Julia London's Blog, page 73

It's The Little Things

The dungeon. And the place Moose most frequently regurgitates the socks he's eaten

I have a nice house.  Sometimes, I see other, nicer houses and get the wants.  I focus on things I really don't like about my house.  Like…the pool, that currently does not have a pool boy.  Or my office, which is turning out to be too small.  I mean, yeah, I could clean it out, unload a few books, but that's a lot of work.  I would rather expand it.  Or, on fanciful days, get a new one.

But here is a room that really bugs me.  This is the laundry room.  It has no natural light, and that closed door leads to the garage.  And the trash.  So I am constantly walking through there, switching on lights, turning them off, switching them on, turning them off.  And here's another thing.  As a laundry room, there is no actual room to do anything.  The machines are there, but there is no space for anything else, not even most of my cleaning supplies. And it's the most logical place to put leashes, which means that when we come back from dog walks, sometimes, it is a mud room.

I like actual laundry rooms with room to launder.  I like mud rooms where it's okay to track in mud and dogs can shake off if they need to.  I like natural light, lots of natural light.  I am lucky that my house has it in abundance except in this one room.  I. hate. this. room.  And it has nothing to do with the laundry even!

Do you have any rooms in your house that drive you nuts?  Are you missing any rooms in your house that you wish you had and don't?  Do you have too many of one kind of room (like maybe two living areas when all the living is done in one area?)

Everything is Related

[image error]Often times when we think of world building we think of great fantasy writers.  The worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Terry Brooks and J.K. Rowling.   Whether it's Middle Earth, Narnia, Landover or Hogwarts, we are transported to a magical place created inside the author's mind.  But this kind of world building isn't limited to the fantastical.  All writers build worlds.  Granted some are more elaborate than others.  But in every author's mind there exists a special place where their characters live.  We're transported instantly, and sometimes without warning, while driving down the street, watching passersby, and sometimes, unfortunately, in the middle of something that quite honestly should be considered more pressing.  But there you have it –writers live in their own little worlds.

People often ask which of my books are connected and I'm often tempted to tell them that they're all related.  Katherine and Jeff from Everything in its Time are related indirectly to Kacy in After Twilight and quite distantly to Michael in The Promise.  And in my newest series, Harrison Blake, who appeared as a supporting player in the Last Chance series and once worked for John in Midnight Rain, shows up in the third book A-Tac book, Desperate Deeds, to help the team find the traitor in their midst.   And these are just a few examples of how my imaginary world links the characters within the books I write.

World building in series work is perhaps even more important.  Continuity is crucial and if a series spans more than a couple of books, it's critical for a writer to maintain not only a story bible, but one for details as well.  Characters favorite things, descriptions of their homes, their families, their feelings on any number of subjects.   If A-Tac's second in command Nash Brennon hates technology in Dark Deceptions he'd darned well better not hack into a computer in Dangerous Desires (at least not without a lot of grumbling and some serious help).  Or if Tyler Hanson, who we learn in Desperate Deeds, has good reason to hate umbrella drinks, we'd better not find her sipping a pina colada in Dark Deceptions.  Readers are smart people and believe me they always catch these kinds of mistakes.

So whether the writer's world is as far removed from reality as Lewis Carroll's Wonderland in the Alice books or as grounded in truth as J.D. Salinger's New York in Catcher in the Rye, world building is crucial to creating a compelling read.  One that transports the reader away from their own particular reality, if only for a few magical hours.

[image error]When you think about great world-building what authors and books spring to mind?

 

RELEASE DAY!

I am delighted to announce that Summer at Seaside Cove has finally arrived!  The official release was yesterday, a day it seems I'd been waiting for forever.  A year ago I was writing the book–while we were in the midst of packing up and closing on our old house, moving into our new house, and preparing for our son to go Army Airborne school.  It was a hectic time when my non-writing life and my deadline were at war with each other. 

 Summer at Seaside Cove was the thirty-fourth book I'd written, but in many ways it was a first for me.  All my previous contemporary stories were either short, category length books or novellas that, because of their tight word count, focused solely on the romance between the hero and heroine.  While Summer at Seaside Cove is at its heart a romance, it's also a multi-generational story, exploring the intricacies and difficulties of the heroine's relationships with her mother, sister, and teenage niece.  So, while it's a romance, there's also a lot more going on.  I like to call it Romance–But More. 

The book was especially challenging to write because unlike my historical books which all contain mysteries, there was no mystery to solve.  And unlike my shorter contemporary stories, I had the word length to really delve deeply into my characters' emotions, as well as the time frame (an entire summer) for those characters to get to know each other and themselves.  I wanted to convey the full range of feelings involved with heartbreak, loss, betrayal, desire, love, and redemption.  The heroine's summer in Seaside Cove changes her life, and it's a journey I hope readers will take with her and embrace.   The first chapter of the book is posted on my website http://www.jacquied.com/SASCexcerpt.html  Happy reading!  

So—what have you been up to lately?  What are you reading?  I'm on deadline so I'm not reading a lot right now–what great books am I missing?  I also haven't been to the movies in ages.  What do I need to catch up on once my book (which is the sequel to Summer at Seaside Cove) is turned in?

Breaking my own rules

Okay, so it's not really a rule, but I very, very, very, very rarely talk politics on the Internet. I just don't. It's because I'm so laid back and demure (y'all can stop laughing now).

But I don't think the news that Osama bin Laden is dead is really political. It's more than that. It's bigger than that. It's emotional. Just knowing that the man who was the mastermind behind the pain and heartbreak of 9/11 is dead…well, yeah, I am laid back, but I was damn happy to hear it.

I missed the President's speech, but got the newsburst email and immediately went to Facebook–not to get the news, but to share the reaction. To read the bits and bursts of other folks saying what I was feeling, a feeling that stemmed from the horrible agony of that horrible day.

And today (I'm writing this on Monday) I told my kids about it and showed them the headlines, and explained to them what happened and who died and what he did and why, yes, Mommy was happy that a man was dead. Because I was. Because I am.

I looked at my oldest daughter, who'll turn ten in October, and I remember September 12–just one day after, and I had to go to the hospital, 8 months pregnant, to pick up a pager (I guess now, folks text?). I went to the maternity ward and saw all those babies, and I just started bawling. Part hormones, part fear, part horror. All emotion. Gut deep, raw emotion. An entire country felt it, and then some. And I think that the country felt a bit of it again when the news of OBL's death was released. Cause for celebration? Absolutely. But also a catalyst for remembering and for explaining to our kids. And that's good. Because I don't ever want to forget.

And to the soldiers who actually went in, to the troops who brought him down–I just want to say, thank you.

Dangerous Desires

As the demolitions expert for A-Tac, a black-ops CIA unit masquerading as Ivy League faculty, Tyler Hanson has two great loves: literature and explosives. She lives by the motto "duty first" and doesn't have time for personal attachments . . . until a steamy one-night stand turns into a professional partnership.

BURNED BY BETRAYAL

When Tyler meets Owen Wakefield, a handsome British operative, she seduces him with no intention of ever seeing him again. But then the sexy Brit is brought into A-Tac, and despite Tyler's efforts to keep her distance, she finds herself falling for him. Trusting him.

Owen seems too good to be true—and he is. He's hiding his true motives and identity, and no matter how he feels about Tyler, he can't keep her secrets. One of A-Tac's members has turned traitor and helped terrorists to hijack a shipment of nuclear weapons. As witnesses start dying and evidence starts disappearing, Owen and Tyler must race to find the mole—and prevent a final, cataclysmic act of destruction.

"Rainy Days and Mondays…"

[image error]Prepare for a Monday morning rant.   Don't know why, but every little thing is setting me off lately.  (Well, actually I do know why and it starts with an 'M' and ends with 'ause".  )

What is it with people typing emails, Facebook posts and texts in all caps?  Just stop it.  It's like being slapped in the face.  It's impossible to read, and it totally makes me want to hit trash the moment I've opened it.  And I'm not talking about the occasional all caps for EMPHASIS.  I'm talking about ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME.  Yeesh!  And the same goes for teeny tiny font.  I have old eyes.  Really old eyes, and they don't focus like they used to even with my glasses.  Give me a break.  Please?[image error]

And what about music on websites when you open the first page?  Again, I don't mind if you want to place a box with your favorite songs for me to listen to. There's a blogger out there who has fabulous taste in music, and I've discovered some great songs that way.  But she doesn't force me to listen.  She allows me to choose.  Lovely thought 'choice'.  But some sites seem to think I don't need one.  So they hide the mute button in some remote corner of their site, making me scramble through the pages trying to find the thing while bagpipe music blares and my husband wonders what in the world is going on back here.

While we're on the subject, I also object to opening video montages on sites without a "skip" button.  I just want to cut to the chase.  (For the record I like to skip cut scenes in most computer games as well, much to my daughter's dismay).  Again, all I want is a choice.  Sometimes I've got the time to watch and others, I just need to get onto whatever it is on your site that brought me there in the first place.  Like directions to your restaurant. I'll save the gastronomical gazing for my dinner plate.

Same goes for videos that start playing the minute I open the page.  Especially the ones that morph over to the center of the page covering whatever it is that I wanted in the first place and have nothing whatsoever to do with why I came to the site in the first place.  In all honesty, you've lost me completely and I most likely won't be back.  Come on, leave it in the corner with a very obvious [image error]"turn me the heck off" button or at least a mute button.  If I wanted video I'd be on 'You Tube'.

And finally, people, please.  I do not want to play Farm-City-Monster-Café…whatever.  So no more invitations.  I'm sure the games are great fun, totally addicting and hard to resist.  But I'm never going to pay for virtual stuff.  Okay, I'll admit to being tempted by the Eagle in Angry Birds.  I'm totally stuck on a level and that 1.99 is starting to look pretty darn good.  No…seriously, never, not even the eagle.  Oh, but those of you who "You Tube" difficult game levels for things like Plants Vs. Zombies and Farm Frenzy.  I'm totally grateful.  I couldn't have gotten gold on every level without[image error] your fabulous play by play.

So how about you?  Are you tired of intrusive ads, music, video on the web?  Are you an ALL CAPS person or a teeny tiny font person?  What's got you peeved this morning?

 

Witches, oh my!

I'm at a conference in Salem, MA this weekend, giving a presentation on writing mashup books and signing copies of JANE SLAYRE in the ballroom of Salem's Hawthorne Hotel from 4:30 to 5:30 on Saturday. Come see me if you're in the area!

"Reader, I buried him."

A TIMELESS TALE OF LOVE, DEVOTION… AND THE UNDEAD.

Jane Slayre, our plucky demon-slaying heroine, a courageous orphan who spurns the detestable vampyre kin who raised her, sets out on the advice of her ghostly uncle to hone her skills as the fearless slayer she's meant to be. When she takes a job as a governess at a country estate, she falls head-over-heels for her new master, Mr. Rochester, only to discover he's hiding a violent werewolf in the attic– in the form of his first wife.

Can a menagerie of bloodthirsty, flesh-eating, creatures-of-the-night keep a swashbuckling nineteenth-century lady from the gentleman she intends to marry? Vampyres, zombies, and werewolves transform Charlotte Bronte's unforgettable masterpiece into an eerie paranormal adventure that will delight and terrify.

Have you ever been to Salem? Do you love following history? Fascinating, gruesome history? Or maybe you're wiccan?

 

Time Passages

[image error]So as many of you already know, my life for the past year and a half has been all about helping my daughter find the perfect college.  And I'm happy to report that the Quest has ended in success.  She was accepted into the honor's program at her number one choice, Emerson College.  And I have to say that there were several other equally wonderful schools in the running.

And while this is a time for celebration at our house, it's also bittersweet.  It seems like just yesterday that my child was a born.  And we drove like one mile an hour all the way home, terrified that we'd do something to injure her before she even made it home!

I remember holding hands with my husband as she cried through her first night wondering what in the heck we'd gotten ourselves into.  And then holding her and being in awe of her perfect little face, and toes and hands.   (And if you have any doubt of that, I've got like 2 million photos of that time period, second by second basically.   We have a wonderful video of me talking to my newborn as I try, for like fifteen minutes, to get her squirming body into one of her new outfits, only to find that it's about two sizes to large and that we'll have to start all over again.  It's no wonder she's shunned fashion pretty much ever since.

I remember sitting on a bed in a hotel in Austria, with a screaming baby and no doctor and no husband (he was at work and it was before the days of cell phones) thinking I'd made the most horrible of[image error] mistakes.  But I also remember six months later when, while in the castle at Prague, she took her very first steps.

I also remember her walking in the house as a four year old and telling me that she wasn't going to wear dresses any more, and when I inquired why, she told me that it hurt her knees when she pretended to be a dog.  I remember easter egg hunts and excitement over reindeer eating the hay she'd left for them the night before Christmas.

I remember when asked who Jesus was, she replied, 'the man with all the big houses'.  (We'd lived in Europe and travelled all over everywhere and every time we went into a catheral I'd say 'This is Jesus's house', so it was a logical conclusion)  Try explaining that to a pre-school teacher.  I also remember when she walked out of Mulan and told me that she wanted to see more movies [image error]like that one.  To my question why, she replied, 'because the girl was the hero.'

There are so many memories.  All of them precious to me.  And while I know that there will be new memories, I'm also aware that a chapter in her life and mine is closing.  And although  I celebrate the excitement of the adventure that lies ahead,  I also can't believe how quickly the time has passed, and if she'd let me, I think I'd just sit and hold her until—this time—I quit crying.

Celebrate the future and the past!

What about you?  Stories to share about your babies?  About their heading off to college?   I'm sure I'll be talking about this all again come September.

 

Puppies!

Yesterday, all the news was bad. Trump has gotten insufferable (truly, I suffer when I watch him now). The situation in Syria makes me yell at the television, and then there is the dangerous weather that is sweeping across the south. I was up late last night, thinking, what the heck am I going to talk about today? I want to talk about something cute and calm, something that makes people happy. And then I remembered the news from Wednesday night. Puppycam is back up!

Video streaming by Ustream

Puppycam is a streaming video of yes, puppies. Six Shibu Inu Puppies and their mother, Kika. The puppies are based in San Francisco, so the stream is usually offline until mid-morning and runs for twelve hours during the day.

The pups were born on April 14th, so they're about two weeks old, and the litter is three boys and three girls. I like the names, Chozen, Chame, Chikara, Chisaki, Chiyoko, and yes, Charlotte. I don't know if they ran out of cool 'C' Chinese names, or whether someone just liked the name Charlotte, but it does crack me up.

In 2008, when the economy had just crashed, Puppycam began, and people around the world found the video comforting. The amount of people watching at any one time is staggering. There were 8500 people watching last night when I was watching, and apparently during office hours, the viewership jumps way, way up.

I can see the attraction. I know that Julia London and Dee Davis are both dog people, but I am not even a dog person, and I found myself puppy-tempted. Apparently, there is a whole phenom of streaming puppy TV. Who would have thunk it? People now stream beagle puppies, golden doogle puppies. There are kittens and squirrels. There are bird feeds and bear feeds. We now watch our wildlife on video, which is cool, but sort of sad, too.

I will be watching Puppycam off and on today. My family will wonder. I hope you will be watching Puppycam today as well, and finding the 'Zen'.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

What do you think? Are these puppies cute or what? What animal could you watch all day? Are you now going out and adopting a puppy?

The Dawn of a New Era

Something has happened in my family. We've gone from calling each other to texting each other. I am not talking just nieces and nephews, or anyone under the age of 40, but the Old People (as we refer to the family blue hairs), and us, the people standing at the cusp of Geezer-dom.  None of us have ever been big phone talkers. We call, we check in, but if we are going to have great conversations, they usually occur around libations and a table somewhere.

But then texting came along, and suddenly we were free to say the things we needed to say without the dreaded phone.  You can ask a question and get an answer and not have to sit on the phone for fifteen minutes. You can do things together. My brother and I are watching American Idol every week. My sister texts me with quick one liners to tell me something she fears she'll forget. My nieces and nephews are suddenly all reachable.

But there is a downside to texting when you reach a Certain Age. It has to do with the eyesight not being what it used to be, and people (like me) who refuse to admit the obvious (blind) and continue to march on (bumping into things). The same is true for texting. My brother and I have learned to speak each other's language, but it took some doing.

Same for me and Sherri. She gets my communications in texts and emails, so she's become pretty adept at reading my autocorrected texts.

When I first got my iPhone, I emailed my agent. She emailed me back and asked me if I was drunk. hahahaa…

So how is your texting ability? Do you have friends or family who know what you are saying without using the aid of English? Do you text more than you call now? And a special thanks to Julie Kenner, who taught me how to take pictures of my texts, because you never know when you are going to need that, right?