I started this project three years ago, and, like most things, it got trumped by this little thing called life. The recession forced a return to full-time employment, and, surprise, surprise, I learned that I'm only human and simply cannot juggle everything (working, writing, managing a relationship, etc.).
I've seen some new releases since last we spoke (the anthology Jacki's Jewels was released, along with several other Jacki King releases, and I wrote the next segment of Leslie Stetler's adventures--just haven't found a home for them yet). I've been doing some teaching and writing, but mostly--like all of you, I'm sure--I've just been struggling to stay afloat in this topsy-turvy economy.
This spring I'm doing my bestest to turn over a new leaf and get back on track with sharing the adventures and misadventures of just what people will do to get into one another's pants (or hearts) and what it's like to trying to write all these things down.
So, if anyone's still out there, stay tuned. I wasn't dead; it only felt that way....
Showing posts with label Jacki King. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jacki King. Show all posts
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Saturday, March 15, 2008
What's Your Idea of Hell?
I'm very excited to have started a new book this month. It's my very first full-length novel, and so far, the writing is going very well. I'm playing with a concept of what people's perceptions of hell are. Doesn't that sound like devious fun?!
Wonderful relationships (that go nowhere) with great but flaky, non-committal men would rank very high up on my list of what hell is like.
Sitting in traffic on the Southern California freeways in a Lambourghini would be another....all that power, all that possibility...but you never get to do anything with it. You might as well be sitting in a Yugo!
And what about orgasmless sex??? Talk about delicious torture!
I'm going to be away next week, so I won't be blogging....I'm flying to California to surprise my grandma for her birthday, and I can't wait!
Spending time with my granmda is much more my idea of heaven than hell, but hopefully my time away will give you folks a chance to come up with some real doozies of your idea of hell.
See you in two weeks!
Wonderful relationships (that go nowhere) with great but flaky, non-committal men would rank very high up on my list of what hell is like.
Sitting in traffic on the Southern California freeways in a Lambourghini would be another....all that power, all that possibility...but you never get to do anything with it. You might as well be sitting in a Yugo!
And what about orgasmless sex??? Talk about delicious torture!
I'm going to be away next week, so I won't be blogging....I'm flying to California to surprise my grandma for her birthday, and I can't wait!
Spending time with my granmda is much more my idea of heaven than hell, but hopefully my time away will give you folks a chance to come up with some real doozies of your idea of hell.
See you in two weeks!
Friday, March 7, 2008
FINALLY - Juno!
I'm getting over a cold, and I've felt like crap for several days in a row. I haven't been writing, and that makes me feel even more like crap.
But I decided yesterday that I was going to do something positive in the midst of all this goopy, sniffly, coughy crud, so I hit the matinee of Juno, knowing that very few people would likely be there (indeed, there were only 2, and they sat in the wheelchair area) and that I'd finally get to sate my curiosity about Diablo Cody's first screenplay and Ellen Page's first role outside of that spandex-clad spin in X-men 3.
I was really, really, REALLY impressed.
The story was adorable and endearing. The characters were real, resilient, and easy to sympathize with. The dialogue was quirky and unique.
I have to say that Cody has a way of writing dialogue that I would liken to Q. Tarantino or Kevin Smith. I admire it a lot. It differs from the way most people speak, but it's so effective and powerful (and downright entertaining) that you don't care.
I probably pay more attention to dialogue than a lot of folks. Speech is my strength as a writer (I credit my theatre/acting background and intense vocabulary study for the ACTs) and my primary interest when I tell a story. I spend a lot of time alone and NOT speaking to others, so that when I do finally emerge from my cocoon and interact with the general populace, I feel a heightened sensitivity to words and tone.
Some of my fave movies for dialogue: Dogma, Shirley Valentine (although that's mostly monologue, but it's still speech), Ghostbusters, Pulp Fiction, Resevoir Dogs, Jacki Brown, Firefly (series)/Serendipity, While You Were Sleeping, and Stranger Than Fiction.
Some of my fave authors: Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Crusie, Christopher Moore, and Janet Evanovich (has anyone on the planet ever made better use of the word "Babe"???)
So how about you? If you make a habit of studying/paying attention to dialogue, what has been a movie/book/author that's impressed you?
But I decided yesterday that I was going to do something positive in the midst of all this goopy, sniffly, coughy crud, so I hit the matinee of Juno, knowing that very few people would likely be there (indeed, there were only 2, and they sat in the wheelchair area) and that I'd finally get to sate my curiosity about Diablo Cody's first screenplay and Ellen Page's first role outside of that spandex-clad spin in X-men 3.
I was really, really, REALLY impressed.
The story was adorable and endearing. The characters were real, resilient, and easy to sympathize with. The dialogue was quirky and unique.
I have to say that Cody has a way of writing dialogue that I would liken to Q. Tarantino or Kevin Smith. I admire it a lot. It differs from the way most people speak, but it's so effective and powerful (and downright entertaining) that you don't care.
I probably pay more attention to dialogue than a lot of folks. Speech is my strength as a writer (I credit my theatre/acting background and intense vocabulary study for the ACTs) and my primary interest when I tell a story. I spend a lot of time alone and NOT speaking to others, so that when I do finally emerge from my cocoon and interact with the general populace, I feel a heightened sensitivity to words and tone.
Some of my fave movies for dialogue: Dogma, Shirley Valentine (although that's mostly monologue, but it's still speech), Ghostbusters, Pulp Fiction, Resevoir Dogs, Jacki Brown, Firefly (series)/Serendipity, While You Were Sleeping, and Stranger Than Fiction.
Some of my fave authors: Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Crusie, Christopher Moore, and Janet Evanovich (has anyone on the planet ever made better use of the word "Babe"???)
So how about you? If you make a habit of studying/paying attention to dialogue, what has been a movie/book/author that's impressed you?
Friday, January 25, 2008
Oscar Buzz & Diablo Cody
Every year when the Oscars get announced, I usually pride msyelf on having seen at least 2 of the nominees, yet, this year, my schedule has been so bogged down, I haven't seen ANY movie since the summer rush.
I honestly think HP5 (Order of the Phoenix) was my last flick I saw in the theatre (what a way to see a movie, though....first showing at midnight, squeeing and squealing with fellow authoress Natalie Damschroder!).
I'm dying to get out to see Juno, though, and not just because it's gotten Oscar buzz. Some of you may not know that the screenwriter is Diablo Cody, a funny gal who first broke into writing with her autobiographical tale of a year spent as a stripper: Candy Girl.
I did manage to read Candy Girl, and I love Cody's voice and sense of humor, but given how slammed my writing schedule is these days, tell me what movies make the cut. What have you seen that is not to be missed this year?
BTW, my numbers are way up:
I honestly think HP5 (Order of the Phoenix) was my last flick I saw in the theatre (what a way to see a movie, though....first showing at midnight, squeeing and squealing with fellow authoress Natalie Damschroder!).
I'm dying to get out to see Juno, though, and not just because it's gotten Oscar buzz. Some of you may not know that the screenwriter is Diablo Cody, a funny gal who first broke into writing with her autobiographical tale of a year spent as a stripper: Candy Girl.
I did manage to read Candy Girl, and I love Cody's voice and sense of humor, but given how slammed my writing schedule is these days, tell me what movies make the cut. What have you seen that is not to be missed this year?
BTW, my numbers are way up:
Releases available for reading: 7 (all from Amber Quill)
Myspace Friends: 235 (195 last time)
Facebook Friends: 21 (12 last time)
Friendster: (I give up on this one...it's kinda clunky and sucky compared to the other two; although, the "fan" feature really is unique and helpful)
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Oooops, I Slipped (New Release Hits eShelves!)
I honestly don't know what happened to my December.
Well, okay, I do know SOME of what happened to my December. I spent 2+ weeks travelling to and from Southern California to visit family and friends for the holidays. Then when I got back, I had to prepare to go to the grad school residency at Seton Hill University to teach a couple classes/workshops on creative writing.
So, while I had every intention of blogging for December, I somehow missed it. So sorry!!!
What I really want to talk to you about is.....thimbles.
(You have to watch Eddie Izzard's The Definite Article to get that...so, if you haven't seen it, GO NOW and watch him. You'll get numerous smiles and chuckles out of it, and I still have one more class to teach, so I can't write more now.)
To keep you busy in the meantime, check out my new release, A Little Lift: http://www.amberquill.com/AmberHeat/LittleLift.html
Isn't that cover gorgeous?!?! I love it!!!
--Jacki
http://www.readjackiking.com/
Well, okay, I do know SOME of what happened to my December. I spent 2+ weeks travelling to and from Southern California to visit family and friends for the holidays. Then when I got back, I had to prepare to go to the grad school residency at Seton Hill University to teach a couple classes/workshops on creative writing.
So, while I had every intention of blogging for December, I somehow missed it. So sorry!!!
What I really want to talk to you about is.....thimbles.
(You have to watch Eddie Izzard's The Definite Article to get that...so, if you haven't seen it, GO NOW and watch him. You'll get numerous smiles and chuckles out of it, and I still have one more class to teach, so I can't write more now.)
To keep you busy in the meantime, check out my new release, A Little Lift: http://www.amberquill.com/AmberHeat/LittleLift.html
Isn't that cover gorgeous?!?! I love it!!!
--Jacki
http://www.readjackiking.com/
Friday, November 2, 2007
NaNo NaNo
It's that delightfully wonderful time of the year: NaNoWriMo, a time when anyone who's EVER wanted to write gets the invitation to join in a worldwide write-a-thon.
I highly recommend everyone try it. It'll give you a new respect for what your favorite authors do on a regular basis, and heck...it might even give you a start to a new calling!
The thing is is that there are two types of folks in this world: those who want (or HAVE) to tell a story, and those who want to be told a story. And the beautiful thing is that there is plenty of room for either one in this world.
What I love most about NaNo is that it's that one time of the year when I get to be totally selfish about my writing. The rest of the year, when friends/family want to get together, or when the fella/fellas are at the door, expecting some of my time---well, I have to juggle it all. I have to don that superhero cape and frantically try to keep all the balls in the air because the "normals" just don't understand that the voices in my head really never go away, I just manage to put them on "mute" from time to time.
When NaNo comes, I get that "excuse" to shut my door, stay in my jammies, roll out the red carpet for all the voices in my head, and throw a party for us all....and what a party it can be...(although yesterday was not a very auspicious start to NaNo).....
Here's how my first day went:
I woke up at quarter of six, took the dog out, and wrote 3 pages. WHEEEEE
Then I took a break...had breakfast...took care of household chores (i.e. spent WAAAAAY too much time on email/Internet), etc...and wrote another page. YEA
Then I decided that having the Internet and my manuscript on the same machine was too much of a temptation to avoid writing, so I dug out an old laptop, opened up the futon in my living room, and created a little writer's campsite (complete with bedrest, snuggly blanket, drink, snack, research book, and lapdesk--to avoid my legs' getting too hot from the laptop).
After writing another 3 pages, the dog came along and decided my campsite looked like a great place to take a nap, and he demanded that I take one with him (what can I say, he's the boss most days).
So we napped. And here's where the problem kicked in. The laptop was an old laptop that I only use for word processing.
Now, a little aside here. I am a fastidious back-upper. I have a copy of my manuscript(s) on my harddrive, on my jump drive, and usually on a floppy disk. Plus, I have my MS Word programmed to auto-backup every five minutes. Unfortunately, it has literally been years since I've used this laptop, and in my haste to get to writing for the day, I didn't even think to check the settings on that MS Word. (Those of you with Spideysense will now start tingling because you can sense imminent danger.)
So in the process of getting up from my nap (see the aforementioned demand from the dog), I moved the laptop, and it accidentally unplugged. And guess what? It was set only to backup when Word shut down.
I lost those 3 pages of manuscript. BLEEPITY-BLEEP-BLEEP
After a cry-curse-fest, I sat down, started up again, and rewrote those pages while the essence of them was still fresh in my mind. And the surprising thing is that I feel like they're actually better and stronger than the first version.
I really hope this isn't an omen for how my NaNo is gonna go!
So the moral of the story is....I just made some mighty tasty lemonade out of some pretty rotten lemons....anyone thirsty? (Oh, and the other moral: always backup, but that's pretty self-explanatory)
Until next time....
--Jacki
http://www.readjackiking.com/
I highly recommend everyone try it. It'll give you a new respect for what your favorite authors do on a regular basis, and heck...it might even give you a start to a new calling!
The thing is is that there are two types of folks in this world: those who want (or HAVE) to tell a story, and those who want to be told a story. And the beautiful thing is that there is plenty of room for either one in this world.
What I love most about NaNo is that it's that one time of the year when I get to be totally selfish about my writing. The rest of the year, when friends/family want to get together, or when the fella/fellas are at the door, expecting some of my time---well, I have to juggle it all. I have to don that superhero cape and frantically try to keep all the balls in the air because the "normals" just don't understand that the voices in my head really never go away, I just manage to put them on "mute" from time to time.
When NaNo comes, I get that "excuse" to shut my door, stay in my jammies, roll out the red carpet for all the voices in my head, and throw a party for us all....and what a party it can be...(although yesterday was not a very auspicious start to NaNo).....
Here's how my first day went:
I woke up at quarter of six, took the dog out, and wrote 3 pages. WHEEEEE
Then I took a break...had breakfast...took care of household chores (i.e. spent WAAAAAY too much time on email/Internet), etc...and wrote another page. YEA
Then I decided that having the Internet and my manuscript on the same machine was too much of a temptation to avoid writing, so I dug out an old laptop, opened up the futon in my living room, and created a little writer's campsite (complete with bedrest, snuggly blanket, drink, snack, research book, and lapdesk--to avoid my legs' getting too hot from the laptop).
After writing another 3 pages, the dog came along and decided my campsite looked like a great place to take a nap, and he demanded that I take one with him (what can I say, he's the boss most days).
So we napped. And here's where the problem kicked in. The laptop was an old laptop that I only use for word processing.
Now, a little aside here. I am a fastidious back-upper. I have a copy of my manuscript(s) on my harddrive, on my jump drive, and usually on a floppy disk. Plus, I have my MS Word programmed to auto-backup every five minutes. Unfortunately, it has literally been years since I've used this laptop, and in my haste to get to writing for the day, I didn't even think to check the settings on that MS Word. (Those of you with Spideysense will now start tingling because you can sense imminent danger.)
So in the process of getting up from my nap (see the aforementioned demand from the dog), I moved the laptop, and it accidentally unplugged. And guess what? It was set only to backup when Word shut down.
I lost those 3 pages of manuscript. BLEEPITY-BLEEP-BLEEP
After a cry-curse-fest, I sat down, started up again, and rewrote those pages while the essence of them was still fresh in my mind. And the surprising thing is that I feel like they're actually better and stronger than the first version.
I really hope this isn't an omen for how my NaNo is gonna go!
So the moral of the story is....I just made some mighty tasty lemonade out of some pretty rotten lemons....anyone thirsty? (Oh, and the other moral: always backup, but that's pretty self-explanatory)
Until next time....
--Jacki
http://www.readjackiking.com/
PS, for those of you keeping score at home, here are my current stats:
NaNo word count - 2159
NaNo word count - 2159
Friday, October 26, 2007
Online Crack (or, "MySpace, You Can Never Have Too Many Friends")
After having been fussed at about NOT having joined the modern world and having MySpace, FaceBook, Classmates.com, and Friendster pages/profiles, I've spent the majority of this week creating them (Lordhavemercy, people, it was enough of an effort to get my webpage and blog functional!)
And now I know why I avoided it for so long. . .
Instead of writing all week, I have been pouring over a jillion pages of profiles, looking for high school/college/etc friends I've lost track of and ogling individuals I'm a fan of---everyone from comedians/comediennes to sports stars, to actors to the almighty Duran Duran (I'm a friend now...WOOOT...and I got John Taylor added separately...DOUBLE WOOT)!
I'm becoming obsessed with it! I'm now on a quest to build the biggest, funnest (I know it's not a word, but my high school English teacher isn't looking and neither is yours) group of happy people I can! By all means, join in!
I think you can find my profiles just by searching Jacki King, but if you have to search by email, use xJackiKing@aol.com in the search string.
Myspace: 44 friends
Facebook: 7
Friendster: 4
Check in next week for an update...I wanna double those numbers, at least!
And now I know why I avoided it for so long. . .
THEY ARE AS ADDICTIVE AS A CHOCOLATE-COVERED COVER MODEL!
Instead of writing all week, I have been pouring over a jillion pages of profiles, looking for high school/college/etc friends I've lost track of and ogling individuals I'm a fan of---everyone from comedians/comediennes to sports stars, to actors to the almighty Duran Duran (I'm a friend now...WOOOT...and I got John Taylor added separately...DOUBLE WOOT)!
I'm becoming obsessed with it! I'm now on a quest to build the biggest, funnest (I know it's not a word, but my high school English teacher isn't looking and neither is yours) group of happy people I can! By all means, join in!
I think you can find my profiles just by searching Jacki King, but if you have to search by email, use xJackiKing@aol.com in the search string.
Myspace: 44 friends
Facebook: 7
Friendster: 4
Check in next week for an update...I wanna double those numbers, at least!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Al Gore would be proud...
I did my undergraduate work at the University of Tennessee and had the pleasure of making friends with a nice guy named Paul, who was a nephew of Al Gore's. (Paul, if you're out there, email me! I haven't heard from you in ages!)
Now, he certainly didn't bang the environmental drum to the same extent his uncle does, but I have a fond spot in my heart for those days, so I do what I can for the cause....
When I saw this "Green up Your Sex Life" article, I was highly amused. After all, I consider two people, buck-nekkid and doing the horizontal mambo one of the most "environmentally friendly" activities there could be!
I couldn't imagine you needed any advice on how to make it more natural.
But I'd be neglecting my duty if I didn't spread the word......so get out there and save our environment (I'll be doing my part)! And if you need a little kindling for your fire, try one of my ebooks (that's environmentally friendly, too...NO paper!): www.ReadJackiKing.com
Now, he certainly didn't bang the environmental drum to the same extent his uncle does, but I have a fond spot in my heart for those days, so I do what I can for the cause....
When I saw this "Green up Your Sex Life" article, I was highly amused. After all, I consider two people, buck-nekkid and doing the horizontal mambo one of the most "environmentally friendly" activities there could be!
I couldn't imagine you needed any advice on how to make it more natural.
But I'd be neglecting my duty if I didn't spread the word......so get out there and save our environment (I'll be doing my part)! And if you need a little kindling for your fire, try one of my ebooks (that's environmentally friendly, too...NO paper!): www.ReadJackiKing.com
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