Lisa Jensen's Blog, page 10
May 19, 2014
My Writing Process
How do authors do that thing we do?
Nobody really knows. The alchemy of creating a book remains one of life's infinite mysteries, and every author's experience is different. But a bunch of intrepid writers have gotten together to launch the My Writing Process Blog Tour, to share what we think we know about this most mysterious endeavor.
http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/2014/...
This week, I was tagged by Persia Woolley to participate in the tour and answer these questions: What am I working on? How does my work differ from others of its genre? Why do I write what I do? How does my writing process work?
If you're a writer, an aspiring writer, or a passionate reader, please feel free to drop by my blog and compare notes!
Nobody really knows. The alchemy of creating a book remains one of life's infinite mysteries, and every author's experience is different. But a bunch of intrepid writers have gotten together to launch the My Writing Process Blog Tour, to share what we think we know about this most mysterious endeavor.
http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/2014/...
This week, I was tagged by Persia Woolley to participate in the tour and answer these questions: What am I working on? How does my work differ from others of its genre? Why do I write what I do? How does my writing process work?
If you're a writer, an aspiring writer, or a passionate reader, please feel free to drop by my blog and compare notes!
April 28, 2014
4 Stars
Big thanks to intrepid Goodreads reader Nicole, who gave Alias Hook a 4-star rating. In the Comment posted under the rating she writes:
"I enjoyed this book a lot. I love the idea of Hook as the good guy! This book had that as well along with a love story! I thought it set a good pace and late at night I did not want to put it down!"
"I enjoyed this book a lot. I love the idea of Hook as the good guy! This book had that as well along with a love story! I thought it set a good pace and late at night I did not want to put it down!"
April 15, 2014
New Review!
Very pleased today that Alias Hook received a great review from Leigh Wright in Library Journal.
In part, Wright says: "Scintillating description and deep characterization make Jensen's Neverland a psychologically intriguing place to visit. Jensen offers a humanized take on Captain Hook that will be sure to entertain fans of the fairy tale-retelling genre."
In part, Wright says: "Scintillating description and deep characterization make Jensen's Neverland a psychologically intriguing place to visit. Jensen offers a humanized take on Captain Hook that will be sure to entertain fans of the fairy tale-retelling genre."
March 24, 2014
Woo-Hoo!
Color me stoked to get this great review of Alias Hook in Publisher's Weekly this morning!
"Jensen’s second novel, a twist on the Peter Pan story which reconceives of Captain Hook as a tragic hero, shows how she’s matured as a writer since her excellent debut, A Witch from the Sea.
During the Restoration, James Benjamin Hookbridge becomes a privateer captain trapped in Neverland, where Peter Pan and his Lost Boys torment Hook and his crew over the centuries, cutting them down in battle again and again. Hook, however, can never die, while his crew is regularly replenished with former, now-grown Lost Boys, prompted to return to Neverland by their dreams.
There is also a succession of Wendys, but one of Peter’s rules is that no grown women are allowed back. Yet Stella Parrish materializes in Neverland after coming from 1950s England, believing she was “called.” Peter is determined to use her to destroy Hook once and for all, while Hook sees Stella’s unique ability to understand the language spoken by Neverland’s magical inhabitants, including mermaids and fairies, as his chance to escape the island for good.
Jensen’s wonderful imagination and devotion to history and myth allow the reader to fly with her through this outstanding adventure—no fairy dust required."
"Jensen’s second novel, a twist on the Peter Pan story which reconceives of Captain Hook as a tragic hero, shows how she’s matured as a writer since her excellent debut, A Witch from the Sea.
During the Restoration, James Benjamin Hookbridge becomes a privateer captain trapped in Neverland, where Peter Pan and his Lost Boys torment Hook and his crew over the centuries, cutting them down in battle again and again. Hook, however, can never die, while his crew is regularly replenished with former, now-grown Lost Boys, prompted to return to Neverland by their dreams.
There is also a succession of Wendys, but one of Peter’s rules is that no grown women are allowed back. Yet Stella Parrish materializes in Neverland after coming from 1950s England, believing she was “called.” Peter is determined to use her to destroy Hook once and for all, while Hook sees Stella’s unique ability to understand the language spoken by Neverland’s magical inhabitants, including mermaids and fairies, as his chance to escape the island for good.
Jensen’s wonderful imagination and devotion to history and myth allow the reader to fly with her through this outstanding adventure—no fairy dust required."
March 11, 2014
Coasting On Fumes
Whoever coined the phrase "hurry up and wait" must have been thinking of the publishing industry. If instant gratification is your goal, better get yourself another gig.
The lead time between making your initial First Contact—assuming you're fortunate enough to snag the interest of an agent or editor after weeks (or months, or years) of seemingly fruitless queries—and the time that something actually begins to happen on the agenting or editing front can be eternal.
First comes the high of an Industry Professional liking your book, which is pretty much unparalleled in the annals of human delight. Soak it in while you can! Because over the next several months, you'll be coasting on fumes.
In 2007, I started querying agents with an early draft of "Alias Hook." (Well, I thought it was a final draft at the time.) Three agents were interested enough to read it, two of whom worked with me extensively on subsequent revisions, but by the end of 2011, I still had no agent, or prospects.
In January of 2012, while sending out a batch of new, freshly rewritten agent queries, I sent the AH ms in toto to Snowbooks in the UK, an indie publisher famed not only for genre niche-marketing (fantasy, horror, steampunk), but for not requiring authors to submit to them through an agent. And then I went back to my life, figuring that, like all the agents I'd been querying lately, I would simply never hear back from them again.
Which I didn't for seven month—until the end of July, when I received the email authors dream of: Snowbooks was "in love with" "Alias Hook" and wanted to publish it!
Read the rest of the story here:
http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/2014/...
The lead time between making your initial First Contact—assuming you're fortunate enough to snag the interest of an agent or editor after weeks (or months, or years) of seemingly fruitless queries—and the time that something actually begins to happen on the agenting or editing front can be eternal.
First comes the high of an Industry Professional liking your book, which is pretty much unparalleled in the annals of human delight. Soak it in while you can! Because over the next several months, you'll be coasting on fumes.
In 2007, I started querying agents with an early draft of "Alias Hook." (Well, I thought it was a final draft at the time.) Three agents were interested enough to read it, two of whom worked with me extensively on subsequent revisions, but by the end of 2011, I still had no agent, or prospects.
In January of 2012, while sending out a batch of new, freshly rewritten agent queries, I sent the AH ms in toto to Snowbooks in the UK, an indie publisher famed not only for genre niche-marketing (fantasy, horror, steampunk), but for not requiring authors to submit to them through an agent. And then I went back to my life, figuring that, like all the agents I'd been querying lately, I would simply never hear back from them again.
Which I didn't for seven month—until the end of July, when I received the email authors dream of: Snowbooks was "in love with" "Alias Hook" and wanted to publish it!
Read the rest of the story here:
http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/2014/...
December 27, 2013
Inside Stories
Where do creative artists get their ideas? My husband, Art Boy, always used to answer, "The Idea Channel," until he realized people were rushing home to check their cable listings.
In real life, creative inspiration springs from the strangest and often least expected sources, as varied as the artists, writers, musicians and dancers who seize a phantom idea and run with it.
This occurred to me while reading through a new ebook anthology called "Story Behind the Book: Volume 1 (Essays on Writing Speculative Fiction)" Imagine my delight when I found out an essay I wrote earlier this year on the writing of "Alias Hook" is included!
The book is presented under the auspices of the fine sci-fi/fantasy book website Upcoming 4.me. Site editor Kristijan Meic edited the anthology with Ivana Steiner. It's an outgrowth of the website's regular feature, "The Story Behind..." wherein sf/f authors reveal the deep, dark secrets of their writing processes.
I’m very pleased to be included in these virtual pages with such distinguished fellow essayists as Jo Walton, Ian Whates, L. E. Modesitt, and Susan Palwick (among many others). Some 40 contributors discuss their inspiration for writing in a variety of speculative genres—epic fantasy, horror, alternative history, sword and sorcery, ghost stories, dystopian future sci-fi, absurdist zombie fiction, and what one author describes as "Hornblower in space." The book is up on Amazon and Amazon.uk as we speak! All proceeds will be donated to the Epilepsy Action charity in the UK.
If you want to know where writers really get their ideas, check it out!
In real life, creative inspiration springs from the strangest and often least expected sources, as varied as the artists, writers, musicians and dancers who seize a phantom idea and run with it.
This occurred to me while reading through a new ebook anthology called "Story Behind the Book: Volume 1 (Essays on Writing Speculative Fiction)" Imagine my delight when I found out an essay I wrote earlier this year on the writing of "Alias Hook" is included!
The book is presented under the auspices of the fine sci-fi/fantasy book website Upcoming 4.me. Site editor Kristijan Meic edited the anthology with Ivana Steiner. It's an outgrowth of the website's regular feature, "The Story Behind..." wherein sf/f authors reveal the deep, dark secrets of their writing processes.
I’m very pleased to be included in these virtual pages with such distinguished fellow essayists as Jo Walton, Ian Whates, L. E. Modesitt, and Susan Palwick (among many others). Some 40 contributors discuss their inspiration for writing in a variety of speculative genres—epic fantasy, horror, alternative history, sword and sorcery, ghost stories, dystopian future sci-fi, absurdist zombie fiction, and what one author describes as "Hornblower in space." The book is up on Amazon and Amazon.uk as we speak! All proceeds will be donated to the Epilepsy Action charity in the UK.
If you want to know where writers really get their ideas, check it out!
June 24, 2013
Bright Ideas
An essay I was invited to write about my new fantasy novel, "Alias Hook," has just been posted at the excellent sci-fi/fantasy book preview site, Upcoming 4.me.
http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/st...
It's a regular feature on the site called "The Story Behind..." where authors are invited to write about whatever on earth it was that prompted them to abandon all rational thinking and plunge into writing a novel.
In my case, it was simple: Captain James Hook started talking to me. No, seriously! There's no other way to describe it.
So if you've ever wondered where authors get their ideas, here's my story!
http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/st...
It's a regular feature on the site called "The Story Behind..." where authors are invited to write about whatever on earth it was that prompted them to abandon all rational thinking and plunge into writing a novel.
In my case, it was simple: Captain James Hook started talking to me. No, seriously! There's no other way to describe it.
So if you've ever wondered where authors get their ideas, here's my story!
May 22, 2013
4 Stars
"Alias Hook" just got a 4-star review on Goodreads. I am stoked!
Pub date was May 1 in the UK, where it can be found at all the usual locations (Amazon.UK, Bertrams, Waterstones, etc.)
It can also be ordered Stateside from The Book Depository (http://www.bookdepository.com/Alias-H...) for $US with free(!) shipping worldwide. Such a deal!
Pub date was May 1 in the UK, where it can be found at all the usual locations (Amazon.UK, Bertrams, Waterstones, etc.)
It can also be ordered Stateside from The Book Depository (http://www.bookdepository.com/Alias-H...) for $US with free(!) shipping worldwide. Such a deal!
April 8, 2013
ALIAS HOOK ALERT!
Hey, kids, the countdown has begun to the publication of my new novel, "Alias Hook," in the UK! On May 1st, my novel will be available from the intrepid small press, Snowbooks, at bookstores across the UK and online.
(Over at the Book Depository http://www.bookdepository.com/ALIAS-H..., you can pre-order it for $US, with free shipping worldwide.)
"Alias Hook" presents an alternative view of Peter Pan and the Neverland from the caustic perspective of Captain James Hook, it's prisoner. When a grown woman from a very different era dreams herself to the Neverland in defiance of the boy's rules, the stage is set for a time-traveling love story about male and female, love and war, and the delicate art of growing up.
Laurie King calls "Alias Hook" a "rich and darkly humorous tale of a man trapped in a child's nightmare. Jensen ably explores the power of storytelling, the cruelty of imagination, and the redemptive possibilities of love. A delicious and thought-provoking read."
Catch up with the story s far at: http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/2013/...
(Over at the Book Depository http://www.bookdepository.com/ALIAS-H..., you can pre-order it for $US, with free shipping worldwide.)
"Alias Hook" presents an alternative view of Peter Pan and the Neverland from the caustic perspective of Captain James Hook, it's prisoner. When a grown woman from a very different era dreams herself to the Neverland in defiance of the boy's rules, the stage is set for a time-traveling love story about male and female, love and war, and the delicate art of growing up.
Laurie King calls "Alias Hook" a "rich and darkly humorous tale of a man trapped in a child's nightmare. Jensen ably explores the power of storytelling, the cruelty of imagination, and the redemptive possibilities of love. A delicious and thought-provoking read."
Catch up with the story s far at: http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/2013/...
January 20, 2013
My Next Big Thing
A couple of months ago, it was my very great pleasure to get tagged in the ongoing Blog Chain called The Next Big Thing. It's an opportunity for writers to introduce the public to their new work, so of course I wrote about "Alias Hook!"
Here are some sample Q&As:
Where did the idea come from for this book?
We don't like to say it in mixed company, but most writers hear voices in their heads. I was writing a review of a live-action Peter Pan movie in January, 2004; of the actor playing Captain Hook, I wrote that he captured "the tragedy of a grown-up Hook trapped forever in Peter's eternal childhood." Instantly, a caustic voice popped into my head observing the Neverland from Hook's point of view. I hit 'Save,' clicked open a new doc and hastily typed in what is now the opening paragraph of the book. I was off and running!
What genre does your book fall under?
I call it historical fantasy. Yes, it takes place in the Neverland (that's the fantasy part), but in the flashbacks, I've tried to give James Hook a solid historical grounding as an early 18th Century English privateer/pirate.
Read the rest at http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/2012/...
Here are some sample Q&As:
Where did the idea come from for this book?
We don't like to say it in mixed company, but most writers hear voices in their heads. I was writing a review of a live-action Peter Pan movie in January, 2004; of the actor playing Captain Hook, I wrote that he captured "the tragedy of a grown-up Hook trapped forever in Peter's eternal childhood." Instantly, a caustic voice popped into my head observing the Neverland from Hook's point of view. I hit 'Save,' clicked open a new doc and hastily typed in what is now the opening paragraph of the book. I was off and running!
What genre does your book fall under?
I call it historical fantasy. Yes, it takes place in the Neverland (that's the fantasy part), but in the flashbacks, I've tried to give James Hook a solid historical grounding as an early 18th Century English privateer/pirate.
Read the rest at http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/2012/...
