Jae's Blog, page 36
December 22, 2017
10 Lessons learned from 4 years as a full-time writer
Four years ago today, on December 22, 2014, I left my day job as a psychologist to write full-time.
Today, I thought I’d look back and see what lessons I have learned since then and what things I wished I had known when I started. So here’s what I learned in the past four years:
1. It’s possible to make a living writing lesbian fiction
Lately, I’ve seen a lot of discussions about how hard—or even impossible—it is to make a living if you’re writing lesbian fiction. Going full-time as a writer was a big, scary step to take, and I wasn’t 100% sure I wouldn’t one day be forced to return to my day job.
Well, the good news is that it is possible to make living writing lesbian fiction. But I’m not going to lie—it’s not easy. It’s actually getting harder every year even though I thought it would get easier.
The publishing landscape is constantly changing. With “flat-rate” reading programs such as Kindle Unlimited, falling e-book prices, and more books being published every year, it’s becoming harder for each individual book to get the attention it needs to sell enough copies.
2. Patience is key
If you want to make a living with your writing, patience is key. For most writers, it won’t happen overnight. Writing is definitely a marathon, not a sprint. While some of my books sell better than others, it’s the size of my backlist that enables me to make a living as a writer. I currently have sixteen novels in English, eleven novels in German, and four nonfiction books available for sale.
3. It’s not enough to just write
When I was still working as a psychologist, I envisioned life as a full-time writer as eight hours of uninterrupted writing every day. But that’s not reality. Being a full-time writer doesn’t mean you write full-time. Even if you’re with a publisher, you’ll have to wear a lot of different hats. While setting aside time to write is vital, you also have to promote your books, network, and take care of the business side of writing.
This year, I spent endless hours rebuilding my three websites, and I spent about 200 hours in November and December putting together a Lesbian Book Bingo for readers.
4. Life as a full-time writer is a constant learning process
Writing for a living is a constant learning process. You have to learn not just about the writing craft, but also about marketing, social media, and the publishing industry, all of which are constantly changing and evolving. This year, I mastered Pinterest and Instagram; I learned more about how to build a reader newsletter, and I’m constantly trying to improve my writing and editing skills.
5. Having a day job is easier in a lot of ways
I know a lot of writers who wish they could give up their day jobs too so they could write full-time. And while I admit being able to write full-time is a dream come true for me, there’s something to be said for the security of a day job. You’re paid every month. You have weekends off.
As a full-time writer, I am working more hours than I ever did in my day job, yet my income is an unpredictable up and down.
Even with that said, it’s definitely worth it. I love my life as a full-time writer and wouldn’t change it for the world.
6. Be a professional
If you are asking readers to pay money for your books, you owe them a high-quality product—a book that has been professionally edited, proofread, and formatted. It’s no longer enough to write a story with a lesbian main character. We owe our readers the same standard of quality they would expect from a mainstream read.
If you interact with readers online or in real life, you owe them friendly yet professional behavior. That starts with the look of your website, and it also means you might want to avoid sending emails with a plethora of spelling mistakes or ranting about a bad review on Facebook.
7. Don’t rely on the muse
One thing that I learned early on when I went full-time was not to rely on my muse. Instead, I rely on building good writing habits—and sticking to them. If you want to make a living writing, you have to treat it like the job it is, and that means getting your ass in the chair and writing, even if you aren’t in the mood or you have a cold or the sun is shining outside.
If you want to make a living as a nurse, a plumber, or an accountant, you can’t afford to say, “Oh, I don’t feel inspired, so I can’t work today,” so as a writer, you shouldn’t sit around waiting for inspiration to strike either. Once I get started on a manuscript, I write every day.
8. Achieving a work/life balance is a constant struggle
My biggest struggle, however, isn’t not working enough—it’s working too much. If your job is also your passion, it’s hard not to be a workaholic. Plus I love helping other writers by beta reading, mentoring, and editing their work.
I’m still learning to say “no” more often. In January, for example, I’m scheduled to edit three manuscripts, in addition to translating Backwards to Oregon into German, writing a short story, and organizing the Lesbian Book Bingo, so I had to say “no” to taking on another mentee for the GCLS.
9. Don’t compare yourself to others
It’s tempting to compare yourself to other writers, especially when it comes to daily word counts. I see writers post about the 5,000 words they wrote today or about writing 1,200 words an hour, and it’s a little frustrating for me since I know I can’t produce word counts like that.
But I’ve learned not to compare myself to others. Their writing process might be totally different from mine, so the end result is too. Since I’m an editor, my first drafts tend to be very clean, and it’s only natural that it would take me longer.
10. You can’t do it alone
As a full-time writer, you need a network of supportive friends and family members.
I’m lucky to have amazing people in my life—my sister who proofreads my German novels; my friends who are always there to cheer me on; my beta readers who give feedback on the first drafts of my books; my fellow writers who help me work out plot problems, and thousands of loyal readers who buy my books and encourage me to write more.
Thank you for your support over these past four years!
Happy holidays!
Jae
The post 10 Lessons learned from 4 years as a full-time writer appeared first on Jae.
November 3, 2017
A recipe from “Perfect Rhythm”: Try an LGBTA sandwich
Did you know that today is National Sandwich Day?
To celebrate, I made myself an LGBTA sandwich–the same type of sandwich that Leo makes for Holly in my latest lesbian romance novel Perfect Rhythm. Holly had come out to Leo as asexual in a previous scene, so Leo is trying to show her acceptance by preparing a special picnic for her.
Here’s a short excerpt from Perfect Rhythm that explains what an LGBTA sandwich is:
Leo tugged Holly down next to her in the middle of the blanket and began to unpack and open containers. Soon, they were surrounded by tomato-mozzarella skewers, grapes, different cheeses, olives, potato salad, fruit salad, French bread, BLT sandwiches, scones, and cookies.
“I think I have everything the heart desires.” Leo presented her bounty with a proud sweep of her hand. “What would you like?”
That was a loaded question. Her heart desired more than what was offered on this blanket. Do it. Do it now. “Leo…”
“Look, I even have LGBTA sandwiches.” Leo held out one of the BLT sandwiches.
For a moment, Holly let herself be distracted from the inevitable. “You mean BLT sandwiches, right?”
“Nope. This is an LGBTA sandwich. It’s got lettuce, garlic mayo, bacon, tomato, and avocado slices. I wanted to make it an LGBTQIA sandwich, but I couldn’t find any ingredients starting with Q or I.” Leo shrugged. “But at least it’s got the A, so it’s an asexual-inclusive sandwich.”
If you want to try an LGBTA sandwich, here’s the list of ingredients:
L(esbian) = lettuce
G(ay) = garlic mayo
B(isexual) = bacon or, if you are a vegetarian like me, butter cheese. If you are vegan, the bread can stand for the B
T(rans) = tomatoes
A(sexual) = avocado
It tastes great, so give it a try!
And if you can think of any sandwich ingredients starting with the letters Q or I, let me know!
The post A recipe from “Perfect Rhythm”: Try an LGBTA sandwich appeared first on Jae.
October 22, 2017
Why LGBTQIA representation matters
Do you remember how it felt to discover lesbian books—novels with main characters you can identify with and who represent that part of yourself?
For me, it was an eye-opening experience. I grew up in a tiny little town, with no openly lesbian, bisexual, or gay people around. Discovering lesbian fiction made me feel that I wasn’t alone—I wasn’t “abnormal.” There were other people just like me out there. I was like a little kid in a candy store and started to devour every lesbian book I could get my hands on. Thankfully, by then, it was the late ’90s, so there were plenty of novels for me to read.
However, it wasn’t that long ago that lesbian and bisexual women had a hard time finding characters resembling themselves anywhere. There was barely any representation in fiction and movies.
Asexual people are where lesbians and gay people were decades ago. When I first started doing research for Perfect Rhythm, I couldn’t find a single romance novel featuring an asexual woman. There were a couple of m/m romances with characters on the asexual spectrum, but none about women who identify as asexual. Considering asexual people make up at least 1% of the population, I found that pretty astonishing.
It means that more than 75 million people worldwide grow up not seeing themselves and their sexual orientation reflected in books at all! They might not even be aware that not experiencing sexual attraction is a sexual orientation. Many of them—like Holly Drummond in my novel Perfect Rhythm—grow up feeling as if there’s something wrong with them.
That’s precisely why I wrote Perfect Rhythm. I hope the novel can give some visibility to people on the asexual spectrum and help them not feel so left out, misunderstood, or less than normal. I also hope it will help non-asexual readers understand this “invisible” and little-known sexual orientation better—maybe even help them understand their own sexuality better.
The first reviews and responses from readers indicate that I seem to have succeeded in what I set out to do. I have received a dozen e-mails from readers who had never heard of asexuality before reading Perfect Rhythm and who now realize they are on the asexual spectrum. I also heard from asexual readers who were happy to finally see themselves represented in a book.
Let me quote from a reader review that really touched me:
I was so excited for this book to come out because I am an asexual lesbian (like Holly). The few books with ace characters I’ve been able to find are largely based in fantasy worlds or science fiction. Which is fine, but those aren’t generally my genres of choice. (And also when the only time you see people like you is when they’re aliens from outer space, it’s hard not to feel like an alien from outer space…)
Inadvertently, I had the bar set exceedingly high for this book and Jae no only met those expectations, she knocked them out of the park!
I can not tell you how much this book means to me, how much it means to me to be able to read a book about a character like me. […] It was so so great to have that representation for once!
This book is the best! And reading it made me feel a lot less alone in the world, which is something that I really need sometimes. It means so much to me, and I am indescribably happy that it exists!
If you’d like to read Perfect Rhythm, you can find the book here:
The post Why LGBTQIA representation matters appeared first on Jae.
October 11, 2017
Celebrate National Coming Out Day with a scene from “Perfect Rhythm”
Today is National Coming Out Day, so I thought I’d share an excerpt from my latest romance novel, Perfect Rhythm.
Perfect Rhythm is the story of Leontyne “Leo” Blake, a burned-out pop star who returns to her tiny hometown and gets to know her father’s nurse, Holly. In this scene, Leo has asked Holly out.
Read on to see what happens…
“I’m sorry. I can’t go out with you,” Holly said.
A flash of hurt crossed Leo’s face before it turned into the reserved mask Holly had seen in the beginning. “Can’t?” She sounded as if she was speaking through clenched teeth. “Or don’t want to?”
That was a question Holly didn’t want to examine too closely. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I know it sounds trite, but it’s not you. It’s me.”
Leo let out a groan. “That is trite. It’s usually what women say when they’re either straight or think I’m a conceited, shallow celebrity—someone to lust after from afar, not someone to date for real.”
Her voice got rougher with every word.
Impulsively, Holly reached out to squeeze her hand or put it on Leo’s knee but then realized it would send mixed messages, so she withdrew and put her hand in her own lap. “I don’t think that about you. You know that, right?”
“But you’re not straight. You do date women.”
“I don’t date anyone. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”
A frown wrinkled Leo’s brow. “Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on Ashley.”
Holly barked out a nervous laugh. “No. Definitely not.”
“Then it really is me.” Leo lowered her gaze to a tuft of clover. “I’m not your type.”
“That’s just it, Leo. I don’t have a type. At least not the way you think.”
“Okay.” Leo drew out the word in a way that made it obvious that she had no clue what Holly meant.
Holly sighed. Coming out as asexual hadn’t been on her list of relaxing things to do on her afternoon off, but she didn’t want a rejection to stand between them. She had come to appreciate their friendship too much to lie, even by omission.
Eating the remainder of her ice cream gave her a moment to collect herself. When the last crumb of cone was gone, she clutched her bare legs to her chest and gazed at Leo over her drawn-up knees. God, why was this so much harder than coming out as a lesbian?
Finally, she just blurted it out. “I’m ace.”
She wasn’t sure what response she had expected, but certainly not the crooked grin that spread across Leo’s face.
“Oh yeah,” Leo drawled with the husky voice that had won her three Grammys. “You sure are. Totally awesome.”
“No, I mean, I’m asexual.”
“Asexual?” Leo repeated it syllable by syllable. “What does that mean?”
Oh boy. Maybe that was what made coming out as asexual so much harder. Telling someone she was a lesbian didn’t require a half-hour education session.
“It means…” She glanced down and watched as she turned the black ace ring around and around on her right middle finger. “It means that I’m not sexually attracted to anyone.”
Leo stared at her, the last bit of ice cream cone apparently forgotten in her hand. “Wait… Are you saying you don’t like sex?”
“Not exactly. I’m saying I don’t want sex.”
A gust of air escaped Leo’s lungs in an audible puff. “You don’t want sex? Never? With anyone?”
The look of disbelief on her face made Holly laugh. “There are more important things in life, you know?”
“Yeah, but when it’s really good, sex can be mind-blowing.” She rolled her eyes skyward and fanned herself with both hands.
“I’ll have to take your word for it.”
If you’d like to read Perfect Rhythm, you can find the book here:
Happy Coming Out Day, everyone!
The post Celebrate National Coming Out Day with a scene from “Perfect Rhythm” appeared first on Jae.
September 20, 2017
My new lesbian romance “Perfect Rhythm” is available now!
Finally, the long-awaited day is here! My latest lesbian romance novel, Perfect Rhythm, is now available on Amazon and all the other major online bookstores.
Perfect Rhythm is the story of burned-out popstar Leontyne “Leo” Blake, who reluctantly returns to her tiny hometown in Missouri when she finds out her father had a stroke. Once there, she meets Holly, her father’s nurse. At first, they don’t even like each other. Holly is convinced that Leo is a spoiled celebrity, while small-town girl Holly seems to represent everything Leo has wanted to leave behind.
The more time they spend together, the more they realize how wrong that first impression has been. Between trips to the local bakery store, late-night conversations up on the roof, and a date at the vet’s office, they start to fall in love with each other.
But Holly is asexual. Leo isn’t even sure what that means, much less what it means for them. And Holly isn’t sure she should risk her heart again because her last relationship didn’t end too well.
Will they find the perfect rhythm with each other, despite their differences?
Readers and reviewers alike seem to love it! Here’s what they are saying:
Get your copy of Perfect Rhythm here:
Enjoy and let me know what you think!
Jae
The post My new lesbian romance “Perfect Rhythm” is available now! appeared first on Jae.
July 24, 2017
Get a sneak peek into my upcoming lesbian romance “Perfect Rhythm”
It’s the end of July and I’m back from Chicago, where I attended the GCLS conference for readers and writers of lesbian fiction. I also wrapped up the final proofreading of my upcoming romance novel Perfect Rhythm, and I thought I’d give you a sneak peek.
The novel features two very interesting main characters: Leo, who’s a lesbian pop star known to the world as Jenna Blake, and Holly, who’s a home-healthcare nurse and identifies as asexual.
So here’s the sneak peek:
Holly wandered into the living room.
Leo sat in her father’s easy chair, her eyes closed and her fingers moving to the rhythm of music only she could hear. Just as Holly was about to tiptoe out, Leo opened her eyes.
An instant smile formed on her lips. “Hey. Are you done adulting?”
Holly chuckled. “Just for the moment. The physical therapist is with your father.” She walked over to the piano bench, which was the seat closest to Leo’s easy chair, and sat down.
Leo tilted her head to the side and studied her. “You look good there. Do you play?”
“Oh God, no. I wouldn’t call it that.”
“So you do play? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Holly scrunched up her face. “Because it’s embarrassing. The only thing I can play is one piece.”
“Which one?”
Holly hummed it.
“Ah. Czerny’s Study in C Major,” Leo said. “Okay, let’s play that.”
“Um, I thought you didn’t want to play classical music?”
Leo smiled. “I’ll make an exception just this once.” She came over and motioned at her to slide to the side so she could sit next to her.
It felt nice and warm to have her so close, but playing the piano with her was like painting in front of Pablo Picasso when you could barely draw a stick figure. “I don’t know about this.”
“Come on.” Leo bumped her with her shoulder, bringing their bodies into even closer contact. “Dad is busy with PT. It’s just the two of us here.”
“Yeah, but one of us is musical genius Jenna Blake.”
“No,” Leo said very seriously and turned a little on the bench to look into her eyes. “One of us is Leo, not Jenna.”
“Right. You know you’re Leo to me.”
Instead of answering, Leo stared at something farther down.
When Holly followed her gaze, she realized she’d put her hand on Leo’s leg, probably to reassure her. It felt natural. But jeez, talk about sending mixed signals.
Before she could snatch her hand away, Leo covered it with her own and squeezed gently. “Ready?”
Holly swallowed. “All right. Let’s play.”
Leo opened the lid with the hand that wasn’t still covering Holly’s. “How about I play the left hand, and you play the right?”
“Okay.”
“Remember where to put your fingers?”
“I think so.” She placed her fingers on the keys.
Leo finally took her hand away from Holly’s and stroked her fingertips over the hand resting on the piano, from wrist to knuckles. “Relax,” she said softly. “Focus on how the keys feel under your fingers.”
The last thing Holly was focused on at the moment was the piano. Sharing this with Leo was too confusing. There was something between them; she couldn’t deny that. She felt drawn to Leo in a way that might have seemed almost sexual to an observer, but to her, it wasn’t about sex. This was all about emotion.
Leo shuffled through her father’s sheet music, found the right one, and placed it in front of them.
Holly took a deep breath and then haltingly began to play the first notes, stumbling through the piece. God, this was awful. Her tempo was all off, and she had the dynamics of a robot.
Next to her, Leo’s fingers moved gracefully and without effort. It looked as if it came as easy to her as breathing. Wow. No wonder women were swooning when they watched Leo’s long fingers caress the neck of her guitar during concerts. If she weren’t asexual, she probably would too. As it was, her fantasies ended at those talented fingers giving her a massage or caressing her tenderly. Other people might have considered it foreplay, but for her it was the main course, an experience that was sensual rather than sexual.
Holly was so focused on watching Leo that she stopped her own playing.
Leo paused too and looked at her.
“Sorry,” Holly said. “I told you I’m not good at this.”
“Then let’s play it slower. Want to try playing the left hand, and I take over the right-hand melody?”
Holly nodded and started to get up to switch sides, but Leo just guided her hand to the correct keys and then reached across Holly’s arm to the piano’s right side. Their forearms touched each other lightly, but Holly didn’t feel crowded. It actually felt…nice.
They started from the beginning, and this time, Holly played without pausing. She had to admit it didn’t sound too bad.
When the last notes faded away, they both left their hands where they were for a little longer.
“Who taught you?” Leo asked as she finally put her hands on her lap.
Holly withdrew too. “Your father.”
Leo’s head swiveled around. “My father?”
“Yeah. You’d think I’d play a little better with him as my teacher, right?” Holly laughed. “He tried to teach me while he was recovering from his first stroke, but I’m hopeless. No matter how much I practiced, I could never coordinate playing with both hands and the pedal.”
“I bet that didn’t go over too well. After all, if you’re not a perfect student, it means he’s not the perfect teacher he thinks he is, right?”
“Actually, he took it pretty well.”
“Are we talking about the same man?” Leo asked. “When I was eight, my mother had to intervene because he wouldn’t let me stop practicing until I got one of Liszt’s pieces right.”
“I guess it’s different with you.”
“Yeah.” The one word dripped with bitterness.
“Maybe it’s because you’re his daughter, and he cares about you,” Holly said softly.
Leo snorted. “He’s got a funny way of showing it.”
Holly didn’t know what to say to that, so she just slid even closer on the piano bench and put one arm around her hip. “He probably never learned how to show it. But that’s his deficit, not yours. It doesn’t mean you’re not lovable.”
That last word hung between them as Leo slowly turned her head and looked at her.
Their closeness suddenly made Holly a little nervous, but at the same time, she didn’t want to move away from Leo’s warmth. This close, she could make out the brown flecks in her olive-green eyes. The bitterness in them from before was gone, and now they held only—
A discreet clearing of someone’s throat made them both jump.
So, what do you think? Does that sound interesting?
Perfect Rhythm will be out in September. To find out more about it, click here.
The post Get a sneak peek into my upcoming lesbian romance “Perfect Rhythm” appeared first on Jae.
May 31, 2017
And the winner of a signed paperback copy of “Falling Hard” is…
Thank you to everyone who participated in my giveaway!
The winner of a signed paperback copy of Falling Hard is:
Mieke T.
Mieke, please send me an e-mail with your address so that I know where to send the paperback.
Everyone else, I hope you have better luck next time! I do regular giveaways, so make sure you check back or subscribe to my newsletter.
And, of course, if you’d still like to have a paperback copy of Falling Hard, you can get one here.
The post And the winner of a signed paperback copy of “Falling Hard” is… appeared first on Jae.
May 28, 2017
Giveaway of my new lesbian romance, “Falling Hard”
I just realized that my latest lesbian romance novel, Falling Hard, has been out for a month, and I still haven’t done a giveaway!
Well, I’m about to remedy that.
Falling Hard is a contemporary romance in which a womanizing surgeon–the charming Jordan that you might already know from Heart Trouble–falls in love with the single mother of a five-year-old.
If that sounds like a novel you’d like to read and you would like to win a signed paperback copy, please leave a comment and I’ll enter you into the drawing.
Make sure you check back soon to find out if you won—or sign up to my newsletter so you won’t miss it. All you have to do is to enter your e-mail address into the box in the right-hand menu and click “subscribe.”
Good luck!
Jae
The post Giveaway of my new lesbian romance, “Falling Hard” appeared first on Jae.
April 19, 2017
My new lesbian romance “Falling Hard” is out!
Today’s the day—my new novel Falling Hard is now available from pretty much all major online bookstores.
One of the main characters is Dr. Jordan Williams. Those of you who have read Heart Trouble might remember her as Hope’s best friend. She’s a surgeon with just two goals in life: saving patients in the OR and pleasuring her latest conquest in the bedroom.
Her new neighbor, single mother Emma, couldn’t be more different. After her recent divorce, she plans to focus just on her five-year-old daughter.
Neither of them counts on falling hard for each other.
If a slow-burn romance with entertaining banter, lovable characters, and a stuffed lion named Mouse sounds interesting to you, check out Falling Hard.
I hope you enjoy the book and have a great rest of the week!
Jae
The post My new lesbian romance “Falling Hard” is out! appeared first on Jae.
February 25, 2017
Get the Hollywood series at a reduced price during Oscar weekend
It’s Oscar weekend!
To celebrate, Ylva Publishing is rolling out the red carpet and offering my Hollywood series at a reduced price.
Each book can stand on its own and has different main characters:
Departure from the Script is a novella (short novel) about Amanda, an actress who struggles to get her career off the ground. At an anti-Valentine’s party, she meets butch photographer Michelle. She has never been attracted to butch women before, but Michelle has her consider a departure from her dating script.
Damage Control is a slow-burn romance in which world-famous actress Grace is caught in a seemingly compromising situation with another woman. She hires PR expert Lauren to convince the world that she’s straight. But for that plan to succeed, she really shouldn’t fall in love with her…
Just Physical stars spunky actress Jill who has taken herself off the romantic market after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. At the set of a disaster movie, she meets stuntwoman “Crash.” Despite their growing feelings, Jill is determined to let Crash into her bed, but not her heart.
“Dress-Tease” is a short story that shows a sexy moment between Grace and Lauren from Damage Control.
You can get these books at a reduced price at the Ylva webstore this weekend.
https://www.ylva-publishing.com/product-category/the-hollywood-series/
I hope you enjoy the books and the Oscar ceremony!
The post Get the Hollywood series at a reduced price during Oscar weekend appeared first on Jae.
