Transcript
00:00.18
jeffekennedy
Good morning everyone this is Jeffe Kennedy author of fantasy romance and romantic fantasy and here with my first cup of coffee ah greatly needed. If you are on video. You will see. It is very early here. It’s just now six o’clock am and I can see the sky beginning to lighten out my east window sun is coming. It’s not here yet. So yeah I woke up early and I woke up I woke up at four I went to bed kind of early I went out last night with my friend Megan. Oh I should have said wait wait sorry say it with me today is Friday woo. Almost forgot February eighteenth so so yeah um I went out and saw my friend Megan Mulry last night we had a lot of fun. We had drinks and dinner and it was it was lovely. And and I came home and went to bed and woke up woke up at four and I out and I thought I would go back to sleep and David got up. He woke up. He wakes up a couple hours. You know every couple hours at night and takes more medication because without it. He can’t sleep and so he got up and I was laying there and I thought I was going to go back to sleep and he came back in and said um he said I just want you to know that if you want to get up and work. You won’t bother me and I said well. I go back to sleep and he said okay and so I laid there and I was like wide awake and so I was like oh I guess I’m awake so I got up I thought well I can get a jump start because I’ve got this midday today deadline which it’s nice that he’s aware of that too. I so I guess I’m not going back to sleep and he said um, he said well if he said I’m not surprised. He said if I were you I would be wanting to get to work on that stuff too and I said yeah I guess you know me better I know myself. So. If you are on video. You can see look It’s an orchid. This is my first orchid rebloom I posted the ah photo of it of like the flower stock. Not long ago but look.
02:47.49
jeffekennedy
Kind have an actual orchid rebloom from my trader Joe’s orchid. Um i’ never got one of these to bloom before and so isn’t that cool. So I’m just got put it here. I’m just gonna like hold it next to my face because I’m so excited. Okay I will can I just sort of move it into the frame here. But well we don’t want to interfere with the coffee drinking. So um, let’s see on the book Grey Magic not quite done I’m at just shy of 103000 words I think I am on the second. To last scene. Actually I think it may be the third to last scene. So. It’s not the penultimate scene. But what’s is there a name for a third to last probably not probably third to last means not done yet. Was so um, so yeah I I worked I did my 3 hours of writing yesterday and I slowed down I did really well at first I got a had a good first hour a great second hou second hour and not so great third hour because I just ran out of juice. So I only got a little shy 2500 words yesterday, but still still. that’s that’s good as Darynda says we’ll take him um and then I was I thought well. I only have you know like 500 words to go to hit my 3000 so I thought well I’ll go rest and so I david was out driving and I got my reading chair and I’m just about done with Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier. the transcript really hates her name I think it’s very interesting which names the transcript can absolutely handle. It’s like if you’re famous on google then. Transcript picks it up right away. Um like jennifer lopez owen wilson no problems at all my name. No Juliet Marillier? No. Darynda, it hates Darynda these are things I’m having to fix now I’m gonna have to go and fix all of them for saying all those names. Um, so where was I before I went on that tangent writing oh I was reading daughter of the forest and so I I read for a couple of hours and I thought I might nap but I didn’t I think I’m keyed up finishing this book I’ll probably.
05:28.30
jeffekennedy
Crash once I finish but um, yeah, so then I thought so I read for like an hour or so and then I came back to it and looked at the manuscript I thought well maybe I’ll try and put in another hour at least try to get these 500 words and I looked at where I stopped I was like. Got that big nope out from the creative self. So. It’s like okay, no.
05:56.54
jeffekennedy
Um, so up and at it early today. Um, figured I might as well go ahead and get the podcast out there. So my mother will be happy if nobody else and I don’t know if I have much else. Say um, Megan and I had fun talking about that friendship article that I talked about earlier this week on the podcast the one in the Atlantic and I’d say I think I mentioned on here that. 1 thing I treasure about that particular friendship was I sent her the link and I said here’s your homework assignment for us to discuss and she said on it and not only did she read it. She had like notes she had read it on her phone so she had all these highlighted sections and so we went through disgust and. It was very interesting because um, she and I are about the same age and so you know it was just read all the article the essay written by the woman who is about our age and yeah, so we we had a ah wonderful time discussing those things people were we got that. Who went to Harry’s roadhouse and we sat at the bar and got there at 5 and it was nobody was in there. We’re like oh it’s good time to get here and then it just got busier and busier and busier and she told me that um, New Mexico finally lifted our mask mandate. So. People seem to be very excited celebrating and so forth.
07:37.39
jeffekennedy
Yeah, um, you know I know that we’re conflicted on that right? you know it’s once I was vaccinated and and we didn’t have to wear masks for a while the mask mandate was lifted. You know and then we had to start wearing them again because of all the people who. Um, are not vaccinated and also the vulnerable. So yeah, it’s just um I own a messy situation I hear so many conflicting ideas about it. But I have no problem continuing to wear my mask. Um. Guess we’re requested. We’re required and if somebody wants me to have it on around them I’m happy to do that. So well 2 years hu birth bird just flew by my window dawn is coming but surprise Birdie’s up flying it already because if you’re on video you could see it’s still quite dark. So um, let’s see so yeah yesterday afternoon I just kind of went into a little mental stupor and it was nice. It was very nice i. Read for a long time and Jackson came got on my lap this morning David got to see how I taught Jackson to get his weight that he’ll get on the scale and sit when I tell him to sit David was all impressed. So now I’m really tempted to try the fluent pet thing. Don’t know if I you’ll Mary Robinette Kowal has been doing fluent pet with her cat and I’m I don’t know if I want to or not I’m tempted and I’m not I kind of don’t want the thing laying on my floor that I sound like my mother. So yeah, this is a random collection of disconnected thoughts because this is where my brain is at I’m brain empty. Yeah, just got to finish this book right? Darynda and I were having a conversation. She said that she was feeling like um she had kind of a ah moment of epiphany now I understand scrambled eggs I should probably refer explain that. Um, if you’ve taken any of my classes or particular classes. I. Use this cartoon that I think I found in the new yorker but it um shows people eating it sort of like an outdoor cafe and it says um breakfast at epiphanies and there’s somebody going now I understand scrambled eggs and so.
10:29.56
jeffekennedy
I love that for explaining what an epiphany is one of my little jokes to myself. Oh you know I’ll come back to Darynda I would say remind me but you can’t I’ll do my best um, it was really fun doing my Reddit. Fantasy ama the other day because a lot of the people there had read my books and a couple people asked me questions um or mentioned things about my influences and it’s the first time that I’ve had a reader. Um. Just like somebody who doesn’t know me well just from reading my books pick up on one of my little inside jokes to myself. She said oh I knew this because you you named this character this and I figured that was an homage to this other writer and I was like it totally was but I didn’t expect. Anybody to ever figure that out. You know it’s like I put these little things in to amuse myself and then it’s kind of delightful when somebody spots it these little easter eggs. So anyway, during this been stressing trying to finish writing her book. And she said that it occurred to her the other day that I’m gonna have to fix her name all through this text now. Um that it occurred to her the other day that why was she being so upset why was she. Feeling so ground under by this. She’s like I have the best job in the world I am doing the thing that I love to do and I said it’s true and I have to remind myself of that too. Ah, and I said well some of it’s just it’s human nature because this is our job. And when it’s your job and it’s your work and you have deadlines. It’s not like just playing. It’s not all you know, romping through the the meadow and plucking words it’s um, it. It’s nose to the grindstone. I mean that’s that’s that’s what work is about um and I said but at the same time I have to remind myself and and she was thinking to remind herself too that you know this is what we wanted. We chose this and it’s still way better. Then another job I was like you know you could be out there doing asl translation which you know american sign language she is fluent and certified and all this kind of thing but I guess that could be really difficult work and she taught for a while and she was like yeah or I could be teaching kids who don’t want to learn.
13:17.22
jeffekennedy
You know? So it’s it’s that thing of reminding yourself of your blessings I think we just tend to focus on when things are difficult. Um, but it’s still a pretty awesome job and and all of this. For instance, on this book. You know I’m the one who set this deadline I definitely want this payout so that’s why I wanted it by like February twenty eighth so that I’ll get that amazon money that means I’ll get it at the end of april and if i. Missed that 28 if I did even a couple days later then I wouldn’t get it till the end of may so you know it’s like wanting to pay that mortgage and everything but at the same time the the actual pressure the how am I ending this book. Do I need. 2 or 3 more scenes to to end it well to please all of you to please the reader to please myself. It’s um, you know that’s that’s all internal pressure I could just it’s kind of funny because as I’m coming up on the end of this book. I’ve seen several places where I could stop if this were not book 3 in the trilogy I would see places that I could stop um because I get accused of riding cliffhangers and when. When we see that kar will say you know people keep using that word and I don’t think it means what they think it means so I was like yeah, it’s having an open-ended. Story is not the same thing as a cliffhanger. Um, but there are more things to tie up with the book 3 in the trilogy and. I’m definitely gonna write another book in this world I know what it’s going to be about as you guys read gray magic you will know what the next book will be about too. You’re goingnna see that but what I’m trying to figure out at this point in time I’m trying to figure out a couple of things. So this trilogy and I think I asked this before and some of you gave me feedback but I’m going to ask it again. This trilogy has been nick and gabriel for all 3 books and there’s going to be other romantic pairings. In the next books. Um, and I don’t know if it’ll be just like one couple per book or what or 1 couple over several books I’m deciding. That’s 1 question. Um.
16:03.51
jeffekennedy
The other thing I’m thinking because that’s the romance convention is you know once like these 3 books have been Nic and Gabriel’s povs back and forth next book would go into another couple’s pov right? and I’m kind of. Entertaining branching out and doing multiple povs because there are more epic adventures going to happen and I’m considering adding multiple povs into the ensuing books. So that it would like maybe the focus would be on the romance between some other people but I’m wondering can I go back to Nic and Gabriel’s p o these because I’m not sure I’m entirely ready to leave them What do you guys? think about that i. I tend to not want to deviate from the structures that I set up I feel like that’s part of the promise like in the first book I’m saying here’s the structure. It’s gonna be do dual pov. So then if I go into the next ones. For instance, so here’s another question right? book the next book should it be book 4 of bonds of magic or book one of a new trilogy I think there’s arguments for both I don’t know what to do I’m not gonna make decisions while my brains this empty. But. These are things I’m trying to figure out but I’ll be interested to know what your preferences are I’m kind of feeling this thing where I want to branch out into multiple povs. There’s ah another book that I started a couple years ago um we didn’t really get anywhere with it on submission. This is the science fantasy I’ll tell you guys that um and I told Sarah agent Sarah at the beginning of that our talk at the beginning of the year then I finish it and she said well maybe we could take it on submission again. Because it’s been two years and there’s been a lot of turnover in the editors and stuff and she said if you’re gonna write it anyway. So I’m thinking about that 1 doing multiple povs because that one would really lend itself I want to do that. Like maybe this is like where my I don’t usually talk about muses I don’t really believe in the muse. But I’m feeling like this is where my storytelling yen is going could be interesting all right.
18:45.51
jeffekennedy
I am going to actually get to work if you’re on video you can see that the sky out my window is beginning to lighten. You can see the ah the silhouette of Sandia peak out in the background that deeper blue against the lightning sky so rise and shine. Here we go I hope you all have a wonderful Friday whether it’s your actual end of work week or not and that you have a great weekend and next week I don’t know if I’ll be doing podcast or not. We’ll see so um. But next time you see me this book should be done if it’s not, we’re all in big trouble but all right you all take care bye bye.