Kelly Jensen's Blog, page 16

January 5, 2018

2018

We made it!

2017 was a very busy year for me and perhaps one of my most productive. I wrote four books and edited five. I also published four books, all of which I loved writing and really enjoyed sharing.

I also won an award! My first ever, if I don’t count third place in a short story contest. Which I sort of do?

Block and Strike[image error] won the Rainbow Award for Best Bisexual Contemporary Romance. The judges’ comments were absolutely lovely and made me proud of my first solo novel, all over ag...

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Published on January 05, 2018 09:29

December 22, 2017

My Favourite Things 2017

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Here it is, my favourite blog post of the year, the one where I share all the things I fell in love with over the past twelve months.

For many of us, escapism became all the more important in 2017 as we searched for ways to deal with disappointment, disillusionment, and sometimes the sheer terror of what each day might bring. For me, the year started slowly with a lot of books, movies, and TV shows not living up to their potential. So I stepped outside of my comfort zone. Read things I might...

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Published on December 22, 2017 06:27

December 20, 2017

Love Can’t Be Arranged, a We Heart You! Interview

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We Heart You! is the magazine dedicated to Happy Ever Afters. Today, we’re talking to royalty! I’m here with King Luca and his consort, Eirian. Can you believe these two only met the day before their wedding? And they’re already settling into what we hope is a long (mythos-long) and happy life together.

WHY: Let’s talk first impressions! Can you tell us, each of you, what you were thinking the day you met for the first time?

Luca: I wondered if he understood how cars work.

Eirian: What?

Luca...

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Published on December 20, 2017 06:00

December 15, 2017

My Ongoing Affair with Nathan Drake

As usual, I’m going to start a post by talking about something only tangentially related. After falling for and having my heart broken by Alistair Theirin (Dragon Age: Origins) I actually came to quite like his character—as a friend. Always a friend. In fact, my favourite relationship with him was as the brother from another mother for my Warden, Aedan Cousland. I went on to write something like 600 thousand words of fan fiction after the game, most of which included their extremely close fri...

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Published on December 15, 2017 09:24

December 8, 2017

Block and Strike is a Rainbow Award Winner!

Block and Strike won the 2017 Rainbow Award for Best Bisexual Contemporary Romance!

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Block and Strike is my first solo novel and a book that will always be important to me for two very special reasons: Max and Jake. Max’s story is one I found very difficult to write. He’s not a typical hero, but his journey is one of strength and resolve. It’s my message to all of those who struggle to make noise. To live out loud.

Jake’s bisexuality is only one aspect of his character and not one I intended...

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Published on December 08, 2017 06:30

November 28, 2017

Counting the Days

When planning Counting on You, the third and final novella in the Counting series, I considered, briefly, making it another disaster story. But though it’d been fun to trap Marc and Henry in the past, what I really wanted to do was see if they could work as a couple. For as much as they’d connected during those first two “dates,” they weren’t ready to declare their hearts. Not quite yet.

I fully subscribe to the idea of love at first sight, first date, first kiss. The early blush of romance c...

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Published on November 28, 2017 05:54

November 22, 2017

It’s Release Day for Counting on You!

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If I had to choose a favourite book in the Counting series, it would probably be Counting Fence Posts because Henry was a character I really wanted to write. His story spoke to me in so many ways: the quirky habit of counting things, his long-held crush for co-worker Marc, why he’d been avoiding a serious relationship since college, and his ambition. As I got to know his family, I came to adore them too.

A couple is made up of two characters, though, and it didn’t take Marc long to become mo...

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Published on November 22, 2017 06:11

November 16, 2017

Read Uncommon Ground for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

If you’ve ever been curious about my books, now is a great time to try one! Uncommon Ground is now available FREE on Kindle Unlimited for US subscribers of the KU program.

Uncommon Ground was written as part of the Felice Stevens’ Memories with the Breakfast Club Kindle World, which brings together two of Felice Stevens much-loved series and a number of m/m authors. You can check out the rest of the series here.

Unfortunately, these books still aren’t available internationally. Until they are...

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Published on November 16, 2017 06:06

November 14, 2017

Teaser Tuesday: Counting on You

Counting on You, Henry and Marc’s chance at a happy ever after, releases next week! This is both a happy and sad occasion. Happy for you, because you get another adventure with my hapless accountants. Sad for me, because this is when I have to say goodbye. I love all my guys, but I have a particular fondness for these two. I didn’t expect to write more than one story for them. In fact, I didn’t expect to be writing them at all. Now I have to let them go.

I’m going to post a couple of teasers...

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Published on November 14, 2017 06:15

October 24, 2017

What I’ve Been Reading

How is it October already? Just last week (in August), I was thinking to myself: “You need to do another reading post.” I made a note in my planner and… turned the page. As always, I’ve been reading lots of awesome books, though. And, as always, I want to share the most awesome ones with you.

Descender, Vol. 1: Tin Stars by Jeff Lemire

[image error]The art caught my eye on this one. It’s an interesting style—less “comic” and more “fine art,” with swift lines and watercolour shades. It reminded me of anoth...

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Published on October 24, 2017 10:14