Insert Witty Title Here

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Vampires, Demons and Muses, Oh My!

Happy Halloween, kids! Come check out Jezebel's interview with Vlad Tod, protagonist of Heather Brewer's upcoming surefire bestseller, Eighth Grade Bites. Get the lowdown on whether vampires can eat garlic, tan in the summer, and cross running water. Also, the answer to that age-old question of whether blood is tastier than chocolate.

Monday, October 30, 2006

Guest blog on Bookseller Chick!

Come read my guest blog on Bookseller Chick! It's all about Fear and the Other F-Word.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

I've Been Tagged!

The amazing Heather Brewer tagged me when I wasn't looking! I'm supposed to write five interesting or unique things about me. No pressure!

1. When I eat a meal, I will finish one food completely before moving on to the next. First my roast chicken. Then my potatoes. Then my carrots. (Or, let's face it: First my shrimp parm, then my pasta, then my garlic bread.)

2. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 27. I had a deep fear of driving. I'd sit behind the wheel of a parked car, and I swear to God, I'd break out in a cold sweat. Finally got my license when Loving Husband and I started talking about having a Precious Little Tax Deduction or two. That got me over my fear and scored me a license.

3. And now I'm a leadfoot. Really. Maybe it's years of pent-up road rage that's finally coming out. Dunno. But I feel the need for speed. Got busted for it, too. 21 miles over the speed limit. 6 points on the license. Whoops. Bad Jackie. No cookie.

4. I had two paintings on display in the Brooklyn Museum of Art when I was a kid. Once in seventh grade, once in eighth grade. I was a studio art major in junior high. (Yes, that's right. An art major. In junior high school. I went to a school for the Gifted And Talented. Yep, that was in the name itself.)

5. When I was 20, I wrote a comic book for Christian Slater. It was all about how I was madly in love with him and God help me, I was writing him a fan comic book. (Ah, that devil-may-care grin...) I sent it out to him. He never wrote back. Sniffle.

Okey dokey, there you go. And now...I must TAG people. You're up...Faith Bicknell-Brown, Caitlin Kittredge, Zinnia Hope, Richelle Mead, and Michelle Rowen! (Yeah, yeah, I know, Richelle, Heather already tagged you. Consider yourself double tagged! Hee!)

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Still Evil After All These Years

And now, THE MAGIC BRIGADE.

Revision's done.

Added 5,000 words, a hell of a lot of world building, stripped away potential Harry Potter similarities (teens + magic x school setting = HP -- the new math of urban fantasy), did some word tweaking. This sucker's done. Stick a fork in it.

It's on the way to my agent. God willing, he'll love it and then...submission time.

Before that can happen, I have to come up with...the Evil Synopsis From Hell. (And no, not the good HELL kind, either. The pull-your-hair-out-of-your-head, WTF-is-this-freaking-book-about-anyway kind.) And a series arc. Gah.

After all this time -- 17 years and three books later -- the synopsis is STILL an evil beast.

Maybe it will come to me in the morning, after some sleep and a lot of coffee.

For tonight, huzzah that the revision is done.

For tomorrow...boiling 220 pages down into 3. Joy!

(Here's to the day when editors say, "Jackie wrote another book? We don't need to know anything about it -- give her an obscenely huge advance, because we want that book...whatever it is!")

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Updates All Around

Remember Really Rosie? There was a character named Alligator, and his favorite song was "Alligators All Around." That's the tune I'm humming this morning -- got my coffee in hand, a kitty purring on my lap, and information to pass around. Woot!

First: those spiffy contests I previously mentioned? One of them is happenning now! Romance Reader at Heart is doing a Kensington October Book Giveaway Contest...and guess whose book is mentioned? That's right -- go ahead and enter for a chance at a free ARC (advance review copy) of HELL'S BELLES. (Or, heh, BELLS. I'll take it any way I can get it. What, me easy? Hey, I write about a succubus. Something's got to rub off...

Second: Over at my website, I'm happy to announce that the winner of the phone thong/ARC giveaway this month was so psyched that she did a little dance. Remember, this is a monthly drawing, until supplies go the way of the Dodo. In other words: I'm stocked at least until February...and I've got a very special February contest planned. More on that as the time gets closer.

Third: Coming soon: new artwork. Fellow Kensington Succubus Author Richelle Mead and I are getting new looks...at least, our succubi are. Announcement coming soon. (Man, I feel like I'm giving a press release that says: Coming soon--another press release.)

Fourth: Remember THE MAGIC BRIGADE? Well, I heard back from my agent. And...he's very interested. He had a number of concerns, and after going over various options with him, I'm now working on the (hopefully) final revisions...before TMB is good enough to go on submission. FINGERS CROSSED.

(Oh...and I decided that for YA, my byline will be...Jackie Morse. Thanks, everyone who weighed in! I have to say, the Puffy Prawn Starr name was a close second...)

Fifth: Take a look who's in queue to get reviewed over at Bam's site. Eeeee...

Sixth: New interview posted at Cat and Muse! Come meet Emma, a gal who'd be to die for if she wasn't already dead...and sorta buried...

That's it. (Until I think of something else.)

Monday, October 16, 2006

Interview with Heather Brewer

You know her and love her from her fabulous blog, Bleeding Ink. She's Heather Brewer, and she's a Wild Child. Specifically, I interviewed her for Wild Child Publishing. Come check it out--Heather talks about Vlad, the creative process, getting the buzz out, and why she's a cat person.

Thanks again for the terrific interview, Heather!

Have you pre-ordered your copy of Eighth Grade Bites yet? If not, what the heck are you waiting for? Order it NOW. You know you want to. All the cool Minions are doing it...

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Which Muppet Are You?

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know.
You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems.
Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green.
Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

The Muppet Personality Test

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Contests and a Congrats!

Psst. You. The romance reader. C'mere. I gots two contests to tell you about.

Romance Reader at Heart and The Romance Studio are going to have a special early giveaway of Hell's Belles galleys! Check out the sites the week of October 16 and enter for a chance to win!

HUGE HUZZAH!!!
Check this out:

Caitlin Kittredge's NIGHT LIFE, in which a homicide detective is a werewolf without a pack, but she has bigger things to worry about, including the string of ritual murders in her precinct, a too-hot-to-be-trusted werewolf pack leader, and her out-of-control moonphase that may cost her her job, her sanity... or her life, to Rose Hilliard at St. Martin's, by Rachel Vater at Lowenstein-Yost (NA).

Three cheers for Caitlin! Go on, tell her yourself!

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Killer Television and Keith Partridge

The latest interview is up at Cat and Muse. You get to meet Ingrid, an intrepid television reporter who's up to her elbows in trouble (finding a dead body at the anchor desk will do that) and who daydreams about Keith Partridge.

I'm wondering: How's Cat and Muse doing? Do you like it? Does the talk-radio format work? What about being introduced to other authors' characters -- yay? Nay? Neither? (I know, some of you are like, "Cat and What?")

So now everyone is back from Germany -- last week was the Frankfurt Book Fair; big big BIG for the publishing industry. My agent was there, and I think my editor was too. Anyway, everyone is back, so I'm hoping to hear from my agent about a couple of projects. I'll give details as soon as I can. Wish me luck...

In other news, Hell's Belles hits the shelves in 84 days. Not that I'm counting or anything... Actually, I'm a basket case. You'd think that all would be happiness, that I'd be blissful over the upcoming launch. But no. Instead, my stomach is churning over whether I'll get good reviews. (Bam, if you're reading this, remember, I am happy to resort to bribery.) And if I'll make my numbers. (Whatever that means.) And whether my editor will like The Road to Hell. And, of course, the other projects that I mentioned that I didn't get into.

What ever happened to being satisfied with what you've got? Instead of taking pleasure out of my accomplishments, I keep working toward the next goal. ((Jackie shakes head sadly)) Which is all fine, of course. Except I'd also like to smell the roses, as Melpomene would suggest.

Monday, October 09, 2006

A NEW Look!

See something different?

That's right -- Richelle Mead, my fellow Kensington Succubus Diva author, gave Witty Title a whole new look! Coffee and chocolate -- YUM!!!!!!!! (Even Jezebel would approve.)

THANK YOU, RICHELLE!

I (Heart) E.J. Knapp

You heard me. I (heart) E.J. Knapp. And here's why.

Minor update
The chapter outline for HOT is coming along fine. I have the first five chapters, the last six chapters, and a whole mess in the middle that I hope will work out to about seven chapters.

TIDBIT: I throw some actual lines of text into the chapter outline; it helps me with the overall flavor. My favorite lines for HOT so far? Jezebel and Daunuan are discussing how Daun can get information on a particular mortal who's slated for Heaven -- Hell has no records of her:

Jezebel rolled her eyes. "For [BLEEP]'s sake, Daun, just Google her."
"Sounds kinky."
"No, you dumb demon. Do a search on the Internet."

Friday, October 06, 2006

Something Different -- For Now

My fellow Kensington Succubus Diva (KSD), Richelle Mead, is trying out new blog skins (er, did I say that right?) for Witty Title, but we're having template problems. Grrr. So first, a huge THANK YOU, RICHELLE, for all the effort you've put into purtifying my blog. For now, I switched over to a different Blogger template. It's a temporary look -- one of these days, we'll figure out WHY the skin Richelle tweaked isn't taking. Sigh.

Also, I want to thank Ewoh for all his work on making a spiffy HELL'S BELLES cell phone cover shot! You rawk out loud! (I'm just a spaz for not actually doing anything with it yet, sigh...)

So, What's Been Going On?
I've begun working on the chapter outline for Hotter Than Hell. This book promises to blow away Hell's Belles and The Road to Hell combined -- and I think those first two books are pretty damn good.

I've also been doing TONS of research for my other WIP, Schmoozing the Almighty. Along the way, I wound up reading a terrific horror novel, Alexandra Sokoloff's The Harrowing. Fabulous book. Go on, buy it.

And...tonight is the season premiere of Battlestar Galactica. Woot!

PROMO
My cousin, Stevie Guttman, is a MOVIE STAR!!!

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Get LOST

It's killing me -- WHICH STEPHEN KING NOVEL WAS JULIETTE HOLDING???

Loving Husband is sure it's THE LANGOLIERS, which I thought was only part of FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT -- but was it reissued as a standalone novel?

(LOST! WOOT! Between that and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA -- FRIDAY!!! -- I'm blissfully happy...)