It’s Sunday, so I’m over at Word Whores, talking about disease detectives.
Detecting Disease
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Writing Sexytimes and Other Important Pursuits
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This was from a few weeks ago – the full moon setting into a sunrise-pinkened bank of clouds. So beautiful.
Just a reminder that my online workshop, Writing Sexytimes in Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal Stories, will start on Monday, April 7! If you missed the description earlier, this is it:
Sex is a fundamental human experience and arguably the most powerful. The intimacy of sexual interaction can elevate the tension, emotion and visceral impact of most any story. But how do sex scenes best function in the speculative fiction genres?
This class will cover the basic of adding vivid, sensual and heart-pounding sexytimes to any story. In particular, students will explore examples of sex scenes that enhance the world-building and fantastic elements of any speculative fiction tale. Finally, writers will come away with tools for using sexytimes to enhance and build unique excitement in their worlds. Students will be able to submit short scenes to the instructor or the group for feedback
I’ve had a few questions from various people,, so I wanted to put some answers here, in case others were wondering. No, you don’t have to be an FFP or even an RWA member to take the class. Everyone is welcome. You need access to email and that’s about it. If you’re reading this, you probably have that part handled. 🙂
Also, you do not have to be very far in your writing career. I’m going to try to set this up to work for writers at all levels. We’ll spend a fair amount of time studying what others have done in the genre, so we’ll approach quite a bit from the reading perspective, too. If you’re not ready to share your work, that’s just fine! There will be exercises, but no grades. 
So if you want to simply lurk, that’s cool. You can always work on exercises, etc., whenever you’re ready to.
You can register via this link.
I’m very excited to see how this works! It should be big fun. I have other workshops that I’ve put together, listed here. I’ll be doing the Walking that Consent Line Workshop in June and I just committed to doing the Sexual Tension – Getting Away from Wham, Bam, Thank you, Ma’am and Sex as a Tool for Character Transformation in 2015.
Also, after some conversation on Twitter yesterday, I’m thinking of adding one on managing writing time. Let me know if you think you’d be interested in that.
Happy Friday everyone!
~dances around with Rebecca Black hair~
OMG Homie! When Slang Goes Bad
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I’m over at the Contemporary Romance Cafe today, talking about the pain of trying to keep up with slang and be hip as we grow older.
Why Corporations Aren’t Good at Social Media
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A few weeks ago (time flies!), David and I drove to Tucson for my mom’s birthday. On the way back, we stopped at Elephant Butte Lake for a couple of nights. It’s a huge, man-made reservoir on the Rio Grande River in southern New Mexico. The landscape is often stark and desolate – and also full of amazing color and unearthly views.
We haven’t been doing much in the way of vacation lately – particularly time that’s not connected to work of some sort, like conventions – so this was a peaceful stop to make. The inn we stayed at was a simple place and we ate mainly at the restaurant there. We spent some time gazing at the view and talking. This picture brings that feeling back for me.
So, many of you know I have a day job. The company I work for had about 150 employees when I started, lo these 17 years ago, and has now cracked 500. We’ve also gone to a shared technology system, with a newsfeed we’re all encouraged to post notices, too. Our internal version of social media. I’ve been trying to overcome my baseline grumpiness about the changes and become more active with this shared site.
Because I work from home (euphemistically referred to as a “satellite office”), I decided to post my cover for THE MARK OF THE TALA. After all, if I worked in one of the offices, I would have dragged my ARC in and passed it around like a newborn baby. Also, since this book is not erotica, I figured it was safe to share.
I didn’t want to take up a lot of the feed with information about my book though, so I just posted the cover and a note saying people could look on my website if they wanted to see more.
WELL.
Last night my supervisor emails me and lets me know that they took the post down. There’s no fall-out for me and the powers that be figure I showed only a “rare lack of judgment.” See, my website contains offensive material. Or, rather, provides access to it, which is against our Information Resource Policy.
(Doesn’t the Entire Internet provide this access???)
So, thus my wrist was slapped. Nobody is mad at me, but I feel oddly chagrined nonetheless. It’s been some time since I had any shadow of feeling that what I write is somehow unsavory. Yet, there it is.
(Amusingly, I linked to my website instead of oh, say, Amazon because it seemed wrong to post anything reminiscent of a buy link. I suspect that would have passed muster, even though Amazon ALSO provides access to all those selfsame offensive materials as my website does.)
It’s interesting to me, however, in a broader perspective, to watch companies like mine try to cultivate the opportunities offered by social media while simultaneously attempting to enforce policies that control it. Social media is social, not corporate. It’s about people interacting, not soulless, sexless workers. What my company is trying to accomplish isn’t *really* about social media at all, but something dressed up to look like it. Kind of an Office Space-style version of Hawaiian Shirt Day, where we’re encouraged to relax – but not too much.
At any rate, consider me duly chastened. And more unwilling than before to post to the company newsfeed.
Fortunately, no one expects me to participate in Hawaiian Shirt Day.
Fighting the Decrepit
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I’m over at Word Whores today, mulling over the word “decrepit” and my battle not to become my grandmother.
Cleaning Someone Else’s Kitchen
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A lovely vista at Cerrillos State Park from a hike last weekend. I mentioned before that author, critique partner and fab friend Carolyn Crane came to visit for a long weekend.
She mainly came to Santa Fe to get out of the crushing Minneapolis winter. In fact, when she Tweeted that she didn’t know how she could make it through the endless snowstorms, I sent her a link showing how cheap plane tickets to Albuquerque were and reminded her that I have a guest room.
Ostensibly I was doing her a favor.
But then she did me one. First of all, having her visit brought several days of nonstop writer convo into my life. Carolyn is one of my favorite people (and RWA roomie!) and we had the best time rambling over numerous topics, gossip, business and ideas. We even came up with an amazing brainstorm for a Sekrit Joint Project. Best of all, Carolyn got along great with David and even had him bringing out his guns to show her the different kinds. You’ll all be pleased to know that her Associates will have a much more varied arsenal now. 🙂
At the same time, I got back my final set of line edits on an upcoming manuscript. For this third round of edits, my editor STILL wanted more on a particular scene I’d never wanted to put on the page in the first place. Her instincts are good on this kind of thing, but I felt so *done* at this point that I just couldn’t face taking another stab at it. But Carolyn – well, she cleaned my kitchen for me.
You all know what I mean, right? Or maybe this is mainly a female thing. I know a lot of guys cook and clean, too, but I’ve never heard them mention this. But my female friends and relatives sure have. And I know I’ve said it to them.
“Oh, let me finish the clean-up – it’s so much more fun to clean someone else’s kitchen!”
Because it just IS.
My own kitchen I’ve cleaned hundreds, if not thousands of times. I know every countertop stain, the persistent yellow crud in that hard-to-reach lip of the sink at the back, that one pan that never *quite* yields up that old burn on the bottom. Over time I give up on these things. I just don’t care enough and I’m resigned to these little, enduring failures to reach perfection.
In SOMEONE ELSE’S KITCHEN, however, I become a dynamo of shininess. I scrub those pans until they gleam. Those countertop stains cannot withstand my zeal to see them gone, gone, gone. My mother managed to get my glass-top stove cleaner than it was when we moved in – and was happy to do it.
So much more fun to clean someone else’s kitchen.
Likewise, Carolyn took up the torch of expanding that scene with excitement and enthusiasm. She wrote a page for me in no time at all – and had fun doing it. Once I had that from her, I was able to see past the old stains and revised it to blend with the story. What she gave me was brilliant. More, I don’t know that I had it in me to do myself. I might have just let that stain go, yet again.
A gift beyond price.
Best of all, she’s excited that I owe her. She’s got ideas for a scene or two she’ll ask me to riff on. And I’m excited to do it. I’d love to take her story and play with it. For the first time, really, I get what fan fiction is all about.
It’s all the fun of cleaning someone else’s kitchen – just once – without having to face it day after day.
Getting Rid of Debt – the Karmic Kind
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I’m over at Word Whores today, talking about the reveal of the cover for book 2 of The Twelve Kingdoms, The Tears of the Rose, as well as the word of the week: debt. I’m not going to chide you about your credit cards, but we there’s another kind to be thinking about.
More Jeffe! News on Workshops and Pitch Opportunities
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I love how I’m patiently posing for the picture while Carolyn Crane is mugging away beside me.
This was at Ten Thousand Waves and we were all squidgy with relaxation from soaking in the hot tub. Carolyn visited me this last week from Friday to Tuesday and it was so much fun spending time with her. We also hatched Secret Plots that we’re very excited about!
Just you wait.
So, I have some newsy things today. First of all, all y’all who’ve been asking for me to teach a workshop on smexytimes and/or folding origami table lamps? I’m ready! In fact, I have two workshops lined up for you this spring!
These are hot off the press, so the listings may not have come up yet, but here’s the two scheduled so far.
Writing Sexytimes in Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal Stories
FFP – April 7-20 – http://www.romance-ffp.com/category/workshops
Sex is a fundamental human experience and arguably the most powerful. The intimacy of sexual interaction can elevate the tension, emotion and visceral impact of most any story. But how do sex scenes best function in the speculative fiction genres?
This class will cover the basic of adding vivid, sensual and heart-pounding sexytimes to any story. In particular, students will explore examples of sex scenes that enhance the world-building and fantastic elements of any speculative fiction tale. Finally, writers will come away with tools for using sexytimes to enhance and build unique excitement in their worlds. Students will be able to submit short scenes to the instructor or the group for feedback.
Walking that Consent Line
Romance Writers of America, San Diego Chapter – June 2-13 – http://rwasd.com/training/index.html
BDSM (Bondage, Domination, Submission/Sadism, Masochism) and kidnap/captivity stories are all the rage. But why? Is it all just a kinky fad? No! These questionable consent/loss of control stories are about a deeper, darker aspect of human nature. One that taps into both psychological and story dynamite.
In this class, students will learn where the lines of consent, questionable consent and non-consent lie – and also which genres tolerate how much line-crossing. The role of the reader in giving consent will be examined and students will learn techniques for mining the tension around those lines. Finally, the concepts of redemption and what exactly can be forgiven will be explored. Writers will be able to submit short scenes to the instructor or the group for feedback.
These will both be online workshops, conducted via email loops. I’m really excited to be teaching them!
ALSO, there’s a great online pitch opportunity coming up for those aspiring writers out there. I’ll be one of the author mentors helping you polish that pitch for the fabulous agents who will be participating in NESTPITCH. Check out today’s post to guess who’s hiding behind the Secret Agent Bunny Masks – and a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card! I may know who one of them is, which should be a CLUE for those keeping score at home.
Good luck everyone and Happy Friday!
Act 6, CRESCENDO! Final Master of the Opera Release Day
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Finally the wait is over!
Today sees the sixth and final installment of my serial novel, Master of the Opera. Act 6: Crescendo winds it all up.
In the sixth and final installment of Jeffe Kennedy’s sizzling Master of the Opera, a man and a woman risk everything they’ve ever loved-for the most dangerous passion they’ve ever known. . .
Caught in a web of secrets and lies, Christy Davis has come under the suspicion of the local police. Since becoming an intern at the Sante Fe Opera House, she has witnessed strange occurences in the underground tunnels. She has heard inexplicable whispers in the shadows after midnight. And she has found the lover of her dreams in the masked man who lives down below. But after the discovery of a dead body and other sinister events, Christy realizes that her life is in danger. Two men hold her fate in their hands: Roman, the opera house’s wealthy benefactor who uses his money and power to control her. And the masked maestro known as the Master who demands her surrender and commands her pleasure with each stroke. Both want her; only one can have her. . .
In a rising crescendo of madness, obsession, and lust, Christy must take a chance and follow her heart-to a breathtaking climax as powerful as love itself.
I’m breathless just reading that!
Here’s a couple of fun reviews of the final installment:
For those that have been following the story you will love it. Jeffe sure had me in quite a fit of emotions at the end. I thought it was going to end one way and was coming to terms with it but then she gave me quite a surprise! All I can say is that I hope this series comes out bundled together because I can’t wait to read it all again at one time.
Lisa over at My Favorite Things says
What an ending – very classy. The story is wrapped up succinctly and neatly with just enough drama to stay consistent with the series but not so much it seems like a cheap shot thrown out for added “bang for the buck”. The steamy scenes in this series have been STEAMY, but the series itself is not about only sex…
And Livia at Butterfly-O-Meter Books loved it too!
All in all, I felt this serial was a great read and I totally recommend it if you’re into paranormal / fantasy elements and awesomely hot romance. There’s some super-awesome imagery going on in this story as a whole and this is a definite must read if you’re into creative, original romance stories. Trust Jeffe Kennedy to make your toes curl and butterflies flutter in your tummy and keep you biting your lips. Master of the Opera is an awesome read, and now you can get it all and read it one go, so I say go for it!
As for me? I’m celebrating by wearing the fab over-the-knee purple socks David gave me for Christmas. Doesn’t get better than that!
Lines in the Sand
//I’m over at Paranormal Romantics today, talking about the release of the sixth and final installment of Master of the Opera, Act 6: Crescendo. Also, I’m at Word Whores for my usual Sunday gig, where the word of the week is the very ominous DEADLINE.