it terribly exciting. People love my stuff! (sometimes!) People are talking about my stuff! But I don’t comment on any reviews or threads. I read the comments (even the unpleasant ones) and I NEVER, EVER, EVER PARTICIPATE IN CONVERSATIONS ABOUT MY OWN BOOKS.

The same thing goes for Amazon and B&N and review forums, etc. I poke around – absolutely. I’m nosy as hell. But I don’t participate in the conversation. A couple of people have asked me why, so I thought I might explain.

If we chitchat on Twitter every now and then and you post a review of my book on your blog, I will probably pop over to thank you for reviewing it. If you comment on my journal or at Odd Shots, I do my best to answer your comment, I really do (and if I’ve missed you, I’m sorry!). But I don’t participate on the Amazon forums or on Goodreads or anywhere else that they talk about my books.

Those reviews aren’t for me. They’re for other readers. NOT ME. And I believe that me showing up and commenting or trying to explain something about my books, or why I chose to do things a certain way…it influences the conversation. It makes some readers downright uncomfortable.

If it was me and I was talking constructively about a book, and the author stopped by to comment? I’d hate that. I’d clam up. I don’t want to do that to other people. You should be free to talk about my stuff in public without fear that the Authorbeast shall descend upon you and Explain Her Book And Show You The Error Of Your Ways.

So that’s why I don’t participate in discussions on Goodreads (for those that asked). If someone point blank asks me something, I might respond, but it’s just as easy to email me (my inbox is always open). It’s something that I feel fairly strongly about — and I know other authors don’t necessarily agree with me. But that’s how I feel. Maybe this will change later, but for now, I prefer that people have an author-free zone to discuss my stuff. And if it gets to the point that there’s enough traffic to warrant a forum for fans (oh, what a glorious day that would be) I’d throw one up on the website.

But you are free of me on Goodreads and Amazon.

More awake

Afternoon, all!

I’m feeling quite buoyant today – yesterday too. My husband commented on me humming to myself. I think it’s because the first draft is done! Some people have post-book depression. Not me! Post-book elation on this end. The world is suddenly golden once more, my free time starts to loom in the distance, and I begin to plot.

That’s right – I’m already thinking about the next project to work on. Writers (in general) aren’t happy unless they’re pecking at some sort of project. This is definitely true for me – when I’m not writing, I get cranky and irritable and impossible to live with. Writing soothes the savage, PMSing beast that apparently lives under my skin.

So, yeah. I’m thinking of the next project down the line. There goes that cart before the horse thing again…

I’ve been in the mood for some romantic fantasy and I find that it’s really difficult to locate on the shelves. What the hell, shelves? I’ve read everything Sharon Shinn and Marillier have written. I’ve crossed over and read a bunch of YA, too – Shannon Hale, Gail Carson Levine, etc, but I love the adult, super-romantic fantasy novels. I’m not talking a fantasy novel with a romance subplot. Not talking fantasy novels that have a male narrator. Girly, epic, girly girly romantic fantasy. Like Marillier’s HEART’S BLOOD. But, you know, not that book because I’ve already read it.

Suggestions? Am I out of luck?

Just the FAQs, ma’am

Hey everybody! It’s Friday – WOOOO!

I think the majority of my blog tours are over for the moment – and I have to say that while it was fun, I’m glad to be able to give myself a little mental R&R for a few days! At least when it comes to blogging.

I did see a few of the same questions pop up repeatedly, so I thought I’d answer a few of them here so you don’t have to fish for answers.

Q: When does book 2 come out?

A: It’s out now! Honest! It’s available on Amazon and at Borders and anywhere you can imagine! I’ve even heard it’s at Kroger. Heck, I have SEEN it at Kroger. And it’s a pretty, pretty cover.

Q: Who’s on the cover of the first book? The 2nd?

A:  Noah is on the cover of the first book – the hair’s longer than I pictured for him, but the model is so pretty that I can’t even be disappointed! Zane is on the second cover.

Q: This is a series, right?

A: Yes it is! Same characters, multiple books. Book 2 can be read without book 1, but it’s a lot like watching a TV episode and missing the pilot. You’ll catch on, but it might take a commercial break or two.

Q: When does book 3 come out?

A: Very very early 2011. I haven’t heard the official month yet, but probably January 2011.

Q: Why so long?

A: Because my publisher releases two books a year for their authors and both of mine came out back to back! (btw, I <3 my publisher for the back to back)

Q: Why does your journal suck so much lately?

A: I know. Sadface! The thing is…I’m crazily busy. December was ridiculous, and January is turning out to not be much better. I have a day job and we’ve been at crunch-time and will be until March 1st. And that is also conveniently when book 3 is due to my editor.

Here’s a peek into my writing process – I write the draft at night, after work. It comes out in a flurry of words that are usually crap words. Like, I don’t give snippets a lot because they are WOAH BAD. I read a sentence aloud to my husband the other day to ask his opinion, and this is how the conversation went:

Me, reading sentence: Blah blah blah blah blah sentence stuff that I can’t share because it is spoiler-iffic. So what do you think, honey?

Him: Erm.

Me: Erm?

Him: That’s not…the finished sentence, is it?

Me: Well, it’s staying in here for now. But this is a rough draft.

Him: But that’s an awful sentence. Like, really bad.

Me: I KNOW BUT IT’S ROUGH DRAFT.

Him: You’re going to rewrite it, right?

Me: I didn’t ask your opinion about the sentence. I want to know about the PLOT.

Him: Is your whole book written like that?

Me: You know what? Nevermind.

Him: Do you need my help writing it?

Me: … I’m done here.

Heh.  So, first draft is badbadbad. But I never turn in a first draft! I go back through the book immediately after I finish it and begin to do a second draft of things I couldn’t squeeze in to the first draft. Things like uh, plot points I forgot, personality for characters, etc. Then once that’s done, I print the entire thing out and edit it again.

The book is due March 1. I am um….still not done with the rough draft. Normally the rough draft ends at about 80k, and after all clean ups, it ends at about 87k or so – a nice, sensible size for a book.

Book 3 (Which I am now calling THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT SUCCUBI because I am weird like that) is currently 85k. And I still have at least 10k to go. Which I really need to write this weekend.

So – deadline crunch for Jill! The good news is that if you’re waiting on book 3, it’s going to be meaty and chock full of story, and longer than the last two books.  The bad news is that my brilliant journal will probably be less brilliant for the next few weeks while I try to squeeze all the brilliancy into my book.

So…I hope I hit everything pressing! If you have something else you want me to answer, leave a comment and it’ll give me fodder for additional posts.

I’m in the YA Rebels! (sort of)

This is too cute – one of the YA Rebels over on YouTube lets my book be a ‘guest star’ on her video. Check it out (and check out the rest of their videos while you’re at it!).

Vacation Over

So I’m sad to report that tomorrow morning, my bright and shiny face will be returning to the dayjob after a little over a week off. It was really nice to have the time to mentally unwind and get some writing in. I sort of slacked mid-month and have just crossed 30k in my Nano. No success for me! Still, 30k is not bad and it gives me a jump start. I’m going to try and hit 33k today (if possible) and maybe another 2k tomorrow night. If I hit 35k for the month, I’ll be pleased with myself.

And I am sooo not ready for Christmas. I say that even as I drag out the ornaments and decorations. Thing is, my book comes out 4 days after Christmas. 29 days from today! AAAAAH! My brain is a little caught up in that. Will it do well? Has anyone looked at my book trailer? Should I blog more often? What’s my print run? How can I promote? Blah blah blah.

Reviews are also starting to trickle in. I got a lovely one at this site and got a mention on another site. Since this is the first book that is hitting, I get a weird, vicarious little thrill whenever my book is mentioned – for so long, I have kind of felt like my book has existed in a vacuum. Anyhow, I hope the thrill doesn’t go away anytime soon (though I suspect it might the first time I see a really bad review, and I’m sure there will be one).

That’s all I’ve got! I’d offer a snippet of the new book that I’m working on but…it’s really, really rough (my first drafts are mockable) and I’m currently at the OMG-I-HATE-IT on the sliding scale of book writing. Maybe next weekend! My goal is to finish as much of Book 3 as I can before Release Day, because I’m pretty sure my brain is going to be fried in all of January, and the book is due March 1.

Hope everyone else had a lovely holiday. Onward to the next one!

Dumbass goals.

So, back when I was a kid, I thought the year 2000 was going to be monumental. It would also be the year I turned 24.

I figured by that time, I would be ‘on the shelf’ (this method of thinking could have come from devouring historical romances since the ripe old age of 12, when every heroine in anything published in the 1980s was somewhere between the ages of 15 and 20). 24 was far too old for any guy to want to date beyond that, and it seemed like a good cutoff date for matrimony. (I was a weird kid. And a dumbass.)

If I did not get married by the age of 24, I decided, I’d be doomed to spinsterhood forever. Just me, old age, and a couple dozen cats. Naturally, the year 2000 came and went and I was not married. Alas. Life was surely over.

Then I met a guy in the next year, and when I was 27, we married. I was 3 years late on my ridiculous goal. So much for that.

Sometime in 2002, I started writing. And I told myself, age 30 is the perfect goal for publishing. If I don’t have a published novel by the time I am 30, I’m going to give up. I think everyone that is writing has set themselves a dumbass goal, right? The ‘If I don’t hit it by this date, it’s never going to happen and I’m going to give up’ date, right?

You can see where this is going. At age 29, I got my first agent and had written (by then) something around 9 manuscripts. No sale, no book in hand. My 30th birthday passed. I have to admit that I was a little crushed. Who wouldn’t be? There was no contract in sight, my book was languishing on someone’s desk in NY, and life was bleak. I’d missed my own personal goal, and that hurt.

But then, not 5 months later, I got the call. And 3 years (and one month) later, my book is going to hit the shelves.

It’s been on my mind today, these arbitrary goals. Because I made them, just by picking dates out of my head. 24 seems like a marriageable age. 30 seems like a reasonable age for a published author.

But these are dumbass goals. And if I’d simply been patient, I’d have seen that both would happen in their due process. Important things cannot be rushed, especially when they’re not in your control.

So that’s the moral of the story. Don’t set yourself dumbass goals. Or if you do, wait 3 years. Cool stuff never happens on schedule.

Ava Gray’s release, A Quiz at Odd Shots, and Ilona Andrews

First, let’s start with the obvious. Have you read this yet?

No? Because I did and it was pretty darn awesome, let me tell you. If you’re a SF/UF reader, you might have heard of Ann Aguirre, but if you read only romance (like I seem to do lately) this might have slipped past your notice. I read it a few months ago (thanks Ann!) and it was really awesome. Very fast paced, with a hard-edged, tough heroine and a sexy, roguish hero. She’s a con man and he’s an assassin, and no one gets watered down throughout the story, which was pretty awesome, IMO. Seriously – if you like a different kind of story, and if you like romantic suspense type books with just a dash of paranormal, check this out. I really do think you’ll like it.

Speaking of awesome, have you seen Ilona Andrews’s post today? No? Go read it. She says some wonderful, brilliant things that hit very close to home for me. If you’ve read my journal for any length of time, you know that I’m a little sensitive/easily irritated when people romance bash, and they romance bash all the time. It’s saddest when it comes from other authors, because for the most part? Romance writers might be terribly critical of other romance writers, but as a whole no one really denigrates other genres simply for existing. Not the case with other genres and romance. Anyhoo, I love Ilona for posting this, and I’m happy she spoke up and said what I was thinking (though in a less cuss-filled, more polite sort of way).

Oh, and it’s my day at Odd Shots and I’ve added a quiz – are you Psy? Are you Changeling? And did you buy the newest Nalini Singh release? Hop to it!

These things make up a Tuesday

1) Remember way back when I experimented with the Jalapeno Cheese Cup O Noodles? Today, I had Instant Potato Leek Cup of Soup. You know the type – add water and pray. Luckily, it did not turn out vile! I have high hopes for tomorrow – Spicy Thai Noodle in a Cup.

2) I am going through a re-read phase. Currently re-reading DEMON MOON by mah boo Meljean Brook. Will probably bust out my Kresley Cole series next. I have the Larissa Ione trilogy, but I’m not sure I’m ready to make the leap into uncharted territory!

3) I bought a cowl-turtleneck sweater last week. In black. I don’t really wear colors other than black. Ask anyone. So yeah. I take it home and hang it up…right next to the exact same cowl-turtleneck from last year. In black.

Clearly I shall have to stagger my wardrobe a bit more.

4) I took down my zombie & bookmarks post. Here’s the thing. I kind of hate those “OMG LOOK HOW AWESOME I AM” sorts of posts, and that felt like one. So I deleted it. If you want bookmarks, just, you know, drop me an email. I really don’t bite, though I might bitch about the price of stamps.

5) I am still editing the YA. Expect boring nonsense on this blog until then. But really, all the cool publishing stuff is over with for now, at least until I get author copies! Then expect all kinds of crazy babbling again.

6) Has anyone thought about Christmas yet? It is depressing and yet RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER. Sigh.

Sliding into the home stretch

We’re getting close to pub day! Only 70 days to go or so!

Still so far away, but given that I’ve been waiting since early 2007, it feels so very close. Cover art is all done. Galleys are done. Whoever is going to order my book for their retailers has probably already ordered by now. Promo is being planned. ARCs are out in the world. The final pieces are sliding in to place.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek.

To distract myself, I’m working on edits (again) for my spec project. And I possibly might have come up with an awesome scene for Succubus #3 last night when I was drifting off to bed. And now can’t wait to write it. Which is fun. I love it when writing is fun, don’t you?

Speaking of writing, Nano is still on my radar, but I’m probably going to be going at it unofficial-style. Haven’t decided. We’ll see what the schedule looks like in 11 days.