Stacey Jay-Paranormal Young Adult Romance

Selling on Partial

2012-01-30T12:11:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all,

I was supposed to blog about this last week, but it turned out to be a difficult week words-wise (they weren't coming easily and sometimes I was at my desk 8-10 hours a day). After a day like that, the last thing I want to do is sit in a chair and blog (and my treadmill desk is in the garage so it's kind of cold to blog there and the last time I used my treadmill desk I couldn't walk for a week. I think I needed new tennis shoes at the time--and I WAS on the thing for about three hours--but still....the scars, they linger...<--dramatic).

But this is a new week! And I'm sure the words are going to flow much more freely (I'm not really sure, but I'm trying to think positively<--optimistic).

So. Anyway. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was working on finishing the book I just sold to Delacorte (a twisted retelling of Beauty and the Beast due out in 2013) and a commenter asked how I could sell a book that wasn't finished. Which is a good question! I had no idea that was possible when I first started writing, but it is, and here is how that happens:

Instead of submitting a complete manuscript, you prepare 3-5 sample chapters (usually 10-25,000 words) and a detailed synopsis. For the book I just sold, I had written five chapters (16,000 words) and a 9-page synopsis.

Now, selling on partial has some obvious pluses, probably the biggest is that you don't have to invest all the time you'd invest to write a full book before finding out if there is interest in the project. It also has some drawbacks. If something goes wrong halfway through, you can't give up and start something else. You're under contract and you MUST finish that book.

(Though this can also be a plus if you're the sort to flit from project to project and need a deadline hovering over your head to make you pick a project and see it through. I never used to be this type of person, but...lately... There are just so many sparkly stories, and the first 5 chapters are always my favorites to write. I have three partials on my computer at the moment. Presently, all of them are more attractive to my brain than the one I've been contracted to write. That's because that story is now at the 50k mark, the place where ALL SEEMS LOST. At least to me. Every time I hit a little over halfway through, I start to panic and become certain this is the book I will never be able to finish. 50k is the place where threads need to be tied and climaxes need to be approached and twists revealed and...*clutches stomach*...I get vaguely ill just thinking about going down to my office later today.)

And that's basically it. Despite the "omg will I be able to finish this" anxiety, I do enjoy selling on partial. It's heartbreaking to finish a book and not be able to find a home for it. I'm a little too goal oriented to simply enjoy the process at this point in my career, but maybe...someday... I am working on something that makes me giddy every time I sit down and open the file, something I want to finish no matter what, so...<--mysterious

I will say, however, that it is much more difficult to sell on partial before you've been published because you haven't proven to anyone that you can get from a great beginning to a killer end. My first book, YOU ARE SO UNDEAD TO ME, was complete before it was sold (though I then proceeded to rewrite all 80k of it after the book was acquired by one editor and then passed to another, so...there you go. Finishing the book didn't really save me any work that time around. I ended up writing two manuscripts instead.) Since that first book, however, every book I've sold has sold on partial. FYI. For anyone who is interested.

Any other questions about this? I'm happy to answer if I've left anything unclear.

Happy Monday,

Stacey

Cats and Chickens. For your consideration.

2012-01-24T21:47:00.000-08:00

Dear Family (and blog friends who will enjoy these creatures vicariously, should they come to live in our home and/or small side yard),

We need a cat. Something soft and fluffy to love. I know we don't have the room, I know there's concern about where we'll place the litter box in our 800 square feet of downstairs living space (that includes the boys' room), but do common sense concerns like those really have any place in affairs of the heart? Can reason triumph over cuteness? And cuddling? And purring on laps? I think not. I think...not.

In defense of my argument, I offer the following:

Or, I suppose we could get chickens instead:

After viewing these videos, The Old Man said, and I quote "I don't know, I kind of like the evil one. That's a cute cat." *rubs hands together* *cackles* I'm getting closer. Soon, a cat will be mine!! Mine!!!

(And maybe some chickens, too. They're just so unexpectedly adorable! The little beaky punkins, I want to hold them in my hand and pet their fluffy backs.)

This post has been brought to you by Procrastination and iMovie and Cute Chickens and Cuter Cats and Freeplay music. Special Thanks to Rhianna for bringing my attention to the adorable Scottish Fold breed, and to that lady in my ballet class who extolled the virtues of Banty Hens.

Sincerely,

Stacey Jay

Mendocino Writers Conference-Come see me get my faculty on

2012-01-23T14:07:00.000-08:00

Hey!

I'm thrilled to announce that I will be joining the faculty of the Mendocino Writers Conference July 26-28.

Jody Gerhman, Ginny Rorby, and I will be doing a panel on:

The Secret Ingredients of Successful Teen Fiction

What makes some novels so appealing to young readers while others languish on the

shelves? How can adults capture the elusive teen “voice” editors seek? In this interactive

panel discussion, Young Adult authors Stacey Jay, Ginny Rorby and Jody Gehrman will

address the most sought-after ingredients in YA fiction and how to make them work for you.

Now...I'm not completely sure I can do everything that panel description is saying we're going to do in an hour and fifteen minutes, but I often find I know more than I think I do once I start answering questions. I also have no filter between my brain and my mouth, and often find myself saying something inappropriate and/or controversial and/or delicately foul-mouthed--because I am from the South and even my cursing is delicate--so that should make for an entertaining session.

In addition to being delicately controversial, I'm also capable of answering questions in a reasonable and informative manner. And I have sold nine young adult books in less than six years so I'm sure I have a secret or two worth sharing (even if I don't know what those are yet). So come see me! Let's hang out on the beautiful Mendocino coast and talk writing and eat seafood and have our hair whipped about by the ocean breeze. (I was on the coast a few weeks ago and it reminded me why I want to keep my hair long enough for pigtails. Not much else you can do with it in a situation like that.)

I'm also doing one on one critiques at the conference.. You can request one of those when you register. (FYI on critiques: I give a gentle critique, but I also strive to be productive and give people something they can use. In other words, if you think your words are perfect as they are and are looking for confirmation, don't sign up for a critique. That won't be useful to either one of us, and, on the off chance I don't agree with you, things can get...uncomfortable. But on the other hand, if you live in fear of a mean author with a red pen lunging over the table and tearing out your creative jugular, fear not. I will be gentle. I promise.)

Registration opens mid March, learn more about the conference, who is speaking, and where to stay while you're there over at the Mendocino Writer's Conference Website:

http://www.mcwc.org/mcwc_expect.html

Any questions? Thoughts? Concerns? (I've been told it's okay to whip out some interpretive dance if the session gets slow, so we're good there.)

Back with pictures of chickens later this week.

Stacey

Vote for Juliet Immortal? Chickens, fox urine, etc.

2012-01-20T14:19:00.001-08:00

Happy Friday!

I am thrilled to announce that JULIET IMMORTAL has been nominated for the Children's Choice Book Awards. They're trying to narrow down the selections to five finalists and it would be spiffy to be a finalist. I've never been a finalist...unless you count the pie eating contest at the Fourth of July picnic in Caraway, Arkansas when I was eight, but that was a long time ago and I ended up losing to a twelve year old boy in the mixed ages division so I don't count that. (Though I can still take down a small pie with intimidating speed, so...do with that information what you will. Fear me. Guard your pies. Etc.)

Anyway, if you're a person under the age of 18, perhaps you might like to go vote for Juliet Immortal? If you do, here's the link:

http://www.teenreads.com/2012-teen-choice-book-of-the-year-nominees

Voting is open until February 15th.

I'll be back next week with news about a writer's conference at which I will be faculty-ing (hope to meet some of you northwest US people there), a blog about selling on partial that was suggested by one of your comments (go you!), and some pictures of chickens because I want to get chickens.

(Not really. I'm just telling my husband I want to get chickens. I'm even going to drag him to look at chicken coops this weekend. But what I really want is a cat. I'm just going to make the Old Man think we're getting chickens so that he'll be relieved and happy about getting a cat, instead of grumpy about getting a cat, which is the current State of the Husband when I start talking feline companion. But after all this chicken nonsense, he'll be happy to get a cat because a cat is easier than chickens because we have a lot of foxes near our house and the chicken wire would have to be pretty serious stuff to protect them. Otherwise, I really would want chickens. And a cat. But I don't want to risk dead chickens. Especially if some stinky fox is going to get to eat it instead of me. I used to like foxes, but they really stink up the joint around here. Something they spray when they're feeling frisky or something. Or maybe their urine, which is allegedly used to mark territory. Damn frisky, peeing foxes.)<--this is what I wrote instead of the 1000 words I was supposed to write in the last hour. I should be slapped.

Happy weekend,

Stacey Jay

PRETEND YOU CAN't SEE THIS!!

2012-01-18T07:14:00.000-08:00

And click on this link:

http://americancensorship.org/modal/call-form-moz.html

(I would have blacked out this site and my website in honor of the protest of SOPA today, but I am technically challenged. Censorship like this is a scary, scary thing so please do click and learn more if you haven't already taken steps to protest SOPA.)

Stacey

The Big News!

2012-01-16T07:30:00.000-08:00

First of all,

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. day. Go forth and fight social injustice in his honor. (For real. If you want to skip reading this blog entry and go straight to fighting social injustice, I support that.)

Secondly,

I teased with the big news last week. Now I will share. Here's the official announcement from Publishers Marketplace

"Stacey Jay's futuristic retelling of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, to Michelle Poploff at Delacorte, in a very nice deal, in a two-book deal, by Ginger Clark at Curtis Brown."

I am SO very excited to be writing two more books for Delacorte! They are an amazing crew made of awesome over there and I feel honored to continue to work with them for at least two more books. And I'm really excited about writing a stand alone book for book one (no word on what book two will be at this point, but that's kind of nice too. A bit of mystery is exciting.).

Now, the Beauty and the Beast inspired book is unfinished at this point (I'll be starting Chapter Nine tomorrow), but I can say with a certain amount of assurance that it's not so much a "retelling" as a "reinterpretation." Those of you who've read "Juliet Immortal" know that I like to twist my retelling. A lot. Sometimes to the point that it resembles the original story hardly at all. This book will have more in common with the original fairy tale than "Juliet Immortal" has with Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," but there will definitely be surprises.

And also, just for clarity, I wouldn't really call it futuristic. (Though it does take place in the future. Sort of.) But it's definitely not sci-fi, so that description didn't work. (Though there is advanced technology in use. Sort of. Though the people using it don't understand it because the science behind the technology has been lost.) And...um...and...

Well, it's still a work in progress and won't be published until 2013. Let's stick a pin in it and I'll be back with more information later in the year. In the meantime, I've got other book related newsy bits to share:

1. JULIET IMMORTAL will release in paperback in September of this year. In the meantime, Barnes and Noble is still selling the hardcover at a discounted rate. So if you haven't snagged a copy yet, you can get one for less than $12 (33% off the list price): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/juliet-immortal-stacey-jay/1100083575

2. The Page Sage interviewed me over at her blog. She's quite clever and asked great questions. So maybe cruise by there, if you'd like?: http://thepagesage.blogspot.com/2012/01/author-interview-stacey-jay.html

3. Also a very nice review of JULIET IMMORTAL over at Chicks with Crossbows: http://www.chickswithcrossbows.com/?p=1002 (I don't often link to reviews, but come on, Chicks with Crossbows. The name alone necessitated some link love.)

4. I am still sore from the Friday ballet class (that's not book related, but it's on my mind, and legs and back and neck, so...).

5. My husband and I had a date day yesterday (he got tickets for a Winter Wineland event), and while wine tasting I met a girl who plays the electric ukulele. We chatted and I gave her my email and we're going to meet up next time she's in town for a ukulele lesson. I am going to learn to play the ukulele! I am one step closer to performing in an all girl folk band (one with appreciation for the uke)!!! I love it when New Year's goals fall into place in January. (Also not book related, but ukulele related, which is almost as good.)

6. ROMEO REDEEMED (Fall 2012) has a cover and it is GORGEOUS. I will post it here as soon as I am allowed to do so. But trust me, it is...yummy ;).

7. I like cheese. But not Chuck E Cheese, where I will now take my children. I'm so ready for winter to be over. I like it when there are outdoor things to do and lots of good excuses to stay away from The Rat Hole.

Happy day to all,

Stacey

OhmyholygodIhurteverywhere and Foreign Covers

2012-01-13T13:30:00.001-08:00

Hello,

This morning I went to a real, hardcore ballet class for the first time in over a decade. And like any self respecting Type A personality, I refused to take it easy and instead hurled myself into the class despite the fact that I no longer have the ballet-specific muscles or endurance to do that sort of hurling. Good news, I can still do a lot of things I didn't think I would be able to do. I can still jump like a fracking gazelle and spin in lots of circles without puking (though I did get a LOT dizzier than I used to) and decipher a combination that is spoken to me in French rather than fully demonstrated. That rocked. I felt sparkly and the other students in the "adult" class--would be more accurate to call it the college girl class, as few looked older than twenty--were very sweet and let me trail along behind them and watch when I got too confused.

It was great, and I am now filled with the burning desire to get back into performance worthy shape and try out for next year's Nutcracker. I can do it, I think. And my supportive husband is being very supportive, as usual, and said that he'd love for me to do that and would help watch the kids and would love to come see me dance and that meant so much to me because I never realized that he realized how much I miss dancing and oh la la la happy day!

So that's the good news.

The bad news, is that now I hurt everywhere. Ev-er-y-where. My toes, my back, my shoulders, even my thumb, and the place between the thumb and pointer finger. I will not be writing much more today. *ow* *wince* Or maybe even tomorrow. *ow* (Good thing I was very productive with the word count earlier in the week.)

So I thought it would be a good show and tell picture day! Let's look at the pretty foreign covers and I will be back with a real blog post next week. I promise. Mostly. Probably....

Unless I have an amazing writing week like I did this week in which case I will continue to draft because I'm loving this book and writing it is fun. (In related news, those of you with Publishers Marketplace will have seen my big news. For everyone else, I will save the big news until Monday. So come back Monday. Big news and more specifics than the Pub Marketplace memo.)

Now without further ado:

Juliet Immortal in Turkey:

Dead on the Delta in Germany

Juliet Immortal in France (just came out this week! Hope my French readers enjoy it.)

Juliet Immortal in Germany

Thank you very much.

I'm off to down a few ibuprofen and try to walk through the agony.

Happy weekend,

Stacey Jay

The Fruits of Fruitful Procrastination

2012-01-04T09:29:00.000-08:00

Good Wednesday!

It's back to real work tomorrow for me, but before I start drafting again, I wanted to share my new procrastination outlets for 2012.

One of my goals for the year was to find healthier ways to interact with the internet. Ways that didn't leave me feeling stupid or unpopular or small or depressed or filled with useless angst and woe. And that also didn't take up too much time since I need to stay focused on the jobs at hand. I'm happy to say I've found several fun things to do that have made me happier both on the net and out and about in the world.

First up, I've started a Tumblr--http://staceyjayya.tumblr.com/--primarily for the posting of photographs. (I've really let my photography hobby slip in the past two years, and I want to take more pictures in 2012. I'm aiming for 400 entries by the end of the year, so there should always be something to look at over there.)

You'll see some nature-y stuff:

Some preshush loin fruit stuff (this one with nature included):

And snapshots of some of our local heroes, including Lief Goatrickson, the bearded Viking goat who lives down the lane. (And who I've been stalking for over a month, waiting for him to be at the fence when I happened to drive by. My camera made many useless trips to the grocery store and gym, but finally we were ready and we snapped Lief, and his beard, in action.)

Lief is a charming guy and modeled for me with enthusiasm and much tossing of his chin hair. If only I'd known he was that amiable, I would have called him over to the fence sooner. Really, a great goat. I'll be visiting him with a treat again soon.

If you're on Tumblr, friend me or whatever and I'll friend or follow or whatever I'm supposed to do back. (Can you tell I'm new over there?) I'd love to see what you all are tumbling.

I've also started three Pinterest Boards. Lovelies, Scaries, and Books, the Good Stuff. I'm having so much fun discovering news artists and illustrators and revisiting my old favorites (and I think this will be a good way to keep track of my reading for the year). I find art very inspirational. It's a great break from writing that leaves me feeling excited to dive back into my work.

So there you go! I'll include a link to those places on and off throughout the year, when I think I've got something fun to share.

Starting to get ready for real work to begin!

Off to brainstorm titles and pay bills and finish filling the office shelves with books. Before and After office pictures to come next week.

Stacey

2012 Goal Post. On time this year!

2012-01-01T13:03:00.000-08:00

In 2012, I'm going to open every blog post with--

*maniacal laughter*

Okay, maybe not. There may come a time when maniacal laughter will be an inappropriate way to open a blog post, but still...after the butt whooping I gave the goals (and even the half formed promises) of 2011, I'm feeling gutsy about 2012.

But first...a look back...

*wavy lines fill your screen as you glance back into the past...*

So here's my post from last year: http://staceyjayya.blogspot.com/2011/01/thoughts-for-new-year.html In this post I had 8 goals:

Sort Of Not Really GOAL 1: I told you I probably wouldn't have time to write a Megan Berry novel/novella, but that I would try, but that I wasn't promising anything.

Outcome of SONRG 1: I wrote this-->

VALENTINE'S DAY OF THE UNDEAD is a Megan Berry novella that (for me) ties up the loose ends from UNDEAD MUCH? and leaves Megan and companions in an interesting, but not dire, place. It was fun to write, and I've received emails that assure me it is fun to read, as well. Happy Ending for everyone except the people who keep writing me demanding more Megan Berry. To those readers I must simply say, I'm sorry, but the sales just aren't there.

In an effort to be completely transparent I'll tell you numbers. VALENTINE'S DAY OF THE UNDEAD sold 320 units this year (which is great!). But YOU ARE SO UNDEAD TO ME has sold 26,000 copies to date and the sequel roughly half that. The numbers for the self pubbed book can't compare, and I can't justify taking the time to write and self publish more Megan Berry books at this time. If I self publish anything this year, it will probably be a different project.

Don't shoot the messenger, okay! I'm a creative person and a storyteller and a lover of Megan (she's like my much younger sister who I wish all good things for), but I am also a businesswoman. I run a business, look after a career, and have to make decisions that will enable me to keep earning money for my family.

So, anyway, bad news if you are one of the people who writes me email about Megan, but good news for New Year's Goals! I fulfilled a goal that wasn't even a goal! *gives self rare pat on back*

GOAL NUMBER 2: Get off Ambien

Outcome G2: After two promising starts that backslid into failures, I have now been sleep aid free (no Ambien or the Chinese herbs I was taking after I got off the Ambien) for two whole months. Not total victory, but this is the longest I've made it in years. Feeling optimistic enough that I'm not going to list this as a goal for 2012. Going to call 'er done and cross my fingers I've seen the last of chronic insomnia.

GOAL NUMBER 3: Have a big adventure.

Outcome G3: Well, no big adventures were had, but we had several small adventures, so I'm going to add those up and call number 3 a win as well. *high fives self* (Actually did that. It looks a lot like clapping...)

GOAL NUMBER 4: Be a joiner

Outcome G4: Joined SCBWI and it changed my writing life. It's an amazing organization that lifted my soul up and breathed new life into it when I thought for certain I had no more enthusiasm left in my entire body. So grateful that I found them in time.

GOAL NUMBER 5 and 6: More music, fewer apologies.

Outcome G5/6: More music, check (found some amazing new bands and old stuff I'd missed). Fewer apologies, also check, but still working on that one.

GOAL NUMBER 7: A dozen new things.

Outcome: I didn't make it to a dozen, but I did go camping for the 1st through 5th times. And I did train for Roller Derby tryouts (though I ended up not trying out when we moved and I realized I'd never be able to drive 45 minutes home after practice at 11:00 at night. A night owl, I am not). I also got back on my bicycle and my hubs and I were regularly taking 4 hour rides before the weather got too chilly. I also got waaaayyyy into acupuncture (getting stuck with needles once a week is relaxing as all get out, I swear it is). And I also spoke at my first book club meeting (eep!) and self published my first book and competed in my first creepy cake off.

So if I count each camping excursion, I made it to....11 new things, which isn't bad.

GOAL NUMBER 8: Read more

Outcome: My goal was 35 books, I made it to 58! It was an amazing reading year, too. See my previous post for my top ten of the year.

*wavy lines fill your screen as you are sucked back into the present*

Now! My favorite part!

2012 GOALS!!!! (Now with more !!)

Goal One: Read even MORE books. I'm aiming for 60 this year.

Goal Two: Go back to ballet class at least 3 times. I've found an adult class not too far away and I'm going to do it. I miss dancing so, so much. I need it back in my life before I get too old and inflexible.

Goal Three: Avoid becoming old and inflexible, which will include a three pronged attack of a) eating a bit healthier b) doing Yoga once a week and c) taking two days off per week to get out and about and out of my chair and LIVE because after writing 6 books in the past 18 months I have not had as much chance to do that as I would like.

Goal Four: Write fewer books. I'm going to aim for 2 and 1/2. And if I happen to write more, okay. If not, then I'm just a winner! And a goal achiever. (See how I'm setting myself up for WIN!)

Goal Five: Set myself up for WIN! Also a multi-pronged attack that will involve:

a) staying off Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and any other place that reviews my books. I'll read a few reviews here and there, I'm sure, but I can't read them all anymore. I write the very best book I can write, but once it's on the shelves, it's over. I can't change the book, I can only keep trying to tell better stories, and I already do that so... Yeah. I need my self esteem to remain fairly healthy in order to be a productive writer. And I find it hard to hold onto self esteem in the face of stars. Even 10 five star reviews can not banish the one star review from my brain, you know? So I must understand my brain and take brain protective measures. *pets brain* *good brain* *have some salmon and blueberries<--brain foods*

b) Finding more soul feeding ways to procrastinate on the internet. I'm going to procrastinate. I can admit that. But now I've found creative ways to procrastinate! I'll share more on that in a post very soon.

c) Continue to make more writer friends. I made some great new friends this year and I'm so grateful for them. There are times when a writer friend is the only thing standing between you and certain insanity. Thank you writer friends. I heart you.

d) Learn to say no. Some months I have time for interviews, some I don't. Sometimes, I have money to send goodies, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I need to say no. I'm going to learn how to do that and not feel badly in 2012.

Goal Six: Spend at least one day a week spoiling my kids with attention. I'm pretty good about giving attention, but I want to be better. They are growing up waaaaayyyyy too fast.

Goal Seven: Take more pictures. Take a photography class if I can make the time. (So I can more beautifully document the growing up of Loinfruits the Elder and Younger.)

Goal Eight: Learn to speak Spanish (at least conversationally), take a cartooning class and write/illustrate a comic strip, do something wild and untamed that I've never done before, get out of the country (and back in without incident), write and submit something unexpected, hang pretty things from the ceiling in my office, dress in costume on days that are not Halloween, learn how to play the ukulele and start an all girl folk band.

(Had to put goal eight in there, just to really give myself a challenge ;).)

Goal Nine: Spread some loving kindness.

And that's that. I have two more top secret goals, but they are top secret and so I can't share them because that's the definition of secret. If one of them happens to be achieved, however, I'll let you know.

Anyone else want to share a goal for the year? I've been trolling the internet and reading lots of good lists, but would love to hear from you all.

Many good vibes and beautiful wishes for you in 2012

Stacey Jay

My Top Ten from 2011

2011-12-31T08:01:00.000-08:00

Okay,

I have to preface this by confessing that I'm an idiot. I threw away my old planner before tearing out the two pages where I had written down the titles of the 58 books I've read this year, and so I had no written record to consult to refresh my memory when making this list. (And no, I didn't add all my 2011 books to Goodreads. I try to convince myself that Goodreads doesn't exist whenever possible. It's a painful place for authors. More on that in my post on 2012 goals tomorrow.)

So anyway, I had to draw from memory alone to make this list. Which is frustrating in a way because I KNOW I've forgotten some amazing books. But in another way, it's a fairly accurate way to judge my favorites of 2011. These are the books that stuck in my cluttered, crowded mind. They made an impression. They brought joy and entertainment and sometimes The Tears.

Speaking of The Tears...

Let's start with the first book that made me cry this year: KNUFFLE BUNNY FREE by Mo Willems. I teared. I smiled. I smiled through the tears. It took 8-10 readings aloud before I could get through this book without a sniffle or two. (I think my boys chose it every night just to see me get all choked up and have to give me hugs. They're sweetly cruel that way.)

Trixie grows up and we all cry with happy/sadness. (My summary. I couldn't find a handy one online.) Visit Mo Willems at http://mowillems.com/

The next offering is from my new 2011 friend, Sophie Littlefield. I'm happy to say I was as charmed by her books as I was her person. AFTERTIME is a gritty zombie read like none I've read before. An amazing, layered original world and a damaged heroine on a quest for her missing daughter made this a gripping read and one of my top books of the year. Go forth and check it out. (This is an adult book. Wouldn't recommend it to those under 16. Very gritty. *grrrrr* )

Awakening in a bleak landscape as scarred as her body, Cass Dollar vaguely recalls surviving something terrible. Wearing unfamiliar clothes and having no idea how many days—or weeks—have passed, she slowly realizes the horrifying truth: Ruthie has vanished.

And with her, nearly all of civilization. Where once-lush hills carried cars and commerce, the roads today see only cannibalistic Beaters—people turned hungry for human flesh by a government experiment gone wrong.

In a broken, barren California, Cass will undergo a harrowing quest to get her Ruthie back. Few people trust an outsider, let alone a woman who became a zombie and somehow turned back, but she finds help from an enigmatic outlaw, Smoke. Smoke is her savior, and her safety. For the Beaters are out there. And the humans grip at survival with their trigger fingers. Especially when they learn that she and Ruthie have become the most feared, and desired, of weapons in a brave new world....

Next up BLACK CAT by Holly Black. (The sequel is on the top of my TBR list for 2012.) Loved the male narrator in this one. He had such a compelling voice. (Read this earlier in the year so my impressions are foggier, but I remember love love loving it.)

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Patrick Ness is on my list twice because he is just that awesome. He always delivers such a visceral, honest read. Check out the KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO series. You won't be sorry. It starts out awesome and just keeps getting better.

Three armies march on New Prentisstown, each one intent on destroying the others.

Todd and Viola are caught in the middle, with no chance of escape.

As the battles commence, how can they hope to stop the fighting? How can there be peace when they’re so hopelessly outnumbered? And if war makes monsters of men, what terrible choices await?

But then a third voice breaks into the battle, one bent on revenge…

The electrifying finale to the award-winning Chaos Walking trilogy. Publishing May 2010 in the UK, Ireland and Australia, and September 2010 in the United States and Canada.

OUT OF MY MIND by Sharon M. Draper was a touching, well-crafted read. A gem of a book, just perfect in every way. As a writer I can spot "lazy day passages" in my own writing--places where I obviously wasn't as "on" as I was the day before or after--and I'm getting to the point where I can spot those places in other writers' work as well. But this book? Not a lazy day passage in it. It will make you think and ache and maybe shed a tear or two.

Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. And there’s no delete button. She’s the smartest kid in her whole school—but NO ONE knows it.

Most people—her teachers and doctors included—don’t think she’s capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows. But she can’t. She can’t talk. She can’t walk. She can’t write.

Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind—that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever. At last Melody has a voice . . . but not everyone around her is ready to hear it.

This is the second Ness book on the list, A MONSTER CALLS written by Ness, inspired by an idea by Siobhan Dowd (whose book A SWIFT, PURE CRY I also enjoyed the hell out of this year). This story will break your heart. I almost had an asthma attack trying not cry over the ending (I was on the stair climber at the gym, my preferred reading destination because I WIN at multi-tasking, and had to stop reading and finish it later.) I wept like I haven't wept over a book in years and was, at the same time, so very grateful for this read. If I die young and leave the world while my children are still children, THIS is the book I want them to read. Knowing Siobhan lost her struggle to breast cancer before she could write this story made it all the more heartbreaking to read, but Ness did an amazing job with the execution. The man gets it. Just go. Read this now. Bring tissues.

The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.

But it isn?t the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming...

The monster in his back garden, though, this monster is something different. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.

It wants the truth.

THE DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE is a lovely romance, but it was, as always with Taylor's work, Laini's prose that I fell in love with. She is an amazing, fanciful, magical writer. I want to roll around in her words and hug them and call them my friends. I hope to meet her sometime soon and fan girl all over her in person.

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Magic. THE GIRL WHO CIRCUMNAVIGATED FAIRYLAND IN A SHIP OF HER OWN MAKING is pure magic. I will reread this book again and again. I will read it aloud to my children. I will hold it close and thank the book gods and Catherynne M. Valente for this gift of a read. This is the fairytale adventure I always wanted to read as a kid. Add it to your collection.

Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn’t . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday.

THE IRON THORN is another magical read. I didn't want to leave this world--these two worlds, really, Catilin has created two amazing, layered, imaginative, unique worlds that I can't WAIT to learn more about in THE NIGHTMARE GARDEN. This is an adventure and a love story and an iron flavored fairy tale you don't want to miss.

In the city of Lovecraft, the Proctors rule and a great Engine turns below the streets, grinding any resistance to their order to dust. The necrovirus is blamed for Lovecraft’s epidemic of madness, for the strange and eldritch creatures that roam the streets after dark, and for everything that the city leaders deem Hereticalas born of the belief in magic and witchcraft. And for Aoife Grayson, her time is growing shorter by the day.

Aoife Grayson’s family is unique, in the worst way as every one of them, including her mother and her elder brother Conrad, has gone mad on their 16th birthday. And now, a ward of the state, and one of the only female students at the School of Engines, she is trying to pretend that her fate can be different.

CHIME by Franny Billingsley enchanted me from the first page. Billingsley may be the only writer in the world whose beautiful words make my mind squirmier (in the good way) than Laini Taylor's. I am deeply, deeply saddened that this talented lady doesn't write faster. I want more, mooooorrreeeee. *greedy reader is greedy*

Before Briony's stepmother died, she made sure Briony blamed herself for all the family's hardships. Now Briony has worn her guilt for so long it's become a second skin. She often escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. But only witches can see the Old Ones, and in her village, witches are sentenced to death. Briony lives in fear her secret will be found out, even as she believes she deserves the worst kind of punishment.

Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and mane of tawny hair. He's as natural as the sun, and treats her as if she's extraordinary. And everything starts to change. As many secrets as Briony has been holding, there are secrets even she doesn't know.

And that's that! I have a scheme in place for keeping better track of my 2012 reads (of which I plan for there to be 60 since I'll hopefully have more time to read and have decided not to force myself to finish books that are still boring me by page 50 the way I did this year. Life's too short, you know? And there are too many good reads to waste time with meh ones). Hoping to check in tomorrow with 2012 goals and to share a few things I've been playing with that are making my end of 2011 a lot of fun.

May you all have a happy and safe New Year's Eve!

See you in 2012,

Stacey Jay

Scary Ass Santas. Now with more Scary!!

2011-12-13T15:50:00.000-08:00

And now...

I bring you...

Scary Ass Santas

Santa: Why hello, Mary Jane, what do you want for Christmas?
Mary Jane: Um...not sure...
Santa: Want to help me rip all the heads off these dolls, murder the photographer, and go on a mall-wide killing spree?
Mary Jane: Um...maybe. Tempting. *rubs chin*
Santa: Just let me know...

Baby: Oh, Santa! What snuggly arms you have!
Santa: Soon she will turn around, look upon my visage, and fear Santa, clowns, garden gnomes, and eyebrows forever!! Muahahaha!!

Santa: I'm going to eat your shoulder!
Nancy: Mommy!
Santa: Nom nom! Shoulder!!

And then it got even creepier...

Vampire Santa: No cookies and milk? No bother. I'll SUCK YOUR BLOOD instead!!!

Zombie Santa: Braiinnnssss....I will have them for CHRISTMAS DINNER!

Evil elf Santa: I will use your children's bones to clean my razor sharp evil elf teeth!

Roid rage Santa: I will crush your chimney with my manly muscles and then deliver unto you a season full of shame for that roll hanging over the waist of your pajama pants!! Drop and give me fifty you cocoa swilling softie!

Giant Santa: I will poop on your store. I will sit on it and I will eat your delivery trucks and then I will Poop! on your store! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Mostly naked, beer-swilling, tattooed, crazy-eyed, bandanna wearing Santa. Possibly the scariest Santa of them all. Is he wearing pants? Isn't he wearing pants? The uncertainty is...deeply disturbing.

Mostly naked Santa: I might not be wearing pants! Ahahahaha!!

Happy Holidays.

Stacey

What I did this week

2011-12-08T20:09:00.000-08:00

*UPDATE AT END OF BLOG*

Stacey Jay's blog shame-faced-ly presents...

What the author did this week...

*stress*

Check my email.

*stress*

Work on my new work in progress, decide it sucks, delete 500 words, rewrite 600 words, delete 100 words. Tread water, tread water, tread water.

*stress*

Check my email.

Check my twitter.

Check my other email.

Try to blog. Decide I hate myself and this blog. Troll the internet for creepy photos of Santa Claus. Make inappropriate jokes about Santa Claus with husband. Upload photos and then decide I should save that post for closer to the big day and promptly start hating myself and the blog again.

*stress*

Check all the email.

Write a lot of emails. Avoid the important interview emails because that would involve focusing and I can't do that because of--

Squirrel!!!

And also email....it must be chhhheeeeeeccckkkkeed. At least once very five minutes. (Or less. Fine. Yes! Less. Probably less.)

*stress*

Work on work in progress, decide it is brilliant, write 3000 words, delete all but 200 of them, decide I'm insane and no one will ever want to read a book about people like this. The heroine is insane, the hero has zits. Who is going to read this shit? And how nasty will they be about it on Goodreads.

Decide I hate Goodreads and google alert and myself and this blog and pictures of Santa Claus and actual Santa Claus and Christmas trees and their needles and winter and its long nights and coldness and general winter-y attitude and demeanor.

Check email.

Troll the internet for corsets and Neo Victorian clothing because that's what I'm obsessed with at the moment in addition to--

E-MAI-L. (Not one, but three important emails do I await. Three. Tis more than I can bear.)

*stress*

Go to acupuncture, be advised that I am stressed.

Check email in parking lot of acupuncture office.

Check email again.

Check twitter.

Torture self by clicking google alert links.

Torture self by reminding self of all the people who have not emailed, including those who you sent things and did they even receive them? You don't know because the world and their email accounts hate you. Hate!

Check email.

*stress*

Go see a movie in a rare display of fun-loving carefreeness, start to feel a little better...snuggle with boys on couch watching Disney princess movie (who would have thought you'd get to do that with boys! How awesome are they?). Make breakfast date with hubs. Make major breakthrough on WIP and get up to 13k. Decide to climb down from the ceiling and be less of a freak and step away from the internet but first...a blog...

But what to blog about when you've wasted most of the week being sucked into the pointless stress/goodreads will eat your soul/I am so full of stupid I fart stupid in my sleep/no one loves me/all signs point toward certain doom shame vortex?

*lays blog before you*

*ducks out the back door without a glance back, determined not to repeat the folly of this stupid week*

*gives email the finger on the way out*

*UPDATED TO ADD: I wrote this entry and the very next morning a very important, very shiny, and very thrilling email appeared in my inbox, so feel free to laugh at my stress and angst for it is no more! Hope to be able to share the news soon.

The Past Few Weeks in Pictures

2011-12-01T15:20:00.000-08:00

Hello!

I'm busy. Again. Schemes are afoot. Foots are ascheme. Etc.

Without further ado, here are some pictures.

First up, Juliette Forever (Juliet Immortal's French edition) got a cover and it's lovely:

It looks familiar, no? *wink wink*

I did a signing with Suzanne Young:

I signed the Hicklebee's Wall (squee!)

I met the always licious Bookalicious Pam, who was an amazing host!

I gave Suz a leg hug. She obviously enjoyed it. You know. The usual.

And then I went to Disneyland and photographed my son in action with the ladies:

"Cinderella, it's you and me forever. I will stare deep into your eyes and tell you the secrets of my heart."

"Oh, the sweet things you say, Cinderella! I will never leave your arms!"

"Yes. I can stand just like Prince Charming. Let me show you."

"Take pictures while you can. Soon my love and I shall retreat to our castle where I will further praise her cerulean blue eyes and deft use of cosmetics."

Prince Logan: "What? Can't I spend one minute with another lady?"
Sleeping Beauty: "One minute? It didn't look like one minute."

Prince Lo: "It was one minute! I swear. She was giving me charming lessons."
Sleeping Beauty: "Well, they appear to have worked. I am...charmed."

Prince Lo: "That's right, girl. Give me five!"

Prince Logan: "I've got your charming right here, ladies."

My son also fell DEEPLY into profound fascination with Jack the Pumpkin King and "Sawwy." He has a pumpkin king doll and it hasn't left his side since we returned home.

And that's what I've got people. I was rocking out copy edits this week and helping with an image hunt and didn't have much time for the blog. Hoping next week will be different.

Peace,

Stacey

The Wizard of Oz Party

2011-11-21T15:58:00.000-08:00

Hi!

Remember when I said I was going to post something other than pictures of my kids or notifications about book signings...?

Yeah, well, I lied.

I didn't mean to lie, but my work took an unexpected turn and I've therefore been allowed some unexpected play time and now I will be unexpectedly taking my family to Disneyland. Because that's what happens when Mama gets money from France. (I'd like to take a moment to thank my French publishers, Editions Milan, for acquiring Juliet Immortal and Romeo Redeemed. So excited to be translated into a language I can read!)

But this isn't just a drive by post with cute kid pictures. It's also Thanksgiving appropriate. Because what am I more thankful for than these people? Nothing. Not a thing.

Brace yourself for the onslaught of cute...

Cute!

Also cute.

Cuddly and cute.

Flat out adorable.

"Adorable? Did I hear someone say adorable? I've got your adorable right here."

And the cake.

And the home made decorations (which are still on my wall).

And the blow out!

May everyone celebrating have a magical Thanksgiving.

See you soon,

Stacey

Join me on Friday!

2011-11-16T07:52:00.000-08:00

NOVEMBER 18TH AT HICKLEBEE'S IN SAN JOSE!

Friday, November 18th 6:30-8:00

Hicklebee's Book Store

1378 Lincoln Ave

San Jose, CA 95125

I'll be signing with Suzanne Young (who is the awesome sauce. We're the two in the middle in the picture below. She's on the right with the devious smile. I'm on the left with the exploding frizz hair from dancing like a maniac at the SCBWI pajama party. Don't we look like fun? We are. Come. Have fun with us in San Jose.)

But if you can't come have fun in San Jose, you can still get a signed copy of JULIET IMMORTAL (by me) or A NEED SO BEAUTIFUL (by Suz). Just head on over to Hicklebee's website and enter the code JAYYOUNG10 at checkout (you can include who you want the books signed to there, as well):

http://hicklebees.com/

And yes, I realize this poor blog is due for a post that's not about a signing or my children, but my muse is in the middle of a creative purging and I'm busy holding the bucket while she barfs out ideas. (Ew. So gross. But the ideas aren't gross. Very excited about several of them, actually. Especially the one I started yesterday.)

So I'm off to work. May your day be lovely and hope to see some of you on Friday!

Stacey Jay

Baby Lo Turns Three. As Always, This Calls for a Montage

2011-11-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

Dear Baby Lo,

You are three.

*deep breath*

First of all, I would like to gently chide you for growing up so quickly. Where your brother lingered in his sweet baby-ness well into his fours and fives, you turned two and charged ahead into the sweaty boy yonder without a glance back. I miss your baby snuggles and your chubby thighs and sweet baby smell, but oh how I love the delightful, nutty, fearless, joyful, fierce little manchild you are now.

Let me tell you a few things about the year between the time you turned two and today, the third anniversary of your birth, Lo.

1. You were a master of pretend. You acted out full scenes from How to Train Your Dragon (the near stabbing of Toothless was your favorite, you violent little thing), you were a dinosaur, a unicorn, a tiger, a ninja, a bad guy, Thor, the wicked witch of the west, and a kitten in the mornings when you were sleepy and rolling from your bed. You were often in costume. Because you wanted to be. You really like to get what you want. We all try to appease you whenever we can. When that comes to costumes, that's easy, because you know we love them as much as you do.

2. You were fearless. You climbed, you roller skated, you ice skated, you learned to rule the road in your tricycle and demanded a two-wheeler. You ran faster than the wind, you grew out your hair and were fully committed to being The Boy With Hair (the male version of Rapunzel) for several months. You sang and danced and rolled on the grass and the ground and in the mud. You were often dirty. I gave up on keeping anything you own stain-free. You helped me relax about a lot of things. You are a good teacher, the no mercy kind that I prefer.

3. You were full of joy and pain. You laughed. Oh, how you laughed. You laugh like a maniac. You laugh with no shame. You are loud and wild and your giggles are the definition of infectious. You also cried and hit and kicked and ran away from your parents. You figured out the lock on the door and were halfway to the street by the time we caught you. You refuse to ride in buggies at the store and you do your best to lose whoever is tracking you in the aisles. You don't understand separation anxiety. I think perhaps you have the opposite... Connection anxiety? You are your own man. You must forge your own path, and heaven help anyone standing in your way.

All in all, you remind me too much of myself, my boy. It makes me worry for you sometimes. It makes me giddy at others. I feel so lucky to be your mama. We are going to have so much fun together. I just know it. I promise I will evolve as you do. I will give you as much freedom as I possibly can. And maybe you will grant me a little mercy. Just a little...

Much love to you on your birthday, Lo. You are my precious, magical boy and I feel lucky to have your free-spirit on loan for the guiding. At least for a few more years.

And now I give you, the annual montage, music courtesy of IZ (We're having a Wizard of Oz birthday party so it seemed appropriate.)

Over At Random Buzzers This Week/Questions Answered

2011-11-07T06:23:00.000-08:00

Good Monday!

I'm over at Random House's Random Buzzers site this week answering all your burning questions about JULIET IMMORTAL. So if you have a burning question (or even a mildly chafing question, those are good, too) come see me and post: http://www.randombuzzers.com/the-buzz/boards/topic/1166/126609/

I'll be answering most of the questions there on the site, but after even a casual scroll through the 91 already posted (91. Eep! My fingers are going to be plenty busy this week!) I can see that one question is coming up more than any other. So I thought I'd answer that question here on the blog. If that many people are curious over at the Buzzers, surely some of you are curious, as well.

I've done a longer form answer of this question before, but here's the official version:

Question: Why did you make Romeo the bad guy?

Answer: When we first meet Romeo in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, he is madly in love with a girl. Her name isn't Juliet. It's Rosaline. He goes on and on and on about how miserable he is now that he's fallen out of favor with Rosaline. He even goes so far as to give this speech at the end of one of the early scenes:

I fear, too early: for my mind misgives
Some consequence yet hanging in the stars
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date
With this night's revels and expire the term
Of a despised life closed in my breast
By some vile forfeit of untimely death.
But He, that hath the steerage of my course,
Direct my sail! On, lusty gentlemen. (1.4.104-113)

He speaks of his "despised life." Not despised because he's lost Juliet, but because he'll never be with Rosaline (who has taken a vow of chastity).

And then, all of a sudden--BAM!--he meets Juliet and falls in love at first sight and everything is right with the world...until it isn't. Until he's once again sunk in the depths of despair and contemplating an early death.

Because of these factors--his tendency to crush too hard, his changeable nature, his obsession with death when he's down in the dumps over love--I've always found Romeo an untrustworthy character at best, and a dangerous one at worst. We don't know much about Juliet's life prior to the start of the play, but it seems she's a very sheltered, innocent girl, a girl without a death wish. She's totally unprepared for the seductive force that is Romeo, ill protected from this boy whose "love" eventually leads to her death.

It wasn't hard for me to imagine Romeo a villain, a seductive villain whose charm is part of his arsenal of weapons in the struggle to bring about the end times and the rule of the Mercenaries of the Apocalypse. What was difficult was writing book two, ROMEO REDEEMED, and finding a way to redeem a character who has been so very bad. (Reeeeaaaally bad. Those of you who've read the book know what Romeo has been up to for the past seven hundred years.)

But I turned in the final manuscript for ROMEO REDEEMED about a month ago and I'm really, really pleased with Romeo's story. As much as I've loved giving Juliet her second chance at love, I enjoyed Romeo's story just as much. (It's so nice to see a "bad boy" change his ways. Or...mostly change his ways...)

END OF ANSWER PORTION OF BLOG

All right! I'm off to answer as many questions as I can before the Mom portion of my life takes hold for the day. I'll be back at the Random Buzzers site this afternoon, however, answering more questions. I'll also be doing some giveaways over there, so if you post, be sure to keep checking back for more fun and games.

Have a great one,

Stacey Jay

The First Time Anthology out now! And OTHER news! And a contest!

2011-11-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

Hello my pretties,

(I'm planning a Wizard of Oz party for Baby Lo's third birthday. Look for many Wiz-inspired references ahead. Also craziness, because I get crazy when I'm doing the birthday thing. Anyone who's hung around the blog the past few years and seen the montages and the theme cakes knows this well. And yes, three is getting a montage, and I've already cried twice while making it. I'd be even more sappy about my last baby growing up if I weren't so darn sick of changing diapers. Only I could so perfectly space my children apart that I would be changing diapers almost nonstop for 7 years. I win! Not really. Not at all. So sick of other people's poop.)

Anyway! Diapers--not made of win. This anthology--lots of win!! This is my first time to write a young adult short story and I am so excited and nervous and hoping readers enjoy it.

Go forth and read all about it.
(Be sure to read all the way to the end for the prize winning part...)

You never forget your first...

In THE FIRST TIME, 25 young adult authors contribute 25 stories all about firsts: first loves, first kisses, first zombie slayings, and more. Featuring New York Times bestselling authors Carrie Ryan and Jessica Verday, plus a host of others. From humor to horror, and everything in between, these stories will make you laugh, cry, cheer, (and maybe even scream) as you experience something brand new from the authors that you love.

Contributing authors include: Cyn Balog, Lauren Bjorkman, Leigh Brescia, Jennifer Brown, Kirstin Cronn-Mills, Janet Gurtler, Teri Hall, Cheryl Renee Herbsman, Stacey Jay, Heidi R. Kling, C. Lee McKenzie, Saundra Mitchell, Jenny Moss, Jackson Pearce, Shani Petroff, Carrie Ryan, Sydney Salter, Kurtis Scaletta, Jon Skovron, Kristina Springer, Rhonda Stapleton, Charity Tahmaseb, Jessica Verday, J. A. Yang, and Lara Zielin

Get it from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-First-Time-ebook/dp/B006151SD6/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1320174664&sr=8-7

Get it from Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-first-time-jessica-verday/1107030973?ean=2940013227989&itm=4&usri=jessica%2bverday

If you don't have a Kindle, you can still read this eBook on your phone, computer, iPad, e-reader, etc. Just grab the Amazon Kindle app here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=sa_menu_karl3?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

If you prefer the Barnes & Noble Nook app, get it here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/free-nook-apps/379002321/?cds2Pid=34593

Now how and what do you win?

Here's the how: Be the first person reading this blog to download, read, and review "The First Time" on either Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Then email me via the contact page on my website: http://www.staceyjay.com/contact/

The first lovely reader to do all that will win their choice of a signed copy of Juliet Immortal or a signed copy of Dead on the Delta (U.S. and Canadians only for this one. Not to be a jerk, but I've had bad experiences with paying tons of money to mail internationally and then things getting lost. I'll get you internationals in on the next contest. I promise.)

And now for...

OTHER IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS!!!!

1. I will be at the Kepler's bookstore in Menlo Park TOMORROW at 7 p.m. Please come see me!

NOVEMBER 4TH AT KEPLER'S IN MENLO PARK, CA!

Friday, November 4th at 7 p.m.

Kepler's Books 1010 El Camino Real Menlo Park, CA

94025 650-324-4321

2. I will be at HICKLEBEE'S IN SAN JOSE on November 18th!

Friday, November 18th 6:30-8:00

Hicklebee's Book Store

1378 Lincoln Ave

San Jose, CA 95125

*signing with Suzanne Young (Who is the awesome sauce. Come. Have fun with us in San Jose.)

3. I just found out that Juliet Immortal will release in France in January 2012 under the title JULIET FOREVER. Whee! Very exciting. Can't wait to see Juliet in a foreign language I can read...sort of.

Peace.

Off to prep for my late entrance into the Nano Madness! Anyone else Nano-ing?

Stacey Jay

Creepy Cake N Bake WINNERS!!

2011-10-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

The time has come, my friends...

To announce the winners...

Of the Creepy Cake N Bake 2011!!!!!

But before the titles are awarded, I'd like to give a big thanks to all our creepy author bakers and an especially big thanks to Adam Rex, author of many amazing books for children and young adults including Frankenstein Takes the Cake and Fat Vampire, for judging our event.

Thank you, Adam! (You can learn more about Adam and Fat Vampire by clicking the cover below.)

And now...

The awards...

For most Original Entry: Saundra Mitchell's Zombaby!!

...TROPHY TO BE CREATED...

(In honor of her most original entry, Saundra will be receiving the most original trophy, a Dawn Metcalf original, to be created as soon as our Dawn has the use of her hands once more. She's had an injury, but she's good for this trophy, we swear.)

For Most Coulrophobic: Stacey Jay's (that's me) Zombie Clowns!

The One I Most Wish Weren't Just a Jpeg On My Laptop: Victoria Schwab's Spiders!

Most Unspeakably Non-Euclidian: Dawn's Cthulhu Cupcakes

And now...
1st place in the 1st annual Creepy Cake N Bake 2011...

Winner of the BIG trophy and bragging rights until next year's cake off...

Is....the Bride of Cakenstein...

BEST IN SHOW, Brenna Yovanoff's Organ Meat!

Ah...still as disgusting as it was at first viewing. Thank you, Brenna, for the artistically presented, edible gore. You've set the bar high for all who will follow.

And thanks again to all our participants, especially those who left comments and urged our bakers to even higher heights (or lower lows). In recognition of your contribution, we'll be giving TWO prizes away. Christen will receive a $20.00 gift card to Barnes and Noble. And Heidi wins either a handmade doll from Dawn Metcalf (or a gift card, depending on the strength left in poor Dawn's injured hand.)

May everyone have a spooky, treat filled holiday.

Happy Haunting!

Stacey Jay

Kracken Cupcakes....need I say more?

2011-10-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday!

In honor of the last Creepy Cake N Bake entry by Dawn Metcalf--my partner in crime in conceiving this crazy month of gory sweetness--I have written a poem.

It's sad but true,
the Creepy Cake N Bake is nearly through.
But not before something wackin'
Cupcakes featuring a Kracken.

Now you know why I write prose.

And why Dawn is the master of the fondant universe. Head over to her blog to comment and score your last chance to win: http://dawn-metcalf.livejournal.com/120257.html

Winners announced on Monday!

Have an amazing weekend all,

Stacey

Surreal. Brazilian. Awesome.

2011-10-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

So,

Many of you were around for this post, in which the people at Novo Concieto, who are publishing Juliet Immortal in Brazil, blew my mind with their amazing poster of Romeo and Juliet and the news of a party for the Julieta Imortal book launch.

Now, I'll confess...in my mind this party was pretty swanky. I imagined some nice snacks, decorations, perhaps a yummy Brazilian beverage or two. I did NOT imagine video coverage of the party. I did NOT imagine anything at all like this:

THAT up there, my friends, went beyond blowing my mind. It's a real, professionally produced entertainment segment, covering an amazing party with beautiful people attending. And there were delicious posters and editors giving clever interviews (I don't understand Portuguese, but I could tell they were clever, couldn't you?). There were gift bags and some sort of THEATRICAL PRESENTATION! With a girl wearing TOE SHOES!!! (I don't know what that had to do with the book, but as a former ballerina, I am ALL about anything that involves toe shoes.)

All this. Because of my book. My. Book.

*stunned silence*

*more stunned silence*

I'm...yeah. I am... Wow.

Seriously, I had to smack my husband in the chest a few dozen times and shout "for real?" "for real?" when we watched this on youtube last night. And then we went out and had drinks. Because that felt like what needed to happen and we had a babysitter so what the heck, right?

It was surreal, but exciting. Sur-citing. And this is coming from a woman who has seen her face on the Sci Fi channel more times than she'd prefer in really bad horror movies. But seeing myself on television never affected me the way this video did. The first was kind of a cringe-worthy feeling, this was pure Wow. I mean...here are all this people...coming together and getting dressed up and having fun with something I wrote.

I feel so lucky. And grateful. And inspired to write something even better next time.

*takes a deep breath*

And just in case you didn't catch the Twitter-spasm I had yesterday, here's Novo Concieto's trailer for Julieta Imortal. I've never had a live action trailer for a book before. Let alone one with ORIGINAL BRAZILIAN POP MUSIC. (Everything is at least 35% cooler with Brazilian pop music.)

MANY many thanks to Novo Concieto for an amazing launch and for all the support of the book. And thanks again to my Brazilian readers and to the amazing translator who worked on the book (Who is also my Facebook friend. The internet is cool sometimes. Like when I get to be friends with my Portuguese translator. It is not cool when I have to see my creepy ex-boyfriend recommended as a "friend" every other time I enter into Facebook's realm. Give it up, Facebook. It's not going to happen.)

Also--last but not least--many thanks to my amazing editor at Delacorte, without whom, none of this awesome would be possible. She saw possibilities where others saw "what the heck-er-y." She's a gem, that one. Big time.

Okay, I swear I'll quit plaguing everyone with posts like this. This was just so cool--and completely unprecedented for me, personally--that I couldn't resist posting and thanking all the people again. Because can you really be too thankful to the people? I think not.

Come back tomorrow for the LAST creepy cake entry. Next week we announce the winners! Both author and commenter (so if you haven't commented on the creepy cake posts, go do so. They are marked clearly in earlier entries on this very blog.)

Also, I might have a Birthday Reflections post up soon. I had some. Reflections. On my birthday. And I even jotted them down so I'd remember them after the happy cake coma was over.

Peace,

Stacey

More Crreeeeeepy Cake, Big Weekend Ahead!

2011-10-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hello my pretties!

I'm off to a conference eeeeaaarrrrrllllyyy (too early, let's not think about it) tomorrow morning and then Sunday I'll be visiting with a friend I haven't seen in nearly a decade and on Monday I'm celebrating the Anniversary of my Birth with a day off and probably some wine (who am I kidding. There will definitely be wine! Muahahaha.)

So I figured I'd update you on the Creepy Cake N Bake schedule for the next four days now, before things get too crazy around here.

First up Victoria Schwab BRINGS IT today with her spider nest.

She made that. ALL of it. *bows* *is not worthy*

Head over to her blog to praise her mightily (and score another entry to win): http://veschwab.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/creepy-cake-n-bake-the-sugar-spiders-nest/

Then, tomorrow, be sure to visit C. Lee McKenzie at her blog: http://writegame.blogspot.com/

And on Sunday, cruise by E. Kristin Anderson's for more creepy cake: http://www.ekristinanderson.com/

And THEN on Monday skip over to Natalie Zaman's blog http://nataliezaman.blogspot.com/ for one of the FINAL THREE Creepy Cake N Bake entries. I can't believe we're already rounding this up! And that in a short week and a half will have winners to announce!

Have a lovely weekend,

Stacey Jay

Launch party for Juliet Immortal in Brazil this Friday!

2011-10-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

AND I'M NOT GOING TO BE THERE!!

*sob* *sssooooobbbbbb*

Oh, how I wish I was going to be in Rio. I soooooo want to go to this party for Julieta Imortal. Look at the KILLER poster Novo Conceito made (Juliet is sooooo lovely and Romeo looks positively, yummily WICKED, doesn't he? Love his snarly lip):

"Some rise by sin, others fall by virtue."

That's the tag line in front of the models. The models who--if I am understanding correctly--are going to be AT THE PARTY! And Novo Concieto held a big contest and one reader and a friend get to go to the party all expenses paid and "Romeo" and "Juliet" will be taking pictures with fans and OMG kdajfpwoeijrawopeijrwt!<--*words fail me and my fingers explode*

This is may be the coolest thing that has ever been done in the name of a book of mine. I am slack jawed with amazement. Brazilians rock so hard. Come Friday night I will be lifting my glass in a toast to the awesomeness of Novo Conceito and all my Brazilian readers. (Thank you for your emails, readers! And please, never apologize for your grasp of English. It's much MUCH better than my grasp of Portuguese, I'll tell you that. Besides, you're all Brazilian and adorable. You can do no wrong! *pinches your adorable cheeks*)

Hope everyone going to the party has an amazing time.

And now, back to it.

Happy Wednesday,

Stacey

Drive-by Creepy Cake Update

2011-10-17T08:59:00.000-07:00

*screeches to a stop at the curb* *jumps out of the Edit-Mobile and flings an update*

From this weekend, Robin Bridges' Oz-inspired cake: http://robinbridges.livejournal.com/68803.html

And today, something cute and creepy on the delightful Michelle Zink's blog: http://michellezink.com/blog

*dives back into Edit-Mobile* *screeches away from the curve* *leaves you in the swirling powdered-sugar dust*

Creepy Cake and Random Harry Potter Crafty Bits

2011-10-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

Good Friday!

Time for another Creepy Cake N Bake Update.

First up, we have Tara Hudson's Lots of Bleeding Hearts (Yes. These sweet little pastries actually bleed! Head on over to Tara's blog to see evidence of the ooze in action. Remember to comment on her post for another chance to win a $20 Barnes and Noble gift card or a Creepy Cake doll: http://tarahudsonwrites.blogspot.com/2011/10/creepy-cake-n-bake-my-heart-bleeds-for.html )

Next up, we have Karen Healey's creation (at the time of this post, Karen hasn't posted her dessert yet, but I'm sure it will be creeeeeeppppyyy. So pop over to her blog later today and see what she's got going: http://karenhealey.livejournal.com/)

Lastly, in further random-baked-good's sharing, I give you the Harry Potter cake the kids and I made for our Harry Potty Premier party a few months back:

We also made matching Gryffindor t-shirts (my eldest stepdaughter drew the crest, I scanned and shrunk and printed and ironed on) and then we spent an afternoon making ties out of red and yellow rubbery sheets from the craft store (with elastic to keep the ties around our necks). The result was this:

Aw, my little Harry. Getting so big. Call me selfish, but I'm glad I don't have to send him away to Hogwarts.

Have a great weekend all!

Stacey Jay

Juliet Immortal (Julieta Imortal) now avaiable in Brazil!

2011-10-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

Juliet Immortal is now available in Brazil from Novo Conceito!

This is my first foreign release.

I am excited. (*squee*)

Very. Very excited.

I'm discovering, however, that the only thing more nerve racking than opening a google alert containing a review, is opening a google alert containing a review in a different language. Oh, the fun I've had with the Portuguese to English translation site. (Fun meaning stressful cutting and pasting. I know. I shouldn't cut and paste. I should be working on edits for BLOOD ON THE BAYOU. I just can't resist. The pretty Portuguese words, they tempt us.)

But the pasting is worth it. I'm finding some sweet stuff, like this (translated from Juliana's review, link below.)

"For those who are looking for a fantastic literature differently, Julieta Immortal is an excellent option. Do not be fooled by wrapper or by title, the book truly worth being read!"

Five stars from Juliana Giacobelli's Blog

Hee. So glad to see readers enjoying Juliet in a different language!

Be back on Friday with two new creepy cake links. (This week's rambling, writerly post about outlining postponed until next week, due to the unexpected arrival of 368 pages of copy edits.)

Best,

Stacey Jay

Two New Creepy Cakes, Two Chances to Win (and be creeped!)

2011-10-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all!

First up, Sydney Salter's creepy cake entry from Saturday (Syd was my roomie for SCBWI, and is a total doll, but she makes some adorable witches):

http://mybignose.blogspot.com/2011/10/creepy-cake-n-bake-witch-cupcakes.html

Next up, Brenna Yovanoff. (Who I have not met personally, but who is clearly an evil genius. I mean look at this. I am delightfully horrified!):

http://brennayovanoff.com/2011/10/10/creepy-cake-n-bake-red-velvet-cardiac-event/

Head over to the blogs and post a comment for your chance to win goodies. (And remember, you can still comment on my cake post below until the end of the month.)

Happy Monday,

Stacey Jay

Creepy Cake n Bake #3-Erin Dionne

2011-10-07T07:25:00.000-07:00

The Evil Eye Ball Sees ALL! (EW. Just the word 'eyeball' is disgusting. Go, Erin.)

Go visit her blog and comment for another chance to win a $20 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble or a Creepy Cake Doll: http://bostonerin.livejournal.com/163051.html

I'll be back next week with more Creepy Cake Stuff, an actual writer post (*gasp* I know), and some other fun stuff. (Hoping to get the contest started for the second audio copy of Juliet Immortal very soon.)

Happy Weekend!

Stacey Jay

Creepy Cake N Bake: Attack of the Zombie Clown Cupcakes

2011-10-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

It was a peaceful afternoon at the zombie cake graveyard.

The icing was moist and fresh, the Oreo grave dirt was crumbly, and Trixie, Maria, and Nicole were sure their Confectionery Undeath couldn't get much better, when...

*maniacal laughter sounds from cake left*

Trixie: Unhhh. Unnnhhh? Unh unh...
(Translation for those who don't speak zombie: Aw mah god, Nicole. Did you hear that just now? That sounded like...)

Trixie and Nicole: Unh! UNH! Unhhhhhhh!!!
(Translation: Zombie clown cupcakes! Ahhhhh!!!!)

Nicole: Unh unh unh unh. Unh unh uuuunh uh?
(Translation: Trixie, zombie clown cupcakes scare the brains out of me. What are we going to do?)

Clown number one: Heee hee unhhhh heeee!
(Translation: There's nothing you CAN do! There is no escape!)

Clown number two: Hee unh heee heeeee hee!
(Translation: We'll make you laugh your face off, and then we'll EAT it!)

Clown number three: Hee hee hee!
(Translation: Hee hee hee!)

*menacing silence from cupcake left and rear*

Clown number one: Hee unh...
(Translation: Wait a second. Is that...)

Clowns Number Two and Three: HEE! UNH UNH!
(Translation: A ZOMBIE MIME MINI CUPCAKE!)

Clown Number One: Unh unh uuunnnh. Hee hee!
(Translation: The zombie clown cupcake's sworn enemy!)

Clown Number Two: Unh unh unh. *shudders*
(Translation: They're so small and...quiet! *shudders*)

Clown Number Three: Unh Hee!
(Retreat, retreat!)

Zombie Mime: *menacing silence*

Zombie mime: *more menacing silence*

Zombie mime: *the most menacing silence of all*

And so Trixie, Maria, and Nicole were saved by the zombie mime mini cupcake and all was well. At least until the five o'clock cub scout troop meeting..

(Cake, cupcakes, and mini cupcakes by Stacey Jay. Flowers by Mother Nature, skeleton wall cling by Martha Stewart, the one homemaker who will rule them all.)

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN ZOMBIE CLOWN CUPCAKES!
(Inspired by Martha Stewart's clown cupcakes, but with 100% more zombie and green icing.)

Step One: Using your sharpest, deadliest knife, cut a cone shape out of the top of the cupcake, like so:

Step two: Fill up the sad, empty place left behind in the cupcake's heart with some candy. (Because candy is good for things like this.)

Step three: Scoop out a scandalously huge ice cream scoop full of Nuclear Contamination Green icing.

Step four: Plop that icing down on top of the cupcake. Smooth it around a bit. I like to use a cheese knife. Because I am fancy. (And I have no pastry tools.)

Step Five: Ring the zombie clown cupcake's neck with candies to make a happy clown collar.

Step six: Approach the tic tacs and sprinkly bits carefully. (Warning: The sprinkly bits are a pain in the butt to arrange. A toothpick helps, a little, but still...pain in the butt.)

Step seven: Arrange the pain-in-the-butt sprinkly bits in two X's for zombie eyes and stick a tic-tac below for the zombie nose.

Step eight: Retrieve your cone shape, squeeze a dollop of icing on top, and dip in black sprinkles. Plop on zombie's head.

Step nine: Drizzle red gel icing for blood-splatter decoration, and voila!

HOW TO MAKE A GRAVEYARD CAKE:

Step one: Cover your cake in green icing (you can use a darker color. I went for fluorescent green since I happened to have that color already mixed up.)

Step two: Remove the icing from 10 Oreo cookies, place inside plastic bag, and smash them to bits. Crumble on top to make grave dirt. Use whole cookies to line the outside of the cake for prettification purposes.

Step three-five: Take the grave-shaped sugar cookies you made the night before (you made those, right?), decorate them with edible markers (available at most cake supply stores) and stick them into the Oreo dirt. Hack apart a few small dolls (McDonald's toys are good for this. These are some mini Madame Alexanders my stepdaughters and I dissected a few years ago), and stab them into the dirt so it looks as if they're emerging from the grave.

And voila! Part deux!

This post has been brought to you by: Zombies are Scary, Clowns are Scarier, but Zombie Clowns are the Scariest of All.

All right, people!

The Creepy Cake N Bake-a-Thon is ON! Vote for your favorite entry by commenting below. You can comment on EVERY Cake N Bake post, one entry per post, for a chance to win a $20 gift certificate from Barnes and Noble or an official Creepy Cake N Bake doll! Please include your email in order to be entered to win.

Trophies will be awarded on Halloween for the top creeptastic creations. Winners will be chosen by our special Celebrity Judge, Adam Rex, author of such deliciously creepy creations such as FAT VAMPIRE, FRANKENSTEIN TAKES THE CAKE, FRANKENSTEIN MAKES A SANDWICH, and PSSST!

Here's a list of every stop!

Mon Oct. 3 - Saundra Mitchell
Wed Oct 5 - Stacey Jay (AKA me)
Friday Oct 7 - Erin Dionne
Saturday Oct 8 - Sydney Salter
Mon Oct 10 - Brenna Yovanoff
Wed Oct 12 - Tara Hudson
Friday Oct 14 - Karen Healey
Saturday Oct 15 - Robin Bridges
Mon Oct 17 - Michelle Zink
Wed Oct 19 - Julia Karr
Friday Oct 21 - Victoria Schwab
Saturday Oct 22 - C.Lee McKenzie
Sunday Oct 23 - E. Kristin Anderson
Mon Oct 24 - Natalie Zaman
Wed Oct 26 - Stephanie Burgis
Friday Oct 28 - Dawn Metcalf

Thanks y'all! Hope to see you around the contest. I'll be posting links to every entry right here on the blog for your ease and convenience.

Stacey Jay

Creepy Cake N Bake Entry One: Saundra Mitchell

2011-10-03T07:37:00.001-07:00

Let the games begin!

Head on over to Saundra Mitchell's blog (author of The Vespertine and The Springsweet) to witness the horror that is the first entry in the 1st Annual Creepy Cake N Bake Contest.

(Warning: Prepare to be disturbed. Very, very disturbed.)

http://saundramitchell.com/blog/2011/10/03/creepy-cake-n-bake-zombaby-bread/comment-page-1/#comment-5571

*sighs* That Saundra, she sets the bar high. *takes a deep breath* *heads over to grocery store to procure last item on own creepy cake-making list*

On Wednesday, the action will be going down right here on my blog, people! Hope to see you here. And remember, you can comment once on each Creepy Cake post, and each comment gets your name in the pot to win goodies. (Just be sure to leave your email addy, as well.)

See you Wednesday (or tomorrow if I get organized. I have some cool pictures to share from my husband's first wine crush this weekend. Thought some of you might find that interesting.)

Stacey Jay

1st Annual Creepy Cake N Bake Starts MONDAY!

2011-09-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

16 Authors

16 Creepy Creations

2 disturbing hand made trophies (for the 1st and 2nd place author winners)

2 not-so-disturbing prizes for those who comment (Vote for your favorite entry by commenting. You can comment on EVERY Cake N Bake post, one entry per post, for a chance to win a $20 gift certificate from The Book Depository or an official Creepy Cake N Bake doll! Please include your email in order to be entered to win.)

1 Celebrity Judge-Adam Rex, author of FAT VAMPIRE and FRANKENSTEIN TAKES THE CAKE (who else is better qualified than a man who writes about monsters stealing pastry, I ask?)

Here's a list of participants for your future convenience. I'll be posting links to each author and their cake as the Cake N Bake progresses.

Mon Oct. 3 - Saundra Mitchell
Wed Oct 5 - Stacey Jay
Friday Oct 7 - Erin Dionne
Saturday Oct 8 - Sydney Salter
Mon Oct 10 - Brenna Yovanoff
Wed Oct 12 - Tara Hudson
Friday Oct 14 - Karen Healey
Saturday Oct 15 - Robin Bridges
Mon Oct 17 - Michelle Zink
Wed Oct 19 - Julia Karr
Friday Oct 21 - Victoria Schwab
Saturday Oct 22 - C.Lee McKenzie
Sunday Oct 23 - E. Kristin Anderson
Mon Oct 24 - Natalie Zaman
Wed Oct 26 - Stephanie Burgis
Friday Oct 28 - Dawn Metcalf

Be SURE to come back Wednesday for my very own Creepy Creation. (Now I just have to figure out what to make! Eep! *off to plot repulsive pastry*)

Have a great weekend all!

Stacey Jay

Where I was. Evidence of Haircut.

2011-09-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

Y'all.

I'm tired. Let me tell you 'bout where I've been...

I was in San Diego. I did a book signing with Kiersten White and Nancy Holder (who are both fabulous and obviously have great taste in haircuts *wink wink*) at Mysterious Galaxy (which is also fabulous. Go buy something from them right now if you are in San Diego. Loved these people. Seriously. This isn't only because they gave me the coolest coffee mug ever.)

Evidence of signing and my new haircut (Short and more blond! Because I grew weary of long and brown, and also medium length and brownish blond. Up next is probably something from the red family.):

(I'm in the middle. The shiny one who didn't have time to powder her nose before the signing. I barely had time to eat. This was the way most of the weekend did pass. In a haze of running about and not eating and talking a lot. It was fun. But now I am tired. And hungry.)

I also did a book club meeting on Saturday night in San Diego (Amazing! So fun! You should have me over for your book club. I will entertain you with stories and help make the appetizers.)

And I stopped by the Sonoma County Literary Festival on Saturday and had a GREAT panel with Lisa Desrochers and Sophie Littlefield (Who are both fab. I want Sophie to adopt me as her little sister--kindred spirit alert--and Lisa to take me along on her next trip to Singapore.)

To everyone I met this Thursday-Saturday, thank you for your amazingness. It was a pleasure to book talk and share with you. And I hope all you people who BOUGHT OUT the Sonoma County Lit Fest's supply of Juliet Immortal (I think this is the first time I've sold out of books ever!) know that I love you. Really. I do. My heart is full of squishy feelings and that's not just because I'm exhausted and made myself go to the gym this morning anyway.) ((I had to work out. Between all the editing and traveling and sitting, I felt like my muscles were atrophying.))

Bye! I will see you later this week. When my edits for Romeo Redeemed are finished *fingers crossed*

Stacey Jay

Blood on the Bayou cover reveal!

2011-09-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

I give you...

The Blood on the Bayou cover! (I just love it. The artist is so talented and I am thrilled to pieces to see Gimpy getting in on the action.)

About Blood on the Bayou (available March 27th, 2012):

First came a terrorist attack. Then the mutations—and Fey who had lived in harmony with humans turned deadly. Now, most people hide behind iron gates. But those who are immune—and those with enough courage—can venture into the Louisiana Delta . . . and a nightmare world of magic.

No good deed goes unpunished…

Annabelle Lee, a Fairy Containment and Control agent blessed—or cursed—with immunity to Fairy venom, is once again called upon to help solve a murder deep in the bayou. But this investigation is off the books and her ex-lover, Hitch, is leading the hunt for a secret chemical weapons lab and an FBI mole providing it with human lab rats.

Helping Hitch means certain interpersonal disaster with her estranged boyfriend, but Annabelle knows what it feels like to be a lab rat. Her new, fairy-attack-induced paranormal powers seem to have few negative side effects, but would that change if she stopped injecting herself with the mystery drug delivered to her by the even more mysterious—not to mention ridiculously attractive—Tucker? A man who can turn invisible at will, and who makes no bones about how dead she’ll be if she reveals his secrets?

As the murder investigation progresses, Annabelle learns Tucker isn’t the only one with secrets, and that the only thing that cuts deeper than a friend’s deception, are the lies we tell ourselves.

Praise for Dead on the Delta

“A story that will lure you in with its sensual and mysterious tone. . . . One hell of a ride.”

—CultureMob

“Unflinching and unforgettable.”

—Award-winning author Jeri-Smith Ready

Pre-order at Indiebound, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or wherever you like to be buying those books.

As always your pre-order is so appreciated, but in this case it is also vital to (hopefully) continuing to write more books in this world. I'm not presently contracted for any more books in the Annabelle Lee series. Strong sales of DEAD ON THE DELTA and strong pre-order numbers for BLOOD ON THE BAYOU will be very important in determining whether or not I get to write book 3 (and hopefully beyond). And I'll tell you...I've got some kick ass things planned for book three. Especially for Gimpy, who has way more secrets than the average cat (you'll learn a little about that at the end of Blood on the Bayou).

Thanks to everyone who posted about this cover reveal yesterday! We authors are always the last to know and I have been dying to share this thing with you for weeks.

All best and happy weekend.

Stacey

Save the Date(s)! Appearences throughout Cali!

2011-09-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

Now I will obnoxiously update you as to WHERE I WILL BE! All in caps! Here we go!!

SEPTEMBER 22ND AT MYSTERIOUS GALAXY IN SAN DIEGO!
(With Nancy Holder and Kiersten White. Never met these two, but they seem like rocking chicks and I'm sure we'll be an entertaining bunch. So come on out!)

Thursday, September 22nd, at 7:00 p.m.
Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore
7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Suite #302
San Diego, CA 92111
Tel: 858.268.4747

Saturday September 24th at 1:45 at Mary's Pizza on 4th Street downtown Santa Rosa, Ca as part of the Sonoma County Literary Festival. I'm on a paranormal YA panel with some amazing people.

OCTOBER 22ND AT THE SCBWI NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CONFERENCE AT MILL VALLEY COLLEGE IN OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA!

(Details TBA on this one. We're doing a signing mid-day, but not sure if it's open to the public. Stay tuned.)

NOVEMBER 4TH AT KEPLER'S IN MENLO PARK, CA!

Friday, November 4th at 7 p.m.
Kepler's Books
1010 El Camino Real
Menlo Park, CA 94025
650-324-4321

NOVEMBER 18TH AT HICKLEBEE'S IN SAN JOSE!

Friday, November 18th 6:30-8:00

Hicklebee's Book Store

1378 Lincoln Ave

San Jose, CA 95125

*signing with Suzanne Young (who is the awesome sauce. We're the two in the middle in the picture below. She's on the right with the devious smile. I'm on the left with the exploding frizz hair from dancing like a maniac at the SCBWI pajama party. Don't we look like fun? We are. Come. Have fun with us in San Jose.)

And that's what I've got!! Back to rewriting Chapter Twenty-one of Romeo Redeemed.

Peace,

Stacey

Heeelp Meeeee....Create a contest, win a prize

2011-09-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

EDITED TO ADD: And the winner is....KRYSTAL!! (I'll be announcing the details on the new trailer contest later this week.)

Help!

So I have these copies of the audio book of JULIET IMMORTAL. I need to run a contest to give two away, but I don't know what kind of contest to run and I fail at contests and so I've decided to ask for help. (Please. Heeeeeeelp meeeeee....)

I figure I'll run a contest to help me devise a contest! The winner of the contest to think up a contest will win an audio book of JULIET IMMORTAL. Then, I'll run the contest the winner of the "thinking up a contest" contest suggested. And the person who wins that contest will win an audio book of JULIET IMMORTAL and a super surprise signed book from my personal collection. (It will be a new release from 2011).

Here's what I need from you awesome people:

1. Think up a contest (with rules and all the stuff that contests have) and leave a comment on this blog post.

2. That's it. I'll choose the contest I think is the sparkliest--that will draw the most attention to itself and the book--and let you all know who won next Tuesday (one week from today).

And....go! (Please. For real. I am so bad at these things.)

And also here's a review of the audio book. (The audio book angel enjoyed it, you might just enjoy it too!):

http://www.theaudiobookangel.com/1/post/2011/08/juliet-immortal-by-stacey-jay.html

And that's all.

Gotta go wrangle a synopsis. Will be glad when this recent synop-sizing phase of my life is over.

Happy Tuesday!

Stacey Jay

ETA: United States and Canada only for the winners. Sorry, just can't afford international shipping at this point.

Pikachu Cake. Missing Ear. Send Help.

2011-09-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

Twas a happy afternoon at the Jay residence, when....

A birthday party! Whee!

Pee-ka. Peek-a-pee. Peeeekkkkaaaaa...
Translation: Help me. Heeeelllppp meeeee....

Peeka! Peekachu! Peek-a-pee Pikachu! Peeeka! Pee!
Translation: The small one ate my ear. My ear! He stuck his face down and just...ate it! *gasp* *shivers* *save me* *need saving*

Num!! EAR GOOD!

Sorry...that...wasn't funny was it? Tragic, the loss of a Pokemon's ear... *blinks* *attempts to appear repentant for massacre*

It's okay, bro. This little yellow guy tastes pretty awesome.

Pik....aa....peeee.....
Translation: I go bravely into that dark night, er...stomach.

Thank you!

These random Mommy Blogger posts have been brought to you by NOT WANTING TO BLOG ABOUT MY BOOK and SICK OF BLOGGING ABOUT MY BOOK FOR OTHER WEBSITES and IT'S ONLY FUN TO BLOG ABOUT THE BOOK WHILE YOU'RE WRITING IT AND THAT NEVER HAPPENS BECAUSE PROMOTION COMES MONTHS LATER and I LIKE CAKE and I WIN AT CAKE AND COOKIES.

For evidence of this win see THIS and THIS.

Back on Monday or Tuesday with something about writing or books or publishing or reviews or contests or etc. Promise.

Have a great weekend!

Stacey Jay

Easter was a long time ago...

2011-08-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know,

Easter was a long ass time ago. I have been so hella busy I haven't had time to even download the pictures. But now, thanks to a brief break brought to you by Summer in Publishing, I finally processed the Easter pictures of Loin Fruit the Younger (older bro was with his grandparents at the time), and they are adorable.

So I share with you. Photos by me, thoughts by B. Lo. (because this is totally what he was thinking.)

Ah, the train. Always a good place to reflect on the brevity of life, man's inhumanity to man, Mom's inhumanity to me when she chose this lime green puppy sweater vest...

Come on, Mom! Get your act together! Things are happening up there!

Holy Smashed Easter Eggs, this bunny is hysterical!

You. You know who you are. You rock, and you know that.

Don't let the angel face fool you. I will destroy that egg hunt. Destroy it.

And that's my kid. And he just woke up from nap 30 minutes early. Mama out.

Peace

Juliet Immortal Questions Answered

2011-08-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

So...

I've been getting a lot email about JULIET IMMORTAL. Which is awesome! I love your emails. I love hearing your thoughts on the story, so keep those coming. But!--

A lot of you are asking the same questions, so I thought it would be good to take one of the emails and answer the queries within on the blog. That way, the next time a lovely reader writes with one of these same questions, I can direct them here. (I love to answer your email, but sometimes I just don't have time to go super in depth in my response. I have to leave myself time to revise and edit and write the next book and pick up my kids from school and play with them and use the bathroom. Stuff like that.)

Anyway! The lovely Reader Ashley gave her permission for me to answer her queries here. So I have done so.

Reader Ashley: I love the story of Romeo & Juliet and I just wanted to ask you some questions about it and your book. In your book, you split Romeo and Juliet up...Did you believe that Romeo and Juliet were too good to be true and really weren't meant to be together?

Stacey: The major problem I've always had with Romeo and Juliet is the fact that Romeo is desperately in love with another girl (Rosaline) mere minutes before he meets and "falls in love" with Juliet. I believe that people can fall in love quickly, but not minutes after they've been moping over someone else. This made Romeo an untrustworthy character for me. I hated to see innocent Juliet falling for him so quickly. I could see how horribly awry that story could have gone even if they weren't from warring families.

And I think that is exactly what Shakespeare intended--he was a genius after all. I think that aspect of Romeo's character was Shakespeare adding another tragic detail into the larger tragedy of the story. These poor kids killed themselves for what--on Romeo's part at least--was probably just another crush, a momentary infatuation that would have faded away the next time he met a pretty girl at a party. Sad. *sniff* But then I'm not a fan of stories where people die at the end. I've had too many people I love die, I suppose.

Reader Ashley: Where did you get the idea to write this story?

Stacey: As I said, I've never been a Romeo fan. I am, however, a Juliet fan. I wanted to see this character who was manipulated by almost everyone in her life have the chance to make her own decisions, to be a brave, strong character who takes back her own story.

Reader Ashley: I love to write, and I was wondering if you had any advice for young writers like me?

Stacey: Read as much as you can. Read a wide variety of books. Write every day. Repeat.

Reader Ashely: Also although your book was a fictional story, did any of the ideas or characteristics or thoughts of Juliet come from any of your own life?

Stacey: The idea that we need to learn to forgive ourselves for past mistakes is definitely something I pulled from my own life. I'm a type A personality, but I'm also very impulsive. (I've tried to remedy that. It is impossible. Sometimes we just are the way we are.) The combination can make for some harsh self judgment at times. It took me a long time to learn that what I was doing was harmful--not only to myself, but to the people I love, who I was unable to love in the way they deserved because I was too busy beating myself up. I think this is a problem for a lot of people, especially young women, who look for someone else to love them in order to prove they are lovable, rather than realizing they are lovable already to begin with.

If there's one thing I hope readers take away from this book is that they should give themselves a break. You're going to screw up and make mistakes. And then--even though you'll try to learn from them--you might even make the same mistake again. That's why I chose to mirror Shakespeare's play and have Juliet fall in love very quickly the second time.

Everyone makes mistakes and a LOT of us need to make those mistakes several times before we learn from them. It's okay. As long as you try your best to be a good person and do no harm to yourself or others, you're doing the best you can do. The mistakes are okay.

And sometimes, they might not turn out to be mistakes. One day, many years ago I impulsively quit my waitress job in New York and moved to Los Angeles. In L.A. I couldn't find a job. Anywhere. I almost starved. I lived in a constant state of terror and ended up making several poor life decisions because of that. Several years later I impulsively quit my tutoring job and decided to write books. I'd never written a book. I had no idea what I was doing. By all rights, it should have been another dumb mistake. But six years later, I'm multi-published and earning a living. (Not a great living, but a living. Certainly MUCH better than I did as an actor and eating oatmeal three meals a day.)

So yeah...life happens. As long as you're not a douche, give yourself a break. *hugs* *passes around some cookies* *looks like some of you could use a cookie*

Reader Ashley: Also Gemma was a whole other story yet to be discovered and told. What, in your mind, happened to her to make her...? She seemed so troubled, so lost.

Stacey: You'll find out in Romeo Redeemed. Gemma's back story was firm in my mind when I wrote JULIET IMMORTAL, but there wasn't a chance to deal with her issues in that story. We learn more about her in ROMEO REDEEMED.

Reader Ashley: Your book was extremely inspirational for me as a writer and thank you for writing something so powerful and wonderful!

Stacey: Thank you so much. I'm so glad you enjoyed the read.

*end Q and A*

Hope that was helpful, and thank you again to everyone who has written to chat about Juliet. Your emails make me smile and think and feel very grateful for the opportunity to tell you stories.

Stacey

Healdsburg, California Signing on Saturday! And guys...

2011-08-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

I know! I've been an absentee blogger the past few weeks.

But I am deep in edit mode for BLOOD ON THE BAYOU and things are happening people! Unexpected things, but pleasing. I'm going to finish that up this weekend and hopefully have more time to play soon. (Round two of ROMEO REDEEMED edits are on their way, but I thhiiiinnnk I have a little more wiggle room on the turn around for those. *knocks on wood*)

In addition to edits, I've also been living a little. *gasp* I know. Not my usual, but nice. I've been picking blackberries with the family, going on mini afternoon adventures to the park and the biker bar down the street (they have a kids' menu, so it's cool) and the river beach and the redwoods and just driving around exploring and stopping at the pie stands. Sonoma County has a lot of places to buy really good pie. If you're in the area go out right now and buy some pie. It will be awesome. The strawberry rhubarb I have in my fridge right now is to die for.

Also, JULIET IMMORTAL made the 2011 American Bookseller's Association's list for best books for children. For real: http://news.bookweb.org/news/2011-abc-best-books-children-catalog-title-list-preview

I am thrilled. Completely. *has no words*

And also I'm signing in Healdsburg, California at the Copperfield's Bookstore on the Square this Saturday from 1-3 p.m. Please come see me, or tell your friends to come see me. Or your mom. Or your grandma. Or grandpa. Or your grandpa's cousin's dog. I can talk to anyone and I would love not to be alone all afternoon smiling my creepy smile at whoever walks in the door<--can't help it, the smile gets creepy when I'm alone in a book signing situation. Be warned. But I don't bite. Often...

Happy late Thursday/early Friday,

Stacey Jay

Juliet Immortal Book Events-Cali School Announcement

2011-08-17T13:41:00.001-07:00

Hello!

I'm going to be some places to promote JULIET IMMORTAL. And I'd LOVE for you to be in some places with me. I'd also love to be more places--if you have a place that's close to a place where I'm already going to be and would like to write and ask me to be in your place, too. Maybe we can work something out, if you know what I'm sayin'...

No?

I clarify:

This is where I'm going to be:

Saturday, August 27th from 1-3 pm at Copperfield's in Healdsburg, Ca for an informal meet and greet and signing. Come. Hang out with me. They have an adorable town square. Afterward, we can all go out there and have some frozen yogurt and throw sticks in the fountain and talk about whatever you want to talk about. Books. Authoring. Life. Love. Cookies. Why life doesn't involve more cookies. It'll be good.

Thursday September 22nd at 7 p.m. at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore in San Diego, Ca for a signing with Nancy Holder and Kiersten White. I haven't chatted with the ladies yet, but I imagine we will all be doing some chatting (as well as signing). I will bring some goodies to give away. I will also maybe bring my son's Buzz Lightyear gun and start an informal game of laser tag. (This bookstore sounds so cool. And galactic. And mysterious. I think they'll be fine with a little laser tag, right?)

Saturday September 24th at 1:45 at Mary's Pizza on 4th Street downtown Santa Rosa, Ca as part of the Sonoma County Literary Festival. I'm on a paranormal YA panel with some amazing people. And you can eat pizza while we gab! And then we can walk out to Railroad Square (another fun one) and there will be books to buy and lots of fun people to chat with and the day will sparkle with magic. I promise.

So that's where I'm going to be. As far as where I could be, I wanted to extend an invitation to any middle school or high school in the San Diego area that might want me to come chat about books on Friday the 23rd of September. I've got a private book club engagement that evening (they're going to give me wine and ask me shameless questions, I'm a little nervous), but I'm free during the day and I'd love to spend my time wisely. I won't have a car, so I would have to be picked up and ferried around, but other than the investment of your time and gas money, I won't be charging for visits in California this year.

I'm so so sooooo sickened by the cuts to our California schools. We need librarians and libraries and extracurricular activities and school days (just saw my son's calendar and he'll be having half days nearly 1/4 of the school year because of the budget cuts). While the very rich fight to keep their tax break, our children suffer. Well, I'm CERTAINLY not one of the very rich, but I believe our kids are the future (sing it, Whitney!) and I'm going to be putting my money and time where my mouth is.

For the rest of 2011, I will come to any Sonoma, Napa, or Mendocino county school for the price of gas (10-15 bucks?). I will bring free books, I will share my love of books for free, and I will hug you tight and tell you everything's going to be okay (and maybe if we all demand reform in our state, someday it will be).

So contact me via the contact page: http://www.staceyjay.com/contact/ with the subject line "Come visit my school!" and we will find a date that works. (FYI, I'll be scheduling these free visits on Fridays only because that's the only day that I have childcare for my youngest after 11 a.m.)

So there you go. Let's do this, people!!

And also, to everyone who picked up a copy of JULIET IMMORTAL at a store this week. Thank you. You are made of sparkle magic. Our bookstores need you so much and...I appreciate your support for the story so much and yeah...you rock. Also, I'm trying to think up a good contest for the copy of the audio book. I've got nothing yet, but stay tuned. Also, if you go to pick up Juliet Immortal at the store this week, maybe you should take a picture of the shelf with your phone. Maybe...just thinking...contests with pictures are fun.

Have a wonderful rest of your Wednesday,

Stacey Jay

Juliet Immortal is a notable read, we have a winner, and Brianna has a question

2011-08-12T13:39:00.001-07:00

So...

Juliet Immortal is a notable book over at the Book Smuggler's blog.

They said this: "Although the book isn’t quite what one would expect given the premise of the novel, it’s a beautiful story of self-discovery and the ability to love, even in the face of impossible adversity. Easily the best paranormal YA romance that I have read in a very long time, I wholeheartedly recommend Juliet Immortal to lovers of romance, and to those who long for a more empowered heroine in this very popular genre." (Read the full review at: http://thebooksmugglers.com/2011/08/book-review-juliet-immortal-by-stacey-jay.html )

They wrote a very honest, heart-felt, thoughtful review and I appreciate it so very much. A writer can't ask for more. I've got some more reviews to share next week, but I won't overwhelm you right now.

In other news, I have received audio book copies of JULIET IMMORTAL. Stay tuned for a way to win a copy of your own. In other winning news, the winner of the signed hardcover is....Kreag! I've sent you an email, Kreag. As soon as I get a snail mail, I'll get that book out to-- (Skip that. Just got an email from Kreag. That little scamp was waiting by the inbox. *pinches Kreag's cheeks*)

Thank you to everyone who entered and who helped get the word out about JULIET IMMORTAL. If you could keep spreading that word, I'd appreciate it. I learned a lot at the SCBWI conference last weekend, but one especially pertinent fact is that I SUCK at promoting myself/my books (no one had ever heard of me. I'm on my fifth YA book. So...yeah). I'm trying to improve. In the meantime, your help is very appreciated. (Very. Very very.)

Also, Brianna had a question in the comments section of the last blog post. She asked some good things that I get asked a lot so I thought I'd reply here. (Thanks Brianna! Her portion is in italics.)

"Hello, I wasn't sure where to write this..."

Stacey: Questions in the comment area are fine, but the best way to reach me with questions is via the contact page on my website. This is the link: http://www.staceyjay.com/contact/ I sometimes get busy and don't check the blog as much as I should, but I always check my email.

"But I just finished Dead on the Delta. I love Annabelle she's perfectly messed up and real. In some UF a female lead has little to no flaws because they HAVE to be the Alpha female which can be tiring. It's nice to see all the trials and problems that make a person stronger and what makes them who they are."

Stacey: Thank you so much. I took a risk writing Annabelle. I knew she would be too flawed for some people. I'm glad, however, that she was pleasingly flawed for you.

"SO I was wondering if there will be another book and if so, when will it come out?"

Stacey: Yes. Book 2, BLOOD ON THE BAYOU, will be out spring 2012. March or April. I've seen conflicting reports. After that, whether or not there will be more books in the series will depend on the sales of books 1 and 2. So please, if you've enjoyed DEAD ON THE DELTA, post a review on Barnes and Noble's website, Amazon, goodreads, your blog, etc, and tell a friend that they could find worse ways to spend 7 bucks. (Skip the combo meal, get a juicy urban fantasy!) This series means a lot to me and I know many of you have enjoyed it. I hope together we can keep Annabelle in business for at least one more book.

I'll be back next week with that contest and some thoughts about the SCBWI conference. It was my first and it really um...changed my life. It did. Kind of cheesy. Unexpected, certainly--I thought I knew what writer's conferences had to offer. I did not. I do not know everything. I know this, but it is also good to be reminded of how little I know every now and then and it is wondrous to be so pleasantly, perfectly surprised. SCBWI gave me what I've been needing so badly this past year. I'm excited to share what that is next week.

Best, and thank you for your support during JULIET IMMORTAL'S release week. Seeing so many of you excited about this read has meant a lot.

Stacey Jay

JULIET IMMORTAL hits stores August 9th

2011-08-03T15:54:00.000-07:00

It's almost here...

I can't believe it. *deep breath*

"These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume."
—Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

The most tragic love story in history . . .

Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But Romeo didn't anticipate that Juliet would be granted eternital life, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light.

For 700 years, Juliet has struggled to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent, while Romeo has fought for the dark side, seeking to destroy the human heart. Until now.

Now Juliet has found her own forbidden love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy their happiness.

"Haunting and devastatingly romantic, Juliet Immortal gives new meaning to the words 'till death do us part.'" -Michelle Zink, author of the Prophecy of the Sisters trilogy

Order online at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Indiebound, or Book Depository.

Or order your signed copy from Copperfield's Books in California (U.S. only).

Thank you to everyone who's already pre-ordered Juliet, and thank you to all of you who plan to buy the book when it hits stores. I so hope you enjoy it. I gave it everything I had during a brutal time in my personal life last summer. It means a lot to me. I hope it will entertain you and maybe encourage you to be a bit kinder to yourself. Because kindness is good.

I'm going to be at SCBWI in L.A. for the next several days. I hope if you're going you'll look me up. Tweet at me or something. (And if you're looking to spot me, remember I've got the blonder short hair now. Maybe too blond...hmm...is there such a thing? ;).)

Best and good wishes and thank you again for your support,

Stacey Jay

A must buy anthology

2011-08-02T18:48:00.001-07:00

Product Description:

There's nothing like home renovation for finding skeletons in the closet or otherwordly portals in the attic. Now, for any homeowner who's ever wondered, "What's that creaking sound?" or fans of "how to" television who'd like a little unreality mixed in with their reality shows, editors Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner return with an all-new collection of the paranormal perils of Do-It-Yourself.

Sookie Stackhouse resides in these pages, in a never-before-published story by #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris. And New York Times bestselling authors Patricia Briggs, James Grady, Heather Graham, Melissa Marr, and nine other outstanding writers have constructed more frightening and funny fixer-upper tales guaranteed to shake foundations and rattle readers' pipes.

What's Missing from that description:

This anthology also contains a short story from author Stacia Kane, my dear friend and a damned good author. For this reason alone, this antho should be a must buy.

Go forth and check it out on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Indiebound. (Or wherever you like to be buying the books.)

Back tomorrow with some pre-conference, pre-Juliet Immortal release (7 DAYS!!! ONLY SEVEN DAYS!) blogging action.

Peace,

Stacey

Special Alert to International Readers

2011-07-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

Hello!

BEGIN SPECIAL ALERT FOR INTERNATIONAL READERS:

If you order a copy of JULIET IMMORTAL (from Book Depository or whatever international outlet you prefer) and would like me to send you a signed book sticker to paste inside (which is going to be pretty, I'm printing them today with a fancy red border) and an excerpt of ROMEO REDEEMED and a Juliet Immortal magnet, please send an email to stacey.jay.ya at gmail dot com on or before August 15th. I'm going to be paying to send those out myself as a thank you to my international readers--especially those who tried to order from Copperfields and couldn't due to shipping constraints.

Presently I only have addresses for Katrina and Gemma, but I think I should have more based on the emails saved in my inbox. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to hassle every one of you for an address. So if you would like an envelope to be heading your way, please do get that over to me asap.

I'm sending the first two out next week before I leave for the SCBWI conference. (Anyone going? It's my first. I'm nervous.)

END SPECIAL ALERT.

Back to work...

Stacey

Oh, California...

2011-07-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

Let's be together forever...

The plump juicy blackberries (and ripe plum) I picked while on a walk behind my house. My HOUSE. And they're just...there. On the side of the road. Waiting to be picked.

*basks in California's awesomeness*

Happy Friday and lovely weekend to you all,

Stacey Jay

JULIET IMMORTAL reminder and I am probably James Patterson*

2011-07-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

Remember!

You could win a signed hardcover of JULIET IMMORTAL. Learn how here: http://staceyjayya.blogspot.com/2011/07/win-signed-hardcover-of-juliet-immortal.html (I've already received several entries. Sorry I haven't written back to all of you yet. I will confirm that your entries were received in the next few days. I'm just busier than a cat covering up shit<--as my grandmother used to say-->and haven't gotten around to that yet.)

In other news, my super sekrit pen name got an amazing Kirkus review that I can't share. Because the pen name is super sekrit (due to contractual conflicts that arose after a change in release date and other factors that I won't discuss in detail at this point in time, but may later if I find myself in the mood and with some time to spare<--so mysterious, right? Ooooo, *waggly mystery fingers*.)

But anyway, the great review of super sekrit pen name's first young adult book really warmed my cockles. And it made me think about this industry and how nice it is that writers can branch out and essentially *become* someone else with a change in pen name and a shift in style. Sure, there will always be a few hard core people who will figure out that so-in-so is now writing as so-in-sow and blah blah blah, but on the whole, a new pen name can be a chance for a fresh start. You can't do that as an actor. Your face is always your face and once people know your face as Ms. Jay, you can't ever convince them that face belongs to Mrs. X. You know what I'm saying? (Though I have really started to miss acting all of a sudden. Maybe because I realized the other day that I haven't acted since I was pregnant with my first son, over seven years ago. That's a long time to go without doing something that was my driving passion from the ages of 9-24. Guess it just goes to show that people can change. Dramatically. Or anti-dramatically in my case.)

So anyway, I am grateful to be a writer, and to have the chance to go in new, fresh directions while continuing on in established directions.

And I share this not be mysterious or frustrating, but as a gentle reminder to support "new" authors. First of all, because new authors need your love. (Though we all need your love, what with the publishing world in such flux. So thank you for your love and the money you spend on books and the time you take to wait on requests from the library instead of illegally downloading books online.) And second of all because--who knows? That newbie might be one of your old writer favorites in disguise.

Bonne journee<--I am off to mail some things to France, because there will be a French edition of JULIET IMMORTAL, which is very exciting.

Stacey

*no, I'm not James Patterson. But next time I take a new pen name, I think I'll be a boy. Because I can do that, too. I can grow a fictional writer penis** and write manly things, and as along as I dress in drag at book signings, no one will ever know.<--Or maybe I'll just skip the book signings. I wouldn't make a very convincing man. My voice is just too high to pull that off, even if I had nice fake facial hair and a manly walk.)

**I have just used the word "penis" in two consecutive blog entries, which amuses me because I was asked to cut it from the manuscript I'm editing at the moment (which I did, because I get where Wonderful Editor is coming from, but I was sad because I think penis can be a funny word in the correct context. And a fun word in others***)

***Kind of struggling to find the balance between my YA writer persona and my adult writer persona and what is appropriate here on the blog where I have teen and adult readers. Am starting not to worry about it. Am also wondering why sex/sex jokes/sexuality/etc is considered an "edgy" or "adult" thing. I mean...sex is sex and it's not something only people over the age of 18 or 21 are doing, you know? And can't we just relax about it a little already? I don't know. On one hand, it is a serious thing, especially for teens. On the other hand, I'd like to see the interaction viewed with a little more levity. Making it such a big huge deal also creates a lot of angst and misery for a lot of people--teen and adult--when the romance or affair or whatever it is that's going down doesn't work out. Because a lot of them don't. Hm. This is a big topic. I shouldn't address it in an aside. Let me make a note to get further into this at a later date.

p.s. Apologies to my livejournal readers, but I haven't been able to get on the site in the past three days. I will cross post there again as soon as possible. (And I will also post that in depth video of the treadmill desk's construction that many of you requested as soon as I possibly can.)

And...end of blog. For real.

The double standard, even in death

2011-07-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

As most of you already know, Amy Winehouse died this weekend.

I enjoyed her music, I thought she was a talented woman who, sadly, suffered from an addiction she couldn't get under control. It's sad that she died so young. It's not funny or disgusting. She is not a waste or a slut or a skank or a whore because she was an addict. But that's been the vibe thrumming through the internet this weekend. That she was a "train wreck" and therefore somehow unworthy of compassion and her passing is nothing but a joke.

Though nowhere near as troubled as Amy Winehouse, my character Annabelle in DEAD ON THE DELTA has been called a "train wreck" by several readers. I've been shocked to see how deeply some people revile a female character simply because she is flawed and struggling. When I was creating Annabelle, I read a lot of old school mysteries--most with male protagonists--and a close relationship with the bottle is practically de rigueur for those guys. Yet I found virtually no negative/judgemental reviews of these male detectives that had anything to do with their preference for whiskey with lunch.

In a male, addiction is an acceptable flaw, one that some people actually seem to think makes a man more attractive (he's troubled, he's emotional, he needs to be saved!). And as we've seen from the loss of artists like Kurt Cobain and Heath Ledger the loss of a male musician/actor/artist to addiction/drug abuse is a tragedy.

I don't think addiction should be glamorized, but neither do I think there should be a double standard for male and female addicts. Addiction is sad and the loss of a human life is even sadder--no matter whether the addict has a penis or a vagina.

I was going to blog more about this, but I just saw that my friend Stacia Kane already did and did a more thorough job than I would have: http://www.staciakane.net/2011/07/25/self-exposure/

I'll be back tomorrow with some Juliet Immortal reminders.

Hugs to you all,

Stacey Jay

The Vlog about the Treadmill Desk

2011-07-20T14:54:00.001-07:00

Don't tell me I don't keep my promises. I do. Here it is, some proof of that.

I give you: The Dorkiest Vlog Ever About My Treadmill Desk (filmed in my piled up garage where all the things that are too many things to fit in our new house are sitting in boxes until we make a storage area):

I have a fear of vlogging. I'm trying to overcome it. Until then, please forgive my stilted delivery and googly eyes.

But treadmill desks...cool right? I love mine. Worked there for 40 minutes today before the heat in the garage did me in.

Off to break free of my computer chains!

Stacey Jay

Win a signed hardcover of JULIET IMMORTAL

2011-07-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

So.

I've moved. I've also survived a killer bout of food poisoning. (My advice to anyone considering eating that frozen pie that just sat in a cooler for four hours while you moved: Don't. Don't. Emphatically don't. It was horrible. I'm still weak and pathetic three days later.)

On the up side, while I was lying on the bathroom floor willing my immune system to fight the forces of evil loose inside of me, I had time to think about what would be the best way to run the contest to give away that signed hardcover of JULIET IMMORTAL. Since the release date was changed, I thought getting the word out about the new and improved, earlier, release date would be a good idea. And what better way to do that than to get my contesting people in on the word-spreading action?

(Some general disclaiming about the contest. Only U.S. and Canadian winners will receive a signed copy. This contest is open to international readers, who live in a country where the Book Depository will ship. But if an international reader wins, the copy will not be signed. I will order it from the Book Depository to be delivered straight to you. I've found that's the best way to be sure the book gets into your hands.)

How to win if you have a blog:

1. Drag this graphic onto your desktop.

2. Post it on your blog/website/etc, and link it to staceyjay.com. Then, shoot me an email with a link to where the graphic is posted with the subject line JULIET CONTEST to stacey.jay.ya at gmail dot com.

Ways to win if you don't have a blog (or do and would just like your name in the hat a second or third time):

1. Take a picture of yourself (or a friend, or your cat, I don't really care) recreating the JULIET IMMORTAL cover and tweet the pic with the hashtag #covermodels (This will also enter you to win a Random House book giveaway so double awesome for you!) You can see my version here: http://yfrog.com/kgbxohlj (See how bony my shoulder is? Food poisoning, people. Don't eff around with it.) (I will scan the hashtags and enter the tweeters to win, so no worries about emailing me.)

2. Blog/tweet/facebook etc about JULIET IMMORTAL on August 8th and 9th and email me the link/tweet/etc with the subject line JULIET CONTEST. I'll be on the road that day, driving back from a conference, so I won't be able to spend all day online being obnoxious about the book release. I need you, my dear readers, to be obnoxious for me. I believe in you. I know you can do it!

I'll draw the winner of the signed copy on August 12th, so you have until the evening of the 11th to send me all your linkage. (Please be sure to use the subject line JULIET CONTEST in your email, so that it doesn't get lost amongst my other email.)

Off to clean all the things and wash all the things and write all the things and revise all the things. (Food poisoning is also really good for getting behind on all the things.)

Best, and Happy Monday to you all,

Stacey

Things I Swear Are Coming in the next 10-20 days

2011-07-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

Uncle.

Moving/work has officially eaten me alive. 16 year old Stepdaughter and I lifted a 250 pound box of garage storage shelves into the van (and out of the van) yesterday--as well as making dozens of trips up the stairs at the new house. I can barely move--let alone think--today. She is fine, leading me to believe she did not lift her share. (Or I am old and weak. Probably she gave me the heavy boxes. *vows to believe this*)

BUT! I will hopefully survive this madness and here are the things I'm planning for the blog in the next 10-15 days.

1. The DEAD ON THE DELTA play list. Which is going to kick so much ass it's not even funny. (At least I think it kicks ass. I am obsessing over it. Trying to make it just perfect. I need to add a few fast songs or I would post it today.) I'm going to burn a copy and mail it to one lucky blog friend. Stay tuned for how to be that lucky blog friend.

2. Cheesy montage of me and hardcover frolicking together. Already started filming this. I think it's either going to be really funny or really stupid. Either way, you'll be able to laugh with/at me, so it's a win for you.

3. Footage of my treadmill desk in action. I've been promising this for awhile, but haven't delivered. Going to remedy that.

4. A giveaway of ONE hardcover, signed copy of JULIET IMMORTAL to a U.S. or Canadian winner. (I know a lot of you have been writing me asking for review copies, but I am all out, still don't know exactly what's going on with review copies, and the book comes out August 9th so... Yeah. I'm not being rude, I swear. I plan to forward your requests to my publicist as soon as we are in touch and begin to plot and plan. But in the meantime I want to show you my lurve. So yeah. I'm going to give one of my author copies away. The end. Stay tuned for how I'm going to do that.)

All that, and maybe some pics of my new 'hood as well!

In the meantime, take care, and know that you will be in my sleep-deprived and stress-addled thoughts.

Off to carry some more heavy things,

Stacey

Random Musings on Jeans and other Shalllowness

2011-07-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I'm moving in 6 days!

My house is not even half packed!

I have two huge edits due in September! I'm working on them a lot!

There are many children in my house! Wanting food and entertainment and summer adventure!

I don't have time to rant or muse or discuss! The blog will suffer! <--But hopefully lots of exclamation points will make this seem like a more exciting post than it is. AND MAYBE SOME CAPITAL LETTERS WILL HELP TOO!!

So, I've got a few blog posts in the works, but nothing finished and I have to finish my 20 pages of edits for the day (along with some rewriting bits) before I leave to get my hair colored at 2. (I'm VERY excited about this. To save money, I've been dying my own hair a dark red-brown for over a year. Then, about three months ago, I had to buy a different brand of hair dye because the drugstore was sold out of my brand. And--though I was dying my hair a DARKER color than it is normally--the damned stuff bleached my roots and turned them orange. So I've had orange roots and dark red-brown hair for awhile. And now I've got dark blond and gray roots and about an inch of orange and then dark brown-red on the rest of it and, anyway, it looks god awful but I haven't had the time to get it fixed. But it's finally gotten so bad I've had to make time, and I'm excited about it. Hope my new hair mistress can make something of this mess I've made. She comes highly recommended so...*fingers crossed.* It's not like it can get much worse, so...)

But this post wasn't supposed to be about hair. It was supposed to be about how weird women's jeans are, and how I can never find a pair that fits both in the butt and the waist. If it fits in the waist, it is too tight in the butt. If it fits in the butt, it's too loose in the waist and I have to wear a belt and the top feels all smash-y and blah. Then I was going to tell you about how I scored a pair of size 16 girls jeans (about the size of a woman's 4, for those who are interested) from Target on sale for 2.50 (I KNOW! Could you just die from the savings?!). I figured I'd wear them as cutoffs, but they are the perfect length to wear with sandals and look better than my grown up jeans. They have these little button things on the inside (as many kids' clothes do) and I can tighten the waist to fit and it looks so much better than wearing a belt and I'm like WHY DO WE NOT HAVE THESE WAIST TIGHTENING BITS IN GROWN UP JEANS?!

And I was going to say that we should start lobbying for waist tightening bits in grown up clothes.

But instead I talked about hair for a paragraph and killed the focus of this blog.

Failure. I can has. Sorry.

Hoping to be back in a day or two with a DEAD ON THE DELTA play list. I've got some amazing songs on there so far. Just need a few more to make the ultimate killer-fairy inspired mix. (Once again, please do support DEAD ON THE DELTA by posting a review on amazon, Barnes and Noble, or goodreads if you can. Word of mouth does help sell books and I would so appreciate your support. So would Annabelle, who is going to be in big trouble at the end of book 2 and will need a 3rd book to get out of it.)

I may also have some very exciting GRAPHIC LIVE IMAGES! of me walking with my first hardcover on the beach. Or dancing with it through the vineyards. Or running through a flower-strewn field. Or something. Something graphic. And live. And maybe I'll give a copy away. Maybe...

So many apologies for this ramble. Off to work.

Sincerely,

Stacey Jay

I know what boys like

2011-07-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

Is there anything harder than 7th and 8th grade? Anything?

God.

*memories of 7th grade ooze past mind's eyes like rotted monsters dripping puss*

*full body shudder* *tongue cramp* *slight gag* *more shuddering*

Seriously, I wouldn't take a million dollars to go back to Junior High. The world is just so overwhelming at 12-14. Your body is changing (or recently changed), all the gender stereotyping and the pressure to fit your "gender role" stuff is really gathering momentum, the peer group is hell (because everyone is just as insecure as you are, even if they pretend they're not), and you have no idea how to be the person you want to be. Half the time you don't even know what you want, or if you do, you decide it's not what you want as soon as you get it.

I hated junior high. I hated how hard it was to overcome my nerdy girl image. I hated it when boys looked at me like I didn't have a brain above the boobs, and I hated it when they didn't notice the boobs beneath my "most likely to succeed" brain. I wanted a boyfriend, but I was terrified to speak to the male of the species most of the time--I didn't have brothers, I'm sure that would have demystified menfolk a great deal. I was sure everything I said and did was stupid and that most people I passed in the hall thought I was a disgusting, sad joke. (Whoo-hoo for awesome self esteem!!! But I think this is the norm in junior high, rather than the exception. I don't know many people who feel they had it all together at that age.)

I remember it all vividly, and I know I never would have been able to take the advice I gave my newly 13 year old stepdaughter today.

She wanted to talk about boys. About what makes them like you. About how to get attention and keep it and whether or not "being mean to them" or "acting really grossed out and laughing even when they're not funny" might be good tactics to employ. I told her I wouldn't advise being mean to anyone, that I think the best way to get boys to like you is to like yourself, be confident, and be nice to them. Listen to them, show interest in things that interest them that also interest you, treat them with compassion and understand that most of them are as nervous about girls as you are about boys.

And maybe then they'll only fart on you half as much as they do now...

Because really. 13 and 14 year old boys? Babies. They're thinking about video games, not how to get a girl. And if they are thinking about girls, most of them are thinking about sex, not romance. It is the VERY rare boy under 15 or 16 who has the capacity to have a "relationship."

I'll take that a step further and say its the very rare boy under the age of 21 who's ready for a relationship. I dated a LOT of boys. And they were fun and they had feelings and dreams and affectionate leanings, but most of them were not ready for happily ever after. I certainly wasn't. We were experimenting, practicing, learning how to play the game of love and then learning how to stop playing and get real with each other. It takes a LONG time. It's not easy, even when you start out on the right foot. And learning to be a mean girl or approaching boys as beings who must be humored and deceived are not the ways, young grasshopper. (Also, as a mom of boys, I just shudder to think of them being either humored or manipulated. They are people. Stinkier, hairier people, but people.)

So I gave the cheesy advice. I watched the slight eye roll. I calmly assured her that I do know what I'm talking about and that I *do* know what boys like. At least the kind of boys I'd like for her to learn with. Nice boys. (Let's hear it for nice boys, shall we? *claps for nice boys* )

In unrelated news, the sweet-as-they-come Bookish Brunette interviewed me on her blog today and is hosting a giveaway of all 3 Megan Berry paperbacks (the two full length and the novella). Go read and post a comment to win:

http://bookish-brunette.blogspot.com/2011/07/zombie-craze-interview-giveaway-with.html

Also, if you've read DEAD ON THE DELTA and enjoyed it, please consider posting a review on Goodreads, Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com or all three. Sales of this book will determine the fate of the series and I would so dearly love to write a book 3 and 4 for you. I have so man shiny, dreadful, wonderful ideas...

All best and happy weekend,

Stacey Jay

Want to pre-order a signed copy of JULIET IMMORTAL?

2011-06-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

Want to support a GREAT indie bookstore in the process?

Well then! Send an email to healdsburg@copperfields.net with the subject line: Order signed copies of JULIET IMMORTAL. The wonderful Katie--bookseller extraordinaire--will get back to you and make sure your copy is set aside for me to sign on the August 9th release date (and will ship it to you soon thereafter for a small additional fee).

Now, I'm not so vain as to think tons of people want a signed copy of my book, believe me. But I've had three or four emails wondering how one might go about procuring a signed copy and so I've decided to set something up for those interested parties. If you do decide to pre-order, just know that I will be eternally, mind-blowingly grateful. And!

-I will use my prettiest handwriting (which isn't that pretty, but I type all the time so I can't help it that my penmanship is crap, but I will try really, really hard to make my signature worthy).

-I will include a special something tucked into the front cover. (No telling what the special something is. But I think it will be a nice something. And you might like it. And it might be a little printed sneak peak of ROMEO REDEEMED also with my signature on it.<--okay, so that's what it will be. But *might* sounds more mysterious. *Waves mysterious hands*)

-I will stick a few postcards in there for you to share with friends. Also with signature.

So there. As I said, I'll be eternally grateful. I'm grateful whenever anyone buys one of my books, but this is my first hardcover and I know they're expensive and I know times are hard for so many people right now and I am deeply thankful for anyone who saves up their hard earned money to buy my big, heavy book. (It is big. And heavy. Or I think it will be heavy. I have yet to hold the hardcover in my hand, but I can imagine it and my imagination says it's going to be wondrously heavy.)

Thank you. Off to beat Monday into submission. (Scrappy little Monday today, isn't it?)

Stacey Jay

EDITED TO ADD: Unfortunately I've just learned that Katie is unable to ship internationally at this time. In order to address the signed book needs of internationals, however, I propose the following: You can order a copy of JULIET IMMORTAL (with free international shipping) from The Book Depository at the following link:

http://www.bookdepository.com/Juliet-Immortal-Stacey-Jay/9780385908269

After you order, if you send me some proof of purchase (with any personal information you wouldn't like me to see deleted from the email), and a snail mail address, I'm willing to pay shipping to send you an autographed label to stick on the inside of the book, as well as whatever light weight goodies I can fit into a business class envelope. I know it's not quite the same, but it's the best I can do as far as my current shipping overseas budget allows.

Hope this works for some of you! And sorry again that international mailing isn't easier for all of us.

EDITED ALSO TO ADD:

All my internationals, please contact me (not the bookstore) directly via my contact page:

http://www.staceyjay.com/contact/

That way we can spare Katie some email and I can let you know I received your request and when I'll be mailing out the signed book stickers and extras and blah blah.

Okay! Think we're set now!

Stacey

2009 Deb Anthology Cover reveal!

2011-06-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

Hey all!

It's been a crazy week work wise, but I didn't want Friday to slip through my fingers without sharing this gorgeous cover. I'm so excited to be a part of The First Time anthology, edited by Jessica Verday (with Rhonda Stapleton). The Debutantes of 2009 have been such an amazing source of writer-ly and personal support for me in the past few years--not to mention a constant source of inspiration, they really are a talented group--and I couldn't be more thrilled to have my name on a cover with some of theirs.

The list of authors includes: Cyn Balog, Lauren Bjorkman, Leigh Brescia, Jennifer Brown, Kirstin Cronn-Mills, Janet Gurtler, Teri Hall, Cheryl Renee Herbsman, Stacey Jay, Heidi R. Kling, C. Lee McKenzie, Saundra Mitchell, Jenny Moss, Jackson Pearce, Shani Petroff, Carrie Ryan, Sydney Salter, Kurtis Scaletta, Jon Skovron, Kristina Springer, Rhonda Stapleton, Charity Tahmaseb, Jessica Verday, J.A. Yang, and Lara Zielin.

With 25 different authors contributing, there's sure to be something here for everyone! From first kiss to first love, there’s no time like the first time. This will be an eBook only (available via Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords) and the tentative release date is October 2011.

I hope you'll add this one to your list!

Have a lovely weekend. I promise I'll be back with actual content next week. I've been in my "thinking about how to fix editorial letter issues" cave for ROMEO REDEEMED, but I think I've found THE ANSWER, thank you Zeus!

Stacey Jay

FAIRY BAD DAY By Amanda Ashby-Giveaway!

2011-06-15T11:26:00.000-07:00

"Fairy Bad Day is fairy awesome supernatural slaying fun." -Stacey Jay

Yep, that's my quote right there. FAIRY BAD DAY is the first (and so far only) book I've ever blurbed, and I was oh-so-happy to do it. Amanda Ashby is sweeter than Skittles (the sweet kind, not the sour kind) and her book is the perfect beach read--fun, funny, fast paced, romantic, with a side of danger and a hint of silly.

About the book:

It’s going to be a fairy bad day

First, my rightful designation of dragon slayer is STOLEN right out from under me by Curtis Green. Sure, he’s really cute, but that doesn’t give him an excuse.

On top of that, I am assigned to slay fairies. I know what you’re thinking—how hard could it be right? Wrong! These menacing beasts with their tiny hipster clothes and mocking sarcasm love taunting me. And they won’t STOP!

But the thing that tops my list of stuff to ruin my day? That would be the GIANT KILLER FAIRY that I have to hunt down and slay because I am the only one who can see it. There is someone who can help me. Unfortunately… it’s Curtis.

About Amanda Ashby:

The official bio:

Amanda Ashby was born in Australia, has spent eight years in England and currently lives in New Zealand. When she's not moving country, she also likes to write books (okay, she also likes to eat chocolate, watch television and sit around doing not much, but let's just keep that amongst ourselves, shall we?)

She has a degree in English and Journalism from the University of Queensland and is married with two children. As well as writing, she works part-time at the children/teen desk of her local library, which basically means that someone pays her to talk about books. Her debut book, You Had Me at Halo was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice award, and her current book Zombie Queen of Newbury High was listed by the New York Public Library's Stuff for the Teen Age 2010 as well as being nominated for the YALSA popular paperback 2011.

My thoughts:

Amanda is awesome. She's the sweetest thing you'll ever meet and funny as heck and just good, solid folk. When I finally meet her in person, she's in for a fierce hug.

You can buy the book:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Indie Bookstores

Book Depository

You can WIN the book right here! Just leave a comment on this post between now and next Monday morning and I will pick one winner to receive my very own ARC of FAIRY BAD DAY, as well as some other stuff (who knows what goodies I will pull from my promotional closet!?).

So go forth! Comment! Win! Read!

Stacey Jay

Want to help spread the DEAD ON THE DELTA word?

2011-06-13T20:53:00.000-07:00

Have a snail mail?

Have a good place to hand out DEAD ON THE DELTA magnets and over-sized postcards?

Want my eternal gratitude and cyber sparkles and probably a multitude of virgins awaiting you in the heavenly kingdom? (Kidding about the virgins. That promise is a LOT less enticing from the woman's point of view, you know what I'm saying? Those crazy extremist Muslims!! *pinches cheeks of crazy extremists*)

So anyway, send me an email at stacey.jay.ya at gmail dot com with the subject line "Give me some stuff, woman!" and I will send you some stuff. And maybe...a little treat-y bit. (Because people who help spread the word deserve treat-y bits, don't you think?)

Stay tuned for a rant-y post about swimsuit season and a writer friend give away! All to come! In just a day or two or three! AH! So exciting!<--not really that excited. Exhausted. Want sleep. Want to know if I'm moving or not. Annoyed by listing agent and his dumbness about things like real estate. And floods. And holes for floods to come inside crawl spaces. And closing permits. And turning on the FREAKING gas before the inspection. And generally sucking butt in such a major way that we may lose over a grand in inspection costs because "Oh, maaaannn, we just wanted someone who had cash. Who like...didn't need to inspect the place and shizz. Dude, trying to do my job is sooo haaarrrrddddd...."<--sometimes people make me very, very annoyed.

The end.

Stacey

I interrupt this blog for an emergency post about salad

2011-06-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

AT LONG LAST!!!!

I have done it! I have finally done it. My quest to create the world's most perfect salad has come to an end!! And now, I am here to share this glorious discovery with the world at large (or the 137 people following this blog. You won't be sorry, people. This salad is to DIE for.)

How to make this bitchin' salad:

1 Bag of Field Greens or Spring Mix Salad (Or 3-4 tong fulls in bulk. I buy the bags. I am lazy and hate to wash and pat dry.)

1 cup of chopped fennel

1 cup of chopped celery

4 tablespoons of chopped fresh mint

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh dill (Or use a teaspoon of the dried stuff, fresh dill can be hard to find.)

Generous coating of fresh ground pepper.

1/3 cup of olive oil

1/3 cup of champagne citrus vinegar (or use 1/4 cup of balsamic and squeeze half a fresh lemon).

One knife edge full of truffle salt. (Hard to find and expensive, but lasts forever and SO good. SOOOOO gooooooodddddd. Alternately, use fresh ground sea salt.)

Toss together and devour and devour and devour.<--seriously. This could change the way you feel about salad FOREVER!!!

Or this could just be my personal perfect salad. I hope you find it enjoyable, or find your own perfect salad someday very soon.

This post brought to you by salad awareness month.*

Happy Weekend,

Stacey Jay

*No such thing that I know of. But there should be. There should be...

Don't tell my mother*

2011-06-09T15:20:00.000-07:00

But....

I got a new tattoo. It is pretty. It looks better in video:

Some answers to questions you might have about this video and tattoo:

1. No, I'm not normally this dressed up. It's date night, my friends, and I do occasionally put on The Fancy for my husband. (Also, my dress was 12.99 at TJMaxx. Go forth, girls, and score it. So soft and comfy.)

2. Yes, my bathroom is always that messy. I have shit to do and can not be bothered cleaning the bathroom all the time. (And no, that wasn't a poop joke. But it could be, if you're so inclined.)

3. No, I can't behave normally in a video. I have video-phobia. I'm working through it. Some day I may vlog. Or not. Blergh.

4. I'm whispering because the baby's asleep. And because my voice sounds like I'm twelve and I didn't want to detract from my new tattoo's awesomeness with my squeaky voice.

5. Yes, it reads "Mine." I was going to get my parents initials on the banner--because I have a heart with mine and the hub's initials on the other wrist--but then I realized that I already have a tattoo on my hip that I got with my mom on my 18th birthday and my dad's nickname for me tattooed on my ankle, so the 'rents were already covered. Then I thought about getting my boys' initials on there, but those little turds already marked me up enough on the way out (stretch marks are also forever, people, and they're not nearly as pretty or multi-colored) so that was out--and I also didn't want them to find that creepy when they got older. But then I thought, what about me? Shouldn't I have some reminder handy in case I forget who I belong to? Yes, I thought, that is a good idea.

I love it. I love tattoos.

*sigh*

Back to the salt mines. I have 2000 words and a 3 chapter edit (last three chapters, they're being surly) to do for BLOOD ON THE BAYOU and then it will be ready to send off! Whee! All the awesome feedback about DEAD ON THE DELTA has really made it fun finishing up this book. Thank you so much for all your support. And please, if you feel so inclined, share your opinion online at Barnes and Noble or Amazon and help DEAD ON THE DELTA get in the hands of new readers. I--and Annabelle and Cane and Hitch and Deedee and Gimpy and Tucker, who is pulling out some BIG surprises here at the end of book two, and really wants a third book (or more)--would very much appreciate it.

Best, best-y, bestest,

Stacey

*just kidding. you can tell my mother. she doesn't care. she'll see the tattoo eventually. it is kind of on my wrist and hard to hide.

Rhondas. Wretched Rhondas.

2011-06-02T20:21:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, when I was about four years old, my family moved from our double wide trailer to a lovely suburban neighborhood. I don't remember much about our house--we didn't live there long--except that I loved having my own bedroom upstairs and that my mom did some kick ass decorating in the family room.

There was a lot of 70's-riffic awesomeness like ships in bottles, brown and orange flower tapestries, a bumpy, itchy couch with more orange and brown spots on it, and a REALLY BIG eight track player. (My mother used to sit me in front of the eight track speakers and put on "Puff the Magic Dragon" when it was time to brush out my hair after my bath. This was in the days before she discovered conditioner, so I always associate that song with painful tugs at my scalp and trying not to cry--and not just because the song is hopelessly sad and Jackie Paper a douche for abandoning Puff in the land of make believe.)

But all that is still a little vague. The thing that stands out most about our time in that home was that it was the first time in my life that I was surrounded by other kids. My parents had always lived out in the country or in a trailer park inhabited primarily by kindly retirees, but now I couldn't stumble out my front door and down the side walk without running into kids.

Big kids! Little kids! Boys on bikes! Girls jumping rope! Gatherings of boys and girls having slip'n'slide parties and bouncing on trampolines and laughing and playing and ohmygodsurbibiawasawonderland!

I was in heaven. I found a group of little girls about my age and was certain we were all going to play together forever. I was especially enamored of Rhonda, a beautiful girl with silky white-blond hair who was quite a bit shorter than I, even though she was six whole years old and went to half day kindergarten and was probably the coolest person in the entire world.

I worshiped Rhonda. She looked almost exactly the way I imagined a princess would--if that princess wore pink shorts with matching pink flamingo t-shirts. For a few days, our relationship flourished. But by the first neighborhood pool party of the summer, the new had worn off of the new girl. From the second I arrived in my blue swimsuit with the white polka dots and the butt roughed up from too much swimming the year before, Rhonda did her best to avoid me. I followed her around like a puppy, alternating between trying to think up SUPER fun games we could play and offering to fetch her snacks. But all too soon, Rhonda tired of even my slavish devotion. She turned to me and said,

"I'd like to politely ask you to leave, Stacey."

I froze. I was certain I'd heard her wrong, despite the fact that her two other friends--one also six, the other five, both in kindergarten--were standing behind her, staring at me with identical "buzz off you big baby" expressions. (One of them had already said that I was too big to be four and was probably a liar a few minutes before, so I knew they weren't fans.)

"But I can't leave. My mama and daddy are here," I said, trying very hard not to cry because I knew that would only prove I was even more of a baby and result in me being exiled into friendlessness.

Rhonda cocked her head. "Well, why don't you ask them to leave, too. I don't think my mommy likes your mommy, anyway."

I reeled. I clutched my stomach and almost threw up my push pop. Not liking me was understandable--I was only four and not a delicate princess in pink like Rhonda and couldn't even read yet--but how could she infer that anyone wouldn't like my mom? My mom was...my mom. She could do no wrong, even when she was tugging out my tangles with a tiny toothed comb.

The day went black. I ran for my mother, hysterical. I don't remember leaving the party, but I remember my mom being royally pissed off and forbidding me to play with Rhonda ever again. Even when we were riding bikes around the neighborhood, and Rhonda came to the edge of her perfectly manicured grass and asked me to play, Mom would never allow me to go into her yard again. Even though I wanted to, so badly. I was sure Rhonda had seen the error of her ways and was going to be nice to me now. I decided the horrible pool party night had just been an awful mistake and would never happen again. I nagged and nagged and nagged to be allowed to play with Rhonda again, but I never was.

Now, of course, I know why. Rhonda learned to be Rhonda from someone. It's a rare six year old who is instinctively that bitchy. I'm sure she was simply mimicking her mama, emulating the snarky behavior she saw modeled at home.

Sometimes, when I see all the lamenting amongst grown-ups about kids bullying kids, I wonder if our efforts to eliminate bullies amongst our children would be more effective if we stopped tolerating/being bullies ourselves.

The end.

p.s. This is supposed to be a funny story. It's raining today, so my ability to judge funny is off. Stupid rain.

Win DEAD ON THE DELTA!

2011-05-31T15:04:00.001-07:00

DEAD ON THE DELTA is out today!

Want to win a copy?

Head on over to Jennifer Estep's Blog:

http://www.jenniferestep.com/2011/05/guest-blog-secrets-and-lies-and-more-secrets-about-lies-that-are-secret/

Comment and win and have a fabulous day and whoo-hoo and whee and boo-yaa<--Yes. I'm a little rushed today. 6 is playing Daddy Warbucks tonight (it's the night of the show ya'll!) and my mother is visiting and the house is all aflutter.

Back soon, and thanks for all the reader email about DEAD! I'll respond to each and every one of you by next week at the latest.

Happy Tuesday!

Stacey Jay

An early DEAD ON THE DELTA review!

2011-05-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

Here's a snippet from the Fantasy Literature Blog's review of DEAD ON THE DELTA (read the full review here):

"The plot is relentlessly tense. As Annabelle’s official work and unofficial snooping lead her closer to the heart of the mystery, Jay never misses an opportunity to throw another obstacle or twist into Annabelle’s path. It’s dangerous to read this book just before bed. Not because you’ll have nightmares — though that’s possible too — but because you’ll find yourself saying “just one more chapter” over and over until you suddenly realize it’s some ludicrous hour of the morning.

Also remarkable is the real-life grit Jay adds to Dead on the Delta by making Donaldsonville’s problems so frighteningly plausible, except for the fairy aspect. The fairies became dangerous because of pollution and terrorist attacks on chemical plants; Hurricane Katrina has its role to play in the novel’s tweaked history; and the rise of the drug Breeze, made from fairy dung, is analogous to the meth epidemic.

Stacey Jay has the start of something really special here, between the creative take on fairies, the flawed but sympathetic heroine, and the gritty sense of a disaster-ravaged Louisiana. Dead on the Delta is a hard-to-put-down “rural fantasy” that I can wholeheartedly recommend. —Kelly Lasiter

Thanks so much Kelly!

There are a few reasons I was thrilled to see this review:

1. Kelly is the first reviewer to realize that the reason for the fairy mutations *is* actually explained in the text. (Whew! I was starting to think that I had committed the sin of being too subtle with my explanation. I don't like to beat readers up-side the head with the world-building, but there is such a thing as too subtle.)

2. Kelly liked Annabelle. Annabelle is a mess--though working toward being less of a mess--and I was worried people might find her unlikable. Still, I really wanted to show her at rock bottom in this first book. It's part of the journey, you know?

3. Kelly liked the secondary characters! (I so want to write more of these books. The secondary characters are friends to me now, especially as I'm getting close to finishing book 2, BLOOD ON THE BAYOU.)

So yeah! What a great review to catch via Google alert the day before release, eh?

Hope you all had a lovely Memorial Day!

Best,

Stacey Jay

Housekeeping-Dead on the Delta Countdown

2011-05-25T07:07:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

Just a quick post today. I'm headed out of town for my first real break in several months and won't be online. But I wanted to remind everyone that DEAD ON THE DELTA comes out in less than a week! (May 31). (And I needed to make the religion post not the first thing people saw while I was gone for five days. You know how it is. The raw stuff can't stay at the top of the page for too long or it starts to corrode the blog<--proven fact, proven by blog scientists in a real life lab setting where things can be PROVED.)

Anyway! So the book is coming out, and I'm starting to hear from readers and so far, so good! I really do hope people enjoy this read. The mix of mystery, suspense, romance, and humor is something I worked hard on with this one.

Also, I'm happy to announce that BLOOD ON THE BAYOU, the sequel to DEAD, is presently set for an April 2012 release date. So you won't have to wait *quite* a year for book two. Assuming I meet my next deadline of course...

*prepares mind to make another 2000 words before 10 a.m. meeting*

I hope all of you have a wonderful rest of your week and weekend and I will be back on Monday or Tuesday. I've got a TON of DEAD ON THE DELTA magnets to give away and I'm going to need your help deciding where to send them. So if your RWA chapter or your reading group or any other group of people to which you belong would like some magnets, prepare to think about contacting me once I'm prepared and make the call for magnet-wanting contact.

And now, some stuff about DEAD ON THE DELTA in case you forgot the stuff since the last time I posted about it a week or so ago.

"A sultry start to a promising new series. DEAD ON THE DELTA sizzles with action, danger, and romance." -Jennifer Estep, author of Elemental Assassins

"Unflinching and unforgettable, DEAD ON THE DELTA gnawed its way into
my heart with writing sharp as fairy fangs. Annabelle's biting wit
covers an uncommonly raw, achingly real vulnerability. Stacey Jay's
steamy bayou world will make readers sweat--in fear for the next
corpse, and in anticipation for a sequel!"
--Jeri Smith-Ready, author of WVMP Radio and Shade

"Everything you could want in an urban fantasy...strong, vivid writing, unique worldbuilding, and a clever, twisty plot."-Stacia Kane, author of Unholy Ghosts

Cover copy:

Once upon a time, fairies were the stuff of bedtime stories and sweet dreams. Then came the mutations, and the dreams became nightmares. Mosquito-size fairies now indulge their taste for human blood—and for most humans, a fairy bite means insanity or death.

Luckily, Annabelle Lee isn’t most humans. The hard-drinking, smart-mouthed, bicycle-riding redhead is immune to fairy venom, and able to do the dirty work most humans can’t. Including helping law enforcement— and Cane Cooper, the bayou’s sexiest detective—collect evidence when a body is discovered outside the fairy-proof barricades of her Louisiana town.

But Annabelle isn’t equipped to deal with the murder of a six-year-old girl or a former lover-turned-FBI snob taking an interest in the case. Suddenly her already bumpy relationship with Cane turns even rockier, and even the most trust-worthy friends become suspects. Annabelle’s life is imploding: between relationship drama, a heartbreaking murder investigation, Breeze-crazed drug runners, and a few too many rum and Cokes, Annabelle is a woman on the run—from her past, toward her future, and into the arms of a darkness waiting just for her. . . .

Order at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Indiebound

Sparkling Agnostic!

2011-05-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

Okay.

I probably shouldn't do this. But I've written 20 different versions of this post in the past few years and it's time. I'm going to talk about religion. Or lack thereof. (Warning: This is a Long One.)

Let's take a trip down Religious Memories Lane, shall we?

Stacey Jay, 7 years old:

It's my first year of Sunday School. My family lived waaaayyy out in the country previously, and my parents hadn't bothered dragging my sister and I to church. But upon moving to Arkansas, they were looking for a way to plug into the community and church seemed like a good idea.

For me? Not so good. I spent most of each "lesson portion" of that first year of class asking the teacher questions and nicely being told to "be quiet." At one point, my mother was even fetched from her own Sunday School class to enforce the "be quiet" order because I was having a hysterical fit about Noah and the Ark. They'd just spent all these months telling me Jesus loved me and NOW they tell me that God sent a flood to KILL ALL THE BABIES IN THE WORLD? What kind of freaking god was this? Why was everyone else in class OKAY with this?!

My mom comforted me, spent a couple hours that Sunday afternoon explaining that much of what I was learning in class she considered metaphorical teaching--that the stories weren't true, just made up to illustrate various moral truths and lessons. Being a precocious child, I could go along with this, but that left a very troubling seed in my brain.

If the stories were just stories and not necessarily true, then what else was a lie? What other parts of this whole "god" thing were false, devised to teach me to be good and not further a loving relationship with a benevolent creator? And why did so many grown ups believe the stories were true if they weren't? How could my Sunday School teacher INSIST that the snake in the garden was actually a real snake that walked on two legs? How could she say unicorns never existed, but this walking talking snake allegedly did?

My mind boggled.

Stacey Jay, Age 9

Mind continues to boggle as religious "education" continues and I'm told my best friend, Betsy, is going to hell. Because she's Jewish. Mom once again tells me this is CRAZY, and all the people at my church are simply misguided.

But...how can ALL the people at my church be misguided? We're talking thousands of people, all saying the same thing--with various degrees of anger or sadness or compassion for the poor Jews who will never know Jesus. How could they be wrong and my mom be right?

More importantly, why did I get the awful feeling that they were ALL wrong. My mom included...

Stacey Jay, Age 10

I make a mistake in school. One of the oddest (and most unpopular, of course) girls in fourth grade has been following me around the playground, often hugging me inappropriately. I know this girl is troubled and not quite right and I try very hard to be nice to her. But I do NOT like being teased about being this girl's best friend by the other kids. I'm still pretty new to the school and already a nerdy advanced reader and taller than almost EVERY other girl and I have boobs. Freaking boobs and I hate them and I spend most of my life skulking around hunched over hoping no one will notice them (but that's another blog post).

So, turning to humor for protection, I perform an impromptu slapstick routine at the front of the class one day while the teacher is out, miming a wind up kick to the other girl's butt as she sharpens her pencil.

I didn't kick her, never intended to. I did it to make the other kids laugh, and succeeded in distancing myself from association with the poor damaged girl.

Was this awful? Hell, yes. Was I ashamed of myself when I got caught by the teacher and sent to the counselor's office? Yes. Completely, yes. Deep, deep shame. And I would have had shame, even if I hadn't been caught.

But did I deserve to be shoved to my knees and told I was a wicked little girl who should be praying to god to forgive her? No. A resounding no. That counselor's religion had no place in that disciplinary moment. And neither did her hands, for that matter.

I remember the moment very, very clearly, how she peered into my face and said God's gifts were wasted on me. Here I was, such a beautiful little girl and so smart and had such a loving family and that little girl had nothing and how dare I?

Thing was, I didn't see myself as beautiful. (I remember watching a video of myself at 10 years old later--I think I was 20 or 21--and being SHOCKED by how gorgeous I was. In my ten year old mind, however, I was a horror. A disgusting, wrong thing and I feel pretty confident saying religion was a big part of that. Feeling like the lone doubting freak every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday from 5-8:30, with additional church retreats and socials thrown in, WILL affect a child's psyche.) The counselor didn't care to learn that about me, however. Or to learn that I was teased almost as mercilessly as the other girl or that my joke was actually a misguided attempt at social survival. She simply used religion as a tool to break me, the way so many people can and do use religion to manipulate other people's behavior.

Even if this manipulation has a positive effect--to stop teasing, prevent crime, etc--it is still manipulation.

Stacey Jay, Age 12

It's time to get baptized. I can't put it off any longer, but Jesus Christ (ha! little joke there) did I want to. But by now, everyone else in my class has been baptized forever. They have accepted Jesus as their personal savior. I am starting to get singled out. Me and the foster kid who just came to church for the first time this year are the lone non-anointed ones and he's scheduled to get dunked in a month!

I get frantic. I meet with the pastor--Brother Williams, bless his heart he was so patient with me--and try to work through all my concerns. He spends hours with me, but he can't answer my questions and finally tells me "You simply have to have faith."

Faith. Okay. Faith.

I take a deep breath. I sign the papers. I am scheduled to get dunked the same day as the foster kid.

We hold hands while we wait. He's incredibly cute. I believe I might be in love. We've never held hands before, but in that moment we share a kinship. I can see in his eyes that he doesn't want the dunking any more than I do. I ask him if he's nervous. He says "no." I can tell he means "yes." We both go through with it. He refuses to talk to me later, and acts like I'm crazy when I remind him about the whole "hand holding" thing.

I don't feel any closer to salvation.

Faaaasssttt forward (because I know this is getting long):

More teen struggles with religion, but I'm quiet about it now. I've learned to bite my lip and fit in. I'm not a nerd anymore. I have a great group of friends--some who are openly non-religious and who I envy for having the strength to stop pretending while I continue to attend church regularly and pray for true faith to come. I'm fairly popular, date a lot, do the extracurricular thing. Very normal in many ways.

Except for the aching pit of doubt in my god-damned stomach. I cry a lot about boys, but I cry more about god. I want to believe. I want to be like everyone else. I want the comfort of faith. It eludes me. No matter how many religious texts I read. No matter how much time I spend in prayer, no matter how many debates I have with my friend, Jill, who vehemently assures me that I'm insane for still trying to "jump on the Jesus" bandwagon.

Stacey Jay, age 21

My father is dead. The doubt pit opens up and swallows me whole. It's a lie. All of it. A fucking lie and my father is dead and what do I do? Because I KNOW I will never see him again. I sense I may be a part of him again, in some universal energy type of way, but at 21 that's not enough. It's not enough and I am so so sad. And I miss him. And I'm not equipped to deal.

Years of religious searching ensues. I denounce Christianity. Toy with becoming something else. Study a lot. Live in an ashram and cook food for large groups of sweetly stoned people who are kind to me and full of love and what feels like god, but still their doctrine rings false. But the love they give? So real. Unselfish. Unjudging.

I decide to try to be a Lover. Not a Christian or a Buddhist or anything else. Just a Lover.

But sometimes I fail. Sometimes I mock the religious in a way I shouldn't. But it is only because humor can sometimes be the only way to stay sane in a world that, from my brain's perception, is absolutely insane.

Imagine for a moment that you are transported back to Ancient Greece and people live in fear of Mighty Zeus and politicians use the threat of Olympian anger to further their own agenda. (Yes, Tea Party, I'm a'lookin' at you.) What would you do? What would you say? What would you feel? Might you try to make a joke now and then, just to ease the tension induced by being pressured to keep your mouth shut and fit in with the generally held belief system?

And remember 83% of Americans identify themselves as Christians. Perhaps there are times when you *feel* like an attacked minority, but that is simply your perception. In reality, you are part of a majority. You have a place to go every Sunday to socialize with like-minded people. You have something to share with your kids that teaches them how to be a good person while offering community and fellowship. You can look at someone's Twitter profile and see "Big Time Christ Follower!" and feel a sense of kinship with them. You belong.

We atheists and agnostics do not. When was the last time you saw a Twitter profile that read "BIG TIME ATHEIST!" or "LOVING THE AGNOSTIC LIFE EVERY DAY!"

You don't. Partly because we are afraid of what you'll think, afraid of the majority and what they'll have to say when we "come out of the closet" so to speak. Partly because this lifestyle ISN'T a big loving fun fest every day. As an agnostic, I feel shut out and alone a lot. I want friends, but I don't want to lie about what I believe and a LOT of people find a lack of one defined faith and all my open-ended questions off-putting. I strive to teach my children to be loving moral people, but I don't have a support system for that. I have to do it all on my own. I can't go to church to meet people in my new town, I can't plug in and let my light shine.

And lest you think I'm being overly concerned about the religious majority and their scariness, when was the last time you heard of a gay person being "beaten in the name of No God?" When was the last time someone bombed a building in the name of Agnosticism? Religion can be terrifying. Back when the Romans burned Christians? Terrifying. Back when the Christians burned witches? Terrifying. When people acting in the name of Islam hijacked planes and crashed them into the Twin Towers? Terrifying. And everyday, someone somewhere--a LOT of someones in a LOT of somewheres--does something heinous in the name of religion.

At home we have the Tea Party and their anti-woman, anti-poor, anti-gay agenda. We're also the home base for the Rapture movement that led to the murder of innocent children and suicide and other insanity last weekend.

So are we non-believers afraid? Yes. We are. We're also angry. To borrow from Buddhist doctrine, the collected karma of what has been done in the name of God in the past centuries is catching up with many of us. Not to mention the collective impact of all the personal, negative experiences with religion that many of us have had. So yes, we have anger, and maybe sometimes our jokes cut a little too close to the bone for some religious people. And they feel disrespected. And I, for one, feel badly about that. It's not right to make other people feel bad just because my personal road is a hard one to walk, and I have so much love for so many Christian (and other religious) people.

But the next time you, as a religious person, feel slighted, please remember two things:

1. It is your belief, not mine, that people who do not share your faith will be treated differently in the afterlife. No matter how "nice" you are about it, that is an inherent part of almost every religion, the belief that your faith entitles you to special reward (or the faithless to special punishment). Whether you're a person who literally believes in hellfire, or the more metaphorical "wasteland of the soul," there's nothing more insulting than inferring--by virtue of your religious affiliation--that an entire group of other people are going to hell. NOTHING. So please. Stop. Think about it. What can be more disrespectful than that pillar of your belief system? To me, we're all in the same boat. You are my equal, my brother or sister in this life journey in every way.

2. Remember how loved you feel. How safe and accepted in your belief and your faith. And think about how it feels to walk this hard road, simply because we non-believers have no other choice. I WANTED to believe. Believe me. My brain just doesn't work that way. I'm sincerely happy for those who have more cooperative brains. I'm sure it feels better to be you than it does to be me.

That said, I am much happier since I've given up my search for faith and decided to let all those questions I've lived with since I was little stay open and unanswered. I try to make the most of my one life. I try to give the people I love (and my readers, who I also love) everything I have. I honestly want nothing more than to spread good vibes. That's why I have hesitated for so long to say any of the things I've just said.

But sometimes I think getting angry and upset and telling your personal truth is a way of spreading good vibes.

If even one other woman went into the shower and cried today (the way I did) after seeing all the backlash from the non-Raptured people who are tired of their religion being mocked, and she reads this post and feels less alone, then I'm glad this is going out into the world.

This is my testimony. And it is one I have earned the right to give.

Don't tell me to be quiet and respectful. The respect, I will endeavor to give, though at times your very faith feels like a slap in the face (Really. Hell. Literally or figuratively that's a ROUGH thing to ask another person to believe that you believe about their afterlife and still be all touchy feely huggy together).

But respect is good. You're right. I will try. I promise. I am, however, utterly weary of the silence.

Stacey Jay
Sparkling Agnostic of Ten Years

Dead on the Delta-Book Trailer

2011-05-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

Dead on the Delta
Adult Urban Fantasy
May 31st from Pocket Books

Order at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Indiebound

So yeah...May 31st!!! Holy Moly is this release date sneaking up on me.

*dashes off to hire someone to fix up the Dead on the Delta website*

*hunts for an artist to draw creepy pictures of fairies* (Know anyone? Email me!)

*works on sequel, BLOOD ON THE BAYOU*

*writes a guest blog*

*answers interview questions*

*addresses JULIET IMMORTAL postcards*

*does proof pages for new pen name's September book*

*helps 2 try to use the potty for 5th time this morning* He actually peed in the little potty for the first time this morning!!! Hallelujah! Praise baby Jesus in his fleece diaper, that probably cost less than all these freaking Pampers. I will be SO glad to get kids out of diapers. Seven years on and off--mostly on--is puh-lenty, thankyouverymuch.

Sparkly Thursday to All!

Stacey Jay

We need a montage!!

2011-05-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

My baby is seven.

I am in shock. I don't where those years went. I suspect some kind of wormhole...

So I started writing a blog about how amazing this boy is, but I became a big blubbering mess and reached for my tissues and accidentally knocked a glass of water over next to my laptop and had to have a panic attack until I realized I hadn't destroyed my computer. I had, however, lost my post.

After my panic attack last night--induced by having to create book club type questions for a very exciting JULIET IMMORTAL promotion I will tell you about later, and realizing I do not have the skillz to pay the billz as a writer of book club questions<--so much harder than fiction--->and having to email my critique partner and Michelle Zink and my editors in a desperate frenzy and beg them to "help me, please, I am fragile and desperate and probably going to eat a pound of chocolate and go into sugar shock if someone doesn't help shoulder this terrible load"--I was just absolutely exhausted emotionally and could not fathom trying to write that blog all over again.

*collapses onto a nearby fainting couch*

*wishes she really had a fainting couch*

So I'll just say these things:

1. There is so much joy and silliness in this video and these are only the highlights of the past year. I had a ridiculous amount of footage of giggling and goofing. And this is why, dear R, you are the wind beneath my wings and all that stuff. I live for your laugh. You've had a lot of crap to deal with in your short life, but you always come through the hard stuff and keep that gorgeous smile. So even when we were in the thick of a rough bit this year and you woke up from anesthesia crying blood tears and asking me to make the pain stop and I couldn't and I felt like the most helpless miserable being on the planet, I knew it was going to be all right. That YOU were going to be all right. And look! You were.

2. You are my friend. I love being your mom, but I also just love being with you. You are fun. It makes still having to help you blow your stupid nose all day long (really--how can one kid make so much snot in a 24 hour period? and still not be able to work the tissue to nostril compression hand maneuver after years of such snotting?) totally worth it.

3. You can do it. If some day you come back and read this and think that life is hard and this silly, happy boy is a person you don't know how to be anymore, I know that you do. Because you are resilient and smart and maybe a tiny bit magical in the way of fairies and really cute gnomes. (But you are also a mess sometimes, and you'd better be nice to people or I will come back from the grave to tell you to suck less.<--this is true. I know a lot about zombies, so don't test me.)

Disclaimer for video: Included in this otherwise entirely adorable montage are graphic live images of me running like a girly girl. I do solemnly swear that I do NOT usually run this way. It was a cold day and I was trying to keep my sleeves over my hands and this somehow led to princess-y prancing that shames my inner jokette. So don't judge my running skills by this one example. Normally I run like an action heroine heading off to kick Bad Ninja butt. Or rescue a precious drowning alien. Or something feminine, but sweaty and a little scary, too. Grr.

Disclaimer for life: Yes, I know I share my sons' first names here. That's okay. I don't leave them alone long enough for any baddies to get them. Also "Jay" is not my real last name. Also I am fierce and carry a taser and have a twitchy "she might be a little not right and probably has experience fighting Bad Ninjas" look in my eye, so baddies know not to mess with me or my offspring. So don't stress. I am okay with this sharing at this point. And I share because I feel this blog is as much about my life as my work, and these boys are a big part of my life.

Disclaimer for this blog: I should stop it already with the humor. My new books are not really funny. Especially JULIET IMMORTAL. It is dark and torment-y, and my mother always told me to make the blog match the books. Or was that the drapes and the...? Hm. That joke is probably not appropriate within the context of a blog about my precious little man.

*shrugs*

*runs off to accomplish things in a very tough and non-girly-girl way*

P.S. I have a book trailer for DEAD ON THE DELTA. I will post it this week. And probably a post about my treadmill desk--which I am on right now--and maybe a goofy video about that, too. Hubs and I were all giggly this weekend and thought it would be funny to do a fake commercial for the treadmill desk. *crossing my fingers we have time* So yeah, think I may be back, blog! Thanks for all your good vibes the past few weeks, Internet. And thanks to everyone who helped me with the book club questions. All joking aside, this has really been one of the hardest things I've been asked to do as a writer in the past five years. Who knew? I did not. But now I do. The end.

Juliet Immortal Release Date Moved to August!

2011-05-12T08:11:00.000-07:00

Juliet Immortal will now release August 9th, 2011 from Delacorte books. (Instead of September 15th. That's over a MONTH earlier! I know this. I can do simple math. Mostly.)

Here's a bit about the book:

For 700 years, Juliet has struggled to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent, while Romeo has fought for the dark side, seeking to destroy the human heart. Until now.

Now Juliet has found her own forbidden love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy their happiness.

"Haunting and devastatingly romantic, Juliet Immortal gives new meaning to the words 'till death do us part.'" -Michelle Zink, author of the Prophecy of the Sisters trilogy

Here's a bit about why the release date was moved:

Barnes and Noble will be doing a 6 book JULIET IMMORTAL display for their flagship stores! You will be able to enter a flagship store and literally trip over a display of my books. This is just mind blowing amazing news and I am so very excited and nervous and I really do hope people enjoy this book. *all fingers crossed*

*uncrosses fingers in order to type more words*

Here's a bit about some other stuff:

I was just contacted by the sweet people of The Listening Library. Recording on the JULIET IMMORTAL audio book is starting soon in L.A. It's almost enough to make me wish I still lived there so I could go spy on the process. And they seem so cool and I am still loving my Listening Library ear buds. (Have them in right now to block out sound of 2nd morning showing of Ni Hao Kai-Lan, the Halloween episode. My 2 year old never got over Halloween. He still talks about it all the time and blames unexplained phenomenon--like the sound the ice machine makes--on ghosts.)

And I'm supposed to start a fan page on Facebook--but I kind of hate Facebook and really dislike it when people ask me to "fan" them. If I want to give you my fan love, I will seek you out to do so, and being repeatedly hounded to "fan" your donut shop when I don't even live close enough to taste your donuts and know what I'm "fanning" is just annoying as hell. And so peer-pressure-y. And blah...the whole "asking for fan-ship" just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. So know that as I send out the requests for fanship I will be hating myself a little, but this is something I should do. I meet more readers through Facebook than any other social site, and while I hate Facebook and it's stupid apps and games and farms and other things I don't have time for, I love my readers, so there you go. (Really do love you guys and love getting your emails. Keep sending them. I do reply to every one personally. Eventually.<--really slammed with work and email sometimes takes a back seat for a few weeks.)

And what else...hmmm...I have a treadmill desk!!! And it is AMAZING!!! And I will blog about it very soon with video.

And I'm making a trailer for DEAD ON THE DELTA, but I'm afraid it stinks like my two year old's socks (Which REALLY stink because he won't take off his rainboots. Ever. And it is getting quite hot outside in the afternoons.) I may have to debut the trailer here in a week or so and get your feedback.

And thanks to Jenny for the comment on that post a few posts down. Great questions! I will answer them soon.

And now I'm just rambling.

*wanders off to find more coffee*

Stacey

The Boy With Hair goes Team Unicorn

2011-05-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

So,

A few days ago I shared that my youngest son is obsessed with the movie, TANGLED, and Rapunzel in general. Since viewing the film, he has started calling himself "The Boy with Hair" (Rapunzel is The Girl with Hair) and refuses to get his hair cut. He screams like someone is cutting his fingers off with a rusty fork every time we go into the Super Cuts, so we've stopped going and agreed to let him grow out his hair.

He's at the stage, however, where his bangs hang in his eyes, but are too short to tuck behind an ear. It's annoying him and his daycare teachers and we people here at home who are constantly brushing it out of his face.

Fortunately, his latest movie obsession has stepped in with a solution. The Last Unicorn is the new favorite, and of course he doesn't want to be the magician. He wants to be the unicorn. Oh the pitiful weeping when he couldn't find anything that would stick to the front of his head. And then, one day, we realized he had enough hair to make his own horn...

And yes, he's also wearing monkey rain boots with his shorts (because he won't wear any other shoes and has to have his rain boots on at all times, even in his pajamas) and a monster t-shirt (because the only thing more awesome than unicorns and people with really long hair is monsters).

And yes again, I am preparing to take this little monster-rain-booted-though-it's-not-raining-be-horned child out into the world. I think the other babies at the gym are going to be hella jealous of his mad stylings.

In more serious news, please take a moment to check out the Help Write Now storm relief auction. Especially my friend Saundra Mitchell's mailing list offering. 760 indie stores and their addresses all pre-compiled for your promo-ing pleasure: http://helpwritenow.blogspot.com/2011/05/day-2-item-10-marketing-mailing-list.html

Happy Thursday!

Stacey

Guest Interview: Jennifer Estep!

2011-05-02T14:35:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

In the interest of blogging about actual book person things--and not simply society's ills and personal angst--I've decided to start interviewing some of my favorite authors! Starting with Jennifer Estep, who was kind of enough to blurb my forthcoming DEAD ON THE DELTA and who I first fell for (in the reader-writer sort of falling) when I picked up KARMA GIRL years ago. She's just a lot of fun and her latest is no exception. Let's check it out!

TANGLED THREADS
By Jennifer Estep
Available now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indiebound, and wherever fine books are sold.

The Blurb:

I’d rather face a dozen lethal assassins any night than deal with something as tricky, convoluted, and fragile as my feelings.

But here I am. Gin Blanco, the semi-retired assassin known as the Spider. Hovering outside sexy businessman Owen Grayson’s front door like a nervous teenage girl. One thing I like about Owen: he doesn’t shy away from my past—or my present. And right now I have a bull’s-eye on my forehead. Cold-blooded Fire elemental Mab Monroe has hired one of the smartest assassins in the business to trap me. Elektra LaFleur is skilled and efficient, with deadly electrical elemental magic as potent as my own Ice and Stone powers. Which means there’s a fifty-fifty chance one of us won’t survive this battle. I intend to kill LaFleur—or die trying—because Mab wants the assassin to take out my baby sister, Detective Bria Coolidge, too. The only problem is, Bria has no idea I’m her long-lost sibling . . . or that I’m the murderer she’s been chasing through Ashland for weeks. And what Bria doesn’t know just might get us both dead. . . .

The Interview:

1. Plotter or pantser?

A: I’m a total punster. I think about my main character and the major turning points of the book, and then I start writing. That’s about all the prep work that I do.

2. Ebooks or hold-in-your-hand books?

A: Hold-in-your-hand books. I can see the appeal of ebooks, but at the end of the day, I want to get off the computer and read something that’s not on a screen.

3. Paperback or hardcover?

A: Paperback. Hardcovers cost so much that I always feel guilty about breaking the spines on those. I feel a little less guilty doing the same thing to a paperback.

4. Coffee or tea?

A: Iced green tea with a drizzle of honey.

5. Alpha male or beta male? (In real life, not books.)

A: Beta male. I think in real life, I would call the cops to take an alpha male away.

6. Watery grave or fall from a mountain top? (If you had to go one way or the other...)

A: Fall from a mountain top. I think it would be over with quicker. LOL.

7. Clowns or flying monkeys? (Which is creepier.)

A: Clowns – clowns are definitely one of the creepiest things around.

And now the serious question:

Serious question: If you were being cast out into the wilderness to wonder for ten years with only one book in your backpack, what would it be?

A: Hmm. That’s a toughie! I’m going to say Beauty by Robin McKinley. I’m a sucker for the old Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. I think it’s such a timeless story, and I really like McKinley’s take on it in this book.

Thanks so much Jennifer!

Happy Monday to all!

Stacey Jay

If you can't say something nice...

2011-04-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

..write lots of long blog posts that you are then too conflicted to publish!

I have been writing lots of things. I haven't been posting them. Partly because I'm so angry, and I'm not sure it's a good idea to post words written when I'm in such a state. (The Republican party has made me so fiercely enraged these past few months. I would never have imagined I could be so worked up about politics--usually I don't care, a politician is a politician and I don't have much use for any of them. But the right is taking politics to a dangerous place, where lives are being threatened, mostly poor people's lives, who they don't seem to think are worth much. And it makes me sick.)

And sad. I've been very sad. Watching people justify greed and cruelty with creative interpretations of what it means to be a "good" spiritual person is more stomach turning than flat out violence. At least a gun in your face or a punch in the gut is honest.

So yeah. Angry and sad. Not my usual blog mode. I try to keep it relatively light around here, with a spattering of serious, angsty stuff when the mood hits. But the mood has been hitting too often and I haven't known whether to indulge it and let this blog become a wasteland of despair or ignore it and wait until I have something nice to say.

And I'm still conflicted about that, but I will say that I wanted to tell you this story:

My 2 year old son is dancing and singing a lot lately. His favorite songs are from the movie "Tangled." He rolls around in the grass pretending to be Rapunzel and keeps telling me he wants "hair" and pulling at his already longish mane. It is adorable and there's no way I'm forcing him to get a haircut if he doesn't want it. Let it grow until I have to pull it back in a ponytail for all I care.

But then I couldn't help thinking: The right wing politicians would tell me I am being a bad mother for that. They would say I'm deliberately damaging my son's gender identity and attack me the same way they attacked the editor at J. Crew who painted her son's toenails. You know...if they read my blog. If I were someone making enough money to matter to the GOP. Which I'm not. I'm one of the people who are disposable. I was once on food stamps. I once qualified for federal assistance, and I can assure you it was not because I was a lazy, free-loading waste of flesh. It was because I hit a hard time, and that assistance helped me feed my baby while I climbed out of that hard time. And now I make enough for the government to tax me heavily so the U.S. Treasury is definitely getting a lot of bang for their buck in my case.

But without help from our government, maybe my child and I would have starved to death on the street. It seems that's the way today's Republicans would prefer it.

And so even that story was tainted. Blah.

Someday I will be back with actual book-related posts. When that day comes, is there anything you'd like to know? I hate to go all "industry" on you people--since so many blogs do it so much better--but if you have specific questions, I'd love to be given something to blog about other than social injustice. So email me. Or post a comment here, or whatever you prefer to do.

Have a weekend, if you get one. I'll be working in order to pay my taxes because I earned just enough money last year to earn less money than I did the year before because I bumped both my husband and myself into a higher tax bracket<--more sunshine! It's just oozing from my pores lately, I tell ya!

*slides out on a rainbow made of unicorn farts*

Where I was, what I did

2011-04-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

Dear blog,

I've been thinking about you a lot--usually when I'm driving because I often think when I drive, unless it's after nine o'clock at night when most thinking stops--but I haven't had time to write any of the things I've been thinking. I have, however, been writing books (yes, nearly 20k into the second full length manuscript of 2011 because that's how my crazy schedule works right now).

I've also been cleaning up vomit and giving breathing treatments to my pathetically sickly kids. In between sickness, I frolicked on the beach with the family (but the video was erased, so I can't show you how adorable my kids are running from the waves). And I looked at a bunch of houses I can't afford and made an offer on one and am now stressing out about what happens if the people accept the offer and I have a giant mortgage for the next 30 years (please buy books). But am also pretty excited to think about that lovely hillside gardening space and the lemon tree in the back yard so...*fingers kind of crossed*

I've also chatted with my editor at Delacorte, who said that JULIET IMMORTAL Advanced Reader Copies are not going to be going out for a few more months. In the meantime, I'll be collecting the emails of people who write wanting one in a folder. Then, when I'm given the word, all requests will go out as one. (I can't guarantee you'll get one, but I will happily be the messenger. I only have a couple ARCs myself and I'm saving those for a fall librarian giveaway. Details to come.)

And now I'm going to go brush my teeth (split pea soup leaves a NASTY aftertaste), and take my youngest loinfruit to the gym for an afternoon sweat.

Sincerely,

Stacey (who will try to be back soon with something more interesting, but is not making any promises because her non-fictional life is busy, boring, and full of needy sick people)

Dead on the Delta: Sneak Peek

2011-04-01T06:56:00.000-07:00

So,

My first adult urban fantasy novel, DEAD ON THE DELTA, is coming out in just a few months. This book is both very similar and very different to what my readers have come to expect from me. The first person narrator and the mystery-with-a-twist are reminiscent of the Megan Berry, Zombie Settler, series, but the content is much more adult in nature. It's a darker, grittier, sexier book--though still funny at times according to my beta readers--and I'm very curious to see what my readers will think of Annabelle, my main character, and her world.

(I believe this book is best read by those 15-16 and older. Maybe a little younger, depending on the maturity of the teen, but I'd encourage most 12 and 13 year olds to skip this one for a few years. Not because of the language--since I strongly believe that no teen or preteen was ever harmed by hearing/reading a curse word--but because of frank discussions of sex, use/abuse of alcohol, and the violence surrounding the murder case.)

Anyway! I had a blast writing this book, I am totally in love with every character in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, and I can't wait to jump into book two. I'm outlining that today and tomorrow, and hoping to start drafting on Sunday.

So in honor of starting book 2, I thought I'd share a little of book 1.

Advance praise for DEAD ON THE DELTA: (And can I say that I am BLOWN AWAY by this response. All three of these ladies are Urban Fantasy writing heroes of mine and I am so honored and thrilled that they enjoyed my book. Totally. Thrilled. Silly.)

"A sultry start to a promising new series. DEAD ON THE DELTA sizzles with action, danger, and romance." -Jennifer Estep, author of Elemental Assassins

"Everything you could want in an urban fantasy...strong, vivid writing, unique worldbuilding, and a clever, twisty plot."-Stacia Kane, author of Unholy Ghosts

Cover copy:

Excerpt, Chapter One:

Losing your lunch sucks. It sucks even more when you’re not hung over.

My view on upchucking is that you should’ve earned your punishment. But I haven’t earned it, and neither had she. I don’t need those last three years of med school to know the body at my feet was a child not too long ago. Before the animals got to her face, before the bugs crawled inside to investigate the holes the animals made, before—

I barely make the one eighty turn in time.

The guilty contents of my stomach—cherry Pop-Tarts, coffee, and a touch of last night’s burger and fries—spill out onto the damp earth, adding another layer to the stench of the bayou. I can barely smell the body over the stink. A few of the fairies have laid their eggs early this year. They don’t usually drop their sacs until September, but there’s no mistaking the smell of fairy babies baking in the noonday sun. Smells like a homeless man’s crotch.

Not that I’ve ever been up close and personal with a homeless man’s crotch, but…

“Annabelle? You okay?” It isn’t the first time Cane’s asked. His voice is pinched, strained, not the sexy rumble that made my ribs vibrate less than an hour ago. We could still be tangled up in each other, bitching about the heat in my poorly air-conditioned bedroom if I’d only said “yes” instead of “no” to his offer to play hooky.

As my stomach voids itself and I continue to gag, I wish I’d kept Cane in bed. I wish I’d let him call in sick and stay with me, his big hands warm on my skin. But he’s been scaring me. He wants to stick a pin in our relationship and label the specimen.

I fear labels. I fear dead bodies more.

In the three years I’ve worked for Fairy Containment and Control I’ve seen my share of dead things, but nothing like this. I force myself to turn around, take another look. She isn’t much more than a baby and her face is…gone, eaten away by the scavengers our toxic patch of the Mississippi River Delta hasn’t killed yet.

The chemical spills along the river did their part to make the marshland from southern Tennessee down to Mobile unfriendly to living things. The mutated fairies have done the rest. Fairies can live on animal blood, but the Louisiana Fey hunt humans with a terrifying single-mindedness. Still, most people have the sense to keep safe. Almost no one ventures outside the iron grid that runs throughout Donaldsonville.

As soon as it was confirmed that iron repels fairies, the D’Ville city council cut any program not necessary to keeping people alive, declared downtown refugee central, and sunk a million dollars into nailing iron cables to every roof. A sturdy fifteen-foot iron fence completed the protective measures, enclosing the original Donaldsonville of the early 1800’s in a metal cocoon, taking the town back to its roots.

As a result, Donaldsonville is one of the few southern Louisiana towns that still welcomes the Adventurous Tourist to its historic buildings, Cajun restaurants, Delta Fairy Museum, and refurbished town square. Despite the modern day highwaymen that terrorize the roads, tourism is our top source of revenue and everyone in town acts accordingly. We’re friendly, welcoming, and pride ourselves on being one of the safest places in the south. If you score a ticket on an armored shuttle and actually make it to Donaldsonville, you can breathe easy.

This girl shouldn’t have died.

“Annabelle? Annabelle, do you need me to come over there and—”

“No.” My voice doesn’t sound like me. I sound…small.

“Crawl on back, girl, I can get a suit and—”

“No.”

“Come on, Lee lee,” he says, using a pet name in public, a capital offense in the Annabelle Lee dating handbook. In a different context, I might have flipped him off. If he wasn’t thinking about risking his life to come hold my hand and there wasn’t a little girl behind me. A dead girl, but still…

Still.

End Excerpt.

Have a wonderful weekend all,

Stacey Jay

Let's Talk about Sex, Cancer, and Douchebags

2011-03-31T13:46:00.000-07:00

Warning: This is a politically charged blog post in which I will use the "f" word and say uncomfortable-making things. If you don't like that sort of stuff from your authors, please move along and come back tomorrow when I will post an excerpt from something fictional. And no doubt less depressing.

Sex happens.

It happens between consenting and non-consenting adults and it happens between consenting and non-consenting non-adults. Depending on which study you consult, somewhere between 5 in 10 and 7 in 10 teenagers are sexually active by the age of 18, and at any given time over half of the teenagers in an average high school will be doing it.

It is sex. S E X. It is not a dirty word, it is a human drive right up there with the need to eat and find shelter, and it is happening. I'm not going to comment on whether consensual sex is right or wrong in my opinion because this post isn't about right and wrong. It's about caring about young women. I write primarily for teens and young women and I care about them. I care about their future and that future is under attack.

Teenagers are having sex, and they deserve a place to go where they can obtain contraception and counseling about safe sex that they might not be able to get at home. If we want our teens to be safe, to decide when they want to have children, to stay free of sexually transmitted diseases that could negatively affect the rest of their lives or even kill them, we need to protect Planned Parenthood. Right now, federal funding for Planned Parenthood is under attack by the extremist, right wing Congress.

In addition to cutting money to Planned Parenthood, they also have other big changes on their agenda--including redefining date rape as not rape. That's right, if you're date raped, you will no longer be considered a rape victim if this bill is passed. Other people on the rape chopping block? Statutory rape and incest victims.

So you're a twelve year old girl who was conned into having sex with a twenty year old? Not rape.

So you're a teenager who doesn't fight your uncle because he's been raping you since you were eight and you gave up fighting a long time ago? Not rape.

So you're a woman who was drugged and raped while unconscious? Not rape.

Being a woman can be downright scary at times, but I don't know if I've ever been as scared or repulsed or horrified as I am right now. It's bad enough that women, men, teen girls and boys, and children are raped every day. But now, even their status as victims is under debate. Now, we're supposed to be raped and call it something else.

Unwanted contact, maybe? Undesirable penetration?

Some less unpleasant euphemism that makes it okay to cut funding to the places we go when we've been raped and we're terrified that we're pregnant or may have gotten a disease or are just so deeply shamed that someone we trusted violated us that we don't know where else to go and can't tell our parents what's happened because we can't stand imagining the look on their face when they know?

Now, we're supposed to be raped and then raped again by our own government, these people who have promised to represent our interests and protect our health. You know what? Fuck them. That's right. I said it, and I'll say it again. Fuck them. The ultimate justice in this situation would be for every single person--every woman and man (mostly men) supporting this bill--to be non-raped in one of the ways described in their new bill and see how they feel afterward. I think maybe their definition of violation might change.

But seeing as I am not a proponent of ultimate justice or violating other people, here's what we can do instead:

Go here to read more about the attack on Planned Parenthood and learn where to go to offer your support: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/support-planned-parenthood

Because Planned Parenthood isn't the abortion factory the extreme members of the GOP make it out to be. It's a place where young women and poor women go to get reproductive health care, to spot cancer in time and treat disease. And even if abortions were the only service Planned Parenthood performed, I would still be standing up and begging people to save this very vital place. Why? Because in my mind, a woman deserves the right to choose. And a girl who's been sexually assaulted deserves it even more.

Stacey Jay

UPDATED: I was just alerted to the fact that the GOP is now back-pedaling on redefining rape, but I'm going to leave this post as is. The fact that they even put the bill forward is enough to be horrified about. And in addition, they still have a proposed bill that will deny a woman whose life is threatened by pregnancy the right to an abortion. They would refuse a mother--who may already have other children depending on her--the choice of whether to end a pregnancy that will take away her life and take her away from everyone depending on her. Insanity. That's what this is. Go here to sign that petition: http://pol.moveon.org/backalley/?temp9=

Juliet Immortal-update-y bits

2011-03-24T14:15:00.001-07:00

This bad boy is all over the internet, so I figured I might as well post it on my own blog. JULIET IMMORTAL, I give you her cover splendor!

I really do love, love, love it. I also love that I'm starting to hear readers getting excited to get their hands on my first hardcover, but it also freaks me the hell out so I can't talk about that too much. I'm really nervous about my next two releases (DEAD ON THE DELTA and JULIET IMMORTAL). More so than I've been about any release ever. I honestly think they're my best stuff so far--though in very different ways--and I'm very personally invested in these characters and stories and I'm kind of going to take it personally and get my preshush feelings hurt and my soul bruised if people slam the hell out of them/don't buy them/pirate them endlessly and tell me it's free publicity.

I mean, I've always been invested in my books and driven to entertain, but there have been some books that I've written because I was under contract and needed the money. These I wrote because I needed to write them and I took chances to write them and I know this is just fiction but god people I'm just freaking out a little bit so blah!! Blergh! Blah!!!

*deep breath*

Okay. I'm better now.

In other Juliet news, I'm happy to announce that the lovely people of Brazil will be getting a translated version not too long after the U.S. release. Squee! Portuguese Juliet. I'm excited.

Also, Juliet will be a Listening Library audio book! And that will be available in September at the same time as the hardcover. I am thu-rillled! The Listening Library people are so amazingly sweet. They sent me a welcome package with a giftie and some earbuds and they called me Ms. Jay and I just felt...fancy and a little teary-grateful. Niceness is nice, isn't it? People should do it more often.

Hugs, Internet. Have a great Thursday.

Stacey Jay

This Week's Blog Vomited Out

2011-03-18T13:16:00.001-07:00

Along with everything else in mine and my family's bodies.

I tell ya, there's nothing like several days of yarfing your guts out while cleaning up the yarf and fast-poo (what Six calls it) of small people who can't seem to make it to the bathroom in time to put normal, everyday troubles in perspective. Sure, I have a TON of work to get done between now and July 1st and I tend to get stressed if I think about it too much, but at least I can sit upright and hold down water and not spend hours getting my face back-splashed with a repulsive mixture of loo water and my own vomit--because the puke is just coming out THAT. FAST. AND. FURIOUS.

I'm so sorry. I...don't know what else to say. The evil part of me felt the vindictive need to lash out at all you well people with graphic descriptions of my pain. The nice part of me is now apologizing.

The goal-oriented part of me promises a better blog next week, while the tired part of me is saying it's time to go watch House Hunters. The baby is finally sleeping and the puke laundry is done. This might be my only chance!<--the tired part of me is too tired for a normal sized exclamation point.

Here's hoping all of you are in better health.

Peace in the intestines of one and all,

Stacey

Randomness/The Only Thing I Half Ass is this Blog

2011-03-08T07:55:00.000-08:00

Where have I been?

Rollerskating. Every time I can get away, with and without children, with and without husband. And yes, I am starting to get pretty effing awesome and probably look nearly this cool (except on skates, not a skate board):

(Not actual picture of me. Though I would look like Farrah if I had blond hair and less stomach and a different face.)

I have a hard time doing anything halfway (*cough* obsessive-compulsive tendencies *cough*), so once I decided I was going to do this roller derby thang for real, I've been committed. I've skated every free second I could find in hopes that I wouldn't embarrass myself my first time at Roller Derby Newbie Night. I'm happy to say that I did not embarrass myself, but was rather fearless and intense and now have very sore muscles and a few bruises that are purpling up quite nicely.

But I didn't get home until late last night and I couldn't get to sleep until even later, so I'm beat and basically just swinging in to say a few things:

1. The mug winner was announced and the mug(s) sent out (I sent her two because I needed more padding in the priority box. Just goes to show you never know how far I'll go to avoid buying packing peanuts, which I have a strange hatred of, for some reason.)

2. The whole YA Mafia debate last week mostly passed me by, but I saw enough of it to realize that it seemed kind of silly. There is no YA Mafia. 90% of the writers you meet online or in person are just hardworking folks who love to tell stories. (And I can promise they are a hell of a lot nicer than most of the actors I met when I was in that business. They really take the competition thing much more seriously.)

In addition, the idea of a "Mafia" implies that we're all banded together getting rich. Maybe some people are managing to work that out, but around here we're still struggling to qualify for a home loan. So no rich. Not much famous. And though seeing my book on a shelf is still a HUGE thrill and I feel lucky to be a working writer, becoming a published writer has not brought me fulfillment. That came from different places that have a lot more to do with being a good person and having a family I love very much. I don't know about other people, but professional accomplishment doesn't seem to be the way to riches in the inner kingdom for me, personally.

Which brings to mind a facebook post I read the other day, from a new author who had just signed her first contract and was excited that now she would have her revenge on "all the people who made fun of her in high school." This was an odd idea for me. First of all, these people have probably moved on and have lives and most of them aren't reading books (sadly). Secondly, let's take a personal example:

I dated a lot of guys in my twenties, and a lot of them were in the entertainment industry. Several of them have gone on to star in television shows and movies (and a crap load of commercials, there was a time in the early 2000's when I couldn't turn on the television without getting an eyeful of ex number 6 and 13). Anyway, the point is, one of the guys I dated was crazy about me. I wasn't so crazy about him. We were both young actor nobodies, but I quit the biz with nothing but some crappy C movie credits and now he's semi-famous and women lust after him on message boards. But when I finally realized this--years after his show debuted because I never have time to watch grown up T.V. and only noticed his name once his first season came to Netflix--did I feel he had gotten revenge on me? No. I was happy for him. I was glad all his sacrifice worked out, and bummed that we couldn't have stayed friends. The end.

Maybe other people are different, but most of the time the idea that anyone who hurt you is going to care that you're successful is a waste of fantasy time better spent imagining you're on the beach with a good book and a full time nanny to make sure your kids don't drown while you bask. My 2 cents, of course.

3. My two year old just patted me and said "good Mama, bad Mama, good Mama, bad Mama." I'm not sure what this means, but he's probably right.

4. I like Greek yogurt with honey and walnuts. I am going to go eat some.

Peace.

Stacey

I Dance Alone, Roller skates of Wonder

2011-02-23T12:48:00.000-08:00

I don't remember if I've shared this on the blog before, but I love to dance. Like LOVE to dance. If I were a crack head, dance would my rock. And if I had my way, I would be all skinny and tweaked out and rocking in the corner from overexposure to the pure awesome of my dance rock habit.

I dance like a lunatic, like an animal set free from a cage. I dance until my clothes are soaked through with sweat and my hair is curly and sticking up in a white girl afro and my eyeliner runs. There have been many times--upon exiting a club--when I was asked if I'd been crying. No. Not crying. DANCING, mother-effer! Like people were meant to dance. Fierce and wild and uninhibited.

But despite all that, I hardly ever dance. I've been twice in the past seven years. Twice. Because a grown woman can not go out to a club--even with girlfriends--and dance like a crazy person and not attract a certain type of attention. I am a married woman, I don't go out to dance to meet men. I actually don't even like dancing with men, even my husband. I like to dance alone. By myself. Me and the music, that's it--maybe a girlfriend or two in the vicinity in case I need to squeal loudly when a good song comes on and don't want to look like too much of a dork (as if dancing by myself like a lunatic wouldn't have accomplished that already).

But obviously, I am in the minority in this, and therefore--as I'm sure you girls know--the few times I go out, I end up fighting off men trying to hump my leg for half my evening, which puts a damper on the experience.

So...I've pretty much quit going out. It wasn't hard to do. I have a demanding job and two small children, and my few girlfriends in Arkansas who liked to dance also had small children and demanding jobs and not enough time to spare for fun. And now, in my new home town I have no friends, so there you go, *slap, slap of the hands*, all chances of going out to dance finished. Out the window.

Good-bye soul friend. Good-bye joy. Good-bye musical-body cell connection and awesomeness.

Sniff.

I have to admit I got pretty bummed out about this a month or so ago. I sat there thinking to myself: "Self, you're 33. You've got to get out there and shake that groove thing before you loose it. When you're 54 and can't physically dance for 5 hours straight, you are going to look back on your life and this is going to be the one BIG thing that you regret." (That, and not finding a way to have my own goat herd, which I really, really want in a really, really bad way. For real. Really.)

So I thought and thought about other things that make me feel like dancing. Judging from this picture, it makes other people feel the same way:

(No, that isn't me and My Old Man. Though he would totally roller skate in his man-panties for me. Because he is that loving and awesome and unashamed.)

Rollerskating. Roller. Skating! The wind in your hair, the loud music, the flashy lights, the feel of the wheels doing that weird thing they do when you're cross-over stepping and going so fast to the right that you start to go left?

So I took 6 roller skating on Sunday and we had a blast! It was his first time, so I spent most of the afternoon holding hands with him and having my arm jerked from my socket--and GOD am I sore. Still. So sore. Ouch.--but it was still magnificent. The few laps where I got to go around fast were heavenly. And the other skaters where all kinds of kick-ass groovy. There was a 14 year old girl in rainbow feather bell bottoms who is pretty much my new hero. She skated for three hours all by herself. Dancing and throwing up her arms and kicking up her feathered pants. She had no shame. She skated like a crazy person, like an animal who doesn't even know what it feels like to be in a cage. So free and happy and not giving a good-god-damn what anyone thought of her. I never would have been that brave at 14. But I'm going to be that brave at 33.

If I get my work done this week, The Old Man and I are going on a skate date. I told him I want to skate for the entire 5 hour fun skate. He laughed. I did not. I also told him I would be wearing something obnoxious and fun that involved scarves. He didn't laugh. But he hugged me, and said he was glad. And then I cried a little.

Love. Roller skates. Wonder. I can't wait for Saturday!

Peace,

Stacey

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-13T22:19:00.000-08:00

Happy Undead Valentine's Day!

If there's ever been a better day to pick up your copy of the new Megan Berry novella, it isn't coming to mind, so:

Blurb:

Q: What could be worse than spending Valentine's Day alone?
A: Spending it with evil zombies!!

Megan Berry is no stranger to heartbreak, but spending Valentine's Day serving other happy couples hot dogs while mourning the loss of her one true love is almost more than even a highly trained Zombie Settler can handle. So when her recently estranged boyfriend, Ethan, texts her asking her to be his Valentine, she ditches her bodyguard and rushes to his side.

But soon, Megan's dreams of chocolates, flowers, and lingering make-up kisses take a turn of the rotted-corpse-and-maggot variety and Megan fears that her first Valentine's Day with Ethan...will be her last.

Excerpt:

February 14^th, 9:36 p.m.

Megan 2 and 1/3, how to get your copy!

2011-02-11T13:04:00.000-08:00

So, if you missed the announcement, you can read about the new Megan Berry novella here: http://staceyjayya.blogspot.com/2011/02/megan-berry-2-and-13.html.

And here's the blurb and excerpt!

Blurb:

Q: What could be worse than spending Valentine's Day alone?
A: Spending it with evil zombies!!

Megan Berry is no stranger to heartbreak, but spending Valentine's Day serving other happy couples hot dogs while mourning the loss of her one true love is almost more than even a highly trained Zombie Settler can handle. So when her recently estranged boyfriend, Ethan, texts her asking her to be his Valentine, she ditches her bodyguard and rushes to his side.

But soon, Megan's dreams of chocolates, flowers, and lingering make-up kisses take a turn of the rotted-corpse-and-maggot variety and Megan fears that her first Valentine's Day with Ethan...will be her last.

Excerpt:

February 14^th, 9:36 p.m.

Are you lonesome tonight? Do you miss me tonight?

Elvis’s voice oozes from the speakers at the abandoned Sonic drive-in, echoing off the plastic overhangs covering the parking spots, syncopated by the harsh buzz of a broken electric menu. The street leading to the last burger joint before Carol turns into a maze of subdivisions is dark and still, and the only sign of life is a gathering of crows picking at a furry, dead thing beneath the sputtering streetlight at the corner of Main and Needle Lane.

Eerie. Creepy. With tremble on top.

The sign flashing orange in the drive-through window says the place is open, but apparently freezing cold weather doesn’t put the average Carol, Arkansas citizen in the mood to grab burgers and ice cream and eat in the car.

I cross my arms and huddle tight to the side of the building, taking comfort in the fact that I can hear people moving around inside if I really try. Otherwise, it would be easy to start dwelling on how much this moment resembles the beginning of a horror movie.

Girl alone? Check.

Usually cheery setting made creepy by the fact that it’s utterly deserted? Check.

Romantic old music that will be made scary as hell when played over footage of Girl Alone being hacked to bits by zombies/mutant wolf creatures/axe murderers/escaped mental patients possessed by demons/evil clowns? Check and check.

Of all those, zombies are the only thing I’m equipped to combat, and I’d be happy to avoid contact with the feral undead tonight.

I shiver. “Come on, Ethan. Where are you?” I check my phone again just to make sure that it’s really been thirty minutes since Ethan’s text. It has.

End Excerpt.

Now to get to some of your questions/the nitty gritty of how to read this sucka.

Here's what I've got going right now:

The Kindle version of the book:

Is ready to go: http://www.amazon.com/Valentines-Undead-Megan-Berry-ebook/dp/B004N84W36/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1297523321&sr=1-4

Now, I'm not exactly sure what the formatting is going to look like because I fail at formatting, but there will be words and you'll be able to read them, though they might be spaced a little differently than your normal Kindle read. (The program kept putting 1 and 1/2 spaces between paragraphs and 1 space between all other lines of text. I tried to fix it many, MANY times, and finally decided that it's good enough. Until Kindle readers write me with complaints, I'm going to leave it as it is and hope for the best because I really don't have much more time to spend on this at the moment.)

The print version of the book:

It's going to be a few weeks, but I'm hoping the print book will be for sale in early March. I've already done all the set up and formatting on createspace, and just have to wait for the proof copy to reach me so I can make sure the printed copy looks right. So it will be a little late for Valentine's day, but I don't think most of you Megan readers will care, and I think the book will be positively cute. I picked the 5.25 inch by 8 inch format and it's about 100 pages long. The only down side is that it's about 2x as expensive as the digital book. I had to up the price because it costs a lot more to make the print book. So, instead of 3.25, you're looking at paying about 6.50 for the book in print.

Other digital publishing options:

I've set up a new, business paypal account and I plan to sell other digital editions of the book directly. So, theoretically, if you click on the "buy" link below the cover below, it should take you to my paypal store where you can pay 3.25 for your digital copy.

In the "message to seller" you should tell me whether you'd like a pdf file or a .doc file--which is allegedly very easy to convert and read on most digital devices according to my literary agent. (I realize that sending people a word documents is an excellent way to get pirated, but I'm not too terribly worried about piracy at the moment. As I said in the previous post, if the book is pirated and sales are poor because of it, then the series is dead and I know there are a lot of you who don't want that to happen. So hopefully this won't become an issue because I am tech-impaired and have no idea how to format ebooks. I haven't managed to save enough money to buy by own ereader because I keep spending my extra cash on really good wine. I live in wine country, and wine is good. What can I say?)

So hopefully this will work and I'll be able to get the novella into the hands of anyone who wants to read it, regardless of whether they have a Kindle or a different ereader or read pdf files on their computer or if they're just hard core print people and decide to order the book from createspace in March.

So, without further ado, here's the buy link for the paypal site. Be the first guinea-pig if you dare!

EDITED TO ADD: Balls. Balls. And more angry balls. The paypal link thing didn't work. And I am SICK of messing with all this, and encountering failure. So how about this: If you want a pdf or .doc file of the book in the next few days while I'm figuring out the whole buy link thing, email me from the contact page over on my website: http://www.staceyjay.com/contact/ In the email, tell me if you which type of file you want, then I'll send you a paypal request to your email and--after the request is fulfilled--I'll email your preferred format.

I'm off to rest now because all this techie/set up stuff has given me a headache. It's also made me very glad that I usually only have to mess with the making-things-up and editing-the-things-I've-made-up side of this business.

Happy Weekend!