Heck, that's easy.
1) be yourself. You're probably a lot cooler than you give yourself credit for and genuine responses always go over better than contrived nonsense.
2) Say "hi." You'd be amazed how far that can take a conversation.
True story: Not long ago at Boston ComiCon, I ran across a lady who had read all four my Seven Forges books. She had no idea I was going to be there and when she realized who I was, she freaked a little. Believe me, it's very flattering. It was also cool to just talk with her and calm her down and discuss what she liked about the books.
As I had no copies of THE LAST SACRIFICE with me, I gave her a postcard with thew cover on the front and the link to the Angry Robot website page on the back. She had all of my books on Kindle, but she bought them again so I could sign them.
Put a smile on my face that lasted the whole day.
3) Relax. With VERY few exceptions, (they do exist) writers are delighted to meet you. I always am. Maybe not in the bathroom at the local convention or anything but still, delighted to meet a fan of my work or even someone who is curious about it.
4) Bonus round: Be friendly and be polite. Happily it hasn't happened to me (YET) but there are a few people who've had "fans" come up and be nasty about a book they didn't like or understand. Never gonna be my favorite thing.
But especially remember rule number 2. I can't have a conversation with you if you don't engage and I'm looking forward to meeting you. It's why I attend conventions, etc.
In the meantime, look at my cool new cover!!!!
Monday, September 11, 2017
Three tips for the introverted fan
I write fiction, a little of everything and a lot of horror. I've written novels, comic books, roleplaying game supplements, short stories, novellas and oodles of essays on whatever strikes my fancy. That might change depending on my mood and the publishing industry. Things are getting stranger and stranger in the wonderful world of publishing and that means I get to have fun sorting through the chaos (with all the other writer-types). I have a website. This isn't it. This is where you can likely expect me to talk about upcoming projects and occasionally expect a rant or two. Not too many rants. Those take a lot of energy. In addition to writing I work as a barista, because I still haven't decided to quit my day job. Opinions are always welcome.
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Three Tips for the Introverted Fan
Today at the lake I kept my seltzer cold in my Bacchus Bag from St. Martin. Counting my blessings and thinking good thoughts for everyone in the path of the storms.
Our topic this week at the SFF Seven is The Introverted Fan: Three things a fan could say in person or via social media that would help break the ice.
Because, of course, we've all been there. I know I have. Meeting the author of that book that transported me, trying to convey my excitement and all the love I've built up over time to them in one big gush. It inevitably comes out as something like:
Hi!I'mJeffeKennedyandI'vebeenreaddingyourbooksforeverandIloveyousomuchandI'mjustsoexcitedtomeetyouomgomgomg
And they, just as inevitably, look like the deer in the headlights of the onrushing Psycho Fan Train.
It's simply a weird conversation to try to have. And I've seen it from the other side now, too. Readers come up to my signing table, blurt out that they love my books, I say thank you, we stare at each other for a moment, and they dash away, muttering something about not bothering me anymore. There's a social media equivalent, though almost always less awkward.
I don't know about breaking the ice, but here's three things I love to hear.
1. Specifics
I love to hear which book is your favorite, which character you love best, and why. Feel free to go into detail. Getting to hear what exactly worked for you is super fun and hugely helpful, too.
2. Gushing Is Great
Never apologize for gushing! It's so wonderful to hear the good stuff that makes people happy. I could listen to it all day. That kind of thing is never a bother.
3. Ask Questions
I love questions! Especially about the books. Please ask those things you wonder while you're reading. If you're afraid you'll forget in the excitement, write them down. That's high praise, that you cared enough to do that.
What else works for all of you - what's the best way to talk to a favorite author?
Our topic this week at the SFF Seven is The Introverted Fan: Three things a fan could say in person or via social media that would help break the ice.
Because, of course, we've all been there. I know I have. Meeting the author of that book that transported me, trying to convey my excitement and all the love I've built up over time to them in one big gush. It inevitably comes out as something like:
Hi!I'mJeffeKennedyandI'vebeenreaddingyourbooksforeverandIloveyousomuchandI'mjustsoexcitedtomeetyouomgomgomg
And they, just as inevitably, look like the deer in the headlights of the onrushing Psycho Fan Train.
It's simply a weird conversation to try to have. And I've seen it from the other side now, too. Readers come up to my signing table, blurt out that they love my books, I say thank you, we stare at each other for a moment, and they dash away, muttering something about not bothering me anymore. There's a social media equivalent, though almost always less awkward.
I don't know about breaking the ice, but here's three things I love to hear.
1. Specifics
I love to hear which book is your favorite, which character you love best, and why. Feel free to go into detail. Getting to hear what exactly worked for you is super fun and hugely helpful, too.
2. Gushing Is Great
Never apologize for gushing! It's so wonderful to hear the good stuff that makes people happy. I could listen to it all day. That kind of thing is never a bother.
3. Ask Questions
I love questions! Especially about the books. Please ask those things you wonder while you're reading. If you're afraid you'll forget in the excitement, write them down. That's high praise, that you cared enough to do that.
What else works for all of you - what's the best way to talk to a favorite author?
Labels:
Jeffe Kennedy,
tips for introverted fans
Jeffe Kennedy is a multi-award-winning and best-selling author of romantic fantasy. She is the current President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and is a member of Novelists, Inc. (NINC). She is best known for her RITA® Award-winning novel, The Pages of the Mind, the recent trilogy, The Forgotten Empires, and the wildly popular, Dark Wizard. Jeffe lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is represented by Sarah Younger of Nancy Yost Literary Agency.
Saturday, September 9, 2017
What Genre Will I Not Write?
Still from 'Hill House' |
Horror. Hands down, no question.
I was always an overly imaginative kid and I worried about things that went BUMP in the night. (Still do!)...the creature lurking under the bed waiting to grab a dangling foot was my worst nightmare. I'm in good company - here's Stephen King's take on it:
“The thing under my bed waiting to grab my ankle isn't real. I know that, and I also know that if I'm careful to keep my foot under the covers, it will never be able to grab my ankle.”
Yup. I also saw a horror movie on TV when I was pretty young, "The Haunting," based on Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. At one point two of the female characters are sharing a room, with twin beds. The ghost is rattling the door and spooky things are happening and the heroine stretches out her hand to hold her friend's hand for courage through the ordeal. Afterward (and this is how I recall it and and I never watched the movie again so who knows if I actually got it right...) she thanks her friend for holding hands and comforting her. And the friend says, "I wasn't holding your hand." OK, for YEARS after that I slept with my hands firmly under my pillow.
So vivid bad things stick in my memory way longer than they should. Yes, I used to read Stephen King novels - not all of them, but a lot of them and I especially loved The Shining but somewhere along the way I had to put down one of his books in the middle because the imagery would not go away and I was having terrible nightmares, and I've never gone back.
As an adult I've become aware that there are Things Best Not Disturbed...
And so, in summary, I'll never be writing a horror story.
Best Selling Science Fiction & Paranormal Romance author and “SciFi Encounters” columnist for the USA Today Happily Ever After blog, Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in everything.
Friday, September 8, 2017
Never Say Never Except Now
If brevity is the soul of wit, then Imma be a genius tonight. Cause I should be asleep so I can get up at o'stupid thirty to travel to the North Cascades where I have the great privilege of officiating a handfasting. Sure. You say wedding, I say pagan handfasting. Which leads us to the genre I am totally comfortable saying I will never ever write. Inspirational. No way. No how will this witch write that stuff. Faith from a pagan perspective? Sure! Count me in! But there is not the least hope I will pick up someone else's religion to write about in that way. By which I mean using a romance to preach or illustrate Christian principles.
I'm also comfortably certain the Inspirational market doesn't weep over my refusal to do so.
I'm also comfortably certain the Inspirational market doesn't weep over my refusal to do so.
Thursday, September 7, 2017
The Subgenre I Can't Write
There's an idea I've seen pop up and get some traction in my circles lately. A very simple thing, really:
Let me step back a bit. You see, "grimdark" is a subgenre of fantasy that just doesn't work for me. What is "grimdark"? If the name wasn't cue enough, from the wikipages: "Grimdark is a subgenre or a way to describe the tone, style or setting of speculative fiction that is particularly dystopian, amoral or violent."
And, yeah, for me and my fantasy, this represents everything that doesn't work for me. I don't begrudge anyone who writes or likes it, mind you. It just doesn't work for me.
So when I saw the post that expanded on the idea "the opposite of grimdark is hopepunk", I was immediately invested in it, because "the opposite of grimdark" is exactly the kind of fantasy I want to do.
Now, this doesn't mean fantasy that's light and fluffy and consequence-free. Bad things happen. I mean, I like to put my characters through the wringer. Fundamentally, with each of my various Maradaine series, I'm exploring heroism at different angles, and each of my protagonists are capital-C Champions who aim toward the light. They may miss, they may have a journey through the darkness that threatens to break them. But what I want to write, what drives me, is fantasy where no matter how bad it gets, it's worth trying to make it better. No matter how hard my characters fall down, they're still going to stand up, tie their hair back, set their sails and get their Moana on.
Because hope is always the star that guides them.
The opposite of grimdark is hopepunk.This simple phrase was like a lightning bolt to me.
Let me step back a bit. You see, "grimdark" is a subgenre of fantasy that just doesn't work for me. What is "grimdark"? If the name wasn't cue enough, from the wikipages: "Grimdark is a subgenre or a way to describe the tone, style or setting of speculative fiction that is particularly dystopian, amoral or violent."
And, yeah, for me and my fantasy, this represents everything that doesn't work for me. I don't begrudge anyone who writes or likes it, mind you. It just doesn't work for me.
So when I saw the post that expanded on the idea "the opposite of grimdark is hopepunk", I was immediately invested in it, because "the opposite of grimdark" is exactly the kind of fantasy I want to do.
Now, this doesn't mean fantasy that's light and fluffy and consequence-free. Bad things happen. I mean, I like to put my characters through the wringer. Fundamentally, with each of my various Maradaine series, I'm exploring heroism at different angles, and each of my protagonists are capital-C Champions who aim toward the light. They may miss, they may have a journey through the darkness that threatens to break them. But what I want to write, what drives me, is fantasy where no matter how bad it gets, it's worth trying to make it better. No matter how hard my characters fall down, they're still going to stand up, tie their hair back, set their sails and get their Moana on.
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
POST-DRAGONCON POST **TOP TEN THINGS I OVERHEARD AT DRAGON CON**
I've heard DragonCon set a new record this year with 82,000 people.
Myself, I kept to the Westin as much as possible. Even so, I had a fantastic time. Saw so many friends, made new friends, and participated on some splendid panels. Despite my rather sequestered visit, I did manage to make my annual list....but first, the weeks topic: what genre would I be least likely to write and why.
Short answer: I won't do myself the disservice of thinking or saying that there's anything I'd be unlikely to write. I've already written in many genres and there are elements of other genres within that work. I refuse to put that limitation on myself.
ShortER answer: I DO WHAT I WANT!
And now....
Myself, I kept to the Westin as much as possible. Even so, I had a fantastic time. Saw so many friends, made new friends, and participated on some splendid panels. Despite my rather sequestered visit, I did manage to make my annual list....but first, the weeks topic: what genre would I be least likely to write and why.
Short answer: I won't do myself the disservice of thinking or saying that there's anything I'd be unlikely to write. I've already written in many genres and there are elements of other genres within that work. I refuse to put that limitation on myself.
ShortER answer: I DO WHAT I WANT!
And now....
THE TOP TEN THINGS
I OVERHEARD AT DRAGONCON
*Random quotes as heard in passing
that may have been spoken in complete innocence,
but taken out of context and
having passed through my dirty mind,
they are all the more funny.*
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
THE "I WISH I HAD SAID THAT" AWARD
Often, I have a glut of fucks, but right now I'm all out.
PSEUDO WISDOM AWARD:
The absence of confusion is not the confusion of absence.
MOST CONFUSING AWARD:
It's not delivering. Get on the table.
10.) If you give a pun and receive a guffaw in return,
well, that's a little too self-important.
9.) I just like talking about it, not doing it.
8.) I admit it, I was playing with my sack.
7.) I went in, took a sniff, and decided
to stand in the back and watch the lights.
6.) I don't need to smack rods with people to know mine is better.
5.) Aw, she has a long shiny one in her hands.
4.) Hey...that is not normal.
3.) Just lick him and stay there.
2.) I only come to DragonCon to get things stuck in me
so I can get a free t-shirt.
1.) Of all the mostly naked people I've seen today, you're the best.
I'm the author of the PERSEPHONE ALCMEDI SERIES: #1 - VICIOUS CIRCLE, #2 -HALLOWED CIRCLE, #3 -
FATAL CIRCLE, #4 - ARCANE CIRCLE, #5 - WICKED CIRCLE, AND #6 -SHATTERED CIRCLE, several short stories, and the IMMANENCE SERIES: #1 - JOVIENNE.
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
The Genre Safest From Me
I'm least likely to write some sort of earnest sweet Amish romance. I don't know that I could resist going all Sir Terry Pratchett on it.
Ya know what? Probably should bump that up to "least likely to write a sweet romance." Aliens, shifters, dragons...they really do like to show up in the most unexpected places. Keeps things interesting.
Labels:
Genres,
KAK,
least likely to write
Fantasy Author.
The Immortal Spy Series & LARCOUT now available in eBook and Paperback.
Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified when I release a new book.
The Immortal Spy Series & LARCOUT now available in eBook and Paperback.
Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified when I release a new book.
Sunday, September 3, 2017
Most Unlikely to Write
I found this great ceramic Dia de los Muertos doll a couple of weeks ago. It's difficult to tell from the pic, but she's made entirely of ravens. I would have bought her in a heartbeat if she weren't so expensive. For those of you who've read THE SHIFT OF THE TIDE, there's an aspect to this doll that reminds me of Moranu with her many faces. Even the cover of that book is reminiscent of the same images for me. Do you all see that?
There's a key difference, however, between the two - and that links into this week's theme, which is the genre we are mostly unlikely to write.
As much as I'm fascinated by the dark and grotesque, I think you'll never find me writing horror. I'm not a fan of the unrelentingly grim. Likewise, I think you'll never find me writing Inspirational - as I also can't see going to all sweetness and light.
Personally and artistically, I live in the middle, at the intersection of both. Or, were I a citizen of my created world in The Twelve Kingdoms and The Uncharted Realms, I'd be at the intersection of all three goddesses. Yes, I'd love Moranu of the shadows, the night and many faces, but I'd also be an adherent of Danu, of the bright blade and unflinching justice and wisdom. I'd also look to Glorianna, goddess of soft light and in-between spaces, of love and beauty.
That's why I doubt I can write horror -- not enough of love and light. Nor am I likely to write anything that's all in the sweet direction, because I also love the shadows.
Still ... I might have to go back and buy that doll.
There's a key difference, however, between the two - and that links into this week's theme, which is the genre we are mostly unlikely to write.
As much as I'm fascinated by the dark and grotesque, I think you'll never find me writing horror. I'm not a fan of the unrelentingly grim. Likewise, I think you'll never find me writing Inspirational - as I also can't see going to all sweetness and light.
Personally and artistically, I live in the middle, at the intersection of both. Or, were I a citizen of my created world in The Twelve Kingdoms and The Uncharted Realms, I'd be at the intersection of all three goddesses. Yes, I'd love Moranu of the shadows, the night and many faces, but I'd also be an adherent of Danu, of the bright blade and unflinching justice and wisdom. I'd also look to Glorianna, goddess of soft light and in-between spaces, of love and beauty.
That's why I doubt I can write horror -- not enough of love and light. Nor am I likely to write anything that's all in the sweet direction, because I also love the shadows.
Still ... I might have to go back and buy that doll.
Labels:
Dio de los Muertos,
genre most unlikely to write,
horror,
inspirational,
The Shift of the Tide
Jeffe Kennedy is a multi-award-winning and best-selling author of romantic fantasy. She is the current President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and is a member of Novelists, Inc. (NINC). She is best known for her RITA® Award-winning novel, The Pages of the Mind, the recent trilogy, The Forgotten Empires, and the wildly popular, Dark Wizard. Jeffe lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is represented by Sarah Younger of Nancy Yost Literary Agency.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)