Jordan Summers

Today is my dh’s birthday. He’s a twin, so we’ve sent birthday wishes to his sister in the UK. We have a few things we have to do, but the rest of the day will be spent celebrating.

I think birthdays are important, whether you’re happy about your age or not. (He is because he’s almost three years younger than me.;) I believe you should always raise a glass in your honor on your birthday. Celebrate the life you’ve lived and realize you have another year to change things you don’t like. So if it’s your birthday too, I hope what’s for you, won’t go by you. (A small quote from his Scottish granny.)

Happy Birthday love of my life. You really are my everything.

Lately my sleeping pattern seems to be all over the place. Sometimes I go to be early and get up fairly early (for me). Other times I go to bed early and I’m lucky if I can sleep at all. Last night I went to bed late and overslept this morning. I hate the sensation of oversleeping. You feel like the day is shot. I’m scrambling right now to wake up and try to figure out what I’m going to work on. My mind is a fog. It’s going to take some serious cups of coffee and a long hot shower to get through this one.

On a progress note, I’ve made it through half of my original paranormal partial. I’m going to try to get through at least twenty more pages today. It’s taking longer than I anticipated due to the extensive additions I’m making. I am also breaking chapters up to make it a faster read.

I still haven’t gone back and rewritten the first chapter of my contemporary. Nor have I figured out how to turn my contemporary novellas into single titles. Sigh… My mind keeps telling me I’ll hit two hundred pages on each, IF I’m lucky. Talk about uncooperative.

How do you psych yourself up to working when you feel befuddled? I actually want to hear about all the progress everyone is making on their WIP, so that I can get energized to make the changes I need and rewrite the things that need to be rewritten. How is your writing going?

This entry is going to be all over the place. First, I’d like to announce that Bad Boys Over Easy is officially available on Amazon. Not only that, but we’re in the top 30 bestselling romance books and number two on the bestselling romance anthology list. Woo Hoo!!! I think that’s pretty darn cool, considering our official release date is April 1st. I just may have to do the Snoopy dance.

Second, I’ve mailed off all the books to the winners of my contest, except Julia’s and Danny’s copies. I’ll mail yours this weekend guys. I have to go to the post office to do so. Sorry for the delay.

And finally, I’ve decided to work on one of my paranormal books at the same time I tackle a contemporary. I realized it’s the only way I’ll stay sane and feel like I’m accomplishing anything.

I was having a conversation with a good friend yesterday about the things she’s heard readers say to writers and the things that have been said to her specifically. Now for those of you who’ve never visited my blog, I was a flight attendant for 14+ years. I’ve had people say some pretty outrageous stuff to me. For the first 5 to 8 years of flying, I took what they had to say with a smile planted on my face. After that, I started calling them on their bad behavior.

I have no idea why people feel like they can walk up to you and say anything (rude, mean, insulting) and expect you to take it.

This thread kind of ties into the blog entries on various sites where authors were discussing the fact that they can’t defend their books in public if the ‘attack’ goes from their work to personal. Nor can they criticize other writers. (Not that I would publicly.) Mainly because it’s not worth my time. If I didn’t enjoy a book by an author, I just won’t buy their work in the future. I don’t feel the need to walk up to that author and tell them face to face that I ‘hate’ their book.

Honest to goodness, I’m flabbergasted that someone would feel like they have the right to be that MEAN/RUDE to someone they don’t even know just because they purchased their book. How are you supposed to respond to that? Whatever happened to basic manners?

My friend handled this situation with grace and class. I can honestly say I doubt I’d have done the same. There’s a VERY small gap between what I’m thinking and what comes out of my mouth. To be frank, it would be a miracle if I didn’t tell them to go outside and play a game of hide and go f*&k themselves. Jordan, who’s taking winning friends and influencing people to a new level…LOL!

I came across this wildly addictive Yahoo game called Big Kahuna. For those familiar with Bejeweled 2, it’s a little like that, but more challenging. I know, I should be writing, but playing it is like trying to eat just one potato chip-impossible.

In between rounds of Big Kahuna, I did manage to read through one of my partials and almost all of the second one. I think both stories are good. I’m just trying to figure out how to approach the writing. (They were originally meant to be novellas.) I know they both have enough plot to carry a single title. It’s just a matter of me wrapping my mind around the new format. How do you guys switch from short to long? Can you, once you’ve earmarked a piece for a certain length? I’m curious because I’m finding it strangely difficult.

I know on several occasions we’ve talked about ‘books of the heart’ vs market expectations. I’m not sure I have a specific book of my heart (I have a couple.), but I am very well aware of what is happening in the marketplace. I track it like a bloodhound, watching what’s selling, what’s been released, and following rumors from publishers. This does not determine exactly what I write, but my awareness does give me pause.

I think that’s why I feel so utterly torn. I know that the onslaught of paranormal romances has created a glut in the market. Things are about to shift again. Rumors are starting to surface about historicals and time-travels coming back into fashion. Does this change the fact that 70% of my story ideas are paranormal? No, but it does make me think long and hard about whether or not I should be working on these particular stories, even though I love them. Hence, the sensation of feeling torn.

I seem to have a bit of an aptitude for writing contemporary romances. (Or so my agent, dh, and mom think.;) The problem is the type of contemporary romances ‘I’ like to read (ie Michele Albert, Susan Andersen, Cherry Adair, Christina Skye, Sandra Hill, and Fiona Brand) aren’t the kind I seem to be able to write. To be honest it’s frustrating the hell out of me and I have no idea how to ‘fix’ it. I do know the only way I’ll be happy writing them is if I can figure out how to do so. Otherwise, every contemporary ST I attempt to write will be the equivalent of receiving root canal without anesthesia.

I’ve decided one of the best ways to get out of my writing rut is to rearrange things in my office. It may seem like such a little thing to do, but even that small switch in ’scenery’ can do wonders for your mindset. This really got me thinking. When you’re stuck maybe it’s just a matter of changing things around. (ie if you write linear, then jump around in chapters/scenes.) Little differences can add up to big shifts in perception. Kind of like picking a type of book you NEVER in a million years thought you could write and trying to write it. I’ve heard more than one author say they found their niche when they did so. What could you all do differently that you’ve never done before? How can you shake things up?

I remember back in the day how I used to live for Friday afternoons. This of course was when I worked a 9-5 job. After flying for almost 15 years, Friday lost just about all of its meaning. My Friday could very well have been a Monday. Now that I write for a ‘cough’ living, my days tend to blur even more. At least when I was flying I knew what day it was. I even knew the date. I’m lucky if I can tell you what month it is now. I think that’s common when you work from home. Life becomes a big blur. I’m not complaining. I am absolutely grateful to be given this time to write. I’m simply making an observation.

There seems to be a shift in the publishing market taking place. Rumors are surfacing about the trend toward historicals and time-travels. Only time will tell if it actually occurs. Has anyone else heard about this?

I’ve had one of those weeks where everything that can go wrong…has. Car trouble, manuscript trouble, personal trouble, etc. Yesterday I threw my hands up in the air and yelled enough! I’ve officially peaked.

Due to this fun Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride week, I have decided to call it quits until Monday. I’m going to clean the house today, read, and try not to think about my writing, my career, or the car (which we have to take back to get more work done on Sat.). I hope everyone else is having a better week. I wish that Jupiter and Mercury retrograde stuff my girlfriend was talking about would move on already.

My blog talk went pretty well last night. I hope I gave everyone enough information to get them started. I know there were concerns over safety brought up during the question and answer portion of my talk. I’d like to address this concern.

Anytime you put yourself out there into the public there’s a chance you will attract the wrong kind of attention. It can’t be helped. I try to do things to keep my privacy relatively intact like having an unlisted phone number, not being specific about where I live, not using the last names of friends and family, etc. The point is to be smart about what you share. No matter what precautions you take, the reality is if someone wants to find you, they can. The upside of this is chances are they won’t want to. Be safe.