Jami Gray's Blog, page 37

The Cover for Shadow's Soul has arrived!

Okay ladies and germs! Here it is, the cover for Shadow's Soul, Book 2 of the Kyn Kronicles, out this summer from Black Opal Books!

Ain't it gorgeous! All hail the mighty and wonderful Kim Killon of Hot Damn Designs and her faithful minions (Angie!) for they rock it!

 

Vacay is over…

As you noticed, my last post hung around for a whopping two weeks.  Yep, it was deliberate, not a technological malfunction.  I know, I know, normally the tech gremlins are to fault, but this time I just couldn't hang it on them.  It was all me.  The Prankster Duo escaped from their learning institution and embarked on a week-long pester fest some call "Spring Break".  Since the knight in slightly muddy armor and I thought we might be pushed to send them out into the Swamp on a Snipe hunting trip (if you don't know what that is, go ask your parents!), we thought it would be best to pack up and head over to Grandma's which is over the hill and under dale up north.  North being where white stuff falls from the sky and sticks to the ground in gritty, gray patches.  Luckily, the white stuff was only on the ground and not in the air and where we were enjoying the beautiful sun drenched days of 80 degree weather, we weren't disappointed with  the 20 degree temperature drop since the sun was out in all its shining glory.

I also decided that maybe, this year, I'd actually make those days off from the job-that-pays-the-bills actual days off.  Shocking, I know, but it's been a whirlwind the first couple of months this year.  If I didn't cut myself some slack soon, I might find myself all alone on my own Snipe hunt in the Swamp.

So no blog posts last week, I was MIA from Twitter and barely showed up on Facebook.  And boy howdy, did I realize just how much time all of that took up. The first few days at Grandma's I had to field a few forest fires from the job-that-pays-the-bills, but it soon died off.  Once we made it back into the Valley of the Sun, and blazed our way home through the Swamp, I was able to conqueror Jack's nasty beanstalks in my back yard, appease those pesky due collectors, catch-up on entering some fab-u writing contests, make my offering to the cover artist goddesses, and then found out I'm all set for a blog tour in April.  Yep, April which is what? Two weeks away? So after hyperventilating on how soon that was bearing down on me, I needed to make sure I made every minute of my "vacay" worth it.

Once back from Grandma's I slept in and ignored the hellhound who really didn't like having his breakfast delayed past dawn.  Tried to make in roads on the leaning tower of to-be-read-a's books on my night stand while knight was off saving the galaxy from being overtaken by Sith Imperials, or when that got to be too boring, the Reapers who were wreaking a massive hellstorm on Earth.  We even managed to wrangle the Prankster Duo to the Renaissance Festival.  Oh yes, the land of giant turkey legs and over flowing…..bodices of ale!

So now that my vacay is over, it's back to the keyboard.  Tomorrow Xander, Vidis and I have a meeting…however I'm not so sure how well that will go.  Then I'll tackle the posts for the upcoming blog tour.  So stay tuned, I'll have those dates and places up next week!

Until then…don't get lost on your twisted paths!

A Visit with Xander…

On my way to do some serious writing today, I was doing my karaoke best to keep up with Bush when I realized I had a passenger.  After ensuring that I didn't end up as a trailer hitch to the Dodge Challenger in front of me, I snuck a quick peek at the new arrival.

Battered biker boots draped with the necessary chains were propped against my pristine dash tapping in time to the bass (those scuff marks better come off!), lightly tanned legs interrupted by a short plaid skirt.  The exact kind I would have loved being able to pull off at any point and time in my life, except I've let reality win and given up. Besides, as young as my mind thinks I am, my body is not in an agreeable mood. Fingers tipped with some bright green nail polish, tap on one bare knee.  Etched leather cuff with bits of flashing metal wrap around one small wrist, strong arms (damn, this girl's got some seriously good genetics!), over the white fitted t-shirt which any breathing male would appreciate, past the leather choker with some tribal type pendant, and then under the purple tipped spiked blonde hair was a delicate patterned tattoo spanning temple to chin on the right side of the most feminine face I've ever seen.  Without those markings a person could easily be fooled into believing her some delicate fairy princess of punk.  Not a smart move, because under the wrapping lay the cunning intelligence of a lethal predator.

"Hey Xander, nice outfit." The Dodge in front of me was pulling away and since it wasn't Raine sitting next to me, it was safe to concentrate on driving.

"You like? I figured I'd take advantage of the sun while I"m here." Voice like smoke wove through the music. "Since my last trip to your little edge of the desert wasn't exactly a day at the spa."

The edge of a growl lacing her words had me cringing mentally, but I kept it hidden.  Didn't do to let the wolf next to you see you cringe.  Not like I could hide the sudden spike in my pulse or the tension ringing through my body.  "Ummm, yeah, about that….sorry?"

A bark of laughter.  "No you're not."

Okay, true, but…"Look, I didn't know Warrick-"

"Vidis," she corrected.

Right because the only one who gets to call the Northwest Alpha by his first name was the woman glaring at me from her deceptive sprawl in the seat next to me.  "Vidis," I answered, "was going to go that far."

A tense moment or ten passed, then she turned to watch the passing traffic.  I tried not to sigh at the relief of being out from under that intense regard, but by the small grin on her face, I knew I'd failed.

"I wasn't ready for this." The words were low, an admission of a weakness she didn't like to acknowledge aloud.

"I know."  I'm not a cold hearted bitch, I know she wasn't ready for this, but even in writing, this was life.  You get thrown a curve every time you think you have it all figured out.  No matter how much you think your path is set, there are always detours.

Xander straightened, turning to face me, her arms crossed.  "He's going to fight all the way down."

I swallowed, "Yeah he is."

"You're backing me into a corner."

Tightening my grip on the steering wheel, I clenched my jaw.  "No, I'm not."

The snarl that filled the car raised every hair on my body. "Not giving me options is not smart, Jami."

I shook my head, my own frustrations rising in spite of the little voice in the back of my head yammering to shut the hell up.  "You have options, Xander, you just have to decide which ones you're going to take." I slant a quick look at her.  "Let me ask you something."

"Ask."

"Who's more important–Vidis the man or Vidis the Alpha?"  I'm not being fair, I know that, but life rarely is and here was part of her problem–duty versus want.

"For him they are one and the same."

Compassion stirred as I caught the flicker of uncertainty in her words.  " But you and I know they aren't."

I turned into the parking lot at my favorite coffee shop and put the car in park. I turn until I can face the woman next to me.  "You're a protector, Xander, it's who and what you are, but underneath that you're a woman who loves a very powerful man.  A man like that needs one person who he can be himself with."

She won't look at me, but stares out the windshield.  "He won't expose himself to that extent. An alpha can't afford to be seen as weak."

"So make him."

Her hands curl into fists and a grim smile appears, adding the age of painful experience to that youthful face.  "Easier said than done."

I laugh, because whether she realizes it or not, she's the one female in the whole world that can make Warrick Vidis remember there is more to life than being an Alpha.  "I have faith in you."

"Glad someone does," she growls.

I turn to grab my laptop from the back seat and when I turn around, she's gone.

Pesky Inner Voices

Here's the deal with diving into your next work in progress after spending an incredible amount of time editing your last piece–your inner critic refuses to shut the hell up!

We'll refer to mine as VON (voice of my nightmares).

Von showed no fear when I threaten to take her out and dump her in the hole I dug out back in the swamp just last week for such an occassion.  Oh no, she kept right on.  "Don't tell me, show me!" 

Show her?  Ohhh, I could show her all sorts of cutting repartees that will leave lasting impressions.  Instead, I gritted my teeth and tried to drown her under the pounding melodies of Seether and Nickleback.  When that didn't work, I brought out the big guns–Korn and the greatest of them all…Trent Reznor.  But still, Von's venemous whispers wafting through my mind.

I was in the midst of getting Xander back to her partner and a dead body in book 3, when Von broke through.

"That is not going to work. Who told them about the body? Who found it? How come the Pack knows, but no human is involved? And where's Warrick?"

Really? I refrained from slamming my head into the wooden surface of the table next to my laptop by the barest fraction.  Wouldn't do to upset my baristas, besides I might spill my drink.  Gritting my teeth, I went back an re-read what I had written.  Damn it…Von's right…so I went back and rewrote. 

For awhile Von was placated with frappacinnos and coffee cake, while Xander and I worked through a few challenges.  Yes, some of them involving the alpha of the Northwest Pack, but still, we were getting there.  Then Von butted in…

"Why?"

Stumped by the strange question that contained no extranous commentary, I sat there blinking.  "Huh?"

"Why? Why kill this one?  What does his death do to the pack?"

Umm, okay, because…and I explained to her-again-why we were doing this.  She hummed under breathe and sipped her frappacinno.  "Okay, that should work, but we'll have to see.."

Here's the thing with Von. As exhausting as she is to work with when I'm writing, she's an even bigger pest as I've been trying to figure out the cover of Shadow's Soul.  Last week, I asked for feedback on Shadow's Edge cover over at Cover Art Review blog and got exactly what I asked for.  Don't mistake me, I'm actually really happy with what I got back.  There were no rave reviews, but the actual feedback was helpful.  However, it did give Von some serious ammunition as she peeked in on what I was considering for Shadow's Soul.  I have a feeling that until I hit the big leagues or discover some unknown artistic genius residing deep inside me, I'm going to have to make what I have access to for cover art–work.

As for Von–I've tried luring her over to Eerie and Mischevious's neck of the woods, but short of tranqualizing, blindfolding, and trucking her out that way, she seems determined to stick around and torment me.  Even making her play darts with the Muses doesn't seem to do anything except make her more crabby!  Maybe if I turn up my music, she'll get bored and go pester Snarky!  With my luck she'll have a twin or hell, be part of triplets, and then all three of them can torment the rest of the Evil 7 and drive us all insane!

Tattoos, bare midriffs, and leather AKA Fantasy Cover Art

Not only am I writer, but I'm a reader and I, too, have a tendancy to cyber stalk a few of my favorite authors.  Okay, maybe stalk is a little creepy, but I'll check out blogs, tweets and Facebook posts.  It's a great way to discover new voices and interesting opinions.  So one day I was out on one of my newest stalkee's sites and he had a link to Jim C. Hines's blog on cover art for Urban Fantasy.  Of course, I had to check it out and now I have to share it with you: Striking a Pose (Woman and Fantasy Covers).

 I LOVED IT!  So much so, now I'm a regular visitor to Mr. Hines's blog.  I have great respect for Mr. Hines and his posts.  Besides the bravery factor in that post alone, he deserves a medal.  Seriously, I don't even think with years of yoga I could pull off some of those poses!  He's shared information you generally have to shed blood for, like how much can a writer realistically expect to make doing what they love, and how Amazon's pricing impacts the self pubbed writer. 

Since I'm currently considering the art for my second urban fantasy, Shadow's Soul, Mr. Hines's observations mirror a lot of mine.  Take the cover for Shadow's Edge. I submitted it a cover art review blog where peeps are welcome to leave their honest feedback. At the time of this post, I've only gotten three comments (so feel free to add your own).  As a writer, I did this not so I could hear the gushiness of "I just love it"  but because I knew I could trust this site to give me serious reactions on the cover.  Now the comments on color for typefacing, I can understand and I'm changing for Shadow's Soul.  I'm thinking along the lines of reds, oranges and blues as a starting point this time around.  Maybe lighten the overall image.  The third comment discussed Raine's clothing or lack thereof, and really, I get it.  I'm not so sure I'd want to fight someone with that much bare skin, but like many writers, I'm learning as I go. 

Then there's the issue of cover models.  For Shadow's Soul, I'm really hoping to do a male and a female on the cover. Here's the challenge I'm running into with that concept.  I need a man with a shirt.  I have nothing against six or eight packs, I have a pulse and can appreciate some seriously drool worthy examples of testosterone.  However, since I do have male readers, I'm trying to keep in mind that when they're out reading in public they may not want to flash all that male flesh.  Granted, if it was female they might be okay, but still…

It's hard to find that thin line between urban fantasy and romance, especially when your story has romantic elements.  I'm lucky enough to work with a great cover artist, so here's hoping we can figure out a really, wickedly cool solution!

And to think you were done…

I promised to drag you along this journey of crafting a novel from beginning to end, but I have found that my OCD tendencies have put a kibosh to multi-tasking in this one aspect of my life.  I may be able to juggle the Prankster Duo, the hellhound, the knight in slightly muddy armor, the job that pays the bills, life in the Swamp, and various other aspects commonly referred to as LIFE, but when it comes to writing, I can only do one thing at a time.

So now that Shadow's Soul is off my desk and on my editor's, I thought I was good to go for book 3.  Until I realized I'm not finished with Shadow's Soul just yet.  Nope, now I need a tag line, a synopsis, and a cover.  Great.  I'm so thrilled (and yes, that is sarcasm in my voice!).

Although the opening scene of book 3 is floating around in my head along with Eerie's voice screeching "Just write it, damn it!" while Snarky's whip is whispering along my prickling skin, I can't do it.  Not yet.  Not until the tag line and synopsis is done.

I enjoy writing, because let's face it, if I didn't, I'd have to be a masochist to put my self through all this crap for some words on paper. Yet I have to say that trying to pare down 387 pages into two catchy paragraphs is like trying to get my hellhound into the backseat of my car for a vet's visit.  It's not pleasant and suddenly there seems to be a long list of things I just HAVE TO DO RIGHT NOW.  It stinks but it's something that has to be done.

Plus I've found that my working line of logic to tie up the project known as Shadow's Soul is somewhere along the lines of:  DO SYNOPSIS, CREATE TAG LINE, and then, go forth and try to piece together your cover so it matches what the book's really about.  I have started but I just keep stalling out.

As soon as this post is done, I think I've run out of THINGS I MUST DO RIGHT NOW and will be forced to finish my dreaded synopsis and tag, then submit it to the other Evil 7 for dissemination.

Procrastination is now heading for the door and wiggling bony fingers in a very snerky way leaving me chained to my desk with a keyboard super glued to my fingers and a mental countdown clock is slowly driving me mad.

I will get this done, really…

Oh look, a text message from my BFF… movie at 5 tonight?  I think I can work that in…

Short but sweet…

Unfortunately, this week my post is short and sweet.  Thanks to having to travel for the job that pays the bills, I was marrooned in an aluminum container many, many hundreds of feet above ground for a couple of hours where viruses of all sorts and sizes were allowed topercolate.  Now I am the proud owner of a sinus infection.  So other than trying to get the Prankster Duo, the hellhound and the knight in slightly muddy armor back on track for the upcoming week, I'm wracking my brain for a good tag line and trying to gouge out the synop for Shadow's Soul. Once I manage some sort of progress, I'll submit it over the Evil 7 and pretend I've accomplished something this week!

I promise a better blog next week.  Until then…have fun, but not so much that you can't afford the bail!

Versatile Blogger Award

Check it out! Fellow Black Opal author, Empi Baryeh, nominated me (and others!) for the Versatile Blogger Award! A lovely surprise since I've only been blogging roughly over a year.  Who knew my mental ramblings would actually entertain peeps enough to get attention!  So huge thanks and much love to Empi.

So a few things before we do the whole Terms & Conditions portion of this nomination.

We have to take a moment to wax about Empi Baryeh.  Empi writes some pulse pounding romance that will set your hair on fire and take you for a wild ride. Her Chancing Faith is currently published with Black Opal Books  and coming in February 2012, her Most Eligible Bachelor will be out with Evernight Publishing.  Want to meet the facinating woman yourself? Then choices abound! Check her out at her blog, hit her up on Facebook or even stalk her on Twitter @empibaryeh!

So now on to the rules that I must follow:

1. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award (done)

2. Add an image of the Versatile Blogger Award (done)

3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog (done)

4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself (ok, if you insist!)

5. In the same post, include this set of rules (got it covered!)

6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs (next stop!)

Seven Completely Random Pieces of Information about me

I absolutely love Monty Python!
Sarcasm is my default mode.
I am a Starbucks slut…and I'll be the first to admit it!
I hate cats! (Sorry, but my allergies make it so if I want to breathe, they can't be anywhere near me!)
I refuse to act my age when it comes to music.
I am as in love with my husband as I was when we first met.
I am eternally gratefully I was given boys to raise, because I just don't think I could survive girls! I have much respect for those mom's with girls! You're braver than I'll ever be! 

And for the fun part…

Nominees for Award (in no particular order)

Amber Kallyn at Amber Kallyn
Dave Benneman at Eerie's World Blog
Michelle Miles at Ye Olde Inkwell
Mandy Casey at Who Are You Calling a Vampire
Ciara Knight at Ciara Knight
Rachel Firasek at Rachel Firasek
Stephanie Draven at Stephanie Draven
KH LeMoyne at Fantasy Powered by Love
Christine Hughes at Christine Hughes
Liv Rancourt at Liv Rancourt
Mona Karel at Mona Karel Author
LJ DeLeon at Warriors for Light Blog
Rebecca Clark at Rebecca J. Clark
Rainy Kaye at Rainy of the Dark
Cassandra Carr at Hot Blogging with Heart

Too bad we can only do 15 nominees! Onward with the informing nominees of their impending glory!

Life Interruptus…

I managed to drag and beat into a readable pulp a whole whopping SEVEN pages of book 3.  I spent backbreaking hours sucking back frappacinnos as I hunched over my most precious Macbook Air with my ears plugged into my current playlist to bring those pages into the world kicking and screaming.  Exhausted I went home, corralled the Prankster Duo and knight in slightly muddy armor from the hypnotic trance of the latest video craze of SWTOR and we were sitting around the table to enjoy the wonderful world of Pizza Hut, when an almight noise emerged from the night.

Knight and I jumped up, grabbed our sharp pointy and edgy things, set the hellhound to watch the Duo and emerged onto the porch.  The unholy wails were coming from Eerie's side of our little enclave.  For a moment I was worried his undead pets had slipped their leashes, but it was much, much worse than that.

Eerie's got a steady head on his shoulders…most times, so this very explosively loud outburst was not normal.  In our Swamp not normal generally means mud is about to hit the fan.  I left Knight to stand guard and slid into the early evening to find out what the hell was going on.  It wasn't long before Snarky and her whip were imitating a shadow to my left and Quirky and his quarterstaff took his spot on my left.  That pompous soon-to-be-new-pair-of-boots, aka Mr. C. Dial was lounging in his front yard, tsking about how he had been told this was such a nice neighborhood, such a pity. 

Ignoring him, our little trio made it to Eerie's place to find Smokey trying to force a bowl of…well…something into Eerie's shaking hands. The poor guy looked like a magnitude 10.0 was happening under his hairy feet.  A whisper of sound announced Jedi's arrival and down the trodden path a pair of headlights bounced our way.  Great, the Muses were heading in.  Good grief, it was a frickin' party!

It took a bit, but we finally got Eerie to tell us what was up. 

Mischevious was gone…flown the coop…flocked away!

His collection of shiny bits was still scattered around his perch, and we couldn't finop…flocked away.

d any sign of forcible abuduction, but Eerie's convinced he's been raven-napped.  He's even posted a rewarde for info.

Suspects are not exactly littering the ground, but personally, after seeing the little tete-a-tee between our Raven and Pompous Ass, it wouldn't surprise me if that walking luggage set had something to do with it.  I told the old man with the tool belt to take a break on the flask thing and sent my muse with him to go listen to the talk down at the Swamp Shack.  Maybe we'd get lucky and the two of them will hear something.

In the meantime, I'm keeping my eye on that yes-man down the road, just in case. 

If you have any info on Mischevious, do me a favor and let Eerie know? He's at 777-7777.

As for the writing thing, as I trudged home it hit me, those seven pages…yeah, they weren't going to work.  During the walk home, I steamed and stewed but at least I know where I'm going to actually start now. Problem is, Shadow's Soul needs to make it's way to my editor.  I haven't been very good at multi-tasking with this third book, so as frustrating as it is, it's going to the back burner while I stop procrastinating and buckle down for editing hell.  A few more tweaks and it should be a done deal.  Then on to book 3….

The Horrifying Blank Page…

So with 2012 off to a stumbling start and the fact that it coincides with the fact that I have to start an entire new book from scratch, I thought I'd drag you along each week as I trip my way down the writer's path of creation.

From previous entries you'll have noticed that I thought I was doing well.  I had what I thought was book 3 all plotted out.  I even used an actual outline this time around.  I was so puffed up with a sense of accomplishment, which lasted until I gathered at the Swamp Shack with some of the other Dwarves.  Then my puffiness deflated into an oozing pile of goo.

They weren't overly mean.  I mean I could hear Eerie whispering with Mischievous and only made out a few words: "How the Fur Flies might work", Quirky just kept saying over and over again, "No, no, no…", Smokey perked in with an occasional "Did you say you created a book tree? What's a book tree?", Jedi  just held onto her Yoda Zen-like opinion  of "Write, do not write, there is only plot" and Snarky, she kept stroking her whip while giving me the evil eye.  Seriously, really not the normal bloodbath but still…

After much debate, some ducking of flying objects I reluctantly had to admit that yes, this would make a fantastic book 4, and I needed to go back and not cheat my future readers and follow  (no spoilers allowed) this particular character for book 3.

So I spent a few days tossing sharp edged things at the wall to see what would stick.  I scratched out a new plot outline, which was similar to pulling teeth with no Novocain.   So now I have a plot that will work with the overall story arc but I can't get my opening scene to gel!

My typical application of Lady Clairol is just not up to the challenge of covering my spontaneous eruptions of white hair as I labor to bring forth the bestest opening scene ever.  However, this time instead of worrying over the bones of it, much like the hellhound and his decapitated duck from Christmas, I've given my self until this weekend to get it together.  Because come Swamp Gas or Zombie hordes, I will begin this book this weekend.