Jaye Wells's Blog, page 20

It's time to officially kick off the holiday season and count-down to the release of SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL. Today we begin with a good old fashion Urban Fantasy Christmas carol.

Sabina the Red-Headed Stepchild

By Jaye Wells

Sung to the tune of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Sabina, the red-headed stepchild

Had a very shiny gun

And if you ever saw her

Your life was pretty  done.

All of the other vampires,

Used to sneer and call her names

They never let poor Sabina

Join in their blood-letting games

Then one All Hallow's Eve

A hot mage came to say

"Sabina with your mixed birthright

Won't you join our war tonight?"

Then all the mages loved her

And Giguhl shouted out with glee–

Sabina the red-headed stepchild

You'll make dark race history!

Come back on Thursday for more fun, including a contest to win an early copy of SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL!

Music Beat article, Dec. 2011 issue

Headline: Necrospank 5000′s New Album: Musical Magic or Massive Mistake?

The music world will be abuzz next week upon the release of Necrospank 5000′s fifth album, FRAGILE RAGE. The effort is the result of nine months in the studio following the band's notorious world tour in 2009. Fans of the band will recall that the tour ended abruptly following the arrest of lead singer, Erron Zorn after his now-infamous public sex act with a rubber sheep in St. Louis.  Charges were dropped, but the pallor of controversy continues to follow the mysterious musician in his new home in New Orleans, where the album was recorded.

When asked about the theme for the new album, Zorn was quoted as saying, "The theme? For this album we really dug deep to explore the existential ramifications of  – fuck you. Get off my property."

Early reviews of the album are mixed. Synde Korman of Seattle Sound Monthly said, "Necrospank's most definitive work to date. I especially found the subtext of the second track [ed. note: See playlist below] to speak directly to the youth of America today."

However, M. Manson of L.A. Music Quarterly said, "Zorn is obstreperous and his music is derivative and hackneyed. I wouldn't hire him to score the soundtrack for my bowel movements."

We'll leave it up to the fans to decide whether FRAGILE RAGE is a hit or a miss. In the meantime, Zorn recently also announced a new jewelry line, an example of which can be found here. The band will kick off a world wide tour for FRAGILE RAGE in Rome on Dec. 15 and will wrap it up at New York's Jupiter Ballroom on January 25.

FRAGILE RAGE Playlist

1. Cocaine Enema

2. Violent Hole, You are So Beautiful

3. Fuck the Clowns

4. Moist Voodoo

5. The Devil's Taint

6. Black Magic Pussy, dentata remix

7. Slut Monkey

8. Creepy Sex Doll (a love song)

Only one month until SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL hits the mean streets. To hold you over through the holiday until you can get your hands on this bad boy, why not read the first chapter? Go on.

SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL

Sabina Kane, Book Four

Release Date: January 1, 2012

Pre-order from Amazon, B&N, Indiebound.org

READ CHAPTER ONE

Description:

Now that the threat of war has passed, Sabina Kane is ready to focus on the future. Her relationship with Adam Lazarus is getting stronger and she's helping her sister, Maisie, overcome the trauma of her captivity in New Orleans. Even Giguhl is managing to stay out of troublethanks to the arrival of Pussy Willow and his new roller derby team. But as much as Sabina wants to feel hopeful about the future, part of her doesn't trust that peace is possible.

Her suspicions are confirmed when a string of sadistic murders threaten to stall treaty negotiations between the mages and the vampires. Sabina pitches in to find the killer, but her investigation soon leads her down dark paths that have her questioning everyone she thought shecould trust. And the closer she gets to the killer, the more Sabina begins to suspect this is one foe she may not be able to kill.

Happy Tuesday, my doves. If you live in the U.S. you're probably daydreaming of turkey and pie today. I'll be hosting about eleven people this year and I'm busy cleaning and doing prep for the big feast this week. So I figured we were long past due for a …

What's Cookin' With Jaye!

Below is the menu for the big Thanksgiving meal this year. My mom and I are dividing the duties so I've starred the things I'm making. I've linked to recipes where I have them.

Appetizers

Cheese Tray and crackers

*Homemade chili pepper jam

*Pumpkin dip and ginger snaps

Main Event

Turkey Two ways–One brined and baked; the other fried (yes we have a fire extinguisher)

Stuffing

*Sweet potato casserole

*Cranberry Relish

*Steamed Broccoli

Mango Mousse (grandma's secret recipe)

Homemade yeast rolls

Desserts

Pumpkin pie

*Chocolate Torte

That's the whole shebang. We're expecting about 11 people total–a small group by normal standards. As I posted this I realized how Southern it probably seems to a lot of you, which I guess isn't a surprise since it's a combination of my Louisianan and Mr. Jaye's South Carolinian traditions with a couple touches from Ohio contingents in the family. Which got me wondering, what traditional dishes do other people demand? Share your favorite dishes in comments and maybe we can get a regional smackdown going.

Non-sequitur: It occurred to me after my last post that I forgot to share some news with you guys. I recently learned that GREEN-EYED DEMON was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award in the Best Urban Fantasy Protagonist category. I'm super excited since this is my first RT nomination. Winners will be announced in April in Chicago. Since many of my friends/colleagues were also nominated it should be an awesome RT convention next year. Here's a complete list of nominations.

Also? Romantic Times also posted it's review for SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL. Not only did they give it 4.5 stars, but they also named it a Top Pick!

Half-mage/half-vampire Sabina Kane has learned to roll with the punches, but there may be a limit to what she can endure. Wells' world is gritty and deadly, but the tension is eased by the wise-ass musings of Sabina's demon minion Giguhl. Rising star Wells keeps the pressure on her protagonists as she throws curve balls at her characters.

Sabina managed to destroy the previous vampire leader (aka her grandmother) and prevent a mage/vampire war, but the cost was high. Sabina's twin sister Maisie is still recovering mentally and physically from her captivity in New Orleans. And back in New York City with the treaty signing in the delicate final stages, Sabina and her mage lover Adam Lazarus are ordered to investigate several brutal murders, ostensibly committed by vampires. Is there a serial killer on the loose or is this a ploy to derail the treaty? As Sabina hunts for the truth, where it leads could change everything. (ORBIT, Jan., 432 pp., $7.99)

Reviewed By: Jill M. Smith

SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL comes out in little more than a month, so this review was a huge relief. I'm so excited about this book. It's a major, major turning point in the series and there are lots of shocks in store for Sabina and the gang. I cannot wait for you guys to read it.

Happy Craft Thursday! Today I'm going to tackle a reader question. Miss Bliss asked:

"How do you figure out chapter breaks? I mean…I am kind of baffled by the overall structure of an entire book. Do you have a certain page amount you think it should be? Or does it have to do with a certain amount of plot advancement?"

So chapter breaks … The crux of this issue comes down to pacing. I write very fast-paced stories, so my philosophy for chapter breaks is of the "get in late and leave early" school. Meaning I start each chapter in the middle of action and leave at a moment of high tension. The way I think about it is if I want to go "Duhn duhn DUNH!" at the end of the chapter then I'm going the job right.

Every author differs on the issue of chapter length. Typically, my chapters tend to be about ten pages long. They get longer as the book progresses, but in general I break my books into ten page sequences. That rhythm works for my style of story telling. And yes it is very much about rhythm. Shorter chapters speed up pace and raise tension. Longer chapters slow it down. Neither way is right or wrong. A lot depends on your genre and whether your books are plot-driven or character-driven.

I actually don't decide on my chapters until the book is pretty far into the process. My first draft is a collection of scenes that I write mostly out of order. Later, I decide how many scenes to include in each chapter to maximize the pace. Other writers I know meticulously plot out each chapter and don't deviate too much from the initial plan. Still others write the book straight through and then insert chapter breaks.

So I guess my answer is: It's up to you.

Authors are constantly having to keep track of rhythms in their writing–from word choice to sentence construction to chapter breaks to plot structure. To decide how long or short your chapters need to be, you need to be aware of the experience you want your readers to have. I want my readers to keep turning pages. Therefore, I make sure that the end of each chapter makes flipping that page irresistible. But this isn't appropriate for every genre, so other authors use different criteria for when to end a chapter.

If you're still unsure, I'd recommend you pick up books by your favorite authors and pay attention to where they end their chapters. Chances are good you'll start to recognize their own patterns once you're paying attention.

Thanks for your question, Miss Bliss!

If anyone else has a question, leave it in comments and I'l try to tackle it on a future Craft Thursday. Happy writing!

Oh, my friends, I must apologize for the radio silence lately. I was felled by a nasty bronchial disturbance that left me a phlegmy, wrung-out mess for the better part of a week. The good news is I'm up and about and on the mend.

Just in time, too. Lots of cool things are going on right now. For example, this morning I opened my email to find a message from my uber-talented critique partner, Suzanne McLeod, informing me that Romantic Times magazine gave SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL 4.5 stars and named it a Top Pick! I'd post the whole review here, but I'm not sure if that's okay since the issue hasn't hit stands yet. I'll post it as soon as I know it's okay though. Needless to say, this was the best sort of news to wake up to.

Since this is the first official review of SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL, it's the perfect time to remind you the book officially drops January 1. Please note, though, that Amazon and other stores will probably put the book out Dec. 27 since Tuesdays are the traditional day for books to be put on the shelves. Anyway, the timing will be perfect for all of you with gift cards burning holes in your wallets from Chrishannakwanzyulemas.

Is anyone doing NanoWriMo this year? Today marks the official half-way point. I'm not participating but I am writing–as usual. Right now I'm working on a secret project that may or may not turn into an actual proposal. I'm really enjoying the ability to just play with ideas and not feel pressured to write for anyone. Which is pretty much what Nano is about, too.

In addition to writing, I'm also working on copy edits for BLUE-BLOODED VAMP, which comes out next June. It's been a couple of months since I turned the book in, so it's fun to read it with fresh eyes. It's hard to believe this is the last Sabina Kane book, but I'm very happy with the way it all sorted itself out in the end.

Also, on Thursday, I'll be starting up my weekly craft blogs again. If there are any topic you'd like for me to tackle about the writing life or the craft, leave me a note in comments.

That's all for now. Hope you all have a great week!

Happy Halloween to all my ghouls and freaks! As you might imagine, this holiday is one of my favorites, but this year it is especially fantastic because I get to share so many treats with you guys.

That's right, it's finally time to announce the winners of the International Urban Fantasy Month Contest!

But first, let's review. Since I put the call out for you to share your love of Urban Fantasy, you guys have spread the word far and wide. In addition to the more than 200 entrants into the contest, many of you also retweeted and blogged about the contest. Some authors even hosted their own UF Month contests (Michelle Rowen, Sierra Dean and Suzanne McLeod.) The support has been really awesome and many of your letters were so creative and just downright awesome.

So who won?

In no particular order (with date and time they posted):

Mandy Hones  (10/18 at 6:33)

Deirdre aka Wyld Dandelion (10/28 at 9:02)

Chris H. (10/18 at 8:15)

Maria Simon (10/19 at 6:21)

Angelstar Gwen (10/23 at 2:12)

Congrats to all the winners who will each receive five awesome UF and/or PNR novels!

Here's how to claim your prizes:

To keep things fair on the prize distribution, the choice of books will be on a first come first served basis. Each of you needs to email me at jaye(at)jayewells(dot)com by Friday night to claim your prizes. First person to email me gets first choice of the prizes. Second, gets to pick next, etc, etc. If by some chance you receive a book you already own, I encourage you to share it with a friend. Let's keep the UF love going all year long.

A huge thanks to all the generous authors who contributed prizes to this amazing contest. Also, thanks to you guys, the readers, who have made UF one of the most popular genres around. Because of you, we get to spend out days playing taunt the demon and tickle the zombie. You rock!

I hope you all have a spooky Halloween filled with sweet treats and righteous tricks! What's everyone costume this year? Do you have a favorite Halloween trick? Inquiring minds want to know.

So, it's October and there's only two weeks left until the highest of holy holidays for lovers of the arcane everywhere–Halloween. I got thinking about how Halloween is also the perfect holiday for lovers of urban fantasy. These two thoughts collided into an idea so epic, so awesome that my brain exploded.

Yes, yes, we only have two weeks left. But I think we put our evil minds to it, we can really blow this out. Naturally, my first thought was to hold a contest to celebrate. But I didn't want to do just any contest. I wanted to do something that celebrates the genre but also brings new fans into the fold.

Here's where you come in. Everyone who writes a love letter to Urban Fantasy on their own blogs (be sure to track back to this one so you're counted) or here in comments if you don't have a blog of your own, will be entered for a chance to win an epic prize pack of Urban Fantasy novels (with a couple of paranormal romances thrown in for spice).

So what constitutes an urban fantasy love letter? Talk about your favorite books or characters. Talk about what you love about the genre in general. Write a snarky haiku, romantic sonnet or dirty limerick. Anything goes as long as its about UF and how awesome it is.

So what will the winners get?

Brace yourselves. This big, bad collection of tricks and treats is so awesome its scary!

RED-HEADED STEPCHILD by Jaye Wells

THE MAGE IN BLACK by Jaye Wells

GREEN-EYED DEMON by Jaye Wells

THE SWEET SCENT OF BLOOD by Suzanne McLeod

MUST LOVE LYCANS by Michele Bardsley

KILLING THE COBRA by Mario Acevedo

WEREWOLF SMACKDOWN by Mario Acedvo

HEXED by Kevin Hearne

ACCIDENTALLY CATTY by Dakota Cassidy

TRANCE by Kelly Meding

A SHOT IN THE DARK by K.A. Stewart

TEMPEST RISING by Nicole Peeler

TRACKING THE TEMPEST by Nicole Peeler

TEMPEST'S LEGACY by Nicole Peeler

CROSSED by J.F. Lewis

A BRUSH OF DARKNESS by Allison Pang

BATTLE OF THE NETWORK ZOMBIES by Mark Henry

DOUBLE CROSS by Carolyn Crane

DEAD TO ME by Anton Strout

MY LIFE AS A WHITE TRASH ZOMBIE by Diana Rowland

IRON CROWNED by Richelle Mead

SUCCUBUS REVEALED by Richelle Mead

LAST SACRIFICE by Richelle Mead

HUNGER by Jackie Morse Kessler

RAGE by Jackie Morse Kessler

That's a lot of books, people. What's better? They'll all be autographed. Even better? The contest is open internationally. That's why it's called INTERNATIONAL UF Month, after all.

Here's how it will work. FIVE winners will be chosen at random from the pool of commenters and bloggers (again, don't forget to track back to this post or I won't know you entered). Each winner will receive FIVE books. Here's the fairest solution I could come up with: Prizes will be divvied up on a first come, first served basis. That way if there's titles you've already read you can choose something new. But if you get something you've already read, why not pass it on to a friend who has yet to discover the genre? This event is all about spreading the love for UF, right?

To my fellow UF authors: If you're interested in joining in the fun, I'd encourage you to host your own giveaways on your blogs. Let me know about them and I'll link to them here.

The winners of these extraordinary prizes will be announced on Halloween, October 31. So join in and spread the urban fantasy love. Tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell the world:

ETA: You actually have to leave a comment about urban fantasy and why you love it or its authors to be entered. Random comments will not be counted.

Other authors are getting into the spirit of Intl. Urban Fantasy Month. Below is a list of links to their contests. This list will be updated as authors inform me of their contributions, so check back often!

Sierra Dean –Giving away 12 UF novels!

Last week, I noticed a link posted by the very talent Rachel Vincent, she of many wonderful urban fantasy and young adult novels. Rachel belongs to the Deadline Dames blog, a group of savvy and kick ass writers. They had this great contest for their readers wherein they posted three pieces of flash fiction and readers had to guess which of the Dames wrote each story. Reading each great piece, I was reminded of my own past as a flash fiction writer.

But let's back up a minute. Some of you might never have heard of flash fiction. Basically, they're super short stories, ranging anywhere from 250-1000 words (definitions vary). Flash is a wonderful exercise in writing tight. When you have to tell a story in as little as 250 words, you learn very quickly to make very word count.

I was first introduced to this form of writing by Jason Evans, who runs the

Clarity of Night blog. Periodically, Jason runs flash fiction contests, where he posts a picture for inspiration and people submit 250-word stories related to the theme picture. A wonderful community of writers has grown around Jason's contest and the competition is friendly but fierce. I participated in Jason's first contest (called "Two Lights"), as well as six others. Later, once I was published, I guest hosted the "In Vino Veritas" contest, and I also contributed a Sabina Kane flash piece just for fun to the "Ascension" contest.

Besides the friendships I made by entering those contest and the excellent practice writing those stories gave me, I will be forever in Jason's debt because one of my flash pieces, "I Can Dig It," eventually became the first chapter of RED-HEADED STEPCHILD. Some of the details changed in the process, but the spirit of the piece–the elements that intrigued me to know more about this character–remained.

Up until I wrote that story, I had written two paranormal romance novels. While I enjoyed the process of writing them, I always felt like something was off for me. But then Jason posted that picture. I remember the day very clearly. I was driving down the road, pondering what I'd write when suddenly a voice popped into my head. She said, "Digging graves is hell on a manicure."

And Sabina Kane was born. Sabina wasn't a romance novel heroine. She was brash and ruthless and blood-thirsty. I fell in love with her instantly. Telling her story was my first foray into urban fantasy.

Five years later, the line that inspired that flash fiction piece has stretched into hundreds more. I just completed my fifth Sabina Kane novel, and during the course of writing them, I've managed to turn two additional flash fiction pieces into scenes for the series ("Faery Rings and Broken Dreams" and "Blood Will Tell").

Obviously, I'm not saying that if you write flash fiction you're guaranteed to become a multi-published author. But it certainly won't hurt your chances.

Writing flash, in addition to forcing me to write tight, is an incredibly freeing exercise. Because of the short form, it's easy to experiment with style and voice. The other thing that's interesting is, if you enter a flash contest like Jason's, it's eye-opening to see how many different directions writers will take the exact same inspiration. This is a critical lesson in being a writer. No two of us will handle material the same way. Even if it's been written about a thousand times before, it's never been written by you.

I would submit to you that if you are stuck for ideas, writing a piece of flash fiction can uncork the genie's bottle. Free from the expectations of longer form fiction, you can really play. And if you'll recall, I believe play is essential for creativity.

So the next time you're floundering or putting off working on your book, pick a random image or word and using it as a prompt for a piece of flash fiction. Or enter one of Jason's contest and open yourself up to the generous and helpful feedback of the community there. You never know what will come of it. That one little 250-word scene might shake up your subconscious–or it might end up being the scene that inspires you to write a book that will begin your career as an author. You never know until you try it.

For those interested, the links below will take you to all the flash fiction I posted at Jason's site.

"Emancipation"

"Going Back to Basics"

"I Can Dig It"

"It's Not So Bad"

"Werewife"

"Faery Rings and Broken Dreams"

"Phoenix Rising"

"Some of Us Are Looking at the Stars"

"Blood Will Tell"

Have you ever tried flash fiction?

This week, an aspiring author friend contacted me to ask whether I thought a market exists for a certain type of book. I don't begrudge the question. I've been there, too. Wondering if it's worth putting so much time and energy in a project that's doomed in the market. It's not an unfair or unnecessary question. But it does miss a larger issue.

It's so easy to get sidetracked by the noise. Between the internal critic who likes to tell you you're a hack or you're wasting your time and the cacophony of voices shouting about the publishing industry, it's so easy to lose your nerve. That is, unless you are always mindful of the number one rule for all writers. Ready?

You control the words.

You don't control the market. You don't control readers' preferences. You don't control the publisher or the prevailing format in which your stories will eventually be published.

You control the words.

Chasing genre trends or writing based on what you think will be popular, is a sure way to either fail or get lost in a shuffle. So I would submit to you that your goal should not be to follow trends, but to start them. And you do that by writing what turns you on. You do that by writing in your true voice. You do that by exploring the shadowy edges of your own fears.

Look, I get it. It's scary to do those things. No one wants to prod the wounds of their psyches to entertain others without some kind of assurance or safety net. But you know what? Everything is a gamble. It's all a huge game of chicken. That's terrifying but also incredibly thrilling.  If it was easy and safe, it wouldn't appeal to the daredevil in every writer. The perverse voice in our minds that urges us to share our truths. To say the things in our fiction we wouldn't dare say in polite company.

My challenge for you today is to let go of the things you can't control and embrace those things you can. You control the words. That means you can either be a disciplinarian who forces the words to behave and line up in a neat row that will fit into someone else's formula of what is a sale-able story. Or you can set fire to those words and let them burn up the page.

Either way you may fail. That's truth. Not sure about you, but I'd prefer failure come on the heels of a period of passionate work than one in which I wrote something on someone else's terms.

You control the words. Let that empower you. Don't let the bullshit noise of the market and the doubt in your head prevent you from kicking ass on the page. Time spent worrying about a contract for a book you haven't even written is a huge waste of time and energy. But you know what's never a waste of time? Writing.

Go write your ass off. The rest will sort itself out.