Jordan Castillo Price's Blog, page 47

Tap tap, sing sing

My neighbors are having a shed put up a few yards away from my office, and the workmen are listening to country music. I'm glad I have an opposite end of the house to work in while this is happening. (I don't begrudge them their shed, of course...I'm just a stickler for quiet.)

The last place I lived in Chicago was a 20x20 foot coachhouse that was so small that anything you heard in one part of the house, you heard everywhere. Sometimes I vaguely miss the simplicity of needing to be that minimal, but right now I'm glad to put some space between me and the project.

(I do hear hammering still...I think it's time for some music. If it weren't for the cats I could close my door...but those of you with cats know how flabbergasted they get by a closed door that's usually open.)

I'm not usually keen on ads...

...but this particular Goodreads ad is pretty good. For whatever it's displayed next to!


Well...I didn't really expect THAT level of buzz for my upcoming story, but I'll take it!

Multi spice discovery

Th e annual spring ant invasion has inspired me to clean and organize the spice cupboard above which they were coming into the house. On a good note - I KNEW I had thyme, now I know where it is.

On a weird note, I had four bottles of ground cloves and four bottles/packets of bay leaves.

Okay, the bay leaves I can see buying more than once if I thought I was out. I throw them into every soup, stew or chili, and especially gravy. But cloves? I only bake maybe once every other month, and usually then it's something chocolate. Creepier still, one of the bottles was from a store I used to shop at fifteen years ago. Needless to say I bid that one goodbye.

Inquiring minds want to know...

Romance Around the Corner invited me back for an interview! Find out about my philosophy on writing serially, what I make of the genre, and what to expect in the near future from JCP. Come say hi!

Mnevermind paperback art

Here are a couple of shots from the half-title and title page of the paperback. I'm not sure I'm going to go with the crows/capitol short because I can't bleed it off the page, a fade-out would look weird, and it's not that satisfying sitting in the center of the page either. But I'll order a proof and see if I can live with it that way.


half title


Title art

Hm...seeing it here I just got an idea of how I might like it better on a page. Yay.

ETA: here is my new solution for the title page, since I can't do a bleed. I'm really happy with it!

Looking ahead

So I began my day thoughtfully journaling about my short-term goals and what I'd like to focus on and finish, and once I got the cat off the notebook, ended by making a to-do list for today and tomorrow.

And then I sat down and started working on the last thing on tomorrow's list. (???) The brain is such a strange thing.

(However, I'm very happy with the results, so it's all good.)

The Starving Years paperback release

The Starving Years PAPERBACK

Imagine a world without hunger. In 1960, a superfood was invented that made starvation a thing of the past. Manna, the cheaply manufactured staple food, is now as ubiquitous as salt in the world’s cupboards, pantries and larders.

Nelson Oliver knows plenty about manna. He’s a food scientist—according to his diploma, that is. Lately, he’s been running the register at the local video rental dive to scrape together the cash for his exorbitantly priced migraine medication.

In a job fair gone bad, Nelson hooks up with copywriter Javier and his computer-geek pal Tim, who whisks them away from the worst of the fiasco in his repurposed moving truck. At least, Nelson thinks those two are acquainted, but they’re acting so evasive about it, he’s not sure how they know each other, exactly. Javier is impervious to Nelson’s flirting, and Tim’s name could appear in the dictionary under the entry for “awkward.” And with a riot raging through Manhattan and yet another headache coming on, it doesn’t seem like Nelson will get an answer anytime soon. One thing’s for sure, the tension between the three of them is thick enough to cut with a knife...even one of those dull plastic dealies that come in the package with Mannariffic EZ-Mealz.

Purchase or Read an Excerpt

Available now at Amazon.com
Coming soon to international Amazons.
Internationally with free shipping at The Book Depository (and also 10% off if you enter code APMA12 in basket!)

(Amazon delivery estimate of 2-3 weeks is probably inaccurately long, but it's how they've been labeling books supplied by my printer lately. Also, I see I've got the blurb from Magic Mansion on that page...whoops. I've applied to have that fixed ;-)

Announcement: a new JCP column

Notion Potion, A Stiff Shot of Creativity. For writers, readers, reviewers bloggers...all of us! Coming next month to Reviews by Jessewave.

JCP News April Edition

My April newsletter is live!
-A deluge of JCP Releases
-A collection of fascinating posts
-What's this new series?
-Magic Mansion word search

If it's not already waiting for you in your inbox, check it out in the archives!

Professor Topaz and stars

I'm working on the book cover for the Magic Mansion paperback, and I had some of the design's layers turned off so I could see something that looked strange along the spine better...and I realized my composition was kind of interesting. Just John and some stars.

cut for size