RITA ® Award-Winning Author of Fantasy Romance
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Spring has sprung here fully into summer and the flowers are so lovely! This is my pink anemone clematis that I’m training to climb up the grape vine in the arbor. Love how it’s coming along!
Our topic this week at the SFF Seven is “How do you come up with your titles?” Come on over for a long and involved story of one of my titles!
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It’s starting to be spring here. One of the things I love about the early blossoms like these crocus is how they push up from the bracken, surprising me with their sudden spots of color.
I’ve been writing a new character, the first scientist heroine I’ve had since Gwynn in Covenant of Thorns. This one is working as a scientist for her profession, and it’s interesting to get back in that head of a person who meticulously observes and understands nature. I used to be that person, back when I was working on my PhD in Zoology & Physiology. Now I’m thinking about stuff like form and function again, and how organisms fit into an ecosystem. I’ve even been pulling my books on natural history off the shelf to bring those parts of my brain out of the coma they’ve been in all these years. It’s like I’m turning on the lights in a wing of the castle I closed off long ago. The chimneys are belching smoke, lots of dusting to do – but I also rediscovering a lot of great stuff I forget was stored in there.
This is the collaboration I’ve been working on. I’ve been pretty close to the vest about it, but it’s looking like this will happen! My collaborator is Jim Sorenson, who comes from a graphic novel/Transformers/GI Joe background. He lives in Albuquerque (an hour away) with his wife, who is a kick-ass trauma surgeon. Jim brings a whole other element of storytelling to the table, plus he’s experienced in working as part of a team, so he’s incredibly indulgent of my process. He’s also *really* good at observing world rules, so he’s become my walking story bible. I’ve often said I didn’t think I could collaborate with someone else on a book – because I like things MY WAY – but this has been a terrific experience. And fun!
It’s also been a stretch for me, creatively and craft-wise. It reminds me of when I went from writing short – essays and short stories – to writing novels, and I felt like I had to learn to write all over again. This has been a bit like that, learning to develop a story with another brain in the mix.
So, we pitched an idea to Agent Sarah, and we’ve been working it up with her feedback. Jim has now signed with her, too, so we can run all the legalities of the collaboration through the agency. We just finished up another draft and sent it to her to read. That’s one of the “future project balls” I’ve been juggling that I mentioned in my Sunday post at the SFF Seven. Fingers crossed we can go on submission with it soon!
In the meanwhile, LONEN’S WAR and LAST DANCE are on sale for 99 cents right now. (You can also get one of those free if you want to sign up for my newsletter.) Share that news around if you like! 
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Our topic this week at the SFF Seven – the challenge of maintaining a writing schedule and trying to prepare for future business – is an apropos one for me right now.
Because, boy howdy, have I been wrestling this particular challenge lately. Come on over for more!
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I’m still digging out and organizing photos from the RWA National Conference. But here’s me with my agent, the lovely Sarah Younger. Along with her many savvy business skills, she sports an excellent selfie game.
While I was away at conference, Heroes & Heartbreakers ran a post of mine on the Language of Praise. This is a topic I’ve been mulling for some time, and discussing with people like the thoughtful and insightful Campbell award finalist Kelly Robson. I’d love for you all to check out the article and give me feedback. I’m working up a couple of follow-up segments with specific ideas, so I’m all ears!
(I found it really hard – read: impossible – to comment on the article myself because Captcha wouldn’t let me through. If the same happens to you, please comment here!)
I’ve finished revisions on THE SHIFT OF THE TIDE, and it’s off to the copy editor. I’m really happy with how the story turned out. I feel a little superstitious saying that, but some stories worm their way into your heart more than others. Marskal and Zynda’s tale did that for me and I’m stepping out of their world again with some regret.
But it’s a short step over to the novella I’m diving into today. THE SNOWS OF WINDROVEN is a follow-on to Ash and Ami’s thread, in the same timeline. I’m telling it from Ash’s point of view (POV), which is a first for this series. Except for a short piece I did from Rayfe’s POV for a conference challenge, I haven’t yet written from any of the hero’s POVs. This novella will be in AMID THE WINTER SNOW with Thea Harrison, Grace Draven, and Elizabeth Hunter, out December 12.
August is birthday month around here – both mine and several family members, so I’ll be doing a bit of traveling along with the writing. Enjoying beautiful monsoon season in Santa Fe, and around New Mexico and Colorado. Oh, and for those who were sad I wasn’t going to be at Bubonicon, I will be after all!
Anyway, I should be on a bit more of a regular blogging schedule again. What else have I forgotten to tell you?? Ask me questions!
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We’ve been on a long road trip this last week, seeing all kinds of family. And leaving the cats behind, like the monsters we are. Here is Jackson showing off his best Pitiful Abandoned Kitty face.
Thus, I’m late posting today. But so it goes!
I’ve shared this news elsewhere, but I’m happy to share again here! Many of you have asked what I’m up to with various writing projects, including a few delayed ones. (Yes, the next Sorcerous Moons books are coming – I promise!) Basically what happened is that I changed agents back in February/March. And then I worked up something entirely fresh for New Agent Sarah Younger. Basically I gave her a list of ideas, we debated them, and I wrote 100 pages of one of her top three choices – the one I loved best. We went back and forth on it with several revisions. That’s a great benefit of working with an agent as sharp as Sarah. She gave me great feedback on the book, tightening it up and making it the best it could be. Basically we spent three months working on this.
Which meant I kept setting aside other writing projects to work on the next round of THRONE OF FLOWERS, THRONE OF ASH. Thus my entire schedule getting delayed and shuffled. The beautiful part is, when Sarah took this out on submission, we had tons of interest, multiple offers, and a sale two weeks later. And here it is!!
These books won’t start coming out until 2019, so now I can go back to a regular schedule. Which absolutely means finishing both the Sorcerous Moons and Missed Connections series. The other thing that happened is that Kensington, who published my Twelve Kingdoms and Uncharted Realms books, started up a new SFF (Science Fiction and Fantasy) imprint. They wanted to publish THE SHIFT OF THE TIDE, but that would have delayed its release until March of 2018 and I knew you all would have fits. (See? I do love you and want you to be happy. I really do!)
So, we said no on that, but they really wanted me to be part of this new imprint, so we settled on me writing a trilogy for them set in the Twelve Kingdoms world. It will be high fantasy, which means less of a romance arc. BUT, I’m pretty sure it will be Jenna’s story. For those of you who know what that means! We finished talking about that right before the other submission, so that got announced at the same time.
All that taken care of, our topic this week is Scrapbooking—taking stories from real life as the springboard for your stories and subplots. Come on over to get my take on blender settings.
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So, I’ve been making vague remarks about big changes in my writing career life. More than I thought, because a number of people have asked me about it! But there were Reasons I couldn’t say until today.
The NEWS:
I’m moving to a new agent and agency!
As of today I’ll be represented by Sarah Younger of the Nancy Yost Literary Agency. I’m super excited about this move. Sarah just celebrated her 80th deal (which just happened to be a fabulous one for my wonderful friend, Grace Draven). She’s also just a lovely person all around – and not just because she loves my books! Here’s us at the Harlequin Ball in San Diego last summer (2016), at the RWA annual conference, long before either of us had an inkling we might work together.
What’s funny is – and you longtime readers will particularly appreciate this – Sarah read and loved PETALS & THORNS way back when I published it under my Jennifer Paris pseudonym. Let me tell you, finding an agent who’s read your books for pleasure is a fantastic feeling. She really groks what I write and I think we’re going to make an amazing team.
So, as of today I’m bidding a fond farewell to Fuse Literary. I notified them and my previous agent, Connor Goldsmith, back at the end of February that I’d be making this change. My agency agreement with Fuse (like many), required a 30-day notice to wind up business with them. I will always appreciate what Fuse and Connor have done for me. Agency partner Laurie McLean really worked hard to find a place for me in the agency after my first agent (Pam Howell) left. (For those who don’t know, an author signs with a literary agency, not an individual agent, so if an agent leaves the agency, the author has the option of following them to the new agency or staying put and working with a new agent.) In the end, I approached Sarah about moving my work in a new direction. I liked what she had to say and was hugely gratified that she offered to represent me when I asked.
Big changes like this never seem to be easy, even for the person who initiates them. The last month of conversations and logistics have been surprisingly emotional for me. It’s kind of like filing for divorce and planning a wedding to someone new, all in the space of 30 days.
Plus there was that whole RITA finalist thing in the middle.
All good things, but – WOW! – I’ll be happy to settle into a steady, quiet routine again. ~fans self with hankie~
So, stay tuned for news. Exciting days ahead!