Dog!

I had a really fun thing happen this last week. I got a dog! Well, sort of. I got a dog for three days. Friends of ours wanted to go out on vacation but couldn’t take their puppy with them. Miss Liberty is a nine month old daschound/beagle cross. Having her around was an absolute blast.

I loved having her. Staying at home all day can get pretty boring, and the more Jonathon works the less I see other people. Having a puppy who regularly needed attention gave me a boost. This is the first time I had a little dog around that I actually liked. I’ve mostly been around Shih-Tzu’s and I just could not appreciate them. Too much hair, not enough brains. But Libby was actually pretty smart and very sweet. I didn’t appreciate the beagle baying habit, but aside from that she was great. I wasn’t the only one who thought she was adorable. When I would take her for walks little kids went gaga over her! Growing up we only had big dogs and most other kids were afraid of them. Having a little girl press her face up to the glass and wave at the puppy was a totally new experience.

We’ve been debating whether or not to get a pet for years so we figured this was a trial run. Before having her there was a huge part of me that was unsure. I’m pet obsessed and I always have been, but it’s a lot of money to keep a pet in an apartment. Between a pet security deposit and an additional fee to my monthly rent I wondered why I should bother. The emotional benefits of having someone needing my affection and attention were undeniable. No, I’m not running immediately to my local shelter! But now I can see that the sacrifice that I will have to make to have a pet will probably be worth it.

Why I'm Not Doing Business in Writerland

You can’t throw an internet rock without coming across a someone talking about the business aspect of writing. While it’s awesome that so many people are willing to share information this was a big pitfall for me. Back in the day I was all in to the advice side of puplishinglandia. I read every blog and tried to take it all to heart. Then I realized that I was so stressed by my non-existent platform that I wasn’t writing.

Somewhere along the way I realized that I just wasn’t ready. I spent months querying my first novel, Products of Power, to no avail. Reason being that I think it’s possible that I was sending out the worst serious query of all time. Once you sift out the autobiographies of penises and the people getting direct requests from God, I was at the bottom of the pile. I didn’t see at the time. I just wasted a ton of money in postage sending hardcopy query’s to everyone who didn’t really want them. My work wasn’t to the caliber that it needed to be to sell, and that was showing in my wooden queries. I was worried about the marketing, platform building, audience seeking side without having the writing skill to craft an interesting novel.

Obviously I’m not strictly holding to the no business aspect. I did finally start a blog (after two years of dithering about it). I’m still steering away from the final aspect. That means not only querying and marketing but also things like self publishing vs traditional publishing and other difficult questions. Some amazing people can multi task like that. I need to take this time to focus on being the best writer I can be.

Jennavier Recommends the Shade Trilogy by Jerri Smith-Ready

I read a lot of books and they mostly blur together. When I find a new-to-me author that I’m dying over I can’t wait to share. One of my favorite YA trilogies of the past year is the Shade series by Jerri Smith-Ready. That includes Shade, Shift, and Shine. Yes, the titles are very matchy-matchy. At least they’re not hard to remember! I loved it both as a reader and as a writer trying to pick up new tricks.

First off the characters really make this series amazing. I loved them all. Aura’s voice is so genuine that she felt almost real to me. Her trials and troubles were both authentic to a teenage girl while still being interesting to the adult part of my brain. The supporting cast each had their own unique voice and personalities. I don’t think there was a single character that felt like a set-dressing until the third book.

This series has the worst luck in covers. They look 80’s bondage porn. I guess it means that everyone who is willing to read them goes in with an open mind, but if I were in the art department I would be a little concerned. For all that the covers in no way portray the actual story there are some elements that I would be wary of. This series has some PG-13 stuff that might make you uncomfortable. I felt like it was handled mostly well but book three almost steamed me out of the experience. So read at your own risk!

The concept that the world is based on is just fun. Picture this. Every baby born after the Shift seventeen years ago can see ghosts. And more people are becoming ghosts than ever. After refusing to believe the ‘shifters’, or kids born post Shift, for years adults are now dependent on teens to tell them about a world they can’t see. This is used in all sorts of interesting ways like lawsuits of the dead against the living with teen interpreters, ‘blackboxes’ and other technology made to repel ghosts, and a past that is never really left behind.

Aura deals with all that and more as she navigates the story. It has two major elements. The first is Aura’s confusing past and the possibility of her being the First, or the first baby born after the shift. The second is the event that kicks off the book. Her pretty serious boyfriend dies of an overdose and is now a ghost. Both are compelling and well handled. As the series progresses the different plot threads become more and less important. Luckily none are completely forgotten and all are resolved satisfactorily. To my relief Smith-Ready has a fascinating take on the good ol’ love triangle. Aura is still hung up on her dead ex-boyfriend who is now a ghost at the same time as wanting to move on with a living guy. Instead of feeling forced or contrived it was a natural extension of the world where ghosts are real.

The series avoids letdowns in new instalments by having each book have a story line in and of itself. That keeps the series fresh while also making me enjoy each book on it’s own terms. It’s not often that a YA debut series is handled so well. Serious kudos go to Smith-Ready.

Lastly I have huge respect for how Smith-Ready handles some pretty traumatic incidents. She doesn’t use these horrific experiences as shock value for readers. Instead she takes the characters seriously, giving them chances to grow even as they struggle. Her commitment to that led to a free novella that I haven’t gotten the chance to read. It’s from the perspective of a secondary character that has a tragic experience off screen. Instead of pretending that it’s all happily ever after Smith-Ready is showing the work that this character puts into finding a new equilibrium.

Well, that’s all folks. If this sounds like a good series for you I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!