Jae's Blog, page 41

Writing hours in August 2015

Fall has officially started–and the weather turned cooler and rainy here in Germany right on time. Not that I mind after the very hot summer we had.

Meanwhile, I’ve been working hard to wrap up several of my projects so my readers will have more reading material this winter. I finished my romance novel Just Physical, which ended up at 100,000 words. I’m very happy with how the story turned out. It’s with the editor right now, and I’m hoping the required revisions won’t be too extensive.

I also finished the edits for Rosen für die Staatsanwältin, the German version of Next of Kin, and got started on translating Damage Control (the German title is Im Scheinwerferlicht). I’m also working on my book on Time Management for Writers.

There was also a new short story out from me last month: “Change of Pace,” which is part of the Portland Police Bureau series.

On the editing front, I wrapped up the edits for Fletcher DeLancey’s Without a Front last week–a wonderful book that I can’t recommend highly enough! Part 1 will be out from Ylva Publishing in October.

Let’s take a look at my numbers for August:

 Fiction Writing EditingResearchNonfiction WritingMarketing & AdministrationTOTAL




2015 - TOTAL966 hours680 hours83 hours122 hours226 hours2,077 hours




January175 hours88 hours---5 hours29 hours297 hours


February155 hours53 hours4 hours9 hours36 hours257 hours


March116 hours120 hours32 hours1 hours25 hours294 hours


April79 hours86 hours6 hours18 hours48 hours237 hours


May97 hours100 hours19 hours54 hours32 hours302 hours


June143 hours80 hours21 hours2 hours25 hours271 hours


July89 hours42 hours1 hours0 hours19 hours151 hours


August112 hours111 hours---33 hours12 hours268 hours

Check back to see how I did in September. I’m hoping for a productive month!

Have a great week, everyone!

Jae

The post Writing hours in August 2015 appeared first on Jae.

GCLS conference and writing hours in July 2015

If you follow me on Facebook, you know that July has been an exciting month for me—how could it not be in a city like New Orleans? After a week of sightseeing, I attended the GCLS con—the annual lesbian literature conference of the Golden Crown Literary Society.

I can’t put into words the experience of spending five days surrounded by 350 readers and writers of lesbian fiction and attending so many great panels and workshops. The conference just gets bigger and more professional every year! There were so many different writing workshops, panels, chats, and readings that it often was difficult to choose which ones to attend.

As far as I know, the keynote speech and some of the panels and sessions will be available for viewing on the GCLS’s shiny new website—the one with the menu structure (don’t ask; it’s an inside joke), but what the videos won’t be able to show is what it’s like to be among so many other people who are just as passionate about lesbian fiction as I am.

It was wonderful to meet some of the friends I’d made last year, at the GCLS conference in Portland, or online, and to talk to fellow authors and readers I hadn’t met before.

The videos also won’t tell you anything about the 31-hour-long shower & coffee abstinence. There was a water boil advisory going on in our part of New Orleans right before the awards ceremony. I’m still waiting to see if that adventure will make it into the book of one of my fellow sufferers.

Speaking of the awards ceremony… That was definitely one of the highlights of the conference. Ylva Publishing won awards for Emma Weimann’s erotic romance Heart’s Surrender and the paranormal anthology Wicked Things, which I co-edited with Astrid Ohletz, as well as the holiday anthology Unwrap These Presents.

With all that excitement, I’m amazed that I got any writing done while I was in New Orleans, but I’m proud to say that I even met and exceeded my goal of writing about 15,000 words while I was gone. Now I’m 83,000 words into my work-in-progress, Just Physical.

Let’s take a look at my numbers for July:

 Fiction Writing EditingResearchNonfiction WritingMarketing & AdministrationTOTAL




2015 - TOTAL854 hours569 hours83 hours89 hours214 hours1,809 hours




January175 hours88 hours---5 hours29 hours297 hours


February155 hours53 hours4 hours9 hours36 hours257 hours


March116 hours120 hours32 hours1 hours25 hours294 hours


April79 hours86 hours6 hours18 hours48 hours237 hours


May97 hours100 hours19 hours54 hours32 hours302 hours


June143 hours80 hours21 hours2 hours25 hours271 hours


July89 hours42 hours1 hours0 hours19 hours151 hours

Please check back next month to see if I made my goals for August–wrapping up Just Physical and selecting the stories for the holiday anthology I’m co-editing with Fletcher DeLancey for Ylva Publishing.

Have a great week, everyone!

Jae

The post GCLS conference and writing hours in July 2015 appeared first on Jae.

Writing hours in June 2015

It’s the beginning of July, which means three things:

1. I’m leaving for my vacation / writers’ & readers’ conference in New Orleans next week. Yay!

2. There’s a heat wave in Germany. Right now, we’re having 102 degrees (39 degrees Celsius). Probably a good preparation for New Orleans, right?

3. It’s time to update my blog with my monthly working hours. So here they are.

In June, I worked mainly on the translation of Next of Kin. The English version has been published last week, and I’m pretty happy with the feedback mails I’ve been getting. Thanks to everyone who sent me an e-mail or wrote a review! I truly appreciate it.

I’m also 45,000 words into Just Physical, my new contemporary romance (which will be novel # 3 in the Hollywood series). I really like these characters!

Okay, let’s take a look at the numbers:

 Fiction Writing EditingResearchNonfiction WritingMarketing & AdministrationTOTAL




2015 - TOTAL765 hours527 hours82 hours89 hours195 hours1,658 hours




January175 hours88 hours---5 hours29 hours297 hours


February155 hours53 hours4 hours9 hours36 hours257 hours


March116 hours120 hours32 hours1 hours25 hours294 hours


April79 hours86 hours6 hours18 hours48 hours237 hours


May97 hours100 hours19 hours54 hours32 hours302 hours


June143 hours80 hours21 hours2 hours25 hours271 hours

With all the traveling, sightseeing, and attending the conference this month, I won’t have that much time to write, but I’m still hoping to end up with a total of 70,000-75,000 words of Just Physical by the end of July.

By the way, if you want to see some photos of my adventures in New Orleans, check out my Facebook page. I’ll share photos there.

Have a great July!

Jae

The post Writing hours in June 2015 appeared first on Jae.

Romantic suspense novel “Next of Kin” is now available

It’s incredible how fast books can be out of date—and sometimes, that’s a really good thing!

When I first wrote Next of Kin, the second book in my Portland Police Bureau series, lesbian couples in Oregon could register for a domestic partnership, but same-sex marriage hadn’t been legally recognized yet.

So when I set out to revise the novel at the beginning of this year, I made sure to update that part of the book. It seems only fitting that Next of Kin was republished on the very same day that the US Supreme Court made marriage for lesbian and gay couples legal nationwide.

Congratulations, America! I’m incredibly happy for all of my friends in the US.

If you’d like to read the new version of Next of Kin, which also has an added scene and a revised ending, you can find it here:

Paperback

Amazon

Apple

Kobo

Smashwords

AllRomance

Happy reading!

Jae

The post Romantic suspense novel “Next of Kin” is now available appeared first on Jae.

The winners of my vampire short story are…

Since I’m in a generous mood today, I decided to give away two e-book copies of my paranormal short story “Coitus Interruptus Dentalis” instead of just one.

I just drew the two winners, and they are:

Belinda

Cindy (skipper13)

Congratulations! I hope you enjoy the story, even though one of you said she doesn’t normally read paranormal stories.

Everyone else, please check back when it’s time for the next giveaway, probably in July, when my romantic suspense novel “Next of Kin” will be out!

Have a nice Sunday,

Jae

The post The winners of my vampire short story are… appeared first on Jae.

Giveaway: Win my vampire short story “Coitus Interruptus Dentalis”

I never thought I’d write a vampire novel, but when I co-authored Good Enough to Eat with fellow Ylva author Alison Grey, I realized how much fun it was.

Fun is not usually something I associate with a visit to the dentist, but it provided a great setting for my newest short story, “Coitus Interruptus Dentalis.”

In this short story, vampire-like creature Robin bites her girlfriend during a passionate encounter … and ends up with a chipped fang.

If you haven’t yet read the story, here’s your chance to win an e-book copy.

All you have to do is to leave a comment on this blog. I’ll draw the winner at noon (EST) on Sunday.

Good luck, everyone!

Jae

The post Giveaway: Win my vampire short story “Coitus Interruptus Dentalis” appeared first on Jae.

Writing hours in May 2015

Hard to believe that almost half the year is gone already, isn’t it?

We’re definitely heading toward summer here in Germany, and I’ve been working hard to wrap up some of my projects before my vacation in July.

I finished the final revisions of Next of Kin, the second book in the Portland Police Bureau series, and the short story that goes with it, “Change of Pace.” I also started to translate the novel into German.

On the nonfiction front, I’m still working on Time Management for Writers and putting the strategies to good use to become more productive myself.

I also did some more research for book 3 in the Hollywood series. The novel now has a (working) title: Just Physical. What do you think? Personally, I like the title. I’ll get started on writing scene 1 later today, and I’m pretty excited to give Jill from Damage Control her own novel!

A few days ago, I also had a new short story published. “Coitus Interruptus Dentalis” is a fun story about what happens when a vampire-like creature can’t keep her fangs to herself during a more intimate moment with her girlfriend…

Okay, let’s take a look at the numbers for May:

 Fiction Writing EditingResearchNonfiction WritingMarketing & AdministrationTOTAL




2015 - TOTAL622 hours447 hours61 hours87 hours170 hours1,387 hours




January175 hours88 hours---5 hours29 hours297 hours


February155 hours53 hours4 hours9 hours36 hours257 hours


March116 hours120 hours32 hours1 hours25 hours294 hours


April79 hours86 hours6 hours18 hours48 hours237 hours


May97 hours100 hours19 hours54 hours32 hours302 hours

You might want to check back on Friday when I’ll do another giveaway or, better yet, subscribe to my blog so you won’t miss it!

Jae

The post Writing hours in May 2015 appeared first on Jae.

And the winners are…

Wow. I had over 60 e-mails from people who wanted a chance to win my romance novel “Damage Control” and the cute stuffed lynx! Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to send me an e-mail, and also thanks to everyone who commented.

The correct answer to the question (how did Lauren name the stuffed lynx that Grace gave her in “Damage Control”) was: Betty.

I just drew the winners.

Yes, winners, plural. I decided that I would send the lynx and the paperback to winner number two and then draw a second winner who’ll get an e-book copy of “Damage Control.”

So, the two lucky women are:

Cheryl (squrl1298) for the paperback and the lynx

Amy Barr for the e-book

Everyone else, please check back regularly for more giveaways–or sign up to my newsletter/blog so you won’t miss a giveaway. I’m giving away at least one copy of all of my newly published books–for example “Coitus Interruptus Dentalis,” the new short story that will be available next week!

Jae

The post And the winners are… appeared first on Jae.

Giveaway: Win my lesbian romance “Damage Control” and a cute lynx

The Ylva wolf has a new sibling… Well, more a temporary guest in her den.

This cute little stuffed lynx is identical to the one that Grace Durand, the main character of my new romance novel Damage Control, gives to Lauren after winning it at the arcade.

Since wolves and lynx probably don’t mix well, I’m giving the lynx away along with a signed paperback copy of Damage Control.

To make things a little more interesting, here’s what you have to do to win the lynx and the paperback:

Send me an e-mail with the name that Lauren gives the little lynx in Damage Control. Not quite incidentally, it’s also Grace’s real first name. In case you haven’t read my latest novel or just can’t remember the name, take a look at this excerpt from Damage Control before e-mailing me.

Important: Feel free to leave a comment as well, but please DON’T mention the name there.

Best of luck!

Jae

The post Giveaway: Win my lesbian romance “Damage Control” and a cute lynx appeared first on Jae.

Giveaway and reminder

I wanted to remind everyone that my blog has moved. I don’t update this one any longer. All the fun stuff–writing tips, new book releases, and giveaways–has moved to:

http://www.jae-fiction.com/blog

In fact, there’s a giveaway going on right now, so head on over and leave a comment to be entered into the drawing.

Please make sure you sign up to the blog by entering your e-mail into the box in the right-hand menu of my website.

If you’re interested in writing advice, you might also want to subscribe to my other website, this one under my real name. I regularly post advice and resources for writers.

Have a great weekend!

Jae

Filed under: Uncategorized