Plenty of Projects Going On

http://youtu.be/7Q-mwx4YaxQ

Saying Yes

One of my journalism professors taught me the most valuable professional lesson I’ve learned. He stood at the head of the computer lab twirling his glasses around and around by the arm as was his habit and said, “Say yes.” We were all stressed graduate students willing to do anything to get out of class on time so we could catch a few minutes sleep on the radio lab couches. Staring at our professor in silence seemed like the best way to keep inching closer to naptime.

In his Texas Hill Country drawl he continued, “When someone asks you to apply for a job, say yes. When someone asks if you want to freelance for them, say yes. You never know where those opportunities will take you, but they’re going to get you moving and that’s a lot better than standing still.”

I didn’t really understand my professor’s message for a long time. Then I decided to approach writing as a career rather than a hobby, and things started to click. I finished polishing my book, queried, signed with my agent, and watched her shop my historical romance around to editors.

The book didn’t sell.

I continued to write, joined RWA, and attended the national conference in July. I met brilliant, passionate women who loved doing this writing thing too. We exchanged tweets, then emails, then ideas. When those ideas snowballed into potential projects I found myself faced with a question: should I focus on churning out my next book or say yes to joining those projects?

There were a lot of things to consider. I could probably dedicate more time to my current work in progress if I focused solely on that, but I’d miss out on the opportunity to get my name out there in the form of some indie projects. Moreover, I wanted to learn from these other women and push myself out of my comfort zone.

I pitched one of the ideas – an indie anthology set in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with three other authors – to my agent. She backed up what I was instinctively thinking. I should say yes.

I can’t tell you how glad I am. There’s something reassuring about being an unpublished author trying to play the long, slow waiting game of traditional publishing who knows that she’s going to have work out in the near future. Now I’m looking for opportunities wherever they come up. I’ve said yes to regular, live Google Hangout chats with the other women of First Draught and blog hops about process and flash fiction. I’ve said yes when invited to panels and readings which have led to growing friendships with other authors. The best part is that all of this has reinforced my decision to make writing my profession and not my hobby.

My initial worries about these other projects sucking up time that could be spent on my WIP were valid. I understand how easily that could happen to anyone, but if anything I’ve found that saying yes has forced me to focus and allot my time more efficiently. Now I work on a strict Sunday through Thursday schedule. I have a word count for the WIP I will eventually send to my agent, and I hit it even if it feels like pulling teeth some nights. Any extra time gets tacked on to that main project or can be dedicated to one of my “Say Yes” projects. It’s incredible what you can do when you have limited time to execute things.

So I’m passing along the same advice I got: say yes. Agree to do things that take you outside of your WIP every once in awhile. Build relationships. Collaborate. Push yourself out of your comfort zone.

Yes can be a magical word if you take a chance on it.

VIDEO: The Balance Myth

Happy belated new year everyone! I took some time away from blogging and writing to be with family, but now I'm back at it for 2014. Of course, that means figuring out how to fit writing in around a very busy season at my day job. That makes the most recent chat that Alexis Anne, Mary Chris Escobar, and I did particularly topical. Check out our Google Hangout talking all about the myth of balance in a writer's life and whether we think male authors ever get asked how they "do it all." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl-rv8bKOX8

As always, I'd love to hear what you think. Leave a comment about balance, writing, or your goals for the new year below. You can also reach out on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Happy writing!

VIDEO: Holidays Romances, Traditions, and Beer!

Authors Alexis Anne, Mary Chris Escobar, and I got together to talk holiday romances, writing about Thanksgiving and Christmas, and what we do to celebrate the season. Add in a dash of celebratory booze and you've got a pretty good chat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpHC6o9TwBA&feature=share

Do you have a favorite holiday tradition in your family?

VIDEO: NaNoWriMo Day 25

I'm almost done! It's been a month of ups and downs, but I'm about 1,500 words away from hitting 50K and must closer to having a completed novel. I couldn't be happier heading into the hectic holiday time. I want to hear how your writing challenge is going. You can leave a comment here or find me on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest. Happy writing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sr1xNubBwg&feature=youtu.be

VIDEO: NaNoWriMo Day 22

Day 22 is here, and I'm back on track (thank goodness)! NaNoWriMoers, how are you guys doing with your own challenges? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJgRgkdbZs8

This is the hero chat with Alexis Anne I mention in the video. And here's a link to the heroine chat too.

As always, you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest. Happy writing!

VIDEO: NaNoWriMo Day 15 (A Little Late)

Day 15 of NaNoWriMo has come and gone. I recorded this video yesterday night to talk about discouragement, stepping back from your book, and why burlesque dancers might help me find a creative kick again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS9ZMx4td98

The burlesque club I went to is called the Slipper Room on Orchard and Stanton in Manhattan's Lower East Side. The dancers are incredible. You get everything from traditional strip tease to aerialists to performance art. Here are just a couple photos I snapped while I was out.

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook and Twitter! I'm also sharing writing inspiration at Tumblr and Pinterest.

If you're doing NaNoWriMo too, just search for Julia Kelly to add me as a writing buddy (and keep me honest!).

Happy writing!

INTERVIEW: Lashell Collins

Every once in awhile I'll be asking other authors nosy questions about their writing process and upcoming projects . Today romance author Lashell Collins was kind enough to answer some questions about her newest contemporary novel, Jagged Addiction and talk about the difficulties of writing an unconventional romance. Tell me a little about the Jagged Ivory series.

Well, Jagged Ivory is a fictional rock band made up of five band members - Otis and Noah Ivory, Cory Dutton, Benji Staffon and Buzzy West. And each book in the series centers around a different member of the band. It actually began as just a single story about Noah Ivory, but as I was writing that first book, I realized that what I actually had was a family and each member of that family had a unique story that needed to be told.

Can you give us a little summary of the most recent book Jagged Addiction?

Jagged Addiction is book 3 of the series and it's about the band's bass player, Benji Staffon. In book 1 of the series, we learn that Benji actually has a pretty significant drug problem and he ends up overdosing and almost dying in book 1. So in Jagged Addiction, we get to delve into his life a little bit and we learn what led him to the drugs, how his habit developed over time and how he fared in rehab. We also get to take the journey of wellness with him and see how he copes - or if he copes - with sobriety, and also how he handles adding falling in love to that mix.

What will readers find unique about this hero and heroine?

Well, I honestly don't know if there are too many drug addicted heroes in romance novels, are there? I suppose there might be a few, but it's certainly not the norm for the genre. In romance, we tend to want our heroes to be "perfect." Flawed for sure, but certain things still seem to be sort of taboo, and I think drug addict is one of those taboo areas. So that's certainly unique. In fact, before I began writing this one, I specifically asked a friend who is also a huge romance reader if she could root for a hero who was recovering from addiction. And I wanted her honest opinion before I even started.

As for the heroine in this story, I haven't read too many romance novels where the heroine looks like Fae Miller in terms of being heavily tattooed and pierced. Also working in such a male-dominated field as she does. So, she is certainly unique in her own way as well.

You deal with the really serious topic of drug addiction in this book. How did you balance that recovery and healing process that your hero goes through with the romance that develops with the heroine?

That's an interesting question because the first draft of the book looked very different from the finished product. When I completed the first draft and went back through it, I realized that I was doing Benji a great disservice by glossing over the whole recovery process, and I didn't want to do that. Yes, it's fiction, but I didn't want to be accused of not being real. And I certainly didn't want to offend anyone who has been through addiction and recovery because it is such a huge issue, and recovery is a huge process. I did a lot of online research, and I also happen to have family members whose lives have been touched by heroin addiction. So, I didn't take it lightly.

What motivated you to base a series around a band?

My undying love of music, plain and simple. I am a huge music fan; I love just about all genres of music, but my favorites are rock and 80's pop.

Can you give readers a sneak peek at your next projects?

Well, I just finished writing a holiday novella installment of the Pierced Trilogy, so Pierced By Christmas will be out on December 1st. And I'm also working on book 4 of the Jagged Ivory series as we speak. That one is Jagged Secrets, and I'm hoping to have it out by the end of December, and then book 5 by the end of January.

Jagged Addiction is available at Amazon and Smashwords along with the rest of the Jagged Ivory series and Lashell's Pierced Trilogy.

VIDEO: NaNoWriMo Day 4

To follow my progress during NaNoWriMo check out @The_Julia_Kelly where I'm tweeting about my writing challenge! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtbnjzu77jw&feature=youtu.be

VIDEO: NaNoWriMo is Here!

It's the first of November and that means all across the country crazy writers are saying yes to NaNoWriMo. The rules are simple: write a 50,000 word book in November. It sounds impossible, but it's definitely doable (although a challenge)! I want to invite you to join Alexis Anne*, Tracie Puckett, Lashell Collins and me as we write messy first drafts of the books that will (hopefully) eventually wind up on your shelves! Every once in awhile I'll post a video about my progress. Here's the first one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaOznxoRQeU&feature=youtu.be

*Alexis already has a NaNoWriMo first day video up on her blog. Check out how bright eyed and optimistic we are on Nov. 1. Hopefully we're still feeling that way by the 15th...

VIDEO: Where I Write

My novella is in the hands of some trusted beta readers, giving me the chance to do some housekeeping. I've been meaning to share a wonderful post on Wonkomance showcasing photos of romance writers' work spaces. I'm on there as well as my good friend Mary Chris Escobar who is about to release a new novella. Most writers are creatures of habit, so I love getting a glimpse at what makes them tick. Of course then edits took over my life, and I forgot about that post. The other day I read Serena Bell's interview on Miss Ivy's Book Nook talking about what she needs to write. I decided to record this little video for you guys to welcome you to my writing space (just in time for NaNoWriMo). Where do you guys like to work, and how to do you make it feel like home?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jwUF0L9CKY

A Sunday Break

Golden afternoon light streams through my windows when I look up from my computer. It's time to take a break. I lose myself when I'm editing and often forget about the larger world outside my apartment walls. Determined to catch the last of the light before the early fall sunset, I pull on my boots and a down vest, and clip-clop down four flights of stairs into the street.

I live on the far eastern side of Manhattan. My walk to Central Park takes me past the frat boy sports bars of Second Avenue, through the generic shops of Third and Lexington, and into the Old New York opulence that marks the true Upper East Side. Then, just when I'm beginning to feel as though I don't belong in my Sunday uniform of boots and jeans, I see green.

Trees tower over a low wall that draws the boundaries of the park. There is a little entrance at 79th Street. That is the one I take. A paved path leads me deep into the heart of the park. Cyclists and weekend athletes race past me in. They are working harder than I am, but I am on a break I tell myself.

My path curves to the Great Lawn, and I spot Belvedere Castle across Turtle Pond. It's a strange building - impressive and incongruous. A castle in the middle of the great concrete jungle. It has been nearly a year since I stood on its battlements. I put my head down and begin the climb up wide, gentle steps.

On top of the castle the view is breathtaking. Clouds reflect in the deep blue, undisturbed water of the pond. On the sloping lawn, children play at games only they understand the rules to. Trees just beginning to change colors in the fall chill frame the scene. Unashamed of being a tourist in my own city, I snap a photo and then tuck my phone away so I can watch those around me marvel at this beauty.

Revived I walk down another set of steps and through the park. I examine the plaques on green wooded benches. I stop on a bridge leading to the Reservoir to watch the runners huff and puff, fighting against the burn of ever-cooling air. There is calm here. The mere act of walking through the park washes the rest of New York away. I feel clean and new.

The sun is setting when I finally clear the park walls. On Fifth Avenue I feel the city begin to encroach upon the peace I've found. I push past tourists eager to make their way to the Met before the museum closes.

The walk back to my apartment is quick. Keys rattle in my pocket the entire way. An hour after I decide to take my walk, I'm back in front of my computer. I'm ready to work again.

VIDEO: Talking about Strong Heroines with Alexis Anne

Yesterday night my good friend Alexis Anne sat down for a Google Hangout with me to talk about strong heroines. She also gets into the writing process a little and tells us about her new book The Storm Inside. It was ($0.99 on Amazon when I posted this and has some fantastic reviews, so definitely check it out. Isn't technology great?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE2DVHo2lq4

Write Anywhere

It took me four years to write my first novel.

Actually it would be more accurate to say it took me four years of starts and stops to write my first novel. I kept picking up the book and putting it down. I was in graduate school when I started it, and I'd been working for three years when it finally went off to agents.

My book would suffer when I would couldn’t find the time to sit down to get a solid block of writing in. I would push my manuscript aside if I felt overwhelmed with work, relationships, living in New York, everything.

Finally I got serious. I finished the book, and I went through edit after edit until it started to look like the romances I read. I decided I would never again push writing aside. I was going to make it a priority.

How exactly was I supposed to do that? How are any of us supposed to do that when we're always swamped. It doesn't matter whether you work, raise children, or care for ailing loved ones. Time is precious.

This is my big secret: you make time for the things you want to make time for. If what you really want to do is write, you can find the time to do it.

This isn't a post about balance. Honestly, I'm a little sick and tired of people telling me I'm supposed to write, hold down a job, dedicate time to my relationship (when I'm in one), work out, cook beautiful meals, and still be social. When I'm in the middle of a draft, balance is the last thing on my mind. I go to work. I eat whatever I can make quickly. I sleep less than I probably should. I write whenever I can. My friends are used to me declining about half their invitations because I'm writing. I have very understanding friends. I try to make it up to them when I resurface for breath after a draft.

Last January I found an article I've long since lost about a NYC-based writer who works on the subway. I should do that, I thought.

Into my purse went a notebook and a pen. I promised myself that for at least one leg of my daily 45 minute commute to or from the Bronx I would scribble.* I've always thought of myself as a skeleton first drafter who does her best work during edits. The words didn't have to be good the first time they go on the page. They just had to be there. I could fix them later.

For a couple weeks I stuck to my plan. On my commute I would write. At night I would transcribe the handwritten pages and pick up where I'd left off. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. At the end of those two weeks I had close to 30,000 words of a first draft. I was stunned. Clearly I'd hit on something.

This is what I've realized since then. Fitting in writing time whenever I can isn't just about hitting a daily word count. Something happens when I transcribe from paper to computer screen. The words flow better. Perhaps it's because I'm not starting cold. Whatever the reason, it's the best feeling.

I've now written in bars waiting for dates because I am always, always early. I've scribbled in a Florida hotel room packed with 3 other women getting ready during a wedding weekend. My notebook comes out on the bus, in the back of cabs, and on airplanes. On trips home my family is used to seeing it during slow football games and while we're all lounging outside. I've even got sand in the thing from days at the beach. I'll write wherever I can lay my notebook flat.

How do you find the time to write? Do you block out time, or can you snatch a 15 minutes here and there like I do? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

*Of course there are hidden dangers in writing on the subway. I was so absorbed while writing this post on the train that I missed my stop and wound up 5 stations away on the express train. A small sacrifice in the name of getting things done.

A Change of Scenery

I'm happy to be writing this blog post from my parents' backyard in Los Angeles. After a crazy summer with few chances to stop and catch my breath, I needed to get away from life in New York. When I want to relax and not worry about anything more pressing than when to walk the dogs or what to make for dinner I come here -- my home away from home.

Taking a vacation from my day job at the TV station doesn't mean I took a vacation from writing. Into my suitcase my trusty binder full of manuscript pages and outlines went. My iPad, a Moleskein I carry everywhere, and a ridiculously high number of pens made the trip too. The big deal isn't that I brought all of these things with me.  Instead it's that I promised myself I would actually use these tools. I haven't always been so good about making good on that.

Around this time last year I decided it was time for an author grow up moment. It was time to start treating writing as a full-time job. My friend Mary Chris Escobar has a great blog post about this. She's decided to own the phrase, "This is not your side hustle." I couldn't have said it better myself.  This isn't my side hustle.  This is my second career.

Now I write on the subway to and from work. Sometimes, when I can squeeze in a lunch break, I take my iPad upstairs and do a little work in the cafeteria. I used to worry about my coworkers getting curious as I've decided not to start telling them I write until I had something to show for it (ie "My book is coming out next Fall," etc.). It turns out that most people aren't observant enough to notice.  This routine makes my writing goal -- five pages, five days a week -- a bit more attainable.  Sometimes I make it.  Sometimes I don't.  Sometimes it's complete drivel and I later leave the page bleeding with edits.  What matters is that I always sit down and write.

Because I spend most of my days writing around my work schedule, going on vacation means plenty of unstructured time to work. It also means time to think. Saturday afternoon I took myself on a solo drive up the coast. I stopped somewhere over the Los Angeles County border in Ventura, and got out to put my toes in the surf and have a long think. I also brought that notebook I mentioned earlier with me. Good thing I did because as soon as my feet hit the Pacific the floodgates opened.

I now have a solid idea of the next characters I want to write about. They're taking shape in my mind, and I'm loving the process of getting to know them. At the same time, I'm barreling through the last third of what I've come to think of as "My sports novella," although it's starting to swell to novel-length proportions.  We'll see in revisions if it shrinks or grows.

I'm making my way back to New York Tuesday morning, so I'm saying goodbye to the luxurious, unstructured days of writing I've been enjoying.  It's just another thing I'll miss about leaving California along with the sunshine, family, and two rambunctious puppies who always make it interesting.

When I'm Stuck

I've been a writing machine since I got back from RWA in early July.  I've been working hard on a new novella that I couldn't be more excited about.  It has a second chance at love and a secondary sports storyline.  Until two weeks ago the words flowed easy as can be.  Then I got stuck. When I'm not writing romance novels at my kitchen table, I'm a TV news producer.  That means I'm constantly writing for work.  I can proudly say I've never had writer's block in my professional life, but that's hardly surprising.  That world is deadline heavy, and there are no opportunities to dither.  If you don't write, you don't get paid, and momma needs new shoes.

Fiction writing has not always been so kind to me.  I used to fall victim to writer's block just like most people.  I would sit in front of the dreaded blinking cursor, stressing and stressing that I couldn't figure out what part of my story came next.  It was awful.

Then I realized this made no sense.  If I can avoid writer's block when I'm cranking out news copy each and every day, why can't I do avoid it when I'm writing romance?  The content might be different, but the process?  Not really.

Last week I felt writer's block trying to sneak up on me as I typed away at the kitchen table.  Immediately I deployed the two weapons I've learned work best for me.

1) Get over linear writing and write through the block.

I used to feel that if I wasn't pushing the story forward by churning out pages and pages of chronological action I was doing it wrong.  Now I sometimes set my timeline aside and work on whatever scene is knocking around in my head.  If that scene jumps to the very end of the novel, so be it.  The point is that I'm still writing.  My novel is still growing.

2) Change how you physically write.

A couple of years ago I learned that the most powerful thing that I can do to kick-start my writing is change how I put down words on the page.  I can't explain why, but for some reason moving from the computer to good old pen and paper is like magic.  I can't write as quickly as I type, and slowing down seems to really help.

Here's the one catch: I only use one kind of pen.  The Pilot Precise V5 Extra Fine Rollerball Pen in black is my weapon of choice.  For editing I use the red version of this pen.  The architect in my life says that everyone in his industry uses these for work because they create a fine line with rapid drying ink.  I use them because they feel right.  To each her own.

What tools to do you use to fight off writer's block?

Cracktastic White Tigers

Can an author escape having a blog? Probably not. Especially not in the romance world where the distance between author and reader seems to be shrinking thanks to Twitter and Facebook. So here we go. Time for my own blog!

I started writing romance because, like so many other authors, I was a reader first. I remember the first time I got my hands on a romance novel. I was a pre-teen at one of those remaindered bookstores that was dedicated to selling of the entire inventory of every bankrupt Crown Books in Los Angeles. Books are in my family's blood, so when my mother let my sister and me loose it was only natural that we should start poking around the stacks. Then 12-year-old Julia wandered into the romance section and fell in love.

The book that did it was a Zebra Regency Romance called Taming Lord Renwick. I can't explain why the absurd cover featuring a Jane Austen stand in gazing into the eyes of a mulleted man in britches did it for me. Oh wait, there's a giant White Bengal Tiger lying next to them. When you're 12 anything with tigers on it is an instant win. Then and there I decided I had to get my hands on what I would eventually come to call "romance crack."

And crack it was. Yes, there is a White Bengal Tiger. Yes, there is a mullet. But get this... Lord Renwick is BLIND so his tiger is really a giant, scary seeing eye dog. Romance crack!

From there it was a slippery slope. I've always read fast, but I found that I could rip through a romance in a few hours. From Zebra Regency I made a big jump in steaminess to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. I discovered I have a deep love of Westerns thanks to The Trouble with Josh from Harlequin. When I picked up Nora Robert's Midnight Bayou I was officially an addict.

During all those years of reading I started scribbling. I'll tell the story of my first unfinished manuscript another day (it's only somewhat horribly embarrassing). It took until I was in graduate school for me to decide to give writing a romance novel a serious shot. I looked up from my very serious master's project and thought, "I've got to do some fun writing or I'll lose my mind." The scribblings that I made that first night would three years later wind up in my first book.

That first book is a historical, and it's the one that landed me my wonderful agent Emily Sylvan Kim. Agent Emily encouraged me to try my hand at contemporary romance too, so I've now got a book I'm rewriting for submission. If you had asked me a year ago whether I thought I would have two books and an agent under my belt I would have laughed so hard I would have teared up. That will teach this skeptical author.

Like any unpublished author I'm waiting for The Call. One day I hope to join the ranks of women and men who write the wonderful romance novels that keep me reading late into the night when I should have turned the light off. For now, however, I am eternally grateful for the romance community on Twitter who has been nothing but supportive while I'm waiting.

So, here's to new beginnings and white tigers and cracktastic fiction!