How I Spent My Christmas Vacation

In just a few hours, the long Christmas weekend will be over and I'll be returning to my regular schedule of juggling my career as a busy paralegal with my career as a novelist.

When the law firm closed at noon on Christmas Eve day, I made a trip to the grocery store for cat food and came home, ready to plow through as much of Murder In Vein as I could. As you may recall, my publisher seems to think I can pull this book out of my butt by February 1st, and I agreed to that.

BTW, that's 36 days away.

Since Christmas Eve, I have not left my apartment for even 30 seconds. I haven't unlocked the door or taken the security chain off its hook, not even to go to the laundry room or to take out the trash. I have stayed inside for the past 3-1/2 days, mostly writing. Trust me, I'm not a pretty sight.

But don't feel sorry for me or think my publisher a modern day Scrooge. I had a wonderful Christmas. I had a lovely dinner, complete with leftover turkey sandwiches, called family and friends, opened gifts. I also watched Julie & Julia and The Hangover. Even finished reading a book.

As far as Murder in Vein goes, my goal was to write 60 pages this weekend. The reality was that I wrote and edited close to 40 pages. I even did some further online research. I sent the pages off to my manager and the verdict came back a winner. I may not have written 60 pages, but the 40 I did write were tight and complete.

One thing I've discovered since starting this mad dash to February 1st is that no matter how many hours I work on a book in a day, my brain seems only capable of spilling forth 10-12 good pages, plus edits. Anything beyond that and a fuse blows.

I have another long holiday weekend next week. And, yes, the plan is to come home from work the afternoon of New Years Eve, lock myself inside and pound away at the keyboard until the following Monday. I'm hoping to coax 15 pages a day out of my tired brain next weekend.

Even though it will be New Years, I guarantee alcohol will not be involved.

Merry Christmas!

To my family far away and to all my friends, those close and those I've only met on the internet, a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Warmest holiday hugs to you all!

Sue Ann

Mystery on the Menu - Tickets On Sale NOW

Each year The Friends of the Cerritos Library host an annual fund raiser called Mystery on the Menu. This year the event will be held on January 30, 2010, which will also mark the fourth time I've been an invited author to this wonderful event.

At Mystery on the Menu, patrons purchase tickets to a luncheon and then can choose which author they would like to dine with at tables set up for 10. Besides the lunch, there are mystery panels before and after lunch, and plenty of time to purchase books and have them signed. When this event first started, there were only two panels, but in recent years it has expanded to three.

Tickets for the luncheon are $40 per person. If you would like to attend, contact Janice Dawson at (562) 924-2474. And don't delay, every year it sells out quickly.

This year the participating authors include:

Hannah Dennison
Dianne Emley
Joanne Fluke
Wendy Hornsby
Sue Ann Jaffarian
R. T. Jordan
Susan Kandel
Robert S. Levinson
Michael Mallory
Keith Raffel
Nina Revoyr
Stephen Schwartz
Patricia Smiley
April Smith
Eric Stone

What's Coming Out When

With the addition of my new vampire mystery series, my publisher had to do some shuffling of my book release dates. Since Murder in Vein is scheduled for release September 2010, several folks have asked when Granny Apples #2 is going to be released. After all, it was originally scheduled for September 2010.

So, by popular demand (and thank you all who asked), here is the new schedule for the release of my future books.

In 2010, two books will be released:

February 2010 - Corpse on the Cob, the 5th book in the Odelia Grey mystery series, will be released as originally scheduled. It can be pre-ordered now from Amazon or from Midnight Ink.

September 2010 - Murder in Vein, the 1st book in my new vampire series will be released. In a few months, it will also be available for pre-order.

In 2011, things will really change up. From what I understand, this will now be the release order of my books from Midnight Ink:

February - Ghost of Granny Apples books will be released

June - Odelia Grey books will be released

September - the vampire mystery books will be released.

Sorry for the confusion folks. As always, I will announce the release of each book through my e-mail newsletter - Hotflashes - as well as on Twitter and Facebook.

Hotflashes is e-mailed about 3-4 times a year. Anyone who would like to receive Hotflashes and is not already on the mailing list, should e-mail me at sue@sueannjaffarian.com and put "add me" in the subject line. The next issue of Hotflashes will be going out in mid-January.

Those of you who are on the list but have changed your e-mail address in the last year, should also notify me of the change.

Thank you, everyone.

You keep reading. I'll keep writing. Deal?

A Baby Vampire Gets Its Name

A lot of folks think authors get to choose the titles of their books. Not so. Same goes for the covers. But I've been very lucky on both counts. Usually my publisher considers my titles and asks me if I have suggestions for the cover. There has little trouble or controversy when naming the Odelia Grey books. Except for Booby Trap, all have been my title suggestions.

The Ghost of Granny Apples series has been a different kettle of fish. With the first book, the publisher wanted something different than just The Ghost of Granny Apples. In the end, I came up with Ghost a la Mode, but not until after both the publisher and I turned over dozens of possibilities looking for a winner. We're going through the same problem with Granny Apples #2. They didn't like my original title or my suggestions, and I didn't like their suggestions. Dozens of titles later, we're close but still no cigar. But we are definitely getting closer. Not that it matters any time soon, because the release of Granny Apples #2 has been rescheduled until February 2011 (more on that in a later post).

Okay, so now we have series #3. A vampire series, no less. Since starting the manuscript, I've been calling the first book in the series I Could Bite You Forever. Cute and catchy, but the publisher didn't think it fit with what they've seen so far of the manuscript, and told me so this morning. But they also gave me a suggestion, a great suggestion. Unlike the Granny Apples titles, I doubt we'll be going to the mat on this one.

Drum roll, please ...

Coming in September 2010 to a bookstore near you :

Murder in Vein by Sue Ann Jaffarian

Best Laid Schemes o' Mice an' Scribes

The plan was to come home on Friday night and write nearly non-stop until I had to go to work Monday morning.

What was it that Robert Burns penned? Oh yeah.

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men...

There are now 49 days until I Could Bite You Forever, the first book in my new vampire series is due to my publisher.

49 - eeek! I think I just saw a mouse.

Friday was our holiday party at the law firm. At 1 pm the firm closed down and we all went off in the rain to Spago for lunch, work or no work. Spago in Beverly Hills is Wolfgang Puck's flagship restaurant. The food was divine and Wolfgang Puck himself came out to say hello. I could have dined solely on the miniature crab cakes and pizza slices they passed around as appetizers, but glad I didn't. My striped bass entree was so wonderful I wanted to lick the plate clean, and nearly did. The champagne and wine flowed like, well, champagne and wine.

After lunch I returned to the office to pack up some binders for delivery to an attorneys home. That's all I had to do - throw them in a box and send them off with a messenger - then I could go home and start my madcap writing weekend. But even through my slight alcoholic buzz I was able to spot that something wasn't right with the documents I'd prepared for an out-of-town deposition on Monday morning. Crap. Crap. Crap.

After calling the attorney on his cell, who was ever so nice and on his way home after the party, I went home with plans to return to the office on Saturday. Once at home, I discovered I was too fuzzy to write anything coherent for a couple of hours so relaxed (aka dozed) before hitting the keyboard.

Saturday morning I was at the office by 7:30 am, ready to right my wrong. I managed it, but it wasn't easy with copiers that broke down and supplies that were almost depleted. I personally drove the 2 boxes of binders to the attorney's house, then went home where I crashed on the sofa. That was 2 pm.

4 pm found me at the Mystery Book Store at Westwood for the launch party of Exposé!, Hannah Dennison's latest book. Even with pouring rain, the place was packed and we feasted on tiny mince pies, cheese and mulled wine. Hannah was her usual lovely and funny self. I also managed to pick up the last of my family's Christmas presents. After, it was back home where I was still too tired to bang on the keys. The amount of writing done on Saturday - a big fat zero!

Sunday was a writing day. FINALLY! And a very productive one. I Could Bite You Forever is over 25% done and is on track for timely completion. Early readers have loved it so far. The finished chapters still need a lot of tweaking, but the story and characters are behaving and helping me charge through the manuscript.

Later in the day I took a break and wrapped presents and did some chores. At dinner time I watched the finale of Dexter. WOW! WOW! WOW! I won't say more because so many of my friends wait and watch it on DVD, so I won't spoil it for them. But I will say this: John Lithgow should get an Emmy!

Now it's off to the law firm again. Writing again tonight and tomorrow morning, and every day after that until the book is done - unless the mouse in my life has other plans. In that case, I will call in the cats to keep him in line, at least for the next 49 days.

Three What?

I'm talking about the whys and why-nots of writing a 3rd series over at Inkspot.

An Early Bird With Second Thoughts

Does the early bird really catch the worm, or does the early bird just yawn and wonder why in the hell she's not still in her warm bed? The cats are still in bed. But then they're a lot smarter than I am. I know that. I accept that.

I am an early riser. My usual morning routine is 1) bathroom, 2) feed cats, 3) read e-mail, 4) starting writing. A couple times a week exercise is thrown into the mix.

I've been doing this for years. Generally, the writing time is about 2 hours long, followed by getting ready to go to my job at the law firm. On weekends, the initial writing time is a 3-4 hour block before I get dressed - IF I get dressed. But lately it's been tough getting up and hitting the keyboard. And forget going outside to walk.

You see, it's cold! Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I live in Southern California. Boo hoo hoo.

But it has been very cold here, at least by our standards. My apartment has heat, but it's a small wall unit that is only of any use if you're in the living room. I write in my bedroom and since I don't use a laptop, I stay in my bedroom. This morning the thermostat in the living room says it's 64 degrees. I'm sure my bedroom is a degree or two colder. I'm writing bundled up in an oversized chenille rob that could easily kick a Snuggie's ass.

My writing time today will be cut short because I have to be to work early. For a change, I'm not unhappy about that. Although it means I will have to work longer tonight to stay on track to meet my February 1st deadline. But that's okay. It's a lot warmer in my apartment in the evenings. But even my office at the law firm is chilly. We're all freezing there, too. We haven't decided if the building is still running the air conditioning or not running any heat, but we're all bundled up in our offices. Some are even wearing their jackets inside and many are wearing heavy scarfs.

What can I say? We're Californians. We're nuts on so many levels and not as hardy as people in Minnesota or Wisconsin. Our blood has been thinned by organic this and legally prescribed that.

I wonder if anyone would notice if I wore my robe today at work? It could be the first "Bring Your Robe To Work Day."

Hey Folks, Watch Me Pull A Book Out of My Butt

You’re hearing it here first.

My current publisher, Midnight Ink, has given me a 3-book deal for my Doug and Dodie Dedham mystery series. The Dedhams are your normal, retired, active couple. They love to dance, play bridge, and enjoy tennis. Attractive and vibrant, they could be the poster children for AARP . Dodie is nurturing and loves to bake. Doug is the kind of guy who might ask you to pull his finger. They also stick their noses where they don’t belong and help solve local crimes.

Oh, by the way, did I mention they’re vampires?

Oh, yes, they are!

Now I know you’re used to seeing vampires who are hot and sexy and brooding. Vampires who create heart-throbbing havoc amongst young hormonal women. Vampires who all seemingly entered the realm of the undead while under 35 years of age.

The Dedhams and I are asking you to think outside the coffin.

The first book in the Dedham mystery series is entitled I Could Bite You Forever and is scheduled for release September 2010.

Yes, you read that right – 2010.

Yesterday, the book was scheduled for release in September 2011. But this morning around 7ish, I received a call from my editor asking if I could get them the finished manuscript by February 1st because they wanted to launch it in 2010. They had their reasons and they were all valid and understandable.

With my editor on the phone, I pulled up my manuscript-in-progress and noted that I had 6 chapters written on I Could Bite You Forever. After thinking it over for about 30 seconds, I said, No problem.

Neither alcohol nor crack were involved in my decision.

Okay, so there goes my birthday and Christmas and New Years. I’ve scratched 3 holiday parties off my list and alerted my close friends that they may not see me until sometime in February.

I’m thinking of this as the Mud Run but with my fingers instead of my feet.

OORAH!

Sleep Writing

A couple of days ago I posted about how I was not happy with all the work I'd recently put into my manuscript for Odelia #6, due very soon. Yesterday morning and last night I fudged with it, deciding about 1/2 - 2/3 of it is salvageable, but I still did not have a clear picture on the new direction for the plot. Usually this is not a problem for me at all. Usually my problem is I have too many ideas. But in this case, as I wrote deeper into the manuscript, I realized my original plot was boring and dull. If it bores me, I can just imagine how my readers would feel. Can't have that!

Last night I went to bed at 12:30, rather late for me for a work night. As I drifted off to sleep, possibilities for Odelia #6 hopped around like sheep jumping a fence. It helped me get to sleep, but didn't present any brilliant solutions.

I went to bed thinking about Odelia #6 and woke a few hours later thinking about book #1 in my vampire series. Not sure how that transpired, but being someone who does not get up to jot down nocturnal ideas, I took mental notes on the vampires, thanked my muse, and drifted back to sleep.

Fast forward to 6:30 am. Late for me to rise during the week, but I was tired. Instead of getting up, I stayed in bed and let my mind drift. Low and behold, it drifted smack dab into a great idea for Odelia #6. An idea that blends beautifully with most of what I've already written. I stayed in bed until 7:30, kneading the new idea like a lump of bread dough until I was satisfied and very excited. Sometime during the night my brain had done a little housekeeping and sorted out out the junk in my head, leaving a clean and clear path to the manuscript. Yeeeeeeee ha!

Unfortunately, I have to go to work early every day this week, so this new idea will have to wait until I get home tonight to be folded into the manuscript.

Houston, we now have lift off!


Painting - Counting Sheep by Karen Aune.

Call Me Crazy, But I Miss Work

As I write this it is 10:50 pm on Sunday. In 10 minutes I will be going to bed, my stay-cation at an end. It was a blast. Something I definitely must plan on for next Thanksgiving.

In review, I didn't get a lot of the things done around the house that I wanted to do, such as shampooing the carpet and cleaning out my big closet. But I did do a lot of things I wanted to do, such as see several friends, write a lot, and clean my apartment top to bottom. I also went to Olvera Street, something I hadn't done in years, and did some research for both the next Granny Apples book and the next Odelia Grey book. On top of that, I read through 2/3 of the proofs for Corpse on the Cob, which goes to print on December 11th. Oh yeah, and I slept a lot.

So I'm heading to bed in a couple of minutes satisfied with what I've accomplished in the last 9 days.* And I'm heading to bed ready to resume work at the law firm. I know it must sound crazy with everything else on my plate, but I was actually starting to miss my work as a paralegal. That tells me it's time to go back.

I also watched several movies this week. Some were sentimental favorites like Love Actually and Sleepless in Seattle. But one movie really stood out. Yesterday I watched Changeling, the movie starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Clint Eastwood. It was both fabulous and terrifying and I spent a great deal of today thinking about it. If you haven't seen Changeling, check it out.

*Although I did a lot of writing this week, tonight I came to the conclusion that I'm not happy with what I've done on Odelia #6, which was considerable. Happy with what I accomplished. Not happy with the results. But that's okay, because somewhere between watching Dexter and The Amazing Race tonight, I had a brainstorm about Odelia #6 and know exactly how to fix it. Of course, it will require a major overhaul. But that's all part of the writing game.

Stay-Cation in Progress

Today is day 7 of my stay-cation. Just a couple more days and I'll be back to the good ole day job. I gotta say, stay-cations ROCK! I am loving my time off. It's the first time I can remember taking a whole week off work without being sick or travelling. Or being laid off.

At the beginning, I made a list of things to get done while off work this week, and while I still have a couple of days left, some items have already fallen by the wayside. See what I mean below:

Clean and organize closet – still has possibilities, maybe later today or tomorrow

Read a book – in progress

Lunch with friends – So far I've met up with two of them. Bonus was former boyfriend calling and taking me to dinner on Tuesday night.

Visit the Getty Museum – This isn't going to happen, but is being substituted with trip to Olvera Street today with friend Susan. This is actually a research trip for possible use in Granny Apples #3 book.

Shampoo carpet – I'm telling you right up front, this ain't happening. I'm having way too much fun to move furniture and deal with disturbed pets. But I did scour the apt. from top to bottom.

Attend Drag Queen Bingo - check. Went with friend Patti. Though the trip was for background to use in book, not sure it will go into book now, but we did have a great time. BTW, this is a very fun thing to do when in Los Angeles. All proceeds go to a chosen charity for the night and there are no cash prizes, but the prizes were fabulous - tickets to the theatre, dinners at wonderful restaurants, wine, etc. We went to the 7 pm show and arrived by 6 so we could have dinner first. Pal Ashley advised to eat first because the bingo games move fast. She was so right. Food at Hamburger Mary's was very good. Drink menu is extensive.

Write until my fingers are bleeding stumps – in progress

Other items since added to list:

Read proofs of Corpse on the Cob which is going to print on December 11th - in progress

Put up Christmas decorations - tomorrow

Catch up on e-mails and update website - this weekend.

See, absolutely NO time to shampoo carpet.

This week also began the negotiations for my new vampire series. Nothing is a done deal yet, but my agent and publisher were working hard earlier this week and should button things up next week. If all goes well, you can expect to see my first vampire novel in the fall of 2011! Wooooooooo Hooooooooooooo!

Photos: Left - Bridget of Madison County calling bingo along with Bingo Boy; right - This is how your dinner bill arrives.

How Do You Stay-Cation?

Friday night starts my stay-cation. See what I have planned by visiting the Inkspot.

And stay tuned to Babble 'n Blog for reports on my activities while vacationing at home.

Do I Look Like Betty Crocker?

The ladies over at the Mystery Lovers' Kitchen invited me to guest blog today.

Following in their culinary footsteps, I talked about food and provided a recipe. Check it out!