Author Jen Meyers

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“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”

My shelves. Can you really ever have too many books?

Instead of sitting around biting my nails all day long as I wait (im)patiently to hear back from my betas (no, really, take your time! I’m kidding), I’ve been doing a LOT of reading. Like in the past few days? I read four books (though one was comprised of two short stories, so I’m not sure that really counts). Let me tell you about what I’ve been reading.

Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson (Young Adult)
This is the first book I’ve read of hers, and it was an interesting idea, fun story. A teen goes to Europe on a sort of scavenger hunt, directed through information she reads in thirteen letters her recently deceased aunt left her. She discovers things she never knew about her beloved aunt, as well as about herself. Maureen writes great dialogue. It was good in this book, and even better in the next one on the list.

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson (Young Adult)
Set in NYC, it’s about Scarlett and her family who run and live in a hotel (that’s not doing very well financially) in the middle of the city. There are crazy actors involved, theatre, and tight bonds amidst the siblings. I loved the snappy, smart dialogue and creative story line. A really fun read.

Hold Still by Nina LaCour (Young Adult)
I came across this book through Library Thing, a site for readers to post their personal library and talk books. (Great site! Great place to get book recommendations for whatever you like to read.) I was actually not expecting it to be very good from what one person had said about it. However, that was not the case. In fact, I couldn’t put it down and read it all in one day. Really well written, compelling story about a girl whose best friend committed suicide and the aftermath of getting through it, getting back to normal, a year long process. Beautifully done.

If You Go Into the Woods by David Gaughran (Adult)
Two short stories: “If You Go Into the Woods” and “The Reset Button.” While I’m not much of a short story fan (I just tend to like a longer commitment than a short story–I want to be carried away for hundreds of pages), I thought these were very well done. Good writing, really interesting, creepy ideas. If you like short stories, check it out.

So, now what am I going to do with myself? Next up is Blackbringer by Laini Taylor, another YA book. (Do you see a theme here?) I actually had borrowed this from the library a couple of months ago, renewed it twice (which means I had it for nine weeks) (!) but I was so busy with edits that I never had time to read. I finally picked it up a few days before it was due, got to chapter 6 and had to give it back. But by then I was hooked. So I requested it again, and Steve picked it up from the library for me tonight. (Have I told you how much I love my library? Like here. And maybe here, too.)

I also have three other library books sitting next to my bed and six other books I just downloaded onto my brand-spanking-new Kindle. (It just came this week.) And while I am wholeheartedly devoted to paper books and always will be (that is a photo of just one of my actual overcrowded bookshelves up there, you know), there are some indie authors I’ve been wanting to check out for quite a while, and buying a Kindle was the most cost effective way to do that. (Books printed on demand are more expensive than if you have a print run done. Most indie’s go with print-on-demand because you don’t know if you’ll be able to sell all the books in a print run.)

Enough about what I’m reading. What are you reading?

*Title quote by C.S. Lewis, a man I definitely would have gotten along with quite well. At least in the sense that we could have drunk massive mugs of tea together while reading the thickest books we could find.

By jen | August 4, 2011 | Blog, books |

Getting My Geek On

I reverted to a total geek today as I played with a bit of html to format the book for a couple of my betas’ e-readers. Can I tell you how much fun that is? I think I should have been a programmer because I was getting such a kick out of making things happen with little bits of code.

Now, I should tell you, here, that what I did was insanely easy because someone had already done it, created a tutorial, wrote the code I needed, and posted it online. (Thank you Guido Henkel. I think I love you.) So it’s not like I came up with it all on my own from scratch. THAT would be really impressive. Right? I know. But still. It was so totally fun (and I do believe I clapped a few times when I’d check what I’d done in a browser and it had actually worked!). I had to do a little bit of problem solving with a couple of issues and figured them out quickly. Html is logical and systematic, after all.

Can you tell I’m a total geek?

In the spirit of full disclosure, I will tell you that I actually went to computer camp one summer when I was a kid. It was in Switzerland, if memory serves (which it may not–it was not quite thirty years ago, after all, and I was like 12 or 13 at the time). Sounds snooty, doesn’t it? It wasn’t. At least not for me. My family lived in Germany at the time, so going to camp in Switzerland was like going to camp in the state next door here. But it was cool. One of my roommates was from Japan and she taught me a little bit of Japanese, most of which I have completely forgotten. Oh, and I learned some programming at the time, too, which I loved. And it was in DOS. Remember DOS? Ancient computer language. Does anyone even use DOS anymore? I have no idea. (I probably would if I were actually a programmer.) This was before Macs and waaaaaaay before Windows.

I feel so smart and technologically handy today (but a little bit old–dang, that was a long time ago). What made you feel smart today?

By jen | August 3, 2011 | Blog, book news |

Sneak Peek #2 and Betas

I did this today:

Those are printouts of my book, bundled up with goodies for my first readers, aka betas. On Friday I finished getting it ready, and actually handed it out to a few people over the weekend–electronically and in person. I’ve been getting more copies ready today and have handed some out. I’m excited and nervous–a huge bundle of nerves, actually–and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to sleep this month.

Luckily I do have other things to keep me busy (yes, always my four kids, but I actually meant other book-related things). Which is good. I’m going to create a couple of different cover designs and post a poll to get your input on which one is best and I’m going to figure out how to format the book properly for all the different platforms. I’m looking forward to doing all that because it just brings me closer to releasing this book. After I hear back from my beta readers, I’ll figure out what tweaking needs to happen, do it, then put it in the hands of my copy-editor/proofreader. Then, holy cow, it’ll be ready for upload and launch.

And after all that? I’ll start writing the next book. (Nothing but excitement, around here, I tell you!)

Of course, this makes it sound quicker than it will actually happen. I’m hoping to hear back from all my betas by the end of August, then I’ll have revisions to do. When that’s done Steve will do a line edit. And then my copy-editor will get it. After I get it back, I’ll do the formatting and then go through it to make sure everything looks good. So realistically we’re looking at around 3 months, probably, before it’s ready to be put up for sale. I know, I know. I wish it were sooner too.

But, hey, in the spirit of letting others get a read, how about another sneak peek? This is the opening of the book, the first page.

“Shall she be the first to die, Seer?”
Luke whipped his head around.
“Yes, I think so. Her healing makes her the more dangerous of the two.”
No. Not his sister. This one couldn’t be about Sera. He wrenched around to look behind him. Damn it, who’d said that?
There.
Holy. Crap.
Ivory satin skin, copper colored hair, a combination of hard and soft in all the right places. Divine. That was the only way to describe her. Luke found it hard to breathe looking at her. It pierced him, her beauty. She smiled serenely at him. And though her words in his ear had struck terror, her visage soothed him. He knew with sudden certainty that he’d do anything to make her happy.
Torchlight from sconces on the walls flicked amber across her tall angular form. As Luke gazed at her intently, however, the appearance of beauty quivered, disappeared to reveal a disturbing gauntness. Sharp cheekbones under pale as death skin. Collarbones stood out above the skin-tight black tank top. Hip bones jutted out just above the top of her taut black pants. Not an ounce of excess to her body. Not an ounce of humanity in her glittering dark eyes.
Had he really thought she was beautiful a moment ago? He studied her again. She was sickeningly skeletal, yet a moment later inexplicably alluring. All at once terrifying, grotesque, and ravishing. What the hell was she?
Goose bumps spread up his arms.
This was, without a doubt, the scariest vision he’d ever had.

Nothing like a little teaser to start out the week, right? Have a great one, everybody!

By jen | July 31, 2011 | Blog, book news, Intangible |

Loving

About Writing:
* The evolution of a novel from first draft to final is amazing. How much more complete it is, rounded, intertwined. 
* The accidental perfect turn of phrase–like a moment of brilliance. 
* How, even when I think I can’t do it, I can. 

About Life:
* The slowness of the days, cool quiet of the nights. 
* That I have kids who want to play outside all day long. And they can.
* The freedom to play, dream, plot, create with my kids.
* That our flower garden, mostly planted from seeds, is starting to hint at being a flower garden rather than just a big patch of weeds.
* That we’ve gone through two kids having surgery (one last week, one 6 years ago) without problems. (But enough already. No more.)

About Kids:
* When I put a bandaid on my kids’ legs or feet, they suddenly can’t walk very well. 
* When I put a bandaid on arms or hands, the arm is no longer useful. 
* That they are perfectly who they are . . . which is to say not perfect at all. 
* This email exchange between Riley (9) and Torin (7):

    Torin: Your superhero name is Supersmash.
    Riley: Okay, your superhero name is Wolverbeans.
* That I can love them more every day. (Even on the not-so-good days.)

What are you loving right now? 

By jen | July 29, 2011 | Blog, kids, summer |

Reasons to Love Libraries and Les Mis

There are many things I love about our library system here–especially the fact that I’ve gotten to read hundreds of books. But one of the coolest things they offer is movies to borrow. Just like Netflix or Blockbuster, I can get the latest DVDs from my library. For seven days. For free. Seriously. How cool is that? We’ve watched lots of movies through our library, though it’s slowed a lot since I started writing the book. Most of my evenings are spent writing.

However, I did watch Blue Valentine, with Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling, over the weekend. The acting was excellent, I have to say. I totally believed these characters. But the movie as a whole was thoroughly disappointing. It’s about a relationship that’s gone bad, the love gone from their marriage. We see flashbacks of how they met, how in love they were, and we follow them in present time as their marriage is dissolving. The problem? We didn’t ever get to see the problem. The wife blamed the husband, not liking how they were together, how they were in front of their child. But he didn’t do anything wrong. He tried, kept trying. He loved his wife, he adored their child. And they didn’t seem “bad” in front of the child. I had no idea what the wife was talking about when she broke down at the end and started her “I can’t do this anymore” spiel. It didn’t make sense. So Steve and I were both left with a “Huh?” sort of feeling as the credits rolled. Did we miss something? Maybe the problem was they spent all this time flashing back to show how the relationship was built, showing the love story aspect of it, but spent no time showing how it started to fall apart. There just wasn’t anything there to support that, other than the fact that they are dysfunctional in present time.

But, honestly, I was riveted the whole time. The movie was so well done. (You know, except for the small issue of the story making sense.) I had no idea where the film was going. Turns out that’s because it didn’t go anywhere. Really, so disappointing. Though, again, lovely, lovely acting. If you saw the film, what did you think of it?

Over the weekend I also got to Skype with a friend of mine. A friend I’ve known for 30 years. (But I can’t possibly be old enough for that to be true.) She’s taking her teenage daughter to see Les Miserables sometime soon, and I can barely stand it. I LOVE Les Mis. I’ve loved it for twenty-five years. (Again, I’m not old enough, I swear. But still, it’s true.) The first time I saw it, I didn’t breathe the entire time, and when the lights went up, I said, “It’s over? Already?” (It’s about 3 hours long.) I’ve never seen another show that is as enthralling as Les Mis. It’s perfect.

So, I’ve been watching the 10th Anniversary concert on YouTube ever since we talked. Thinking perhaps I should get it on DVD. (Might be nice to watch it all the way through. Over and over and over again.) Because I LOVE it. And I forget how much I love it when I’m not actively listening to it. At the moment? I’m in love. Songs like “Bring Him Home,” “A Little Fall of Rain,” and “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” bring me to tears. (Links to the YouTube videos. Watch. Really.) I’m sure it’s a combination of the phenomenal music, lyrics, and great emotion the singers bring to it. But, oh my. Seriously. I get choked up just watching. So amazing.

My favorite part? The whole thing. But I have a favorite note. (I’m not kidding.) (This is the only show or piece of music that I can think of where one note stood out as an incredible thing all unto itself.) There is this one specific note that gave me chills, made me gasp and cry the very first time I saw the show and every time I’ve heard it since . . . when Javert commits suicide. If you’ve not seen the show or aren’t familiar with it, Javert is a policeman, chasing after escaped “criminal” Valjean. Javert is the bad guy, but he’s not the bad guy. He’s doing his job, he’s doing what he thinks is right. He’s very black-and-white in his views. Valjean was serving hard time for stealing bread (he was starving). He escaped and dedicated his life to doing good. Years later their paths crossed again, and Javert starts chasing him again, wanting to send him back to prison. Valjean ends up saving Javert’s life, and Javert cannot stand the position that puts him in. He cannot reconcile his stark beliefs of good and bad, and so he commits suicide rather than be indebted to Valjean. When he does, at the moment he leaps off the bridge to his death, he sings this one note that is in complete discord with the music. It sounds WRONG. It stands out. It almost seems as if he’s not singing, but yelling. And then? Shiver-inducing magic as the music swells up to meet him on that one note. Oh, I have got to tell you. Every time I listen to it–every time, I kid you not–that one note sweeps chills up my back and down my arms. And I could cry.

This is it, from the 10th anniversary concert of Les Mis, so it’s missing the staging, but the music and emotion is there. This whole piece is the final Valjean-Javert confrontation, where Javert finally catches up to Valjean, but Valjean is trying to save another man’s life at that moment, has to get him to a doctor, and asks for Javert to give him an hour, then he’ll return and turn himself in. Essentially, Valjean is giving up, he’s tired of being chased. In the meantime, which you won’t see here, Javert is trapped by rebels and they’re going to kill him. Valjean comes along and says he’ll do it, he’ll take care of Javert. But instead of killing him, Valjean lets him go, saves his life. If you want to skip ahead to just listen to Javert’s part, start at 1:40. The Note is at about 4:40. But really? You need to listen to all of Javert’s song from 1:40 on to build up to that moment, his torment that throws him to his death. Oh, really. It’s amazing. Here, see for yourself.

See what I mean? Here, have a tissue. I know I need one.

My friend also raved about the show Wicked, which she’s seen many times and LOVES. I totally have to check it out. What about you? Seen any good shows or movies lately?

By jen | July 27, 2011 | Blog, library, movies, music |

Keeping Still

Can I tell you how s-l-o-w time goes when you’re sitting in the waiting room while your child has surgery?  S.L.O.W. And it’s not like I could concentrate on anything for longer than a nanosecond. I had brought the book with me to read through one last time before passing it out to my beta readers, but just couldn’t focus for more than a word or two. I sat there wishing I’d brought my knitting so at least I could have had something to do with my hands. It wouldn’t have made the time go by any quicker, but at least I would have been doing something. Maybe it wouldn’t have felt like every minute took forever.

Or maybe it still would have.

But Cael is fine. I’m traumatized, but he’s fine. That’s being a parent, right? I know. Of course, afterwards while the surgeon was telling us how everything went, he said that we needed to keep Cael from running, jumping or riding his bike for at least a week, preferably two. Our response? We totally laughed at him. Cael is a couple of weeks away from 5. Keeping him still? Not gonna happen. The day after the surgery we had to tell him time and again to “stop running!” “please don’t climb on the furniture” “no headstands on the couch!”

And we’ve had to say things we never thought we’d say: “No, I don’t want you to go play outside. Stay inside and play computer games or watch a movie.” Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s any holding him back now. Fingers crossed that two and a half days is enough time for tissues to have fused back together strongly enough because it’s impossible to keep him still anymore. I’m just going to hope those stitches hold.

That was our weekend, really. Started with the surgery, ended with almost tying Cael to a chair. (Okay, not really. But now that I think of it? It would have kept him still longer.)

In other news:

I’m in shock at what happened in Oslo. Honestly, I cannot comprehend how someone can do this sort of thing. My thoughts are with the people of Norway, especially the families of those lost.

On a much happier note, I’m loving the fact that in my state, a lot of people got married on Sunday who weren’t allowed to before. I smiled all day long for those happy couples. Yay equality! Yay for loving who you love! This really makes me so happy.

Another thing making me happy? Generous neighbors who let us swim in their pond.

What’s making you happy this week?

By jen | July 25, 2011 | Blog, kids, people are people |

Burning the Midnight Oil and Good Thoughts

For the record, I’m not staying up late drinking
and playing cards. Really. I’m writing.
(Photo credit: Vladimir Ivanov, Dreamstime.com)

I’m burning the midnight oil right now, working every moment I can to finish up revisions so I can get this book into the hands of my beta readers in the next couple of weeks.

This is just to say that I’m tired. And stupid.

So I’m yawning and feeling sleepy at dinner time yesterday–seriously, if I had lay down, I would have been out for the night. Instead of doing that, I had a cup of coffee. I know, I know. But I have work to do. And I don’t usually drink coffee at all because it turns me into a monster by the end of the day. (Tested and proven that theory.) But I figured if I had it in the evening, the coffee monster would rear its ugly head while I was asleep and the kids would get through my coffee side-effects unscathed (which they did). And I did get a lot of work done. Of course I was still wide awake at 2 am.

Strangely enough, when I stay up late, the kids don’t sleep in any longer the next morning. I know, you would think, right? But, no. Still up at the crack of dawn. So I am a wee bit tired today. I do realize that a smart person would have thought “Hmmm. Maybe I should go to bed early tonight,” rather than “Mmmm. Coffee.” But apparently, I wasn’t that kind of person yesterday.

Maybe I will be today.

(Okay, well, maybe not.)

Oh, hey. If you’re feeling in the mood for sending good thoughts out at the end of the week–or really, even before, like now, go ahead and do it now–send some here, please. On Friday, Cael, my 5 year old, is undergoing surgery. It’s minor surgery, but involves general anesthesia which worries me. (And honestly? I’m not sure there really is any such thing as “minor” surgery when it’s your child.) I’m doing my best to not completely stress out about it, and am just hoping I can keep it together long enough to walk him into the OR, tell him I’ll see him when he wakes back up, with a smile on my face while emitting calm assurance, before I completely fall apart. (I’ve been practicing. Sigh. Hopefully I’ll be able to pull it off by Friday. Riley had a similar surgery when he was 2, and I cried as they put the mask over his face in the OR, then in the bathroom for about 5 minutes before splashing my face with water and going out to the waiting room to pretend to be calm while I counted down the minutes.) It’s scary. It’ll be okay, but it’s scary.

I’m not sure if I’ll post at the end of the week, so I will wish you all a great weekend a little early, and see you here next week. In the meantime, be well, hug your kids (a lot), and steer clear of operating rooms.

By jen | July 20, 2011 | Blog, book news, kids |

A Whale of a Good Story

You know, with all the bad news that gets reported–all. the. time.–I’m always in the mood for good news. You, too? Here’s one that just about gave me chills as I watched the video. These people came upon a humpback whale that was so tangled up in nylon netting that it was on the verge of drowning. They had one knife between them on their little boat, and worked for an hour to free the whale. Had they not helped, the whale would have died. One of the people on the boat filmed it (oh, look, a video link below . . .  what luck). The whale celebrated its freedom afterwards with so much joy, it just makes you smile to watch it frolic. 35 tons of frolic. Pretty awesome.  (The video comes with a Speedo alert. You have been warned. And it starts a bit slow, you might want to skip to about the :50 sec mark where the story begins.)

Happy Monday, everyone! Wishing you a week of good news (and no Speedos) (Speedoes?) (Hmmm.).

By jen | July 18, 2011 | Blog, i love good news |

Sneak Peek!

A short teaser of an excerpt from Intangible.

“Luke,” Sera said, reaching out to touch his arm. The healing energy flowed freely out of her hand and into him. His arm glowed slightly. “Talk to me. Tell me what you Saw.”
Silence.
An odd dizzy feeling started at the top of her head and trickled down her spine. She had a horrible thought about what was making her twin brother so petrified. About what would make her feel the same way.
Her voice was a whisper. “Do I get hurt?”
His face contorted, but he didn’t say anything.
“Oh my god. Do I die?”
He closed his eyes.
“Oh.” The air rushed out of her lungs on that one word. She was going to die.
Luke’s voice was tight, tortured when he said, “Let’s go.” He bent down to pick up Sera’s bag again, then headed for the front door. Sera grabbed her book bag and his, took a look around the dark house one last time.
She stepped out onto the front porch where Luke waited, and locked the door behind her. Luke started down the stairs, but her voice stopped him.
“Luke?”
He turned to look at her. She was going to die. She knew she was going to die. But she couldn’t stop herself from asking the question she already knew the answer to.
“Have you ever had a vision that didn’t come true?” she said. “Ever?”
This is likely to be the cover copy and/or blurb. Does it make you want to pick up the book and read it?

By jen | July 15, 2011 | Blog, Intangible |

“I heard there was a secret chord . . . “

So, a few months ago Steve came across the song “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen. He found it while surfing songs on YouTube. (We do that a lot. Especially searching out 70’s and 80’s songs that we remember so fondly and remarkably remember all of the words to. We don’t have television, so it’s our MTV or VH1, or whatever other music channels are on cable and satellite now.)

Where was I? Oh, yeah. “Hallelujah.” I’m absolutely mesmerized by this song. (Although, can you be mesmerized by something you listen to but don’t see? Technically, probably not. But still. You get what I mean.) And you would not believe the plethora of people who have sung it on YouTube: Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Jeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen (he wrote it), Allison Crowe, Rufus Wainwright (his was the version in Shrek) . . . just to name a few. (Links to the videos.) It’s really quite impressive. There is obviously something about this song.

My favorite? K.D. Lang. No contest. There are several videos of her, and each time she sings it slightly differently. I can’t pick between them because each one is stellar. She can SING. Here, see what I mean:

See? Do you have chills? I do. And I’ve watched/listened to her at least ninety-seven times now. Okay, now go back and listen to it again. And then one more time. And then maybe just a few more.

This song. I’m telling you, this SONG. It kills me in places. I love the melodic line that first appears near the beginning with the words “Well, it goes like this: the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift. A baffled king composing ‘hallelujah.'” and then is repeated each verse. Oh, it’s just so gorgeous.

But the words that get me, that really rip out my heart are later in the song, at about the 3:30 mark: “All I ever learned from love was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you.” How heartbreaking is that line? I know, I know. Me, too.

Oh, Leonard. The way you write. I was in your hands at the opening chords. This song. Oh, this SONG. I could write a book based on this song. Heck, I could write several books based on this song. (Maybe I will.) I do find inspiration in songs. I find stories, plots, characters in them. The more I listen to a particular song, the more the story or character reveals itself. Oh, you songwriters are a marvel that you can fit so much into 3-6 minutes. Something that takes me 300 pages to do.

Do you have songs like this? Songs that just suck out your heart and soul (in a good way, of course)? That you find so much in the words and the melodies?

By jen | July 13, 2011 | Blog, music, on writing |