It's time for another chat with the First Draught ladies! Alexis Anne, Mary Chris Escobar, and I will be debating the merits of planning or writing off the cuff.
When: Tuesday, March 4th, 8:15 PM
Where: Check out our Google On Air page ahead of the chat and leave us a comment about your writing style.
So what are you? A plotter or a pantser?
A belated happy new year to you! Here's a quick video update for you guys about what's going on this January. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ0KKDDXH4w&feature=youtu.be
Happy belated new year everyone! I took some time away from blogging and writing to be with family, but now I'm back at it for 2014. Of course, that means figuring out how to fit writing in around a very busy season at my day job. That makes the most recent chat that Alexis Anne, Mary Chris Escobar, and I did particularly topical. Check out our Google Hangout talking all about the myth of balance in a writer's life and whether we think male authors ever get asked how they "do it all." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl-rv8bKOX8
As always, I'd love to hear what you think. Leave a comment about balance, writing, or your goals for the new year below. You can also reach out on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.
Happy writing!
Just a quick post to prove you really can work anywhere. I made LAX terminal 3 my office earlier today. I balanced my revisions binder on my suitcase and my laptop on my knees. Instant desk!
I hope everyone's had an excellent holiday season, and good luck writing during the last days of 2013!
I can't promise that this post will make sense. That's because I'm fighting off a cold. It's nothing dramatic, but it's one of those pesky illnesses that leaves you foggy - like your brain has been replaced by cotton balls.
I'm pretty useless at writing when I feel this way.* Instead of working on my WIP, I'm going to be spending my nights curled up on my couch under a huge blue-grey knitted blanket. I might watch a bit of easy, popcorn TV like Hart of Dixie or Arrow**, but after a little while that will stop holding my attention. I'm going to need to make it until at least 9:30 PM or risk waking up at 4 AM unable to sleep. In order to do that I'll turn to my favorite comfort book.
For a long time I read Pride and Prejudice when I needed to escape. That was until I picked up Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle. I was in college when my mother recommended the classic English coming of age story. I've loved it ever since.
Something about this book captures my attention all while wrapping me up in the soft, fuzzy familiarity of that wool blanket waiting for me on my couch. It features aspiring writing Cassandra who pens her observations about her quirky family. They all live in a sort of noble poverty in a crumbling castle in the English countryside. When a set of wealthy Americans move into the manor house, their lives are all thrown into chaos in such a delightfully English way.
Dodie Smith is better known in America as the author of The One Hundred and One Dalmatians, but this more adult book holds a much bigger place in my heart. As always I'm curious to hear what your comfort books are. What do you turn to when you need to escape the real world?
----- *As this blog post may prove. **Don't judge a sick woman for her choice in TV shows (even if the acting is questionable).
Authors Alexis Anne, Mary Chris Escobar, and I got together to talk holiday romances, writing about Thanksgiving and Christmas, and what we do to celebrate the season. Add in a dash of celebratory booze and you've got a pretty good chat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpHC6o9TwBA&feature=share
Do you have a favorite holiday tradition in your family?
I'm almost done! It's been a month of ups and downs, but I'm about 1,500 words away from hitting 50K and must closer to having a completed novel. I couldn't be happier heading into the hectic holiday time. I want to hear how your writing challenge is going. You can leave a comment here or find me on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest. Happy writing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sr1xNubBwg&feature=youtu.be
Day 22 is here, and I'm back on track (thank goodness)! NaNoWriMoers, how are you guys doing with your own challenges? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJgRgkdbZs8
This is the hero chat with Alexis Anne I mention in the video. And here's a link to the heroine chat too.
As always, you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest. Happy writing!
My good friend Alexis Anne and I tackled the heroine in romance novels a few weeks ago. Now we're back and talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to the hero. Join the conversation by leaving a comment here or on Facebook and Twitter!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5F8x_w6Ho8
You can tell a lot about a person by the books on their nightstand.* Here's how To Be Read lists work in my family. First there's the long list (I keep mine on Goodreads). Then there are the books that are physically kept in your bedroom. Those are a little more likely to be read in the next couple of years. When a book makes it to the nightstand, it's like being called up to the big leagues.
Earning a spot on the nightstand means there's a good chance I'm probably going to read that book next. Once I pass the midway point of whatever I'm currently reading, I'm mentally queuing up what comes next. Since I often read in bed, the most natural thing is to finish a completed novel and pick up the next one off of the nightstand stack.
So here's what is in my TBR stack right now:
Crazy Thing Called Love, by Molly O'Keefe
I'm ashamed to say I've never read any of Molly's work despite the glowing recommendations I've gotten. I plan to fix that very soon.
Too Good to Be True, by Kristan Higgins
I got this book at RWA along with her book The Best Man. I loved that one so much this immediately went into the TBR pile.
I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith
There are few books I will gladly reread over and over again. This English novel is perhaps the best coming of age story I've ever read. I try to revisit it every couple of years. If you haven't read it yet, I strongly recommend grabbing it (the movie starring Bill Nighy isn't half bad either).
Phineas Redux, by Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope rivals Elizabeth Gaskell when it comes to my favorite 19th century author. No one else depicts upper class Victorian London in such rich detail. I challenged myself to read all of his Palliser novels in 2013. I'm clearly going to miss that goal as Phineas Redux is the 4th out of 6 in the series, but I hope to wrap up my challenge early next year.
Gotham Writer's Workshop: Writing Fiction
Writing prompts ahead.
The Passion of the Purple Plumeria, by Lauren Willig
My sister Justine turned me on to Lauren Willig a few years ago, and since then I've read everything Willig has put out. This is the most recent entry in the Pink Carnation series - a fun, snappy set of historical romances all centering around a spy ring filled with witty (if sometimes bumbling) Georgian era characters.
Freud's Mistress, Karen Mack & Jennifer Kaufman
My mother and I have a wonderful bi-coastal book exchange going. Every few months I will come home to a USPS box stuffed full of books curated by my own personal librarian. I ship a box back filled with the ones I've read and a few things I picked up here in New York. Mum sent me Freud's Mistress after I read Henry James' Midnight Song by Carol de Chillis Hill which also deals Freud's strange love affair with his sister in law.
The Book in the Renaissance, by Andrew Pettegree
Bookworms find each other. A couple years ago one of my coworkers and I discovered we're both voracious readers. Ever since then we've been recommending and sharing books. Our taste for non-fiction is similar, so when he asketd me if I wanted to read a book about books I jumped at the recommendation.
What is in your to be read pile?
*Or piled up on the floor/window next to their bed.
Day 15 of NaNoWriMo has come and gone. I recorded this video yesterday night to talk about discouragement, stepping back from your book, and why burlesque dancers might help me find a creative kick again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS9ZMx4td98
The burlesque club I went to is called the Slipper Room on Orchard and Stanton in Manhattan's Lower East Side. The dancers are incredible. You get everything from traditional strip tease to aerialists to performance art. Here are just a couple photos I snapped while I was out.
Don't forget to follow me on Facebook and Twitter! I'm also sharing writing inspiration at Tumblr and Pinterest.
If you're doing NaNoWriMo too, just search for Julia Kelly to add me as a writing buddy (and keep me honest!).
Happy writing!
Reviewing isn't for me. There are bloggers and even other authors who do a much better job of it. However, I'm as much a reader as I'm a writer. When I finish a book I love, I launch into Book Evangelist mode and tell everyone I know about it. Every once in awhile you'll get a recommendation from me on this blog.
Here goes...
Yours to Keep - Serena Bell
So that's my recommendation this week. What are you reading and loving?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKI_k6LIx9s&feature=youtu.be
Every once in awhile I'll be asking other authors nosy questions about their writing process and upcoming projects . Today romance author Lashell Collins was kind enough to answer some questions about her newest contemporary novel, Jagged Addiction and talk about the difficulties of writing an unconventional romance.
Tell me a little about the Jagged Ivory series.
Well, Jagged Ivory is a fictional rock band made up of five band members - Otis and Noah Ivory, Cory Dutton, Benji Staffon and Buzzy West. And each book in the series centers around a different member of the band. It actually began as just a single story about Noah Ivory, but as I was writing that first book, I realized that what I actually had was a family and each member of that family had a unique story that needed to be told.
Can you give us a little summary of the most recent book Jagged Addiction?
Jagged Addiction is book 3 of the series and it's about the band's bass player, Benji Staffon. In book 1 of the series, we learn that Benji actually has a pretty significant drug problem and he ends up overdosing and almost dying in book 1. So in Jagged Addiction, we get to delve into his life a little bit and we learn what led him to the drugs, how his habit developed over time and how he fared in rehab. We also get to take the journey of wellness with him and see how he copes - or if he copes - with sobriety, and also how he handles adding falling in love to that mix.
What will readers find unique about this hero and heroine?
Well, I honestly don't know if there are too many drug addicted heroes in romance novels, are there? I suppose there might be a few, but it's certainly not the norm for the genre. In romance, we tend to want our heroes to be "perfect." Flawed for sure, but certain things still seem to be sort of taboo, and I think drug addict is one of those taboo areas. So that's certainly unique. In fact, before I began writing this one, I specifically asked a friend who is also a huge romance reader if she could root for a hero who was recovering from addiction. And I wanted her honest opinion before I even started.
As for the heroine in this story, I haven't read too many romance novels where the heroine looks like Fae Miller in terms of being heavily tattooed and pierced. Also working in such a male-dominated field as she does. So, she is certainly unique in her own way as well.
You deal with the really serious topic of drug addiction in this book. How did you balance that recovery and healing process that your hero goes through with the romance that develops with the heroine?
That's an interesting question because the first draft of the book looked very different from the finished product. When I completed the first draft and went back through it, I realized that I was doing Benji a great disservice by glossing over the whole recovery process, and I didn't want to do that. Yes, it's fiction, but I didn't want to be accused of not being real. And I certainly didn't want to offend anyone who has been through addiction and recovery because it is such a huge issue, and recovery is a huge process. I did a lot of online research, and I also happen to have family members whose lives have been touched by heroin addiction. So, I didn't take it lightly.
What motivated you to base a series around a band?
My undying love of music, plain and simple. I am a huge music fan; I love just about all genres of music, but my favorites are rock and 80's pop.
Can you give readers a sneak peek at your next projects?
Well, I just finished writing a holiday novella installment of the Pierced Trilogy, so Pierced By Christmas will be out on December 1st. And I'm also working on book 4 of the Jagged Ivory series as we speak. That one is Jagged Secrets, and I'm hoping to have it out by the end of December, and then book 5 by the end of January.
Jagged Addiction is available at Amazon and Smashwords along with the rest of the Jagged Ivory series and Lashell's Pierced Trilogy.
To follow my progress during NaNoWriMo check out @The_Julia_Kelly where I'm tweeting about my writing challenge! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtbnjzu77jw&feature=youtu.be
It's the first of November and that means all across the country crazy writers are saying yes to NaNoWriMo. The rules are simple: write a 50,000 word book in November. It sounds impossible, but it's definitely doable (although a challenge)! I want to invite you to join Alexis Anne*, Tracie Puckett, Lashell Collins and me as we write messy first drafts of the books that will (hopefully) eventually wind up on your shelves! Every once in awhile I'll post a video about my progress. Here's the first one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaOznxoRQeU&feature=youtu.be
*Alexis already has a NaNoWriMo first day video up on her blog. Check out how bright eyed and optimistic we are on Nov. 1. Hopefully we're still feeling that way by the 15th...
My novella is in the hands of some trusted beta readers, giving me the chance to do some housekeeping. I've been meaning to share a wonderful post on Wonkomance showcasing photos of romance writers' work spaces. I'm on there as well as my good friend Mary Chris Escobar who is about to release a new novella. Most writers are creatures of habit, so I love getting a glimpse at what makes them tick. Of course then edits took over my life, and I forgot about that post. The other day I read Serena Bell's interview on Miss Ivy's Book Nook talking about what she needs to write. I decided to record this little video for you guys to welcome you to my writing space (just in time for NaNoWriMo). Where do you guys like to work, and how to do you make it feel like home?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jwUF0L9CKY
I live on the far eastern side of Manhattan. My walk to Central Park takes me past the frat boy sports bars of Second Avenue, through the generic shops of Third and Lexington, and into the Old New York opulence that marks the true Upper East Side. Then, just when I'm beginning to feel as though I don't belong in my Sunday uniform of boots and jeans, I see green.
Trees tower over a low wall that draws the boundaries of the park. There is a little entrance at 79th Street. That is the one I take. A paved path leads me deep into the heart of the park. Cyclists and weekend athletes race past me in. They are working harder than I am, but I am on a break I tell myself.
My path curves to the Great Lawn, and I spot Belvedere Castle across Turtle Pond. It's a strange building - impressive and incongruous. A castle in the middle of the great concrete jungle. It has been nearly a year since I stood on its battlements. I put my head down and begin the climb up wide, gentle steps.
On top of the castle the view is breathtaking. Clouds reflect in the deep blue, undisturbed water of the pond. On the sloping lawn, children play at games only they understand the rules to. Trees just beginning to change colors in the fall chill frame the scene. Unashamed of being a tourist in my own city, I snap a photo and then tuck my phone away so I can watch those around me marvel at this beauty.
Revived I walk down another set of steps and through the park. I examine the plaques on green wooded benches. I stop on a bridge leading to the Reservoir to watch the runners huff and puff, fighting against the burn of ever-cooling air. There is calm here. The mere act of walking through the park washes the rest of New York away. I feel clean and new.
The sun is setting when I finally clear the park walls. On Fifth Avenue I feel the city begin to encroach upon the peace I've found. I push past tourists eager to make their way to the Met before the museum closes.
The walk back to my apartment is quick. Keys rattle in my pocket the entire way. An hour after I decide to take my walk, I'm back in front of my computer. I'm ready to work again.
Yesterday night my good friend Alexis Anne sat down for a Google Hangout with me to talk about strong heroines. She also gets into the writing process a little and tells us about her new book The Storm Inside. It was ($0.99 on Amazon when I posted this and has some fantastic reviews, so definitely check it out. Isn't technology great?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE2DVHo2lq4