The Words of J.P. Edwards

3:27pm: Thinner Than Mist
One of my newest anthologies, Thinner Than Mist (following Thicker Than Water), is out, along with Beneath the Stones (following Open Graves). This companion volume to the TTW Vampire Anthology, is about modern ghost stories, and it's receiving great reviews in the month since its release.

From Beneath the Stones, I've already received a recommendation for a Stoker Award for one of my favorite stories - Hold My Beer and Watch This! If you'd like to read any of these, let me know - I'll see what I can do :)

Anyway, now I'm working on revising a novel and writing one, both requested by an agent and an editor, plus some partials also requested, so I haven't had as much time to devote to blogging. I''ll try to keep on top of it, and you let me know if I'm not doing a good job.

So I'm off to write!
JP

9:40pm: So it's been awhile....
I've been busy. At the World Horror Convention in Salt Lake City in March, three books I was part of were released. The first, the souvenir anthology for the con itself - Desolate Souls - is awesome, with several name authors and a beautiful cover by John Jude Palencar (who did the Eragon cover). The man and his art are fabulous.

The second is Thinner Than Mist, a collection of ghost stories by Cullen Bunn, Curtis Hoffmeister, Mark W. Worthen, and yours truly. If you haven't ordered your copy yet, it's the follow-up to Thicker Than Water, which was noted in the 2006 Year's Best Fantasy and Horror.

The third is Beneath The Stones from the Midwest Writers of Horror, a collection to follow up the first anthology, Open Graves.

Check them out and let me know what you think. We'll have a few limited signed copies of the souvenir anthology available, and a some unsigned ones, if anyone is interested. You can contact me at jpedwardsdragons@yahoo.com if you need to.

JP

12:14am: The Ides of March
The Ides of March (March 15), most commonly known as the day Julius Caeser was killed, still resonates with people today. Caesar received a warning by a seer to "beware the Ides of March," but he ignored the advice. That ultimate betrayal gave way to inspiration for thousands of books and movies, even a popular song by Guns N' Roses. History is rife with ideas and inspiration not just for historical fiction, although Titanic, the assassination of JFK and Jesse James, and any story from the Bible (Raiders of the Lost Ark) have sold well, but also for contemporary and futuristic stories retelling many of the plots from the works of Shakespeare (especially Romeo and Juliet) and other historical events or ideas (National Treasure 1 and 2).

I'm a writer, and I love to look back at the writers who've gone before me and follow their path to putting words on paper in the hopes someone may some day want to read them. The Ides of March offer many plot and story ideas. Tzar Nicholas II abdicated his throne on the Ides of March. Anything of note that happens on March 15th is often blamed on the bad omen of the original murder that placed this date on the calendar.

Do historical events inform or inspire your fiction?
JP

11:04pm: A bottle of blog ... er, grog
Blogging sometimes can be work, but can we do something to make it easier?

A friend suggested maybe a little drink to loosen the fingers, so to speak. I had to laugh. I've read too many blogs where a little drink of something ended up with the writer making a complete ass of themselves. Definitely not the way to go if you want to be taken seriously.

So perhaps something else comforting to ease the long day? I'm thinking maybe hot chocolate instead of grog. Everybody likes chocolate, yes? Well, pretty much everybody I know anyway. So chocolate it is, and suddenly, the blog writing seems not so much work and a little more fun.

I'm going to recommend it to all my friends!
JP

12:35pm: Blustery February
Today I'm making the most of my time by catching up all the stuff I didn't get done this week. Email, writing blogs, answering questions, firming up appointments for World Horror, the likes of that.

I found I'm a lot more productive if I can sleep in a bit, after having stayed up late playing Trivial Pursuit and Pitch the night before (oh, and eating fabulous Mexican food, which, yes, I did cook). So I'm sitting on my bed with the laptop watching the wind try to knock down the trees in our backyard, listening to my small-horse-sized dog snore, and trying to be creative without moving around too much (it's harder than it sounds).

So here I am, talking to you instead of doing the writing I probably should be, all because - well, hell, I don't know why, except I wanted to catch up on my Live Journal stuff, as well as MySpace and several other small ways of using up my writing time. And then, the idea I've been brainstorming on just grabs me, and I'm off....

JP

7:15pm: Superbowl Sunday, whatever
I'm not watching, but my significant other about had a cow when the TV went dead about a half hour into the good stuff. Whoa! Get a grip....

Sports aren't all that important to me. Today, I've spent more time trying to set up a trip to Utah than worrying about sports or pretty much anything else. The World Horror Convention is coming - in March - and there's too much to do to worry about anything on the tube. So I'm writing, editing and working my butt off making phone calls and organizing all the stuff I'm responsible for that I can't even think straight. I guess it'll be like this for a while. We're counting Stoker ballots and getting things together for the pitch sessions and the Stoker banquet - should I worry about what to wear? Not yet.

February is a shorter month, but looks to be the busiest one yet, as these things heat up. Then, after March, a short break before a June conference. Plus, I'm doing lectures for my online class this month on Fixing Your Fiction, which I'll be teaching at World Horror.

I guess I should get offline and get back to it.

JP

2:54pm: I got scrooged....
Yep. My Christmas was unusual, to say the least. The Tuesday before Christmas, I was "unofficially" fired for something I didn't do. Not sure what's going on in my OCD boss's mind, but she was convinced I was going to give away business - "her" business - to a person she fired (with a late-night GD MF session in front of witnesses) last week. While I like the person she fired last week, I've NEVER given her reason to suspect I was not a loyal employee. But what the heck.

Now, it's December 29th and I'm still waiting for the Christmas present and "large" Christmas bonus I was promised for doing a lot of stuff above and beyond the call of duty (making airline reservations, preparing a book for her family for Christmas). Am I wasting my time?

I do try to believe the best about people, and in my heart, I'm still hopeful she'll do the right thing. But most of my friends, relatives, etc, tell me I'm just being lame because I am still hoping for the best. Is is possible people can be so bad?

I give up on trying to understand what goes on in the minds of persons with certain mental or other problems. Just hope and pray they'll do the right thing.

JP

11:55am: A crush of fall leaves....
This time of year is always a sad one for me...the loss of loved ones during a "holiday" season can be stressful for years. Yet a carpet of fresh leaves of gold, auburn and red blanket the trees and the ground beneath them, a dying time of year in a beautiful blush of colors and fragrances to remind us of the wonderful summer just passed. And winter will come, a carpet of white with outlines of dark, dead branches against a gray sky, and our moods sag lower, despite the bustle of Thanksgiving and Christmas, until the spring revives us with new and growing things.

This is the time of year to be thankful for all we have - and a time to miss those no longer with us. Take a moment to remember years past, loved ones' lost and all the million little things that make your life better and worse. Say thanks for the good things and push the bad ones away - your holiday will shine because of it. Bring your family close and enjoy the spirit of friendship and familial bonds.

Happy fall....
JP

8:52am: Writing and Work
Is writing work or .....
I was trying to decide today whether writing is work - for me, I mean. Some people tell me they can sit down and basically "open a vein" where all their writing just falls out on the paper and they don't have to actually break a sweat or sit before an empty page with nothing to say. Others tell me of their elaborate rituals of making sure they've had their morning coffee, put on the perfect music or whatever gets their muse going.

Me, I fall squarely somewhere between the two. Most days, when I'm writing, I don't care if there's music or if the telephone rings (I ignore it) or whether I've remembered to eat (until my stomach growls too loudly for me to ignore). I do have to have a certain amount of enthusiasm or I just get nowhere, but I can do some brainstorming if I'm not actually writing, and that usually gets me in the mood.

Writers groups help me a lot as well. I find after sitting around with several other writers discussing writing, I'm in the right place to actually put some words on paper, and usually I don't have to throw them all out when I'm done, as I sometimes do when I force myself to write. I've always said I can fix anything but a blank page, but frankly, it's not always true.

Just wondering what other people do to be able to sit down and put words on a page that they're willing to show others.

JP

8:27am: Mondays and other stuff ...
A Monday Gone
Well, I made it through another Monday. For some reason, Mondays are busier than any other day for me, and I have begun to dread them - all the phone calls and problems that develop over the weekend. Hopefully, things will even out soon, but I don't know.

I'm planning on going to FenCon in September and I hope to see some of my MySpace friends there. Is anyone going for sure? I can't wait - I need a decent writers conference to get me motivated again.

Working on book 2 of my series, and hoping I can manage to write a bit faster than usual, because I'd like to be done and moving on before World Horror Con next March. If you haven't checked into it, you should. There are going to be some great guests, not least of which is Simon R. Green, author of the Deathstalker series and my favorite, the Nightside series. The website for the con is www.whc2008.org - so if you get the chance, go check it out!

Well, I suppose I'd better get back to it or I'll never get all this stuff done.

Have a great day!

JP

2:17pm: Hot and Heavy
It's hot here in the Midwest (and a certain couple who just moved to Chicago know what I'm talking about). We've had triple-digit days, too many in a row, and I'm finally going on vacation....south, no less, where it's probably hotter than it is here.

So what am I working on? I'm finishing a polish on a first chapter for agent Laurie McLean, who is one of the nicest agents I know (yes, I'm sucking up - not really, but sort of). Next on the list, a second screenplay for Dimension Films or whatever permutation there is going on there right now - I'll have to look it up to find out.

Short stories - I've got three due, in my copious spare time. One will follow up the honorably mentioned anthology Thicker Than Water, a collection of vampire tales. This one will be called Thinner Than Mist, a collection of ghost stories. Other than that, there is the sequel to Open Graves, tentatively titled Beneath the Stones, and one more I can't talk about just yet.

Oh, and did I mention, I'm going to be editing an anthology, too...and I've already got some great authors lined up. Others I have to nag, but I think the deadline I gave them was August 31, so I'll wait a few weeks.

So I'm keeping busy. I hope you are. It gives me an excuse to stay in the air conditioning. And did I mention....VACATION!!! I can't wait. We leave tomorrow. So don't call and don't expect much on the web from me. And don't forget to look me up on MySpace. Talk to you soon!
JP

7:49pm: Staring down the fourth ...
Since fireworks are outlawed in our town and the outlying areas are being quickly swallowed by annexation, we have to work harder and harder to find a place to have our annual barbeque and fireworks display. Last year, I got to jump on a giant trampoline while the fireworks were going off, but I don't know yet what we'll be doing this year.

And we're still trying to decide on a vacation as well. No one can go until August, so I still have a bit of time to plan. I'm hoping we can come to some consensus as to whether we'll do an aimless trip, a writers con or something else. If anyone has suggestions, let me know.

I'm full of watermelons and strawberries today, and I've been to see Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer AND Ocean's 13. I liked them both. I still have to get to 1408 and, god help me, Ratatouie - which looks like it would be a hoot, and since I love to cook - well, who can resist a chef rat in Paris?

So summer suggestions welcome - we've been invited to New Mexico, California, Utah and Chicago. I hate making decisions sometimes!

JP

5:42pm: I missed all the drama...
Apparently, Live Journal has been having problems, but truthfully, I was on deadline and missed it!

That's okay. I got done what I needed to and missed all the mess, so that works for me. I just came on to check my friends' posts and catch up on the news, then share mine with you.
I'm having surgery later this week - no fun - but I'll have a little time to catch up on reading, sleeping and watching the tube, so it's all good. Got to see the latest Pirates of the Caribbean, and it wasn't bad. Also rented The Lost Room, a Sci-Fi Channel miniseries and found in surprisingly good - so much so that I think I'll have to buy it.

Also, I'm working on collecting stories for an upcoming anthology due in 2008 - it's been kind of nice looking at the subs - really good ones - and finding out our cover artist is on board. Can't wait, although it's a lot of work, but definitely worth it.

Also working on the second novel in the series, and two anthology shorts of my own - so I've got plenty to keep my busy.
Anyway, just wanted to see how you all are. Have fun!
JP

9:22am: Happy Monday
I've got some writing time, and I'm excited!
Work has been so crazy busy for the past few months, I haven't had time to breathe on my writing, let alone type on it. So I'm here to update and check email, then it's off to my imaginary world to play with my imaginary friends and have imaginary ... well, you get the idea.

Just wanted to share my happy Monday with everyone!
JP

6:34pm: Weekend refresher
So I got coerced into going to a writer's con this weekend...not that I don't like them, but I'm kind of beyond the "newbie" stage this particular con seemed aimed. Friday sucked, although lunch was good and I met a lot of new people *waving* who also live here and on MySpace. Saturday, I'm thinking, well, at least the hotel was nice and had a killer hot breakfast with omelets made to order and LOTS of meats and fruits. So that was all good.

Lunch, served buffet style, consisted of corn on the cob, potato salad (really good), cole slaw (not so much - too much mayo), barbequed pulled pork and barbequed chicken parts (mostly wings) and baked beans. Wonderful-tasting food, but tell me - do you really want to sit in a room full of people who've had beans and corn for lunch? NOT.
And the barbeque was messy, so everyone was running into the bathroom, some of them to wash hands or body parts or even clothing spots. So I sat in the back, near the door. The panel was pretty good and I met some more new people.

Finally, I'm sitting out in the common area on a nice comfy couch in the afternoon, wondering if I should sneak upstairs when someone next to me says she doesn't think she's going to go to the next panel - on screenwriting. I perk up. Maybe I should go, even though I have written screenplays and the session was about writing your first. Anyway, to make a long, boring story slightly shorter, I went up to talk to the presenter after - he gave a great presentation, and I just wanted to chat. When he found out I'd recently had a screenplay rejected by a major studio with a very nice rejection and request for my next, he was interested in seeing it. So, bottom line, lived through a bunch of mediocre for that one bright spot in my day!

So now I'm excited. I have to revise one more time (thought of a few things to tweak), then it's off to this producer to see what he can do with it.

Wish me luck!
JP

8:48pm: House
My favorite show right now is House - I'm watching the one I like to call "House on a Plane."

Okay, if you've seen "Snakes on a Plane," you'll get what I mean. Well, it's not quite the same premise, but the plane scenes (aside from the puking) have been hilarious most of the way. Don't get me wrong - I'm all for puking if it's done for the right reasons ... lol.

Just kidding. Still, it's a fascinating show and the medical diagnoses continue to amaze me. That House gets by with what he does amazes me more - sometimes I think I'll never want to go to a hospital again - or now on a plane overseas!

So go watch if you haven't, and laugh if you have. Enjoy!

JP

4:46pm: Tell me it isn't true...
I just heard Supernatural, one of my fav shows, may not be coming back for a third season. That would completely SUCK. I hate when networks take perfectly good shows off the air for no good reason. It's been happening a lot in the last few years, and no matter how involved I get or don't get, it still happens.

Makes me not want to watch TV at all (OMG, did I say that out loud?).

Anyway, I guess it just makes me feel helpless when I have settled into a storyline and gotten to know and like the characters, only to be cheated out of the rest of the story either by them not ending it, or by rushing an ending that doesn't make sense.

Just had to get that off my chest. Any thoughts welcome.

JP

10:27pm: What's on your mind?
I have a 'friend' - and I use the term loosely, who's always asking me, what's going on in your little bitty life? After he's said six or seven dozen times, I realized it is very off-putting and a lot condescending. Problem is, he's also a client (although not a great one - slow to pay), but he throws my name out to other people from time to time who become good clients.

So I'm trying to decide if I should do anything about this rather irritating situation, or just put up with it and keep my mouth shut. It's not like I need more clients - right now, I can barely keep up with the ones I've got who keep sending me stuff - so maybe I should just cut him loose and move on.

I hate this kind of crap, which makes work so much more so, and makes writing less fun, because he makes it work. So I'm struggling to come to a decision on how to handle this. Any suggestions are welcome.

JP

2:56pm: To find the answer....
Has anyone seen those Yellow Book commercials with David Carradine from the old Kung Fu show? It cracks me up every time I see it. He's soooo serious, and truthfully, while he looks older, he still looks like the same character.

I've noticed lately that a lot of the commercials seem specifically aimed at us Baby Boomers - the music, the references - how long has it been since you've seen Orville Redenbacher? So I'm awash in nostalgia and wondering why the hell I don't have the money to spend on all the cars, jewelry, music, food, etc. that these commercials seem to think I should have.

Also, it's making me feel a bit old - which I'm NOT - notice the capital NOT. When I mention the intro to any of the CSI's is a Who song, my kids say, who's the Who? Puleeze.... can it be possible that our children have no concept of good music? No, wait... it seems like they've been through the years of their life rediscovering Eric Clapton, unplugged, and such, so maybe there's hope for them yet.

Oh, well, the best thing to come out of it, I guess, is I've gone back to my youth to rediscover some of my favorite music to write to...and it works! I love being able to listen to something that really inspires me, wakes me up or makes me sad, because that flows over into my words (I hope), and hopefully makes its way to the reader.

Anyway, just wanted to see how many of you out there are wondering the same thing.
JP

9:29pm: Rain and snow and ice, oh, my .....
The Midwest is being blanketed with some obnoxious white stuff...or clear, in the case of rain. I don't mind, though...I'm inside, it's warm, I've got warm chocolate chip cookies, cold milk and my favorite Friday night shows. AND I might actually get to spend some time writing this weekend, because there won't be too many idiots driving me nuts (I'm taking my phone off the hook). The client from hell is out of town, and hopefully won't bother me at all either.

I'm eagerly awaiting my new installments of current favs...Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, and some new stuff - Dresden Files by the wonderful Jim Butcher. Can't wait! I hope it's as good as the books.

In the meantime, while I'm stuck in the house, I'm going to work on my new movies I got for Xmas, my to-be-read book pile and my significant other ... hehehe. Hope you're safe and warm and having as good a time as I am!

JP

10:10am: It's a new year ...
That means resolutions, right?

Wow, I found my list of resolutions for 2006, and 2005, and 2004, and .... well, you get the idea. I keep them posted one on top of the other where I'm sure to look at them...not! Funny, they don't change much from year to year. And I don't seem to accomplish all that much with them either. So maybe, just maybe this year will be different.

Maybe this year I'll resolve to talk on the phone more, or watch more television, or spend more time sleeping. Those, I think I could accomplish. This work thing, or even writing, sometimes I just don't know. I suppose I can try, but apparently writing them down as a resolution doesn't work for me.

So I'll work on what I'm already good at and maybe take a pot shot or two at the things I'm not so much. This morning I decided to make calls I've been putting off for a while - to get some things done, like finding out my new insurance info and such. So I actually have accomplished something already, and it's only like the 8th of January? So I'm doing good.

Anyway, one of my non-resolutions was to spend more time keeping Live Journal updated, so I'm rocking on that, too. Happy New Years!

JP

2:28pm: Keeping busy...
Which doesn't always mean keeping out of trouble.

It's been a while since I had time to visit here, but here I am, and I have some writing news for those of you who might be interested. Can hardly keep my keyboard away from that damned dragon beneath my house these days. Lucky I get any time to write. But write I have, and it's online for those of you who wish to read an ongoing tale or two about a curious place on the map called Ahmen's Landing - or as we like to call it - Ominous Landing.

Things in Ahmen's get stranger and stranger, with freaky shadows under the nearby waters and houses that appear from nowhere, countless haints and creepy figurines, with a terminal patient thrown in along the way. Come visit the spookiest place you'll ever visit .....

http://www.ominouslanding.com/

JP

12:14pm: Life goes on ....
I've been absent for a while.

This year has been one of challenges and they come swiftly one after the other. I hope we're nearing the end of them, but I continue to worry. Someday, maybe I can leave stress behind, but for now, this is not the day.

I mourn the loss of my dog, and those of you with pets know how I feel. It's almost like the loss of a child, so close do you get to these animals who share your life. And for some reason, the world is now less bright and less friendly than it was when he was here.

I know it will get better with time, and I know life goes on, but some days....

So give your pets a scratch and a whisper and let them know you love them. And say a little prayer for my puppy, and for me being without him.

JP

11:17pm: I'm up, I'm down, I'm turned around ...
I read a book once - and this should give some indication of how old some of the books I read are - called something like "Been Down So Long It Seems Like Up To Me." Don't remember much about it, but can really sympathize with the sentiment. Every time things get better, something else happens to make me feel like I'm living some kind of Karmic joke. Or a Higher Power sponsored sitcom - let's see what happens to JP today!

I've found that I detest needles. Absolutely hate them. Especially since I get to get stuck about every two weeks - today I got seven shots! Seven! Trigger point injections - doesn't that sound glamorous? The kind of good/bad thing is - yes, they make me feel better, after the first day or two, but the first day or two are excruciating. On the one hand, I will be able to move better, but the skin where the needles go in is killing me, hurting and itching at the same time.

Okay, so I write horror sometimes and this will be grist for the mill - I could tell you what a bleeder I am when I get stuck, but I won't!

And what does that have to do with writing? Absolutely nothing!

However, I can say, I'm taking a writers retreat this weekend, starting noonish on Thursday. Said retreat will encompass a nice hotel and dinner at a couple of my favorite restaurants - can you say "Pasta"? Then the company of other writer-type persons all day Saturday while I decide which of my many projects I want to work on.

I always whine I don't have enough time for my own writing, but on the paying front, I've got a new client - very interesting guy - who wants a book proposal and then may be interested in a fictional series. Plus, the self-help book I worked on is taking off, and there's one to follow that. In addition to the smaller clients who just want a couple of chapters edited or a query letter or synopsis. Who says synopsis writing sucks? Well, that's a whole different rant, which I'll start on the next time I have time to do a drive-by journaling.

In the meantime, keep it real.
JP

7:23pm: Did I miss something?
I hate deadlines!! Don't get me wrong - they pay the bills, and they help me push myself to create and produce some wonderful stuff, but I miss out on stuff. I miss parties and shows and movies and friends - god help me, I miss reading.

So I've been deadlining, and I've got two more projects signed up down the road, but I've decided it's summer and I need a vacation. In two weeks. For ten whole gorgeous days! Where am I going? No flipping idea...yet. But I'm working on it. If I had my way, I'd be in Scotland, but that's probably not going to happen this year - although I do need some research done there probably in the next year or so. Ireland would be next, but chances are, I'll stay somewhere close to home. Somewhere with a pool and room service and a gigantic bed and, oh, yeah, say it with me - wireless internet!

So I'll be finishing up some work until the first of August, and then I'm outta here for a little bit to find a small slice of heaven to get me through to next summer. While I'm watching it rain and snow, I'll be thinking about swimming and eating fresh peaches and tomatoes and letting people wait on me hand and foot.

*sigh* Is it August yet?

JP