First Cup of Coffee – April 3, 2020

First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy

First Cup of Coffee - April 3, 2020

April 03, 2020

Jeffe Kennedy

Reflecting today on how sometimes you can't write a book any faster than it wants to go. Also, I'm considering trying doing Instagram Live as I record - but the logistics are baffling!

Katherine Addison's essay on the women of The Lord of the Rings is here (http://www.fantasybookcafe.com/2014/04/women-in-sff-month-katherine-addison/).

My blog post on missing out on Big Chances is here (https://blog.jeffekennedy.com/2020/04/01/why-this-wasnt-your-one-big-chance/)

First Cup of Coffee is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!

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First Cup of Coffee – April 2, 2020

First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy

First Cup of Coffee - April 2, 2020

April 02, 2020

Jeffe Kennedy, Ilana Myer

I'm welcoming celebrity guest Ilana C. Myer today. We chat about life choices, love, taking time to read, and her fantasy trilogy The Harp and Ring Sequence - including the newly released final book: The Poet King.

You can find more about Ilana's books here https://ilanacmyer.com/2020/01/first-reviews-are-in-for-the-poet-king/

First Cup of Coffee is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!

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Why This Wasn’t Your One Big Chance

This is a photo from one of my very first author events, for my first book, which was an essay collection: Wyoming Trucks, True Love and the Weather Channel. I was so excited to be there, all shiny and wet behind the ears. I had a lot of ideas then about how my writing career would be – and most of them were wrong. Not because I was ignorant or idealistic (though I was), but because life takes its twists and turns.

I can say, however, that though many people told me I’d “made it,” I hadn’t – because there’s no such thing. And, though I thought my days of facing rejection and defeat were over, that wasn’t true either. On the other hand, many amazing things have happened that I could never have predicted.

I saw a meme on Instagram yesterday shared by my lovely friend Megan Mulry. It’s the Gen X reaction to the COVID-19 #stayhome initiatives.

It helped me to see this, because I’ve been feeling terribly disappointed about missing out on some events of my own – and it’s always good to realize that it’s okay to be upset. I can be both upset for myself and be concerned for people who are facing far worse trials. I was super excited about the release of THE FIERY CROWN on May 26. The first book in the trilogy, THE ORCHID THRONE, has been gaining traction with more and more people reading and recommending it. It was even a Staff Pick at Powell’s Books! Since I was planning to be in Los Angeles for SFWA’s Nebula Conference that week, I had planned for a release day party at The Ripped Bodice bookstore, then the mass autographing at the conference itself, then a jaunt for a signing at Mysterious Galaxy the following week – with maybe a little beach time in San Diego. I also have an event lined up at George RR Martin’s Jean Cocteau Cinema & Beastly Books on May 17 here in Santa Fe. Maybe those will still happen? We don’t know. But the Nebula Conference is definitely happening online.

I had shiny visions of THE FIERY CROWN really taking off. And, really, that hasn’t changed. It’s just my parties that might not happen. I truly feel for all the authors with March book releases who had everything canceled – and I’ve seen a lot of the writing community online expressing sympathy in particular to the debut authors. This is because there’s the perception that you only get to be a debut author once. Which is kind of true, but it’s also like virginity – it really depends on how you define it, extenuating circumstances matter, and really, it’s not as big of a deal as people think.

The thing is, we – and by this I mean human beings – tend to think we have One Big Chance at something. As a newbie writer, I recall being crushed by rejections from agents or editors on occasions I’d become convinced were my One Big Chance. Opportunities arrived, I seized them to the best of my ability, and they went rushing past anyway. It was tempting to give up on those occasions. After all: I’d tried and failed.

I think some of this perception comes from the tired saying “Opportunity knocks only once.” If that’s not a lot of pressure, I don’t know what is. What if you’re in the bathroom when opportunity knocks? There it goes: your one opportunity ever. Might as well die now.

It’s patently ridiculous. And it turns out, is a proverb probably adapted from Phaedrus in A.D. 8, “One lost, Jupiter himself cannot bring back opportunity.” Who knows? Maybe they had fewer opportunities to go around in those days. The opportunity population hadn’t rebounded from being eaten by dinosaurs.

Regardless, there are tons of opportunities. They present themselves all the time. Some work out; some don’t. Some we deliberately bypass because the cost is higher than we’re willing to pay at that time. Sometimes there’s a global pandemic and we have to stay home.

But if I’ve learned anything in these years since my ears dried and I’ve written something like thirty more books since that first collection, it’s that there’s no solid trajectory to success. As with all things, my success as an author – and of each new work – waxes and wanes, and greatly depends on how I define it. (Much like virginity and being a debut.) For all of you feeling like you missed your One Big Chance: you didn’t. I promise. It was one opportunity (or several) in a lifetime of them. Often the most amazing incidences are the ones you don’t see coming and couldn’t possibly have predicted or planned for.

We won’t have to #stayhome forever, and when we emerge from our sparkling isolation, we’ll be ready to party. It will be as epic. 😉

First Cup of Coffee – March 31, 2020

First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy

First Cup of Coffee - March 31, 2020

March 31, 2020

Jeffe Kennedy

Talking about reaching the ending of a book - including a brand-new insight into why I tend to slow down near the end, and how to combat that - and perspectives from Chinese medicine.

Some of the workshops I offer are here https://jeffekennedy.com/workshops

First Cup of Coffee is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!

Support the show

Contact Jeffe!

Find me on Threads
Visit my website https://jeffekennedy.com
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First Cup of Coffee – March 30, 2020

First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy

First Cup of Coffee - March 30, 2020

March 30, 2020

Jeffe Kennedy

A roundup of some of the stuff bringing me joy during the quarantine. Also about American humor, interviews, updates on The Promised Queen - and how I always slow down as I approach the ending.

Here's a link to one of Jennifer Ehle's readings https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-UvdBxDSqV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

This is Chris Mann's video https://youtu.be/M5azNpTwVk8

And the interview with Jennifer Estep, in case you missed it, is here https://blog.jeffekennedy.com/2020/03/27/first-cup-of-coffee-march-27-2020/

First Cup of Coffee is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!

Support the show

Contact Jeffe!

Find me on Threads
Visit my website https://jeffekennedy.com
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Thanks for listening!


First Cup of Coffee – March 27, 2020

First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy

First Cup of Coffee - March 27, 2020

March 27, 2020

Jeffe Kennedy, Jennifer Estep

A great conversation today with author Jennifer Estep. We discuss the writing life, process, traditional vs. self-publishing, transitioning from journalism to writing fiction full time - and much more!

You can check out Jennifer's books here (https://www.jenniferestep.com/).

First Cup of Coffee is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!

Support the show

Contact Jeffe!

Find me on Threads
Visit my website https://jeffekennedy.com
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Thanks for listening!


First Cup of Coffee – March 26, 2020

First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy

First Cup of Coffee - March 26, 2020

March 26, 2020

Jeffe Kennedy

Slowing down a bit on The Promised Queen, but because I had to work on another Exciting Project. Also talking about weaving as a metaphor for writing a novel, and leaving the ending loose on a draft. 

First Cup of Coffee is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!



Support the show

Contact Jeffe!

Find me on Threads
Visit my website https://jeffekennedy.com
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Thanks for listening!


First Cup of Coffee – March 24, 2020

First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy

First Cup of Coffee - March 24, 2020

March 24, 2020

Jeffe Kennedy

Thoughts today on helping out others during COVID-19, shallower thoughts on my nail polish. Also Facebook messenger for kids, the global community, online yoga, and knowing what details to give a reader - and what to withhold.

This is the Batman movie I reference (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096895/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2). I couldn't find my talking heads rant, but here's a bit about dropping the soap (http://word-whores.blogspot.com/2014/08/dropping-soap-and-other-bits-of-stage.html).

First Cup of Coffee is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!

Support the show

Contact Jeffe!

Find me on Threads
Visit my website https://jeffekennedy.com
Follow me on Amazon or BookBub
Sign up for my Newsletter!
Find me on Instagram and TikTok!

Thanks for listening!