Bookstore Shenanigans

Let's make one thing clear from the beginning: I'm not a witch. Yet, if you happened to see me in a book store, you might assume otherwise.

Take yesterday, I needed some research books for my current project. Since magic plays a big role in this book, I'm stocking up on books about herbs, crystals and other tools of the magically inclined. I love being able to sprinkle these details into my stories because it adds texture and veracity to the prose.

And while most of my research book buying recently revolves around the occult and arcane, I've gone through periods where all I bought were books about the death industry or poisons. It always makes me a little giddy when I approach the check out counter with these books. Dressed in my suburban attire, I proudly place my books on the counter, daring the clerk to judge me. I pray they'll ask what I could possibly want out of a book about urban shamanism or strange ways people have died. Yet, invariably, I leave the store feeling deflated when they ring me up without even a speculative glance.

I'm sure booksellers have plenty of stories of weirdos that far outweigh my silly little research peccadilloes. For example, my grandmother owned a bookstore for years. She said the full moon always made the freaks come a callin'. On one such night, a man dressed as a leprechaun came into her store. He had black lighting bolts drawn on his cheeks and a green bowler hat on his head. Grandma told him to leave when he became disruptive. He responded by yelling, "I'll put a hex on you!"

I guess he spent a lot of time in the occult section too.

What's the weirdest research book you've ever bought for your novels? Or what is the weirdest thing you've ever seen happen in a bookstore?

Cover Girl!

We have pictures!














I have a favorite, but figured I'd take it to the people. Let the voting begin!

Also, my Friday post is up at the League. In celebration of demon week, I'm talking about demon-themed product marketing.

Repent!

Last night, stumbled up on absolute proof that not only is Satan real, but he is also in charge of the music industry.

Warning, only watch this if you've said three Hail Marys and crossed yourself:



Have you called your mother lately? Go do it now.

Demons, Both Past and Present

No, this is not my author head shot. Instead, it's the picture of me you'll find in the League of Reluctant Adults header.

A bit of history about this shot. It was taken in kindergarten. Shortly after I cut my own hair. As you can see there's a reason I am not in the hair care industry now. Further, please note the small red button on my right shoulder. It reads, "I am loved." My mom made me wear it, along with the red plaid dress. Not surprisingly, this is one of her favorite pictures of me.

The reason I'm posting it here, today, is that the League had a contest for readers to guess whose kid shot wasn't included in the header. So, this is to prove I'm there in full moppy headed, huge eyeglasses glory.

Speaking of the Leeague, this week is demon week. Witness the super cool poster Mark put together:



We've got lots of goodies planned, so if you're a fan of all things demonic (and since you read the Blahg, you must be), be sure and stop by for some devilishly good fun.

Super Model Geek

So Friday I had my head shots. If you're in the Dallas area, I highly recomend On Location Portraiture. Jim does the potography and is ably assisted by his lovely wife Erin and their dog, Ibiki. The studio is located in this very cool renovated warehouse complex with lots of exposed brick walls and wooden beams overhead. I'm totally taking the whole family back to get a family portrait done.

Anyway, I ended up with three favorites. Once I get the final images, I'll post the results.

Yesterday, the Wells family went to Scarborough Faire. It's the local Renaissance festival, and we go just about every year. Spawn is old enough now that he really has a blast. He's now the proud owner of a genuine fake knight sword (it's made of wood and has no pointy bits, so it's perfect for blunt force trauma). I go because I love delighting in the anachronisms. This pretty much involves me pointing and adding "ye olde" to the names of things. Witness: Ye Old Cinnabon and Ye Olde ATM. I also love the people watching. Imagine me rubbing my hands together here.

But I discovered something else yesterday. I found not one, not two, but three shops dedicated to book crafts. One guy made journals by hand, and had a demonstration on bookbinding. Another shop had some riff of Gutenberg and his famed press (didn't go into this one because I was distracted by a Ye Olde funnel cakes). The third, and this one I could have spent all day in, was a shop filled with research books. I have never seen so many books dedicated to costuming and weaponry in one place. Pages and pages of illustrations. They also had those great books for kids with castle layout diagrams and other basic info on historical subjects. Okay, admission here, I didn't buy anything except one back issue of Rennaissance magazine. I was afraid if I started buying books I'd bankrupt us before we had a chance to buy Ye Olde Turkey Leg. Plus, I made note of titles for future purchase. One of these days, I'm going to indulge my inner history geek in my fiction.

So my question to you today is: What are you a geek about?

Achtung, Baby

Herzlich willkommen in gute Nachrichten am Freitag!

For those of you wondering why Jaye's Blahg has suddenly gone German, there's a good reason for it.

I've just accepted a preempt deal from German publisher Heyne, which is an imprint of Random House. My new German friends liked Red-Headed Stepchild so much they also bought the next two books in the series.

I'm obviously thrilled that my plan for global domination is progressing apace. But the fact my first foreign deal is with a German publisher is very cool for another reason. I took German in high school and college, and even lived with a family in Germany for a month one summer. Plus, who doesn't love a country known for beer and delicious pork goods?

Of course, when I told uber-agent Jonathan about my experience with all things German, he responded by telling me it will come in handy for any interviews I'll have to do with German media when the books come out. Luckily, iTunes has a variety of German language podcast available for free. Thus saving my bragging ass from looking like a Scheiße-Kopf down the road. The internet is totally the new college.

Also, today is my first official post over at the League of Reluctant Adults. I'm talking about novel soundtracks. Come on by!

The Best Laid Plans...

Well, crud. I forgot to post this morning. I have a good excuse though: I was writing. I know, shocking.

I've been struggling with the beginning of this book. Not for lack of ideas, mind you. I just couldn't figure out which one needed to come first. So, I decided to just dump it all down. It'll get sorted out in revisions.

Someone asked me the other day if I'm a plotter or a pantster. The short answer is, I'm a plotter with a pantster soul. I plan enough so I have destinations in mind, but leave enough wiggle room for inspiration detours.

What's weird is in all my other types of writing I never used outlines. School papers and articles never started with a clear-cut thesis. I'd just gather as much info as I could and then dump it all on the page. The structure would appear as I revised. Of course, novels are quite a bit longer, so jumping in without a plan equals a lot of wasted time for me. And now that I'm faced with actual deadlines, I can't afford to have to rewrite a book a dozen times. So I have to wrangle my ideas into a logical plan. It changes, of course, and I usually end up replotting a couple of times. But the few times I've sat down without any plan at all have not ended well.

But the truth is, each book is different. Some need lots of discovery writing to figure out a plan. Some have a clear plan from the beginning. I've even heard tell of books that get written without any plan whatsoever. There's really no right way as long as the story gets written.