Procrastination Station | Author Vanessa Jaye

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and All That Good Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Mon, 25 Dec 2017 00:04:00 +0000

I'm cutting a little close here. Meant to post a longer catch up type message, but the most important point is to wish you all an Awesome Christmas and Happy New Year. I'll post the longer note in a week or so. In the meantime, stay safe, enjoy and embrace love. Merry Christmas guys!

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 19:15:00 +0000

Boy I suck at this update stuff. :P

Although, looking at the date stamp of my last post, it was just around the the time our busy season started to really ramp up at work. Plus add in a system glitch that resulted in me not getting document notifications for 2 weeks that I had to play catch up on, a new hire I had to train, and then throw in some ongoing health concerns that required a number of doctor/dentist visits, tests, etc, (ie time off from work that I had to catch back up on) and before you know it, the rest of 2016 was gone.

But it's a new year(!). All my loved ones are whole and hardy. I'm still employed, able to pay my bills-- not small concern here: there were federal government changes to the mortgage industry that caused a number of layoffs. One of our sister companies laid off 6 people 3 wks before Xmas. And a competitor shut down a whole division. 60 people out of work weeks before Xmas. That competitor then outsourced that work to our company, which put an end to a couple of months of lowkey stress/uncertainty for us. :-P I'm also going to be thankful for being in reasonably good heath, just dealing with the aches/pains of not being 20 anymore. ;) The international political landscape has me concerned, and very thankful for living in Canada (although I don't believe for a second we'll be fully insulated from the ensuing ramification of happens in our global village). But aside from that I'm staying positive!

If I have any 'resolutions' they are:

cut down on the sugar. On the whole, while I rarely pass up dessert, I don't have a lot of sugary stuff/snacks on the regular, but when I do have too much sugar, or the wrong type (I'm looking at you fructuous/glucose) I end up feeling crappy. Almost hangover-ish. (Nope. Not diabetic. Not even borderline. So says the results of the multiple blood work I had done last year).

Also want to try to eat more vegetable/vegetarian meals. Partly because I think it'll be healthier, partly because I think large-scale commercial/conglomerate animal husbandry is an environmental concern. (but I'm going to admit to being a bit of hypocrite here because while I'm not a big meat eater, I not willing to forego it completely.

Round off my resolutions list with: exercise more regularly, drink more water, and less coffees, get enough sleep, spend time with friends, be more disciplined about budgets/finances re long-term goals.

Also, read more 'quality' writing. Notice I didn't say 'quality books'. Sometimes a book is really entertaining, or has a premise intriguing enough that you'll slog through to the end to find out what happens. Or it's a mindless fast/quick read and that's all your up for. And sometimes that's all you need. Those books are all perfectly satisfactory for those needs.

Unfortunately, **my** experience has been that *a lot* of my readings in the last couple of years that fall under these categories do not really have strong writing. That's probably why it's much easier to not finish a book or start it and put it down for weeks/months before picking it up again. Or I'll finish that one book, but feel no particular urgency to go and check out the author's backlist/next release.

More importantly, quality/good writing (being totally subjective here!) inspires me -- to write. I've not felt that fire in my belly for a good long while. And I need it because, last item on my resolutions list, or maybe I should say first item, is that I'm going to try yet again to find the right balance for making writing (including this blog) a regular part of my life again.

So, I'll end this rambling first of the year post by hoping everyone out there is keeping safe, healthy and has some modicum of happiness and balance in their lives. :)

Here's to good eating, good reading, good lovin', good friends. Here's to all of you.

Peace.
VJ

A small excerpt

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sun, 22 May 2016 18:04:00 +0000

We’re pretty much knee deep into the busy season at the day job for the past month. And it’s only going to get busier June/July/August and start to slow in September/October. I’m easily doing 10 -12hr days now. So progress on the wip is still slower than I’d like, but I’m still crawling forward in increments.

Came across a couple interesting surprises while doing some editing/revising. Authors usually have a general feel for their characters before they start writing. Sometimes it’s really in depth and you know all about their childhood, etc., right on down the line to the present. Sometimes it’s just basic bare bones stuff, like Character A is angry at Character B for this reason. Then after writing some of the story, you’ll realize that there are actually several reasons A is angry at B, and it may not be all B’s fault. Sometimes a character’s dialogue/internal narrative runs away from you on the page and you learn a bunch of stuff you didn’t know/plan. Or it could be a single line that makes you think *that’s it! That’s the key to your character/motivation!* And the character comes alive for you in a way they hadn’t been before.

So there I was, cleaning up some of the writing and I came across a couple of throw away lines for my hero, that made me pause and chuckle and think *this is soo you. Such an arrogant asshole. lol* But in the end, lines like the final one below, just help to make him a little more real. .

My hero, Balthazar, is the dragon-shifter Alpha. In little snippet below he’s having a polite (coughcough) discussion with the heroine’s father, a powerful wizard. Figured I’d throw in an eye candy pic of Jason M, because he’s the inspiration for Balthazar.

* * * * *

"Speak."

"I want your promise—”

"You want? Who the f**k are you to make demands of me? You're just the latest Wizard, in a long line of them. All of whom I've outlived. Or killed."

"I'm not demanding. I'm asking for your help."

"I don't like the way you ask. You need practice. Down on your knees."

What's New

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 17:49:00 +0000

Not much. Lol.

Okay, not totally true. I’m still working on the whole work life balance thing. Particularly establishing certain ways to function around the day job-- setting boundaries, developing habits, etc—that will allow me to have time with friends, to pursue interest, keep writing, manage my health; yanno, have a life!

This week I’ve been pretty good about writing on the phone (well more like editing a problem patch of story) on my phone every day during the commute. Not sure if I’ve gained words or not. I have to download my notes into the actual manuscript to see.

I’ve also continued to be good exercise wise. Made it to the gym 2 Saturdays in a row (will be going today, also, so make that 3 Saturdays) and during the week I’ve been doing my 10K steps each day. I downloaded the Pacer ap to my phone and I check several times each day to make sure I hit my target. I walk in the mornings for at least 20 mins, at lunch, and again after work. Most days I’m closer to 12K steps (almost 5 miles). So now I’m thinking if I can walk 5 miles each day, then surely I can do 5 miles on the elliptical trainer on Saturdays – normally I do around 2 miles in 30 mins. If I stay on for the full hour, I’ll do at least 4 miles.

There’s some other life stuff I’m working on but I won’t bore you with them, let’s talk a bit more about the writing. Y’all may have heard by now but my publisher Samhain, is winding down business. Even though I haven’t submitted anything to them in years, the option was always there. I think they are/were a great organization to work with and put out quality product.

Ofcourse that leaves me with getting the rights back to Felicity Stripped Bare and Hunter of the Heart at some point. I think Felicity I can get back without too much delay, but Hunter hasn’t official hit the date of reversion yet. Honestly, I always knew I was going to ask for Felicity back, if for no other reason than I’ve never (Nay. Ver. Eh. Ver) loved the cover art or font/type-set used for the Title and my name. L LLL But I was waiting until demands of the day job settled down, aaand I wrote Robert’s book (hero’s best-friend and business partner), then I’ve have the time and energy to launch/market both books with matching covers, etc. Now I’ll have to give a little more serious thought about Robert’s book. But I want to finish the Dragon shift book. Also, I’m kinda toying with the idea of re-working and expanding Hunter of the Heart when I get the rights back, so it’s the same world-building as the Dragon book. Lots to think about…

My local RWA chapter has their March critique meeting in 2 weeks, so today I much find time to polish up the sci-fi romance I want to bring, and also work on the Dragon shifter book. I’ll post later today with an upate. ß see what I just did there? Made myself publicly accountable. :-P See? Progress. Lol.

Laters,

Click

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 01:53:00 +0000

4 months later….

Yup. It’s been 4 months since my last blog post, and the reason for that is the same as before: day job.

2015 was a total write-off shit-show for me. I pretty-much did nothing but work, easily racking up 14- 16hrs/per day and traipsing into work on most Saturdays to rack up another 8hrs. I did not experience summer last year. No patios with friends, no basking in the sun, barely any time in my own garden. Got into the office at 8:30am and left well after dark at 9:30-10:30pm.

This post isn’t about looking for sympathy, just emphasizing why I haven’t been posting here and got precious little writing done in the last year. Being stressed out/over-worked really puts the big suck on all your creative juices.

But I’m determined, as much as it is within my powers, not to have this year be like last year. My job is going to always be crazy busy – hopefully not like last year—so I know I have to have a plan on how to do my job while having some sort of life. I want to see friends, go to the movies or out for dinner, read, write, see Shakespeare in the park, go biking, etc.

I’ve been striving to have a work life balance, but in the last month something just *clicked* in place for me on a couple of fronts. I just hit a tipping point, where I wanted one thing more than something else.

For instance, I wanted to save money more than I wanted to sleep-in in the mornings (I also have issues with insomnia). I was easily spending $150 - $180 per month on buying just breakfast/coffee! (never mind lunches/dinners). Now I make a point of getting up in time to make/eat breakfast, have coffee and pack a lunch before leaving the house. No matter how much I want to sleep for just 5 more minutes, I haul ass out of bed to get those things done.

I used to veg most of the day on Saturdays (if I didn’t go into the office). I needed that time to de-stress, before I used up the rest of the weekend doing the whole cook, laundry, grocery shopping thing.

But you know what also helps with stress, besides vegetating? Exercise. Something I was getting less and less of. I’ve been dealing with a stubborn cold/bug for the past month or so, so that’s probably part of the reason I’m getting easily winded lately, but without a doubt I’m getting more and more out of shape, and not getting younger. This week-end, I figured, screw it. If I’m going to veg on the sofa for hours on a Saturday, I can damn well spend those same hours at the gym. *click*(plus, there’s a sauna at the gym *clickclickclickityclickclick*)

And on the writing front something *clicked* there too. That click happened because the annual critique circle my local RWA chapter holds every March. I brought pages of my dragon-shifter book last March for critiquing, with every intention of finishing the book last year. Obviously that didn’t happen...

A whole freakin’ year went by and, I hate to admit it, I barely finished a chapter’s worth of writing. #shamed.

I couldn’t let another year go by without completing a manuscript. One thing that sort of worked for me in the past was writing on my phone during the rush hour commute into work, but more and more I just found myself too darn tired most mornings to think, much less write, and kinda gave up.

For the last week, though, I’ve been pushing myself. All I had to do was write 1 sentence, that’s the bargain I’ve made with myself. At the very least, it would be 1 sentence more than I had the day before. Most mornings I do more than the 1 sentence, tho… J

And if I’m writing more regularly, then it stands to reason that I can post here more often too, just to keep myself accountable, right? *click* J

Long time no update....

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 18:54:00 +0000

So, uhm... yeah.... I'm so bad at this. Well, not bad, just kinda don't have the time; or I've been too tired to make the time for blog updates. Same excuse I've had all year...

Part of me says I shut this blog down but I don't wanna. I love my blog, no matter how neglectful I've been posting updates.

Part of the issue is.... there's nothing to update. The day job has been bonkers this year -- 80% above target -- and I've easily been working 10 to 14hrs days, many weeks 6 days/week -- so there's really not been that much time to write...

yeah, yeah, yeah, you've heard this all before, but it's the truth.

Anywho, things have slowed some this last month and *hopefully* will remain at a slower pace for the next few months, so *hopefully* some writing will get done. Also I have this week off (which I desperately needed because I was/am perilously close to burn-out) so I *plan* to get some writing done!

In the long-term, instead of letting the blog go dormant when things get too busy at work, I think I might resort to something I used to do in the early days of this blog and talk books/writing craft. Nothing official! Given my work schedule/ work load, I don't want to be obligated to read/review anything. If I read an awesome book or see a really great movie/TV show, I'll write about what aspects I found so well done. And if I read something disappointing or problematic I'll also talk about it here also, but in general terms -- not naming names/titles, etc.

On the writing front, I'm still poking at my dragon shifter book. I've been mulling over the heroine's motivations. At first she was mostly powered by revenge/guilt, but that feels a little too easy. I'd rather peel back a few layers to get to the anger/guilt before getting her to move beyond that. Also, I have the fae in book. But it's my concept of the fae,-- which is admitted a bit fuzzy on what is the accepted cannon of fairies because I haven't read a lot of books with fae (or dragons for that matter), so there's a little voice in the back of my head saying I should bone-up on this, that my world-building will be all the richer for using and interweaving the *accepted* tenets of /dragons, and yet, I just want to do my own world-building. *shrug*

Aside from the dragon book, I've been meaning to do the short-story follow up to The Werewolf Who Stole Christmas with Jack Frost as the hero. It's kinda cutting it too close to get it out for this Xmas season, considering the book isn't even written but I may take a stab or 2 at it.

That's all I got for now.
Jaye

More Progress

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 15:27:00 +0000

This morning I woke up 10 mins after the latest time I should have left my house! And there I was last night congratulating myself on seeming to manage my insomnia a bit better and getting to bed earlier.

I've started getting off the train 1 subway stop sooner and walking the rest of the way to work via the underground PATH, then taking a mid-day break for a 30min walk through **PATH. Started doing that because I had to figure out a way to squeeze some regular exercise into my day and take a mental break from work demands. But figured the extra steady exercise was probably helping me sleep better also. as a side benefit.

While my current job is pretty flexible about start times-- they know we're all adults, hardworking, and can/will manage our work responsibly. (Unlike my old work/department that treated people like children and wanted you to arrive 15mins early so you could use the bathroom, grab a coffee and be at your desk ready to start promptly at 9am!) -- I still hate to show up late simply because I slept in.

But something good came out of sleeping in, I was thrown off my regular routine enough that I did something new--I used the Note app on my phone to do some writing on the book. Didn't write tonnes, probably not much more than a couple of paragraphs, but going to start doing that from now on. It'll also encourage me to email the notes to myself in the evenings to add to the manuscript, so that'll give me the nudge to open the word file and do some writing when I get home, no matter how stress my day has been and tired I am. :) For example, I haven’t opened my manuscript all week because I’ve been training a newbie and covering quite a bit for my underwriter who’s on vacation. I’m a shameless when it comes to tweaking/fiddling/revising what I’ve already written, so I know once I copy and paste the words from the cell phone notes into the document, I’ll end up doing work on the manuscript in the evenings. Voila! Problem solved.

I didn’t make New Year’s Resolutions, but I did have certain goals in mind for this year and so far I’m hitting a number of them: figure out how to incorporate regular/consistent exercise into my daily routine,, figure out how to manage my insomnia better and get more sleep, figure how to write consistently (and finish a manuscript this year), post more on my blog and FB author page. So far, so not too bad. J

(By the way, the PATH is 30 kilometers of underground shops, restaurants, subway stops, hotel access, City Hall, etc. that runs through Toronto's downtown financial district) http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=f537b454b35a2410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD&vgnextchannel=04708b7a29891410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD

Writing....

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 01:04:00 +0000

Got my headphones on, got my trusty egg timer, gonna do 30 min sprints.

Updates in comment thread

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 21:10:00 +0000

:D
Love
Jaye

Writing the Dragon book

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Mon, 29 Dec 2014 14:14:00 +0000

Last night I cut about a page from the Dragon book. It was a scene that I was totally stuck on and couldn't move forward, but I knew it was a scene I wanted represented in the book, so it wasn't that I could cut it completely and jump ahead to the next scene. In fact the next scene kinda wouldn't make sense without the scene that was stalling me.

Anywho, the trick was to start the stall scene right before the mini-climax of that particular scene, rather that build up to it. Working from home today, but hopefully I'll get to the scene later today. Almost feeling ambitious enough to tinker with a couple of other manuscripts I have 1/2 finished as well. We'll see.

I've vowed to write a page a day going forward. Doesn't seem like much. Isn't really that much. But it's more than I've been doing all year. I really want to finish this dragon book (and really any manuscript) this year. It's been too long since I had something out. Will post my progress here, maybe even dust off that progress meter in the side bar. lol.

Later

Best Wishes for the Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Wed, 24 Dec 2014 22:52:00 +0000

This year has been quite the rollercoaster ride with some of the lowest/darkest moments of my life. But in the end, as the year draws to a close and on the eve of this very special holiday, and I can say that what I’m left with is mostly a feeling of being blessed by the opportunities granted, a sense of inner growth, gratitude, yes, for the material things achieved and held on to, and an abiding quiet joy in the knowledge that there are some truly special people in my life who love me very much. And a general sense that in the end I laughed more than cried.

And so I wish the same for everyone who may see this post, that they too will feel blessed, loved, joy and gratitude on this Christmas Eve and many days of laughter in the coming year.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Love,

Jaye

Son's Bellyachin' and Hurtin' songs

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 16:15:00 +0000

Meanwhile at Casa Jaye this morning....

I changed the channel from the all news station to a country music video show, and son looks up from his laptop and starts bellyaching.

Son-- "Ma! What is this? I think I'm gonna be sick." He waves to TV where Rascal Flatts video is on. ::2 teenagers are in cab of truck sharing an amazingly sweet moment:: "Why are you watching this?"

Me-- "What? It's fun. I like to see what's going on. Expand my horizons beyond the usual top 40 playing on radio or what I have on my eye-pod."

Son-- "But they're always about this stuff."

He waves to TV again where girl is kneeling over toilet and holding her stomach crying. Then girl runs out of house and races down the road after boy's truck. We get a sort of flashback of truck flipping over and boy's head cracking windshield. Now girl is slowing down and then she drops to her knees at roadside cross.

Me -- "See? There's always a story to tell." I put on a heavy twang: "They're hurtin' song."

Son-- "Well, Brian McKnight [Back At One] did it better."

Me -- "How about that one video, you saw?" And I describe Kenny Chestney's There Goes My Life.

Son -- "Oh man, that one *was* so good." He makes a face and shakes his fist. "Arggh! I don't want to feel that way! All I want to feel is anger, and the avarice and misogyny encouraged by the gangster rappers. I don't want to feel all this sentimental crap!"

Me -- lmao!

He leaves the room, and soon I hear him singing Folsom Prison Blues #lol.

Generation Gap

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sat, 01 Nov 2014 17:30:00 +0000

Interesting generational thing. I grew up with TV. It was the babysitter and source of excitement. The radio too, but as I shared more of my personal space with family/significant others, the radio/stereo was only on at specific times/situations. But you could always have the tv on as mindless white noise in the background, if nothing else, but something would always end up catching your attention.

My son on the other hand does all his time wasting watching shows, movies, videos, etc, online. He pretty much never has the tv on if he's home alone unless watching he's something specific. In fact he'll ask me to turn the tv off if I'm leaving the room for an extended time (ie to take a shower, etc). Meanwhile I'm guilty of having the tv on while on the computer.

Now we have marathon binge programing--where the network will air a whole season in one weekend or week, streaming services like Netflix, and interactive shows -- like The Talking Dead, where peeps vote online at home, etc.
Interesting times...

Buzzed-off

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 20:05:00 +0000

After yesterday's 10hr sleep-a-thon/end of week exhaustion cash, my day started off great.

Woke up early--cleaned the bathroom, kitchen, washed/deep-conditioned my hair, and did a facial, and started the Bolognese sauce for dinner, all before 9:30am. I had just sat down in font of the computer when I hear some commotion upstairs. Son says there's a wasp in his room.
So I go up, and he's not sure if he got it or not (it's behind the blinds). He also mentions that he killed a wasp in the bathroom earlier in the week and found a dead wasp in his room that same day. All the windows have been shut for the past week because of the temperature dip, and even if they weren't, we have window screens.
Also, kid likes to keep his room door closed (saves my blood-pressure when I don't see the mess) So really don't know how they're getting into his room. So far this morning we've killed(Raid) 4 -5 wasps in his room. I went outside and it *looks* like there are a couple flying around the eavestrough just above his window, but that still doesn't explain how're their getting in.
I've called 3 places so far--either left a message or someone will get back to me. So far no call back and my focus is shot all to hell. *grrr*

Celebrate 10 yrs of Writing with Melissa Blue's Giveaway extravaganza

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 16:30:00 +0000

My fellow Southern Fried Chica' blog-mate, Melissa Blue aka Sofia Harper is celebrating 10 years of writing! And she's holding a 1 week extravaganza of give-aways from a great group of authors-- Sept 7 to Sept 13th. Check it out:

href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/a06a00c81/"
rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway

100 in 100

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 11:33:00 +0000

Quick post here before I dash off to work.

Work has been Very Demanding. Last week was all 10-12hr days because I was covering for someone on vacation as well as doing my own work. Prior to that, I had been helping various peeps here and there because they were overwhelmed due to others being on vacation, and I was probably working 9-10hrs per day while dealing with a pesky summer cold.

Anywho, not much writing was happening. Even when I had a small window of time I just wanted to give my brain a rest. But resting isn’t going to get this book written!

So I decided on a new mandate: 100 words a day for 100 days.

Hopefully at some point before the hundred days are up, I’ll be writing well more than 100 words a day, and of course I’ll keep writing beyond the 100 days to get this damn book done. At some point I’ll take the temperature of the book and get a better idea of how long it’s going to be and how much I have to write per day to get it done by a certain date.

Stay tuned….

That voice

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 17:06:00 +0000

Just had a weird erotic moment where a commercial came on with Sam Elliot doing the voice-over, while Michael McDonald was cooning on the iPod and I had just came across a picture of Benedict Cummerbatch on Pinterest, which immediately made me think of his voice. Holy Smokes. Imagination into overdrive.

*brain & panty-meltdown in 5,4,3,2...*

All I needed was for Vin Diesl to call and leave a voice message at that percise moment for me to stroke out due to intensive aural orgasm. (there is too such a thing!)

*pantpantpant*

So what male voice really does it for you?

My dragons be draggin'

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 14:59:00 +0000

My dragons be draggin’

Verdict on the post title? #lame. lol. Whatevs

So some writing updates for ya, I'm kinda stuck on whether to do a prologue or not with the dragon book. At this point the single scene prologue is turning into a multi-scene/pov 1st chapter that takes place years before the main/current story action. I think this stuff is needed and won't work as flash-back, but maybe that's becuase I'm in the thick of writing it. I may change my mind when I finished the manuscript and decide it's all backstory, or my crit partners/beta-readers may say keep it.

One thing fun thing about this book are some of the names: Balthazar, Vesper, Archimedes. It's a contemporary/alternative world, where dragons, fae, and shapeshifters exist out in the open with humans but be because some of these creatures are ancient, the old-fashioned/archaic names are perfect. :)

I’m going to nip out the gym for a bit and think about the scene I’m stuck on at the moment. If I don’t come up with a solution by the time I get back, I’ll either skip over it and come back later to write the details, or it may become clear that I’m stuck because I’m going in the wrong direction with the scene/story. We’ll see.

Lastly, I know some readers hate when authors refer to certain actor/model as the basis (in looks at least) for their heroes/heroines, but Imma gonna do it anyhow. Lol

Jason Momoa is just about perfect for my dissipated, brooding and almost feral Dragon King, Balthazar,

and Charlize Theron is great as the beautiful, cool as ice but vengeful, Vesper Goode, daughter of the assassinated Grand Wizard of the Greater Toronto Area and his lovely fae wife.

To be honest, no photograph of any model/actor has ever been exactly as I envision my hero/heroine, but these two come pretty close and serve as visual inspirations. ;)

pps – I also need to get cracking on Jack Frost’s book so I can have it out in time for Xmas. The Werewolf who Stole Christmas is still getting steady interest and I feel pretty confident peeps who liked that story would check out Jack’s (who is a secondary character in TWWSC)

ppps – It feels good to be posting on my blog again. :D
Later gators.

Old Home Week in My Reading

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 21:31:00 +0000

Series are really big right now. Many readers love them to bits—they’ve invested time, emotion and dollars, and want to revisit the world/setting and cast of characters that the author created.

I’m not really one of those readers. lol.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate series, especially when it comes to TV shows or movies. Then I get just as invested in the cast interaction and growth, and overall story arc as the next fan.

But with books? Not so much.

I’m more interested in *this* particular story and what’s at stake for *this* particular hero and heroine. If it’s a trilogy or series, I can/will get invested in the over-all world-building/setting but my main thing is the main story/romance. Even then, I rarely stick around beyond book 4 or 5 (if I even get that far) in a series. *shrug*

I accept I’m in the minority this with. Fine, I can deal. But I’ve come up against something in my reading lately, with certain series that are made up of stand-alone books. What I call Old Home Reunion books. There are a several authors I’ll buy at full price. They’re worth it. They write well and I like the character types and tropes they use. They also write series, but in a way that you don’t have to read every book (and read them in sequence). It’s more about a familiar world and/or a group of characters.

The problem is that for a few of these authors, their writing has become bloated, for want of a better word. With their recent releases, the story focuses on the current couple for maybe 50% of the book. The rest of the book is stuffed with scenes where ALL the heroes/heroines from the previous 3-7 books show up.

And it kinda feels like this picture. Who is primary couple here? Everyone's vying for attention

Usually there’s some justification for them ALL being there: the scene takes place at mutual workplace, an annual fair, or popular hangout (ie bar/club) or someone’s wedding, etc.

Sometimes, though, that justification is paper thin.

The heroes all own a business together? Makes sense you’ll have work scenes with all of them present. It’s the work scenes where you have all of them at work and then the previous heroines show up for an impromptu visit complete with the twins of one couple—and descriptions of how cute/rascally the twins are and what a marshmallow the previous alpha-hero from book 2 is for his kids, etc., while the other heroine, from book 4) is pregnant and what a blessing it was because the couple had trouble conceiving, but they don’t want to find out the sex of the baby, they want it to be a surprise—which is causing the heroine some problems in how to decorate the nursery and…. Where was I?

Exactly! What happens to the plot development between the current hero and heroine while we enjoy (endure) these multiple catch up scenes?

And trust me, these scene do come in multiples.

Then author compounds this by throwing in some rampant sequel baiting scenes, and pov scenes between one of the previous couples—including detailed sexxoring—and… where the heck did my romance go? You know the one in the blurb? The one I paid for and was looking forward to reading?

I just read a book that had all the above crap plus two subplots—a subplot to the main romance which included scenes in the pov of the heroine’s ex-boyfriend, and a subplot of the main series arc, which included the pov of the arc villain. Then to make matters worse(!!) we get an epilogue that focuses on one of the previous couples talking about the current couple, *side-eye* before a fade-to-black love scene, followed by more sequel baiting/set-up of the next book from the villain’s pov. This is the worse Old Home Week read I’ve come across, but I’m coming across too many for my reading enjoyment.

Of course authors want to please as significant a sector of their readership as possible, so absolutely revisit previous couples if it’s going to make the fans go crazy, but please balance that with *primary* needs of the current couple. Don’t sell them, and their story/romance, short.

I’ve got a litmus test. Not fool-proof, but I think it can pinpoint whether or these types of scenes are superfluous. Assuming that the big ‘reunion/gathering’ scenes are not just an excuse to catch up on the previous couples but are relevant to the grow in plot, conflict, and character of the current *story*:

If you were to switch all the pervious heroes/heroines with new secondary/tertiary characters, would their presence in the scene still be warranted? Is their dialogue needed? Is there a reason to even note that their presence/demeanor?

Yes? Then you’ve got a strong scene that contributes, enhances and advances your *current* story (or hints at the set-up of the next book without distracting from this one).

No? Then what you’ve got there, my friend, is the literary equivalent of Old Home Week. You’ve got the tail (the readership) wagging the dog (*your* story).

Please your readers but do justice to the relationship of your current couple and their story foremost.

Six Months Later....

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 17:18:00 +0000

Has it been that long?! Crap.

So I'm trying something new, starting today. I checked my email and all my online/social sites this morning.

And that's it.

I won't check in online again till this evening because I *need* to get shit done. Particularly with my writing-- I've got several partial first chapters on my hard-drive. This blog has been dormant for months. I've slagged off on going to the gym, and I have a couple of Learn A Second Language CDs hanging around that I've been meaning to get. And yes, I do have to check email in the morning because I’ve signed up for several new job notifications/emails.
Speaking of which….

The temp/contract position I landed late last year, which had the possibility of turning into permanent gig at one point,ended in April. Needless to say I was big-time bummed, and watching my savings dwindle/facing having to sell my house hasn't been fun, but I can't continue to wallow/dwell on the situation. I'll eventually get another job, I can only keep looking. And if I have to sell, I know I'll buy again. at some point

In the meantime, I can accomplish some goals rather than let anxiety/depression rule me. Easier said than done, of course, as anyone who has had to wrestle with these issues, knows; plus, yeah, I'm one of "those" writers whose creative dries up when I'm stressed out of my mind. lol. Considering my stress levels may not be changing any time too soon, just gotta put my head down and git-er done. One thing for sure, I can't keep trying to 'self-medicate' via online distractions.

So, I've got a sci-fi cyborg hero idea, sci-fi/time-traveller heroine idea, a dragon-shifters series idea, a werewolf/secret baby(ack!!) idea and a succubus heroine idea, all with several pages written for each manuscript. I also have the first chapter of Mitch's story (follow up to Hunter of the Heart) just about done, nevermind the two story excerpts posted on my coming soon (ack!!) book page, each with several chapters already written and collecting on my hard-drive collecting dust. Oh yeah, every year I promise myself I'll write Jack Frost's story since my freebie, The Werewolf who Stole Christmas, 'visually' remains my most popular book in terms of the number of reviews it generates. And of course poor Robert from Felicity Stripped Bare still needs his own book.

Yeah, I'd say I have more than enough to distract me from my problems. :-P

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Wed, 25 Dec 2013 21:28:00 +0000

It was a close one here at Casa Jaye.

Because of the recent ice storm that sweep through southern ontario last Saturday, we were without heat and electricity since Sunday evening right up to this morning. *phew*

But here I am in the count down to get dinner on the table and I just realized I haven't posted a Christmas greeting on my blog yet!

*clears throat* :

Wishing you and yours all the best over this holiday season. Enjoy the food and company and may health, love and laughter be yours in the upcoming year, with just enough sorrow that you never take the rest for granted but find continued joy, peace, and gratitude in every moment you've been gifted with. :)

Merry Christmas!

Vanessa Jaye

Consider, It Might Be Better Not To Know

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sun, 13 Oct 2013 12:16:00 +0000

I just skimmed a review of a book where someone noted in the comments that overall they loved the series, even though they felt a little lost at times. The comment struck me because the reviewer noted that there were some things they loved in this latest addition to the series, some things they though were meh and others they didn’t get, yet the rating they gave was still pretty high (4 out 5).

I contrasted this with other reviews (or feedback/critiques) I’ve seen for other works online. There’s a lot of ‘why this, why that, make this clear’ and it's posited as if any questions raised that don't make sense to the reader right away, are a very negative thing, when technically, the opposite may not be.

As a reader, you don’t really need to know everything on the first read through. I’d even go as far to say as you really don’t want to. You should know/understand enough that the flow of the story and suspension of disbelief is uninterrupted. You should be able to fill in some gaps with a few theories and guesses that make sense to the characters, world-building and plot. But you really don’t have to know everything, right now.

Why would you want that? Where’s the fun and the intrigue? Often books resonate with you well after the story on the page is done because there are a few little niggles in your mind. Sometimes those niggles are enough for you to write the author; sometimes they are the very thing that pulls you into the next book.

You know what one of my greatest joys is as a reader?: re-reading a story later and discovering something new—some nuance I missed the first time, or having a new interpretation of something because I might be reading it in a different mindset now, or with new knowledge gleaned from elsewhere. That delight in discovery would have been lost if the author had pedantically laid every mystery in the text wide open. Not only that, but when the author fills in every nook and cranny of explanation it robs you the reader the experience of making that book uniquely yours based on your life experiences or what you may need from that story emotionally at that time.

Granted, if what’s missing from the text is causing frustration and confusion, then, yes, perhaps the author should have provided more clarity. The take away is: enjoy not knowing for awhile, and accept maybe never knowing except for what your own imagination might supply.

On another note, yup, been absent again. So the progress report is: the job hunt continues, it's no fun and prettymuch is a drain on any creative energy.

I went from Zig to Zag

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 14:51:00 +0000

I could've swore I posted my change of plans here or on my author Facebook page (btw, have you liked my author page over there? www.facebook.com/VanessaJayeAuthor It's not superbusy, so you won't be swamped with posts, but I'm trying to get that ramped up in terms of writing news/progress, excerpts, etc., )

Anywhoo, I decided to put the contemporary books aside for a moment. Just couldn't get my mind set into them. Instead, I decided to play with a sci-fi story idea I had hanging around for awhile. It's essentially a marriage of convenience story-- or maybe in this case an inconvenient, forced contracted sexual alliance. The hero is a retired cyborg soldier with the unfortunate but duly earned nickname of The Beast of Beltrane-3. I've got some vaguish ideas for connected stories featuring his fellow brother-in-arms cyborgs, but that's for late.r.

These are the models for my H: Griffen Heller and h: Neri Senator. I know the actor's name is Ty Olsson (and he's Canadian to boot!). Not sure who the female model is. I'd love some more pics of her as inspiration, though.

Dang they look good together! --but he needs a tan :-P I've had pics of him on my hard drive for about a week now, but just found her pic this morning.

Last thing, I'm doing a Fast Draft with Catrina Brown for the next couple of weeks, so I'll post my progress in the comments to keep me honest. *g* I'm only aiming for 10 pages/day though. I know enough about how I write to know that I can only turn off my internal editor so much.

Writing Progress

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Mon, 26 Aug 2013 02:17:00 +0000

How did 10 days go by already since my last post?

Got a lot of balls in the air obviously, but the writing is moving along.

The outline for the Dragon book is done,done,done! I think I wrote 9 pages double-spaced on it. Can't wait (even though I have to) to start on it. The dragon book will most likely be subbed to my publisher.

Right now, I'm working on a 3 book idea. Contemporary Romances. All stand-alones, but same setting and the heroines for each book are all friends. Aiming for approximately 200 pages for these babies. These 3 books will be self-pubbed. Really hoping I can have 2 up for sale by December. Hero in book 1 is a red head. And, he's hawt! Oh, yes, he is; don't you give me that look.

Waaaaah

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 16:56:00 +0000

I mentioned a dragon shifter idea I'd been working on lately. It was an idea I came up with last year, but in the last month or so I've been playing with the concept, developing the world-building, plot points and my characters GMC (goals/motives/conflicts). Most of my playing has been on notepad ap on my phone since it seemed like the only way I could squeeze in any writing time was on the fly.

On the weekend I finally nailed down some stuff for the ending, but because I knew this was writing project #3, I didn't immediately email the notes to myself to add to the word document I had started/saved previously (and thank god for having that doc already started/saved!)

You can guess where this is going, right?

Decided to do the transfer from the notepad ap yesterday aaaand .... *poof* be gone! It's. Not. There.

I turn the phone off and on. Nope. Still not there. In fact there are no notes saved since June 1, so who knows what other random story ideas/concepts I lost but can't remember off the top of my head. :-(

The one saving grace in all of this is that those scribblings in the notepad ap, where just that, notes. Not actual story text, written out scenes, etc. Also because I was making notes as I wrangled with plot points and GMC, etc., those items are still in my head, so it'll be fairly easy to write them out again, probably in a cleaner copy this time. Chances are I won't remember every little thing, but I remember the major most important ideas.

I posted my waaaah on Facebook almost immediately and writing buddy Amie Stuart suggested I get the Evernote ap, which I have done. Also downloaded it on the pc. So, all's well that ends well. Sorta.