Jaye Wells's Blog, page 24

Hump

Happy Hump Day, campers!

I'm in an excellent mood today. Yesterday afternoon I sent Silver-Tongued Devil to my editor. There's nothing quite like finishing a big project. Not only do I get to bask in the accomplishment of "the end" but I also now get to experience the anticipation of starting a new story.

Of course, I have plenty to keep me busy during this in-between time. With Green-Eyed Demon coming out in a month, I've got contests to plan and guest blogs to write. I also need to sit down and figure out a plan of attack for the next six months, so I can get book five written and a new proposal ready to go once it's turned in. So, basically, I'm busy but happy. If January is any indicator of how the rest of the year will go, 2011 will be my best year yet.

For those of you who've been impatiently waiting for Green-Eyed Demon, I have good news. Suzanne McLeod, my critique partner (she's already read Silver-Tongued Devil) and brilliant author, is giving away a copy of Green-Eyed Demon at her blog. Also? I gave her permission to post the first page of the book on her site. Go check it out!

Ideas Are Oxygen

If you're a writer for any length of time, especially once you're published, you will inevitably be ask the dreaded question: "Where do you get your ideas?"

I'll pause now for the authors in the audience to shudder.

It's not that this question in and of itself is a bad one, its just … well, it's the wrong question. The truth is writers–and I'd guess most creative people who produce regularly–usually don't have to look for ideas. Ideas are in our DNA. We don't know how NOT to be inspired.

Perhaps Kevin J. Anderson put it best yesterday on twitter: ""People often ask, 'Where do you get your ideas?' I always wonder, 'How do the rest of you stop them from coming?'"

So why is it the wrong question? Well, it presumes that ideas are enough. They are not. Ideas, as I've mentioned are always there for me, the trick is what to do with them. The most brilliant story seed in the world is worthless without doing the work to help that seed reach its potential as a delicate rose or a toothy Venus flytrap or a towering redwood.

The right question, the one you really want answered, is "How do you do that?" And the answer–not the one you want but the one that's true is–I don't have a clue.

I like to think of myself as a logical, practical person, but I am also a neurotic, superstitious mess sometimes. Especially about the creative process. So when someone asks me to impose logic on something that is inherently illogical, I freeze up and joke. Or I sidestep it entirely and change the subject because, frankly, I don't know how to tell you what I do.

I just do it. I do it because I love to tell stories. I do it because I love to play with words. I do it because it's part of my DNA. I don't know how not to find inspiration every day. I don't know how not be endlessly curious about people. And I don't know how to ignore the voice in my head that says, "This, this is worth exploring. And when you're done playing with it, you have to share it with other people."

Earlier, I was looking for a quote to use in something I was writing and ran across one of my favorite Joseph Campbell quotes:

"Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again."

Stories are my sacred place. Writing them is meditation. Sharing them is worship. And just like any great and sacred mystery, it only really works if you don't look too hard for the man behind the curtain.

When I was a newer writer, I'd sit a trying to analyze it all. I thought real writers understood these things and more than anything I wanted to be a real writer. I'd beg and cajole my subconscious to offer up a perfect idea. But the id is fickle, the collective subconscious is a mysterious beast, and muses don't take kindly to ultimatums.

These days, I find that the less I analyze this whole crazy creative process, the more creative I am. The less I try to tame things and make them nice and neat and easy to grasp, the more wild and exciting the work will be. The more I let my imagination play and the more I have fun with it, the more rich and satisfying my stories become. So, no, I won't try to encapsulate a very complex and layered process of creation into a palatable sound bite.

Creating is part how I'm wired, part everything that I've ever experienced, seen and done, and part mystery that I've given up trying to understand. And that's the best answer I can give you about how and why I write.

What's your oxygen? (Besides, you know, actual oxygen) Where is your sacred place?

They Always End in Tears

Hello, my pretties!

I am excited to tell you that I've just finished revisions on Silver-Tongued Devil. The manuscript is currently winging its way across the world my critique partner and beta reader's email inboxes. I'm going to take a few days to work on other fun things and then I will also give it another gander before turning it in to my brilliant, beautiful editor who will hopefully love it like a fat girl loves cake. Or if she does not, will be gentle in her suggestions and encouraging in her feedback. Or if that's not possible, I hope at least there won't be yelling involved.

Can I admit something? This book makes me nervous. Not because I think it's a bad book. Quite the contrary. I'm nervous because it's different. I obviously can't share much here since this book won't come out until the end of the year, but I really stretched some creative muscles for this bad boy. It's probably also the most emotional book I've ever written. I bawled six or seven times. And I'm not talking pretty tears. I'm talking full-on ugly cries where I bent over the keyboard and sobbed.

Contrary to how that sounds, I actually think it's a good thing to cry when I'm writing (as long as its the prose causing the tears and not frustration because you're afraid you suck and everyone will hate you). It means I'm tapping into some big stuff. But that's how it goes with writing. If it's not a roller coaster of a journey for me, it won't be for the reader either.

So I hope  you all appreciate that I have shed tears in order to bring you entertainment. Like a sad, sad clown.

The other good news is that I have totally earned a break. Not a long one, mind you. I have plenty of nefarious plans that need tending if my bid for world domination will come to fruition in 2011. But enough of a break that I won't feel guilty catching up on my poor, deluged DVR or spending hours lost in a book someone else has written.

Luckily, I have three books waiting anxiously for me to show them some love right now. First is Beth Revis's Across the Universe. I read the first chapter of this YA Science fiction novel months ago and was totally hooked. It came out yesterday, just in time for me to dive in. Second, is Andrew Shaffer's Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love. It's nonfiction and explores the sordid details of brilliant people's dysfunctional love lives. Awesome! And third is a book I've read before but wanted to reread for the New Year–Steven Pressfield's The War of Art.  This book is a must-read for anyone who struggles with procrastination (so everyone, really), especially creatives. Also, check out Pressfield's awesome blog.

What are you reading right now?

New Year New Blog Post

Happy New Year, my little muskrats! It's been such an exciting week that I can't believe we're only 7 days into 2011. Witnes:

-Thousands of dead birds and fish litter the globe

-Snooki becomes and author

-Vanilla Ice gets his own home decorating show

-Mark Twain is rolling in his grave

What will be the fifth seal? I predict it will involve an Oprah sex tape scandal. You will all owe me money when that comes to fruition, so start saving your pennies.

In other news, if you're a reviewer, ARCs of Green-Eyed Demon are available on Netgalley. Thus far the early reviews are extremely positive and that makes me a very happy girl. However, a request: If you're one of the lucky people who gets to read the book before it's release date (which isn't for two more months), please do not post spoilers in your reviews. I know it's hard. Lots of big, exciting things happen in Green-Eyed Demon. But posting spoilers is unfair to other readers, who've wait a long time to read the book.

Here's another thing about GED. There's some confusion about the release date. Publishers set up release dates that are either loose or firm. Firm dates get embargoes and lots of problems if the book hits the shelves early. My books fall into the later category–my release dates are more like suggestions. Thus, despite the fact my "official" release for GED is March 1, a certain megalithic retailer has chosen to  release it on Feb 22.

While this is good news for readers who are eager to get their hands on the book a week earlier, it's also confusing. Because many, many book stores do wait until the release date to put the books out. That means that if you go into you local B&N or Indie store on Feb 22, you may not find the book. I'm not trying to dictate when you buy the book, but don't give any booksellers nasty looks because they wait until the 1st to put the book on the shelves. Unless you're buying it online, your best bet is to wait until the week of the 1st to buy it.

Moving on. This week I'm working on revisions of Silver-Tongued Devil. Thus far I'm pretty pleased with the progress. The book is due Feb 1, and I'm confident it'll be ready for its big audition with the editrix extraordinaire. Whether she'll like it, well, we'll see. It's a bit of a different book in the grand scheme of the series, but I'm loving the challenge of stretching my writing muscles.

Thus far 2011 is shaping up to be a big year. Three projects releasing (GED and STD, plus more on the third later) and two books due. Plus, once I get book five turned in and accepted, I'll be pitching a new series I'm totally psyched about. I've also been working on a secret screenwriting project with a partner (not related to my books at all) on the side for a while now. It's about ready for pitching, so I'm excited to see if that goes anywhere. Actually, putting it all down like that makes me feel like there's a butterfly fight club  in my stomach. But it's better to be busy than bored, I guess.

Anyway, that's what's going on with me. What's new in your world? Any 2011 books you're looking forward to (besides GED, that is)?

Rock It

Imagine me in a fluffy white robe, hair in a pony tail and a cup of coffee glued to my left hand. Scary, huh? This is me in marathon writing mode. I'm racing to finish the draft of Silver-Tongued Devil before Monday so I can have little break for Christmas. The good news is that I'm super close and should finish either today or tomorrow. Yay!

The bad news is I'm neglecting you, my favorite internet friends. But I have a nice little thing to share today. Paul Goat Allen runs the B&N Paranormal and UF Book Club. He's a champion of the genre and a totally cool dude. He's also put together his list of the top paranormal fantasy releases for 2010. And guess who's on it?

Happy dance of joy! I'm also thrilled to see so many of my friends on the list, Kat Richardson, Nicole Peeler, Kelly Meding, Stacia Kane. Congrats to everyone and thanks to Paul for making my Friday rock.

And with that I will descend back into my writing cave. Wish me luck!

Getting Graphic: Mario Acevedo

Happy Tuesday, kids! Today is a day that will live in infamy. No, it's not just the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It's also release day for Mario Acevedo's newest graphic novel. I've invited the man himself to stop by and tell us a little about his newest endeavor. I know you'll give him a warm welcome. Especially since he's offering free swag to one lucky commenter! I'll choose a winner on Friday morning, so be sure to comment by Thursday night.

Also, a quick formatting note: I'm an html dunce, so I had some issues posting pictures in the appropriate places. Regardless, I think you'll enjoy this peak into the world of Killing the Cobra.

Without further ado, here's Mario:

Thanks, Jaye, for this opportunity to pimp my graphic novel, Killing the Cobra: Chinatown Trollop.

A lot of us writers dream about having our stories and characters presented in comic book form, so I consider myself truly lucky that I had this chance. What happened is that the publisher at IDW Publishing had read my books and thought my hero, Iraq War veteran turned detective-vampire Felix Gomez, would make a great comic book character.

It may surprise many of you, but in the traditional book business, we novelists have very little control of the production process and the book covers.

Whole different story with comic books. I got to write the scripts and was the overall creative honcho of the project. I was assigned two amazing artists, Alberto Dose for the panels and Pinturero for the covers.

When you get a novel published, a common question is: "When they make a movie of your book, who would you want to play your lead character?"

Hmmm…who should play Felix? I thought of Gael Garcia Bernal, who played Che Guevara in The Motorcycle Diaries.

Here's how Dose interpreted my Felix. Handsome guy, no, for a bloodsucking killer?

The love interest, Qian Ning? Seeing how the story was set in Hong Kong, it made sense that Qian would be Chinese. I did a Google search on Chinese actresses and discovered Gong Li. I forwarded her photo to IDW and they immediately replied: "We concur."

Here's how Dose depicted Qian Ning.

Now the bad guy. I like to work against type and the usual Hollywood drug lord is a smarmy pretty boy. One of my all time favorite actors was Sydney Greenstreet (Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon)

…so I imagined my villain as Sydney's Chinese cousin, the ruthless Jiang Chow.

Killing the Cobra is a fun over-the-top story, full of hard-boiled action, with plenty of vampire violence, guns, and even electric harpoons!

On sale at your local comic book store, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

Thanks again, Jaye.

Happy fanging!

Mario Acevedo

Also check out Mario's blog with Jeanne Stein at The Biting Edge!

It's Jaye again! Thanks, Mario, just dropping by and for offering my readers some cool swag. Readers, don't forget to comment to win!

Silver-Tongued Devil Cover Tease

Happy Monday! The weekend in Austin was a blast. Mr. Jaye and I spent a lot of time driving around checking out the city. If you've never been, Austin is a really cool town. Full of eclectic funkiness, awesome food and a generally laid back vibe.

I figured if anyone else is having as much trouble getting their heads into work on this Monday as me, you'd appreciate a bit of a diversion. The awesome peeps at Orbit recently held a photo shoot for the cover of Silver-Tongued Devil. Check out  Orbit junior designer Wendy Chan's write up of the shoot here. For those wondering why they're already working on this when the book doesn't come out for a year, the cover has to be ready well in advance of the book's release for all the marketing materials. It's always a little nerve wracking for me to see marketing materials for a book I haven't finished, but Orbit hasn't done me wrong yet so I'm excited to see what they come up with for this cover.

Since this is a short week, I'm hitting the keyboard like a woman obsessed today. A couple of days away led to a bunch of new ideas for this book, so I need to tweak what I have so far to reflect the changes. Sometimes writing a book feels like a game of two steps forward, five steps back. But I've done this enough times so far to understand it's just part of the process. Or at least that's what I tell myself when I look at the calendar and the panic rises.

Happy Friday, campers! I'm scrambling today. Mr. Jaye and...

Happy Friday, campers! I'm scrambling today. Mr. Jaye and I are heading down to Austin for a friend's wedding tonight. That means this morning I'm trying to get my page count done, doing laundry, cleaning house, and doing a million other little housekeeping chores. Still, I'm looking forward to two carefree days and some partying on Sixth Street.

I can't believe it's taken me so long to tell you guys about what I did last weekend. The awesome ladies at Fresh Fiction put together a readers' conference in town. Two hundred or so readers + twenty authors= fun.

I love hanging out with avid readers. Not just because some of them are fans of my books, but also because I get to pick their brains for suggestions on books I need to read. Plus it's always good to get out of the writing cave and hang out with colleagues. There were old friends caught up with and news one made. Good times.

The highlight of the weekend was the costume ball. As I mentioned before, I dressed up as Sabina. I wish I could post pictures, but WordPress hates me and has gone on strike. Anyway, what I really excited about was that someone else came as Sabina. I don't know why this made me so happy. It's one thing for me to dress as Sabina, but to see a reader dressed as her? Whole new level of cool. The reader's name is Allie and she made an adorable magepire assassin. She even had Sabina's birthmark drawn on her back–in Sharpie. That's dedication, my friends.

I also got to meet and hang out with Sherrilyn Kenyon. I know I'm supposed to be all professional and stuff, but I still feel a wee bit fangirlish when I get to meet authors I've been a fan of for years. It helps that Sherrilyn is very down-to-earth and friendly. She's the anti-diva.

I also enjoyed getting to know Lousia Edwards and Ann Aguirre and hanging out with my good friend Candace Havens all weekend. We all stayed up late on Saturday night listening to Ann's terrifying ghosts stories and gossiping. It was like an evil slumber party without the slumber. So fun!

Anyway, I've been asked to return for the event next year and I enthusiastically agreed. If you have a way to travel to Texas next November you should come too. There are tons of free books. lots of great panels and just a really fun, relaxed environment.

Okay, I'm off to make new words. Silver-Tongued Devil is progressing nicely. I have less than 100 pages left to write before the first week of December. That sounds like a lot, but it's not. This book is different in some ways because it's by far the most mystery-driven book of the series thus far. But If I can pull off all the evil shenanigans I have planned for this book, you guys are going to freak out. In a good way. I hope. We'll see.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Progress

Happy Friday! This weekend will be filled with Spawn's fall carnival at school, getting my hairs did, and attending a friend's baby's christening. But i can I just say how much I'm looking forward to Day Light Savings ending? It's tough to get out of bed when it looks like it's still the middle of the night.

On the work front, things are progressing for Silver-Tongued Devil. I hit the 200 page mark this week. Usually my books are anywhere from 325 to 350 pages, but my first drafts are always short. I figure I have about 100 pages left in the draft, then I'll take a short break from it to let it simmer. My goal is to finish the draft by the end of the month. That'll give me two months for revision. Totally doable if I don't let the holidays derail me.

I've also been making notes on a new series idea I hope to pitch in the spring. It's an idea I've been sitting on for a couple of years, but recently my muse has been working over time. I can't share any details yet, but it's an urban fantasy without … brace yourselves … vampires. But I'm super psyched to work on it once I finish off the Sabina series. It's a little scary to think about working on a different series after being with Sabina and the gang for so long, but I can't rest on my creative laurels. Anyway, more on that once I get the proposal written and sold.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Any fun plans for this first weekend of November?

Costume Shenanigans

It's probably no surprise that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Now that I have a kid, the evening revolves around trick-or-treating and creating memories for Spawn. But in my pre-Spawn days, it was an excuse to drink … in costume.

My favorite costume was from the year my college roommate and I were on a major Steel Magnolias kick. We seriously watched that movie all the damned time. We were known to do things like dress each other up like Shelby and make midnight runs to the grocery for ingredients to make CupACupACup. So that year, we decided to take our inspiration from Ousier for our costumes. If you've seen the movie, you'll recall Ousier sharing a story about how she and her friends used to dress up as nuns and go bar hopping.

Being raised Catholic and having had nuns as teachers, the idea of dressing as a nun had a sort of blasphemous appeal. One teacher in particular, my first grade tormentor, Sister Corona, would have seriously disapproved. And for me that was as good a reason as any.

Back then, our normal joint was this place called the Regal Beagle. Yes, like the one in Three's Company. Only skankier. This bar had a resident midget who had a mullet and was obsessed with foosball. One time we were there, he was so drunk he was falling off his stool. A woman told him he was "drunk as a fruit loop." He responded by calling her a "fruit loop sayer." Naturally, this became our name for him.

But I digress.

On Halloween, we donned our habits and veils and headed to The Beagle for shenanigans. My memories of that night are a little fuzzy. I knew our outfits would garner some attention. After all, we were far from angels so the irony alone was cause for lots of jokes. But what I didn't expect was for men to see our costumes as some sort of challenge. Back then I wasn't exactly a stranger to flirtation. But let me tell you, I received some of the most shocking and disturbing propositions that night. One gentleman was so inappropriate I was nearly in tears.

I'd like to say that night cured me of my blasphemous costumery. However, a few short months later, I pulled the nun costume out for a Saints and Sinners party. Only this time, I turned refashioned it into a Biker Nun costume. I applied whorish makeup with a heavy hand, wrote "Born to Ride" on the cross around my neck, cut a long slit up the side, and wore fishnets with my cowboy boots.

Who knew nun habits were so versatile?

Anyway, that's my favorite Halloween costume from years past. This year, I'll probably just put on my old witch hat for trick-or-treating, but in a few weeks, I'm pulling out all the stops for the costume ball at the Readers-N-Ritas conference. Yes, my friends, I'll be dressing as Sabina. I already have the wig, the studded bracelet, the boots, and the fangs. I also plan on carrying a stuffed cat because no Sabina costume will be complete without Giguhl.

What's your favorite costume memory?