Scattered Jules

So my editor wrote to me last week to let me know that I’ve had some push back on release dates for next year’s line-up. Olivia–the first book in the Newport Ladies Book Club Series won’t be out until February instead of January, and Hazzardous Universe–The Magician’s Last Words won’t be out until March. Each got pushed a month. I think it’s cute that my editor for Olivia wrote with an almost apologetic tone as though she worried I’d be unhappy or something. I am not at all unhappy.

The push back was because they wanted to get the cover right and it’s taking longer. I am *so* okay with that. I would much rather wait a month and get a superb cover than be early and not really ready to be marketed. People say not to judge a book by its cover, but we all do, and I want my cover, and the rest of the covers in this series, to be right. And yesterday the girls I’m writing the Newport series with and I received a sneak peek into our covers and they are so dang ADORABLE! Worth the wait! I’m excited to unveil them to you. They are bright and shiny and as Heather Moore stated, they make you want to visit Newport and relax with a good book on the beach.

In the mean time, I am writing a new book! And it has been fun! I love starting something new. I mentioned elsewhere that beginning the writing on a new book was like that long luxurious stretch first thing in the morning. It just feels good.

I’m doing nanowrimo for the first time ever and it’s been a nice motivation. But I spent the last several days going over Galleys, so no new writing has been accomplished. Next week it’ll be back to work! Be on the look out Olivia’s cover will be posted as soon as I get greenlighted to share.

He's blurry but adorable!

Now that Dan Wells and Larry Correia have outed me on Twitter as someone who’s willing to play role playing games, I might as well confess that the carpool requirement down to World Fantasy was actually really fun. My character in the Warhammer Universe was Magland the Rat Catcher. I had a dog named Stink-Eye. And my cohorts were Veppar (played by Larry in a Boris and Natasha Russian accent for the entire drive to and from California) and Captain Starfire–who is not a unicorn no matter what Jessica Day George says(played by Steve Diamond). Dan was the game master, and I honestly laughed so hard in places I had tears running down my face. It really does pain me to admit how much fun role playing can be.

I actually took notes at World Fantasy in some of the panels because some great information was shared, but that’ll all be in a different post. What I want to say now is (girl scream) I met Neil Gaiman (another girl scream)!  And he told me he loved my hair! eek! He is adorable, and I showed great restraint in not proposing to him. But more than adorable, he gave such great information. I learned new things and felt motivated again. It was a good experience. I also got to spend some time with Guy Gavriel Kay and may I just say, that man is charming and sweet and sincere and good, and he is one amazing writer! If you haven’t read Under Heaven,  what are you waiting for? I roomed with Jessica Day George and her sister Jennifer and had a really good time with them. They are some of the funniest people I know. Our room looked like something out of a Disney fairytale with curtains hanging over the head board and all the woodwork in the room etched and scrolled like pieces of art posing as furniture. It was nice to see Lee Modesitt and his daughter Catherine again and get to go to lunch with them. I know I say this all the time, but there is something truly awesome about the friendships in the literary world. These are my people. They’re all smarter than I am and much better read, but they remain my people. It’s part of the reason that I keep writing. I must have the excuse to be where they are, doing whatever it is that they’re doing.

It was an awesome convention and I walked all over this labyrinth resort–miles and miles it felt like and got along quite well on my busted knee. I even managed the car ride without too much difficulty because Larry was good to stop often enough that I could stretch it out. I was feeling quite capable and awesome about how well I’d managed this new little blip in my life only to come home and lose the fight to a snowstorm. Wood stairs + wet snow = one twisted leg and screaming in a snow bank. Awesome . . . or something like that. I’m on the mend AGAIN. It’s my own fault for not being careful, but I’d grown used to the knee and could walk without a limp most of the time. I almost didn’t even remember that the knee had a problem until people pointed out the brace and asked what happened.  I’m sure it’ll be okay, but it’s been frustrating.

I am doing nanowrimo this year so if anyone wants to buddy me my name is julie Wright and yes I did fail to cap the j because I am cool like that.

Jessica and Neil