Janette Rallison's Blog, page 23
April 7, 2015
My Fairly Dangerous Godmother is now available
Remember how I told you it would be available around the end of Feb/beginning of March? Oh how I amuse myself with my optimism. It always takes longer than I think it will. But now it’s up! Please leave a review when you’re done reading it!
April 1, 2015
Son of War, Daughter of Chaos for .99
The good news is that if Amazon works like it’s supposed to, the ebook of Son of War, Daughter of Chaos will be on sale April 2-4th for .99
The bad news is that I’ve already said that if the book sells 10,000 copies, I’ll write a sequel. Part of me wants to tell you not to buy the book, because I don’t have time to write another one. Not with the third Slayers book unwritten. I’ve been busy with edits on My Fairly Dangerous Godmother and the demon book, so the third Slayers is still hanging around my neck like the proverbial albatross.
But the good news is My Fairly Dangerous Godmother is done as of a few minutes ago. (Okay, I’m pretty sure I’ve inserted some typos as I’ve edited but I can’t force myself to go through it again. I’m going to leave it to you, my intrepid fans, to point them out to me. Think of it as an Easter Egg hunt.) It will be available soon. Stay tuned. I’ll let you know.
March 24, 2015
The dreaded bio
My publisher just asked what I wanted for my bio in the back of The Wrong Side of Magic (Assuming that’s what Feiwell keeps the original title.) I always get a personality crisis whenever anybody asks me that.
Who am I? How am I supposed to put anything meaningful in a few sentences? I always want to write something like:
Janette Rallison rocks. No really, she’s awesome. And she is totally not writing this bio herself. Everybody believes she’s awesome. You should buy all her books.
At other times I want to write something more abstract like: Janette Rallison doesn’t have the patience for chess, wears white after labor day, and has never seen the intrinsic value of most modern art. She always routes for the prey during nature videos. Sometimes trips over air molecules.
I mean, after 23 books, what is there to say?
Sigh.
March 19, 2015
Death, the afterlife, and Just One Wish
Over the years since I wrote Just One Wish, I’ve received many emails about the ending. Some of them ask me what happens to Jeremy, Annika, and Steve. While I was answering this question in an email, I thought I’d put the answer out here on the blogosphere for anyone else who wonders about the ending and why I wrote a less than happy ending. (Actually, when you think about it–at least when you think about it like I do– it’s a very happy ending.)
Here’s the thing about Just One Wish. I wrote the book because I was tired of all the books where a character dies (there are soo many) and no one in the book ever talks or thinks about God or the afterlife. It seems to me that anyone who is faced with death thinks about God and the afterlife. Instead, the character usually says something along the lines of, “S/he lives on inside of us.”
That philosophy has never been comforting to me because my mother died when I was six years old. I only have memories of her being sick from cancer. I don’t want to believe that she lives on inside of me, I believe that when I die I’ll see her again, along with my grandparents. And it will be a happy reunion.
You asked if Jeremy survived.The reason I probably will not write a sequel is that there is no way I could kill him off in a book. (I modeled him physically on one of my sons so I would be sure to write about him with emotion.) If I wrote a sequel, he would be miraculously cured.
However, when I wrote the book and considered curing him, I thought: Yeah, but even if he does live now, he’s going to die one day. The problem of death is still there. I would just put it off for a few decades. We all have to face death one way or another. So the only truly happy ending is one where a character has faith that there is a God and an afterlife where we can be together with our friends and family.
So does Jeremy survive? Let’s say yes–he’ll live for awhile. For how long, I’m not sure. But his death, and mine, and yours will be okay if we’ve lived lives we can be proud of.
Do Annika and Steve stay together? Of course! In my mind all of my characters (even though most of them are in high school) live happily ever after with their guy. (Hey, it happens. I know people who married their high school sweetheart and are still together.) I’m a romantic like that.
March 11, 2015
When I overheard this, it gave me shivers
All of you who didn’t go to the Goodyear book signing, really should have because there were many awesome people there. Celebrities pretend to be awesome people. People who come to signings are the real deal.
So while there, an old friend came in who used to live in my neighborhood. Our sons and daughters were friends. Then she moved, got divorced, got remarried and moved to Avondale. I hadn’t seen her for about 15 years. She knew Adrienne (one of the other authors) more recently and was her friend too. (Small world.)
While I was signing a book, she was talking to Adrienne, and Adrienne told her she really ought to write a book since she’s gone through a lot in her life.
Our friend said she’d thought about it, but it seemed like such a big step to bare her soul and tell the world about all her dark days. However, even with those fears she still felt like maybe she was supposed to write her story to help someone else.
In way of explanation, she told a story. She said that every time she’d gone through a really hard experience, God had always sent someone to help her through it.
“About four years ago,” she said, “I was going through a really hard trial. I kept waiting for someone to step up and tell me that they knew what I was going through. It didn’t happen, and it didn’t happen, and I was really missing having someone around who could understand and offer advice. Finally, I asked God, “Where is my helper this time?”
And he said, “She hasn’t written her book yet.”
As a writer, those words sent chills through me. Is there a book I should be writing that will specifically help someone else? Maybe. I don’t know. It’s something to ponder.
But a lot of you my fellow writers definitely fall into this category. You have stories about being there, doing that, and coming out a better person for it. Don’t make those who need your stories wait for them.
March 3, 2015
Come hang out with some cool authors this Saturday
Janette Rallison (writing as C.J. Hill), Adrienne Quintana, Randy Lindsay, Stephen J. Stirling and Marilee Jackson will be at the Goodyear Barnes and Noble
And we would all love to see you–yes you! Really!
Saturday March 07, 2015 1:00 PM
Palm Valley Pavillions West
1446 N. Litchfield Road, Goodyear, AZ 85395, 623-935-0128
February 25, 2015
The computer gremlins strike again
This isn’t a real post. It’s more like a bitter rant. Or an attempt at an excuse. My home computer crashed making it very hard to do anything online since my laptop is powered by sluggish hamsters. The laptop isn’t bad for writing novels–because there is very little temptation to go online–but it’s not so good for writing blogs.
I was hoping now that conference is done (It was awesome!) I could dive back into My Fairly Dangerous Godmother edits and get those done.
Unfortunately I ran presentations on my laptop during conference and the weirdest thing happened. My manuscript disappeared off of my computer. I have no idea how this happened since I did save it, but–poof! It’s gone. Four days of work vanished. And it’s not even the four days that bother me. I made a lot of changes, and now I’m going to have to go back and try to remember what they were.
Sooo . . .computer gremlins have won this round.
February 17, 2015
Conference–this weekend!
Have you wondered why I haven’t posted recently? Did you fear for my health and well-being? Thankfully, my insanity is only temporary. I’m in the throws of emails, presentations, and a thirty page contract that the hotel messed up. But you don’t have to worry about any of that. You can just come and enjoy learning from authors, editors, agents, and did I mention NY Times best-selling author Brandon Mull?
Here’s more info:
Time Out For Writing
ANWA Annual Writers Conference
Feb 19-21, 2015
Phoenix Area
General Public Invited
Brandon Mull and Regina Sirois are keynotes.
John Rudolph with Dystel & Goderich Literary Agency
Pam Van Hylckama Klieg with D4EO Literary Agency
Lisa Magnum with Shadow Mountain Publishing
McKenna Gardner with Xchyler Publishing
Heather Moore with Precision Edition Group
MORE GREAT FACULTY:
Janette Rallison
Julie Wright
Kelly Oram
Liz Adair
Penny Freeman
Sarah M. Eden
Tanya Parker Mills
Dave Eaton
John Wincek
Joshua Oram
Angela Morrison
Betty Webb
Dr. Christina G. Hibbert, PSY. D.
For more info and to register see:
http://www.anwa-lds.com/events/conference
February 1, 2015
weigh in on the cover . . .and the title, while you’re at it
So I ended up finishing the demon book instead of working on Slayers three. I know, I know, I wanted the third Slayers book too. More than you want it, I promise. But this book sort of wrote itself while the third Slayers was being hard and difficult and not telling me how it should start.
Here’s a brief synopsis of the book:
Adelle is your normal high school senior, who unfortunately sometimes hears demons taunting other people. In the past, she’s tried to help people counteract the demons’ influence, but as soon as anyone found out she heard voices, they thought she was crazy. They did things like spray paint pentagrams on her locker. She’s moved in with her aunt to get a fresh start and finish high school in peace.
The principal at her new school has his own demon entourage, and he doesn’t trust Adelle. When she hears demons talking about a guy’s impending death in a car accident, she knows she has to save his life. She does, and her secret is out.
And okay, I need to think up a better blurb–one that indicates the principal is a villain not to be trifled with. But you get the idea.
Girl+ hot guy+scary bad guy+demons= hopefully a book you’ll like.
If you can think up a snazzy title that also lets people know it’s not your average high school story, please let me know since I’m not married to: The Girl Who Heard Demons.
Su from Earthly Charms came up with these covers for me. I like the idea of a girl in front of the gates because I think it gives the book a darker feel. I don’t want people to think this is a high school comedy. A part of me worries that the cover is too busy and maybe I should go with a singular image.
I like these two model images . . .but I’m not sure what I would do with them. Mist maybe? Maybe the wallpaper could transform from flowers into demons? Suggestions?
Su also did these mock ups for me and I liked the first but I thought it made the story look like she was dealing with inner demons. These demons are quite external. So all you creative people, let me know what you think.
January 21, 2015
Why I shouldn’t write thrillers
Well, actually, I’m not sure I should classify (Still haven’t chosen a title for it, but right now the working title is: The Girl Who Heard Demons) as a thriller.But it is darker than my other books, and in the climax the bad guy ties up the heroine and is taking her to a remote location so he can do away with her. (Plus, you know, demons.)
Last night I was sitting in my room in the darkness writing the climax scene. When I finally finished, it was 2:30 am and I was sleepy. Now, I know that wouldn’t be news for most of you, but I have insomnia so I was actually excited to be sleepy. I decided to go to bed. I walked into the bathroom, keeping the lights off. I figured if I didn’t turn on the light it would help me to stay sleepy.
While I was brushing my teeth, I thought about the climax and the fact that writing the scene is only the first step. I was going to have to reread and edit the scene five or six times. I dreaded the thought because who wants to spend that much time reliving a scene where a ruthless killer has you tied up in the back of his car? (Plus, you know, demons.)
Then the bathroom door ever so slowly opened. Creakingly slow. And the light in the bedroom was still off.
I have teenage children, one of whom stays up quite late at night, and he has been known to walk into my room or bathroom without knocking. But I knew he’d already gone to bed and even he wouldn’t walk quietly through my darkened bedroom and open the bathroom door without announcing himself somehow.
So the thought that ran through my mind was: “Oh crap! That’s not the children! Someone broke into my house and is going to kill me!”
And then my husband walked in.
Don’t ask me why I didn’t remember that I had a husband who did in fact live in the bedroom. I don’t know why that thought didn’t enter my mind. Maybe it’s because he always goes to bed early.
So I did what any rational person would do: I screamed and smacked him for giving me a heart attack. With adrenalin coursing through my veins, I was quite awake, so I took a sleeping pill to help me get to sleep. And then at 4:00 am I took another sleeping pill, because I was still awake.
Yeah, I don’t think thrillers will be my genre.
