Jaye Wells's Blog, page 22

ETA: Someone allowed Giguhl to blog. That someone is Tori at the Book Faery blog, and today he's trying to convince everyone he's the sexiest sidekick in fiction. There's also a give away!Brace yourselves! 

On Saturday, my family and some friends went to a roller derby bout. The event happened at one of those old school roller rinks. You know the ones. If you're over 35, you probably spent at least some of your childhood doing the limbo on skates and getting sweaty palms whenever the couples' skate was announced.

There's not much I don't love about roller derby. I adore the tattoos and skanky outfits. The dyed hair and the bad attitudes. I love the rebelliousness and the fierce competition, which is mixed with a sense of humor and camaraderie.

I first became interested in roller derby when I saw the movie Whip It. Then I met a friend who used to play on a team and peppered her with questions about the life. It was only a matter of time before it became an element of a story, which I managed in SILVER-TONGUE DEVIL (out January '12).

Have you ever been to a roller derby bout? Or, better yet, played on a team yourself? I want to know!

What's Cooking in Jaye's Kitchen

As I mentioned last week, I've been trying out a lot of new recipes lately. I thought I'd start sharing my experiments here in case of any of you also love to cook.

This week I made:

Two types of paninis. Roast beef with spinach leaf and manchego cheese. And fresh fig with goat's milk gouda. Delish!

Green Chili and Pork Pozole. It's Hatch season and my grocery store roasts the chilis in huge drums in front of the store. I grabbed a large container of freshly roasted chilis and then went to look for ideas. First was this pozole, which is basically a spicy pork stew. It was super spicy so I added a dollop of sour cream to temper the heat. So good!

Green chili and roasted tomatillo salsa. Roasted tomatillos, tomatos and garlic under the broiler. Threw these in a food processor with green chilis, cilantro, white onion and the juice of one lime. Spicy, spicy goodness.

If you can't get Hatch chilis in your area, don't worry. A simple internet search will net you tons of specialty stores that will ship them to your door.

If you spend any amount of time online–and trust me, I do–it's easy to believe that books are on the endangered species list. There seem to be several camps. The Firebrands who give rousing sermons about the ebook revolution. The Luddites who shout "Paper books or death!" The Mediators who want to find a sweet spot where print books and ebooks can peacefully coexist. And then, there are the readers, who just want the next story, please.

It's a topic of much debate and for a lot of authors like me its a confusing and exciting time. But I'm not here to pretend I know what the future holds for story-telling mediums. I just want to talk about the little issue that keeps getting ignored in all this.

The World's Real Oldest Profession

"Writing is like sex. First you do it for love, then you do it for your friends, and then you do it for money."

–Virginia Woolf

Here's the truth: Stories existed long before Guttenberg's printing press or you fired up your first Commodore 64. And for as long as stories have existed, imaginative humans have figured out how to get paid for telling them. That's not going to change. The medium might look different, the marketing strategies might change, but our species' craving for a good story will never be sated.

I try to remind myself of this when I start angsting about my future as an author. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the hype, the hyperbole of the book revolution. People are passionate about the topic because they are passionate about books. That's a good thing. But is the book industry as a whole focusing too much on delivery methods and not enough on the content inside those bytes or pages? Maybe.

We're all so desperate to protect our incomes that we've lost site of the reason we're all waving flags and issuing battle cries: STORY. If you're an author and you're more famous for your guerilla marketing tactics than for the quality of your writing, that's a problem. If you're spending more time trying to trick readers into buying your books and less time actually writing them, that's a problem. If you're so distracted by the doomsayers that you can't write a word, that's a big fucking problem.

Obviously, I'm not saying writers shouldn't worry about money. If anyone should it's us. After all, if most people know what we make an hour, they'd pity us. The truth is anyone who gets into the story slinging business to make money is delusional. Almost every writer I know has either a day job or a very patient spouse with a steady income and benefits.

So if writing for money isn't why we do this, what is?

We write because we love stories. We write because stories help us answer two questions: Who am I? and Who are we (the human race)?

Luckily for us, those two questions can never be fully answered. The quest to understand is never ending. We write because life is messy and hard and sometimes we just want to escape. We write because we crave connection. We write because if we don't we become faded versions of ourselves.

And you know what? Those are the exact same reasons people read. Therefore, if the quest to understand is never ending, so too is the need for stories. Your stories. My stories.

I write because I love stories. Before I wrote, I told stories around tables with my friends and family. After that, I wrote before I made any money doing it. I will continue to do it even if I can't make another dime. I love entertaining people. The fact I get to do that for a living is a blessing I try not to take for granted. Eventually, the checks might stop coming, and if that happens I will still share my stories. Because it's what I do. I can't not do it.

One day, my beloved print books might be dusty exhibits for museums. One day, stories might be beamed directly to your brain via lasers. One day, storytellers might gather again in town squares to weave a yarn for tips. I don't know how they'll be shared. I don't know how writers will make money. I don't know if I'll be living in a van down by the river or in a villa in Tuscany. All I know is …

I want to tell you a story.

It's the first day of school! Spawn is off to start third grade and I finally get my days back. Happy day!

Look, I know what you're thinking. What kind of mom rejoices at seeing her kid less? How about a mom who had to meet a deadline with a bored eight-year-old underfoot?

I love my kid. I do! But I've long since realized that everyone around here is happier with a routine. Spawn's involves the structure of school. Mine requires the ability to enjoy my coffee in silence before getting to work for the day without someone needing something from me. So we're all winners.

Speaking of winning, as a result of my current lack of deadline, I've been filling my time trying out new recipes. The development actually was not my idea, but Mr. Jaye's, after he got sick of me whining about being bored and restless. I have to say, I'm enjoying this new hobby. It's kind of sad how excited I am to be the proud owner of a new food mill. Regardless, I tried two new recipes this weekend that I thought I'd share.

First, a chili pepper jam, courtesy of David Rocco. I saw this made on the chef's show and decided I'd try it out. Unfortunately, the chilis the host used weren't available, so I decided to use serranos and habaneros. Here's a helpful tip: Don't remove the seeds from habaneros without gloves. You'll thank me for this advice when your hands aren't tormented with the fires of hell. In case you ignore me–at your own peril!–soaking your hands in milk helps.

Anyway, the jelly is actually quite delicious. The habaneros gave it a slightly smoky flavor but the vinegar and sugar toned down the heat so it's not too spicy. I served it with cheese and crackers but there are tons of ways to use it.

The other new recipe I made was fried chicken. Spawn requested this for his birthday dinner, and since I'd never made fried chicken before I scoured the web for a good recipe. Enter Tyler Florence. Here's the link to his recipe. The herb-and-garlic infused oil and sirracha spiced buttermilk made the chicken crazy flavorful. I'll definitely be making this again. Served with mashed potatoes and fresh green beans cooked with a little bacon and beef stock.

On a related note, I started running again this morning. A requirement if I'm going to keep this cooking hobby going.

Link!

I wrote a post today at The League of Reluctant Adults about how to not be a writing poser. Check it out here.

Last night I had one of those dreams where you wake up and think "What was that?" Look, I know, everyone thinks their dreams are really interesting. Meanwhile their audience's eyes are glazing over and their chins dipping in that sort of polite bobble-headed nod. But this is my blog, so …

I was in a writing seminar. My editor and some sort of instructor were at the front of the room. The question posed was something like, "What is it about writing? What's the important thing? Why do you do it?"

I'm called to give an answer. Stand. Grandly announce, "It's all about the words." I see people shift. Feel uncomfortable myself because I know this is not a real answer. It's just one of those writerly answers that we use to sound very important and deep.

I hold up my hand. "Actually, it's not just the words." I placed my hands on my midsection–just over my diaphragm. "Writing opens the third eye that resides here, in my gut. That eyes sees the world more honestly and clearly than my real eyes."

And that, my friends, is the real answer.

Oh, my friends, I've missed you. The last couple of months have been busy, busy, busy, but now I'm back and I'm excited.

See, I finished BLUE-BLOODED VAMP (out June 2012). I turned it in on Monday and yesterday, my editor called to tell me she loved it. Huge relief! Waiting for the verdict from one's editor is always nerve-wracking, but I'm blessed because mine is a super-speedy reader which cuts down on the length of the agony. But for this book in particular it was especially gratifying. BBV will be the fifth and last Sabina Kane novel, so a lot was riding on getting it right. I wanted so much to give Sabina's story the perfect ending and it looks like I succeeded.

A lot of people have asked me why this was the last Sabina book. There tends to be this idea that if an author finishes a series it's because they were told no one wanted more books. This was not the case at all. When I set out to write the series, I'd initially planned on there being only three books. I realized pretty quickly I couldn't tell the whole story in three, so I upped it to five. But now I've brought Sabina's story full circle and it's time to move on to other characters and worlds. I suppose I could have kept going. I could have manufactured new dramas for our heroine, but that wouldn't be fair to you, the readers, and it wouldn't be fair to me because I have other stories to tell. Rest assured, though, I will keep writing. I don't know how to not be a writer. And I hope that whatever warped tales follow the ones I've already written will continue to entertain you.

So what's next? Well, first I have a few minor tweaks to make to the manuscript. Nothing huge, just smoothing out a couple of parts and finessing a scene or two. But then. Then. I get to do whatever I want.

It's gratifying and scary at the same time. I'm the kind of person who kind of flounders without a plan, so rest assured this euphoria will not last long. Soon enough, I'll be pitching new projects. But for now, I'm going to relax. I'm going to hang out with my kid, whose been a champ while mom's been under deadline. I'm going to read all the books that have been piling up. I'm going to hang out with friends. I'm going to, in short, refill the well.

And then I'm going to write the shit out of a new story. Trust that.

I'm taking a quick break from my revision schedule and trying not to melt in the hellacious Texas heat to share some  fun news with you.

Starting today, the Amazon Sunshine promotion is offering my first book, RED-HEADED STEPCHILD for only $1.99 in Kindle format!

If you read this blog, chances are pretty good you've already read my books, but maybe you have a friend who hasn't. Or a coworker. Or your crotchety aunt Mildred needs a good laugh. Spread the word.

I'm about a month out from my deadline for Blue-Blooded Vamp. Until it's turned in, you can expect some more radio silence here, but I hope you're all staying cool and having great summers. Happy reading!

Today is the first official day of summer vacation for Spawn. That means my days will now be filled with juggling mom stuff and very important writing stuff. You'd think I'd be stressed, but I find that being forced to juggle makes me twice as productive. Go figure.

Progress on Blue-Blooded Vamp is moving right along. I plan to have this draft done by next Friday, which will give me about six week of revision time. Six weeks may not sound like a long time, but, trust me, it is. I usually have half that time.

I think most of you know by now that Blue-Blooded Vamp will be the last book in the Sabina Kane series. Already, people are asking me what's next. The truth is I don't know. I have an idea for a new UF series and plan to start writing that proposal as soon as I turn this book in. But I also have other projects I'd like to focus on for a while. I've been under contract for so long I forgot what it's like to just play with whatever I want to play with on any given day.

Don't get me wrong, I do not plan on taking a long break. Just a month or so of developing some projects and seeing where my fancy takes me. In addition to books ideas, I'm also working on some screenwriting projects with a writing partner. I don't talk about those here much because, well, my main focus for the last three years has been books. But some recent promising events may shift that focus. Or they may not. Who knows? I guess what I'm saying is the next six months should be pretty interesting. And I plan on enjoying the hell out of it.

In the meantime, though, I've got to give Sabina's last book the attention it deserves. I'll probably be scarce here for a couple of months, but I might pop into every now and again to check in.

Hello, my pretties! I'm back in Dallas and still recovering from my week of debauchery, aka the Snark-LA-TEX book tour with Nicole Peeler. Before I get to the details, a quick snapshot in stat form:

No. of book stores visited: 5

No. of miles driven: 1,285

No. of tattoos parlors visited: 1

No. of pounds gained: 3

Also, if you'd like an alternate perspective on the trip, check out Nicole Peeler's blog. She'll have more pics than I posted here. Go check her out, y'all. But be sure to come back because there's dirt down below.

Sunday:

Nicole and Mary Lois arrived that afternoon and our first stop was, naturally, food. I introduced the ladies to Fuzzy's Tacos, which is a delicious street taco restaurant with lots of thinly veiled innuendos serving as decor. Duly fortified, we headed to Borders in Allen, TX. First, let me say, this store is awesome. It's a two-story beauty of a store and the staff couldn't have been more solicitous or fun. The crowd was enthusiastic and filled with lots of local friends and fans, which was a fantastic way to kick off the tour. After the event, we all headed to another Mexican joint for the strongest margaritas on earth (they refuse to serve anyone more than two). They're like the most delicious Slurpees you'll ever consume.

Monday:

The girls and I got up bright and early and headed to Cafe Brazil for chorizo empanadas before hitting the road for Austin. It's a modest 3-hour drive and we had fun comparing iTunes playlists, which were scarily similar. We arrived in Austin just in tme for a quick shower and some make-uping before we met our friends David and Marlena at Bess Bistro for dinner. This restaurant is famously owned by one Sandra Bullock. I'm sad to report that Sandy did not make an appearance, but the food, wine and conversation were awesome. From there, it was a short drive to Book People for our signing.



I'd never been to Book People, but it's somewhat of an institution and I was excited to sign there. The space itself is inviting and spanned a couple of stories. I was shocked to see so many people come out for  a Monday night event and we had a great time talking about the books. Afterwards, we bought a metric ton of fake mustaches (more on this later). I also tried on the creepiest mask I've ever seen. Only later did Nicole and I realized we missed an amazing photo op by not both wearing chicken heads and staging a cock fight. You may rest assured this will be remedied next time we hit up Book People.

After the signing, we hit Austin's infamous 6th St. for some celebratory cocktails at The Library. Even though it was a Monday night the street was pretty busy since most of the students of UT were out celebrating the end of finals. But, being the mature authors we are, we headed back to the hotel at a respectable hour. On our way back to the hotel we saw a pregnant hooker.  Good times.

Tuesday:

We woke up excited to head to Houston and our favorite book store, Murder by the Book. We grabbed some migas at Austin Java and then hit the road. Our event wasn't until 6:30, so our first stop in Houston was the Galleria mall. This is where Nicole and Mary Lois introduced me to a lingerie store called Intimacy. A couple of hours later and way too much money poorer, we quit the Galleria and went to meet John at the book store. John and his partner Matt were gracious enough to let us bunk with them for the night. They have the cutest cats, including one that looked just like Giguhl except with black fur.



As for the signing, we decided to mix things up a bit. Remember those fake mustaches we bought in Austin? We insisted that all the audience members don mustaches before we'd speak. Not to be outdone, Nicole and I each wore these ridiculous handle bar mustaches during the entire event, although mine became a sort of Abe Lincoln-esque goatee by the end of the night. It's very difficult to do a reading and answer serious questions posed by women who look a little too good in thick mustaches. Regardless, fun was had by all and the audience were all very good sports for putting up with our autocratic demands. Another twist at this signing was that Nicole and I read from each other's books. I read a salacious scene involving a Barghest and a sexy oven range and Nicole read a scandalous scene from Green-Eyed Demon about a midget orgy. Fun times!



After the signing, John and Matt took Nicole, Mary Lois, Elle Stone (a YA author) and I to this great little bistro. Despite the elegant surroundings, the conversation devolved into discussions about poonstaches and anal bleaching. I'm sure our neighbors were delighted.

Wednesday:

When Nicole and I put together the schedule for the tour, we were sure to work in an extra day for a little detour to New Orleans. So, after a six-hour drive, we arrived at our Bourbon Street hotel for some shenanigans. Let me just say beer never tastes as good as when you're drinking it from a plastic cup in the French Quarter. The night looked like it was going to be a debauch-fest until we decided to duck into a swank bistro called Muriel's off Jackson Square. We thought we'd indulge in a little dinner and then hit the bars. What happened instead was a shameful gluttonous consumption of deliciousness that resulted in much groaning and rubbing of the bellies. We decided to call it a night and return the next day to make up for our lameness.

Thursday:

Thursday morning dawned with purpose. We had the whole day ahead of us and the French Quarter laid out before us like a fecund buffet of delights. We also had a list of places we had to visit before we left for our Baton Rouge signing. We hit two voodoo shops and one general occult store in our search for chicken feet. The highlight of that quest was having a middle-aged white voodoo priest ask us if we like to see his snakes. After that, we escaped for some retail therapy at Trashy Diva. It's actually three stores in one–shoes, lingerie and vintage-inspired dresses. We had a great time trying on girlie, frilly things, and, then, clutching our purchases like trophies, we headed back to hotel.

We thought we were fine. Baton Rouge is only–as the crow flies–maybe an hour-and-a-half from New Orleans. Unfortunately, crows don't have to deal with traffic. Which is why when we hit stand-still traffic in Baton Rouge, we started to get nervous. Adding to this stress was the fact that one of us had a bladder which had swollen to painful proportions. After half an hour in the parking lot called I-10, we finally escaped the highway and found a gas station. This was when Mary Lois saved our asses. See, the traffic had delayed us–a lot. We had about half an hour before the signing started and had, neither of us, a lick of makeup on and were still in our street clothes from NOLA. Mary Lois drove us to the Books-A-Million while Nicole and I scrambled to make ourselves presentable. We finally reached BAM with time to spare. We were contemplating running in to change in their restrooms when the fateful words, "Wait, is this the right BAM?" were spoken. TERROR!

Luckily, Mary Lois proved herself to be the best navigator since Magellan and got us to the correct store. We were only 1 minute late and rushed in to find several good humored fans waiting. Especially meaningful was the fact that two of them had driven 2.5 hours from Mississippi to come see us. How cool is that? It totally made all the stress of getting there worth it.

Randolph and "Pepper" at BAM were awesome! They suggested we try a local pizza joint called the Red Zeppelin for dinner. While we gorged on pizza and wine on the restaurant's patio, one of us noticed that a tattoo parlor was right across the street. Nicole's eyes lit up. Ever since our signing in Allen she'd been talking about wanting to get a mustache tattoo on her finger. And now it seemed the gods were sending us a sign. This is how, on a random Thursday night in Baton Rouge, three young travelers walked into Atomic Tattoo.

I'll admit I was hesitant. The mother in me was terrified the place would be dirty and a one-way trip to Hepatitis town for Dr. P. But my worries were unfounded because the place was clean, bright an filled with helpful and friendly tattoo artists who worked Nicole in very quickly. In no time at all she was the proud owner of her very own mustache tattoo. Which she proceeded to flash at us every thirty second for the next twenty-four hours. Seriously, though, it's pretty cute and very Nicole.

Friday:

Last day of the tour! Nicole used to live in Shreveport and Mary Lois still does. I'd been to the city a couple of times before to do signings with Nicole, so in a way it was kind of like returning home for me, too. Mary Lois's husband took pity on our distended bellies and made our first home-cooked meal of the week. After that, we headed to B&N for the signing. The audience was filled with lots of local friends of both Nicole and ML, and I'd met several of them at earlier signings. That meant the discussion was fun and casual, which was just what we needed. Afterwards, we headed to the Noble Savage, which is kind of an institution in Shreveport. There we had celebratory drinks and ate delicious meat pies and crazy good nachos (can you sense a food theme for this tour?). Then we returned to Mary Lois's house to sleep like the dead.

On Sunday, I said goodbye to my tour-mates and did the lonesome three-hour drive of shame back to Texas. As I drove, I had time to reflect on the experiences of the past week. I figured out a few things:

1. Be sure your driver's license has not expired before you embark on a 1200 mile road trip. Not saying whose was expired. Just sayin' it's a good idea.

2. While we were pretty good about working out in hotel gyms on the road, no exercise routine can withstand the power of beignets and beer and fast food ice cream.

3. Despite my promises to myself, I only managed to write a total of 1400 words on the road. Pitiful. Perhaps next time instead of heading out to bars after signings I should hit the hotel for some word work. Oh, who am I kidding?

4. All writing and no play make Jaye a dull writer. It's good for writers to get out and experience things. This may sound simple but in six days I saw amazing things and had fascinating conversations that will no doubt end up in future books.

Wheh! Sorry for the long post but I was afraid if I didn't get it all down now, I'd forget stuff. A lot of people have asked when Nicole and I are bringing our tours to their areas. First, let me say, um, not for a while. As fun as this trip was, I am wiped out and seriously in need of some down time. Also, my first job is to write books. So I'll be focusing on that for a while. That's not to say we don't do other tours. Just not in the near future.

All that said, I'm off to finish off Blue-Blooded Vamp. It's due at the end of July, so I'm entering monastic mode for the next couple of months. But I'll always have memories of Snark-LA-TEX to keep me amused while I'm stuck in my little garret pounding out word sauce.

Hey kids! Well, it's almost time for Nicole Peeler and I to kick off our SNARK-LA-TX tour. The madness begins this Sunday (see schedule below). That means today is all about laundry, cleaning and getting as many words written as possible. Nicole and I have promised each other we'll be writing on the road, but I want enough words in the bank juuuust in case. I'm also doing some prep for the events because Nicole and I want to do something different with readings. There's discussion of us reading from each other's books, which should prove interesting. I can't wait to hear Nicole's version of Giguhl.

I'm also excited that we worked an extra day into the tour schedule to hang out in New Orleans. We couldn't swing a signing in the Big Easy, but we're going to make our mark. Trust that.

Also exciting is that Nicole's friend Mary Lois will be joining us on our escapades. I've met ML many times now and she will be a calming presence when Nicole and I get too rowdy. Also she'll make a mean bouncer. But mostly, she can hold her liquor–a major requirement for this tour.

I probably won't have time to blog from the road, but I'll definitely be tweeting. If you want to follow the craziness, you should follow both Nicole and me. We'll be using the hashtag #snarklatex for ease of keeping up with shenanigans.

Sunday, May 15th — DALLAS, TX

4:00 pm, Borders (965 West Bethany Dr., Allen, TX 75013)

Monday, May 16th — AUSTIN, TX

7:00 pm, BookPeople (603 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, TX 78703)

Tuesday, May 17th — HOUSTON, TX

6:30 pm, Murder By The Book (2342 Bissonnet St., Houston TX, 77005)

Thursday, May, 19th — BATON ROUGE, LA

6:30 pm, Books-A-Million (2380 Towne Center Blvd, Baton Rouge, LA, 70806)

Friday, May 20th — SHREVEPORT, LA

7:00 PM, Barnes & Noble (Bayou Walk, 6646 Youree Drive, Shreveport, LA, 71105)

Happy Friday, campers! Sorry I've been a little quiet lately. I've been in deep drafting mode for Sabina Kane #5, Blue-Blooded Vamp. So far, so good. Yesterday, the plot started meshing together nicely. I'm very pleased.

But enough about work. This weekend is Mother's Day and I fully intend to milk the benefits. Spawn has promised breakfast in bed and then we're headed to the Ft. Worth Botanical Gardens. They have a Japanese garden that I've loved every since I was young and my dad would take me there to feed the koi. I'm very excited.



What else? Oh! Speaking of gardening, I've been taking advantage of the gorgeous weather lately by doing some planting of my own. This is a shot of my patio herb garden. I've wanted one for ages and finally got off my duff to make it a reality. Granted, it's a modest first effort, but given my notorious black thumb it's a bit of an experiment. For those interested, the plants you see there include: Italian basil, red basil, tri-colored sage, rosemary and cilantro. Plus a purple wave petunia for color and to attract butterflies. Those plus my fledgling jasmine vine (not pictured) should make my backyard smell like a little slice of heaven. Especially on nights when we fire up the chiminea with pinion wood. On a side note, did you know pinion wood is great for keeping mosquitos at bay? Very important around these parts the closer we get to summer.

Anyway, I'm excited about my new little hobby. I come from a long line of gardeners. My grandparents had a huge garden in their backyard as I was growing up. I spent many hours helping tend that thing. There's nothing tastier than veggies straight from the ground. Also, my father had a nice greenhouse in his back yard for years. He'd grow these beautiful purple cabbages that looked more like ornaments than veggies. One wonders, then ,why it's taken me so long to get the growing bug. Maybe I've just grown more patient. Or I've realized that I need a hobby that gets me out of the house more. Probably that.

If you think about it, tending gardens and writing have a lot in common. Like gardeners, writers sew the plot seeds and then struggle to balance the correct amounts of  water (hard work) with sunlight (inspiration). Sometimes it takes a while for that seedling to bloom into its full potential as a story, but you're always rewarded for your patience. That's the theory anyway. There's also the risk of overwatering (forcing the story) or aphids (doubts) destroying the potential before the fragile blooms have a chance to unfurl. But there's always another season (deadline). More seeds (ideas) to sew. If you're lucky and you're persistent, you'll eventually reap the rewards.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. And to all the mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day!