Julia Kelly's Blog, page 25
December 15, 2015
TBR Buster: Holiday 2015 Edition
I was having a drink with Tamsen Parker and Suleikha Snyder on Sunday (just as you’ve suspected authors do get together to hang out and it’s the most fun), and we were bemoaning the fact that we don’t read as much as we used to. Writing is wonderful and we love it, but it does eat away at those long afternoons when all you do is sit on the couch or in bed and read.
Despite the fact that I will be writing over this holiday season, I will have a lot more time on my hands because I won’t be working. Growing up in a family of readers means that we’re all happy to sit around and read quietly in each other’s company, so I plan to get a lot of reading done and catch up on my to be read pile—especially when it comes to historicals.
Here’s a look at what’s waiting for me on my Kindle:
Once Upon a Marquess, by Courtney Milan
Fool Me Twice, by Meredith Duran
Cold-Hearted Rake, by Lisa Kleypas
A Virtuous Ruby, by Piper Huguley
Under the Sugar Sun, by Jennifer Hallock
Claiming the Duchess, by Sherry Thomas
Love and Other Scandals, by Caroline Linden
Tagged: book list, Christmas, historical, holiday, reading, romance novels, TBR
December 5, 2015
One Week in December and More
It’s a little cliche, but aren’t the holidays crazy? I’ve been on deadline working on a new series of three Victorian governess books for Pocket Star (coming out late next year!) as well as getting myself together to travel to London for Christmas. And, naturally, amid all of that I’ve also released a new book!
In honor of the holidays, the women behind One Week in Love have released a short, sweet anthology of stories called One Week in December. Since I now spend my Christmases in London, I decided to set my story “Kiss Me at Midnight” in my adopted home away from home. I hope you enjoy a little romance in December!
Speaking of holidays, First Draught spends every December talking about the one subject we may love more than writing: food. Elisabeth Lane was kind enough to come on and speak to us about her holiday traditions (and share some tips and tricks for getting through all of the cooking). You can check out the video on YouTube or by subscribing to our First Draught iTunes and Soundcloud page.
You can also get some more holiday ideas from Elisabeth’s First Draught holiday foods Pinterest board. It includes her banana fosters waffles recipe which sounds amazing and I can’t wait to try.
And finally, I’m going to spread some holiday cheer and share one of my favorite recipes that I always make for Christmas.
Cranberry Orange Bread
Adapted from The Silver Palette Cookbook
Ingredients
2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
½ c sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2/3 c fresh orange juice
2 eggs
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
½ c coarsely chopped walnuts
1¼ c cranberries, fresh is best but frozen works
2 tsp grated orange zest
Directions
Grease or use non-stick spray on an 8 x 4½ x 3 inch loaf pan.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl.
Mix in the orange juice, eggs and melted butter until all together, but do not overmix.
Fold in the walnuts, cranberries and orange zest carefully.
Pour into pan and bake on center rack for 45 to 50 minutes, or until knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove.
Allow to cool completely then wrap and store for a day or two before serving or giving away.
Tagged: First Draught, holidays, One Week in December, recipe Elisabeth Lane
October 13, 2015
The Lady Always Wins, XOXOConnects, and More!
If you’ve been following me on social media, you know that I’m right in the middle (literally) of writing book two of a three book trilogy about Victorian governesses that’s tentatively set to release next year. It’s been a busy, busy fall already but I’m poking my head out of the writing cave today to share a few more things that I think are pretty exciting.
“The Lady Always Wins”
First off, I’ve got a new short story up on Wattpad! “The Lady Always Wins” is a super fast read jam-packed with a rake, spinster, some kissing, and a big confession. I had a blast writing it, and I hope you’ll enjoy reading it too. If you do, please give me a vote and leave a comment! That helps other readers on Wattpad find “The Lady Always Wins” too.
#XOXOConfessions
I wrote “The Lady Always Wins” because my publisher, Pocket Star, is hosting a writing competition for readers that’s going on right now. All you have to do is write up a quick short story (2000 words or less) and post it to Wattpad using the tag #XOXOConfessions. The grand prize is a publishing contract with Pocket Star, the digital-first imprint of Simon & Schuster! Full details are available here, and definitely check out the stories already posted to vote for your favorite!
#XOXOConfessions is actually part of the bigger XOXOConnects all-day readerfest that’s happening right on your computer Oct. 24 from 12-8! Writers, editors, and bloggers will be hosting Q&As, teaching workshops, and celebrating everything romance. It’s all digital so you don’t even have to get out of your PJs if you don’t want to.
I’ll be on the historical roundtable with Sabrina Jeffries, Meredith Duran, and Candace Camp at 5 p.m. EST. It’s running on Google Hangouts just like my First Draught show does, so be sure to watch live!
The entire schedule of events has been posted (and includes some huge names in romance). You definitely don’t want to miss this one!
That’s the latest from me. It’s back to the writing cave for now!
Tagged: #XOXOConfessions, Candace Camp, digital, flash fiction, free read, Google Hangouts, historical, Meredith Duran, online, Pocket Books, Pocket Star, reader conference, romance, Sabrina Jeffries, short story, The Lady Always Wins, Wattpad, XOXO After Dark, XOXOConnects
September 1, 2015
Getting It Together with Workflowy
All this week the Get It Together Blog Hop is featuring authors revealing their tips, tricks, and secrets for staying on top of constantly moving deadlines, promotional efforts, beta reading, social media, basically everything. Today I’m talking about a new tool that I started using this summer to keep myself organized after my traditional to do list just wasn’t cutting it.
I’m going to give you a little context for what my writing/real person life looks like right now:
I’m an author of writing under two pen names (Julia Kelly for contemporary and historical romance and Vivienne Thorne for Victorian erotic romance).
I run First Draught, a monthly writing chat show, with Alexis Anne and Mary Chris Escobar.
I have a day job in journalism where I’m a news editor which means keeping on top of a staff of reporters and managing various projects.
My immediate family all lives in the UK. I do not. Hello, juggling time differences.
I have a lot of friends I like to see frequently including a newborn for whom I’m an honorary “we’re not related by blood but she’s going to call me her auntie” aunt.
I’m single and dating in NYC.
I like to have clean clothes, food in the fridge, eat and drink well, and go to the gym a few times a week.
I also like to have the occasional weekend off where all I do is soak in a tub, read, and turn into a raisin.
I’ve got a lot of stuff going on, just like EVERY SINGLE WRITER I’VE EVER MET. Kids, day job, multiple pen names, family stuff, medical stuff, we’re all dealing with some combination of things that pull us in lots of directions. We’re also a creative bunch, and we tend to overextend ourselves which can be a great thing when those elusive plot bunnies go hopping through our heads. But stray too far off the path, and everything comes crashing down because you’ve forgotten or neglected things that had to get done.
Becoming a serious, career-oriented writer means sucking it up and becoming an Olympic gold medalist at time management just to keep your head above water. I’ve done okay with it in the past. I was lucky enough to get all of my professional training as a TV news producer working with a team while multitasking to meet two show deadlines a day. It meant keeping a lot of balls in the air all at once, and I was good at it.
On my busiest days, I mostly survived off of a very extensive calendar and a meticulous to do list. But this summer, even I had to admit that I needed help because my old methods weren’t cutting it. I had way more things on my to do list than normal because of a serial I was rolling out under my Vivienne Thorne name that every day stuff like “Pick up dry cleaning” and “Take recycling out” were getting lost on my list. (That’s right, I was so crazy this summer that I made notes to shower, take out the trash, and take out the recycling. It was like being back in college during hell week.)
And then Alexis Anne linked to a promo for a free trial for WorkFlowy. The site and app are supposed to supercharge your to do lists. I was skeptical because I’ve never found an organizational tool that really works the way I think. However, when I started using Workflowy, I fell in love because IT LOOKS LIKE MY BRAIN.
My brain is a scary but organized place.
What this program does is it allows you to create lists within lists. Within lists. Within lists. I could go on and on, and it’s a beautiful thing.
If you take a look at the graphic above, you can see a little bit of my Julia Kelly to do list (the non-confidential stuff). The first set of bullets are large categories: Personal, Weekend Plan (ie the monster wish list of things I want to do on the weekend of which I wind up achieving only about a third), Work, Julia Kelly, and so on. Within the Julia Kelly sublist, I group all the things related to that pen name. I have a list of things I’m currently writing, what I owe my agent, Emily, and then individual book projects. Each of these subsections gets subsections of their own, just like the newsletter bullet point.
Basically what I’m doing here is creating a hierarchy all within the same massive to do list. If I know that I need to prioritize work on my historical governess series, I can close out the other bullet points and just focus on that task list. I don’t need to think about newsletters at that moment, so I can walk away from it until I need to get that newsletter out to my readers. And, hey, when I do I’ll remember that I wanted to include links to new works by Alexis Anne, T.J. Kline, Lia Riley, and Serena Bell because I nested that note under Newsletters. If something’s really pressing, I can hashtag it #NOW. That link becomes clickable, and I can see all of the things that must get done now. I also have #Weekend and #September hashtags for short-term projects a few days to a few weeks out.
When a project is done, I click “completed” on its little round bullet point. Then, on Sunday night, I go through my entire list and delete all of the completed items. This gives me a sense of what I accomplished this week (even if a lot of them are things like “Pick up shoes from cobbler”), and sets me up for the next week.
And the best part is that all of this syncs to my work and personal phones as well thanks to the Workflowy app.
So that is what my brain looks like. Groups, subgroups, hierarchies, and prioritization all in once place that’s searchable by hashtags. Since I’ve started using the app, I’ve found that I’m no longer searching for all of the tasks I need to do for my Seduction in the Snow release because they’re all grouped together rather than scattered across my unwieldy to do list. It means I’m a losing less time hunting down things I’ve dropped the ball on and (hopefully) more time enjoying a well earned drink at the end of the day.
Don’t forget to check out the other authors on today’s stretch of the blog hop!
Shari Slade
Karen Booth
Derek Hawkins
Rebecca Grace Allen
Jodie Griffin
And make sure to enter to win a ton of prizes including enough romance novels to keep you busy for awhile!
Tagged: organization; time management; to do list; writing; process; calendars; Workflowy; app
August 7, 2015
COVER REVEAL: Seduction in the Snow
It’s Friday (the best day of the week), so why not reveal a new cover? I’m rereleasing my One Week in Wyoming novella as its own book Seduction in the Snow on October 6th!
Isn’t it pretty? I love the cover couple so much! Here’s a look at what you can expect:
Lydia Reed’s had her heart stomped on one too many times, so when the gorgeous, glasses-wearing Evan Sullivan winds up at the same Wyoming lodge as her she sees the chance for the a short, hot fling with a definite end date. There’s only one problem: Evan. He might have agreed to their just-for-fun romance, but just a few days with her and he wants more. Now he must convince the headstrong writer that falling for him is worth the risk.
There isn’t just romance in this one. There’s a cute first kiss in the snow and a steamy (literally) hot tub scene for you too!
You can preorder Seduction in the Snow for 99c at all major retailers now. Again, the book comes out on October 6th!
Amazon | iBooks | Kobo | B&N | Smashwords
Tagged: contemporary, novel, novella, One Week in Wyoming, rerelease, romance, Seduction in the Snow, snow, winter
July 9, 2015
Drinking at RWA
It’s no big secret that a lot of the social life at RWA Nationals centers around the hotel bar (even if you aren’t a drinker, come hang out with a soda). As great as the hotel bar can be, sometimes you want to get out of the conference hotel and experience something a little different. Since RWA 15 is in New York City and I’m a New Yorker, I thought I’d throw together some recommendations for bars really close to the Marriott Marquis. Anything with a star is a personal recommendation.
*Pony Bar – 45th & 10th (craft beer)
*Beer Culture – 45th & 8th (craft beer)
The Jolly Monk – 48th & 9th (beer, waffle sliders
Gaf West – 48th & 9th (dive)
Valhalla – 54th & 9th (beer & food)
*Lillie’s – 49th & 8th (Victorian cocktail bar)
The Rum House – 47th & 8th (cocktail bar)
Casellula – 52nd & 9th (wine bar)
Briciola – 51st & 9th (wine bar)
*St. Andrews – 46th & 7th (scotch)
If I have enough time before the conference, I’ll try to throw together a list of some restaurants in the Hells Kitchen area that you might want to try.
Tagged: bars, beer, cocktails, conference, drinking, Marriott Marquis, Midtown, nationals, New York City, Romance Writers of America, RWA, scotch, Times Square, wine
June 30, 2015
COVER REVEAL: Of Demons & Stones
Anne L. Parks is celebrating a big cover reveal today! Check out this gorgeous cover by Book Beautiful who always does incredible work.
Summary
Kylie Tate is highly successful and focused on her future. No one sees the fear that consumes her, ravaged by demons from a past that left her distrustful of love.
Alex Stone is rarely denied. Not by business associates, and certainly not the women he dates and forgets. Romance is never an option. That is until beautiful, sexy, too damned independent Kylie comes into his life and frustrates the hell out of him. She sparks a desire in him to protect her from the one demon that haunts her – and threatens to destroy them both.
Pushed to her limit and unwilling to be a victim any longer, Kylie takes control of her life.
But a madman’s quest for revenge not only threatens to destroy the love she has finally found – but also her life.
You can preorder Of Demons & Stones on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1egnTOX
Tagged: Anne L. Parks, contemporary, cover reveal, novel, romance, series
Something New
Sometimes authors like to stretch their wings and try something totally new. I’ve published contemporary romance and I’ve written plenty of historical, but this spring I decided I wanted a new challenge. I wanted to try my hand at writing serials – the fast-paced books published in installments that my friend Alexis Anne is so good at. Most successful serials recently have been contemporary, so why not try something historical? I wrote my first “episode” and, because I was trying out the new genre of erotic romance, I picked another pen name: Vivienne Thorne.
Today I’m happy to finally introduce you to Lady Killane, the heroine of my Vivienne Thorne The Lady Taken erotic romance serial. A widow of five years, Lady Killane has turned the money her husband left her into a little empire of cotton mills in the north of England. She’s happily remained unmarried, instead taking on young men as lovers all while carefully keeping her fortune out of their hands. She is living the life that she wants. A life of freedom.
Naturally, our hero has to be the kind of man who can challenge Lady Killane – an alpha pushing an alpha. She finds that staring down the barrel of Wolf’s pistol after her carriage is beset by highwaymen on the Yorkshire moors. Wolf is a frustrating, mysterious man. A rough and tumble criminal with a hidden past, he rules over his men with strict determination. However, Lady Killane seems to draw out a passion in them neither of them fully understand.
If your historical romance tastes run a little darker and a little steamier, I invite you to try out The Lady Taken. Going forward I’ll be keeping these two pen names separate, but for today I’m inviting you to step over into Vivienne’s world for something a little different.
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Fnn4di
iBooks: http://apple.co/1B8m37T
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1FE1tUl
Vivienne Thorne’s Newsletter: http://bit.ly/TLTnewsletter
Tagged: alpha, book, erotic romance, erotica, highwayman, reading, romance, romance novel, serial, sexy, Victorian
June 3, 2015
TBR Buster: Vacation Reading
I’m reading down my TBR this coming week because I’m heading on what should be a gorgeous vacation to London and Spain (I can’t wait!). Here’s a look at what I’m looking forward to that’s been sitting in my TBR pile. And yes, it’s an ambitious list…
Signal Boost, by Alyssa Cole
I’ve been waiting to read Alyssa Cole’s new book Signal Boost for what feels like ages now (and luckily she’s a very tolerant friend who hasn’t given me grief for it). This is book 2 in her Off the Grid series after an excellent start with Radio Silence, and it picks up John’s M/M romance.
Fortune’s Pawn, by Rachel Bach
I don’t read SciFi normally, but I was so charmed by Rachel Bach/Rachel Abbot on the Dear Bitches, Smart Authors podcast last week that I went ahead and bought Fortune’s Pawn on the strength of awesome personality. And I can’t wait to get reading!
Break Me In, by Shari Slade
Shari Slade and Amber Lin were kind enough to invite me along to the Bisexual Book Awards this weekend (where they won Best Romance!). While I was there, I told Shari that her first installment in this serial Ride Me Hard made me blush on the subway. She just laughed at my subway embarrassment. This is a dirty, dirty series and it’s so good.
The Brightest Day: A Juneteenth Historical Romance Anthology, by Kianna Alexander, Alyssa Cole, Lena Hart, & Piper Huguley
I read an early draft of Alyssa Cole’s Civil Rights Movement novella in this anthology and thought it was moving and sexy (the hero is just…yes). Naturally I’m so curious to read the rest of the anthology which are all spread out in different historical eras.
Off the Edge, by Carolyn Crane
Against the Dark did incredible, wrong things to me. I think I just sat on my bed and stared at my Kindle when I was done with it. And now I’ve been promised an even more incredible book in the RITA winning Off the Edge. I’m not sure I’m ready for the awesomeness.
Love and Other Scandals, by Caroline Linden
Caroline Linden has been on my TBR list for a year or so. What makes it even better is that I’m a sucker for a historical heroine busting out and deciding to have a little adventure all while recruiting a roguish family friend to help her.
Beyond Shame, by Kit Rocha
I haven’t read a single Kit Rocha book, and I think it’s about time to change that. I’m starting at the beginning of the Beyond series (and have a lot of books to catch up on I decide that like the book).
Intimate Geography, by Tamsen Parker
I read Tamsen Parker’s first book, Personal Geography, earlier this year and loved it. It’s raw, dark, dirty erotic romance, and it has a take-your-breath-away ending. I’ve been clamoring to get Intimate Geography into my TBR for a few weeks now and find out what happens next.
The Story of a New Name, by Elena Ferrante
This is the second book in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels. I read her and Karl Ove Knausgaard back to back and fell in love with both authors. I’ve been looking forward to sinking back into Ferrante’s beautiful prose and reading more about the intertwining lives of Lila and Elena as they mature.
H is for Hawk, by Helen Macdonald
This book has been recommended to me by more people than any other this year. It’s supposed to be a gorgeous memoir (a genre I don’t usually go for) all centered around a woman training a goshawk and dealing with the death of her father.
Tagged: beach reads, books, contemporary romance, erotic romance, historical romance, literary fiction, memoir, reading, recommendations, romance, SciFi, TBR, vacation
May 27, 2015
#RWA15: Getting to the Hotel
After the great #RWA1st conversation on Twitter yesterday, I realized that a lot of people have questions about getting to the RWA 15 conference hotel. The good news is that the hotel is in the middle of Times Square which means pretty much every subway line heads there and every cab driver will know exactly where you’re headed.
Here’s some information to help get you around NYC and to the Marriott Marquis in July. Please remember that all of this information should be checked and double checked. I’m writing this purely base on experience or memory, so if any New Yorkers have easier ways of getting to and from locations, feel free to contact me for an update or leave a comment below.
Getting a Cab
If you’re hailing on the street or are not using a reservation service like Uber or Dial 7, stick to yellow cabs.* All you have to do is give the cabbie your cross streets (we don’t operate in addresses in NYC) which for the RWA conference hotel is 45th and Broadway.** You can also tell the driver that you’re headed to the Marriott Marquis in Times Square and they should know where you’re going.
From LaGuardia and JFK, the cabs will charge you a flat rate plus tolls and tip. It is common to tip 15-20% for most rides. Yellow cabs have credit card machines in the back of them now.
There are taxi stands at all airports and train stations. If you’re at Penn Station or Grand Central Station, you can also hail off the street. Cabs that have their central light lit up are free. If there’s no light on, it means they are engaged and will not stop for you. Know that shift changes and rush hour can be tricky for hailing a cab (around 4:30-5 PM). Also, it’s not a lie that there’s never a free cab when it’s raining.
Cabs aren’t cheap, but they’re your easiest option. They are what I use when I fly because I’d rather suck it up, pay the flat rate, and know that I’m not relying on the MTA. Splitting cabs can make them much more affordable.
* You’ll also see green cabs that look like yellow cabs. Those are outer borough taxis and are not supposed to pick up on the streets in most of Manhattan.
**New Yorkers give address street first and then avenue. For instance, if you’re heading to 45th Street and 7th Avenue, you would say, “45th and 7th.” Broadway is considered an avenue, hence “45th and Broadway” for the Marriott Marquis.
Uber/Shuttles/Etc.
Uber, private car service, and shuttles are also possibilities from the airport. My experience is that shuttles are a little less expensive than taking a cab but takes you longer. Uber’s rates are variable, so you might want to double check before you order one. There are booking desks at the airports for shuttles, but you probably want to reserve in advance.
Public Transportation
LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia is the closest airport geographically to Manhattan. It’s also arguably the biggest pain to get to and from on public transportation. There is no train. Don’t look for one. Instead, you’re going to want to take the M60 SBS Bus headed to 125th Street. There should be signage directing you to pick up the bus. I believe that the bus is now a select bus which means that there may be vending machines where you pay before you board and then pick up a receipt rather than pay with change or a MetroCard on board.
Get off at the Hoyt Ave/31st St subway station and take the N/Q Train headed for Manhattan. Get off at the 49th Street station. Then it’s a short walk to the conference hotel.
JFK International Airport
For public transit from JFK, you’re going to want to hop on the AirTrain. The train will take you to the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue Station where you can pick up the E train heading into Manhattan. You would take the E all the way to 42nd St-Port Authority station and then walk to the conference hotel.
Newark International Airport
I’m going to be totally honest here. I’ve never taken public transportation to Newark because I don’t fly out of Newark. Here’s a link to the Port Authority of NY-NJ’s recommendation. If someone is a Newark public transit authority, please leave a comment if you have any other advice.
Penn Station
You can easily hail a cab at Penn Station, just make your way outside. The main entrance on 7th Ave. has a proper yellow cab stand. You can also hail a cab on the street (8th Avenue is a good spot too since you’ll be heading uptown in the right direction).
If you want to take the subway (which I would recommend unless it’s during rush hour and you’re carrying lots of luggage), you can hop on the train inside Penn Station.* You’ll want to take the 1/2/3 or the A/C/E uptown. The stop you’re looking for on the 1/2/3 is Times Sq-42nd St and on the A/C/E it’s called 42nd St-Port Authority.
Trains run local and express sometimes. This shouldn’t matter for you as Times Square is a major hub and all of the trains will stop there no matter if they’re running local or express.
*You’ll need to buy a single-ride Metrocard at the vending machines in the subway area of the station. I believe it’s $2.50.
Grand Central Station
This one is really easy, guys. Just take the shuttle (which is part of the subway system and is noted by a grey S on signs). All this train does is go from Grand Central to Times Square and back, so you can’t mess it up.
Resources
MTA subway maps & transit updates: mta.info
HopStop: hopstop.com
Tagged: 2015, airport, conference, getting to the hotel, Grand Central, JFK, LaGuardia, Marriott Marquis, New York City, Penn Station, RWA, transportation 
