The latest from Jade…

I hadn’t realized it had been so long since I updated, so I figured I’d throw some misc. info together!!

1. I spent last week in Albuquerque for the GayRomLit Retreat and I’m still recovering. What an amazing conference!! Kudos to the organizers for putting on such a wonderful event, and big hugs to everyone that I talked to while I was there. It felt more like a homecoming than a conference, and everyone was just so nice. And it made me energized to write more, which is always a good thing! Next year it will be in Atlanta, and I’m already planning on being there!

2. I have a few upcoming releases but the darn release dates keep changing on me so I haven’t quite been able to update them on the website yet. It looks like Hedgehog’s Delight (book 3 in the Wolf Creek series) will be released next, but it’s been bumped back to November. Pandamonium (book 4 in the Northern Bears series) should be released after that from Changeling Press, and I’m still trying to get a more firm date for you guys, but it’ll be some time in the November/early December time frame. After that I have Broken Boughs (book 2.5 in the Broken Trilogy), which is estimated for some time in December as part of the MLR Press Christmas stories. As soon as I have something more concrete, I’ll post about it!

3. Octoberfest at Changeling — Win free books for a month! How can you enter? Buy any new release at www.changelingpress.com and use the discount code Octoberfest2012 — save 10% off your order, and you’re automatically entered to win. Winners will receive five free books — one a week for the month of November.

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Calgary Stampede

I was off to the Calgary Stampede yesterday and had a blast, as usual. For anyone who hasn’t heard of it, the Stampede is an event that is all about western heritage and values and it’s been dubbed the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth. Ten days of rodeo, agricultural events, carnival rides, music, food, entertainment and arts. I’m sure I’m missing something… Anyway, this year is the celebration of 100 years of the Calgary Stampede so it’s quite the show!

I had quite the exhausting day, but I got my fill of corndogs, country music, cows and chuckwagons! Add to that the tractor pulls, heavy horses, military (in cowboy hats), cops (in cowboy hats), and firemen (in cowboy hats…) and I definitely left a happy camper. I also got to enjoy a brilliant fireworks display. They’ve set off five sets of fireworks in different locations in the city to celebrate and it was pretty spectacular. The night ended with a really awesome show headlined by Paul Brandt! I’m a country girl and I love the local talent 🙂 Here’s a little peak of him, singing about the wonderful place I live!

 

Until next time, I recommend everyone ogle a cowboy! And speaking of cowboys, I’m anticipating a late July release of Gay for Cowboy, which just happens to feature the fabulous Calgary Stampede 🙂

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What’s in a Name?

So, it’s not like I just noticed this or anything, but now that I’m finished Broken Silence and starting to plot my next big project, I’m thinking about it now. Over the years I’ve written three books that featured secondary characters that I am now writing stories for. Broken Rules featured Rich Matheson, Nut Cream featured Mick Madison and Black Wolf featured Rick Black (thank God it’s not close to Matheson or Madison or that would just be ridiculous!). Anyway, Rich’s story is now finished and going into edits, so I’m working on plotting for Mick and Rick’s stories. Not quite so easy when I keep mixing them up! Oops.

Anyway, I’m learning from my whoopsie moment and putting together a database with all the names of my characters, including secondary characters. I’d rather not confuse myself like this again LOL! Plus, I’m almost positive I’ve written about two Mitch’s…

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China Adventure!

I’m back! And I’ve got pictures!

Had a fabulous time, met some wonderful people, and came home with a lot of stories and story ideas! Overall, I loved China, loved the food, loved the pandas, and loved the places I was lucky enough to visit. Great trip 🙂

One thing I didn’t love? Ox Penis. Here’s the “before” shot… the “after” shot consisted of me gagging as I swallowed it. Yep, I swallowed!

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Romance Reader Survey

The Rainbow Romance Writers — the GLBTQ chapter of the Romance Writers of America — has developed a survey for romance readers, because we’re nosy. Ha, no, we just want to see what sorts of romance you guys read, how you read it, and where you get it. Click the button above to take our survey. At the end, you can enter your email if you like for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card. Your WILL be kept confidential and separate from your survey answers.

A link can be found through this site: http://therealallyblue.tumblr.com/RRWsurvey

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Vegas and an Excerpt

I spent the week in Las Vegas and picked up a nasty cold, but other than that I had a blast! Learned a few things too…

1. Next time I’m bringing good walking shoes. I think it’s hilarious that every pair of shoes I brought with me gave me blisters except the $2 pair of flip flops, but next time I’m packing running shoes.

2. The shows are awesome! I wanted to get to more but I did mange to see Zumanity, Ka and Carrot Top. Wasn’t sure about the last but the show I originally booked got cancelled at the last minute so everything else was sold out. Lucky for me, actually, because he was hilarious. I recommend all three shows if you haven’t seen them. Entertaining in their own ways.

3. I’m not a big gambler, and I never win, but I eventually had fun playing at all the casinos. I just don’t see the point in blowing money when I could be buying something lol! On that note, though, everyone else in my group won, so maybe it’s just me…

4. The outlets are awesome but exhausting! Those running shoes would have come in handy.

5. I’m in awe of Hoover Dam. I couldn’t do the full tour because the elevators were broken that day, but they showed us slides of the building process and I’m in complete awe of how a group of people made that at the time it was made. Outstanding. And pretty impressive when you’re standing on top of it.

6. I came up with a great scene for my current WIP, Broken Silence (Book 2 of the Broken Trilogy), based on my Vegas adventures so I’m pretty excited about that! To celebrate, I have a teeny excerpt to share. This is between Rich and one of his lovely friends.

Broken Silence Unedited Excerpt

Dooby picked up a heaping handful of nachos and stuffed them in his mouth. “wannn hee my dew seery?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth open.”

His friend swallowed before looking up with a grin. “You wanna hear my new theory?”

“About what?”

Dooby inched forward, placing his elbows on the table. He looked around before focusing on Rich. “I think chicks and dudes are like locks and keys.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Think about it. A key that opens a thousand locks? That’s an awesome key. But, if you have a lock that can be opened by a thousand keys? That’s a shitty lock.”

Rich snorted. “Don’t let my sister hear you say that.”

“Why? She have a lock I ca-“

“She’s my sister, douchebag.”

“So?”

“So, she’s off limits. End of story.”

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Movie Musings

I was talking yesterday on Fiction with Friction about movies and what movies I’m looking forward to this year: http://www.fictionwithfriction.com/2012/02/19/movies/ 

I think I’m in one of those moods where I just want to watch (and re-watch) movies. I bit the bullet and got a Netflix subscription, and even though the Canadian site doesn’t have as many movies as the regular site, it still gives me enough TV shows and movies to keep me occupied.

Last, but not least, I found the perfect movie snack (or anytime snack). I was watching Steven and Chris today because it’s a holiday and I’m home free, and they had a wonderful set of recipes (as usual). One really caught my attention… Junk Food Cookies! How can you go wrong? I really want to make these:  http://www.cbc.ca/stevenandchris/2012/01/junk-food-cookie.html 

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Try everything

I’m in love with this quote today.

 

“Find life experiences and swallow them whole. Travel. Meet many people. Go down some dead ends and explore dark alleys. Try everything. Exhaust yourself in the glorious pursuit of life.”

Lawrence K. Fish, Businessman

I think I’m particularly caught on the “try anything” and how that relates to my writing. Maybe it’s time to try something different. Although, I still have multiple manuscripts that need to be finished first. Maybe when I’m done with the next Broken novel I can experiment… It will definitely be interesting!

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RWA and same-sex romances

I’m talking today about the recent decision of the Romance Writers Ink to exclude same-sex romances from their More than Magic contest. I think Kari Gregg, Heidi Cullinan and Stephani Hecht do an amazing job of outlining what’s going on and what their positions are, so I won’t go into too many details except to say that this isn’t simply about a contest. It’s about more than that.

As a writer of GLBT romances and as a GLBT writer (not the same thing, despite what some think), I find words/phrases like “uncomfortable” and “too much” make my chest ache. As a human being, I find discrimination and exclusion make me want to stand up and shout out my support as loud as I can.

I write gay romances. I am gay. I realize those two things, separately or together, make some people “uncomfortable”. I realize that some people might think that who I am and what I write is “too much”.

I’m lucky that I’m surrounded by people — family, friends, writers, associates — that are “comfortable” with me and what I write. I’m blessed that there are people in this world who think what I write and who I am are “just right”.

I answered the call to arms and tweeted, facebooked, and emailed both RWA and the RWI chapter; but I’m not going to focus on the bad anymore. I’m going to focus on the good.

I’m thankful for the Rainbow Romance Writers, an organization I’m fortunate enough to have had a hand in building as their first president. I’m thankful for my outstanding Calgary RWA chapter who support me and my writing and who are some of the most loving people you’ll ever meet. I’m thankful for my critique partners for making me a better person and my friends that aren’t in one of the above groups 🙂 Above all, I’m thankful for my family who love me and make me believe every day that I’m special and worthy.

I’m thankful for people who stand up for what they believe in.

Jade

P.S. If you’d like to send a polite letter to RWA, you can email them at info@rwa.org.

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10% off and free books!

In celebration of my five year anniversary, Changeling Press has been awesome enough to create a coupon for anyone who wants to take advantage of it! It starts today, so enjoy!

Code — Felidae

10% off Jade Buchanan Felidae Series
(10% off one order, anything you can stick in the cart, with the purchase of any Jade Buchanan Felidae Series title at www.changelingpress.com)
Valid 2012-01-25 thru 2012-02-02
 
In other news, I’m hanging out at www.banditcreekbooks.com today, talking about secrets! I’ll be giving out a copy of Penny Candy and Hard Candy to a random commenter.
 
And while I’m at it, you can get Taking Chances for free (for a limited time) at Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0060P2BNS/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_aFChpb071Q57B 
 
 
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