Jordan Summers

I managed to finish the changes to the chapters that I wrote. I had to shake things up because the outline changed. I still have one more scene to write, but I’m much happier with how the book is coming along. I still think I can meet my fast draft deadline, barring any unforeseen events.

Today I met up with authors Cheyenne McCray, Cassie Ryan and Isabella Clayton for high tea. I was the only one who’d ever been to high tea, but I think they really enjoyed the experience. Goodness knows we all left there in a sugar coma. The great thing is we plan to do it again in the fall/late summer. It’s always nice to get together with other writers. Goodness knows it’s a rarity for me. We talked about a little bit of everything–not just shop. I know, shocker. *g* Today was more about bonding and enjoying the big blue room outside. As writers, we rarely see it.

Tomorrow I have an appt. in the morning, then I plan to fill in the missing scene at the beginning of chapter three. Yes, sometimes you have to work backwards to go forward. Onward and upward.

P.S. If I owe you an arc, I promise to get it in the mail by the beginning of next week. Thanks for your patience.

Yes, the song is still playing in my head like a ramped up version of It’s a Small World. I suppose there are worse things to hear. As you can see from the title above, I’ve started to fast-draft the third Tor book, Crimson. My intention is to have a rough 300-330 page draft completed by the end of this month. That will give me a little time to let the book sit before editing and sending it off to my critique partners. The goal is to submit it by the second week of August. I also have to mail out ARC’s to bookstores and reader groups, starting this month and put together more partials. With that in mind, I’m going to be scarce on the blogging front. Must buckle down. I hope you all understand that the work comes first.

We decided at the last minute to go see Kung Fu Panda. The theater was full of families with lots of kids. Normally that would have us childless people running in the other direction, but there’s something fun about seeing an animated movie with kids around. They giggle at some of the silliest things and crack us up. Actually, the movie was fantastic. It worked on an adult and a kid level. The pacing was quick. The dialogue snappy and the characterization spot on.

The story starts out with a panda who dreams of being a kung fu expert, but instead works at his family’s noodle shop. He goes to see the next warrior picked as grand master (I believe they use a different title, but I can’t remember it. ) and is accidentally chosen. Let the adventure begin. The story follows a classic hero’s journey. If you’re a kid or a kid at heart, then I highly recommend this film. We will be going to see it again.

JK Rowling shares words of wisdom.

I mentioned that I grabbed a bunch of books, manga and graphic novels while I was at BEA. I thought I’d talk about some of the books that I picked up. Other than Fables, Y Chromosome, Justice League, Angel, and many more graphic novels/Manga, I picked up Criminal Macabre: The Complete Cal MacDonald/McDonald Stories, Monster Madness by Dean Lorey, The Devouring by Simon Holt, Goth by Otsuichi, Chosen by P.C. Cast, Johnny Gruesome by Gregory Lamerson, Lament by Maggie Stiefvater, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong, Nation by Terry Pratchett, and Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi. What’s interesting is that all but five are YA books. I didn’t plan for that to be the case. It just worked out that way. There were a lot of literary books available and political books, but most of those were in hardback. I didn’t have room in my suitcase for any hardback books. There were some books that looked great, but I was trying to be good. Also, most publishers, with the exception of Tor and Dorchester were pushing their YA books. I understand why. Those books are selling like crazy and the movie studios are interested in them. Truth be told, I found them to be some of the most interesting books out there (blurb and cover wise).

What books are you looking forward to in the near future? Anything in particular caught your eye?

I managed to have a pretty good writing run yesterday, which for me means ten to fifteen pages. I’m going to try to copy my success today and every day from here on until I have a rough draft finished of the book. I guess I’m doing my own little fast draft this month. There are worse things to concentrate on. Next week will probably be scattered because I have three appointments/get togethers. I’ll have to figure out how to write around them. Book comes first.

This is the month of birthdays for us. We have an uncle, a brother and two mums. Father’s day is tossed in for fun. Must get to the store and buy cards. Speaking of stores, I went to the grocery store yesterday to pick up a few things and about had a coronary at the cost. Oh how I love paying for fuel through my food. $4.99 (on sale) for lettuce leaves. Yikes! It’s time to start growing more food in state people, instead of having it shipped from all over the place. End of rant.

Looks like Barack may have landed the Democratic nomination. I rarely talk about politics here because I don’t like flame wars, but I have to say when I heard that, it renewed my pride in my country. It shows a newfound maturity that we haven’t had in the past. It means things are changing. Thank goodness for that. We NEED change right now. The country is hurting—BAD. Personally, I don’t vote based on the race or the sex of a candidate. I know a lot of people do, which is sad, but the candidate could be a lime green eunuch for all I care. I vote on issues. I have no idea what will happen come November, but it shows that a lot of people are ready for a change and that’s truly encouraging. I hope everyone goes out and votes. Steps off second soapbox and brushes off clothes. I’m on a roll today. What can I say? *g*

I’m currently taking an online world-building class. Quite enjoying it thus far. Between it and Allison Brennan’s talk at Ask an Author, I’m learning a lot. As you might have guessed, I came back from BEA with a renewed sense of purpose. I am going to buckle down even more with the writing so that I can become more productive. I’m also going to spend the rest of this year working on my craft. I think I’m a decent writer, but I want to be a whole lot better. I believe it’s possible like Stephen King said in On Writing, but it doesn’t happen by magic. It takes working at the craft. What does this mean in the long-term? Probably less time spent online. After reading Lynn Viehl and Marjorie Liu and looking at their methods, I realize that’s not a bad thing. All the writers that I truly LOVE spend very little time online. Coincidence? Doubt it.

I’m off to get my word count in. If you’re a writer, you should be doing the same.

I am counting the minutes until THIS movie releases. I so get a girl crush everytime that I see Angelina Jolie in this preview. *g*

I’ve found the best way to pass the time is to read the new Shiloh Walker novel, Through the Veil. When Shiloh gave me the opportunity to read this book, the first thing I thought was that she’d sent me a high fantasy. The world she created in Through the Veil is so dark, rich and gritty. The characters are wounded internally from years of fighting. You ache for them. Several times I wished I could step into the pages and help them fight, since they were so out-numbered. You root for the hero and heroine’s love to save them. It does, but not in a neat, clean way. With this story, nothing is neat and clean. There are sacrifices made by everyone. The vividness of the world reminded me of C.L. Wilson’s books. If you enjoyed her work and like things edgier, then check out THROUGH THE VEIL. You won’t be disappointed. I know I wasn’t.

I’ve been trying to get my thoughts in order because BEA was quite overwhelming. My signing on May 30th went pretty well. I had wonderful support from the volunteers working the show. They made my first time painless, even when Robert Kennedy Jr. came to take over my signing table. Alexis from Tor was also tremendously supportive. She brought a rocking poster of my RED cover and stood by my side throughout the signing. I met a lot of wonderful booksellers, reviewers and librarians. They were all kind to a newbie. We took the remaining books over to the Tor booth and hung the cover poster above them. The books were all snatched up within an hour. People seemed to really respond to the cover. Alexis was nice enough to introduce me to everyone working the Tor booth. Everyone gave me a warm greeting and I’m truly grateful for all their hard work. Then Mr. John Scalzi showed and I had a major minor fangirl moment. Alexis walked me over to introduce me. I had him sign his latest book, Agent to the Stars. We talked blogs for a few seconds. He invited me to preview Red over at his blog. It was at that moment my brain malfunctioned and babbling began. Luckily my body forced my legs to walk away before I said anything too stupid…I hope.

My Tor signing was followed by a signing at Ellora’s Cave. The RV was parked behind the table, so it caught a lot of attention. I sat next to Samantha Kane and Erin Aislinn. They were both lovely ladies and made the time fly. I met up with the incomparable Melissa Marr later that afternoon. We took to each other like ducks to water. *g*

The next day was free for me, since I was heading home that evening. Luckily, Melissa was free, too. We spent the day wandering from section to section, collecting books (I say collecting, but what I mean by collecting is that Melissa kept handing me books. She did the same thing on Friday.). I could barely carry my bag/s by the time we were done. Did I mention that I had to get them on the airplane via my carry-on luggage? She was kind enough to introduce me to Ms. Kim Harrison, who was lovely and didn’t run even when her ears threatened to fall off. Like you’d do any different, if you met Kim Harrison. The true test of a burgeoning friendship though came when we (Melissa and I) accidentally ran into Steve Niles (ie 30 Days of Night). You have to understand something. I am a HUGE fan of his Cal MacDonald series. HUGE!!! I nearly screamed when we met him. It was not pretty. I felt like the biggest goob. Melissa didn’t make fun of me either. She could have. I was an EASY target. But she didn’t. It was in that moment I knew we’d be friends. We spent the rest of the day hanging out with Dean Lorey, his lovely wife, Elizabeth and Samantha Wynns from Mysterious Galaxy. We had a nice lunch and a lot of laughs. I’m truly grateful that I got the opportunity to meet them all.

Before I left to head back home, I caught up with Sylvia Day, who came with her mom, and Mary Wine. We got to hang out for about an hour, then I was off to the hotel to pick up my increasingly heavy bags.

Although the attendance was down and so was the overall mood of the convention, I had a truly wonderful time walking around and meeting so many people. I spent my evenings in the hotel, contemplating my career. I figured out what type of writer I want to be. By that, I don’t mean a specific genre. I also came to the conclusion that it was time to walk away from certain aspects of my writing life. They were wonderful while they lasted, but now it’s time to move on. And with that, I’m going to close and go work on my book. If you ever get the chance to attend BEA, I highly recommend it. Oh, and bring an extra suitcase.