First Cup of Coffee – August 2, 2024

Envy and jealousy, especially professional jealousy and how to combat them. I’m talking negative emotions in general and offering my two go-to tips for how to diffuse professional jealousy in myself and make it a positive.

First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy

First Cup of Coffee - August 2, 2024

August 02, 2024

Jeffe Kennedy

Envy and jealousy, especially professional jealousy and how to combat them. I'm talking negative emotions in general and offering my two go-to tips for how to diffuse professional jealousy in myself and make it a positive.

The site on Tall Poppy Syndrome is here https://www.womenofinfluence.ca/tps/

The preorder links for RELUCTANT WIZARD, out August 27, are here https://www.jeffekennedy.com/reluctant-wizard

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You can buy tickets for Wild & Windy in Phoenix (February 2025) here https://www.wildandwindybookevent.com/phoenix-authors

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First Cup of Coffee – May 6, 2021

First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy

First Cup of Coffee - May 6, 2021

May 06, 2021

Jeffe Kennedy

I'm telling a story about my special earrings and a writer friend who's lost to us. Also about author professional jealousy and being envious of the shiny others get to have and do, but being aware of the down sides.

You can watch the You Tube video of the podcast here (https://youtu.be/o_xM97ctyiQ).

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!



Battling Author Envy

This week at the SFF Seven we’re talking about ENVY. We’re asking if things have ever gotten weird between you and another author after publishing?

Yeah, they have. And it’s awful and heartbreaking.

You know what else is awful and heartbreaking? Feeling that envy for other authors who seem to be more successful than we are. None of us wants to be that person, and yet none of us is immune from those green crawly fingers of professional jealousy. Come on over for my advice on battling author envy from BOTH sides!

First Cup of Coffee – December 5, 2019

First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy

First Cup of Coffee - December 5, 2019

December 05, 2019

Jeffe Kennedy

Some insights from interviewing Melinda Snodgrass at George RR Martin's Jean Cocteau Cinema the other night. Also about my writing community and how great they are - and when it's a Vile Book.

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!


Setting the Record Straight

A blustery, blizzardy day here in Santa Fe! My iron fairy sculpture has wind-blown rain and snow frozen to it. Springtime in the Rockies!

We had a lovely time in Tucson over the weekend, though they weren’t a whole lot farther along springwise than we are. A cold winter, with lots of precipitation. We’re hoping that bodes well for a lush and lavish summer.

I know, I know. I am an idealist at heart. 

Last week I had a conversation that really stuck with me. Well, to be honest, I was hurt, which wasn’t at all the intention of the person speaking. See, what happened is, I was talking with an aspiring author of science fiction. She’d been struggling with some structural issues and genre expectations, and she mentioned she’d re-read one of my books to study how I’d done certain things. Which is lovely and flattering! I then offered to read her book for her and see if I had any suggestions to offer. She asked if I was sure and I said, yes, I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t want to. And she said, oh, well, a mutual acquaintance of ours had warned her that I was territorial about science fiction and fantasy so not to expect help from me there.

I was frankly stunned.

You know that feeling, like you’ve been punched? That.

And my friend felt terrible. She even tried to convince me that being territorial about a genre isn’t a bad thing, that lots of people feel that way. I suppose that’s true, that territoriality and jealousy are part and parcel of our profession. But to me those are terribly negative emotions and go against everything I believe in and work toward. 

I don’t hold her to blame for telling me, but I am unhappy with the person who said this thing about me. No, I don’t know who it is. My friend wouldn’t say. It maybe doesn’t matter, except that it reflects on the mindset of that person. I don’t know where they got this idea about me, and since they haven’t said it to my face, I’ll have to speak up for myself here. 

I have to tell you all, I immediately went to Grace Draven and she said “Whaaa?” and then “Who said that and why would they say it? You’re one of the most generous people out there with your help and experience. It’s unfair, unjust, and just totally out in left field.” 

Which made me feel much better. Maybe I should just hold Grace’s purse while she beats them up for me. She’s a good friend. She’d probably help me dispose of the body, too.

As satisfying as that would be, I’d rather set the record straight. No, I’m not territorial about SFF. I’m not sure someone CAN be territorial about an entire genre. Even if I wanted to somehow keep all the SFF-writing to myself, I don’t know how I’d go about it. Decline to read and critique other’s work? Refuse to blurb books written by debut authors? Talk smack about my fellow authors in the genre instead of cheering their releases and sharing good news about them? Walk away from collaborative projects? Go all ninja on their asses and slip poison into their morning coffee?

Demonstrably, I don’t do any of those things. (Except maybe the ninja poison thing, in which case no one will ever know I was there BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!)

I devote a lot of time to supporting my fellow authors and their books, at all levels of the game. In fact, people close to me gently suggest I spend LESS time on stuff that isn’t my own work. I am a Director at Large on the Board of Directors for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) because I want to support the genre and profession. People close to me gently suggest I spend less time on volunteering too. I ignore those gentle suggestions because I believe in giving generously of myself. That’s important to me. Probably one of my most closely held values.

So, you can see why it bothered me that someone out there talked smack about me this way. You could accuse me of many flaws. I’d most likely agree with chagrin on what they are and renew my intentions to do better. But this is not one of them. I am not a person who worries about there being only so much pie to go around. Pies are easy to make. I’m totally in favor of more pie.

I’m really enjoying my friend’s book, too. When she gets it published, I’ll be the first to cheer about it. 

On Professional Jealousy – and Three Ways to Shut It Down

Last weekend I got to visit my lovely writer friend Grace Draven – that’s me enjoying the gorgeous trees in Texas hill country – and this weekend my fantastic writer friend Anne Calhoun came to visit me. As a result, I’ve had about ten days worth of intense writer conversation and am wrung out.

I’m also late with this post to the SFF Seven because of it. Last week I didn’t do one at all, though that was largely because the topic was Flash Fiction and I just don’t much like doing those. Flash fiction can be an interesting form, but my fiction-writing energy goes into my current project and I find working on anything other than that feels tangential at best and counter-productive at worst.

I am, however, blessed by having these friends to talk writing with and my well has been refilled to brimming.

And this week’s topic is about writing relationships: A Cringeworthy Moment of Professional Jealousy & How You Dealt With It. Come on over to hear mine