Jordan Summers

This is without a doubt my favorite holiday. I just love this time of year. I do wish it was a little more like fall here, but that’s what happens when you live in a desert. One of my earliest memories is of my mom taking me trick-or-treating. We didn’t have a lot of money, so she always made my costumes. I went as a ghost more than one year. That’s not to say my mom couldn’t sew–she could. Unlike me. *g* Anyway, without fail about midway through trick-or-treating I’d have to go to the bathroom. (I don’t remember drinking a lot as a kid before leaving, but I must have.) We were never near home when this happened. I always had to use someone’s bathroom. It was fairly normal for the scene to play out thus: Hits doorbell. Person opens door. Trick-or-Treat. Candy is dispensed. Can she use your bathroom? Yeah, fun times.

Nowadays, I like handing out candy. It’s fun to see the little ones come to the door. They’re both excited and terrified because they haven’t quite gotten over the ‘you’re a stranger I don’t want to talk to you’ stage. Of course, these days a lot of kids go to the mall and trick or treat. I’m pretty sure I would’ve hated that when I was a kid. After all, whose bathroom would I have used?

What’s your favorite thing about Halloween? Do you have a favorite memory?

I’m off visiting the Chicas today.

RED has started to ship. Gulp! Game on.

You know I was thinking about a conversation I had the other day with a reader friend about how I some authors see their finished work. I know I have a bad habit of being fairly self-deprecating when it comes to talking about my work. Part of it stems from my own need not to take things too seriously. The other part comes from a tiny area inside my brain that screams I’m a fraud and it’s only a matter of time before I’m discovered. I think this is fairly common with a lot of authors. There’s a part of us that truly can’t believe we’re writing and getting published. And there’s no amount of reassurances from readers, friends or family that will change that doubt. Maybe it’s part of the creative process.

My reader friend and one of my critique partners have both mentioned that I cannot see my work clearly. They told me I don’t give myself enough credit. That may be true. No one on this planet is harder on me than well, me. It’s something I’m working on.

I’m in awe when I meet writers who don’t seem to doubt their work/abilities. I can’t figure out if they’re lying, delusional, or truly that confident. I know I’ve met a lot of writers who enjoy reading their work after it’s been published. I am NOT one of them. I will probably never read RED again. I may check to make sure they took out the copyedit notes that ended up in the ARC, but other than that, no way. I’ve only managed to read two of my books, Tears of Amun and Gothic Passions once they were published. I find it painful because there are always things I want to change, make better, fix, etc.

If you’re a reader, do you think you notice the ‘little things’ or are you reading for the overall story? If you’re a writer, do you enjoy reading your work after it’s been published?

You can find me HERE. For those of you who didn’t win a copy of RED, here is one more chance.

I’m also HERE and HERE and HERE.

I was out wandering the shops today, trying to figure out how to organize my projects (ie books) in the new year. I like working with wire legal pads when I’m making notes. They’re easy to write on and great to tote around, but I’d also like to have some place to stick note cards and 8.5 by 11 pictures. I went to the office supply place to see if they had what I was looking for—no luck. So I decided to go online and check. From what I can gather, they don’t make the type of thing I need. I’m a bit bummed about this because I really do want to be better organized in the new year. It would help my work and my brain if I could go to a file and pull out a notebook and say, “Here is Red.” Obviously I’m not going to write the whole book out on paper, but I do write a lot on paper, especially when I get stuck. It gets my brain flowing. So I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do. You would think there’d be someplace out there geared for writers, who aren’t working on scripts. But if there is, I can’t find them.

Had a nice lunch with a reader friend yesterday. We talked books and stories. It was really nice to talk about books that excite us and authors we love. Must do that again soon. I’ve sent off my blurb ideas to my agent. Still working on my UF synopsis, but it is coming along. I do think I’ll have it finished this week. Hopefully I’ll also finish chapter three of the UF, so that it’s ready to go make the rounds at the publishing houses. Must get geared up to beat the bushes now that I’ve fulfilled my contracts.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. I’m off to watch Primeval.

I knew it was going to happen. I’d hoped it would wait, but I received an email photo of the finished product yesterday and my nerves took over. What am I talking about? Why RED of course. My editor sent the photo via her cellphone to a friend, who forwarded to me. It’s weird seeing the real thing after all these years. It’s also extremely nerve-wrecking. It’s less than two weeks until the book is released. I’m hoping against hope that if it releases early it won’t be more than a week early. I know it’s a long shot, but it’s the only way I’ll have a shot in hell of making any kind of bestseller’s list.

I know as a reader it never crossed my mind that there was a ‘perfect’ purchase time frame. I used to buy a book when I got around to it or when I had the money, depending on which was taking priority at the time. But when you become an author all these factors really make a difference. You know what’s sad? I’ve been writing since 2002 (professionally) and didn’t find out the deal about sales needing to be within the first week and a half to two weeks of a books release until last year. In a lot of ways the publishing industry is like the airline industry. There are all these hidden codes, reports and ways of doing paperwork that an outsider cannot begin to understand. I feel like I have one foot in the door and it’s only open a crack. I can see a little of what’s happening, but I’m missing the big picture.

I finally managed to watch My Own Worst Enemy yesterday. It really wasn’t bad. Interesting premise. I’m sure that means it’ll be cancelled soon. Isn’t that how this TV thing works? Other than that, I keep watching the shows, waiting for something to grab me. It hasn’t really happened yet and I fear it won’t. How about you all? Has any new show hooked you?

I picked up Mercury’s War by Lora Leigh, Chosen One by Ana Bast, and Midnight’s Daughter by Karen Chance while I was at the bookstore the other day. Anyone buy a book that they loved?

This is the first year I’ve seriously considered entering the Romance Writer’s of America’s RITA contest. I’ve thought about it before, but ultimately decided against doing so because of the cost (and because spicier books rarely final in the RITA’s). That’s the main reason I won’t be entering my Blaze, OFF LIMITS. I honestly don’t think I have a snowballs chance in hell of winning, but I’m really proud of RED.

If I do end up entering, I probably won’t enter the book in the paranormal category, even though that seems like the obvious choice. I’m afraid my book skirts too many genres and doesn’t concentrate enough on the romance to do well in that category. I’d probably enter it under the ‘Romantic Elements’ category. That particular one seems to be far more forgiving.

As you can tell, I haven’t quite made up my mind yet. It’s such a long shot. My friend calls it the lottery because your odds of becoming a finalist are about the same as winning the lottery. *ggg* What would you all do?

Today dh and I went out for brunch. We were talking about vacations and where we’d like to go. One of the things that came up was vacationing with friends. This led me to make a comment about a dear friend of mine named Terri. I said she’s a European trapped in an American’s body. What I meant by that is there are some people I’ve met in the states who have a global spirit. They were born and raised in the US, but they are just as at home (if not more so) in Europe/overseas. I haven’t quite decided if I fit in that category. I’m sure my dh would say I do. My mom used to joke and say that I was a gypsy because I moved a lot in my late teens and early twenties. I got bored with places easily. Instead of wanting to go on vacation, I wanted to pick up and move. *g* It’s eased a bit over time, but hasn’t completely gone away. I feel the urge to move about every couple of years now as opposed to every six months.

What about you? Are you a European trapped in an American’s body?

I finished my edits yesterday. It took fourteen straight hours, but they’re done. I have a couple of things I want to look at again, but I do plan to mail them off on Monday. YAY!!!

I’m also finishing the interviews and hope to have them mailed off by tomorrow evening at the latest.

Saw this on Scalzi’s blog and thought it was important enough to share.

I just realized my book will be out in 16 days. It dawned on me while I was walking through the bookstore today. It kind of hit me in a wave that felt a lot like panic. I’m sure everyone will be rushing out on election day to buy it.

Yes, I’m still editing. I’m at the stage I can’t tell how the story reads anymore. The dentist appointments are getting in the way of my progress, but I am making progress–albeit slower than I’d like. I have five more dentist appointments in my future. Always fun, I tell you. Always fun.

Today was my niece’s 6th birthday. I can’t believe the kids are getting so big. Where has the time gone?

I finished filling out my ballot. Apparently, some states have early ballots. I haven’t decided whether I’ll mail it off or drop it at the polling place on the day of the election. I figure voting is about all I can do to affect the current mess.

I watched this week’s episode of NCIS the other day. Boy, wasn’t it terrific? I mean really. Had me sniffling there in the end. Such a good show. The characterization is superb. Now we know where/how Gibbs got his name and his rules.

Supernatural was so silly tonight. I liked it because it incorporated some of my favorite monster movies. Abbott and Costello anyone? It was kind of like a big inside joke episode for all the loyal followers. If you guys caught either show, what did you think?

I know I owe several of you interviews and blog entries. I promise I will get them to you next week. I plan to finish these edits by Saturday at the latest. Sorry for the delay. I truly am up to my eyeballs in work right now.

So I’m watching the new show, The Eleventh Hour last night. (I’d taped it.) About halfway through, I’m struck with major deja vu. I check the info guide to make sure this is a new show. It says it is, but, and this is a big BUT, I KNOW I’ve seen this show before or should I say this storyline. Even the ultimate bad guy’s name was the same. Now, it’s bugging the shit out of me because I can’t remember where I saw the original story. I just know that I have and it couldn’t have been long ago for me to remember it so well. So this has got me wondering, was it a writer repeating some of their old work or did someone ‘borrow’ shamelessly from the original? It’s really going to bug me until I remember where I saw it the first time. Help!!!

Now back to editing.