Jeffe Kennedy's Blog, page 66

Jeffe’s Stupid Human Trick

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is “Stupid people tricks – what’s something you know how to do?”

I feel I should qualify that that “stupid” in this topic is intended to modify the tricks, not the people. That said, want to know what mine is? Come on over to find out!

Meanwhile, in the Happy Human Tricks Department, I’ve been loving the reception for BRIGHT FAMILIAR, which released on Friday. This was the best Amazon ranking I saw, but the book has been sitting pretty in the Top 100 of all its subcategories all weekend. Hooray!

I’m way prouder of this than the cherry stem Thing.     

First Cup of Coffee – July 9, 2021

First Cup of Coffee – July 8, 2021

Updates on My Release Schedule!

BRIGHT FAMILIAR releases on Friday!! I’m super excited not only because I got the book done in time – whew! – and not only because I have over 1,000 preorders on Amazon for this book and still climbing – a personal record! – but because early reader-reviewers are saying such wonderful things about it. My heart and cup runneth over, for sure. You all are amazing in your love for this series. If you haven’t preordered yet and want to, you still can

Available at these Retailers

         

Buy eBook Direct From Jeffe – $4.99Buy Print Direct From Jeffe – $18.99Some of you have been asking about my release schedule for both this series and Heirs of Magic. The obsessive fans alert among you have noticed that my release date for THE STORM PRINCESS AND THE RAVEN KING has drifted into 2022. And GREY MAGIC, sequel to BRIGHT FAMILIAR , is coming out at the end of December. The reason for the release date drift is that I’m wedging in a novella for another midwinter holiday fantasy romance anthology! Everyone is still figuring out if they can fit it into their writing schedules, so I won’t tell you the participants yet. But as soon as I know, you’ll be hearing about it! Worse comes to worst, we pull the plug on the anthology and all of these release dates move up.Here is my current plan (italics indicate tentative dates):

 

THE DRAGON’S DAUGHTER AND THE WINTER MAGE (Heirs of Magic 3) 9/13/2021

holiday novella 11/15/2021
GREY MAGIC (Bonds of Magic 3) 12/20/2021
THE STORM PRINCESS AND THE RAVEN KING (Heirs of Magic 4) 2/22/2022

Finally, in case you missed it, THE LONG NIGHT OF THE CRYSTALLINE MOON, the prequel story to Heirs of Magic, previously only available in the UNDER A WINTER SKY anthology, is now available as a standalone.

First Cup of Coffee – July 6, 2021

First Cup of Coffee – July 5, 2021

Worldbuilding and Political Landscapes

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is politics and – no, wait! Come back!!

Politics in FICTION, okay???
We’re asking how politics and the political landscape of the world flavor the outcome of stories. This is my particular catnip as the political landscape of my books is always as important – if not more so – than other facets of the worlds I build. I even teach a workshop called “Worldbuilding: Political Systems in Conflict.” Why politics? Because they are about the conflicts that affect an entire society – and societies beyond them, too. As we’ve all learned from the political turmoil of recent years, politics affects the bedrock of our lives, our very rights as sentient beings. Come on over to learn more. 

First Cup of Coffee – July 2, 2021

Worldbuilding from a Character-Driven Perspective – Workshop

Worldbuilding from a Character-Driven Perspective
Presented by: Jeffe Kennedy

Date: July 25th, 2021 – 11:00am – 5:00pm MT (aka – 1:00pm – 7:00pm EST)

Fee: OIRW Member $25| Non-Member $35

registration

Course Description:

Worldbuilding isn’t just for fantasy authors. Every genre requires that the world of that particular story be groomed and refined to support the story without bogging it down. Knowing how to create a convincingly realistic world and then how to pare away unnecessary explanation is an important acquired skill for any author. And one way to discover this perfect balance is to go at the problem from a character-driven perspective.

In this Master class, rather than starting with worldbuilding, we’ll start with character—and then build a world to maximize the character arc. Whether you write in a speculative fiction genre—like fantasy, science fiction or paranormal—or something else entirely, this class will teach you how to choose setting, magic or tech systems, history of that world and the social dynamics that drive it. You’ll learn how to choose relevant details, how to discard others, and how to drop hints that are sufficient to immerse the reader in the world without drowning them.

Over the course of this day-long online class, we’ll explore worldbuilding from a character-driven perspective, break for writing and brainstorming exercises, then return for discussion. Then we’ll add to your knowledge and repeat that cycle. At the end of the day, you should have a fleshed-out world for your story, and a feel for when and how to provide information to the reader.

First Cup of Coffee – July 1, 2021