Category: Blog

A Year Ahead with Jeffe

Jeffe Kennedy / / Blog
This week at the SFF Seven we’re taking a look at the future! We’re asking: “What does your writing life look like for the upcoming year?” That includes book releases, WIP’s, retreats, cons, signings, etc.
I just had my annual planning call with my agent, Sarah Younger at NYLA, yesterday and my year ahead is looking pretty damn busy!
Book Releases
First release of 2022 is the audiobook of DARK WIZARD, Book #1 in Bonds of Magic. This is Baby’s First Self-Published Audiobook (TM) and I couldn’t be more delighted about it! Book #2, BRIGHT FAMILIAR, and Book #3, GREY MAGIC, will also be releasing in audiobook this year, probably in March for both. Whee!
Next up is GREY MAGIC, the current WIP, slated to be out February 28. After that, the long awaited finale, THE STORM PRINCESS AND THE RAVEN KING, Book #4 in Heirs of Magic, will be out in April (I hope!)
Those are my only slated releases at this point, but there’s lots more coming!
WIP’s
GREY MAGIC, then THE STORM PRINCESS AND THE RAVEN KING, as mentioned above.
Does it count as a WIP if it’s out on submission? I have one of those out.
I’m going to finish a science fantasy I started two years ago. Super excited to get that out!
I may be doing a ghostwriting project 😀
I’d like to begin a new trilogy in the Bonds of Magic world.
I have a new shiny idea that I’d love to write, that Sarah is excited about too!
If this sounds like more than one person can humanly write, it probably is. Ever in motion is the future!
Retreats
I don’t do retreats because I do my best writing at home.
Cons
I’ll be attending SFWA’s Nebula Conference in May!
Also the Jack Williamson Lectureship in April, Apollycon in July, maybe ChiCon in September and possibly World Fantasy Con in November.
Signings, etc.
Dependent on in-person events – cross our fingers!!

       

Learning to Love the Winter Garden

Jeffe Kennedy / / Blog

Our topic this week at the SFF Seven is, verbatim, On Your Mind (Winter).

So, I’m posting a photo I took this morning from the winter garden. We’ve had a mild winter, and the secret garden is walled and makes a protected microclimate, so I actually have a winter garden.

Some of you may know that I love to garden. I mention it in interviews when I’m asked what I do that isn’t reading or writing. Gardening is a big piece. It sounds like a small thing when I say it, but nurturing a garden, planning it, spending time in it, all shape how I live.

I became interested in the concept of a winter garden back when I lived in Wyoming and winters were so very bleak. The idea is to plan a garden with the entire season in mind. It’s easier to envision the spring flowers, the midsummer lushness, adding in the plants that bloom in the autumn, but thinking toward the largely leafless winter is a different kind of vision. What plants bring visual interest in their starker, hibernating states? What offers spots of color in a more monochromatic landscape?

Part of the trick is loving the winter garden for what it is, not trying to replicate the garden of warmer seasons.

I think this is a metaphor for a great deal in our lives, as gardens tend to be.

A Few of My Favorite Contractors

Jeffe Kennedy / / Blog

This week at the SFF Seven we’re talking about Contractor Best Practices. And already Charissa, James, and KAK have posted great articles about communication and clear expectations. I whole-heartedly ditto everything they said.

So, instead of reiterating, I thought I’d share my own favorite contractors. It’s a great opportunity to give them a shout-out. One of the best parts of being an author who self-publishes is that you become the source of work for other people. I love that I, by creating words, am a font which then flows money out to the people who do work for me. They are vital parts of my business and I’d hate to be without them.

These days, after years of honing my practices, they’re a pretty lean team.

My Assistant

First and foremost, my amazing assistant is the fabulous Carien Ubink, aka book blogger Sullivan McPig. Whenever someone asks what my assistant does for me, I reel off the list and then – for about half an hour afterward – I’m adding “Oh, and she also does this!” We’ve been working together for years now. (She could tell you how many, which is one of the things she does for me.) She’s the best.

My Cover Artist

While I occasionally use other cover artists, my go-to and favorite is Ravven. She’s done the majority of my covers and I hope will do many, many more. She has an uncanny ability to take my inadequate descriptions and hand me back a gorgeous cover that exceeds my imagination. She’s timely, helpful, goes the extra mile. No one else comes close to her in talent, skill, and clean business practices.

My Proofreader

Crystal Watanabe at Pikko’s House handles all of my editorial. She’s super fast, thorough, and a delight to work with. She also operates a business that offers the gamut of editorial services. I highly recommend checking out Pikko’s House.

My Formatter

Yes, I farm out my formatting – largely because my formatter, Paul at BB eBooks, is so fantastic. He accommodates my sometimes screechingly tight turnaround times, always doing a stellar job, and with a great attitude. There’s nobody I trust more to get the job done right.