I'm back from mini-break and talking about my birthday and family gathering, including wine-refrigerator shout-out to Alexia Chantel Also talking about cover discussions for THE ORCHID THRONE, and finishing THE ARROWS OF THE HEART - particularly cuing the reader when the characters are safe enough to have sex. Also sharing a pic from Crested Butte - the window boxes and hanging baskets were enviably gorgeous. I guess that's the benefit of being at 10,000 ft and living in what amounts to a refrigerator!
I wax philosophical today, talking about how to work with the creative self and how it's like training a puppy. Also about stopping for the day when you hit wordcount, why pushing can be destructive, and plans for Bubonicon tomorrow. http://bubonicon.com/
Reporting on Mary Robinette Kowal and John Scalzi at George RR Martin's Jean Cocteau theater, on my lovely birthday spent with wonderful friends. I also discuss SHOOTING STAR - why I changed the cover and what a cover is supposed to do in the first place. Guest post I mention is here https://twimom227.com/2018/08/author-guest-post-jeffe-kennedy-5.html
Not all desires are shiny and sweet—and the dark ones might change you forever…
It’s not the kind of obsession a tough Army guy can admit to—a jones for Ava, the pretty-princess pop star. Not just her body, the perfect product that sells all those magazines. Her music.
The critics call her human lip gloss, all style and no substance. To Joe Ivanchan, Ava is the exact blend of reality and fantasy that he can tolerate, the closest he’s willing to get to giving his heart after the injury and breakdown that got him out of the service.
But Ava is real. She’s a flesh and blood woman with a publicity machine and an album deadline, along with a whole team of handlers paid to shellac a pristine sheen over a damaged, desperate soul. A woman with fears, with secrets, with desires.
When Joe finds himself in an interview to join her security team as her driver, his instinct is to get away. But the woman behind Ava’s carefully focus-grouped image is even harder to walk away from. The angry needs tormenting her speak to something within Joe. Something empathetic, protective—and primal…
Besides, even a falling star can light up the darkest night.
I share gossip from WorldCon, including literary agent Danielle Smith (I mistakenly say Michelle) of Lupine Grove being accused of fraud. (More here https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2018/07/agent-danielle-smith-accused-of-fraud-lupine-grove-creative-closes/) I also mention Liz Gorinsky's new imprint Erehwon, signing next to Seanan McGuire, being fangirled by Kara Lockharte, and getting back to work. Blogpost I mention is here https://sffseven.blogspot.com/2018/08/being-proud-of-being-different.html
Coffee with Canadian SFF author Kelly Robson at WorldCon76 in San Jose, discussing women's work, writing novels vs writing short, and using your hands while you talk. Book Kelly mentions is Women's Work: the First 20,000 Years by Elizabeth Wayland Barber.
The time went by fast today - partly battling a cholla-wielding pack rat. Talking about the Netflix movie Extinction, and giving up Netflix DVDs. My WorldCon schedule, and thoughts on THE ARROWS OF THE HEART and THE ORCHID THRONE.
Today I'm talking about plans to ask for blurbs for THE ORCHID THRONE - and how it's different than with my very first book back in 2004. (Wyoming Trucks, True Love, and the Weather Channel) Also talking about how being a professional writer is like rising through skill levels in a game, how each new level has its challenges and rewards.
Upcoming secret project reveal! (At least in part - but definitely some "you heard it first here" news. Updates on THE ARROWS OF THE HEART and good news on THE ORCHID THRONE from my editor. Otherwise some cat wrangling and musing on sensitivity, privilege and why "having respect for other people" is a good replacement for "political correctness."Sorry about the abrupt cut-off at the end there. I don't know what happened...
Today is the first day of school for some kids, so I'm thinking about summer's end, school and birthdays. Also talking about external and internal conflict in stories, using Lord of the Rings and Pride & Prejudice as examples. There's also some cat wrangling and the ongoing territorial war with the pack rat, including cholla burrs.
