New Love

    I fall in love multiple times a day sometimes. It makes me smile at the most inappropriate times. It raises my spirits when I am feeling particularly lowWhen I read... When I write, my mind creates miniature movies where the characters play out the dialogue and my heart races with anticipation of the next scene. 

    "Paris felt Douglas' gaze on the back of her neck as she slowly pulled files from the shelves behind her desk. Her dark brown cheeks burning as she tried to forget her embarrassment from the first five minutes of their meeting. Prone to bouts of clumsiness, she'd seen the trip happen before it actually did. Why wouldn't she make a fool of herself on the first day of her new position? Life just wouldn't be fair if she had managed to make it through the day unscathed."

    Just a few sentences and I am invested in Paris. I relate to her inability to coordinate. I want to know more about her job and to find out if Douglas is a hottie. I want to know if Douglas is a jerk or if he has the skill to calm Paris' nerves.

    When I am writing I am falling in love with my characters. I cry when they cry. I cheer when they win. I scream when they go down the wrong hall or make a bad decision and I support their growth.

    I find beauty in the most simplest of scenes. Where you can feel the sensations of the characters just based off of your own life. I like to highlight how even in a novel based out of fantasy, those scenes are necessary to build a connection with the reader.

    "Livia slowly slipped off her boots and tucked them into the shoe cabinet by the door before making her way into her new home. New home... She had a new home and she hadn't even been looking.  More than a few months pregnant with a belly she could scarcely believe was there moving had not been a picnic. Not that she wasn't enjoying the upgrade from a three-bedroom condo the meatpacking district to a penthouse suite on the upper west side. Following the scent of scallions and garlic, she smiled and made her way towards the kitchen. Sei had promised her a home-cooked meal to make up for the last few nights he'd been away attending late-night meetings. The Summit was coming and the City was a veritable whose who of prominent Fae. Jinx had spent the first half of their lunch together complaining about how the increased concentration of magical beings was giving her a headache. She'd been dragged through a crash course of the magical community she'd been blind to for most of her life by circumstances far out of her control. Shuffling forward, she bumped Sei's back with her protruding belly. 'Smells good.'"

    With each new story, new character, new life created... I fall in love... With the idea of those characters and the lives they lead. It is that new love. You know what I am talking about. You have felt it before. It is the kind of love where you wake up thinking about them. You get excited just knowing you will get to see them later and spend time with them.

    When I reread a book or a scene it feels like I have gone on a second date. Like we are getting another chance to get to know one another and to really see if we get along. Does the thought of your smile cause my breath to catch? Do I wish I could take a page out of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Fantasy Lover and read you into existence? Will you feature in my dreams?

    What characters do you love? How does it feel when you put pen to paper and create a world. How about when you are reading a book? Do you have a full-length feature playing in your head? Do you talk to the pages or slam the book shut when the scene just gets too real? Leave a comment. Shout out the book and let me know. I am always looking for a new love affair.

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Wintr's Homecoming

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Dreams, Wishes, Future...

       I love to dream. I love exploring my self-conscious and gaining insight into the mysteries I wasn't even aware were pulling on my conscious. Dreams are my mind's way of processing the world around me and even when they don't make sense, I embrace them...

        My dreams can be the beginning of a story I had no idea needed writing or could be just the thing I needed to get that scene just right. They spark that part of me that believes magic is real, aliens exist, and an open mind is the only way in which to live.

         Sometimes my only faith can be found in God and in dreams...

Take for instance Saturday (January 27, 2018, can you believe we are in 2018?) I was in bed completely exhausted. I'd been cooking for the week ahead, researching for my latest project, and writing all day... Not usually the combination for dream territory, but I gave in and shut down everything, and gave into the feeling. I fell alseep thinking about "Jenna".

She was the wallflower used to living her life in the shadows. She was used to life passing her by. Used to not trying, because it was easier than failing.

        She was the child of two people who never would have had her if they had not taken the risk to be together. Her parents had been Adventurers and she was caution incarnate. She was ready for more. Ready to jump off the cliff and find out whether she could fly. She was a story ready to be written and I wanted to be the person to write her.

        I wanted to be the person who got to know her and to be there when she found her purpose in the world. In my dreams, she's an outline. The promise of a story sure to get my synapsis firing,

        It was the same when I wrote Dessani Queen, Wintr's Homecoming, Witch's Reflection, or She Gets What She Wants. I just knew she was something worth exploring.

Dreams, stories, and books can be heartbreaking. They can be unfulfilled wishes. They can be the future yet to come. But boy-oh-boy can they be fun to read.

        "Jenna" is and was a story I knew I would create. She is the kinder Jinx. The more timid Makayla. At the beginning of her growing awareness feminity and her own strength as a woman, she is learning just how exciting life could be when making the "right" choice wasn't always the way to get to her objective. She was a heroine and I couldn't wait to see how her story shaped out.

        How crazy is it, that I can dream something and feel so certain that it was meant to be shared? That by placing pen to paper I am sharing a part of myself to the outside world. Quite literally, because if you have read about my writing style before you knew I write on pen and paper as well as typing. I like the tactile sensation of working through writer's block by putting orders down with ink and seeing how I still feel about that scene when I am actually typing up.

        As a child, writing was my release. It was how I dealt with my feeling and how I organized my thoughts. Now it is as paramount as breathing. It is how I create content girls and women like me wished they had when it seemed like the world was crashing in and they wanted to read about someone who knew about their experiences... Who shared features with them and knew that coconut oil was life. I write and for the most part, it is for me. It feeds that creative part of me, but it is also for my sisters, friends, aunts, and for the women who read the books traditionally offered by mainstream media and feel unfulfilled because they aren't pale skinned. They aren't natural blondes with beautiful blue eyes.

        Their hair is kinky. Their eyes are, for the most part, varying shades of brown. Their universe doesn't necessarily start or end with the ghetto and gansta life. They want to believe in the supernatural for a few hours during the day and to read about a heroine that looks like them finding love with a hero. They want that ever elusive happily ever after.

        You know the one... With the guy on horseback, preferably with no shirt, a pearly white smile, and bulging arm muscles. 

        I want the people who read my books to dream. About their wishes. About their future... I want them to read those books and know their futures are unbelievably bright. Happily ever after isn't just for our paler friends. It is for us. Our Princes aren't just disowned royals without a dime to their name and aspirations of being a musician.

Contact Info:

Website:

www.DurandPublishing.net

Facebook:

Durand Publishing

Wintr's Homecoming

Jaguar Nights

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Jensawanderingthoughts

New year, New Lies We Tell Ourselves...

    I don't make new years resolutions. Usually because that would require thinking about my life beyond the next week and that most often leads to a spiral. I find it is best for my mental stability to only take things a week at a time. This year has just begun and I have already had a few verbal arguments (I'm trying guys), done some charitable giving (Supporting a college aged sister counts right?), and wished I lived on a remote island only accessible by amazon planes so I can use my "prime" shipping.

    My life, like most others, is full of ups and downs. Twist and turns... Loops and nosedives. Last year was another year of growing I needed and offered a lot of hurdles. But I am still standing. My legs are still moving and occasionally I feel like running.

    This year I want give myself a chance to make some real changes. This year I want to make a few resolutions. Don't get too excited, this may turn into a pack of lies (hence the title).

    This year I want to do for the year of 2018:

        1. Kiss a man without knowing his first name (Overcoming some very serious germaphobia)

        2. Write at least four books (While maintain some semblance of a life and working full time)

        3. Go somewhere with a lot of sand and sun (Can't waste a winter of getting beach body ready right? Ha, yeah right.)

      4. Go on a date with a man I did not immediately regret getting dressed up for (Dude, why are you not even worth the effort I put into blending into my              concealer?)

        5. Stand up in a room full of people and shine. (Can't just save the smartassery for my house and close friends)

        6. Walk away from unnecessary drama, even when I know I am right, because it is not worth the years subtracted from my life (It is just sooo hard!!!)

    Right! So there it is. My list of resolutions/possible lies. It is, a few weeks late I know, but at least it is here and in the right month.

    I know it has been a while since I have posted. Life got crazy... Books needed writing... Bills needed to be paid. Haha. But I want to reassure you all of those things will happen again this year and I will manage to get a post up at least one a month. Writing as good a balm as any for a antisocial introvert like me. I get to share my thoughts without having to have a prolonged conversation where I am constantly reviewing what I said to make sure I don't offend delicate sensibilities (have I mentioned I can be a bit of a smartass?).

    I want this space to be a safe place, a reprieve from the crazy that is the outside world. I want those who read my work to laugh, cry, and walk away from the scenes that pushed all of their buttons until they have found their happy median again.

    This year will be the year of faith and adventure. Do you want to be a part of it?

Contact Info:

Website:

www.DurandPublishing.net

Facebook:

Durand Publishing

Wintr's Homecoming

Jaguar Nights

Instagram:

Jensawanderingthoughts