Jordan Summers

I heard about these snacks on Pioneer Woman’s site. She’d said that Stacy’s Pita Chips were delicious. I thought they’d probably be good, but not THIS good. OMG! These things are heavenly. I’m totally addicted.

Often Every once in a while you see authors do things that make you wince on their behalf. I totally understand where this author is coming from. I truly feel for her and I mean that genuinely. I just don’t think her response to this review is the answer, even though there are many things about the review that are NOT right. The biggie being that the reviewer didn’t read the whole book or even most of it before reviewing said book. Not sure how you do that? (Scratches head.) Given that’s the case, I suppose I should also be embarrassed for the reviewer, too. I did not however think the reviewer attacked the author. Could she have been a little bit more diplomatic given she didn’t read the whole book? Absolutely. Did she say anything personal about the author? Not that I could see. She just didn’t dig the book. It sucks, but it happens.

I’ve read many reviews for my books that irritated the hell out of me. The ones with misinformation are the hardest to overlook, but there just comes a time when as a writer you have to let it all go. The funny thing about the review was I actually read it (before the author responded), then went and looked at how many other reviews the reviewer had written. There were not many and only a few were rated high–none of which were books as I recall. As soon as I saw that, I didn’t give the review much credence. I think people are savy enough to not base their decisions on one person’s opinion.

What do you think? Should an author defend their work if they believe they’ve been wronged? Do reviewers have carte blanche when it comes to writing incomplete reviews?

I normally say that I wish I could attend when I can’t go to one of the RWA conferences, but not this year. I wasn’t feeling it, especially after they announced the location. No, I’ve never been to Washington D.C. I do hope to go at some point in the future, when I can spend days at the museums, but not this year.

Are any of you attending the RWA conference? If so, what are you looking forward to the most?

I’m still researching and charting the YA. Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho! It is coming along. I’m currently having to rearrange the Acts. Move things from Act 2 to Act 1. I know a lot of writers follow the mythical structure, which is seven acts. For some reason, I can’t think about books in those terms. It messes with my head.

I think when I’m done writing the YA I’m going to try my hand at a Nocturne Bite. I have a few partials that I think would fit.

What is everyone reading? I’m definitely on an urban fantasy kick. I just picked up Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland. I plan to read it once I finish Relentless by Lauren Dane and Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews.

I’ll start this review out by saying that I didn’t care for Transformers 1. Shia and Megan got on my nerves bad throughout the first movie. I also wasn’t into the Transformers as a kid. I remember them, but they weren’t ‘monster’ enough for me. *g* So with those things in mind, we went to see Transformers 2. Everything in it was bigger, badder, and more ‘explody’…AND I really enjoyed it. They brought back the funniest thing from the first movie (ie Shia’s parents) and gave them bigger parts. The one liners were flying along with robot body parts. Shia’s character had grown up quite a bit from the first film and it made a huge difference for me as a viewer. This movie still has everything you liked about the first film–massive robot fights, Megan Fox stripping her clothes off and baby talking, and Bumble Bee, but the cast has grown more comfortable with each other. And it truly shows. This film runs smoothly for a demolition movie. I guess what I’m saying is if you like BIG, DUMB, ACTION FILMS, then you’ll LOVE Transformers 2. I plan to see it again.

I’m still trying to get over the weirdness of Michael Jackson and Farrah dying on the same day. Oh, and the tastless picture Entertainment Tonight has up on their homepage of a dead Michael Jackson being worked on by paramedics.

First off, I’d like to apologize to the winners of RED and SCARLET’s ARC. I WILL get the books in the mail tomorrow. I’m truly sorry for taking so long.

Now onto today’s topic. I’m talking about two different types of comfort zones today, personal and writing. When I was a flight attendant, I had a fairly large comfort zone. You had to have in order to do that job. You were constantly having to deal with various types of personalities. I got used to it. At the time, I was good at my job. Then 9-11 hit and my job changed…and so did I. My comfort zone shrunk so quickly and dramatically that I could barely get on a plane without having an anxiety attack. I quit five months later. (That was part of the reason I wrote my Blaze, OFF LIMITS and set it on a plane.) Sometimes I think quitting so soon after the attack had a major impact on the size of my comfort zone these days. I can’t say if I went back and had it all to do over again I would change things. I’m not sure that I would. That decision came after a major epiphany. What I hadn’t anticipated was the comfort zone shrinkage and how many areas of my life it would effect. I’m working on ‘expanding’ my comfort zone. It’s currently too small to accommodate the life I want to live. I’m determined to shock it if need be.

The same goes for writing. When a writer starts out, they tend to stick with the familiar. This is especially true once they get published and find out how hard it is to stay published. There’s wisdom in ’sticking with a sure thing’, but only if you remember there are NO sure things in life. We all know writers who don’t venture out of their ‘comfort zones’ for fear they’ll be smacked down. In this economy especially it doesn’t pay to be adventurous. Yet, part of me wonders if now isn’t the time to take a chance. Truly leave the comfort zones we’ve created. Try something new. Take a leap of faith.

What do you all think? Should comfort zones be stretched? Demolished? Or should everyone play it safe?

I was bouncing around the interwebs and found THIS. I suppose I should be happy that I’m not alone.

Had a great couple of brainstorming days with Dh. He’s VERY good at brainstorming stories. We were working on the YA. Only one piece missing and one that needs ironing out, then I think we’ll have the story. And I’ll just say now, it’s AWESOME. Truly awesome. It went from people this fun little love story to, well, something much, MUCH bigger. I love it. Now I just have to pray that I can pull the writing off. I want to do this story justice. Time to kill a chicken and light a candle.

Just finished reading Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews. It rocked. I immediately started Magic Strikes (the third book in the series). It goes nicely with Relentless by Lauren Dane. Yes, I read several books at the same time.

This weekend I’m going to break out the tissue box and go see UP. Dh’s already seen it and said it definitely needs tissues. We’ll probably also go see Transformers. Won’t need tissues for that one I’m sure. Has anyone see Year One? I’m looking for reviews. I did break down and go see the Hangover. It was smarter than those types of films normally are and funnier, but it still wasn’t my thing. Too many racial stereotypes for my taste.

Well I’m off to work on the YA. Lots of research to be done.

Well RWA Nationals is just around the corner and there’s a new fight brewing. You can read all about it HERE. I’ll be honest, I just can’t get the energy up to give a shit. Pardon my French.

Now onto the movies. As I mentioned several times this week, I planned to go see the Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds this weekend. We made to the Friday showing. The movie promised laughs and wonderful chemistry. On that front it delivered in spades. The one-liners were awesome. No one can top Betty White, but Ryan and Sandra gave it their best shot. Speaking of Ryan Reynolds and Sandra, they had fabulous chemistry. You can tell that they really enjoyed filming. For the lines of dialogue alone I think the film is worth seeing. That said, it was far from perfect. There were a couple of story-lines that were brought up, but really not addressed. And to be honest, they seemed like fairly important story-lines. The kind of lines that would’ve taken the movie from cute to keeper. Alas, the writer/s chose to pull a punk move along the lines of ‘it was all a dream’. No, they didn’t use that specific contrived story device, but it was darn close. Grrrr…

Now onto our next film. Dh and I went to see an indie movie called Away We Go. I have to admit I’d forgotten how friggin’ smart indie films can be. This movie was no exception. It was wonderfully cast. Terrifically acted. And just an all around good film. Small confession. Dh and I went to see it because the couple in the movie reminded us of us (in a small way). Not the way they live or the baby, but their search for the perfect place. We’ve been going through the same thing for the past couple of years. It was nice to see we aren’t alone, even if it did come via made-up characters. *g*

First off, I want to send a shout out to my mom. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! I wish I could be there with you to celebrate. We’ll raise a glass in your honor tonight. Love you and miss you.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the life of a book, especially when it turns into a series. And how as an author, I’ve had to learn to let the whole process go or be driven mental. I have received a lot of reviews for RED and several for SCARLET, even though it’s the early days for the latter. Some have made me excited, while others have bummed me out. All I can say is I tried my best. Like most writers, I’m still learning.

Every author on the planet can look back at their work and think of ways they could’ve changed things, made them stronger, better, or just plain different. It’s just a writer’s fact of life. I started RED in 2004 and finished it in 2005. It sold Halloween 2006. It took another two years for the book to be published, even though it was completed. I started working on Scarlet in 2007 and wrote Crimson in 2008. These three books are the longest books I’ve ever written. (I know the page count in the books vary greatly, but the actual word count does not. It’s just how the publisher did the layout.) Up until I finished RED, I wasn’t even sure I could write single title length books. (Some people may still be questioning that. *ggg*)

Some reviews have called me on newbie writer mistakes that I would love to correct. Others leave me scratching my head. Which brings me to my new policy. I now scan all the reviews to get the gist. I appreciate people taking time to review the books, but ultimately it doesn’t change what ‘I’ have to do as a writer.

I look at the Dead World series and try to remember where I was when I wrote it. How much I’ve progressed (or haven’t). And know that I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished. I’m also determined to do better next time. Ultimately, that’s all a writer can guarantee.

Last night we went to see Star Trek again. What can I say? I REALLY like that movie. Tomorrow, we’ll be going to see the Proposal. I’ll write a review when I get back. Friday is my mom’s birthday. I was home two weeks ago (for a week), but I still wish I could be there tomorrow. What can I say? I’m missing my mommy and my family. That’s one of the strange things about being alive in this time period. Thanks to jobs and opportunities people are incredibly spread out. Back in the day, unless you were an adventurer (or adventurous), you didn’t really leave your hometown. I suppose you can’t change ‘progress’. *g*

I managed to get the Blaze partial off to my editor. Hopefully she’ll like it as much as I do. Now it’s back to work on the YA’s and the new UF partial. Digging for diamonds.

I also finally received my author copies from Tor. I now have a couple of boxes of Scarlet sitting on my kitchen table. They are very pretty. I smell giveaways coming up.