Just One More Thing…
Happy Monday! Wishing you all a fantastic week as I go into my final push on finishing up book 2 in my Creative Hearts Series. I know that by my Friday deadline I’ll probably be resembling the walking dead myself. It seems the book is never done until it is out of your hands done, so it’s down to the wire for me. Are you like that with projects that you have to get out? Constantly, moving them around, fidgeting and re-arranging until the very last minute? Be it a huge project or an intimate dinner party? Please chime in and share you last minute thoughts.
And speaking of last minute… In these last few of Black History Month have you checked out the Black History issue of Shades of Romance Magazine? I’m in there on page 32 plus a whole host of much more fab authors sharing their thoughts on Writing The Book and Black History. A wonderful read. Check it out here.
Have a great one!
All the best,
KMJ
Starting with Why?
my book 2 deadline and feeling like a real gah! “author, author.” I was near tears though, happy ones after practically gutting my poor brooding hero. You see for some reason I found it necessary to put the man quite through it and I was so happy for it. A hot ready to pull my hair out over the emotional changes that I had made mess, but in the end happy because I knew the story would be the better for it. Because you see for me, a good romance is all about the character’s emotional journey.
But then, not long after in some sort of divine conformation, my son came to me all excited about this TEDx video that he saw and wanted to share with me about Why and succeeding in the work that you do and how that can transfer into consumers believing in you and your message. I’d like to share it with you today. And leave you with the question: Is your Why lined up with your What?
All the best,
KMJ
Like the Founding Fathers…
Or at least like I’m assuming the founding fathers were, I’ve had my nose to the grindstone and have had quite the busy writerly weekend with my book 2 deadline fast approaching. As you can see it has been me and laptop, coffee and lens cleaner all the way.
And shall be me and my laptop until I’m ready to finally say goodbye to this book, which I can assure you won’t be until the very last moment as the characters are still talking to me, adding lines, saying things that they should have said in scenes way back when (just like I do in real life). Oh they are quite the problem children. As if I didn’t have enough of those already. LOL.
And just to show how mad (ie.crazy) me and my problem children really are. Check this photo of my wild clean up. Which had to happen when a squirrel popped up outside my living room window and I promptly jumped up and spilled my coffee all over the coffee table. Gah! Nice to get lost in your world. Just not that lost.
Have a great Day! And Happy President’s Day if you are celebrating today!
All the best,
KMJ
Looking Good For Her Age
This weekend I got shoved out of left my writing cave to head downtown and attend my monthly romance writer’s meeting. Besides being a wonderful and inspirational meeting, I will thrilled to find I was down in Grand Central Station just in time for the 100th anniversary! The old girl sure looks good for her age. Here are a few pics that I snapped while bustling through to get to my train. Enjoy! Now back to the Bat Cave for me! Have a great one.
All the best,
KMJ
Happy 200th Birthday Pride and Prejudice!
I’m still deep in the writing cave and can barely come out to see the sun (if there was some sun). Though as much as I’d like to spend the day with a full on Pride and Prejudice fest and go all in with my double DVD collection to celebrate the 200th birthday today, I just can’t. So that said, I’ve made do with this fun video while I enjoyed a warm bowl of soup for lunch today. If you have 10 minutes click on and enjoy.
And really the warm soup and Firth’s long looks were just want I needed to get me through to the next page. Thank you Miss Austen.
Have a great day!
All the best,
KMJ
image fm here
A Night Like This…
Happy Friday!
This has been quite the week. Well, quite the month. A total up and down roller coaster ride that I can’t seem to pull the brakes on no matter how I try. All of it will truly start to cause havoc on a girl’s head and stomach, not to mention her deadline. That said, I’m heading deep into the writing cave so I may be MIA for a while as I get the final scenes between… wait for it…. Samara and Mark my latest in, distress couple, ironed out and lov-ied up.
For this Friday though, I’d like to leave you with the lovely voice of Caro Emerald and her song A Night Like This. Doesn’t it just make you want to get away and party? Also the gorgeous photographer in the video would so make a fantastic Alejandro inspiration from Through The Lens. Have you looked on through yet? If not, just click to your right. Thanks!
All the best,
KMJ
image fm here
Fine Leather Goods…
I’m so feeling the need for a Treat Yo Self day, even if that day is treating myself to a day in bed. But alas, I am under deadline so I don’t see that day happening for at least a month so I’ll be making due by living through Tom and Donna from Parks and Rec.
If you had a day what would you Treat Yo Self to?
Best,
KMJ
M’kay…
Sometimes you’ve gotta see it to believe it.
What are you believing in today?
All the best,
KMJ
image fm here
A Writing Life… Interview with author Micah Persell
I’m pleased to have on ye old blog a new writer friend of mine, and I’ve come to find out for myself a fantastic author, Micah Persell author of Of Eternal Life and Of Knowledge of Good and Evil , Books 1 and 2 in the Operation: Middle of the Garden Series. Now I’m not a huge paranormal reader, but I will say that Micah pulled me in right from the start with her fantastic descriptions of the frankly horrifying circumstances that her ultra-hot hero Eli found himself in. But wait, I think I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. I’m so excited coming off the end of Of Eternal Life. Slow down, Kwana, and let’s start the interview…
Thanks so much for being here today Micah. Now can you tell us a bit about Of Eternal Life?
Of Eternal Life is the first book in my series. It’s also the first book I ever wrote, so it has an extra special place in my heart. It follows the love story of Eli Johnson and Abilene Miller, but it’s also a suspenseful paranormal romance that focuses around what might happen if the government stumbled upon the ancient Garden of Eden in the Middle East. My theory is that we would turn it into a weapon, especially if it turned out that immortality was in the mix.
Of Eternal Life is categorized as paranormal romance, but it does have some mystical and sci-fi elements. How would you categorize it?I’d love to categorize it as science fiction. A lot of scientific and medical research went into the making of Of Eternal Life. I think a lot of readers would be shocked to find out that the science in the book is all accurate. As far-fetched as it sounds to have an ancient tree’s fruit turn characters immortal, scientists have tested several methods of extending the human life, one of which is introduction of a substance that extends the Hayflick limit (the number of times a cell can reproduce before dying). I took their research and put a fictional spin on it.
Wow real? That is so cool and interesting and a little scary. Now are you a Plotter or a Pantser? Can you please give us a glimpse into your writing routine?
I started off as a pantser, but then Abilene’s best friend in Of Eternal Life, Dahlia Gutierrez, turned out to be the villain. Surprise! I turned into a religious plotter after that. Every single plot point in Of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was meticulously planned out. When I start a new project, I plot out all of the major turning points. Once I have a plot mapped out, then I write a first draft and revise, revise, revise until I’m moderately happy with the result. Then I revise some more 🙂
Now for one of my favorite questions: Can you please tell us the story of your “overnight” success?
I actually got “the call,” which for me was an e-mail, while on a field trip with my students. I’m a teacher in real life. It was a pretty special day, because I was able to share the news with the kids, and no one has a better reaction to good news than dramatic teenagers. I felt like a celebrity right away.
I’m looking forward to the follow up to Of Eternal Life, Of Knowledge of Good and Evil; as a matter of fact I already have it on my Kindle. Can you tell the blog readers a bit about it?
Well, even though Dahlia turned out to be the villain of book 1, I wasn’t ready to give up on her yet. Book 2 is her story. It’s a story of deep secrets and redemption. I’ve got to say, Dahlia is one of my favorite characters.
What can we expect next from you?
I’m putting the finishing touches on Emma: The Wild and Wanton Edition right now! I’m so excited about this book. It’s Jane Austen’s classic book, but with lots of steamy, steamy added in. Mr. Knightley and Emma definitely burn up the pages. Hopefully, it will come out some time in the spring.
That sounds just wonderful and quite hot. Who doesn’t love Mr. Knightly?
Thanks once again for being here. It was a fantastic treat, and I can’t wait to read more!
You can find Micah on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, or check out her website for a special sneak peak of both Of Eternal Life and Of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
All the best,
KMJOld or New School Planning
Am I one of the only ones still fighting the calendar feature in my phone? I never even look at the thing. Well, that is not true. I did try a few times to program a meeting in once and failed miserably. Bells and chimes going off at all sorts of inappropriate times. But that said, my old pen and paper has never let me down.
Though I’m more of a Pantser in my fiction writing I’m a Plotter in my everyday life and I’m the type of person that keeps it old school and still has to write things down on paper for it to be true in my mind. I’ve used a Filofax for years. My kids always know what mom means when she says, “go and get me my red book.” And years before that one it was a book of another color. I have to say the planners seemed to last longer than the phones I’ve had.
Well over the past weekend I got a pretty new Kate Spade leather planner that I think I’m going to love. A happy new color for a Happy New Year! I will say I’m hesitant to write in it but sadly, the year is already starting to fill up so time to get planning. Let me at it!
So are you Old School or New?
All the best,
KMJ
