Jordan Castillo Price's Blog, page 56
December 19, 2011
Gratitude #21 - willingness to change
I think I'm a pretty habitual person, which is especially obvious when I know there is an easy way to do something but I keep doing it the hard way because I forget.
But my habits don't always serve me. I've been working on integrating some new habits with decent success. I think that changing my reason from "because I should" to something that resonates more with me is helpful. For instance, in trying to develop an exercise habit, rather than doing it to be thin, which seems like a discouraging and far away goal that I will possibly never attain, I decided to focus on the way exercise affects my creativity and my mood. And those are effects you can see in about a week, and so the exercise habit actually stuck because seeing results overcame my inertia.
Certainly, my work habits were something I've always been proud of. I was raised to think being called "lazy" was the ultimate insult, and that I needed to scrape and struggle and be working every waking hour of every day in order to consider myself a worthwhile human being. And I was also starting to suspect that living like that was making me weird.
I had it on my goal list to look at the balance in my life in 2012 and figure out how to incorporate down-time...but weirdly enough, I came across a book that inspired me to change my work habits, and when it explained WHY (brain fatigue) I adopted a new work method of timed bursts immediately, at the end of November. And suddenly I can clock out at 6pm with about twice as much work completed as I ever did before. Why? Because while I was able to force myself to pay attention to something for a four- or six-hour stretch, my brain was not able to make use of that attention, because it gets fatigued in 45 minutes.
I can to more writing in three 45-minute bursts than I could do all day before. And in between I can do admin or bookkeeping or art or whatever. Or exercise. Or read. Or journal. Or just sit and think.
I'm grateful I was willing to change. I'm also grateful I allowed myself to take a look at that now rather than waiting for 2012 and the New Year holiday to begin.
(The transformative book is Uncertainty by Jonathan Fields
which I think I've mentioned before. I heard him on a podcast and thought he sounded interesting. I buy a lot of books that way.)
But my habits don't always serve me. I've been working on integrating some new habits with decent success. I think that changing my reason from "because I should" to something that resonates more with me is helpful. For instance, in trying to develop an exercise habit, rather than doing it to be thin, which seems like a discouraging and far away goal that I will possibly never attain, I decided to focus on the way exercise affects my creativity and my mood. And those are effects you can see in about a week, and so the exercise habit actually stuck because seeing results overcame my inertia.
Certainly, my work habits were something I've always been proud of. I was raised to think being called "lazy" was the ultimate insult, and that I needed to scrape and struggle and be working every waking hour of every day in order to consider myself a worthwhile human being. And I was also starting to suspect that living like that was making me weird.
I had it on my goal list to look at the balance in my life in 2012 and figure out how to incorporate down-time...but weirdly enough, I came across a book that inspired me to change my work habits, and when it explained WHY (brain fatigue) I adopted a new work method of timed bursts immediately, at the end of November. And suddenly I can clock out at 6pm with about twice as much work completed as I ever did before. Why? Because while I was able to force myself to pay attention to something for a four- or six-hour stretch, my brain was not able to make use of that attention, because it gets fatigued in 45 minutes.
I can to more writing in three 45-minute bursts than I could do all day before. And in between I can do admin or bookkeeping or art or whatever. Or exercise. Or read. Or journal. Or just sit and think.
I'm grateful I was willing to change. I'm also grateful I allowed myself to take a look at that now rather than waiting for 2012 and the New Year holiday to begin.
(The transformative book is Uncertainty by Jonathan Fields
which I think I've mentioned before. I heard him on a podcast and thought he sounded interesting. I buy a lot of books that way.)
Rebirth re-release
It's that time again, another Channeling Morpheus re-release from JCP Books! (If I sound surprised, it's that I was so focused on Magic Mansion and my newsletter that I forgot about it until the time was upon me.)Also new, I've created a Channeling Morpheus #1-5 bundle for 10% off. Go to JCP Books
Rebirth: Channeling Morpheus #5
Blurb
Michael never put much stock in clichés, but there’s one he probably should have listened to: You can never go home again.
His family assures him that plenty of young people take a few semesters off between high school and college, that a year of travel is practically a prerequisite nowadays. His father can pull a few strings, and he’ll be a freshman at ISU by September.
Michael has neglected to tell them that he’s not just driving around aimlessly, stopping only to have sex with his chain-smoking boyfriend—that, in fact, he’s hunting vampires.
After a disastrous family reunion, Michael unearths a vampire commune where he and Wild Bill can settle down. But Michael is the only human in residence, and the other vampires can’t stop themselves from sniffing around him.
In the words of Wild Bill, “This can’t be good.”
Read an excerpt, see a larger cover, or grab the ebook
The Kindle version should hit Amazon later today, and B&N within a couple days.
December 18, 2011
Gratitude #20 - interest
I was going to call today's gratitude "engagement," but then I realized that could really be taken the wrong way and someone might think I had wedding bells in my future! [shudder] Anyway, I remember once my friend and I were talking about the word "busy" and how it bothered each of us. "I'm too busy" is often an excuse for "I'd rather not." And I hate it when people go on about how busy they are because they like to complain.
I LIKE being busy. It's boring to me if I don't have things to do. Today I was tempted to have a lazy day, and stay in my pajamas and watch Biggest Loser to get more reality show ideas for Magic Mansion. However, after a couple of episodes, I realized I have another re-release coming out tomorrow and I wanted to get set up for that, and I had about 4 hours of work to do on it. So much for my lazy day! But since I do indeed like to be engaged, busy, or interested in what's going on in my life, I'm okay with getting only half a lazy day today.
I LIKE being busy. It's boring to me if I don't have things to do. Today I was tempted to have a lazy day, and stay in my pajamas and watch Biggest Loser to get more reality show ideas for Magic Mansion. However, after a couple of episodes, I realized I have another re-release coming out tomorrow and I wanted to get set up for that, and I had about 4 hours of work to do on it. So much for my lazy day! But since I do indeed like to be engaged, busy, or interested in what's going on in my life, I'm okay with getting only half a lazy day today.
December 16, 2011
Gratitude #19 - ladies' day out
My friend suggested we have lunch at a place that has pretty Christmas decorations, so we set out for a little town called Paoli. We were having a nice classy lunch, and she leaned in and whispered, "I think this is really more of a ladies' restaurant."I have no idea why I thought that was so funny, but I laughed until I had to dab my eyes. Yes indeed, there were no men. And I was the only person there besides the waitstaff under 70.
There was something awesome about seeing all the "ladies" out enjoying themselves that struck me as wonderful.
Here's a shot of my favorite tree. The color scheme was muted purple with muted metallics, and whopping oversized plain ornaments. I thought it was gorgeous. (This was also the place, I realized as we were leaving, that had all those fabulous pumpkins I showed off in November's newsletter.)
And the coconut cream pie? OMG.
December 15, 2011
Giveaway: Fire Thief
I'd been wondering if it was even worth producing short stories as standalone ebooks, but I took a little poll where a majority of respondants said, "Go for it!" And it looks like quite a few people are happy to grab Fire Thief! It appeared in an anthology a few years ago but I did a significant rewrite.I really enjoyed re-editing and fleshing out this story. And of course doing the cover art! I've been studying my Photoshop. Though I've been using the program since 1999 there is always something new to learn.
I'll give away a copy of Fire Thief to a random commenter. Just leave a comment within 24 hrs.
December Newsletter
The December issue of JCP News is out. It felt very fat as I put it together! I have all the work I've been doing with Prestidigital Press and my maze books (I just got a shipment of books yesterday...and they're awesome-looking! When I pull them out in public, people are like, "OMG, you made that???")The Magic Mansion installment is a big whopping-assed chunk, and I worried it might be too long, but a bunch of people have already voted, so I'm going to figure that it's fine for me to write as big of segments as my heart desires! At some point I'll need to rein it in so it doesn't end up as a 200k book...well, or maybe that doesn't matter if I don't put it out in paperback. We'll see. For now I'm loving writing it.
Also new, a special Kindle optimized edition newsletter. So far it seems the only goofiness is that it drops some letters randomly...but it's not a big price to pay for reading the newsletter and Magic Mansion on your Kindle rather than at your computer!
Here's a non-Kindle link! Go visit!
December 14, 2011
Gratitude #18 - smells
My schedule's a little weird today. I had some raw chicken, and the choice to either cook it early in the day or freeze it, so I'm slow-roasting it this morning, otherwise I won't get to it until Saturday. What a wonderful smell in my house!
I love smells. They're evocative of memories in a way I often can't put my finger on. But so often I just get a little whiff, and think, "Huh, Play-Doh" or some other specific and odd thing from my past.
I think I need to go get a whiff of some leather. Mmm.
I love smells. They're evocative of memories in a way I often can't put my finger on. But so often I just get a little whiff, and think, "Huh, Play-Doh" or some other specific and odd thing from my past.
I think I need to go get a whiff of some leather. Mmm.
December 13, 2011
Gratitude #17 - quiet
It is deliciously quiet in my neck of the woods! Since I love being in my own head with my own thoughts, I'm crazy about the quiet. Right now all I hear is the cat fountain bubbling, the refrigerator running, and the HVAC system gently pinging because the heat turned off. No TV. No traffic. No blah-blah-blah. Love it!
December 12, 2011
Gratitude #16 - heat
It's cold outside...it's even a little chilly in here. But my furnace is new and if I really want to, I can always turn it up. Throughout my life, I have always lived in cold, cold, cold houses where you could run the heat forever and it wouldn't make much difference. I'm pleased that I can turn up the thermostat if I choose to...oh look, the furnace just came on :D
I'm sure big Frankie is laying on the vent, all toasty.
I'm sure big Frankie is laying on the vent, all toasty.
Body Art and Fire Thief
I have two lovely re-releases today of works originally published in anthologies:
BODY ART: A THRILLER (previously appeared in Partners in Crime 4: the Art of Dying)
Does everyone have a certain “type” they end up with…whether they want to or not? If Ray Carlucci’s ex is anything to go by, Ray likes his men gorgeous, rebellious, and chock-full of issues. But now that Ray is single again, he has a shot at a fresh start—a very fresh start, since his tattoo shop was gutted by repo men and he can fit all his belongings in the trunk of a taxi.
Ray’s shiny new chauffeur’s license lands him a job as a driver for an elderly couple on Red Wing Island. It’s a cold fall, and since the Michigan island is the summer home to snowbirds who fly south for the winter, it’s practically deserted—save for Ray’s new household and a sculptor named Anton Kopec, who works day and night twisting brambles and twine into the distorted shapes of macabre creatures. Compelling, bizarre, and somewhat disturbing…not just the sculptures, but the artist, too. Ray has a feeling Anton is just his “type.”
Despite their scorching chemistry, when a dead body is unearthed by some workers and a freak ice storm traps them all on the island, Ray can’t say for certain that his new flame isn’t capable of murder.
(31,000 word novella)
While the encounter itself is mind-blowing, the hot-and-heavy grapple in the janitor’s closet isn’t the only way in which Thomas blows Hank’s mind.
(3600 word short story)
Available in PDF, Mobi and ePub at JCP Books
BODY ART: A THRILLER (previously appeared in Partners in Crime 4: the Art of Dying)Does everyone have a certain “type” they end up with…whether they want to or not? If Ray Carlucci’s ex is anything to go by, Ray likes his men gorgeous, rebellious, and chock-full of issues. But now that Ray is single again, he has a shot at a fresh start—a very fresh start, since his tattoo shop was gutted by repo men and he can fit all his belongings in the trunk of a taxi.
Ray’s shiny new chauffeur’s license lands him a job as a driver for an elderly couple on Red Wing Island. It’s a cold fall, and since the Michigan island is the summer home to snowbirds who fly south for the winter, it’s practically deserted—save for Ray’s new household and a sculptor named Anton Kopec, who works day and night twisting brambles and twine into the distorted shapes of macabre creatures. Compelling, bizarre, and somewhat disturbing…not just the sculptures, but the artist, too. Ray has a feeling Anton is just his “type.”
Despite their scorching chemistry, when a dead body is unearthed by some workers and a freak ice storm traps them all on the island, Ray can’t say for certain that his new flame isn’t capable of murder.
(31,000 word novella)
Available in PDF, Mobi and ePub at JCP Books
at Amazon for the Kindle
coming soon to BN.com for the Nook
FIRE THIEF (previously appeared in Firestorm)
While the encounter itself is mind-blowing, the hot-and-heavy grapple in the janitor’s closet isn’t the only way in which Thomas blows Hank’s mind.
(3600 word short story)
Available in PDF, Mobi and ePub at JCP Books
at Amazon for the Kindle
coming soon to BN.com for the Nook
