First Cup of Coffee – March 17, 2022




Transcript
00:00.00
jeffekennedy
Good morning everyone this is Jeffe Kennedy author of fantasy romance and romantic fantasy I’m here with my first cup of coffee.

00:13.81
jeffekennedy
Delicious. Today is Thursday March Seventeenth St Patrick’s day so I’m a wearing the green. Yes I am irish – irish and scot come back from a. Long line of irish and scottish immigrants I know the scottish isn’t relevant for ah St Patrick’s day but some of the things I am wearing like the earrings my green celtic knot earrings I actually got in Scotland but. I am drinking coffee today out of my green Jameson mug which I did buy at the jamison brewery distillery gift shop in Ireland. Was kind of funny because David and I went to the Jameson distillery which is now located outside of Dublin and I forget the name of the town that it’s in but we he had been fishing that morning and we’d gone to this really cool remote beach where he’d been fishing and it was a. Very gray and rainy day which it seemed like it always was in Ireland at least the whole time we were there and we went to the distillery on our what you know we thought oh well we might as well go do a distillery tour since it’s all gray and rainy and of course the cruise ship. Tour buses had chased us even there but we were there at a pretty good time but the tour was like $30 a person I mean to tour the distillery and we were like well fuck that shit. Didn’t want to say it that badly. So instead. We went to the gift shop and and we spent way too much money in the gift shop but we had cool things I know some people talk about ah you know like it’s for I don’t know if it’s still a thing I haven’t been invited to a wedding in a while. But there was a time where like the young people getting married had these things where they wanted experience stuff. So sorry I got a phone call the clinic from yesterday following up to see how I am I am fine. Um. So what was I saying about shopping at the gift shop jamison distillery game them I lost my train of thought. But anyway we bought things there. Oh the experience thing that it’s um, you know that there was.

02:52.60
jeffekennedy
Like there was this one couple who got married and they like went to his particular website where instead of buying them plates or you know, whatever on their wedding registry. You could buy them parasaling or something like that and they were all you know we want experiences more than we want things which. You know, fair enough? Whatever but I thought this was funny that we kind of traded things for the experience. It was like now we did not need the experience of touring the jamison distillery but we did buy whiskey and my coffee mug and. Got gifts for people and I got an amazing jamison umbrella which I almost never get to use here because I live in the desert and it doesn’t rain all the time it is snowing a little bit this morning bright light snow. So anyway, happy St Patrick’s day to you all. Always find it a good um celebration of irishness. It’s not much of a party thing for me but enjoy the the nod the nod to the ancestors. So. Um, my week is going well the revised schedule of going for 2000 words a day you guys it feels downright luxurious. It’s just it’s amazing. How luxurious it feels and i’m. I mean I’m sure I’ll get used to it but I almost feel a little bit at loose ends because I’m not exhausted when I’m done so now I may be able to just start getting to some of this business stuff. But I think I’m so used to not getting to some of the business stuff that it’s it’s kind of unusual. No writer coffee today because all of my people are busy doing other things which people are out of town and taking classes and I don’t know what all they’re doing. But. So I’m trying to think if I have much to say today. Um, yesterday was kind of a funny day because you know I I think I mentioned on Tuesday that I’d go get the colonoscopy Darynda and I were laughing about it because I told her. My joke that you know I was saying you know a girl never forgets her first colonoscopy and Darynda was laughing and laughing and I was saying you know at least she gets me because other people are just like well I I guess you wouldn’t but and durantda thought it was so funny and she told her sister when she got there and k neverters.

05:39.27
jeffekennedy
You know she told Netters the joke and net is is like well yeah I guess you wouldn’t forget, you’re you know, getting a colonoscopy and it’s like during it’s like no you joke get the joke so you know at least we get each other um finished book 5 of the 7 waters series and started book 6 I guess I start today say that yesterday was kind of a funny day because I did log out by about one thirty and went on my way to to get my first colonoscopy and then afterwards just you know, got home around four thirty or 5 and kind of. David got takeout from harry’s roadhouse for us and I just kind of veged and I generally feel pretty good that that was actually the phone call I got oh I said that that the clinic was calling to follow up. So I guess that was nice. They said drive questions. It’s like what questions could there be. And everything’s fine. But so I do feel kind of bad segueing into the medical stuff. But then somebody out there commented saying that it was timely on hearing about the trials and tribulations of the medical stuff too. So I figure. All fair here at first cup of coffee. We talk about writing we talk about getting our colonoscopies. It’s that everything’s out on the table here. Yeah oh and I just remembered something else I need to do hold on. So yeah I’m getting closer to committing to. Setting a preorder date for storm princess and the Raven King since I’m feeling so much better I would set it for doing this at the two k per day schedule at my current rate. If I can sustain this which so far it’s feeling pretty sustainable. Um I could yeah have it out by the end of may which is a bet since it’s mid -march now it that I would make it a nice luxurious end of may date like may thirty first possibly except that’s the day that st martin’s releases all their paperbacks. There was considerable debate yesterday among a couple different groups of Jennifer L Armentrout

08:20.78
jeffekennedy
Massively successful author of fantasy romance started out in paranormal romance and then like many have sort of segued more into the fantasy romance. Um, and I’ve I’ve met Jennifer and she’s ah she’s a delightful person that. For those of you who haven’t been around for a dinosaurs age which I’m starting to feel like um Stephanie Prater high Stephanie a very sweet person I believe her nickname is the care bear reminded me that it was my author birthday yesterday. So these girls celebrate. The anniversary of their first publication and I couldn’t even remember what I had officially said was I was trying to figure out what my author book day would be and so I went with the publication of my first book which was wyoming trucks. True love and the weather channel. Which turned out to have an official publication date of March Sixteenth ah two thousand and four which is a funny thing because I actually had copies of the book I remember this that I had copies of the book in like November and I did. Book signings. You know what I should put a photo I’m not put a photo on the podcast of me you could see baby Jeffe um I’d look so young to myself now signing that book at my book launch event in Laramie Wyoming at my favorite local indie bookstore where. My best friend was the manager and all of our friends came because it was a small town and it was winter and there was nothing else to do. My mother came up for it. She gave me a beautiful necklace as a celebratory celebratory gift and then we had a party at a bar afterwards. We didn’t. Like have the bar totally closed off but it was mostly us I don’t remember it was a week night and winter and we we catered in food and it was such a fun party. It was you know like all my writer friends and other friends from around town and it was a great time. But anyway I know that that was well before March maybe it was January I wonder if this photo says let me look well interesting. It looks like that signing was on March first two thousand and four so we did a little ahead of the release date but not as much as I thought but. Ah, tell you what you guys Laramie Wyoming March first might as well have been I mean that’s dead of winter still one of the reasons why I don’t miss living there. You’ll see in that photo though that I’m wearing a ah long gray cashmere dress.

11:07.71
jeffekennedy
Which was one that my mom gave me there used to be a store. Do you remember that mom. There was like a store that was like all cashmere stuff I don’t remember what it was called and it it was very expensive I loved that dress. Loved that dress. Um, it was way too hot. To wear in Santa Fe I remember wearing it all the time me and moved here. It was like it was way too hot and the thing about living here is we have mots and if you have something that is 100 % wool or something like that with no acrylic in it at all even a little bit acrylic will save it. But the mas will get to the wo and I’ve got like cedar things everywhere and they still get to it and they put holes in it. It broke my heart I have a couple other things that the moths got to and yeah, once once you get those gaping holes and stuff I don’t think there’s much you can do about it. So now. Let’s see what date. That was I mean day of the week I know I don’t have to tell you guys I’m pausing but I don’t know have it. Okay, it wasn’t monday did I say that already I think the photo properties even said that it was a Monday I just I didn’t register that properly. Yeah. Monday March First two thousand and four so um author birthday on that March Sixteenth being the official book release eighteen years and so yeah, they were joking about. Whether or not my writing career could drink it and they’re they’re really wonderful and it’s you know I get I get asked a lot how I celebrate things and it turns out I don’t celebrate things enough so it’s cool to celebrate that. Although I was noting that my very first publication was in 97 and I meant to look for the exact date of that so hold on. Oh it didn’t pass. Did you see that. But.

13:16.59
jeffekennedy
Make sure it unpaused since it was being I don’t know I think if I pause too many times it gets sticky. Um, so first publication wyoming magazine and it says winter 1998 but this is the weird thing about magazines is. Because I know it came out in 9097 because I have that written down what’s interesting and I did not remember this is that it the byline is Jennifer Kennedy which is my actual name I mean Jeffe everybody calls me Jeffe but there it is. Wyoming Trucks, True love, and the Weather Channel which I then it titled the essay collection after this. So this was the very first publication. So in that case it means it would probably be sometime late this fall probably November or December I don’t have an exact date for this one. Will be 25 years 25 years and then this was my first like more this North Carolina literary review this was in 1998 but I don’t have an exact date on it and this was um. And know as I share pages with Lee Smith that was pretty cool. Ah. Yeah, but this was I was looking for the exact story was um, inheritances and I don’t know what they put it under oral history in North Carolina because this was about oh there it is inheritances poetry and prose and this is Jeffe Kennedy I think that Jennifer Kennedy was a mistake I think maybe I sent stuff out under that name says it was my legal name and I think I learned my lesson. Just not even to offer them Jennifer because they would like go to that. Oh I even had it marked huh with my mom’s this is this is a blast from the past I won’t show it because identity theft type stuff but this is a card mom. Um, will take a photo of this and send it to you that says for Kathy and Leo Kennedy and their address and home phone number and ah an email address for both of them. My mom still has this email address and a.

15:47.20
jeffekennedy
Number that tells you something. Okay and so then there’s Inheritances and it seemed like I was going to show you guys 1 other thing. Oh I’ll I’ll show you one other thing since we’re doing show and tell. Okay, so this is the big milestone one two thousand when I had an essay in Redbook. Me and Faith Hill and so this was my story that was in there Ambushed by Love not my title they didn’t even clear that title with me but they paid me a dollar a word. $3000 for one essay I have books that have not made that much money. Those were the days. So. So yeah I have all of these magazines I have like a copy of like all of the stuff that I had my short work in. So. Author birthday dayss I guess that’s how I got off on that. It’s it’s not clear to me how to measure that and I guess that was why I picked the publication of the book because you know magazines you wouldn’t have an exact date that those came out but yeah 25 years since um. Got those first publications and decided that but it was longer ago than that that I decided that I didn’t want to be a scientist and wanted to be a writer so you know it’s interesting because the the girls were all being lovely and congratulating me and. Saying you know mad respect for a long career which I’ve come to appreciate is is an important thing because there are so many people now that I look back friends who were writers over these last twenty five years that fell away that did not stick with writing. It’s not easy to stick with. So so there’s that I didn’t finish talking about Jennifer L. Armentrout that was how I got started on this because I knew her forever ago and there was this whole thing for a while there because there was another Jennifer Armintrout who was published at the same time I think she was m I n. Um, ah Armintrout and she changed her name to Jenny Trout and she even had like this big essay that she put up about how like Jennifer L Armentrout stole her career because they were published at the same time and had the same name and and then she became Jenny Trout and I think Jenny Trout is out there still but I would remember when they were still Jennifer Armintrout I would remember them because Jennifer L Armentrout was love because she’s delightful person and every time I met her. She was wonderful to be around and.

18:37.46
jeffekennedy
So she came out with a book on Tuesday and her wildly wildly successful series that I forget it’s like I tell you what you guys I can’t keep these titles straight you know ashen something courts and blood and whatever. And I started to read the first book I didn’t really get into it. But you know I wish Jennifer? Well she is. She’s you know deserves every bit of success. But apparently there was a big pile on that people were readers were disappointed in some aspect and Jennifer. Holds them and this is all like third hand at this point I think because I heard it from other people who I think heard it from other people. Some might have heard it seen it happening but like in her fan groups and stuff people were complaining about. I don’t know like emotional infidelity between the characters and that they were upset by that which romance readers will get very upset about and she apparently said that they were reading it wrong which you just don’t get to say that as an author you can think it. And you can vent to your friends and you can be like how stupid are these people but because sometimes it is frustrating because readers will be like well obviously it was this this and this and it’s like no actually you read that wrong, but you don’t get to say it. Ah and. Is there such a thing as wrong. Arguably no I mean once you release that creation into the world. Ah you know readers take it in and transform it and make it and knock over their coffee cups I did not it was close. So. Still some coffee in there. Um, you know you kind of have to let go of it. But anyway, um, you know there’s a thing that happens when authors become very very successful where people somehow stop regarding them as being human beings and. Reader um, um, I’m not getting burlint I don’t know why it’s and but nobody stops being a human being nobody reaches a point of success where they no longer feel. The. The slings and arrows right? Um yes, you can be disappointed in a work totally prerogative as a reader certainly has happened to me like I said I didn’t get into this series I can think that Jennifer is a lovely person and not love this particular series.

21:20.72
jeffekennedy
But you know try to keep that in mind you guys that especially if you’re tagging authors on stuff or doing very high profile things. It can be this big pile on and everybody loves the attention clicks and all of that but remember that this is a human being. And think about whether you would actually sit there and say these things to her face and that she might cry because because we feel it you know that’s that’s part of being a creative. So on that note I’m gonna go be creative. Do my thing. Hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and I will talk to you all tomorrow take care bye bye.