00:02.59
jeffekennedy
Good morning. Everyone this is Jeffe Kennedy author of epic fantasy romance I'm here with my first cup of coffee.
00:14.76
jeffekennedy
Delicious. Today is Monday may Twenty Seventh Memorial day here in the United States ah but not a holiday for me I was actually feeling some. Desire some longing for this to be a holiday for me but I lost so many days being in Tucson and then just not being very productive lately that I wanted to get my act together and get some work done today. So I'm actually feeling pretty good about things. Um, last week. What was it Thursday Thursday and Friday with reluctant wizard I went back to the beginning and started revising from the beginning which longtime listeners will know is one of my techniques. I had made it up to what did we say now might 27000 words now. Um I usually shoot to draft I write linearly and I shoot to draft from beginning to end. Um and then. Go back and revise from the beginning that's that's always a thing for me I always revise from the beginning I feel like I should copy out this and say that because I am I hope famously I would love it if if I am famously known as an inveterate.
01:43.85
jeffekennedy
Diehard committed ah died in the wool right? for discovery author pant the word I don't like ah what are the others Gardener. Mister. All of these things. Um that the. Assumption by so so many people out there. Both experienced writers and not and I understand like teachers of literature and writing is that if you don't outline ahead of time then. You're not a real writer I've heard that one that a professor once said that that you'll never be a real writer if you don't learn to outline your book at a time which um I just want say tell that to Agatha Christie Susan Cooper ah among others. Ah. I did have a point there sorry I got a little excited. Um, my point is is that there is an assumption that if you don't outline ahead of time then you spend a huge amount of time revising which some people do which is fine. Um. masa wells was telling me that that's what she does that she spends a lot of time meandering through the story and she probably overwrites by a couple 100000 words and then goes back and trims what she knows what she's doing and finds the core of the story and you know that's.
03:11.66
jeffekennedy
That's awesome because what's my mantra just say it with me people. All of you longtime listeners figure out what your process is and own it marsa wells totally owns her process I own mine to even if I complain about it from time to time. Ah what happens with me is that. At various points. Each book is different I will hit a point where I just know I can't keep going forward that I have to go back and revise from the beginning in this book it happened sooner I wouldn't say this is a unique occurrence though. A lot of times once I get past the act 1 climax I shouldn't say a lot of times I can think of a couple offhand where I got to the act 1 climax and then knew I had to go back and revise from the beginning. Um, just to gather up the threats sometimes this time it felt like. Field like felt like a concentration issue that I really needed to um because it has been such a chaotic few months I was realizing that um you know in. In another week or two. So I guess it's not really an anniversary yet. But with my stepfather dying on March tenth um that and in a way that was really traumatic for me personally. Um, it really it threw me for a loop and.
04:45.54
jeffekennedy
I have not had great concentration for the story and that is 1 thing about being the kind of writer that I am which I usually refer to as intuitive I just let the story flow but it requires that I hold that story in my head. It requires me to concentrate very fully on that story. And I haven't been able to do that so going back to revise from the beginning allows me to pick up those threats and um, yeah, and as I always find out and it's partly because I've written so many books at this point but it's fine. The story is just fine. There's. Nothing wrong with it. I didn't think there was but I wasn't sure where I was going with it which is another downside of this particular process. Many people tell me that they don't believe when I say I don't know how the book is going to end. Ah. Some of my friends like Melinda Snodgrass says that she cannot start unless she knows the ending. Um, we all have her own process right? I have to feel my way to the ending I have to let the story reveal itself to me. Um, so and this one. Even though it is a continuation in the world. Reluctant wizard is the beginning of a trilogy that follows bonds of magic and renegades of magic this one's writing differently. It's um, will they all write differently. But this one.
06:14.44
jeffekennedy
I Don't know if I'm going to include povs from the previous people as I had been doing. Um, it's just got a different feel I had kind of wanted it to be a new entry point to the series. So I'm sure that's influencing it in some ways. So. Anyway, um, that's where we're at and I haven't made it hugely far. But I have been making progress and right now I'm taking all progress as good progress which I always say to so I'm 25% of my way through the revision. And we'll just see how it goes I anticipate Well as I have been getting wine edits from my editor at Tor on never the roses. Maybe those will come tomorrow. Maybe she worked on them over the weekend that would be good in which case I will drop everything and work on those So when. Ask about balancing a traditionally published career with an indie career that is pretty much one of the things that you have to do is you have to drop what you're working on on your indie stuff and prioritize the traditionally published stuff. Because you're working on other people's schedules and the the schedules of people who are very very busy and not that we aren't too. But that's just one of the things that you sign up for and it is occasionally irritating.
07:45.27
jeffekennedy
I've heard horror stories from people who get um you know proofs back with a request for a 24 hour turnaround that doesn't happen very often which is why they make for good stories and.
08:05.90
jeffekennedy
Yeah, ah so anyway, it may require me to go back. I may end up I don't like doing it this way because it takes more time if I do this revise revise from the beginning now and then go. I might have to revisit again once I get my head out of the other story although line edits aren't so bad line edits are usually um for those of you who don't know. Ah, they're just you know should we tweak this sentence I haven't gotten line edits from Ali before. So she could be someone some some editors have fairly substantial changes in the line edits I have a feeling Ali won't do that because she's a real pro. Um, and it's not that it's unprofessional to do that I should say at a different way but there is an expectation for time and. Attention and focus if the previous stage she already gave me my edit letter which is for the content or developmental edits and that requires a lot more story thinking line edits should be a going through track changes and making tweaks. Every once and while there will be something to reconcile where it will be like well you say this on page. Ah 117 but on page 59 you said the reverse and sometimes you have to fix those things which is important to fix those things. Ah so we'll see um.
09:34.56
jeffekennedy
Once I get those line edits then I'll go back to reluctant wizard and write it through to the end and and I may depending on what I find out in writing the rest of the story have to go back to the beginning yet again. But at least the beginning is. Will be revised and um, yeah I had to do it had to be done my exciting news today is that today is amazingly and I feel like there have a thing on here where you can like play the joke. Oh ah, we could play with these things. Oh here. Dramatic piano. Let's do that now. That's not what we want and this is knocking it out of the park. There could be more no no I would have to do if just never mind um, ger rule today is the tenth anniversary. Of the release of the mark of the talla and if I was smart I would have gotten that out but let me just grab it for those of you on video THE MARK OF THE TALA. Yeah, look at that. Um.
10:51.40
jeffekennedy
So that was the first book in my 12 kingdoms books. It was my first um, hard copy fred publishing deal. Ah it was the first traditional publishing deal for which I received in advance. I had been publishing with Carina press before that but Carina press was digital first slash only they did put some of my books into print later but those were kind of special circumstances and also Carina did not do advances. So that was my first agent sold this trilogy for me so that was a milestone I got in advance which was not a huge advance but it was still a really nice advance and it was in advance. These books came out and trade paperback for those of you not on video. And yeah, it was. It was remarkable because okay if we're gonna do show and tell sorry for those of you not on not available for show. Ah, this was the book for which I got this shiny trophy which does not show up really well on video. Because it's etched glass but this book received the art t book reviews editors pick for June 2014 and and it's dusty. My cleaning ladies don't dust the chachkes which is just as well because.
12:24.43
jeffekennedy
I Want them breaking my shiny trophies so this was not the first shiny trophy I received but it was a landmark one and it was really great because and when I teach I have a workshop on um, writing cross genre and succeeding anyway.
12:44.30
jeffekennedy
This book that also got the as the editors pick it got received the seal of excellence which was for a book that pushes genre boundaries and before this I had been laboring for years and years and years trying to get a tread pub deal trying to. Ah, get my books out there and knowing that they were cross genre because I was writing this mashup of epic fantasy and romance it was not paranormal romance. Ah I had trouble ah with the fantasy the science fiction fantasy publishers because they. Thought that there was too much romance too much sex and kissing in them um of the consensual variety I had trouble selling to the romance publishers because there was too much thick world building and fantasy stuff and every base said they didn't know how to market these books. And and and that was why my at 1 point, an agent had told me that my problem was that my books fell in the cracks between genres which is why my very good friends began calling me a crack ho. Which was meant with great love and needed at the time. So. It's funny looking back? Um, yeah, so I went from crack ho to book of the month and that was
14:16.80
jeffekennedy
It it was the crack co triumph. It was amazing and it's so funny now ten freaking years later that romantasy is this huge thing and I was talking with some folks on 1 of my author discords. Just a small little discord of a few people you know about the romanticcy term and um Lisette marshall who writes romantasy said a good line that she thought romantasy, um, as a definition was descriptive but not prescriptive. Which I thought was a great way to put it because we were talking about people saying things like oh um, this or that series should be included in romantasy and we were trying to decide why they felt that way and. I tend to refer to romantasy as a very big umbrella and lizette said and a few other people were talking about is this like a secondary world. Fantasy is that a requirement of romantasy. But there are a lot of the older books. The older series like these that came out before the portmanteau romantasy was coined that you know do fit that definition and there are ones that are.
15:46.83
jeffekennedy
Paranormal romance back in the day that do go to secondary worlds mythological and fantasy worlds and that's always been a conundrum when you have something like a portal fantasy which is why some editors and agents will say that they don't like portal fantasies. Because it's it makeses up the genres too much and they feel like they can't market it and whatever excuse me portal fantasy is like um well my Covenant of Thorns books is a portal fantasy take. Clea outlanders a portal fantasy. It's when part of the story takes place in our familiar world and then a character or characters travel to a secondary world. Um, outlander is fantasy historical Scotland. Does that count as a secondary world. You know me if you've been listening for any length of time that I don't think that is an alternate history counts as um as a fantasy um or a secondary world. Especially Diana Gabaldon's books they are. I mean it's historically accurate except for Claire being there anyway. So you know it's interesting that.
17:16.43
jeffekennedy
What I call and you may have noticed that you know like I was trying to say romantasy for a while and I've just gone back to saying epic fantasy romance because I do feel like what I write is that and it's underneath the romantasy umbrella and for me. Ah. Big umbrella I don't see any reason to exclude books just because they were called paranormal romance in the day. Um Kensington called this book fantasy um, what they were originally published as and what they're understood to be now. Can be 2 entirely different things. that's that's fine um genre definitions like language are fluid and they are very very often determined by the readers. Um, at least let me take that back. Are still determined by the booksellers and marketers. But Amazon has changed things so much by having so many more granular sub definitionfinitions of genre that were no longer so driven by the bookstore shelves and what the you know where the booksellers want to put them on. 1 of a dozen categories and the store but the term romanticcy did come up from the readers and it comes from the people who are reading the thing and say they want more of the thing and that's what's really important to the genre right is to be able to say.
18:48.58
jeffekennedy
Here's this thing. Do you want more of this thing and I've talked to a number of people. Um, you know like not only was this such a milestone for me, but this was a milestone for a lot of other. Readers who have become writers that they read these books and thought aha this is the kind of thing I want to and that's amazing. It's just amazing to me when I meet people who have who read these books who read the 12 kingdoms books and loved. That blend that is now such a big thing so ten years who the thunk it. Ah I I would say that I started the trend wouldn't that be cool except I did not. Um, there were other people writing at the same time Grace Draven her books came out around the same time as mine C.L. wilson was already writing this kind of thing arguably a lot of those books that were originally called paranormal romance. Um, if they you know. I would even say some urban fantasy that they would be fall under the romantasy umbrella now and I think there's nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all so happy 10 anniversary to the mark of the talla and yeah I'm gonna get to work.
20:16.61
jeffekennedy
Hope you all have a great week if it's a holiday for you I hope you enjoy your holiday and I will talk to you all on Friday you all take care bye bye.
