Jaye Wells's Blog, page 16

Vampires Through History

So over at the Orbit web site  I put together a handy little chart to help you keep track of some of the most important vampires through history. Check it out here.

Also, don’t forget that RED-HEADED STEPCHILD, the first book in my Sabina Kane series is only $.99 in all ebooks formats for a limited time.

Barnes & Noble is offering a special Nook Spotlight of the series!

Kindle version

Or if you’d like to support an independent bookstore, Murder by the Book in Houston is offering the Google ebook version, as well. Get it here.

Red-Headed Stepchild on Sale!

We still have another month of summer left, which means some of you are looking for books to take to the pool or the beach. Let’s also say that you have heard good things about my series, but havent’ give it a shot yet. Well, my friend, I’ve got a deal for you. My publisher, Orbit, has reduced the price of RED-HEADED STEPCHILD ebooks to just $.99 for a limited time.

Kindle version

Nook Version

Spread the word to your cheap aunt and the members of your book club who are looking for a palate cleanser after 50 Shades of Grey.

Craft Thursday: Restriction and Creativity

Hey, kids. I’m working on revisions of the secret project (I hope to announce it soon!) today, so we’re going to watch a movie instead of me doing  along post berating you for doubting yourself.

A while back I saw a documentary that followed The White Stripes on Tour, called UNDER GREAT WHITE NORTHERN LIGHTS. The entire thing is worth a watch, especially if your’e a fan of the band (which I am). But this segment below stuck with me because it speaks directly to the creative process and applies to almost any art form. Enjoy!

Craft Thursday: Trust the Ghost

Writers are a superstitious lot. A lot of us won’t admit that in public, of course. We want you to believe that we are masters of our destiny and that all of our talent was honed through hard work and inherent understanding of our creative drives. That’s bullshit, mostly.

When people ask us where our ideas come from it makes us feel awkward and uncomfortable. We don’t know. Not really. A lot of it, I think, simply goes back to how our brains are wired. Your brain might be wired for accounting or music or serial killing. Mine is wired to take disparate ideas, shake them up and spit out something newish. It’s also wired to love the dip, dive and swirl of language. That’s why I have some talent for telling stories, instead of, say, painting.

So, yeah, wiring is a big part of it. So is experience. I was raised by avid readers and book sellers. Intensely curious people who loved to sit around and spin yarns around the dinner table. I was exposed to art and myth and symbol and history and the fine art of gallows humor from a young age.

But beyond wiring and experience, there’s another element that many of us don’t like to talk about: The magic.

There are lots of quotes hanging over my computer monitor right now. Two of them pertain to what I’m trying to talk about.

“Trust the ghost.” and  ”Stay available to revelation.” *

The keys words here are “ghost” and “revelation.” They both imply that there are forces beyond our physical beings that inform our creative processes.

Of course, another word for these mystical, seemingly separate forces is “Subconscious.” That shadowy blue space. The cave with the deep pool. The liminal spot between reality and imagination. Whatever you think it is, subconscious isn’t something we control. Yet as creative types we rely on it to give us all our best material.

The tension between needing to control our worlds (remember that God Complex) and the knowledge we don’t control them at all is at the root of a lot of writerly angst. How can I promise to meet a deadline when I’m not sure if my subconscious will be in a giving mood?

Trust the ghost.

Our subconscious acts as a sort of checks and balance for our ego. The more we try to force it to offer up ideas that will make us a bestseller, the more stubborn it becomes. She’ll dig her heels in and, if you’re a real jerk about it, she might close down her little idea factory altogether.

Some of you are rolling your eyes. All this talk of magic and ghosts and mysterious subconscious processes sounds like a lot of bunk to you. That’s fine. Maybe you’ve never experienced the sensation of being totally in the flow and feeling like you’re merely a conduit for words that are being channeled through your fingers. Maybe you’ve never experienced the adrenaline high of an idea exploding behind your eyes. Maybe you have and just don’t buy into mumbo jumbo. You’re a realist, thank you very much.

That’s fine with me. I’m just telling you that it’s not uncommon for writers to exercise this form of magical thinking, as psychologists call it. I don’t think there’s a damned thing wrong with it, as long as it keeps you writing. Because it doesn’t matter where the words originate, as long as they end up on the page.

But you should probably trust the ghost anyway.

For more on this idea, check out this TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert.

 

*”Trust the Ghost” came form a book I read, but I don’t recall which one. If you know the origin please share it in comments. As for the “Stay available to revelation,” I first heard it in an interview with David Milch, creator of Deadwood.

Violet Tendencies in the UK!

For months I’ve been getting emails from fans in the UK who wanted to know when they’d be able to get on “Violet Tendencies.” For those who don’t know, it’s a short story that occurs between THE MAGE IN BLACK and GREEN-EYED DEMON. It’s basically the story of what happened to Valva the Vanity demon. Anyway, I’m pleased to announce that the ebook is finally available for UK readers.

Here’s the description:

Former assassin Sabina Kane heads to Los Angeles to find her kidnapped sister. Helping her on the mission are her hot mage partner, her Mischief demon minion, and a Vanity demon named Valva. The problem? She’s got to figure out how to find her sister without letting her enemies know she’s back in town. But when Sabina seeks out an old ally – a vampire strip club owner named Fang – for help, Sabina learns the hard way that Vanity demons don’t know the meaning of the phrase “low profile.”

Word count: ~7,500

Here’s a link to the Amazon UK Kindle version.

Enjoy!

Craft Thursday: Get Gritty

A lot of people think that talent and potential are the two most important traits a writer can possess. While I agree they’re important, I think a third trait is often overlooked by all the craft books and creative blogging outlet: Grit.

Have you ever seen Amadeus? Yeah, the one with Tom Hulce playing Mozart and the scandalous scene about Venus nipples. That one. Remember how it made such a big deal about how Mozart was seemingly born with the ability to play music like an angel? Do you also remember how the king told him that one of his opera’s had too many notes? And how he struggled with his demons and had money problems? And how his work drove him insane?

If a virtuoso like Mozart had to deal with some problems, what do you think are the chances you’ll have to face some, too? Try 100 %.

Will your problems be worse than having a nemesis who hires you to write a requiem, which ends up killing you and then is played hauntingly over scenes of your death? I hope not. But I’m pretty sure you’ll deal with a lot of shit Mozart didn’t. Like people telling you your writing sucks and it’s the truth because you’re new and it’s supposed to suck. Or later, when you’re better, they still tell you they just didn’t fall in love. And then you’ll want to scream, “I didn’t ask you to love it, I just wanted you to give it a little slap and tickle in its naughty bits.”

Some day you’re going to wonder why you’re doing this to yourself. You’re going to question whether all those hours spent locked up in that guest room while your family goes on with their lives is worth it. You’re going to wonder how long it will be before your spouse loses patience altogether and not really be sure what you’ll choose when the ultimatum comes.

One night at 3am, you’re going to reread the pages your just wrote and your stomach is going to plummet. You turn a wrong turn back in Act One and this is the middle of Act Three and it’s ALL WRONG! You’ll bang your head against a desk. You’ll cry to the heavens and shake your fists at the unfairness. Then you’ll pull out the arts and crafts basket and start fashion yourself a satin sash declaring you the “Monarch of Sucktown.”

My exaggerated point here is that each of these moments–any many, many more–are tests for a writer. If you lose your nerve and take the exit ramp, you will have an easier life. Yeah, I just said that. Your life will be easier if you stop writing. You won’t have to deal with that doubtful voice in the back of your head anymore. You won’t have to see the pitying looks of people who already believe you’ll never amount to anything. And you certainly will have alot more money once you can cut down on the alcohol and cigarettes you swear you need to get into the zone. Your spouse and kids will stop tip-toeing around. They’ll enjoy your company for a while and tell you they’re proud you tried.

It might take a month or six. Maybe a couple of years. But eventually, that whispering voice? The one who spoke in soft tones while Doubt shouted? That’s Story, and she’ll start murmuring again eventually. Then you’ll have another choice to make.

But let’s go back to that night with the sash. What if instead of tempting yourself to quit, you gnashed your teeth, girding everything you could possibly gird and pressed on. Do you think when you’re on your deathbed, you would ever say, “I should have stopped writing that night. Creating destroyed me.”

I mean, I know it kind of destroyed Mozart if the movie is to be believed, and I suppose it’s possible for you, too. But …

Pop quiz:

In your life, have you seen more people who are  sad and bitter because they pursued their dreams despite the odds? Or more people who are sad and bitter because they settled for a easy life?

Look, all I’m saying is that to live the life you want, it’s not easy. If it was everyone would be happy and fulfilled. Everyone who said they wanted to write a novel would and they’d be brilliant works of heart-touching prose and we’d all be millionaires and have lots of satisfying sex and never gain a pound from wine or chocolate.

Wake up, buttercup. Life doesn’t owe you your dreams.

You want to be a published author? You’ve got to chew sandpaper for breakfast. You’ve got to look at the odds and that stack of rejections and toss your head back and laugh a hearty laugh. You got a be a mutha-fucken bull and see criticism as a taunting red flag. You’re a minotaur and the query process is your labyrinth. You, my friend, will not be bowed. You’re a god damned writer and you’re going to find a way to tell your stories if it means scratching words into the dirt with your battered and bloody fingertips.

Or you could, you know, go watch TV and take up a hobby that’s safer for your ego.

I read something once that suggested if you’re having confidence problems, you should imagine yourself wearing a cape, like a super hero. That’s nice and all, but that ain’t gritty, friends. Remember that old meme about the Technoviking? Watch this shit and tell me that man would ever let a rejection stop him.

Now, that’s grit.

Do you think he was born knowing how to dance like that? Or how to intimidate an entire generation of internet users with just a look and a pointed finger?

Okay, maybe. Frankly, I’m not even convince he was born, so much as arrived fully formed from the planet Skaarsgaard to spread a message of peace, dance and ketamine. But i digress…

I’m not saying you have to dance shirtless through the streets of Berlin to prove your mettle. Just keep a writing. KEEP WRITING. No words written are ever a waste of your time. Even if you never get published, you will be a stronger, more interesting person for the experience. Trust me on this.

Or next time you think about giving up, I’ll send Technoviking over to stand above you and point at the screen until you fill it with words.

Craft Thursday: Synesthesia

Today I thought I’d tackle one of my favorite little tricks for writing vibrant prose. Synesthesia is a neurological trait where a person processes sensory stimulus through a non-traditional sense. For example, they might taste sound or see numbers in color or hear colors as music. Cool, huh?

Here’s a basic overview of what it is.

Believe it or not, you probably already use lots of synesthesia in your everyday life. Yes, friends, I’m talking about our friend the metaphor. We use them all the time without even realizing we’re doing it. But what I am going to propose to you today is consciously using synesthetic metaphors to enhance your writing.

Compare these two sentences.

“He was afraid.”

or

“Fear choked him with its metallic fist.”

Okay, I cheated a little. The first sentence it not only passive, but it also is a classic example of “telling.” The second sentence suffers from neither of those issues. But it also packed a one, two punch of synesthesia (there’s also some personification in there for good measure). Does fear have a flavor (metal)? Does it have a tangible form (the fist)? Or a touch (choking)? Of course not. Yet the sentence works because it’s got the figurative ring of truth.

I use synesthesia all the time to keep my metaphors fresh. Because cliched metaphors are both lazy and so overused that they lack impact. It’s especially important to be fresh with your figurative language if you’re trying to highlight a scene or beat of high tension. Otherwise, if you rely on cliche, the reader will just skim the line and move on.

But you can used synesthesia for more than just moments of tension. If you want to highlight an object or a setting, employing the technique will help plant the image in the readers’ minds. So when my character walks into a magical laboratory, she doesn’t just smell “the astringent scent of rosemary” she also detects “the calming, purple fragrance of lavender.”

Purple is a descriptor normally used for describing how something looks, but I’m using it here to describe a scent. Get it?

Some other examples:

“His sandalwood scent made me think of swelling romantic music and silky sheets.” (Scent associated with sound and touch)

“Her screams tore at the air and left bloody, red wounds.”  (Sound described with color and touch)

Now, before you run off to add synesthesia to your work in progress, a warning: Do not go through and use synesthesia in every metaphor and description in your book. Like most figurative language techniques, it’s more effective when employed with discretion. If you use it for everything, you’ll lose impact in sentences where you really need that extra oomph.

Have you used synesthesia in your writing?

 

Part-Time Deity

This week, my family adopted two Australian shepherd mix puppies. Yes, two. What? I like a challenge.

For the last few days, I have spent a lot of time chasing wagging tails, saying “no” and cleaning up puddles of pee. Who said the life of an author wasn’t glamorous?

Anyway, today the part-time nanny I’ve hired for the summer came over. I was standing in my kitchen giving her a laundry list of instructions for watching the dogs. If they get too rambunctious take them outside or put them in their crates with a bone. Always keep an eye on them lest one of the pups uses my carpet for a toilet. Give them treats but not too many. If they growl— You get the idea.

She stood there nodding, looking a little dazed.  I stopped and saw myself through her eyes. I saw an anxious woman who clearly was experiencing guilt and worry about surrendering control of the household for a few measly hours. That’s when it hit me: I’m a control freak.

I won’t lie. Over the last few days I have been reduced to tears a couple of times. Part of it was exhaustion–getting up at 6am to walk the dogs and then going 60 mph all day until I pass out at 10 is challenging for anyone. But I realized that a lot of this stress is self-induced. Yes, puppies are hard work. No doubt about it. But our dogs are actually very well behaved. They’re picking up basic obedience commands like champs and even thought heir play is rambunctious, they’re wearing each other out.

Anyway, I finally left, trusting that the woman I’m trusting to take care of my kid while I’m gone can probably also handle making sure the dogs don’t destroy my home. When I returned from a four-hour writing session, I asked her how everything went. “The dogs were really calm,” she said. Of course they were, they didn’t have me hovering over them all day. They didn’t have a control freak trying to micromanage their play time.

My name is Jaye Wells and I have control issues.

But what does all this have to do with the craft of writing? Well, everything, actually.

Here’s a little secret about writers: We have god complexes. We create worlds and populate them with characters.  Then we throw lightning bolts (or zombies or murders or existential crises or aliens) at them.

When we’re not playing god, we’re forced to go out into a world we didn’t create. One we don’t control. No where is this more true than in the publishing industry. Writers don’t control how much money publishing houses spend on promo. We don’t control how many copies of our books retailers carry or who reviews our books or how. We don’t control when our books are released, where they’re released (for the most part) or whether an ice storm knocks out the distribution chain. We dont’ control whether vampires are hot, if Snooki shares a release date with us, or whether our dream agent or editor is open to submissions

It’s maddening.

Which is why you, my little grasshopper, must learn to surrender the need for control. Yeah, yeah, I know it’s not easy. Trust me when I say I’m preaching to myself as much as to you. So if you need to control something, make it be something you actually can control.

Yeah, I’m talking about those marvelous worlds, those fascinating characters, the exciting plots. Those are all yours. And since you’re going to be all Zen now in the rest of your life *insert sarcasm font* you should have plenty of energy to redirect to your work in progress. Embrace your job as a part-time deity, but when you walk out of your writing cave, take a deep, calming breath and try to relax, for chrissakes. Your books will be better for it and your loved ones will probably stop avoiding you.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go watch my dogs recreate Thunderdome in my living room.

 

Where in the World is Jaye Wells

I’m home! I’m back home!

Oh, my friends, it’s been too long. I’m sorry I’ve neglected you, but things have been insane up in here. Between the travel and the book promo for BLUE-BLOODED VAMP I’ve been too scattered to sit down and write a blog post. Until now …

I considered doing a big wrap up of all the trips and stuff, but it would be a freaking book of its own. I have seen and done many amazing things since we last met. So I decided to share some metrics, some links and some general comments. Here goes:

METRICS OF AWESOME

7– Number of days spent in France

3–Number of books I have out in France.

20–Number of times I stopped in my tracks and thought, “Holy shit, I’m in France because I wrote some crazy books and people like them.”

2 gallons–Amount of wine it feels like I consumed in a week.

2 seconds–Amount of time it would take to convince me to move to France.

95 — Number of people who attended my book signing with Kevin Hearne at A Real Bookstore

11ty–Awesome points I earned by drinking beer out of a horn in front of an audience.

1–Number of rounds we bought for said attendees. Also, the number of pregnant bellies Kevin signed with a Sharpie.

9–Number of days spent in Costa Rica

2–Number of sloths I’ve seen in the last week. Also, snakes.

8– Number of injuries experience by our group on Costa Rica, including a chipped tooth, a black eye, a shin kicked by a horse. We’re totally hard core, people.

4–Number of adventurous activities we engaged in, including: Kayaking through a mangrove, horseback riding to a waterfall, surf lessons and zip lining.

I have pictures of my time in France up on my Flickr page, here. Soon I hope to have some embarrassing shots of me communing with nature in Costa Rica up, too.

Okay, so that’s a small snapshot of all the cool stuff lately. Some of you might also remember that I recently had a book come out. BLUE-BLOODED VAMP is getting lots of cool praise from fans of the series, and I’m delighted that so many of you feel satisfied by the conclusion.

“Wells concludes her terrific UF series in spectacular fashion, ensuring fans will be completely satisfied.” 4 1/2 stars, Top Pick! –Romantic Times Book Reviews magazine

“This series will go down as one of the best paranormal fantasy sagas of all time and Sabina Kane will be remembered as one of paranormal fantasy’s most iconic heroines.” — Paul Goat Allen at the BN.com Explorations blog

Next week I intend to return to my regular Craft Thursday posts. In the meantime, I’m going full steam ahead on the secret project. I really hope I can tell you guys about this soon, but until then, know that I am working on something new and super awesome for you.

Now. Tell me what’s new with you.

Craft Thursday: KIT-Keep It Together

I love the movie BOWFINGER. It came out in 1999 and stars Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy and a host of other really hilarious people. The plot is that Martin is a down-and-out movie director. He’s desperate. So he concocts a plan to put one of the world’s biggest action stars, KIt Ramsey (played by Eddie Murphy)into his movie–without said action star’s knowledge. So he embarks on a plan to do some guerilla filmaking for his masterpiece, a movie he calls, “Chubby Rain.”

In a bizarre twist, Bowfinger finds Kit’s brother, Jiff (also played by Eddie Murphy), and recruits him to join the cast. Jiff’s life goal is to be an errand boy, a dream that Bowfinger exploits with glee. Here’s one of the best scenes from the movie. It also perfectly illustrates what it sometimes feels like to share your writing with the world.



I love this movie with a passion that requires me to unfriend anyone who does not love it also. It’s smart, hilarious and has some really interesting messages about the desire to create and how the machine warps people.

It also contains one of my life mottos: “K-I-T–Keep It Together.”

Kit Ramsey repeats this mantra in increasingly neurotic intensity as the movie progresses. See, he keeps seeing weird things, like aliens and dogs in high heels and strange women with knives following him around. “Keep It Together” is his reminder not to lose it when life gets weird.

I’ve been repeating this mantra myself a lot lately. Lots of awesome stuff is happening. Some I’ve talked about here, some I can’t talk about yet, some I won’t. But mostly life is pretty awesome. And it’s terrifying. There’s a lot of fear that arrives when your dreams start coming true. We dont’ talk about it a lot because we don’t want to appear ungrateful, but it exists nonetheless. At its root is the realization that even though we want to control things, we don’t. Success is fleeting and fickle. Scary.

Earlier today I tweeted the following:

Writers are control freaks in an industry where almost nothing is in our control. This is why we drink.

We don’t control anything but the words we put on the page, and even that sometimes feels out of our control. Sometimes we respond to this by soothing our ragged egos with drink or nicotine or worse. And sometimes we respond by trying to hold on tighter–to force control. This is where we really get into trouble. This is why we see so many “authors behaving badly” posts online. This is why we hear stories about authors freaking out or acting the fool. We convince ourselves we can control everything if we try hard enough or are clever enough or shout loud enough.

When these moments come–and they will come–you must always remember to K-I-T. Keep It Together for a writer means never venting your spleen online. It means never acknowledging trolls or validating reviewers whose goal is to gain site hits by being controversial. It means having friends and family you can go to when you’re frustrated and feeling extra sabotage-y.

Keep it Together means gaining perspective, or if you can not get perspective, to stay the hell away from the internet, including and especially email. It means accepting that you are neurotic and imaginative and maybe some of your fears are self-created and perpetuated. It means finding coping mechanisms that help you maintain your equilibrium–meditation, long walks, kick boxing, clown punching, whatever.

Keep it together, friends.