July 24, 2007

Jenna becomes Jess and gives away a prize

Today is a very special day for me! Today is a release day. Nope, SEDUCTION IS FOREVER or EVERYTHING FORBIDDEN have not come early. Today marks the release of two of the three short stories I wrote last year for Avon’s brand new e-Shorts program. My two stories are erotica and are written under my Jess Michaels name. Here are some sneak peaks (and links to buy the books):

Another Door
Click to download
Just out of mourning, Mia Reading is having trouble readjusting to Society. She scoffs at the idea of reinventing herself as a sensual woman until a masquerade ball when she stumbles into the wrong room and the powerful arms of wicked Aidan Maitland.

Just One Taste
Click to download
Being the Duchess of Bisby is not everything it is cracked up to be for lonely Drusilla. Humiliated by her indifferent husband’s neglect, she finds an unexpected passion when she surrenders to the attentions of his ever-watching and oh-so-very-handsome valet, Jacob Dunnett.

Both these stories feature heroines at a crossroads of sorts. Mia is out of mourning and ready to redefine herself, while Drusilla is finally starting to accept that she will never obtain her husband’s love. Just at that moment, amazing men arrive in their lives.

So… today I pose a question. Have you ever been at a crossroads? What did you do to choose which path to take? I’ll pick a winner at random from anyone who comments and they will get a bound ARC of Seduction Is Forever, my October 2007 Jenna Petersen release.

July 23, 2007

Getting Out There!

What do you all think of MySpace and FaceBook? What about this new thing called Shelfari? I now have a MySpace page, and you’re all welcome to “friend” me, but I’m wondering if this isn’t just more clutter on the worldwide web. I mean, if you’re looking for an author on the web, are you going to look for her on MySpace, or try for her website? I would think you’d get a lot more pertinent information on her website, but maybe I just don’t have enough MySpace saavy.

What do you think of Shelfari? It’s really a fun place to visit, and I love “seeing” my friends and acquaintances there (thanks for hooking me up, Haven!) … But I worry that I’ll use it as yet another way to procrastinate. Do I care what other people are reading? I guess I do, to some extent, but that doesn’t usually influence what I read. On the other hand, there are some interesting groups to join, and good discussions on writing and reading.

So tell me … Are you a devotee of MySpace or Shelfari? If you are, “friend” me via one of those pages and I’ll enter you into a contest to win some Avon goodies - cover flats and bookmarks - and an autographed copy of A Warrior’s Taking.

July 20, 2007

Have you ever been dissed?

After the recent RWA conference, I read several accounts on email loops of someone being dissed by a favorite author. Of course, this is an exception. I think romance authors are the nicest in the literary community. Now I’ve not had an author I admire snub me but it happens.

Even if I loved an author, if she or he dissed me when I approached them, I don’t think I’d ever buy another book they wrote. The same would hold true of singers etc.

Have you ever been dissed by someone you admired? Did it alter your buying habits?

And in honor of tomorrow’s Harry Potter release…

…here’s a neat link where you can take a fun little quiz to find out which Hogwarts house you belong in.

I’m a Ravenclaw! What about you?

And scroll down to read Robyn’s blog about Harry Potter!

Only a few more hours…

I know many of you are as excited as The Professor and I about HP7’s release. We have our book pre-purchased and we’ll gather at our local bookstore about midnight to pick up our copy. And as of tomorrow, I will cease watching the news, checking the internet or reading any loop mail. I know people are going to start talking about it and spoilers will be everywhere and I don’t want to know anything. A few books ago - I think it might have been HP4, I stopped reading through the chapter titles before hand because I felt it gave too much away of what was to come. And the books have been so spread out that I like to savor every moment.

I actually found the HP books pretty early in their release, only right after the 2nd one hit stores. I’ve never been a huge fantasy fan so I’m not even sure what made me pick them up, but I remember I bought the first two while visiting my grandmother in the hospital. I started the first one that evening and while I thought the writing engaging it wasn’t until I hit chapter 5 that I knew I’d found something incredibly special. For the first time since becoming an adult, I felt what I’d once felt as a young girl tucked in my bed and reading until the wee hours of the night. It was nothing short of magical. I devoured both books, reading them in less than a week - which is quite a feat for me because I’m a rather slow reader. And I called my sister to tell her about them for my nephew. He was only 6 at the time and just in Kindergarten, but he was an advanced reader and I just knew he’d love the stories. I was right and he became a fan instantly. Starting with HP4, when they started doing the midnight release parties, he and I would go the local bookstore and chat excitedly while we waiting for them to start passing out the books. This year, this final book, will be the first time we haven’t been together for a release since then. He’ll be 15 this August and I’m sad to miss this with him, but I ordered his copy to have it delivered to his house on Saturday. No doubt he’ll finish it before I do and he’ll call and want to talk about it, but I’ll have to put him off until I’m done. And then we’ll have to talk in secret while The Professor reads it so I don’t give away anything.

In any case I’m excited and can’t wait to read that first page. It will be sad to say goodbye to this series and these characters who have captivated the world. Whether you’re a fan or not, you have to admit that this simple story about a boy wizard and the age-long fight between good and evil has opened the world of books to millions of children who might not otherwise have curled up in their beds and cracked open a spine and delved into the lives of characters and their adventures. As a reader, this gives me such hope for our children. As a writer, it is encouraging to know that today’s Harry Potter readers might one day be romance readers.

July 18, 2007

RWA 2007 Conference Pictures

More pictures! Some are near duplicates of Jenna’s, but I’ve posted them here too, just in case you missed them the first time.

The Jaunty girls at RWA National in Dallas.

Cindy at dinner on Tuesday.

Jenna, Anne and Cindy at dinner.

Margo at the literacy signing.

Jenna, Anne and May sharing a cab with Margo and Sophie.

Margo and Jenna in the happy cab.

Sophie up front!

Adele Ashworth, the always fabulous. I have one of Adele giving us all flight directions on the Avon bus, but she might shoot me if I post it.

The Avon Messageboard meet and greet. Mucho fun.

Clarisse and Kate Smith looking pretty at the meet and greet.

Robyn and her Mom with bonus Jenna cam shot.

Robyn, Jenna and Anne at the meet and greet.

Dallas was a blast! Hope to see all our Jaunties in San Francisco — both posters and commenters!

Irrational Fears

Fears can be kind of funny, huh? What’s terrifying to one person is completely benign to another. For example, I have a friend who is irrationally afraid of frogs. She’s so afraid she won’t walk in certain areas of her neighborhood for fear a frog might be lurking. I like frogs, but I’m not exactly comfortable with them. If I see one, I step out of its way.

Of course, I have my own fears. I am afraid of cockroaches. I’m irrationally afraid of live roaches. I will scream and run away from a live roach. I don’t like dead ones much either. I make Ultimate Sportsfan dispose of their dead corpses. I would have written that I wasn’t irrationally afraid of roaches, but I was going to put a picture of one at the top of this blog and then I was just too distressed by the idea of searching for roach pictures to do it. So maybe I’m a little irrational.

So how does this fit into my job as an author? Well, one thing that makes characters more believable is if they have hopes and fears the rest of us can relate to. I can certainly relate to a character who’s afraid of roaches. And one who isn’t afraid—well, I would automatically think she was pretty kick-butt tough (and maybe a little inasane).

So what about you? Do you have any irrational fears?

July 17, 2007

It’s Easy Once You’re Published

Right.

Let me tell you what’s going on with me lately. Bear in mind that I’ve published thirteen books with two major publishers, and the fourteenth is scheduled to be released in April ’08. I am a professional! I gave this last manuscript to my editor in mid-May, as scheduled. Since that time, I’ve been doing a lot of reading in preparation for writing my next book.

Around the first of July, just as I had a new release that needed some promotional attention, I started to write the proposal for the new book. At the same time, I received a note from my editor about the changes she’d like to see in the book I’d just turned in. OK, they’re good insights. But they’re not things that can be changed on pages 17, 149, 210, 336 and 401! Her suggestions are subtle and pervasive. For example, here’s a revision request I received a couple of years ago when I was working on The Bride Hunt: “While your h&h come alive for me on the pages, I would like you to delve a bit more into their emotions and motivations …” See what I mean? This is a page by page issue that takes a good bit of thought, care, and insight!

I put it on the back burner. Better to get the proposal for Book 15 finished and mailed, then work full-time on the revisions for Book 14. But wait! Dallas is July 10th! How much writing can I do there? Ahem … none. But I have a really great time meeting up with the Jaunties and all my other writer friends. I don’t even think about writing while I’m at the, er … writers’ conference.

And since I whittled away my proposal-writing time with promo activities, going to Nationals, and doing research, I really must get to the revisions for Book 14. My editor needs them by the end of July, and an extension won’t work because I’m going on vacation in mid-August.

OK, new goals: Get the revisions done and sent off to NYC ASAP. Write up the synopsis and chapters for Book 15 and get them to my agent before I go on vacation. That’s doable, right?

Did I mention that my three kids are all home for the summer?

July 16, 2007

Jenna’s Day By Day Diary

Hey all, just a quick post to say that I’ve started publishing my Day-By-Day Diary for this year’s conference. I’m updating it regularly, but you can see what I’ve posted so far here.

Zzzzzzz….

Oh, hey. No, I’m awake. Sorry.

Yes, we are all back from RWA, but you can tell by the radio silence that we’re a sleepy lot. So tired. But the conference was great and I’m sure the 5 of us will be telling our tales all week long. Pictures to come, too. And next week? I will have a prize for you Jaunty folks. So stay tuned. Until then, here’s a sneak peak…