My week at Blue Heaven (and my conversations with the smart people there) gave me renewed energy for ebooks. I decided to finally put two of my humorous YA short stories online, and to re-cover my first novel, JADE TIGER, so it reads more clearly as romantic suspense. As soon as I have a few more hours, I’ll sign up with Smashwords and get these up on the remaining platforms.

	Monstrous Love (A Bulfinch High Story) by Jenn Reese $0.99 on Kindle and Nook. High school’s not easy for the son of Pygmalion and Galatea. For starters, he’s made of stone. And terrible with girls. And terrible at just about everything else, too. But when a mysterious new girl shows up, he’ll do just about anything to get her attention… including facing the deadly Sphinx. [4500 words, humorous young adult fantasy]
	Angst in D Minor (A Bulfinch High Story) by Jenn Reese $0.99 on Kindle and Nook. Starting life at a new school is hard enough, but if you’re a siren who’s been raised by man-eating monsters, it’s a little rougher than most. Callie knows what she needs to do: keep her head down, get good grades, and above all, don’t sing. But when pretty-boy Pedar enters the scene, she has to fight more than one primal urge…or Pedar might end up dinner dead. [3200 words, humorous young adult fantasy]
	JADE TIGER by Jenn Reese $2.99 on Kindle and Nook. More information Shan Westfall is on a mission to recover five mystical jade animals before they fall into the wrong hands. Over fifteen years ago, Shan’s mother led a secret society of female martial artists sworn to protect the statues. When the Jade Circle lost four of the five statues during a murderous attack on their sanctuary, twelve-year-old Shan’s destiny was sealed. It was she who carried the remaining tiger statue all the way to America; she who felt it clawing at her with the need to recover the crane, snake, leopard, and dragon. The Circle was destroyed that night, and Shan hasn’t seen her mother since. Shan has grown up under the tiger’s unforgiving influence and the shadow of her mother’s legacy. Her quest to recover the statues takes her to upstate New York and Ian Dashall, a geeky but brave archaeology professor, and then on to France and England with Ian at her side. Finally, on a secret island off the coast of Hong Kong, Shan overcomes torture, betrayal, and deadly tigers in order to battle the man who destroyed the Jade Circle. But even as she faces off with him, she loses hope. How can she possibly succeed where her mother had failed?

On April 30th, Above World was advertised on Amazon as the Kindle Teens Daily Deal, and the price was reduced to $1.99. Here’s what happened.

A few weeks ago, my publicist at Candlewick let me know that Above World had been selected. I have no idea how that process worked, only that we were all excited. I wasn’t allowed to say anything until the actual day of the sale. So I made a graphic, grinned quietly in the privacy of my own home, and waited.

My graphic, based off a graphic I’d seen for Sarah Prineas’ Winterling:

I made the ad because I thought it would be more arresting if it were shared on Facebook than a simple picture of my cover, which people see all the time. Also, I thought it was important to put the date in big letters so it wouldn’t continue to be retweeted or shared after the sale was over. And really, I just like making graphics and this seemed like a good excuse.

At the beginning of the day, Above World‘s Kindle sales rank was sixty bazillion. I wish I’d taken a screenshot, because I’m not even exaggerating. (Okay, I’m exaggerating a little. But my rank was a Very Large Number.) The Amazon ranks seemed to update every few hours, so this is the first bump I noticed when I woke up in the morning:

I was already thrilled. A 4-digit rank overall was better than my little book had ever seen. If the day had ended there, I would have been happy.

But my amazing friends kept tweeting and posting on Facebook, and Amazon’s legion of Kindle deal-obsessed were not sated. By the end of the day, here’s where Above World stood:

Above World was #1 in all paid Children’s ebooks, and #196 overall. Here’s the pretty picture with book covers:

What a ride! I don’t think I made that much money in royalties — it’s a few hundred extra copies at a greatly reduced rate — but what I’m really hoping for is a bit less obscurity. I still believe that discoverability is the greatest challenge facing any new author, and that perhaps a few more people will recognize my book now, having seen it splashed across a few more Amazon pages.

Thanks so much to everyone who helped me publicize the sale. When all is said and done, it was the outpouring of friendship and support that I’ll remember most from this day.

ADDENDUM: I had nothing to do with this. The Kindle Daily Deal machine is a powerful force, and I’m not even sure it matters which book is selected for the rankings bump. I also doubt there is any long-term affect on sales. It was just fun to experience.

This upcoming weekend, March 30-31, I’ll be at WonderCon in Anaheim. Most of the time I’ll be in total fan-mode: going to panels, spending too much money in the dealers room, and trying to catch glimpses of my favorite authors and TV stars. Here’s the author stuff:

 
SIGNING
Sunday, March 31st, 1:30-2:00pm
Mysterious Galaxy, Booth #1201

PANEL: “Capacity for the Fantastic: Writing for Teens and Tweens”
Sunday, March 31st, 2:30-3:30pm
Room 213

Given their flexibility and ability to embrace the fantastic and wondrous, what can’t one write about for middle graders and up? LeAnna Herrera of Mysterious Galaxy bookstore queries the limits with authors Jenn Reese (Above World, Mirage), Jessica Brody (Unremembered), James Morris (Skybound), Nancy Holder (Wolf Spring Chronicles), Cecil Castellucci (The Year of the Beasts), and Greg van Eekhout (The Boy at the End of the World).

Last summer I planted my very first herb garden (see “Herb Adventure” for all the exciting details). I absolutely loved growing my own herbs. I loved the way they looked on the porch — easily visible from the main room where I spend all my time — and I found myself cooking more often because I wanted to use herbs I’d grown myself.

And then I went away for 10 days during one of the worst heat waves Los Angeles has ever known.

So, welcome to Herb Garden, Season 2, wherein I start over and try not to let everything die this time. Huzzah! Here’s the starting lineup:

Not all the plants are visible, but I’ve got thyme, oregano, sage, lavender, dill, rosemary, two kinds of mint, basil, and Thai basil. (Plus a few more things that looked pretty and my nursery was having a sale and DON’T JUDGE ME.)

Later, when I’m feeling ambitious and my novel revisions are done, I’d like to find a plant to crawl up the wall on a trellis, perhaps raspberries, blueberries, tomatoes, or peppers. Hopefully the currently herbs will live to see that day.

The second book in my Above World series officially makes its way into the world today, but before I get to that, I want to talk about Bridget Zinn and her YA debut Poison, also releasing today.

Bridget died from cancer in May 2011 at the age of 33, before getting to see her debut book published. I never had the opportunity to meet her, but I think I would have liked her. Her bio says:

Bridget wanted to make people laugh and hoped readers would enjoy spending time with the characters she created. As a librarian/writer she loved books with strong young women with aspirations. She also felt teens needed more humorous reads. She really wanted to write a book with pockets of warmth and happiness and hoped that her readers’ copies would show the watermarks of many bath time reads.

Yes, I’m sure I would have liked her. And I’m guessing you would have, too. If you want to honor Bridget and help make her book release day a special one for her friends and family, please take a moment and check out Poison. Kirkus says:

No grimdark teen fantasy or angst-y heroines here; just a frothy confection of a fairy tale featuring poisoners, princesses, perfumers and pigs, none of whom are exactly what they appear (except maybe the pigs)…. Good silly fun—a refreshing antidote to a genre overflowing with grit and gloom.

That sounds like my kind of book!

MIRAGE

Now what do I say about my own book release? I have such complicated feelings about Mirage, the second in the trilogy, that I’ve written and deleted four different paragraphs so far. Let’s just say that it was a hard book to write, that it contains some of the best scenes I’ve ever written, and that I hope readers enjoy it.

Here’s how I dedicated Mirage:

I’d rather not explain that first part, because I think it has a lot of meanings and I wouldn’t want to exclude the one that’s most relevant to anyone who reads this. It’s a hard thing to walk between worlds, no matter what those worlds might be.

I also dedicated the book to Christopher East, my partner, who’s been with me for over six and a half years. He was there when I got the first ideas for this series, he’s been there through all the drafts, and he continues to support and encourage me every day. As a writer, he helped me with plot issues and character arcs and world-building. When I was on deadline, he did things like make sure the bills were paid and the cats were fed. (Heck, he fed me, too, most days.) Chris talked me through slumps, sometimes at 2 in the morning, and he read each chapter as soon as I finished it, no matter the time of day or night.

One of the ways I said thank you to Chris was by naming the character Rollin in Mirage after a character from Chris’s favorite TV show, the original Mission: Impossible. The Rollin in my book does NOT look like this:

I thank a lot of other people in the Acknowledgments section of Mirage, but I’ll quote just the last paragraph here, as it applies to all of you:

Thanks to my friends, family, and fellow writers who’ve supported me on this journey. If I’m doing my job right, you already know how much I treasure you.

If you live near Los Angeles, I’ll be having a launch party at 2pm on March 23rd at Once Upon A Time in Montrose, CA. Please come help me celebrate and support a great indie bookstore at the same time.

Above World releases in the UK on April 4th from Walker, and here’s the cover! Personally, I find it fascinating to see which elements of the US cover they chose to emphasize or de-emphasize. For example, the distinction between the underwater realm and the “above world” is very evident with a strong horizon line. May this little book find its way into the hands of many UK readers!

[Book Depository] [Amazon.uk] [Bookworld.com.au]

2012 was a great year for my cover design business, Tiger Bright Studios. I worked on so many fun and challenging covers for so many extremely talented writers. The gallery is missing the latest 5 covers I’ve done, but I’ve updated it with almost everything else, including a new section for print covers.

I don’t do a lot of print covers, and I’ve never actually held one in my hands… until now. Witness this beauty that just came in the mail: Mitigated Futures by Tobias S. Buckell!

Now, having said all that, I’m here to announce that Tiger Bright Studios is going on hiatus. (After I finish the four covers in my queue, of course.)

I’ve got an incoming edit letter and a whole heap of personal projects that I never got to last year. I’m hoping to open back up in the second part of the year, but there’s also a part of me that hopes I’ll be neck-deep in a new book by then, and won’t have time. We’ll see. I absolutely love cover design, but while I’m working part-time as a writer and part-time for the Lambda Literary Foundation, something has to give. For now, it’s this.

I have no intention of becoming a book reviewer, but I do want to start talking about books that I’ve read more often. Instead of a review, you’re likely to get a ramble about the book, my emotional state while reading it, or whatever tangents I feeling like exploring.

The first book I read in 2013 was Matthew J. Kirby‘s Icefall, and I absolutely loved it. Do you like vikings? Strong female main characters? Complex side characters? Storytelling? Mythology? Adventure and intrigue? Well, Icefall has all of those things and wraps them up in wonderfully descriptive language that evokes the very fjords themselves. (Kirby’s use of kennings made me squee with delight.)

Icefall is a middle-grade book, but anyone who wants to fill the chill of a glacier as a young girl tries to find her place in her family and in the world will enjoy it. (<--Huge understatement.)

Don't believe me? Check out this blurb from Ursula K. Le Guin:

Clear, lively, exciting, and unstoppable as the torrent of meltwater from a glacier, Icefall confirms Matthew Kirby as one of our finest new writers for young adults. Readers of any age may be enthralled by the bitter Nordic winter setting and the story of a girl who needs a lot of courage to discover who she is.

So go, add Icefall to your Goodreads pile, order it from your favorite indie bookstore, download the audiobook, or add it to your ereader [Nook | Kobo | Kindle].

Tangent time!

I have always loved mythology, ever since I was a little girl. I picked it for every school project, particularly when the project involved drawing chimeras or dragons. One of my earliest pictures is of Odin’s eight-legged horse Sleipner, which I present alongside its canonical source:

(Yes, that’s the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons manual Deities and Demigods. Now you all know that Sleipner was Lawful Neutral. You’re welcome.)

My love of Norse mythology carried over into college. Once I gave up on my computer science degree, I focused on Icelandic sagas, Old English, and Beowulf. In fact, the first real story I ever wrote (that wasn’t for a D&D game) was an original Icelandic saga for class. I even joined the local chapter of the SCA, Myrkfaelinn, whose charter was written in Old Icelandic. (Note: Kirby talks about the berserkers in Icefall: they also exist in the SCA and D&D, too!) I did my field study in Ireland and finished college with degrees in English and Archaeology, but really in Medieval Studies.

After college, when I finally began writing stories, my first two professional sales (my first two sales in general) were both Norse mythology-related: “Memory and Reason” (Prom Night), an sf tale that referenced Odin’s two ravens, and “Valkyrie” (Sword & Sorceress XVII) about an older woman realizing she is more than her father’s daughter, her husband’s wife, or her son’s mother.

I’m not going to post any of my Celtic knotwork here, so much of it inspired by Norse culture and art, but rest assured: there’s enough to fill a fjord.

Later, I named my blog “Memory and Reason” and created a logo for it: two ravens in front of the moon. In my mind, “Memory” made me think of fantasy, and “Reason” of science fiction. It still does, and I think I may need to resurrect this logo and start using it again. (A variation of this might even make a decent tattoo, as it also evokes the symbolism of the yin-yang circle, another huge part of my life.)

So, thank you, Matthew Kirby, for rekindling my love of Vikings and Norse mythology. Icefall is an incredible book and certainly one of the best sagas I have read.

I’m still processing everything that happened in 2012: the debut of Above World, the audiobook, the signings and book clubs and events, the reviews and fan art, turning in the third book of the trilogy… plus all the difficult stuff that, frankly, sometimes seems to overwhelm the good. But instead of going into that now, I’d like to look forward to the new year. I’m always so full of hope and optimism on January 1st, and I want to ride this feeling as long as I can.

For the most part, this year is looking a lot like the last one: I’ll still be working my part-time job at Lambda Literary Foundation (for as long as they’ll have me), designing book covers under my guise as Head Tiger of Tiger Bright Studios, and nurturing my writing career. Here are some of the writing milestones I’m excited about:

	February 12 Above World comes out in paperback.
	March 12 Mirage (Above World book 2) comes out in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook in the US and Australia/New Zealand.
	April 4 Above World is published in the UK with a new cover! (As soon as I can share this, I will.)

In terms of writing goals, I’m keeping it simple this year:

• Finish Above World book 3 (revisions, copyedits, proofs)
• Write a new book
• Revel in the good stuff
• Learn how to let the bad stuff go

I’m looking forward to working with my amazing agent Joe Monti and my incredible editor Sarah Ketchersid for another year, and I suspect I’ll be leaning on my friends just as often as I did last year. Of course, many of my friends have new books releasing this year, and I’m eager to watch hordes of other people fall in love with them.

In short, I’m thrilled that my “debut year” is behind me. I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and get to work creating new stories. Happy New Year, everyone!

Trying to compile these entries has taught me that I need to keep better records of my media consumption each year. Let me give it a go anyway…

Videogames

Portal 2
One of my favorite games of ALL TIME. I love logic puzzles, and the collaborative mode of this game had me scratching my head then whooping with joy every time I solved a new challenge. LOVE LOVE LOVE. The single-player mode also has the fabulous character Wheatley who is worth the price of the game by himself. All people who love spacial relations and puzzle solving MUST PLAY THIS GAME.

Little Big Planet 2
Brilliant, bizarre, and laugh-out-loud funny. The second in this series is a little easier than the first, meaning I could actually play most of the levels. There are so many creative ways to enjoy this game — designing your own levels, decorating existing levels, changing your own character’s costumes… If I had a child, this game would be a must-have. (PS3 only)

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
The latest World of Warcraft expansion is my favorite so far. Gorgeous settings, epic story lines, and a PLAYABLE PANDA RACE. Game play remains mostly the same, but Blizzard continues to tweak the system to keep it interesting and fun for casual players like myself. LOVE.

2012 New (to me) TV Shows

Parks & Recreation
Feminist, funny, and featuring a wonderful created family. Start at season 2 or 3 if you’re having trouble getting into it. Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) is now one of my favorite characters of all time. (Netflix & NBC)

Adventure Time
Tim Pratt is to blame for getting me into this awesome animated TV show. It’s not something I would have watched normally, and some of the episodes are still turn-offs. But the world building and bizarre storytelling surprise and delight me on a regular basis. (Cartoon Network)

The Legend of Korra
Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of my favorite TV shows of all time, animated or not. Korra doesn’t have the same magic for me, but it’s still one of my favorites of 2012. The animation and martial arts are mind-blowingly good and I’m hoping the plot and characters work better for me in season 2. (Nickelodeon)

Bunheads
Although the show needs to seriously up the diversity in its cast, I really enjoyed the first season. It’s funny and features a wide array of (white) female characters, each unique and interesting. (ABC Family)

The Newsroom
My love/hate relationship with Aaron Sorkin TV shows continues. The Newsroom is infuriatingly misogynist at times, but I find other aspects compelling enough to keep me watching. Now that the election is over, I’m curious to see if it becomes any less sanctimonious. (HBO)

Continuing TV Shows

I continued to watch and enjoy SyFy’s triumvirate: Eureka, Warehouse 13, and Haven. (Sadly, Eureka is no more.) I also kept up with Castle, Make It Or Break It, and Drop Dead Diva. I finally gave up on White Collar and Leverage, although I may catch up on them later.

Reality TV Shows

I love love love SyFy’s show Face Off about battling special effects/makeup artists. The challenges are always interesting (Underwater monsters! Dinosaur people! Zombie Alice in Wonderland!) and it’s fascinating to watch the competitors conceive their ideas, sketch, sculpt, fabricate, and paint their creations. Highly recommended if you’re interested in the creative process. Other favorites for me continued to be Project Runway, Top Chef, and The Next Iron Chef.

Movies

The Avengers
I loved this movie and, I’m not sure why, but it sent me into an obsession spiral. (This involves reading as many related comics as possible and scanning Tumblr for such tags as #Avengers, #Hawkeye, and #BlackWidow.) I’m over the worst of it now, but I still think the film is great — at its heart, a story of created family.

The Cabin in the Woods
I can’t watch horror movies at all, but I’m so glad I braved this one and saw it before the plot was spoilered. It was fun, funny, and kept me thinking for weeks. (I saw it at the same time I saw The Hunger Games, which I think has many of the same underlying themes but that undermines its themes with its spectacle.) As much as I enjoyed Avengers, this is the film I’ll remember most from this year.

Other favorites include:

Moonrise Kingdom – Fun, quirky, coming-of-age romance heaped with style.
Safety Not Guaranteed – Fun, quirky romance with a sci-fi edge.
Haywire – Hopefully the first of many films for MMA badass Gina Carano.
Chronicle – One of the best visions of what real-life superheroes would look like.

Documentaries

Forks Over Knives
This documentary convinced me to finally try giving up dairy. It’s heavily pro-vegan, plant-based diet, so if you’re not in the mood for that, then give it a pass. But if you’re considering making changes in your diet, then I can’t recommend it highly enough. (Netflix)

Indie Game: The Movie
At turns depressing and uplifting, this documentary applies to creatives of all sorts, not just game designers. I saw many parallels with game creation and being an author. (Netflix)

Other documentaries I enjoyed: (A)Sexual, Being Elmo, First Position, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Kings of Pastry

Web Series

The Guild
Felicia Day’s web series based on a World of Warcraft guild continues to ROCK. Season 5 (I still haven’t caught up on Season 6) follows the group as they head to a huge gaming convention. It may be my favorite season yet, probably due to Kevin Sorbo’s brilliant cameo. (Netflix & online)

Burning Love
This spoof of Bachelor/Bachelorette-type reality shows is laugh-out-loud funny… except for some blatant transphobia. Hopefully Ken Marino’s next project will be a homerun. (Online)

Husbands
This cute series, written and created by Brad Bell and Jane Espenson, follows two men who get married during a wild night in Vegas. Fun, but too short! (Online)