Wholelotta Links

Here's a list of great links y'all might find interesting:

Where to find me on the internet:

My website
Linked In
Good Reads
Twitter
Facebook
Manic Readers

Quake:
Website
Twitter
Facebook

Some publishing opportunities with Echelon and Quake:

ECHELON:
Echelon is seeking submissions for ALL eBook divisions. Please visit our site for guidelines. http://echelonpress.com

EXPLORATIONS:
Echelon Explorations is seeking submissions for eBook publication. Guidelines at http://echelonexplorations.com

SHORTS:
Echelon Shorts is seeking submissions for eBook publication for all genres.
Deadline for Holiday submissions 11/10/10. Guidelines at http://echelonshorts.com

QUAKE:
Quake is seeking submissions for eBook publication for all genres.
Deadline for Quake Holiday Shorts submissions 11/10/10. Guidelines at http://quakeme.com

I'm also a member of WRWA.

Enjoy surfing the web! :)

Warmly,
Jenny:)

Writing

Today I've spent the morning on busy-type work. This afternoon, I'm going to put everything aside and really dig into Detour 2 Death. This is turning out to be emotionally wrenching for me. Many of y'all know my father died in February and I find myself drawing from that experience a lot.

Book 3 in the Extreme Hauntings series is set in a hospital. David, the boy-next-door in a wheelchair, has taken a turn for the worse. Kaylee, our heroine, escapes the monsters at her reformatory and hits the road, rushing back home because she's had a premonition that David needs her. When she sneaks into the hospital, she finds her best friend, and blossoming love interest, in a coma and about to die.

The scenes where she's entered his coma-dream, where she's understanding that he's about to die if she can't intervene in some way, are really difficult for me to face. I think this is why I've had such a hard time really getting into the flow of this story. I want to stop, go back and edit, just to avoid what I know will be hard to write. So, today, that all stops. I'm going to punch through my own grief and get this part down, come heck or high water.

If you want to see what led up to this moment, find out why Kaylee was sentenced to a reformatory for girls, you can read the first two books in paperback or on your Kindle.

Wish me luck!
Jenny:)

Huge Wind Storm

Last night we had a big wind storm come through and knock out all of our power. Because it's been so dark and overcast here lately, I didn't get up until almost 7:30! Yikes! I got the kids up and between breakfast, a mad hunt for socks, banging in and out of the bathroom to wash faces, brush hair and teeth, I managed to get everyone ready in about 30 minutes--a world record, I'm sure. I drove them all to school--Molly on the west side was about 20 minutes late, Matthew on the north side was on time (phew!) and Dustin in a whole 'nother town (Kellner) got there about 15 minutes late. Alls well that ends well, I suppose.

I've just got to take some time to get rid of all the goofy blinky red lights. (Even the dishwasher is flashing red lights at me.)

Today, I'm working on editing a novel for Quake and later this evening, I'm putting together more notes for tomorrow's writing marathon. Detour 2 Death is getting really exciting. I love having free reign with reality. Supernatural stuff is always great!

Here's to a nice, quiet, wind-free evening!

Warmly,
Jenny:)

Random Word

As I sit here, blinking myself awake over my morning coffee, I remember there were a thousand things I thought to blog about, but now can't recall one. Lol. So, I'm going to open a random website from a google search on ghost, close my eyes, and point. Then I'm going to blog about whatever word my finger lands on. So, here goes:

I landed on The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) and my finger hit the word "evidence."

Interesting. What evidence would you need to believe in ghosts? I say I don't disbelieve in ghosts, but I don't believe in them fully either. The jury is out on that one. I'd probably have to experience one for myself. A full-on apparition appearing directly before my eyes. Do I believe that we live on, beyond our physical bodies? I do, though I have doubts. On this issue, though, I have more faith that we do exist beyond our mortal life.

What about you? What do you think?

Warmly,
Jenny:)

Life as an Editor

Today I get to make "the call" for the first time. I'm excited about doing this, but I'm nervous as well--how funny is that? :) I find sitting on this side of the desk very strange. After years and years fearing what an editor or agent might think about my writing, I'm getting some great insight. Most editors or agents, if they're anything like me at all (and I imagine most are) wish they could say yes to every decently written good story that crosses their desk. This experience totally makes me respect them even more than I did, and has the added benefit of making them more accessible to me. In other words:

Editors and agents are people, too ;)

We're still open to submissions, if you write YA. You can find the details here: http://quakeme.com/submissions/

Warmly,

Jenny:)

Sick, Sicker, Sickest...

If you've never had Pyelonephritis, there's no way to describe the sort of pain and exhaustion that both forces you into bed and keeps you awake. My cycle went like this: Body aches followed by a high fever with massive, teeth clenching chills, and then a sweat that left me limp and soaked. This cycle has progressively gotten worse since the end of September. For one blissful week, I thought I had it kicked. Week before last Thursday I took my last antibiotic, and by the following Saturday night, all the symptoms came rushing back, and twice as bad. I barely escaped a hospital stay.

So if you've been wondering, that's what's been happening with me. I'm in a slower recovery now, just getting my feet under me, but I can tell, this isn't going to be easy for me to bounce back from. I still can't make it all the way through the night without waking up from one symptom or another. The lower back pain feels very much like labor pains! Ugh. This stuff is horrible.

Anyway, now that I can sit up and actually focus my eyes again (the meds they gave me for the muscle pain makes my eyes blur) I'm getting back to business. Yes, this seems to be the yo-yo of my life this year, but I'll keep coming back and I'll keep trying. I'm working on Detour 2 Death for a spring release and I've got some great new talent I'm looking at as the editor for Quake. There's exciting stuff going on--I only pray I'll continue to be healthy enough to enjoy every minute!

Warmly,

Jenny:)

Writing and Music

On my Facebook page, I asked my friends to suggest songs for the playlist I'm compiling while I write Detour 2 Death, the 3rd book in the Extreme Hauntings series. I got MANY great suggestions (Thanks y'all!) and here's where you can see what I've put together so far:

Detour 2 Death Playlist

I'd love to add more music so if you have any other suggestions, feel free to add some. In this book, Kaylee, my heroine, has just run away from the girl's reform school to see her best friend who's near death in the hospital. This is a ghost story, so I'm enjoying some of the more eerie picks.

Okay, I'll check back later to see if there are any suggestions :) Thanks!

Warmly,
Jenny:)

Writing Tips

I thought I'd take a minute and jot down a few of my writing tips:

1) When you're just beginning, choose writing contests where professionals are judges and give feedback. Nothing will help you learn to self-edit faster than a qualified stranger's red pen.

2) Little phrases can add voice--or padding. Make sure you know which one you're doing--and how often. Does the phrase fit the protagonist? (i.e. "fiddle-dee-dee" or "to be honest..." or "as a matter of fact...")

3) Names do matter. When looking for a new name for another character, look for those that begin with a fresh letter and reflect the traits of said character. If you have two characters named Luke and Laura, you'll want to find a letter other than "L" to begin the next character's name. A "Dexter" might be a lab geek moonlighting as a serial killer, or a "Wilma" might be a stay-at-home wife and mother. Remember, people treat others differently according to their names. Imagine the difference between Donald Trump and Gomer Trump.

Hope that's helpful to some of y'all :)

Warmly,
Jenny:)

The Writing (and editing) Life Songlist

What is it they say? When you love what you do, you can't call it work--or something to that effect. Not only do I get to spend my early morning hours writing my own work, but I get to spend the remaining bits of my day editing and marketing. Pretty cool way to earn my living, I think ;)

I'm putting together a special playlist for Detour 2 Death, the 3rd book in the Extreme Hauntings series. I'd love any suggestions for a tune you think might work well with my story. I tend to like big, thumping music--like Disturbed "Down with the Sickness" and Marilyn Mansons' remake of "Sweet Dreams." This particular ghost story takes place in a hospital that isn't necessarily haunted--as much as it is a gateway. Sort of like the movie Silent Hill, but with a totally different mythology. So what do you think? Got any recommendations?

Warmly,
Jenny:)

Busy Bee Buzzzzzzzzz

I've been editing like a mad woman to catch up on the two weeks I was so sick. It's amazing how when you're finally feeling great again, you realize how very ill you actually were. I kept thinking that being bed ridden would be a great time to get some work done--after all, I was too sick to run errands (beyond basic needs) and obviously wouldn't be up for mowing the lawn or any other mundane task I'm usually expected to complete. Yet, my eyes would literally cross every time I stared at the screen--if I wasn't battling a migraine. So--in other words, it feels AWESOME to be able to work again.

I'm excited by some of the projects I'm seeing cross my desk. I'm working on clearing up some of the longer waiting queries this week--so if you've been waiting a while, you may be hearing from Quake very soon :)

See y'all in the funny pages! :)

Warmly,
Jenny

So Sick of Being Sick

A great big evil Fever named Painful laid me low for over a week. Even an in-hospital visit and IV fluids didn't make me any better. Now that they've tracked the sucker down to an infection in my kidneys and given me some good ol' antibiotic pepper spray for this crooked time-stealing theif, I'm back at work again. Thank goodness!! I never knew sitting upright could feel so great! :)

So I'm back to work and looking through the batch of submissions that came in for Quake while I was laid low. Some good stuff in there. Keep them coming folks! Quake is interested in e-publishing great YA books in all age-appropriate genres. Send in your book, or tell a friend! Submissions

Warmly,
Jenny:)

WRWA Con and Opportunities

This weekend I was in Madison for WRWA's fall conference. I had a great time hanging out with friends I hadn't seen in a while and making new friends as well. I woke up sick on Saturday and have been fighting neck spasms from an old whiplash accident, but after a good night's sleep, Sunday was far better for me physically. I truly enjoyed listening to all the speakers. What a great time this was!!

Now that I'm the acquiring editor for Quake (http://quakeme.com/submissions/), I'm going to offer to do pitch sessions at the Spring conference in Fon du Lac, WI May 6-7. If you're interested in joining WRWA, or just checking them out, you can see their website here: http://www.wrwa.net/index.htm

There's a great new ezine, Ink Plots at this site: http://www.wrwa.net/inkplots/index.htm and a new literary magazine called Creative Wisconsin will have its first issue released this winter. These are great venues for up and coming authors to see their work in print.

Okay, thanks for reading, I'll be back soon!

Warmly,
Jenny:)

Exciting News

I am now the acquisitions editor for Quake, the young adult imprint of Echelon Press. Please see submission guidelines for more details. I'm thrilled to be officially joining the team of editors who work so hard to bring quality literature to readers everywhere.

If you'd like to meet me, I'll be at the WRWA fall conference in Madison this weekend. Write y'all again soon :)

Warmly,
Jenny:)

Back in the Saddle

Working on getting back to normal is like practicing a diet—it's really a matter of just doing the work. I'm committing myself to at least a few hours every morning dedicated to computer-related work. The best part—the most fun part—is keeping my blog updated.

Today, I find myself excited about my Facebook ad campaign. I'm not a genius when it comes to this sort of thing. I've been marketing since before I sold my first novel, but have always found it difficult to promote myself. I love this Facebook option because I don't have to seek permission to spread the word about my Extreme Hauntings series—it just happens.

How well is it working? Well, as I said, I'm no genius when it comes to this stuff, but on day 2 of my campaign—targeted to Kindle and fiction readers in English-speaking countries:

After 2 days, my ad has had 80K impressions.

Original website hit counter: 12,452
2 days later: 12, 523

Original Kindle Rank for DFF: Dead Friends Forever: 331, 696
2 days later: 27,090

But even better, School's Out 4-Ever has enjoyed some effect:
Original Kindle Rank: 340, 565
2 days later: 27, 074

This may all mean nothing as I can't directly link the impressions to the sell-through at Amazon, yet even though I'm not a wiz at this sort of thing, I'm smiling this morning :) and that's pretty cool.

I hope y'all have a bunch of smiles today, too!

Warmly,
Jenny:)

Art, Poetry, and Mom

I've not been blogging for quite a while, I see. Sorry about that. Many of my readers know my mother died on June 24th. Because she passed so soon after my father (on Valentines Day) I've been an emotional wreck. My brother died in '95 and he was my only sibling, so pretty much my whole (childhood) family is gone now. This is a very strange feeling. The silver lining in my grief-cloud though, is I've re-established connections with my mom's siblings (2 aunts and an uncle) and my grandmother. I've always loved them, but now I get to tell them more often.

Today's blog is dedicated to my Mom. Below are two beautiful poems she wrote and above is a photograph of one of her many fabulous pieces of art. (If you click on the title of this blog post, you will go to her online diary.)

In the Instant of Dying
I was born in the instant of dying.
The wind came along and cut me loose.

In free-fall to the ground all the events of life
are a ripple in the wind.
I flutter here and there along my meandering course
in the process of dying.

I flutter here and there with all the fluttering beings
free-falling around me to the ground.
Free-falling to the ground I turn this way and that
and greet the brilliant multitude cluttering the sky.

The sky is God to me.
The ground is God to me.

All else is falling and dying.
In the instant of dying, I was born.
Within that instant my life is lived between the Gods of
Heaven and Earth.
Beyond that instant, I am no more.


I Lay My Hand Upon The Soil
I lay my hand upon the soil to dig
And each day I lay my hand
upon the soil anew
And each night I seek to lay
my head to rest

But my Lord calls me forth to dig in darkness
And I come forth in my
weariness and sorrow
And lay my hand upon the soil
to dig in darkness

And my Lord goes before me calling
Tears of sorrow wet the earth
Where I dig
And shore the furrow
In its depth

And my Lord calls me more to dig
In weariness I crawl forth at
His command
And all down the row behind
flowers bloom

~Audrey J. Yoeckel

Tired...

Hey everyone,

I'm a bit bleary-eyed at the moment and yawning my way through this post. I figured I should check in as it's been a busy week. Where does the time go? There aren't enough hours in the day, that's for sure.

Well, here's my status:

1) Editing: One book nearly finished, another halfway heavily edited and returned to the author for an edit, another book about to have it's first full major edit now that the authors have returned the book to me.

2) Writing: Detour 2 Death now has a fully functional and fleshed out synopsis to work with and is looking truly exciting.

3) Journal: Got to see the first one arrive in my mailbox--very cool! I'm now I'm collecting content for the summer edition and will have to begin drumming up advertisements. Anyone interested in running an ad for their books?? :) :) :)

4) Querying Redemption: Sent out another batch and got one rejection so far from that bunch. Still have three partials out and a full being read. I would very much love for Tor to take this book on and the agent reading the full has a really good history with them. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Okay, I'm off to beddy-bye land now. Gotta rest my peepers. Did I say it snowed today? I had to tarp the garden so the veggies won't freeze. Crazy Wisconsin weather!

Night all :)

Warmly,
Jenny:)

Totally NOT the "it" Girl!

As y'all know, I edit on the side between royalty checks. One of my pet peeves is the word "it"—IT drives me crazy! I'll show you what I mean:

Unlike the well-plotted veggie patch, however, this flower garden had no real pathways leading through it, and she was forced to step on many new blooms.

Get rid of the "it" and watch what happens:

Unlike the well-plotted veggie patch, however, no real pathways led through the flower garden and she was forced to step on many new blooms.

Now, get rid of the "padding" words and see what you get:

Unlike the well-plotted veggie patch, no real pathways led through the flower garden and she stepped on many new blooms.

If you love your editor, or want to make an editor very happy, cut the "it" as often as possible. Just restructuring to get the unnecessary "it" weeded out can really tighten your writing in a flash.

Okay, editing rant over—back to work!

Warmly,
Jenny:)

Wuz up Doc?

I'm working on writing more in my blog, even if it just musings about every day life. Today, I'm writing a little about doctor visits and how strange they are.

I needed prescription filled, but the doc wanted me to make an appt. for a follow-up exam before she agreed to refill. So okay, no biggie. I go in, though I feel fine, and discover my blood pressure is high (157 over 84) not real bad, but yeah, I'll keep an eye on it. The doctor, however, never says one word about this, so I figure it's really nothing.

The next day, my ankles start to swell, for no reason. This happened when I was pregnant so I know what to do: put my feet up and cover in ice. It works some, but I'm a busy gal so I'm on my feet more than I would have liked and just chalk it up to not being able to sit long enough.

The next morning, I finally have an appt. with a psychiatrist my doc referred me to (for dealing with some grief issues since my dad died Feb. 14th.) I'm eager to get some help so I can get my normal life back. Only when I wake up early and get out of bed, I almost fall flat on my face because I'm so dizzy.

I make it out of my room by holding on to furniture and walls, a bit freaked out because I've never felt like that before. But, the more I move around, the less dizzy I am--except my feet are still swollen. Over the course of the day, I'm on and off dizzy and my ankles get really big.

So I go see the shrink, hoping to get some anti-depressants or something--only to find out I'm not meeting with a psychiatrist who can prescribe medicine, just a counselor. I've got plenty of people to talk to all ready, so I'm a bit peeved to A)be referred to a psychiatrist and not get an appt. with one and B) having to travel to a whole 'nother town a half hour away just to find this out.

By the time I get back in town, I'm a bit woozy and my neighbor suggests I call and make an appt. about my ankles and the dizziness. She's right, but I'm really not interested in seeing another doctor. I do the responsible thing though and call in. They can't get me in for two weeks, but they say I can't wait that long and need urgent care. *Sigh*

I show up in urgent care and they tell me the receptionists are notorious for doing this. I'm totally over the whole thing and want to turn around and go home, but I figure I'll at least check my blood pressure. It's 150/100. Okay, not so good.

After 4 hours, it turns out I may or may not have high blood pressure (they want a 3rd check) my dizziness is due to dehygdration, which also caused my swollen ankles. (I'm retaining fluid because I'm not drinking enough to move it out of my body--they say.) In other words--drink a lot of water and come back in a week.

After that, I rush home to nuke dinner (no time for cooking) and get Matthew to Boy Scouts--which turns out was canceled and I didn't get the message because I was in too much of a hurry to listen to my voice mail. The kids need to hit the library and return books and I hit the video store to return tapes. When I pick them up, we head home, do homework, and I spend a lot of time on the phone telling everyone I'm fine.

Finally, I get a minute to chug a bottle of water. It's bed time. Now I've got a doc's appt. for next week, and another "therapy" appt. in two--with a writing conference in between. In the meantime, I'm editing four books, writing one, querying another, dealing with my mortgage company over the four months my hubby was out of work, and putting in the garden so we'll have fresh (free!) veggies all summer long.

Then there's spring cleaning, the field trip I'm chaperoning, and prepping for our annual rummage sale...

Okay, gotta get busy! See y'all soon.

Warmly,
Jenny:)

Update

Hey y'all ;) Sorry I've been gone for so long. It's been a sad winter for my family. My father died on Valentines Day this year. Between visiting with him once a month (he lived far from me) and returning to help with the clearing of his belongings, I've been out of town quite a bit. I'll miss him very much.

I think there's something to be learned from every experience, and when we understand more about the way the world works, it influences everything we do from there on out. I find myself in a strange situation because the setting in my next novel, Detour 2 Death, the third book in the Extreme Hauntings series, is in a haunted hospital. While my father died at home, working with the themes of illness, death, and grief are all the more poignant.

Stephen King writes about being hit by a van and what it's like to be severely injured. His use of this real-world event in Kingdom Hospital is especially interesting to me as I work on Kaylee's next journey—this time directly into the "spirit" realm. I'm not sure I'd feel as free and as motivated as I do if it weren't for the creativity (a talking anteater?) King shared in his illustration of a haunted hospital or as connected if I hadn't recently witnessed the passing of a loved one.

So, as I'm working on this book and editing others (some fun ones coming out soon!) I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I'll be posting more to my blog now that things are returning to normal.

Wishing everyone the best.

Warmly,
Jenny

Visit Me at These Events:

WRWA Spring Conference in Manitowoc, WI April 30-May 1
Printers Row in Chicago, IL June 12-13
WRWA Fall Conference in Madison, WI September 24-26

Steve Karmazenuk and Me! :)

Hey everyone ;)

Today I'm guest blogging over at Steve's place. He's a talented writer in his own right and has a host of interesting information, especially about music and writing over there. I found much of it fascinating and I think you will too! :)

Steve is the author of three novels: STEVE KARMAZENUK’S OMNIVERSE The Unearthing; Through Darkness and Stars; And Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind (Coming 2010) He is also a journalist with CONFRONT Magazine Online, and works in the Canadian film industry.

Leave a comment if you get a chance. We'd both love to hear from you :)

Warmly,
Jenny:)