Tag: A Covenant of Thorns

Release Week Shenanigans

Jeffe Kennedy / / Blog

Jeffe & DaryndaWHEW!

You know, we call it Release Day, when our books hit the market, but it’s more like Release Marathon. My mom has a friend who says “the birthday isn’t over until all the gifts are in.” That’s a bit how this feels. Yesterday was like my birthday, with all of the congratulations on the release of Rogue’s Possession, and now there’s more today and for the foreseeable future.

You guys are so great!

So, there’s all sorts of things going on.

My fabuloso buddy, Darynda Jones, also has a release today, making us Release Day Twins. Thus, we’re doing a Trivia Showdown over on Facebook. It’s pretty damn funny, I think. See, I asked her five questions and she gave me her answers. I posted them as multiple choice, filling in the other options myself. Maybe it’s diabolical of me, but I get pretty tickled when people choose my red-herring answers. Today she’ll ask ME five questions. Top prize is a $50 gift card to Wolferman’s Bakery, for the sheer numminess. Book giveaways are naturally also part of the deal!

I’m also over at Here Be Magic today, with an excerpt from Rogue’s Possession, just for fun – and wishing sister Word Whore, Veronica Scott a very Happy Birthday!

There’s a couple of giveaways in progress also. Hie on over to Pearls Cast Before a McPig or, if you want to read a chat between Rogue and Gwynn (who doesn’t, right??) you can visit So Many Reads.

See what I mean?

Send baked goods!

Drawing that Squiggly Line Between Inspiration and Plagiarism

Jeffe Kennedy / / Blog

RoguesPossession_400Release day for ROGUE’S POSSESSION is tomorrow!!

So, you know, you could totally pre-order it. I mean, I wouldn’t be a true Word Whore if I didn’t offer you some buy links right here and now, right???

Carina
B&N
Amazon

~does seductive click-the-buy-link dance~

Thank you!

This week, I’m over at Word Whores discussing Inspiration vs Imitation: How Far is Too Far?

Why Writers Need Other Writers

Jeffe Kennedy / / Blog

Rogue's PossessionThe ever-vigilant Samantha Ann King sent me the above today – and I made a screenshot. If you go to CarinaPress.com today, you’ll can see it live. But the list changes daily, thus the screenshot.

A book release brings such an odd mix of emotions. For a long time it seems forever away and then it’s next week. I get all excited for people to FINALLY read it – and then they mention they’ve got it (reviewers get it early) and are reading. Then I go into this frenzied spiral of concern. I’m like the family dog who’s hoping she gets to go on the trip, but is terrified she’ll be left behind. I get all hopeful and excited, but also filled with dread. Will they love it? Hate it? Does the dog bed mean I’m just going to the kennel??

Then I have to go pee.

Really, what gets me through all of it is my wonderful writer friends. They are the ones who know what it’s like. They watch the lists, like the one above. It makes me crazy to look at the lists and rankings like that, so I finally stopped. And they know that about me. When I tweeted back my thank you to Sam, she said “Somebody has to look out for you.” Because she knows that about me.

Sometimes I think that having other people know you is the closest we come to true communion, to the essence of love.

My friends reblog and retweet and share the good stuff and – most of all – they are happy for me. Not only are they there to hold my hand and talk me through the trials, they want to celebrate my successes, too. By this they show their tremendous generosity. Being happy for a friend is a tremendous gift.

See how wonky I am right now?

Speaking of wonky, the Wonk-O-Mance blog has a fun post up today, showing writer’s working spaces. They run a fabulous gamut from one gal’s car to another’s specialized garret. My treadmill desk is there, too.

I also really love this post about the real numbers behind self-publishing. I do think self-publishing is a great venue – heck, I’ve self-pubbed two books – but the numbers that get thrown around, fabulous, exciting, pyramid-scheme-worthy numbers, often strike me as … possibly inflated. People are enthusiastic and that kind of excitement leads to a lot of “I Want to Believe.” This article sheds a bit of bright light on that phenom.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Win-A-Book and Wednesday Wows!

Jeffe Kennedy / / Blog

Win-A-Book WednesdaySeveral fun things going on today.

If you dash over to the Here Be Magic blog, you can participate in our first ever Win-A-Book Wednesday, and possibly win a free book from me! This will be a regular weekly feature from us – I just happen to be first.

I’m thrilled to see Rogue’s Possession listed by The Bookpushers as an October Must Have. I’m particularly thrilled by the company – Lauren Dane, Mercedes Lackey, Meljean Brook and Nalini Singh, among others!

Finally, Total Eclipse Reviews interviewed Rogue today, with more or less success.

Launching PEARL and Another Winner!

Jeffe Kennedy / / Blog

pearlFirst off, I have a short story out in the world! Pearl marked the beginning of my attempts at speculative fiction. It was published in Aeon magazine, back in Spring 2008. My editor at Aeon, Bridget McKenna, is starting her own business doing ebook covers, formatting and design. She contacted me and offered to produce Pearl, to build her portfolio. I think she did a great job! So here it is, one of my early efforts, for just 99 cents at Amazon and B&N. It’s a sci fi story, with a lot of sexual tension, but not really a romance. Fair warning!

A bit of an addendum, Bridget wrote up her side of the story, too, which is really interesting.

Then, since today is the second Monday in the Rogue’s Pawn giveaway…

the winner is….

Amy Remus!

Yay Amy! I will sign and send a PAPER COPY of Rogue’s Pawn for you! If anyone else wants to try for one of the remaining three copies, the rules are here. Join in the fun and obtain a RARE hard copy of this book!

Cover Reveal and Winner Number One!

Jeffe Kennedy / / Blog

Rogues_Possession_finalAt last! The cover for Rogue’s Possession!

Release day is October 7, but you can preorder it at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

And today is the first drawing for the entries for a print copy of Rogue’s Pawn! Two entries are here. And here are two more:

BTERBggCcAEidiQ

and

BS7gZMoCMAAiZf7

And the winner, via Random.org is…

Carien!

(Who totally stacked the deck with three entries.) Amy, yours moves on to the drawing next week! For anyone else who wants to play, there are four hard copies of Rogue’s Pawn left! Rules are here.

Rogue’s Possession Cover Reveal and Scavenger Hunt!

Jeffe Kennedy / / Blog

025What’s this?

Oh yes. You know.

Or, at least, the small community of rabidly passionate Rogue’s Pawn fans (you know who you are) are doing little chair dances right now.

That’s right. I haz hard copies. And I’m giving them away.

So, here’s the deal. I only have these five. These are the ones that Carina printed for the final judges in case the book finaled in the RITA awards. Since it didn’t, Carina sent these to me. There were also five books that went out to the first round judges, so they’re out there swimming in the world (or have gone to the big recycling bin in the sky). Otherwise, these are all there is for now. Do you know what that means? YES!

*Collector’s Item*

Now, because these were printed for the contest, they’re not high quality. They’re mass-market paperback sized and have all the same content as the digital book, but it doesn’t look or feel like a standard mmpb. Fair warning.

That said, I want you guys to have them, so you have something physical to hug and cuddle.

Yes, I know how you people are.

In celebration of the sequel, Rogue’s Possession, launching on Monday, October 7 and the cover reveal happening this coming Monday, September 2, I’m sponsoring a giveaway scavenger hunt.

Okay, so, the question of the moment is:

What do you have to do to get your paws on one of these for your very own collection?

Show your love. I want pictures. Send me a photo of Rogue in the wild, with you or without you. It can be just his name on a piece of paper or a lovely man with the sign around his neck. Or be creative – find your own Rogue! You can also print out one of the two covers and take your picture with that. Or show me what you think Rogue’s “possession” might be.

Then post the picture – Twitter, Facebook, your blog, in the comments here – anywhere at all and be sure to tag me. If I don’t comment or reply, be sure to ping me so I’ll see it. Use the hashtag #ILoveRogue.

Each Monday, I’ll draw a winner, on:

9/2
9/9
9/16
9/23
9/30

For every picture you send me, you get another entry “ticket.” Anyone who doesn’t win in the previous week will get added to the next week’s drawing. International is fine – I’ll pay the pound of flesh to ship this to you.

On release day, 10/7, we’ll do something super-special. More than just copies of Rogue’s Possession, though we can do that, too. In fact, let me know what you want and we’ll make it happen!

I’m so excited about this sequel finally coming out, and hearing you all making excited noises, too, just heightens the fun!

Now, hie thee out there and post some pictures!

On Juggling Projects, Starting New Novels and Title Angst

Jeffe Kennedy / / Blog

HEA USA TodayWhat’s that? Oh, just Ruby as a recommended read at USA Today. 😀

Okay, I might be a little THRILLED AND GIDDY!

*ahem*

This has been a bit of a transition week for me. On Saturday I finished making the additions to Oro that Carina asked for and sent that off.  That one will be in the Erotic Holiday Anthology (which I’ve been referring to as the Ero Ho Ho Antho), scheduled to release November 21. With that production deadline looming, the Carina team has been busy with getting cover ideas and, sadly, retitling the story. Apparently a surprising number of people out there don’t know that Oro means gold in Spanish.

~drums nails on desk, looking mean~

I haven’t ever dug in my heels on a title before – and, now that the ever-patient Carolyn Crane talked me out of my tree – I won’t now. But that story will always be Oro in my heart.

So, I’m also aware that, after ORO, I don’t have anything contemporary or erotic romancey lined up for next year. Thus I spent a few days this week working up new project ideas. With the brainstorming and insightful feedback of my lurvly CPs, Carolyn and Marcella, I’ve now got concepts for six novels. One would be a contemporary romance trilogy and the other three would be new installments in the Facets of Passion series – but longer stories. And now all six are sketched out.

I know, I know. Can this really be me? Is the non-plotter actually pre-plotting?

Noooo… Don’t be silly. These are just overall road maps. But I am getting better at preconceiving how a story will go. It takes a different kind of writer muscle, but I think I’m developing it. Fabulous Agent Pam will take those out on the road, so I’ll keep you posted!

Then yesterday, I started in on Book 2 of The Twelve Kingdoms. This is the sequel to The Middle Princess, which I’ve been calling The Flower Princess. Those names will change, but that’s what they are to me until then. I set up my storyboard for Flower Princess – which meant retiring all the notes for Master of the Opera, which is pretty much done now, except for line edits, etc. – and dug into the opening scene.

It feels less huge now, but it’s always interesting to start a project I know I’ll be working on for the next three months or so. I expect developmental edits for Middle Princess during that time, but those two should dovetail nicely. In fact, I’m delighted by that timing as it will let me really submerge in that world.

It also occurred to me yesterday that, with turning in Flower Princess by November 1 and with the Book 3, The Sword Princess, due May 1, that I’ll have the whole trilogy written before most readers ever see the first book (out in June). In some ways I think that’s a really good thing for me. I’ll have less of a sense of anyone looking over my shoulder. I felt a lot of that in the Covenant of Thorns cycle, when I wrote Rogue’s Possession, with Rogue’s Pawn being out for so long. Twelve Kingdoms will be in more of a bubble. I’ll be interested in the difference.

What I am noticing is that I’m also getting much better at compartmentalizing projects. A very useful skill to have, the way I’m wanting to get these different stories out there.

So, that’s a rambly recap of where I’m at right now. Apropos of nothing, really.

You all have a fab weekend!

Turning the Private into the Public – Games with Internal Monologue

Jeffe Kennedy / / Blog

003It’s getting to be summer here in Santa Fe and I’m having a lovely time getting our patios all set up for long hours of enjoyment. Meanwhile, I’m over at Word Whores today, talking about how much fun I have with my heroine’s internal monologue in A Covenant of Thorns.