Tales from the Darkside
BLOG.JENNIFERHARLOWBOOKS.COM
It's Witchcraft
Hello, and welcome to the Darkside...
This Saturday I will be at the Gaithersburg Book Festival giving a 50 min (oy) talk/reading from 11:15-12:05, then signing. I'm a little nervous as I've never spoken for 50min straight in my life. Until last week I didn't even have a topic, but then one was thrust upon me. (Thank the gods). Witchcraft. Luckily I have a strange history with the subject.
“Write what you know.” Besides, “Just
keep writing,” the later is the most common piece of advice given to aspiring
novelists. It makes sense but what if
you wish to write of goblins or vampires? I don’t know about you, but I’ve
never made the acquaintance of either. I have no magical powers besides the
ability to keep fish alive for years and the perfect witty comeback for any
occasion yet I write about a woman who can move matter with her mind. I had to
use my “powers” of imagination, empathy, and common sense to tell her tale (To
see if I succeeded, read Mind Over
Monsters and To Catch A Vampire,
and you be the judge.) For my latest, What’s
A Witch To Do? about, you guessed it, witches,
I had far less need of my “powers” because…wait for it…I was once a witch. For
a week. Oh, and I have witches on both sides of my family. So witches, I know
them. Kind of a family tradition.
I didn’t know about this magical family tradition
until I was immersed in my own witchy ways while in middle school. Like quite a
few impressionable young adult girls, I went to see the now cult classic The Craft about four teenage girls who
became witches and attempted to kill each other. I walked out of the theater
and straight to the bookstore to buy as many spell books as I could find. (They
had two.) For a week after, I attempted multiple spells ranging from getting
this girl to stop hating me at school to a love spell. Not a damn one worked.
So out went spell books and in went…I think my next phase was serial killers. I
never had a My Little Pony phase.
Anyway, during my unsuccessful dabbling
my father informed me that my Great-Grandmother Honey on my father’s side was a
witch. A real live, had a coven and performed rituals Wiccan. I was gobsmacked.
I remembered her as a tiny, gray haired old woman who smelled of lavender and
liked to knit. And this was in the 1970s and 80s before everyone became
massively P.C. (or just hide it better.) It was simply not done. The fact she
was a true witch stayed with me for years, as did the “Rule of Three,” where
every cruelty you do is given back to you three times over. I live by that rule
just as much as the Christian Golden Rule of “Do unto others.” (Yet a few times
when I told my Christian friends about my grandmother I was told Wiccans were
evil, that they worshiped the devil. Go figure.) Then, a few years ago, I learned my aunt on my
mother’s side is a Wiccan too. She hadn’t told anyone except my mother about it
in fear of how my grandfather and uncle would react. From speaking to my
family, and my own research, I learned that Wiccans are about as evil as
kittens, that they worship nature and energy. Evil doesn’t factor into it. So
when in college there was a class called, “The History of Witchcraft” I signed
right up. There I learned not only about further Wiccan traditions like the
Sabbaths and what herbs and colors symbolize, I also learned that “witches”
were often burnt at the stake or drowned just on the basis that they someone
accused them of it or they were old and unfertile. It was cringe worthy what
happened to those women and few men, worse than what any serial killer has ever
put his victim through. All because these people were viewed different. Other.
Freaks. And I know something about F.R.E.A.K.S.
The idea of writing a book with a witch
as the main focus has been stewing for years. To me witches are earth mothers,
invoking nature to help others and themselves like regular mothers do. If
werewolves represent the masculine side of the supernatural, then witches are
the feminine. If vampires represent death then witches are life. You need both.
That’s just nature. My main character Mona McGregor is the High Priestess of
the largest coven in America. She can control earth, air, fire, water and is
the physical embodiment of the fifth, the aether or spirit all living things
possess. She is a surrogate mother, a fighter, a lover, and capable leader.
I’ve been asked what I want people to take away from this book. First and
foremost I want people to be entertained, but if one person changes their mind
about my family’s traditions, I will be a happy non-witch indeed.
So if you want to know more about my witchy life, I've saved a few anecdotes, please come see me on Saturday. Also, if you haven't already, please sign up for my newsletter (Under Get In Touch on the website). I have a big announcement I hope to be making next week if everything works out as I hope.
Until next week, this is Jennifer Harlow signing out from the Darkside...
Song of the Week: I Can Dream About You by Dan Hartman
I'm reading: The Potty Mouth at the Table by Laurie Notoro ***
An Interview With World Traveler Adam Shepard
Hello, and welcome to the darkside...
Today y'all are in for an extra-special treat. Author and world traveler Adam Shepard is here to talk about his new book, One Year Lived where he shared his experiences living and working in such countries as Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Australia. Adam is also the author of Scratch Beginnings, where he began homeless and worked his way up. He was featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic appeared on The Today Show and CNN. I am honored to be among such good company. Let's give him a big darkside welcome!!
When you decided to go on this trip, did you know you'd eventually turn it into a book?
I had a pretty good idea that it might make a good book, but that was not the motivation from the beginning. Most important for me was that I would have the greatest year of my life, and if a book came from that, awesome. If not, that’s okay, too.
Ultimately, the greatest challenge for me as I decided to write the book is, “What’s different about my book that hasn’t been written before?” Have many people taken the year to go traveling? Of course. Do we each have our own unique experiences? Indeed.
In your previous book Scratch Beginnings, you lived among the homeless. Which experience do you think helped you grow more? Which was harder to undertake?
The experience here with One Year Lived was much harder to take because I feel like I was giving up a lot more. With my first book Scratch Beginnings, which I wrote at age 23, what people don’t realize is that I literally had $25 to my name. I had nowhere to go but up. But here with One Year Lived, at 29 years old, I had other things going for me before I left it all behind to strike out into the world.
In the book you include your “bucket list”. Why on earth would castrate a bull be on there?!?
Ha. I needed something different that maybe wasn’t a typical item on everyone’s bucket list. This seemed unique.
I should note that I didn’t intend to rob the manhood of a bull. The caveat is that I would castrate a bull that was doomed for sterilization anyway.
You met your wife on this trip. Have you two been on any more adventures since?
Nope. And that’s what I intend to work on now. She has uprooted her life to live here with me in the United States, and now I get to show her this wonderful country.
If you could re-do any part of the trip, which part and why?
I would have taken it sooner in my life. I made some good decisions and some questionable decisions throughout the course of my year, but in the end, I wouldn’t change anything specific. After all, the whole point of embarking on such adventures is so that we can learn.
But now that I look back in hindsight, if I could change one thing, I would have taken the plunge sooner.
Why do you think people of our generation don't see more of the world?
We are very much stuck in our own comfort zones. Life is good for us. We have a job and income and a career path and the pursuit of a mate and a family. We don’t understand that possibilities of taking a risk, of challenging the norm, of stepping out to live a life that others can only imagine or watch on TV.
What is the big take-away you want people to get from this book?
Step outside of your comfort zone. That’s it. Maybe you’re able to save to take a one year trip around the world or maybe not. But there is no question that you can begin the process of taking baby steps out of your comfort zone right now.
What are you working on next?
My relationship with my wife. When you write a book, the options are to go at it 50% (which is what most people do) or dive in head first with everything you got. But when you dive in, you end up having to neglect some of the things that are most important to you. That’s what I did here with One Year Lived and that has meant neglecting my friends, my family, and my darling wife for the last six months.
So, now that the book is out, I will continue to do what I can to publicize it, but more importantly, I’m going to carve out all of the time I can to be with the people I care about most.
Anything else you want people to know about this book?
I think the reason I’m getting positive reviews at this point is because of the book’s authenticity. Everything was not rosy along the way—there were good experiences and bad experiences, happy times and sad times—and it is important to write about it all. So, to any prospective writers out there I will say this: be vulnerable. Write what you feel and not what you think people want to hear.
And finally, if God exists what do you want him to say as you enter the pearly gates?
“My goodness, you made it here, too? St. Peter, are we getting lax on the entrance requirements or what?”
Adam Shepard's first book, Scratch Beginnings, was featured widely in the national media and thenceforth chosen on the curriculum or as a common read at over ninety colleges and universities across the United States. His newest book, One Year Lived, recounts the year he spent out in the world: seventeen countries, four continents, and one haunting encounter with a savage bull. More information (and a picture of the mullet that Adam grew on the trip) are available at www.OneYearLived.com. For more with Adam, check out this interview at Daytime.
Thanks so much for the visit Adam! Buy the book HERE.
Until next week, this is Jennifer Harlow signing out from the darkside...
Song of the Week: Ready When It Comes by Jamie O'Neal
I'm reading: One Year Lived by Adam Shepard ****
***The book was given freely for an honest review***
Have A Drink on Me
Hello, and welcome to the darkside...
First, because I tend to bury the lead, I wanted to say straight off that I have a mailing list now! Hurrah for doing something I should have done years ago! Anyway, I'll only ever use your e-mail to let y'all know when I have a new book coming out. I won't share or sell it or anything (mostly because I wouldn't begin to know how to do that. 
) Here is the button and it can also be found on the website under "Get In Touch."
Okay, now onto the fun stuff...
On my magical, mystery blog tour last month I was asked to come up with a cocktail for the blog in honor of my latest release, What’s A Witch To DO? I thought, “Oh, that’ll be easy.” I come from a long line of drinkers, though that gene sadly passed me by, so since I was a child I’ve been mixing martinis and many varieties of rum punches. I even took a bartending class in college. But when it came time to become a chef, not just a cook, I was at a loss. What drink would best represent my main character, Mona McGregor and the sleepy Southern town Goodnight she calls home? What would she drink after a long day of crossing items off her endless “To Do” list? Like mixing a good magic potion, mixing a drink is all about balance and finding the correct ingredients that compliment one another. Much like finding the right man, huh?
What I came up with is a
variation on a Long Island Ice Tea that I’ll call, A Little Southern
Witchcraft. One of the things to me that immediately brings to mind the good
Ole’ South, besides painted porches and Spanish moss, is sweet tea. So I came
up with a Long Island Ice Tea that could be transported to those painted
porches. Here it is:
A Little Southern Witchcraft
½
oz Triple Sec
½
oz light rum
½
oz gin
½
oz Apeach Absolt Vodka
½
oz peach schnapps
1
oz Sweet and Sour Mix
A
dash of cola
1
tablespoon Karo syrup
Rim
a Tom Collins glass with sugar, stir, and serve over ice
Serves
one
What about you? Share your favorite, different drink recipes in the comments below. And don't forget to sign up for the newsletter!
Until next time, this is Jennifer Harlow signing out from the darkside...
Song of the Week: Santa Fe from Rent
I'm reading: Flowerton by S.G. Redling ***
It's That Time of Month
Hello, and welcome to the darkside...
This weekend I just finished the final edit on Death Takes A Holiday!!! It will be out in August. I think you can pre-order it now if you go to "For Fellow Shopaholics" on the website. But since this is the third book I've edited in a month and half I am taking a few days off to catch up on my Netflix, so this week it's another round of Fun With Pinterest. I even got on the Geek board once! Anyhoo, next week will be better. Until then, have a giggle:
Until next time, this is Jen Harlow signing out from the darkside...
Song of the Week: Army of Two by Olly Murs
I'm reading: Touch and Go by Lisa Gardner ***
Books That Deserve a Little Love
Hello, and welcome to the darkside...
Art is subjective. What one person loves another can think is just garbage. I've gone on record about my feelings about monster hits like Twilight and The DaVinci Code. I didn't like them. I thought the characters were 1D, the dialogue was wretched, and in the case of Twilight I didn't like the values put on display for young people (having a baby and married at 18, almost dying when Edward dumped her),but that's me. To each his own. But recently I heard, and the exact numbers may be off, that 11% of readers are responsible for over 50% of all books recommended. This is why Amazon bought Goodreads, to tap into these people as word of mouth is now the biggest way to sell books. Now I read a lot. I average about three books a week but have been known to read three books in a day. I love most genres save for traditional romance and military history. Not to mention I'm a writer who had to learn what makes a good story, good characters, interesting yet believable dialogue, etc. I also know how hard it is to get word of mouth rolling. So this week I wanted to at least attempt to get some love for books that I think deserve to be read. These are the books that I read at least once a year, that faded into somewhat oblivion, and that I think you'll enjoy. Here they are:
Josie and Jack by Kelly Braffet
Beautiful, brilliant, and inseparable, Josie and Jack Raeburn live a secluded, anarchic existence in their decaying western Pennsylvania home. The only adult in their lives is their rage-prone father, a physicist, whose erratic behavior finally drives them away. Without a moral compass to guide them, Jack leads Josie into a menacing world of wealth, eroticism, and betrayal. His sociopathic tendencies emerge, and soon Josie must decide which is stronger: the love and devotion she feels for her brother or her will to survive.
From its opening page to its shocking climax, this contemporary Hansel and Gretel story is compulsively readable and hugely entertaining.
God-Shaped Hole by Tiffanie DeBartolo
Beatrice "Trixie" Jordan, a lonely, 27-year-old jewelry designer living in Los Angeles, responds to a personal ad from a man "seeking a friend for the end of the world." The man is Jacob Grace, a 30-year-old writer. They fall madly in love and believe they are soul mates. Abandoned by their fathers, they spend much of their time helping each other come to terms with their feelings. After enduring some emotionally desperate times, they hope better days are ahead and plan to leave L.A. and spend the rest of their lives together. However, when Beatrice was 12, a fortune-teller told her that her true love would die young. First-time novelist DeBartolo, writer and director of the film Dream for an Insomniac, has written an edgy story of love and fate rife with expletives and sex. This is a love story in which a happy ending isn't guaranteed.
The Heroines by Eileen Favorite
Penny and her mother encounter great women from classic works of literature who make the Homestead their destination of choice just as the plots of their tumultuous, unforgettable stories begin to unravel. They appear at all hours of the day and in all manners of distress. A lovesick Madame Bovary languishes in their hammock after Rodolphe has abandoned her, and Scarlett O'Hara's emotions are not easily tempered by tea and eiderdowns. These visitors long for comfort, consolation, and sometimes for more attention than the adolescent Penny wants her mother to give. Knowing that to interfere with their stories would cause mayhem in literature, Anne-Marie does her best to make each Heroine feel at home, with a roof over her head and a shoulder to cry on. But when Penny begins to feel overshadowed by her mother's indulgence of each and every Heroine, havoc ensues, and the thirteen-year-old embarks on her own memorable tale.
Casandra French's Finishing School for Boys by Eric Garcia
Is it possible to have it all? If by 'all' you mean a succession of irritants building up into one great mess, then that's exactly what Cassandra French has got - a mother who's under house arrest for fraud, a blonde, yoga instructor of a friend who's the sort of man magnet you want your boyfriend staying well clear of, a boring and highly frustrating job as a lawyer for a Hollywood film studio, and three men in her basement. Actually, the three men are proving to be the least of her worries. They're (ahem) enrolled in Cassandra French's Finishing School for Boys, a school that, after one bad date too many, Cassandra founded to train young men into better human beings. The curriculum includes color co-ordination, behavior on dates and, occasionally, sex. Everything is going swimmingly well, until she enrolls Jason Kelly, the studio's biggest star. Suddenly, it seems, Cassie is in well over her head.
Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
Doctor Impossible—evil genius, would-be world conqueror—languishes in prison. Shuffling through the cafeteria line with ordinary criminals, he wonders if the smartest man in the world has done the smartest thing he could with his life. After all, he's lost every battle he's ever fought. But this prison won't hold him forever.
Fatale—half woman, half high-tech warrior—used to be an unemployed cyborg. Now, she's a rookie member of the world's most famous super-team, the Champions. But being a superhero is not all flying cars and planets in peril—she learns that in the locker rooms and dive bars of superherodom, the men and women (even mutants) behind the masks are as human as anyone.
The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James
"I have written about the joys of love. I have, in my secret heart, long dreamt of an intimate connection with a man; every Jane, I believe, deserves her Rochester."
Though poor, plain, and unconnected, Charlotte Bronte possesses a deeply passionate side which she reveals only in her writings—creating Jane Eyre and other novels that stand among literature's most beloved works. Living a secluded life in the wilds of Yorkshire with her sisters Emily and Anne, their drug-addicted brother, and an eccentric father who is going blind, Charlotte Bronte dreams of a real love story as fiery as the ones she creates.
But it is in the pages of her diary where Charlotte exposes her deepest feelings and desires—and the truth about her life, its triumphs and shattering disappointments, her family, the inspiration behind her work, her scandalous secret passion for the man she can never have . . . and her intense, dramatic relationship with the man she comes to love, the enigmatic Arthur Bell Nicholls.
The Pursuit of Alice Thrift by Elinor Lipman
In her newest well-tuned, witty, and altogether wonderful novel, bestselling author Elinor Lipman dares to ask: Can an upper-middle-class doctor find love with a shady, fast-talking salesman?
Meet Alice Thrift, surgical intern in a Boston hospital, high of I.Q. but low in social graces. She doesn’t mean to be acerbic, clinical, or blunt, but where was she the day they taught Bedside Manner 101? Into Alice’s workaholic and wallflower life comes Ray Russo, a slick traveling fudge salesman in search of a nose job and well-heeled companionship, but not necessarily in that order. Is he a conman or a sincere suitor? Good guy or bad? Alice’s parents, roommate, and best friend Sylvie are appalled at her choice of mate. Despite her doubts, Alice finds herself walking down the aisle, not so much won over as worn down. Will their marriage last the honeymoon? Only if Alice’s best instincts can triumph over Ray’s unsavory ways.
The Bachelorette Party by Karen McCullah Lutz
After being left at the altar by her soap star fiancé, L.A. high school teacher Zadie Roberts wants nothing to do with love and romance. Still, with the help of her best buddy, Grey, she may somehow overcome the wedding that wasn't. That is, until Grey gets engaged to Zadie's prim and proper cousin Helen, and Zadie is dragged back into wedding festivity hell. The coup de grâce is Helen's bachelorette party, thrown by her clique of prissy friends and certain to be a day of torture. But when the Pinor Grigio goes down and the sweater sets come off, things get out of control. Helen turns into a girl gone wild and manages to get herself into a sticky situation that just might sink the happy couple for good. And meanwhile, Zadie's own love life takes a most unexpected turn. Karen Lutz throws one bachelorette party you won't soon forget.
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
Being a Greek god is not all it once was. Yes, the twelve gods of Olympus are alive and well in the twenty-first century, but they are crammed together in a London townhouse-and none too happy about it. And they've had to get day jobs: Artemis as a dog-walker, Apollo as a TV psychic, Aphrodite as a phone sex operator, Dionysus as a DJ.
Even more disturbingly, their powers are waning, and even turning mortals into trees--a favorite pastime of Apollo's--is sapping their vital reserves of strength.
Soon, what begins as a minor squabble between Aphrodite and Apollo escalates into an epic battle of wills. Two perplexed humans, Alice and Neil, who are caught in the crossfire, must fear not only for their own lives, but for the survival of humankind. Nothing less than a true act of heroism is needed-but can these two decidedly ordinary people replicate the feats of the mythical heroes and save the world?
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder.
She tells police that she is a member of a secret organization devoted to fighting evil; her division is called the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons—"Bad Monkeys" for short.
This confession earns Jane a trip to the jail's psychiatric wing, where a doctor attempts to determine whether she is lying, crazy—or playing a different game altogether. What follows is one of the most clever and gripping novels you'll ever read.
Vamped by David Sosnowski
So this vampire walks into a bar...Yes, it sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but it's just another night in the never-ending life of Marty Kowalski. With his trademark slogan -- "There's a sucker born every minute" -- this blood-drinking bachelor has managed to talk half the mortal world into joining the graveyard shift. Now vampires outnumber humans, and Marty is so bored he could die -- again. With modern conveniences like synthetic blood and Mr. Plasma machines, the thrill of the hunt is gone. Especially for Marty, who's starting to wonder if he should just settle down, maybe start a family. Hey, it could happen. But is this confirmed nightcrawler fully prepared to adopt -- and raise -- a human of his own?
There they are. Your new reading list. Enjoy and spread the word.
What about y'all? What are your favorite books that need some love? Besides mine, I mean. Sound off in the comments.
Until next time, this is Jennifer Harlow signing out from the darkside...
Song of the Week: Little Lovin' by Lissie
I'm Reading: Call the Midwife Vol 3 by Jennifer Worth ***
I Am Benjamin Button
Hello, and Welcome to the Darkside...
Setting: My car on the way from The Evil Dead and GI Joe: Retaliation with my brothers RYAN and LIAM.
MOI: Well, those killed a day. The Evil Dead was good. GI Joe was lame. Channing Tatum didn't even take his shirt off. I almost asked for my money back.
LIAM: At least Evil Dead had tons of gore.
MOI: I do love gore. The more blood, the better. And the action scenes in Joe were...oh, my God.
RYAN: What?
MOI: I just realized something. The transformation is complete. I am...a teeange boy.
LIAM: What?
MOI: What did I do yesterday, like all day? From when I woke up to when I went to sleep?
RYAN: You beat Bioshock Infinite.
MOI: And what did I do today?
LIAM: You saw two awesome movies.
MOI: About action figures blowing shit up and demons ripping people apart. And I'm wearing clothes I picked up off the floor. I am a dude. And not even a man, I am a teenage boy. What the hell?!? How did this happen to me?
RYAN: Well, you were never exactly a girly girl.
MOI: But I was! I wouldn't wear pants until I was five. I had a million Barbies.
RYAN: Who you'd send on missions to kill people not get married or anything.
MOI: Still. I haven't painted my nails or gotten my hair done in over a year and even then I hated it. I spent my birthday reading comics and watching cartoons.
LIAM: Archer is not a cartoon.
MOI: It is! I should have gone to a spa or bought a new dress. It never even occurred to me. Even my Pinterest page is one for a teenage boy. It's all The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones.
RYAN: Which are awesome.
MOI: It has nothing to do with awesome. I am a thirty-year-old woman. My pages should be clothes and food like everyone else's. And I'm so damn immature now! I mean I pay my bills and stuff but I had the choice between writing and playing a video game and I didn't move from Columbia for like twelve hours. My fifteen-year-old self who locked herself in her bedroom to get ahead of her homework would be shocked. At ninteen I was going to college full time, working part time, and writing a book. What the hell?
LIAM: Jen, do you get all your shit done on time?
MOI: Yeah.
LIAM: Do you like playing video games and comics?
MOI: Yeah.
LIAM: Then stop your bitching! If you enjoy it and get everything done, then who the fuck cares? Stop comparing yourself to everyone else. Being a teenage boy rules. I liked it.
RYAN: Me too. Enjoy it. Won't last forever. And at least you don't get sweaty balls.
MOI: [I contemplated this for a few seconds.] I guess. [tearing up] Thanks guys. [they both chuckled] What?
LIAM: You're on your period, aren't you?
MOI: What? How'd you know?
RYAN: Because you're acting like a fucking girl. See? Nothing to worry about.
Until next time, this is Jennifer Harlow signing out from the darkside...dude.
Song of the Week: All The Young Dudes by Mott the Hoople
I'm reading: A Storm of Swords (Yes, again. You were expecting a romance novel or something? ) *****
The Next Big Thing Blog Hop
Hello, and welcome to the darkside...
About three weeks ago, my friend and fellow author Emily Kimelman, writer of the Sydney Rye mystery series asked if she could tag me for The Next Big Thing Blog Hop. This is a way to connect with other authors and share about projects. Basically, I interview myself. The rather large narcissistic side jumped in with both feet. Unfortunately I came rather late to the game so everyone I know has already participated so I can't tag anyone else so the line ends here. Anyway, here's the interview.
What is the title of your latest work?
It's entitled What's A Witch To Do? and is the first in the Midnight Magic Mystery series.
Where did the idea for this book come from?
For about a year and half I was living in Orange County CA, 3,000 miles from my family and everything I ever knew. I was living with roommates and the situation was less than ideal. I had to do everything: work full time, pay the bills, do the home repair, be a shoulder to cry on every damn day, and I'm being nice here. Everyone looked to me for everything with very little given in return so that's where the origins of the book came from. I was just nicer and gave Mona a love interest.
What genre would you put this book in?
It depends who I’m talking to. My publisher calls it Paranormal Mystery, I’d call it Urban Fantasy or with this book paranormal romance, but I've even gotten cozy mystery though it does have sexy times. It's whatever genre will get you to give it a try. There's something for everyone in it.
What actors would you cast in it?
Since I use actors in the planning stages I don't like to say outright. Mostly on the off chance I ever meet these people and they know I've had carnal thoughts about them.
Give a one sentence synopsis:
This one follows the most powerful witch in America who, on the busiest week of her life, finds out someone wants to kill her and take over her coven.
Is it self-published or through an agency?
Through Midnight Ink, a publisher.
How long did it take you to write?
Only about three months for the first manuscript. I'd quit my job to concentrate on this so it didn't take my usual year.
What other books would you compare it to?
I don't know, probably Jennifer Crusie books. They're the only romance books I can stomach.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I really wanted to try a romance book. My others have elements of romance but it was never the main focus. I wanted to see if I could pull it off, and I think I did.
What else about it might pique others interest?
It really is a chimera: part urban fantasy, part mystery, part romance, part horror, part humor, part domestic drama. It really does have something for everyone.
Thank you, Jen, for interviewing me.
You're welcome, Jen. And thanks to Emily for thinking of me.
Until next time, this is Jennifer Harlow signing out from the darkside...
Song of the Week: Valley of the Dolls by Marina and The Diamonds
I'm Reading: The Damnation Game by Clive Barker ***
Let's Kickstart a Revolution
Hello, and welcome to the darkside...
You say you want a revolution? Well, join one here. The one truth about life is that change is inevitable. Be it the seasons, your skin, or even your outlook on life as you get older things change. I learned this lesson very early on. Just when I'd be getting comfortable in a new place or school Dad would change jobs and move us from everything I'd grown to love. It sucked. A lot. But it did teach me how to be almost mutant in my ability to size up a situation quickly and adapt to that environment or its citizens. It also put me ahead of the zeitgeist by a few years. I saw the digital music revolution coming from miles away. Same with the urban fantasy genre. I was writing the first FREAKS in college when just Hamilton, Harris, and Harrison were coming genres. (Of course foresight is nothing without luck, of which I have none.) Anyway, I embrace change and in this fast paced world you can wake up and find the paradigm has shifted overnight. And sometimes it's even for the best.
I LOVED the show Veronica Mars. I came late to the show. Like with Supernatural I saw the pilot, wasn't impressed, and never gave the show a second thought for years until I was reading Jen Lancaster and Kevin Smith and both mentioned how much they loved the show. I Netflixed the bitch, and after Disc 1 rushed to Best Buy to get all three seasons. I didn't leave my house for a week. For those of you not in the know, Veronica Mars follows a bright, snarky teenage private eye in Southern California who solves crimes. (Seriously, it's once of my favorite shows right up there with The Wire and Friday Night Lights. You need to stop reading this and watch all of those. GO. NOW! I COMMAND YOU!)
Back? Okay, let's continue. So for years Kristen Bell and the creator Rob Thomas have been trying to get a movie made. They almost came close once but then Warner Bros. pulled out. Spurned on by us fans and the general awesomeness of those two they formulated a plan. Warner would handle distribution and some marketing if they could cover the production costs. Thank God for Kickstarter, a website where the little guy can donate money to get projects, including independent movies, funded. I'd heard of Kickstarter from my teenage brother who donated twenty bucks to get Nazis on the Moon AKA Iron Sky made.(It's on Netlfix. It ain't bad.) Being a miser I'd never donated until I woke one Tuesday and noticed an article in Entertainment Weekly about the VM project. I barely finished the article before I donated $35 to the film and convinced my father to do the same. Then I got onto all my social media sites and spread the word. I was not alone in my zeal. In less than 24hrs they reached their minimum goal of 2mil guaranteeing VM would be back. Power to the people!
There was a lot of criticism over this. Why not donate to charity instead? Why give money to a big movie studio? The answer to the first is, I donate to charity. And the arts is a charity BTW. The answer to the second is the WB will not make much on this deal. It was the only way for the movie to get made. And look what it did. People who never knew about Kickstrarter now do. They can go to the site and find a project they think is worthy and help support new work by people whose ideas aren't mainstream and won't be focus grouped to death by corporations. It also showed those corporations the power of the people. Power lies where people believe it does. The one thing the 1% fears is the peasants rising. The publishing world is learning this the hard way. The little people are cutting out the middle man and going straight to the consumers. We're controlling our own destinies and reaping the rewards ourselves. That is a paradigm shift I can get behind. And so should you.
Until next time, this is Jennifer Harlow signing out from the darkside...
P.S.-To donate to the Veronica Mars project just click HERE. Or just check out the site. You can fund anything from a knitting project to a video game.
Song of the Week: I'm on Fire by Bruce Springsteen
I'm Reading: Tough Shit by Kevin Smith ****
It's My Birthday and I'll Drink if I Want To
Hello, and welcome to the darkside...
It's here.
It's finally happened.
The day I've been dreading almost all my life.
I knew it was coming. I knew it would happen eventually.
And it has. Good God almighty, it has.
I'm...30. (*cue hysterical crying*)
And I'm back.
Thi...Forever 29 is a giant milestone. I am no longer in my twenties, my wild, wonderful twenties. Okay, so my twenties were not that wild and at times were not that wonderful either. I barely dated, I barely drank, I never danced on a table or flashed my boobs but my twenties were still productive. I graduated from a baby Ivy college, I drove across country twice, visited a foreign country, moved four times, had and lost a job, got three books published, and an an Amazon Best-Seller. Not too shabby.
But still. With the big thi...Forever 29 upcoming I had a mini-meltdown. (A month ago but still. The past few days I've had a bad stomach flu which I am still not recovered from.) I have no husband. I have no kids. I'm living with my parents. All my friends live in different states. I am not married to Ralph Fiennes as I thought for sure I'd be by now. In society's view, I am a big old Loser. Yet...I don't feel like one. (See above paragraph on my general awesomeness. Though I could do without the arthritis and need to take a pill before eating out.)
People keep telling me thi...Forever 29 should be great. In the next decade all of the above milestones will come to pass (maybe.) Perhaps I'll finally get on the New York Times Best-Seller list. Perhaps I'll have one of my books become a movie. Perhaps I'll get to work on my own television or radio show. Ralph is still single. I don't know what the future holds. All I do know that today, in between vomiting (damn you stomach flu), a quote continues cycling through my mind: "Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many." I will try my damnedest.
Until I turn...forty.
Until next time, this is Jennifer Harlow signing out from the darkside...
Song of the Week: My Next Thirty Years by Tim McGraw
I'm Reading: Death of Bridezilla by Laura Levine ****
Fun with Pinterest
Hello, and Welcome to the Darkside...
I'm in the midst of a massive blog tour, 50+ stops, so I'm a little blogged out and kind of sick of talking about myself. (Go to Harlow Gazette for the stops.) So this week is just funny pictures I found on Pinterest. Enjoy.
Until next time, this is Jennifer Harlow signing out from the darkside...
Song of the Week: Que Sera Sera by Doris Day
I'm reading: The Immortal by Christopher Pike ***
