Robin Jeffrey's Blog, page 18

Werewolf Wednesday

Big Wolf on Campus

Happy Werewolf Wednesday, everyone! This week I’m going to talk about a show that I’m not sure anyone remembers but me – Big Wolf on Campus.

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about (which I’m assuming is most of you), Big Wolf on Campus was a supernatural “monster of the week” style show that ran on Fox Family from 1999 to 2002. Presented in delightfully easy to digest thirty-minute chunks, the audience was invited to follow the quirky, often funny and always action-packed adventures of Thomas “Tommy” P. Dawkins, who was bitten by a werewolf during a camping trip in the woods a week before his senior year of high school. Thus transformed into a powerful Alpha lycanthrope, he fights against vampires, werecats, ghosts, zombies, and other supernatural entities to keep his hometown of Pleasantville safe with help from school goth Merton. All this he does while trying to avoid capture by the locals and thwarting the plans of the nefarious Werewolf Syndicate.

If that sounds like an absolute blast, let me tell you something: IT WAS. I watched the show religiously when I was a kid and there is little doubt that it sparked a love for the supernatural in general and werewolves in particular that has clearly never gone away.

I hadn’t thought about this show in years, though, until I was asked to consider where some of the inspiration for my own werewolf creation came from. Hungry is the Night (hitting shelves August 22 of this year) couldn’t be more different than this kid-friendly supernatural romp — and yet, I can’t deny that it’s fingerprints can be seen if you look closely. I love the idea of monsters as heroes, of protagonists shouldering the burden of being ‘othered’ by society, and I love a good quip! Thanks, Big Wolf on Campus for infecting me with a love for the quirky and offbeat early in life!

Is there a show or movie or even book from your past that you maybe haven’t thought about in a while that has made you who you are today? Is there a TV show from the nineties or early 2000s that you think slipped under most people’s radars? Let’s chat about it in the comments!

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Countdown to Free Comic Book Day at Midgard Comics, Games & More!

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FCBD at Midgard CGM!

This Saturday, May 6th, starting at 10am, I will be celebrating Free Comic Book Day with the wonderful folks at Midgard Comics, Games & More at their FCBD Event! I am really looking forward to seeing some new folks, selling some awesome scifi books, and sharing all the new things I’ve got coming this summer. Stop on by, won’t you?

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Countdown to Pop-Up Submissions!

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Litopia’s Pop-Up Submissions!

This Sunday, April 30th, starting at 9am PST, I will be joining literary agent Peter Cox on his fabulous program, Pop-Up Submissions! I am really looking forward to returning to the show and reading some more wonderful work from authors around the world and hope to see some of you on the stream. Stop on by, won’t you?

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Countdown to B&N Alderwood!

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Alderwood Barnes & Noble Signing!

This Saturday, April 29th, starting at 1pm I will be front and center at the Alderwood Barnes & Noble, signing and selling my wonderful Cadence Turing Mysteries series! I am really looking forward to getting back into the store that was my homebase growing up and meeting some new readers — hopefully reconnecting with some current ones as well! Stop on by, won’t you?

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Behind the Scenes Sunday

“A Room of One’s Own” – Making Space for Your Writing

Let’s take a peek at the cogs inside the machine and talk about why I write and how I write on Behind the Scenes Sunday! Today I’d like to talk a little bit about the idea of having “a room of one’s own” — a dedicated space to write that is yours and yours alone.

A Room of One’s Own is an extended essay by groundbreaking writer Virginia Woolf, first published in September 1929. In it, she asserts that, “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction”. This concept, this idea that writers should have a dedicated space to do their important work, has been a pervasive and at times controversial one. For many, it seems like a fantasy. A room of my own? A whole room? I live in a studio apartment that I can barely afford, my whole living space is one room, how the hell am I supposed to ever achieve this mythical “room of one’s own”?

I felt that way for a long time. But that didn’t mean the idea was any less appealing. I would spend time daydreaming about going into a space and closing a door and sitting down for hours to write. A space that was mine, that was almost sacred, an altar on which I could compose.

Then, one day, I had a revelation. A “room of one’s own” doesn’t have to be a whole room. It doesn’t have to be a gargantuan cherry wood desk in a loft attic. All you need for a room of your own is, yes, a “door” of some kind (this could be a privacy curtain, a screen, or a real door), a writing surface, and the understanding in your mind that this is where the magic happens. That when you enter this space, the rest of the world can wait for a little while. That what happens in here is important. That your work is important.

Above is my “room of one’s own”. It’s a corner of my bedroom. The desk can fold up and be put away if necessary. But that space is mine. When I’m there, at the desk, it’s like… a weight is lifted from me. I’m free to be entirely myself, which is when you do your best writing.

What do you think? Is there room in your life for a “room of one’s own”? If not, why not? Do you already have a “room of your own”? Share a picture of it in the comments!

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Saturday in the Stacks

Monk & Robot Series – Review

Saturday is the perfect time to wander through the stacks (that’s librarian-speak for “bookshelves”) and talk about books and the people who write them. Pull up a comfy chair and settle in, because today I want to chat about a series of books so good they make me cry: the Monk & Robot series by Becky Chambers.

Have you ever read a book so good it makes you mad? That was me with A Psalm for the Wild-Built, the first book in Chambers’ Monk & Robot series. I was initially drawn to the book for one reason – it was little. Now you know my secret: I adore little books. Not because they’re short, I just…love the feel of leafing through a small book. Physically small. Little books. I love them.

My local Barnes & Noble tapped into my weakness by making a whole display for “pocket sized books” and A Psalm for the Wild-Built was on there. I picked it up, loved the back-of-the-book summary and figured I’d give it a try.

I devoured the book in one sitting. And by the end, I was crying. Crying actual tears. I felt so seen, so understood, and the writing was so beautiful. Once I got my emotions under control, I immediately went in search of the second book, only to discover it wasn’t out yet.

Outrage.

When the second book, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, hit shelves, I bought it at once. But I didn’t read it until a few weeks ago. Why? I wanted to savor the experience. I wanted to be sure I was reading it when I most needed it. And, I’ll admit, I was a little afraid there was no way the second book would live up to the first.

Boy was I wrong. THE SECOND BOOK WAS EVEN BETTER.

If you’re a fan of cozy scifi, of a hopeful future, of philosophy, of love, of just damn good writing, you need to be reading the Monk & Robot series from Becky Chambers. If you’ve already read it and are as obsessed with the books as I am, let’s chat about it in the comments! NO SPOILERS.

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Werewolf Wednesday

Teen Wolf – Watch or Not?

Happy Werewolf Wednesday, everyone! This week I’m going to talk about a wildly popular werewolf TV show that I have yet to watch – Teen Wolf.

Extremely loosely based on the 1985 film of the same name, the 2011 TV series aired on MTV of all places and ran for six well-received seasons. Critics generally gave the series positive reviews, it won three Saturn Awards, and after the TV series officially wrapped, it even got a movie continuation on Paramount+. The story (in a very general summary) centers around a young man who gets bitten by a werewolf in the beginning of season one and finds within himself and his new abilities the power to defend his hometown from supernatural creatures and other threats.

I have never seen even an episode of this show.

That seems wrong, right? It’s an extremely popular werewolf property, I write werewolf books, I should have at least sampled it! But I never have. Why? Well, the main reason can be found in the very first word of the title.

Teen. I have never been a fan of coming-of-age stories, especially ones focused on the teenage years. Even when I was a teenager, I tended to avoid these kinds of storylines like the plague (Buffy the Vampire Slayer being the notable exception to this rule for me). I find teen drama very…tiring. Maybe because I experienced so much of it in my own life (my teenage years weren’t kind, but whose were??), I find no joy in watching fictional characters go through the same adolescent turmoil I did when I was in high school.

Still, I can’t get rid of this nagging sensation that I’m missing out on something really amazing here. So, I thought I’d open it up to you, my blog reading audience, and ask: do you think I should give Teen Wolf (2011) a watch? Should I give it a chance? Or am I good? Let’s chat about it!

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Behind the Scenes Sunday

Surviving Querying – Tips & Tricks

Let’s take a peek at the cogs inside the machine and talk about why I write and how I write on Behind the Scenes Sunday! Today I’d like to talk a little bit about pitching and querying — specifically how to survive the process with your sanity and self-esteem (mostly) intact.

Querying/pitching is the way to get your work from a file on your computer (or scribblings in your journal, if you’re real old school) to published piece, especially if you are trying to make the leap to novelist. Whether your querying literary agents or pitching small presses direct, the process can be grueling, unforgiving, and toxic to your sense of self.

Nobody likes to hear no. Nobody likes to hear that their work isn’t “enough” or “right” or “a good fit”. But when you’re querying/pitching you will hear it all the time. Sometimes for years.

So what do you do? How do you keep from going crazy, from calling it quits, from completely losing faith in yourself and your work?

Here are some tricks that I’ve used during my time in the trenches to keep myself strong and in fighting form. Hopefully some will work for you.

YOU ARE NOT YOUR WORK. Repeat it. Write it above your work space. Learn it by heart. You are not your work. When an agent says your first ten pages didn’t draw them in, they’re not saying that you are a terrible writer and you are doomed to fail. They’re saying the work didn’t grab them. That’s it. BE OPEN WITH YOUR SUCCESSES (AND WITH YOUR LACK OF SUCCESSES). Celebrate when things go right! And be just as open with your friends and family when things don’t go your way. Rejection makes us want to turn inward. Don’t. Reach out to your support network. LET YOURSELF GRIEVE. Rejection sucks. Don’t pretend it doesn’t, or feel like you should have “tougher skin”. It’s okay to feel sad when that dream publisher passes on your book. It’s not okay to rip up your manuscript and swear never to write again (looking at you, Robin). GRATITUDE AND LOVE. You love to write, don’t you? Take some time away from the trenches to remind yourself of why. You don’t write to get published. You don’t write to get famous. I don’t know why you write — we all have our reason. But stay in touch with yours and hold it close. Remember how lucky you are that you have found this passion in your life. TAKE A BREAK. That’s right. Have you been querying for a year with a slew of ‘no thank you’s’ under your belt? Take a break. TAKE A BREAK. There’s no prize for finishing first in this race. Walk away, take some time — your book will wait for you. The right agent will wait for you. The right publisher will wait for you. Take a break.

Do you have any tips and tricks for surviving querying/pitching? What has worked for you? Let’s start building a network of support in the comments, this is the perfect time!

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Saturday in the Stacks

Book Clubs – Yay or Nay?

Saturday is the perfect time to wander through the stacks (that’s librarian-speak for “bookshelves”) and talk about books and the people who write them. Pull up a comfy chair and settle in, because today I want to chat about a facet of the book loving community that I’ve always had mixed feelings about: book clubs.

When I was a young adult, I loved book clubs. I attended several monthly clubs hosted by my local Barnes & Noble that exposed me to a host of different kind of books and also got me better acquainted with the people who love to read them. I would never have read Douglas Adams, for example, were it not for a book club! I delighted in discussing what I had read with people who, it seemed to me, where just as enamored with reading and books as I was. I felt accepted; seen.

Now that I’m older, however, I haven’t been able to connect with book clubs in the same way I could as a child. Perhaps I am too set in my ways, but often when I consider joining a book club and see that they are reading a book that doesn’t immediately interest me, I pass on the spot. Maybe it’s that I have so much less time for reading these days. But shouldn’t that be all the more reason to join a club where reading is the name of the game?

These days, book clubs just seem like so much extra work to me. When I read, I read to lose myself in another word, to immerse myself in beautiful language and, yes, hopefully gain some new perspective and ideas for my own work. But I don’t want to read something and then turn around and answer a bunch of Lit Class level questions about the text! Is that so wrong?

Are you a big book club fan? What makes your book club work? Or are you like me, and frankly can’t imagine anything less appealing than joining a book club, even though you love to read? Let’s chat about it in the comments!

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Saturday in the Stacks

Ursula K. Le Guin – Writers of Note

Saturday is the perfect time to wander through the stacks (that’s librarian-speak for “bookshelves”) and talk about books and the people who write them. Pull up a comfy chair and settle in, because today I want to chat about a writer that I discovered later in life but that many people grew up loving – Ursula K. Le Guin.

In perfect candor, I have not read a large amount of Le Guin’s fiction work, for which she is best known. I have read the first half of the Earthsea series and have The Left Hand of Darkness on my TBR pile. No, I am far more familiar with Le Guin through her numerous essays on the craft of writing, specifically her two books, The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction and Steering the Craft.

These two books belong on the shelf of anyone who is considering writing so-called ‘genre fiction’, and indeed, on the shelf of anyone who is considering writing as a career at all. Le Guin’s writing on writing is pithy, witty, and above all, kind. Reading her words is like being guided by a family friend through the art of writing, and if you don’t feel enriched by the end of her work, enriched and challenged to do your best, I encourage you to read it again.

“I love living almost as well as I love writing”, said Le Guin according to her website. I strive to live that way as well, to cultivate a life that is exciting and enjoyable enough that writing is an expression of that joy, not an escape from misery. A woman who intelligence and gumption, there’s a lot to learn from Le Guin.

Is there an author who’s writing advice you treasure? That you find yourself returning to whenever you need inspiration or help? Let’s chat about it in the comments!

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