Jennifer Blake Newslettter-September
Greetings:
It was pleasantly cool—still T-shirt weather but not hot—when I walked the dogs this morning. Somehow it felt as if fall is just around the corner though I know it will be November before we really see it. A part of it was the slant of sun as it moves more to the south, also the drift of dead leaves caused by dry weather, the late wildflowers that are blooming and the buds showing up on the goldenrod. Whatever the cause, I'm ready. This has been such a busy summer: my husband and I were in Colorado in late May to open the summer house there; my two daughters, six grandkids and I cruised around the Mediterranean in June; I hosted a 10-day quilting retreat at the Colorado house in July; and then my husband and I spent a few weeks in the mountains to escape the August heat. Play time is over now, and the new book is calling.
Many writers swear that driving jump-starts their creativity, something about occupying the logical left brain with a monotonous task so the creative right brain can play with ideas. Riding while someone else drives works better for me! I plotted two books and jotted down beaucoup ideas for the work in progress during the drive home from Colorado last week. Maybe I should head out again, after all, when the aspens turn in October?
Book 3 of my medieval trilogy is progressing slowly but surely. I'm on Chapter 4 and putting 1000-2000 words on it every day. The goal is to finish the rough draft by Halloween. That will give me several months to go over the manuscript—I usually revise once for content and then run through it again to polish the language. The deadline for this story is April 1, however, so I had better stay on schedule.
This past month has seen several new publications, foreign and otherwise. ROYAL SEDUCTION, from 1983, was released in the Classic Reprint program from Sourcebooks; DAWN ENCOUNTER (book 2, Masters at Arms series) was published in Japan, and TRIUMPH IN ARMS (book 6, Masters at Arms series) was brought out in the United Kingdom, also in Germany as Im Wirbel der Gefühle. The brown truck keeps bringing more editions for the author copy book shelves, but I'm running out of room.
I've embarked upon a new endeavor. I'll be doing a monthly blog post in cooperation with other writers who work with my publishing house, Mira Books. A different Mira author will post every day, with my first effort appearing on September 9. To check out all the insights and happenings from this crew go to: http://community.eharlequin.com/content/mira-author-blog
I'm excited! My younger daughter is buying a house less than a mile from ours here on the lake. (You may remember that her husband was killed in a car accident in February.) She and her four children will be moving from Mississippi when school is out next year. It will be great to have her closer: someone to walk with, shop with, lunch with and, hopefully, work with on book projects. I'm also looking forward to more time spent fishing, quilting, traveling and keeping up with the grands.
With warmest wishes for better times and lovely fall weather wherever you live—plus a glorious Labor Day weekend coming up!
Jennifer
It was pleasantly cool—still T-shirt weather but not hot—when I walked the dogs this morning. Somehow it felt as if fall is just around the corner though I know it will be November before we really see it. A part of it was the slant of sun as it moves more to the south, also the drift of dead leaves caused by dry weather, the late wildflowers that are blooming and the buds showing up on the goldenrod. Whatever the cause, I'm ready. This has been such a busy summer: my husband and I were in Colorado in late May to open the summer house there; my two daughters, six grandkids and I cruised around the Mediterranean in June; I hosted a 10-day quilting retreat at the Colorado house in July; and then my husband and I spent a few weeks in the mountains to escape the August heat. Play time is over now, and the new book is calling.
Many writers swear that driving jump-starts their creativity, something about occupying the logical left brain with a monotonous task so the creative right brain can play with ideas. Riding while someone else drives works better for me! I plotted two books and jotted down beaucoup ideas for the work in progress during the drive home from Colorado last week. Maybe I should head out again, after all, when the aspens turn in October?
Book 3 of my medieval trilogy is progressing slowly but surely. I'm on Chapter 4 and putting 1000-2000 words on it every day. The goal is to finish the rough draft by Halloween. That will give me several months to go over the manuscript—I usually revise once for content and then run through it again to polish the language. The deadline for this story is April 1, however, so I had better stay on schedule.
This past month has seen several new publications, foreign and otherwise. ROYAL SEDUCTION, from 1983, was released in the Classic Reprint program from Sourcebooks; DAWN ENCOUNTER (book 2, Masters at Arms series) was published in Japan, and TRIUMPH IN ARMS (book 6, Masters at Arms series) was brought out in the United Kingdom, also in Germany as Im Wirbel der Gefühle. The brown truck keeps bringing more editions for the author copy book shelves, but I'm running out of room.
I've embarked upon a new endeavor. I'll be doing a monthly blog post in cooperation with other writers who work with my publishing house, Mira Books. A different Mira author will post every day, with my first effort appearing on September 9. To check out all the insights and happenings from this crew go to: http://community.eharlequin.com/content/mira-author-blog
I'm excited! My younger daughter is buying a house less than a mile from ours here on the lake. (You may remember that her husband was killed in a car accident in February.) She and her four children will be moving from Mississippi when school is out next year. It will be great to have her closer: someone to walk with, shop with, lunch with and, hopefully, work with on book projects. I'm also looking forward to more time spent fishing, quilting, traveling and keeping up with the grands.
With warmest wishes for better times and lovely fall weather wherever you live—plus a glorious Labor Day weekend coming up!
Jennifer
Labels: fall, foreign editions, jump-starting creativity, travel, work in progress
posted by Jennifer Blake at 9:15 AM
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