2013 Resolutions: Jessa Slade and the Literary Life

 Resolve 2013: Chaos and Creation

Jessa Slade

The Darkest Night (A Marked Souls Christmas novella) 

Whenever I have friends and family visit me in Portland Oregon, I frequently haul them up to Mount St. Helens in Washington to admire the devastation a volcano leaves behind. The visitor center shows a short film called “Chaos and Creation.” The narrator says “chaos and creation” repeatedly (with very dramatic intonation) and inevitably, for every group I escort up there, the phrase becomes the running joke of the day.

I think living a creative life is having a small thing -- a dream -- writ large. Basically you are making a mole hill into a mountain, and that means fomenting a certain amount of chaos in what other people might consider a “normal” life. To pursue a creative dream, sometimes you have to destroy the peace and quiet and sacrifice chunks of everyday life.

I’ve accepted some chaos and sacrifice to make room for my creative life:

1. Drastically reduced TV: I’m a storyteller at heart, so of course I love television. But committing to my own stories means sacrificing someone else’s. I still have a couple favorite shows, but most often I have to flip through a copy of Entertainment Weekly at the grocery store to keep up with popular culture.

2. Less-than-perfect housekeeping: Okay, admitted this isn’t much of a sacrifice, but it can definitely lead to chaos. In the end, though, I’d rather have my words written than my socks folded and put away in the drawer. I’m just going to wear them again anyway!

3. Tight finances: This is an ugly reality for most creative folk who don’t have a reliable source of income (trust fund, understanding spouse, blackmail scheme). Making a creative life takes an investment of time and resources that can wreak chaos on AND demand sacrifice from your checkbook. But who needs fancy shoes when you’re at your computer in fuzzy socks anyway?

Are you willing to let in a little chaos for your creation? Please share in comments.

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Continue the blog party!

Maggie Jaimeson - Take a Vacation

Jessa Slade - Get Organized

Paty Jager - Volunteerism

Linda Mercury - Creating a Literary (or Creative) Life

Jenna Bayley-Burke - Eat Healthier

Cassiel Knight - No More Procrastination

Cathryn Cade - Take Time for those OTHER Creative Passions

Su Lute - Reduce Stress: Find and Follow Your Bliss

Jamie Brazil - Shrink My Closet

2013 Resolutions: Paty Jager and the Literary Life.

Following Your Dream by

Paty Jager

I’m not sure when the true bug to be published bit me, but once it did, I took writing classes, tried to joining a local writing group(they ended up being all poets and not helping my fiction writing), and eventually connected with Romance Writers of America. 

The hardest part about being a writer is first believing in yourself and your craft. Anyone, be they a writer, an artist, a musician, not only have to learn how to do the art form they love, they have to be able to convey feelings, and paint pictures with words and music that others can resonate with. 

Once the craft is learned, and you believe in your work, you have to put that work out there for others to purchase and enjoy. You also need to surround yourself with people who encourage your writing, people who hold you accountable for the best work you can do, and people who believe in you. 

Never let the naysayers or jealousy pull you down. If you are surrounded by the right people, your creativity will soar and you will be able to follow your dream of creating a literary or creative life. 

 Secrets of a Mayan Moon

Places you can connect with Paty:

Website               Blog        Goodreads         Facebook        Twitter         Pinterest          

Maggie Jaimeson - Take a Vacation

Jessa Slade - Get Organized

Paty Jager - Volunteerism

Linda Mercury - Creating a Literary (or Creative) Life

Jenna Bayley-Burke - Eat Healthier

Cassiel Knight - No More Procrastination

Cathryn Cade - Take Time for those OTHER Creative Passions

Su Lute - Reduce Stress: Find and Follow Your Bliss

Jamie Brazil - Shrink My Closet

Working for a living: Women in the Arts, V

   What is the name of your business and what do you tell other people you do?

  My name is Linda Mercury, and I am a writer. 

   When did you know it was time to stop treating your art as a hobby and start it as a career?

On September 11, 2011, I went to work in the Children's section of the Hillsboro Public Library. My fellow librarians and I were talking about the attacks when I said something intelligent (hey, it happens now and again) about Islam. When she asked how I knew that, I replied that my first Master's degree was in Middle Eastern History. In the year following, I contributed to a book she was editing. During this process, I realized that my childhood dream of writing was not silly, was possible, and that I had things to contribute to making the world a better place.

It felt like coming home.

   What are some of the aspects of your job that people don’t see? For example, most people don’t understand how much marketing is done by the authors themselves instead of a publisher, and most audience members don’t see how costumes and props are designed/chosen.

I enjoy having a flexible schedule. Sometimes, people will see that I'm going to a museum or taking a nap and think that writing is easy. It's not. I'm constantly at work, no matter what I'm doing.

 

   Who inspired/inspires you on those inevitable rough days?'

My Beloved, the Charming Man. The women I've interviewed for this series. Michael Baxter, the brilliant photographer. All the writers out there getting their words down. And, of course, Cherry Adair, who tells you to Finish the Damn Book!

   Name a few of your current projects. For example, conferences, publicity, design process, what you have for sale. This question is a chance to meander or talk in greater depth if you’d like. Here you can talk about what hobbies you pursue, how you refresh your well of ideas, what you would recommend to other women interested in a career in the arts.

Dracula Unleashed, the third book in my Blood Wings series, comes out on March  21, 2013. 

I'm currently writing a synopsis for a fourth book in the series I'm going to submit to my editor at Kensington. Also, I'm participating in the nine-part New Year Resolutions blog tour that starts on the 1st.

As for advice? If you want to write a book, do it! Don't worry about making it Perfect or The Kind of Book People Will Study in School. Just get the damn thing out of your head and on paper. Let it suck!

Then, you get in there and edit, edit, edit.

Working for a Living: Women in the Arts IV

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the multi-talented Jessa Slade, author of the Marked Souls series.

1.      What is the name of your business and what do you tell other people you do? (such as author, teacher, designer)

Hello, I’m Jessa Slade, and I’m an author. (This sounds like a 12-step program intro, except I use my last name because I’m dying for people to know how word-addicted I am.) When people ask what I do, I say I am a writer. I say writer instead of author because I like to emphasize the verb part. I’m a writer when I write. That’s the part I control. Technically, I suppose you could say I control the author part too, now that I am self published, but personally, I consider the author part of myself subject to the whims of being read. And that part I can’t control. Sadly!

2.      When did you know it was time to stop treating your art as a hobby and start it as a career?

When I got paid! That sounds a little mercenary, doesn’t it? I guess I’m going by the IRS’s definition :) I’ve always written with the intent of being read, and until that happened, I wasn’t ready to call myself an author, which is the career part. But to be honest, I didn’t make that many changes moving from writer to author. The deadlines are more deadly :) but the work is pretty much the same: words on the page, one after the other.

3.      What are some of the aspects of your job that people don’t see? For example, most people don’t understand how much marketing is done by the authors themselves instead of a publisher, and most audience members don’t see how costumes and props are designed/chosen.

I did a booksigning at the Powell’s Books at the Portland International Airport with a couple other authors, and I was surprised how many people were surprised we were authors! I mean, we were sitting at tables surrounded by our books next to a sign that said Meet The Authors, and yet when we said we were the authors, people invariably said, “You’re the authors?” in simultaneous tones of surprise, pleasure and suspicion. Apparently we did not look like authors! I wonder what would have convinced people.

Most people don’t see the hours that go into writing a book. Nathaniel Hawthorne said “Easy reading is damn hard writing.” I suspect most people think writing is easy because all of us learn our alphabet from our very earliest years, so how hard could it be, stringing those same 26 letters together over a blank page? (Insert maniacal laughter here.)

4.      Who inspired/inspires you on those inevitable rough days?

I belong to a great romance writers’ organization, Romance Writers of America. The women and men in my local chapter are a fabulous source of inspiration and energy. There is always someone querying or getting published, just starting or just finishing a book, touring blogs or going off-line to concentrate. Seeing that constantly ebb and flow of mindful effort, excitement, determination, and passion helps keep me going when the works aren’t going.

5.      Name a few of your current projects. For example, conferences, publicity, design process, what you have for sale.

 

For the holiday season, I published a Christmas novella in my Marked Souls demonic possession series. (What? Christmas and demons go together like children and lots of sugar.) THE DARKEST NIGHT is about two lost souls finding each other at the darkest time of the year. Also, the second book in my Steel Born dark fairy series, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSE, is out in January. I’m currently working on the second book in my science fiction romance anthology series and the third book of the Steel Born. I gotta write faster!

6. (OPTIONAL)   This question is a chance to meander or talk in greater depth if you’d like. Here you can talk about what hobbies you pursue, how you refresh your well of ideas, what you would recommend to other women interested in a career in the arts, or just anything you'd like other people to know.

I truly believe in the power of a creative outlet to change for the better the way we live, think and love. I don’t doubt that entropy is out to get us, and our only way to battle the inevitable chaos is to create. Whether that’s writing, music, painting, sewing, cooking, gardening, or compiling supercuts of cute baby animal videos, find the thing you love and share it with the universe. The universe is waiting for your art!

You can find me online at:

My website, My newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads