Monday Meme

You Should Be a Film Writer

You don't just create compelling stories, you see them as clearly as a movie in your mind. You have a knack for details and dialogue. You can really make a character come to life. Chances are, you enjoy creating all types of stories. The joy is in the storytelling. And nothing would please you more than millions of people seeing your story on the big screen!

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

Book # 8 -- Parallel Seduction

The author of Parallel Attraction unleashes the next novel in a series about an alternate world, where treachery can destroy the strongest of allies, the most loyal of friendships, and the fiercest of passions...

Warrior Jake Tierny travels back in time to stop a traitor in his beloved king's camp. But when a twist of fate proves the mission unnecessary, Jake is trapped in a time not his own, with friends who cannot learn his true identity.

Scott Dillon may be the king's trusted lieutenant, but he is also a man at war with himself, a human hybrid who refuses to succumb to the Antousian nature he abhors-and that Jake Tierny embodies.

FBI linguist Hope Harper refuses to let near-blindness keep her from joining the Refarians in their war to defend mankind. Yet her sizzling attraction to both Scott and Jake, and the strange memories they share, force all three to question the
core of their beliefs. As their enemies surround them, Hope knows she must choose one man for all time.

The Book Geek Says: I'm lucky enough to call Deidre my friend and have done so for six years. Over the course of those six years, I've read lots of her work, including rough drafts of Parallel Seduction. With complete and total honesty, I can say this is her best work yet. Hope and Scott will grip you from day one, and Jake, well, Jake is in a class by himself.

Monday Meme

What Your Hands Say About You

You are logical, analytical, and rational. You have good verbal skills. Flexible and broad minded, you can fit in to any situation. There's no telling where your life will take you. Consistent and reliable, you like to count on structure and routine in your life. Your emotions tend to be nervous and potent. Your energy - both positive and negative - deeply impacts your life.

What Do Your Hands Say About You?

Lookin' For Love

Actually, I'm just looking for some great books. I've been lucky with my past 3 choices in that I LOVED them. For some reason, finishing books is becoming more difficult as of late. Here's what's on my "Gotta Have" list for May:

Just Keep Swimming, er, Writing

I'm out of the groove. Quite frankly, I hate it when that happens. With no contract deadlines, I've let myself go lazy.

Lazy is okay, of course, but it's also irritating. Then again, it's not as if I've been doing nothing. I've been editing, reading, parenting, wife-ing, working at my day job -- you know, other things.

But I've got to get back on the horse, so to speak. Pick up that pen and paper; fire up the laptop. And write!!

(If only Magic Study weren't calling my name. Darn that Maria V. Snyder!!!)

Book #7 -- Coming Undone

Surfer—make that ex-surfer—Carly Winters can't believe she accidentally faxed an erotic letter to…a secure military line? Now navy SEAL Jonathon "Hunt" Huntington is at her door, fax in hand, asking her how the fantasy ends.

Because Carly's parents think Hunt is her new boyfriend, and Carly does need a wedding date ASAP, Hunt's ready to play—only on one condition. Carly's got to teach him to hang ten. Problem is it's been a while since Carly's career-ending accident and she's terrified of anything aqua. But with Hunt, letting go just may make her fantasy a reality!

The Book Geek Says: My 2nd Blaze -- and I LOVED it! I know Ms. Tyler has several other projects in the pipeline. If Coming Undone is any indication of what the rest of her upcoming releases will be like, she's an author for my automatic buy list!

Name Recognition

As a writer (hopefully) on the verge of publication, I've been thinking about my pen name.

Don't get me wrong -- I love my name. My real name, the one that's up there. I mean, in elementary/middle school, it was misspelled, mispronounced, practically butchered at every turn (I was Janet in my yearbook from kindergarten until third grade, despite the fact that I would spell both my first and last name -- 7 letters...combined -- for whomever was writing the payment receipts and/or taking pictures) and I hated it. When I entered high school, I was the only one of me around so I quickly got used to hearing "Jana Jo!" throughout the hallways. The fact that my mother was a well-known (and almost hated by all freshman forced to take typing/keyboarding/office technology) doesn't apply.

So why get a new one?

Well, Jana is an editor. Jana likes being an editor, and would like to continue being known as an editor (and book geek). Thus, my reasoning for a pen name.

Which brings about my real question -- what to do when you'd like to write in multiple genres?

Authors do it often. Jaci Burton comes to mind immediately. But what if you want to write for young adults and mainstream fiction and women's fiction and maybe (just maybe) a dab of erotic romance? Can all of these genres fit under one pen name? Personally, I don't think so.

Book #6 -- The Nymph King

Enter a world of dark seduction and powerful magic . . . enter Atlantis . . .

Females young and old, beautiful and plain crave Valerian's touch. None can resist his blatant sensuality and potent allure . . . until he steals Shaye Holling from a Florida beach and holds her prisoner in his underwater kingdom.

The cynical Shaye wants nothing to do with the mighty warlord, but she's inexplicably drawn to him. For underneath the warrior's arrogant beauty lies a complex and powerful man. A man whose caress is like fire . . .

Now Valerian must fight for the privilege of claiming her as his own. Because there's one thing Shaye doesn't know . . .

The Book Geek Says: I once said Gena Showalter could slap her name on a telephone book and I'd read it. I'm really, really enjoying this Atlantis series. Cannot wait for Gena's next one!! (Catch A Mate - May 2007, in case you're interested.)