Jordan Summers

It’s official! Atlantean’s Quest Bk. Four: Return will be released on Jan. 4th! Woo Hoo! I had to cut an entire subplot from this book, which took a while, but it’s finally here.

Over the last week, I’ve learned something about my writing that’s both good and bad. The good is that I can create pretty good alpha heroes. The bad is that they’re strong enough to have their own books.

As you might imagine, it wasn’t fun to hear from my critique partner that she didn’t know which character was the true hero of the book. She liked them both, but found my subplot hero more intriguing. Ugh! (This wasn’t for AQ4, but I did have a similar problem in that book too.)

Apparently, I can write subplots as long as they don’t revolve around a secondary romance. *ggg*

What have you discovered about your writing this year?

I received this info from Alison Kent originally, but wasn’t sure if it could be posted. Now that I’ve seen this from Angelle Trieste, I suppose it’s okay. These are the ‘NEW’ Harlequin word counts for the lines. (Blaze used to be 70-75K) BTW you should check out the blog conversation Alison has going on about Harlequin. It’s very eye-opening.

Here are the new Harlequin line requirements:

***Follow these guidelines loosely. That said, I wouldn’t aim for anything below these numbers.

They say that the blogs that tend to stand out aren’t afraid to shy away from controversy. I would agree. These types of blogs draw readers by the thousands.

Contrary to my public ‘face’, I am actually extremely opinionated and very blunt. I use many of the ‘colorful’ words that I pen in my books in everyday conversation. (Not pretty, but there you have it.) I made a conscious choice to avoid controversial subjects when I started this blog.

Why? Not because I want people to like me. I did it because I think fighting on the web is a waste of my time. (I avoid most things I consider a waste of my time. If I voiced my true opinions on certain subjects there WOULD be fights. *g*) I think I’ve succeeded avoiding controversy with a few exceptions (the RWA posts). Did the number of hits to my site jump during those posts? You betcha. Was it tempting to keep the rant going? Absolutely. What stopped me? My readers. I don’t want readers that come to my site to feel uncomfortable. I want them to feel welcome. Can’t do that if I create a continuous bitchfest. I avoid blogs that focus on snark. Yes, they can be funny at times, but the negativity gets old after a while. Besides, snark is easy. Tranquillity is hard.

Which type of blogs do you prefer? If you blog, which type of blog have you created for your site? Does an author’s opinion about hot button subjects influence your decision to purchase their future work?

I was making my usual rounds through blogville and came upon an entry titled Word that included my name. Of course, I had to read it. Snort. Not only did it contain sage advice on branding, it said some of the nicest things about me that I’ve read in print in a long time. Thank you, PBW.

This information came from Cindi Myers’ newsletter.

Harlequin has announced the discontinuation of its Signature program. Special projects, anthologies, continuities and reprints were released under the Signature imprint beginning in January of this year, as well as special single titles (such as my own Learning Curves in October). Each book also featured bonus features. The last Signature will be released in June 2006. Other titles already bought for the line may be redistributed elsewhere in the Harlequin publishing program. We’ve heard about this already. It still sucks.

In the wake of the announcement about the cancellation of Signature came news that Harlequin has plans to launch a new paranormal romance series, to be overseen (at least initially) by Executive Editor Leslie Wainger out of the New York office. Ms. Wainger is looking for all kinds of ‘dark’ paranormal — but more than just vampires and werewolves. The paranormal elements should be integral to the story, and not just a frame work or window-dressing for a traditional romance. The sensuality may vary, but no erotica, please. Manuscripts should be 75,000 words. No word yet on a targeted debut date, number of titles to be released, or name for the line. Anyone know anything more about this?

I’m excited to start receiving my Blazes every month from my contest win. They’ll probably start after the holidays. Yes, I love free books in any form. *g*

Almost finished editing AQ4. If I can manage to get in a good day today, I’ll be done.

I bought several more books the other day (both ebook and paperback) because I don’t quite have enough in my TBR pile. :-O I picked up Scarlet Woman by Shelley Munro, Lucian’s Delight and Capturing Carly by N.J. Walters, Howl by Raine Weaver et al, Rites of Passion by Sherri Gilmore et al, several EC White Hot Holidays Quickies, Special Investigations Agency: Over the Line and Impetuous by Denise Agnew, Jed’s Revenge by Beverly Havlir, Secrets of the Wolf by Karen Whiddon, Give Me Fever by Karen Anders, Courting Midnight by Emma Holly, A Taste of Crimson by Marjorie Liu, Strictly Taboo by Jaid Black, and Stone Maiden by Tina Gerow. These were purchased a few weeks apart, not all in one shopping spree. Although wouldn’t that have been delightful. *g*

What are you reading?

I’m still trying to wrangle AQ4 edits into shape. I decided to work on them first, since the book is much shorter than my Blaze. I hope to have them finished by Friday at the latest, then it’ll be back to ROTSG.

I received a gift of fudge from my little sister. This isn’t the store bought crap. This is HOMEMADE from Grandma’s recipe. It doesn’t get any better than this in the sugar fudge world. I cannot wait to dig in. (You didn’t really think I’d wait until X-mas, did you?) I foresee the need for extra time at the gym in my near future. :-/

I decided to do something to further my knowledge on branding, since we’ve been speaking about it so often here. I ordered a tape called ‘22 Immutable Laws of Branding’ by Al and Laura Ries. They’ve also written a book on marketing that I snagged. It’s thin and shouldn’t take me (the slow reader) long to get through it.

I’ve only listened to side one of the tape, but I’m really enjoying it. (I listen at night as I’m falling to sleep. Stephen King has been temporarily exiled from my bed.;)

One of the main things they listed (which we all know) is that diversification weakens your brand. I will be spending the rest of the year editing and developing a career plan that’s effective. I’ve wasted enough time.

On another note, I’d like to send congratulations out to Chey McCray for making the USA Today Bestseller list with her first NY single title. You’ve worked your butt off and you deserve the success. Congrats!

I SO wanted this movie to be good. Let me start by saying that I don’t think I read this particular book when I was a child. (I know it’s actually a series of books because they plan to make more movies.:)

I went into the theater a blank slate and unfortunately came out the same way. Although visually stunning, there wasn’t much depth to the movie. You don’t really care about the characters because you don’t get the chance to know them. It also didn’t help that the kids came off a tad stiff.

If you have your heart set on seeing the film, then go during a matinee. At least that way, you’ll save yourself some money and it won’t feel like a total rip-off.

I have tissue box in hand, so bring on Kong.

I watched this strange little film last night. It loosely stars Marlee Matlin. Personally, I think the scientists in the film are more interesting. (No offense to Marlee Matlin. I do like her.) One individual in particular captured my attention and he wasn’t even actually ‘in’ the movie. His name is Dr. Masaru Emoto and he did a study on water crystals. More specifically he studied the effects of words and music on crystal formation in water samples from various locations and photographed the results. It’s extremely eye-opening and leaves you with a lot to think about.

I’m actually still pondering this movie and will be for a while. I’m not sure how close they stick to quantum physics, but the subject matter is fascinating. If you get a chance to check it out, do.