Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Yes, it's true...

Aphrodite's Apples Press has closed its doors. I echo the sentiments of Katrina Strauss; she and I had many of the same experiences, and were in the same positions within the company before we both stepped down from administrative capacity, me in August and her in September of last year.

My two novels, previously with AA, found new homes last year with Tease Publishing, and Leading Her to Heaven is already in print, available at B&N and Amazon.

"Caging Kat" was previously published with AA in Masquerade, Volume One. It will be rereleased with Tease as part of their Festival line, a standalone in ebook, and within an anthology for print. "Unspeakable," my Regency short which was originally part of AA's Regency Romp, Volume One doesn't have a home yet, but there are big plans in store. Stay tuned, and keep your fingers crossed!

Thanks to everyone for their support and well wishes. This isn't a set-back, it isn't a slammed door. It's a new opportunity, and one I plan to grab onto.

-KJ

Sunday, February 03, 2008

The Many Emotions of An Author

Creativity is a strange thing. A blessing, a curse, a form of insanity... It's a fascinating truth that many creative people are at best odd, and at worst just plain nuts. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out why that is, since a good portion of my life before I found my niche was passed thinking I was cuckoo bananas. After all, normal people don't spend hours, days, weeks, living entirely in their heads, do they? Normal people don't find the stories they create in their minds more interesting than real life. And normal people certainly don't talk to themselves in order to work out bits of dialog amongst their characters. Hell, do normal people even think up characters?

Since I'm not a normal person, I couldn't tell you.

You've heard me talk about "suckitis" before, that crushing fear of failure that often comes following the completion or release of a new book. You'd think I'd feel accomplished, proud, happy. I do - for a while. Then the apprehension sets in.

Case in point: Leading Her to Heaven is now available in print. It's the first book of mine to get to print. When my copies arrived on friday, I went through a range of emotions and activities. I cried. I giggled like a maniac. I sniffed the inside. I flipped through the pages. All expected.

Then the weirdness set in. Looking at my book now, I feel...weird. It's been available in ebook format for over a year now, and has been well received. But the suckitis has hit yet again, and I didn't anticipate it this time.

Another thing I didn't see coming: I'm actually a bit embarrassed by the sex scenes. My gravy, I used the word "cock" a lot in this book. For some reason, it's different to see it in print than on the screen.

Overall, I'm exceedingly happy to finally be in print - there's a sense of accomplishment and vindication - but right now, I just feel...weird.