Jordan Castillo Price's Blog, page 24

Michael and Wild Bill Ride again

Wild Bill was my saving grace. He distracted me from Gray’s charms enough to let me come up for an occasional gulp of air. What remained to be seen was whether he’d haul me to shore and suck the sea out of my lungs, or if I’d end up drowning him, too.

I got goosebumps when I heard that line.

Yup, I said heard.

I’ve arranged for Gomez Pugh to perform Channeling Morpheus for Scary Mary for audio. And it’s a real trip hearing this early series of mine brought to life. That particular line gave me a little thrill because it ended up foreshadowing one of the most dramatic scenes of the series, the rescue gone bad where Wild Bill takes a header off a houseboat. But how could it? It wasn’t only that I hadn’t yet planned out that book at that point. I had written Payback as a standalone story. The novelette Fluid wasn’t even a gleam in my eye.

Kind of cool how things turn out if you stick with them long enough.

Find out more details in my March newsletter!

Dreaming and Writing

I had my worst recurring anxiety dream last night, with some ugly variations on it, and started my day with a heart-pounding anxiety that no matter what I did today it wouldn't be enough. Luckily I was aware of the fact that this was only a feeling I had, and although it had a physical component too, I could at least try to shift it rather than just running around like a doomed headless chicken.

What my body wanted me to do was start gouging away at the worst-feeling things on my to-do list. Market myself whether I felt up to it or not. Beg and plead for reviews, because dear God, my last release is a sinking ship. Do all the crap stuff I should be saving for throwaway times in the day. And I didn't do any of that. I did a meditation to help calm myself down, then I gently suggested to myself that I open up my work in progress and see if I could write.

I did write. I liked what I wrote, which is always a relief. I feel good now, and that weird feeling of impending failure is just a little echo.

All I can really control is my frame of mind, so heck, I might as well try. It feels a lot better than to be the weirdo who scrambled around all day feeling helpless.

PsyCop is still in progress!

I just got a great question over at Goodreads asking if Spook Squad was the final PsyCop! Every now and then I notice some remark in a review for Spook Squad calling it the last book, but I think one person hatched up that idea by themselves and subsequent reviewers repeated it. I was always baffled, thinking that if I had finished the series, I would've done so with a bigger finale that make it pretty obvious, rather than setting Vic up for a new assignment. But you know how it is with reviews. If an author responds, even to correct misinformation, they're a crazy psycho stalker.

So thanks for giving me a forum to answer that question, Murphy, I appreciate it!.

Spook Squad was not the final PsyCop. I still have a Crash novel, a collection of shorts and a PsyCop finale to be written.

Science Fiction, Not Science Class

I love science fiction, except when I hate it. Maybe part of the reason is that the definition can be so broad that it includes everything speculative under the sun, even the kitchen sink. Especially when the kitchen sink is a symbiotic life form, or a mind-controlled robot, or maybe a hologram.

Science fiction (SF) might be about space travel, aliens and distant planets, or it might not. It might involve lots of technical language and fancy gear, or it might not. It might be choked with exposition trying to convince the reader that a made-up technology is viable.

But the way I write it, it isn’t.

I think the tendency of some authors to get carried away with explaining their technology is a big turnoff to readers who aren’t predisposed to SF in general from watching Star Trek as a kid, or playing with Planet of the Apes action figures. I’ve noticed that TV shows handle the SF element a lot more elegantly than many books. Instead of spending pages and pages belaboring physics and inventions and telling the entire darn history of the storyverse, they’ll just flash to a newspaper with the headline “Superheroes Exist!”, give us a montage of a few characters flying and knocking down walls, and trust that if the we hasn’t yet switched to something else in our Netflix queue, we are willing to suspend disbelief.

One of my favorite SF series is Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress, which deals with the genetic engineering of fetuses. When parents begin selecting children who don’t need sleep, all sorts of personal and societal ramifications spiral out from that technology. Do I remember anything about the genetics? No. I remember the way the sleepless characters were ostracized and feared. I remember the way the science affected the characters, not the science itself.

My Mnevermind Trilogy is about a technology that allows people to have a recreational memory implanted, just as easily as they’d go get a tattoo or a tooth whitening. It sounds techy. But it’s not presented in pages and pages of technical explanation. It’s accessible. I just show people using it…kind of like the TV shows that show superpowers exist with shots of people causing tornadoes or playing catch with minivans.

So if you already enjoy my urban fantasy stories—which means you like speculative elements and you’re willing to suspend disbelief—I bet you’ll dig Mnevermind too. It’s not a bunch of dry tech. It’s a tender story about a guy, his dad, his failing family business, and his awkward love interest. But don’t just take my word for it. Read a sample chapter at JCP Books and see for yourself!

MNEVERMIND TRILOGY
1 - Persistence of Memory
2 - Forget Me Not
3 - Life is Awesome

Secrets - PsyCop 4 in Audio

SecretsPsyCop 4 in Audio

Vic has just moved in with his boyfriend Jacob, he can't figure out where anything's packed, and his co-worker is pressuring him to have a housewarming party.

Can't a guy catch a break?

Readers are falling in love with PsyCop all over again. Join Vic and Jacob, along with fan favorites Lisa, Carolyn, Miss Mattie and Crash, as the crew uses their unique talents to investigate a disturbing crime at an old folks' home.

What PsyCop listeners are saying:
"Victor Bayne's perspective often makes me laugh when I'm reading the books; but Gomez Pugh's flawless narration guarantees that I laugh loud and often. He manages to bring all of the characters to life with insightful depth and astounding accuracy."

"Pugh is great with all the minor characters as well as the leads. and continues to be perfect as the voice of Vic."

"Gomez Pugh IS Victor Bayne and Jordan was brilliant to pair them like fine wine and cheese."

Buy Secrets at Amazon - Audible - iTunes

New to audio? Hear samples, including a free audio of Thaw, at the PsyCop website.

Mnevermind 3: Life is Awesome is here!

Daniel Schroeder wants nothing more than to repair his father’s broken memories, but it’s been a long time since he’s thought of himself as a memorysmith. Even though convincing Big Dan of their current reality is the most painful task Daniel faces every morning, somehow life manages to prevent him from finding a cure. He needs to keep their family business running. And he needs to moonlight at a competitor’s shop to keep all his employees paid. Or maybe he’s just trying to keep himself from exacerbating the situation.

A year ago, Daniel would have presumed he was clever enough to memorysmith his way out of their predicament, but nowadays he’s not so cavalier. Playing with people’s memories shouldn’t be taken lightly, and things can always get worse. Even with the help of some of the best minds in the business, Daniel still isn’t sure how to navigate his way out of the persistent false memory that’s crippled his life. Is new programming the answer? Better gear? More money? Or is time the only thing that can heal Big Dan’s memories…if they can even be fixed at all.

What Daniel needs most is some breathing room, and Elijah Crowe is eager to provide it. Since he’s smitten with Daniel, Elijah is determined to prove himself—and he’s more than qualified to clear Daniel’s schedule by taking over some duties at Adventuretech. With the support of his new boyfriend, possibilities begin to open up for Daniel, hints of things he hasn’t even realized he’d stopped hoping for: the contentment of a harmonious family, the fulfillment of his creative expression, and a chance for a relationship with a man he loves.

Purchase Life is Awesome at Amazon - B&N - iTunes - Kobo
Or read a sample at JCP Books

Writing Rituals. Got any?

I'm reading and enjoying Around the Writer's Block: Using Brain Science to Solve Writer's Resistance by Rosanne Bane. I used to say that I didn't think writer's block existed. But these days I think it's a pretty good shorthand for times when writers can't get themselves into the proper headspace to write.

In her chapter Rituals and Routines, Bane says that neurons responsible for two different types of experiences or behavoirs will group up and fire at the same time if the two behaviors are done simultaneously often enough. So, if you ate a lemon drop every time you wrote, eventually the taste of a lemon drop would begin triggering the "ready to write" parts of your brain.

Do you have any rituals or routines you always engage in? For me it seems to be a shower to put me to sleep. Which is weird, since showers wake other people up in the morning. However I find that when I'm traveling with others, no one else really wants the shower at night so it works out well.

I'd love to adopt a simple writing ritual. Probably not lemon drops. Cos I'd just sit here and eat them all.

Is Life Awesome? JCP News, February 2015

The Mnevermind trilogy comes to a close later this month! If you haven't been 'round the blogs, catch the cover reveal and the story behind the artwork in this month's JCP News.

Also find out about what's coming up in audio! (And it should be here any day now; we've finalized the tracks and they're churning through the internets now.)

What's going on in the world of JCP?

So I noticed my jordancastilloprice.com site was hideously out of date. There is a "coming soon" page there but it was really neglected. I'll need to put that on a schedule and keep it up to date! But since "coming soon" is potentially the most interesting thing for a reader, I thought I'd do a more current rundown here.

The box set Psychic Storm released this week. It's a co-project with 9 other independent urban fantasy authors, and Among the Living was chosen as the sole m/m book of the bunch. It's only 99¢ so be sure to check it out and recommend it to your friends. If you enjoy urban fantasy, it's a good way to find some new-to-you authors!

Gomez Pugh is in the studio recording the audio for PsyCop 4, Secrets.


I'm getting ready for my Mnevermind 3 cover reveal, February 11. The preorder will be available shortly after that, and the final chapter of the Mnevermind Trilogy will release on February 24.

Right now I'm working on a standalone palate cleanser short story that'll probably be around 10-12000 words, and after that I'll shift into the Crash PsyCop novel that I tried to start a year ago but wasn't quite ready to write.

READERS - if there are any topics you'd like me to blog about for the Mnevermind release, let me know! I'd love your input!

The Magical Fruit

The paradox of my palate is that I'm a pretty adventurous eater. And yet, in my day-to-day life, I'm happy to eat the same thing for dinner all week long, or the same breakfast forever. My theory is that if I'm just eating for fuel, as long as I find something palatable and my body feels good after I eat it, it's fine. It leaves decision-making and creativity in play for things that are more important, like writing and artwork.

In the winter months, my go-to lunch or snack is bean soup. It's really satisfying, I seem to like preparing it, and it's cheap to make.

Lately I've been having some lousy luck with my beans. I simmered some split peas for about two hours (because I was busy writing and didn't pay attention) and figured they'd be mush, only to find they were semi-mush, with chunky hard bits. Now, the main thing with beans is that you have to add an acidic element after they're done cooking. If you do it too early in the cooking process it will toughen them up. I don't know if this is the same with split peas, but anyway, I've decided my main problem is that in the store where it's convenient for me to shop, they're probably just old.


I was at Whole Foods last night and got some fancy-people black beans. Fingers crossed they're fresher than what I've been cooking with.

What about you? Like beans? Hate beans? Favorite recipes?

I've never been able to figure out a good lentil soup, if you have a good one, I'd love for you to share. Or maybe lentils just aren't to my taste.