What's going on and where I will be.

October 23rd, the release day for Curse of the Spider Woman is rapidly approaching. And like any good author, I'm going to be sharing my book far and wide.

Here is my schedule:
October 17th: Jan's Paperbacks

Aloha Villa Shopping Center, 18095 SW Tualatin Valley Hwy, Beaverton, OR 97006

11am. Buy a book, get a free fan!


October 23rd: The book releases! Available on Amazon, Google Play, and other fabulous on-line retailers.

October 31st: Downtown Hillsboro Farmer's Market. Outside of Jacobsen's Books,

And the biggie!

Curse of the Spider Woman is my fifth book and I will hold my first book release party ever! 

On my birthday, November 21st, I will engage in great revelry at Primrose and Tumbleweeds, 248 E Main St, Hillsboro, OR 97123

Join me from 2pm-5pm at this wonderful wine bar and restaurant.  There will be book signing, give-aways, and lots of hugs.

Curse of the Spider Woman Cover!

Cover artist, Leah Suttle

Hooray! Today, I reveal not only my cover (and isn't it a beauty?), but also my release date for Curse of the Spider Woman.

You can purchase your James Bond meets Greek Mythology story (with consensual sex) on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23rd!!

Here's the back cover blurb.

Due to die….

Former anti-terrorist agent Rachel Havelock has two weeks to live. She intends to spend that time reveling in sex, sin, and excess. But the world still needs the giant spider shifter.

But the Gods intervene…

.

Her ex-boyfriend, Jordan Tasos, is in hot pursuit of the terrorists who are exploiting the Greek financial crisis for profit. Only Rachel and her spider powers – silk, venom, and eight legs- can help him stop the Heirs of Socrates from destroying Greece.

Can they beat the clock and save the world’s oldest democracy? Or will Rachel fall victim to the Curse of the Spider Woman?

If you want to contact my genius cover artist, go to www.LeahSuttle.com.

Curse of the Spider Woman!

Of course, Curse of the Spider Woman is a Linda Mercury novel, and no novel of mine is complete without a passionate love story.

My centaur hero and my spider heroine have some serious history behind them, and it has really messed with their attraction.Let's have a peek, shall we?

      She rolled onto her back, away from him.

       “Where the fuck are you going?” he asked. He flipped her over to her belly. This was the position his stallion preferred. His primitive centaur instincts battered his discipline. He had to have her, had to mate with her, fill her, fuck her, tie her to him with the fragile bonds of pleasure until she would never leave him again.

       No more exile in the human world. She would be his mare, his herd. He leaned over and set his teeth in her shoulder, as a breeding mortal horse would.

 

It's a countdown! Part Two.

Calliope, Muse of Epic Poetry

Curse of the Spider Woman is a combination of James Bond meeting Greek Mythology. But with consensual sex.

One of the fun parts of the manuscript was writing the epic poetry that parallels the main story.  My heroine is an aficionado of Homer, and writes her own epics.

Here's some to whet your appetite.

Curse of the Spider Woman

An epic poem

By Rachel Havelock

Rage I sing, and death also,

The tale of curséd women, their deaths

The sacrifice demanded by

Grey-eyed Athena,

Keeper of the ground of Greece.

Arachne, the weaver, the spider,

Doomed by the pricked pride of

The white-armed Goddess, her daughters

To die before the blooming

Of their lives.

All died, all mourned

Until the last flew across the

Wine-dark sea to

Defy the Goddess.

It's a countdown!

I love coffee. I love coffee. I love coffee.

Curse of the Spider woman will be for sale before Halloween!

I am writing fast and trying to complete everything - and I do mean everything, from editing to formatting to pushing the publishing button (and hopefully ordering the print copies in time for my release party!)- before the 17th.

For this, I'm "Butt in Chair, Fingers on Keyboard" like mad. So before I go back into my writing cave, I'm going to leave you with a teaser from my new book.

The first paragraph:

“Look at that. The great god Hades gathering flowers on the riverbank like a lazy milkmaid.” The lieutenant of the Heirs of Socrates sneered. “Our emasculated gods no longer care about the people of Greece.” Despite the touch of silver in his own hair, the lieutenant still knew himself to be virile and manly. Not the sort who would wander like a barefoot hippie to appease his spoilt wife.

  More to come!

Women Entrepreneurs: Jesse Lee Gray

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the incredibly smart and talented Jesse Lee Gray. I had the pleasure of meeting Jesse Lee at an Alexandra Franzen workshop and I was immediately struck by this cool, interesting chick. So, I had to interview her.

Take it away, Jesse Lee!



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

I’m currently using my name: Jesse Lee Gray.  I’m kicking around some ideas for a business name, but haven’t settled on anything yet.  To keep it simple in a social context, I say “freelance writer.”  However if I’m networking, I say I’m an “organizational consultant with a writing focus.”  I help businesses get organized for scale, without losing the authentic something special that made them successful in the first place.

2.     How long have you been self-employed? What convinced you to become an entrepreneur?

I’ve been self-employed exclusively as a freelance writer for a little over a year.  Before that I owned a triple-bottom-line, residential cleaning company for 8 and a half years. 

Entrepreneurship provides me the freedom to decide how I do things and talk to people. I also get bored with a lot of repetition so the ever-changing challenges of self-employment keep my attention focused and my imagination firing at full tilt.

3.     Entrepreneurs rarely stay in one place. How many careers have you had?

Hmmm.  Student, teacher (briefly), house cleaner, cleaning service owner, freelance writer.  That’s 5.  If you count wife (which should totally count), it’s 6 :)

4.     What are some of the aspects of your current 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.

Lots of flexibility and emotional intelligence are required.  My process can’t be exactly the same with every person or business: I have to adjust my communication style/ mode to fit each client’s needs. I have to *get* them quickly so I can understand them and get to work! When you’re good at adjusting nimbly, people don’t necessarily notice because the process seems organic.

5.     Who and what inspires you on those inevitable rough days?

Ash Ambirge of The MiddleFinger Project.  She highlights and provides sage advice about the challenges of business ownership and never fails to make me smile with her irreverent and humorous anecdotes.

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

•        Orange PoppySkincare: I’ve been doing guest blog reviews of their spa services.  It’s been really fun to pamper myself with facials “for work.”

•        Online classes.  In April I took a class through the Freelance Writers Den on writing White Papers and am currently working through the Six AppealProcess in order to revamp my website to have more emotional appeal.

•        The Garden: a neighborhood farmhouse.  This organization is going through a rebranding and restructuring process as they switch from a for-profit restaurant to a non-profit, food-centered neighborhood resource, education and event center.  I helped them organize New Member information into a 2-part Welcome Guide and will likely continue to help them streamline their communications.

•        TheUnreasonable Institute: I have a long-term, part-time gig as their Scale Systems Maverick.  To achieve their mission to tackle the world’s biggest problems through entrepreneurship, they need a lot more locations than they currently have. To set new locations up for success, they needed a training package that encapsulates who they are and how they do their thing for each their programs.  A big piece has been codifying the curriculum that each location teaches to entrepreneurs. 

•        Final edits and finishing touches on two collections of my poetry. 

•        Go Should Yourself (hat tip to Ms. Mercury for pushing me to do this one)

•        Sand in My Teeth

7.     What are your recommendations for women who are interested in pursuing self-employment?

It’s a big jump, especially if it’s your first time, but don’t overthink it.  Listen to your gut, your heart, or whatever body part (that’s not your head) talks to you.  If it says “Do it,” then start making serious strides toward the big jump.  No matter how much research you do, you’ll never be ready for everything a freelance life will throw you.  But if you’re brave enough to take the plunge, trust that you’ll also be smart enough to figure things out as you go and nimble enough to adjust what’s not working.