Jordan Summers

When I worked for the airline, there were a lot of FAA rules that I had to follow. These changed regularly. It was my job to know what they were and implement them. The one thing the airline itself required was that no employee do anything to tarnish its name. For example, one of our ground crew posed for Playboy (actually several employees did, but we’ll use her as an example), but she didn’t do so in her uniform. As long as she didn’t have her uniform on, the airline didn’t care what she did in her spare time. It was all about perception. And considering I used to work for the airline that had flight attendants wear hot-pant back in the day, you can imagine what ‘perception’ they were going for. Now I loved my job and the company. It was a great place to work. I’d wager it still is, but I couldn’t imagine being pulled aside and having my job threatened because I decided to write erotic romances on my days off. (Hmm…thinking about it, I was writing those on my days off. *grin) I also couldn’t imagine the company worrying about my extra curricular activities affecting my ability to do my job professionally. We’re not talking about showing up drunk on the plane or taking drugs, we’re talking about what someone does in their spare time. And this particular someone cared enough about her profession to use a pen name, so there would be no conflict. I’m not sure what else she could’ve done.

That’s why when I see things like what is happening to author Judy Mays, it makes my skull bleed. No one should be OUTED. Whether they’re gay, straight, or an erotic romance author. I find it strange that a ‘journalist’ (and yes, I’m using the term loosely, since I don’t believe a true journalist would bother writing this story) would write a salacious article that could destroy the career of an english teacher with 25 years under her belt just because the woman writes erotic romances in her off hours. The fact that a few parents have jumped on the bandwagon to bully her into either quitting writing or quitting teaching only makes it worse. Aren’t there laws cracking down on bullies these days? The sad funny thing is, some of the concerned parents have confused erotic romance writing with pedophilia. Blink. Blink. Blink. Yeah, I’m totally baffled by that one and a little frightened. Makes me kind of think someone should’ve perhaps researched the subject before they commented, not to mention looked up the definition of pedophilia. I don’t know what’s going to happen to Judy. From all accounts, she’s been a fantastic teacher. I can’t imagine losing my favorite teacher just because his lifestyle/passions didn’t gel with the majority of the community. (And believe me, there was a LOT of shit going on at my high school. Stuff that makes Judy’s ‘indiscretions’ seem like, well, child’s play.) Schools need every good teacher they can get their hands on. I really hope that calmer minds prevail. I thought we’d gotten past witch hunts, but obviously not.

Now I’m going to go workout so I can get rid of some of this ‘journalistic taint’.

I had a strange realization over the weekend. I was going through J.A. Konrath’s blog entries, which are almost always inspiring–even though my results haven’t been anywhere close to what he’s experienced. (Okay, not even in the same universe.) Anyway, I was tracking my sales (which have been SLOWLY improving) and thinking about what I was going to do once I released Atlantean’s Quest Book 2: Exodus–which should now be titled ‘Red Pen Central’. I was trying to figure out what book should come next, would it improve my sales and why, when it hit me: What am I trying to build?

It seems like such a simple question until you think about it and really examine it. As many of you know, I started out writing regular romance, then moved into erotic romance. I stayed writing ER for a few years before branching into other genres as I evolved as a writer. With the exception of a few novellas here and there, it is NOT my intention to venture back into erotic romance as a career choice. Not because I have a problem with the genre, I don’t. It’s just that my writing interests now are going in new directions. Directions that I’m quite interested in exploring. It occurs to me that what started out as an opportunity to explore other publishing options (ie re-release my old backlist) has turned into me trying to rebuild build name recognition. Given the work I’m releasing, that name recognition will be as an erotic romance author. Is that really what I want? Uh, no, not really.

I know a lot of authors are simply putting their books up online as written. Bless their hearts. I SO wish I could do that, but frankly, I’m much too anal to even consider the possibility. AQ2 has scared me straight and scarred me for life. I have to go through every book now, which means taking time away from creating. This is not something I take lightly, especially since I promised myself last year that I wouldn’t spend more time editing than I do writing. So far, I’m blowing it BIG TIME. That’s why once I finish AQ2 and put up the HEAT OF THE NIGHT novella from Mammoth Book of Special Ops Romances, I’m going to work on original stuff for a while. Call it mental self-preservation.

I do think with the rush to get our backlists up, authors need to think about what shape the big picture is taking. I didn’t and it suddenly has me worried that I may disappoint my readers…again. As I said before, not something I take lightly, since readers can only forgive so many times before they call it quits on an author.

INTERESTING ARTICLE

Sure makes you think about what’s happening behind the scenes.

I’m back from Vegas. It was a good, but very quick trip. Dh’s talk went well. Got great feedback. I got very little work done. By the end of the first day, I seemed to have picked up a stomach bug. It’s weird because the rest of me feels fine. Absolutely no other symptoms. Makes me wonder if it was something I ate…hmm. I do hope that it goes away SOON. It’s been three days and I’m truly ready for it to hit the road. As you can tell, I’m not a fan of being sick. I don’t have patience for it.

Tomorrow I’m going to jump back into typing in all the edits for AQ2. Yeah, should be fun. Snort.

I finally ‘finished’ edits on AQ 2. Are they really done? No. I still have to type them in, and then send them off to my critique partners. That won’t happen until I get back.

I’ve uploaded some new work into Dropbox, so I have a few things to play with while I’m in Sin City. You didn’t really think that I was going there to play, did you?

I also have the iPad loaded with movies, books, games, comics, photos, and music. What? I like to be prepared. *ggg I’ll catch you guys in a few. Vegas here I come. (evil grin)

I’m sorry I’ve been quiet, but I have been having the mother of all battles with my characters in Atlantean’s Quest Book Two: Exodus. See, I have this small problem. They will NOT stop shagging. Yep, you read that right. These particular characters would rather shag than do anything else. I’ve lost track of how many love scenes there are in this book. LOST TRACK. Yeah, there are that many. It now looks like a red and black pen (I ran out of ink twice) has exploded in my manuscript. I’m to the point where I don’t even know if the story makes sense anymore. Fortunately, I have two guinea pigs friends who have volunteered to read it when I’m done. I just hope they’re still my friends when it’s over. I haven’t had this much trouble with a book since 2005.

On the plus side, I just got a look at my new covers for Atlantean’s Quest 3: Redemption, Atlantean Heat, Tears of Amun, and Heat of the Night. They are so pretty. I cannot wait to share them with you all.

I’m off to Vegas on Sunday. Suddenly I’m in the mood for a little Sinatra.

I’ve spent the last two days battling Atlantean’s Quest Book Two: Exodus. I cannot believe how tough these edits are turning out to be. Every page needs something changed/added/deleted, etc. I cannot believe that this used to be my favorite book. It’s amazing what years and distance can do to a manuscript. Sigh. I have about a hundred pages to go, which given what’s come before them seems daunting to say the least. I so want this book to kick-ass…like I remember it doing. I’m not sure there are enough red ink pens in existence to get the job done. Wish me luck, I’m going back in. Breaks out the machete. In the meantime, please enjoy the new cover:

I spent a very unproductive day yesterday at the coffee shop. I went with the intention of looking over the urban fantasy romance partial I started several months back. I reviewed my notes, which were fine, then moved onto the manuscript. By page three, I realized there was a problem. I’d started mentally writing the book one way and apparently physically wrote it another. This wouldn’t be a big deal, but it happens to change all the characters’ motivations. You know, just a little thing. Sigh. I sat there for two hours stumped, drinking chai tea, then eventually gave up and came home. I’m really not sure what to do. On top of the story issues, I seem to have snippets of different ideas popping into my head. Normally when that happens, it’s for one specific story, but not this time. The snippets do not seem to be tied together in ANY way. I’m seriously considering just putting the new stuff aside and editing Atlantean’s Quest Book Two: Exodus, while my brain decides what it wants to concentrate on.

On the plus side (pun intended), I finally broke through the weight loss plateau I’ve beens surfing for the past two weeks. (You were right, Bernard. They do strike when you least expect them.) I’ve officially lost eleven pounds. I still have a long way to go, but it’s easier now that I’m concentrating on ten at a time. I was watching the show HEAVY the other day. I find it inspirational, even though I’m not in the same boat as those poor folks. The doctor said something to the patient that I didn’t know. He said if you can lose 15% of your body weight that it can significantly improve your health. (ie joints, cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, etc.) Obviously 15% amounts to a different weight for everyone, but I never realized such a ‘small’ change could make such a big difference. It really put things into perspective for me. It made me stop looking at the larger goal and focus on the shorter one again. I have 19 lbs. to go before I hit that 15%. Will I have reached my goal weight when I lose that 19 lbs.? No, but I’ll be in much better shape to do so.

Now that everybody and their brother is at RT the lists have quieted down significantly. It’s odd, but a nice change. I’ve decided to take advantage of the ‘silence’ and go to the coffee shop this afternoon to work/study. I’m taking my urban fantasy romance partial and a couple of books, Save the Cat by the late, great Blake Snyder and Writing for Emotional Impact by Karl Iglesias. Hopefully I’ll be able to get more of the book charted out and chapter two finished. Ambitious, I know. Now I’m off to have some breakfast (I eat late.) and workout. (I missed my workout yesterday because I got my hair done.) Priorities.

Rose’s Rapture has finally been set free. It’s now available at Smashwords. Should be up and running on Kindle, Nook, & all the rest soon. I am praying to the formatting and typo gods that I FINALLY caught everything. Please, please, PLEASE typo god have mercy. I’ve included blurb for those who are curious. I know I don’t have a page for Rose’s Rapture yet. I do apologize. I will do my very best to get one up as soon as possible. Now to the blurb:

Lady Rose Carlson has spent the last ten years of her life working in a brothel. Thanks to her friend and benefactor, Lord Lyon, she is finally free to live as she pleases. Rose plans to spend the rest of her life living quietly in Scotland, but her new neighbors and her past won’t let her be.

Laird Hamish Colin MacDougall has no intention of ever falling in love again. He’s already lost the love of his life. He’s not about to lose another. When his friend and fellow vampyre, Lord Lyon asks for a favor, Hamish cannot refuse. He owes the man his life and then some. One look at Rose and he knows he’s in trouble. When their lives are threatened, Hamish has to make a choice: Kill the woman he loves to save himself or die so that she may live.

Warning: This book contains graphic wild monkey sex, strong language, blood, and vampires. Not necessarily in that order. Also contains persuasive seduction, which may offend some readers. ***No monkeys were harmed in the writing of this novel.