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Severe Weather

October 15, 2007 by Jane · View all 7 comments

I’m at Dallas-Ft Worth Airport seven and a half hours early. It’s ten am now and my flight isn’t until 6 something tonight but the storm has pretty much shut down my day of stock signings. I did make the ABC station for my appearance on “Good Morning Texas” but that was a nail biter. The power was out in chunks of the city, snarling traffic, and the flying orange cones and swirling debris from the construction sites made it rather hazardous driving. My media escort seemed a little white-knuckled and frankly, I’m a trooper, but I’m not about to run across a massive plaza in a little dress and delicate high heels as rain comes down in blinding sheets and winds knock couches off buildings.

I’m serious.

Across the street from the studio a couch went flying off the building and it was a little too Dorothy from Kansas for me. We get rain in Seattle but this wasn’t rain. This is flying furniture.

My media escort hoped if I got to the airport early I could catch an earlier flight home. Not a chance. Flights aren’t being allowed to land at DFW right now, some heading to Oklahoma while the morning Alaska flight from Seattle was turned around and sent to Denver.

I’m rather glad my flight isn’t until 6 pm tonight. I might actually have a chance of making that flight. The 8 am flight to Seattle this morning won’t leave now until 3 pm. The 3 pm might or might not leave until this evening. Therefore 6 pm tonight sounds good.

I’m currently parked in the Continental Airlines board room, answering emails and writing essays for various online sites on my laptop. It’s warm here. It’s dry. There is lots of free coffee, tea and juice. I’m good.

Frankly, as long as I get out tonight, I’m great.

My boys want me home. I want to be with them. And if the plane can’t fly me out tonight, maybe the wind can. I’ll just jump on the next gust that took the couch and sail to Seattle.

Must Be Dallas

October 14, 2007 by Jane · View all 6 comments

I woke up awhile ago. It was dark and hard to open my eyes as I slept in my contact lenses and forgot to pack the eye drops and glasses.

Last week on the road in California Surfer Ty surprised me with a little lense kit to hold everything and I’d meant to bring it to Dallas as I’m trying to wear my glasses more and more at night to give my eyes a break, but somehow in the rush yesterday to get son to soccer, to have my mother know everything she needed to know to watch my kids until Monday, I left drops and glasses on the boys bathroom counter when I put in my contacts yesterday morning. Damn.

It’s disorienting waking up in a hotel room with black out drapes because there’s no light and no sense of time. The gigantic bed doesn’t help. In California, despite having Ty to keep me company, the hotel rooms all had queen beds. Now that I’m alone I have a king size bed. Not sure I understand the rationale but there it is. And in this room, in the king size bed the clock is on the far side of the bed, the side I’m not sleeping on so I don’t know if it’s middle of the night or noon.

Crawling across king size bed with my dry, scratchy eyes I grab at clock on the far side. 8:30. 8:30…Texas time…which means its really only 6:30 am home and 3:30 am in Hawaii.

I always think about Hawaii time. Always think about Surfer Ty.

Without him here on the Dallas trip, I read, and I stayed up late last night reading, not turning out the light until 1:30 am Texas time as I had to finish JR Ward’s newest Brotherhood novel. I love love love JR Ward. I bawled as I read the book. It’s her best yet. Intense, emotional, tightly plotted, beautifully written. Her prose smacks of wit. Her relationships within the series so layered you feel like you’re part of the family. She’s one of the few writers that own my heart. I can’t resist her world, or her characters, or how she lays the words down on the page. I reread her dialogue just because I enjoy it so. I savor her language, thinking, damn girl you’re good.

Today, Sunday, is the Buns and Roses Tea, and then tonight I meet a lot of my Dallas/Plano Pi Phi alum friends for dinner. Tomorrow morning I’ll appear on Good Morning Texas and then it’s a day of stock signings before I catch a 6 pm flight home.

Being on the road for book tours and book business is hard. We writers have a tendency to over analyze. We worry that no one will come to events. We worry that book sellers will be disappointed in turn out. We worry we say the wrong thing at the microphone. We worry we didn’t sign enough books. We worry that the book seller didn’t order enough books. We worry when none of the back list is available at an event. We worry and worry and honestly, worrying accomplishes nothing and just creates misery but we do it anyway. Which is why its good when writers have company on the road. Company that pulls us out of our heads and back into the moment.

I loved having Ty with me last week in California. It was wonderful seeing him every night and morning. He’s so positive. He’s happy. Being with a happy person makes all the difference. This is why I write for women. I want more women to be happy. Our children deserve happy homes. Our mates deserve happy partners. Life just feels better when your heart isn’t heavy.

Speaking of happy, Friday I did two great events in the Seattle area. Friday morning I spoke at a Mukilteo School Foundation fundraiser breakfast and then signed books afterwards. Friday evening I had a reading, discussion and signing at Third Place Books and it was one of my best events yet. A great crowd, every seat filled, and we sold all books they’d ordered in (Flirting, Frog and Odd Mom) save for two copies of Odd Mom Out. Biggest surprise was how many had driven from Bellevue to hear me speak. Not everyone in Bellevue is mad at me. Yay!

Now I’m in Dallas. Well, actually at a Radisson Hotel in Richardson, Texas and procrastinating on showering and doing my hair because doing my hair is a big production. It takes twenty minutes to blow dry followed flat ironing, which takes another twenty minutes and that’s a lot of time standing in front of the mirror looking at myself. There’s lots of things I’d rather do in that time than play beauty stop. I’d rather read. Check my email. Watch a chick flick movie as I don’t get to see those unless I’m in a hotel room by myself. There’s also a Half-Price Books across the street and down the road and I’m so tempted to walk over there, after I hit the Starbucks that’s on the corner in front of the hotel.

It’s 9:17 am now. I haven’t even been awake for a full hour but I could use some company about now. Someone to go to breakfast with. I can’t eat pancakes alone. Pancakes are best consumed with lots of coffee and conversation and laughter. So come to Texas. Meet me for breakfast. We’ll hang out a long time. I’m in a good mood this morning and I really don’t want to do my hair.

Update From Fresno

October 7, 2007 by Jane · View all 8 comments

I’m halfway through the California book tour with five events behind me and two events, one party and several days of media stuff and stock signings to go.

All the events have been valuable and each is a bit different. My favorite part of the three days in LA was being able to see my sister, my readers, my friends, and Ty’s mom and aunt. Megan Crane out did herself by lending support at every LA event. I was on a panel with her Wednesday and then she trekked across town on Thursday and Friday to make sure I always had one person in the audience.

Fellow 5 Spot author Liza Palmer joined Megan Friday night in Pasadena as did my former student Bianca, writers from Los Angeles Romance Writers of America, Jeanie the founder of SoloMama.com and a number of women from the group.

The Visalia Borders event wasn’t as successful as events in the past–we sold 30+ books not 50 or 75 or even 100 as I once did–but those that came were amazing and supportive and I couldn’t ask for a better welcome home. The Visalia Times-Delta did a nice write up on me and my event, the only problem being they listed the book signing as a Sunday gig instead of Saturday. Fortunately I left a lot of signed books in case anyone dropped by today.

Today was spent in Fresno, with the Fig Garden Book Store event kicking off at noon. I had my biggest turn out yet and the biggest number of sales since the launch party in Bellevue. Thanks in large part to Fresno friends Kelly, Jessica and Ana (okay, and my mom and her friends from Avenal High School’s reunion who were in town helped out a lot, too) we sold over 50 copies of Odd Mom Out and probably 15 each of Flirting and Frog. It was really cool to see so many old friends attend, along with former students Faith Ruperto from IHM and Jinkies from St. Helen’s in Fresno.

My grandmother Lyles attended today’s signing, too, with a seat to my left so she could observe everything. Surfer Ty stood by the door and my mom introduced him to virtually everyone and there were a lot of people to meet.

Apparently there was a good review of Odd Mom Out in the Seattle Sunday paper today. I’d love to read the review but am jumping off line to go to bed as tomorrow I have an early morning taping at the public tv station here in Fresno before heading to San Francisco where I’ve doing a live appearance on View From The Bay tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow’s my first day without actual events since last Wednesday but it’s going to be busy with driving and trying to sound intelligent on tv.

So to recap book tour so far:

hotels are awesome

rental car luxury

events are satisfactory to excellent

friends are terrific

and Ty as travel companion…the best

Uh, Hello God it’s Me

October 5, 2007 by Jane · View all 11 comments

This is my first post from the road on the much anticipated ODD MOM OUT book tour and it’s an interesting book tour so far. The book part of the tour is going fine. My personal life is not so fine and Ken my poor media escort of the past 3 days has been subjected to much drama as I try to salvage the family life at home from a cell phone in a car in Southern California while battling a nasty cold. Not only am I a germ ridden novelist, but I’m a wreck of a mom.

My babysitter is gone. I need some serious childcare help. And my boys’ dad–who has been in the hospital for weeks and was supposed to go home today–has had a complication and must remain hospitalized longer.

Things are crazy hard, the kind of hard they’ve been for months and months so I assumed that eventually it’d get easier. I was sure that I could swing the book tour because I can almost always swing everything. This time I just might be wrong.

I need Mary Poppins. I need a miracle. Everyone please start praying for a great (part-time) nanny or babysitter. Someone who will get and like my boys and not judge them as though they were Satan’s spawns. My boys are a bit out there but they’ve good hearts. They’ve just been through so much lately–stress and more stress and more stress. They’re breaking. I’m close to breaking.

God, send a little miracle my way!

And with that said, it’s time to shower, shine and make great small talk at Vroman’s in Pasadena. I can do this. I’m Jane Porter! (whatever that means)

I’m Not Marta

September 29, 2007 by Jane · View all 13 comments

The Bellevue Barnes & Noble Launch Party on Thursday night for Odd Mom Out wasn’t just successful–with over 100 guests–we also sold out. 150 copies sold and we were short about 20. Fortunately a shipment of 40 arrived Friday noon. I dropped by the bookstore to sign their stock and by this morning they only had sixteen left.

Odd Mom Out is a hot ticket in Bellevue. It’s also put me in the hot seat. More than one woman took time to tell me that my neighbors in Yarrow Point were upset with me, or that I’d offended someone else with my portrayal of the Bellevue mom. I heard some of this Sunday night two weeks ago at the Medina Book Club Party, too.

When asked in an interview Thursday afternoon why I lived in a place I disliked so much I looked at the interviewer and shook my head. “I’m not Marta.”

I chose to live here. I like living here. I totally take advantage of all the creature comforts I write about in Odd Mom Out and again in May 2008’s Alpha Mom. The schools are tremendous. The libraries state of the art. The public parks plentiful and gorgeous. The shopping outstanding. Hair salons plentiful. Starbucks and nail salons on every corner. Trust me, I’m a happy camper.

But that doesn’t mean this isn’t a little bit unreal. Remember, I grew up in California’s Central Valley. Our biggest claim to fame was being America’s Bread Basket. Bellevue is no bread basket. It’s more like Barbie’s Dream Castle—pretty and manicured and sparkly and expensive. Heck, even Neiman Marcus is opening a huge store in downtown Bellevue in 2009.

I don’t mind controversy over the book. Not every reader is going to adore prickly, fierce, passionate Marta’s approach to life. But what a shame if I only wrote one kind of heroine, and our society approved one kind of woman.

My neighbors don’t need to be upset or offended. It’s a fictional novel. I made up the characters and created interesting conflicts to intrigue women all over the world.

During the interview in my living room Thursday the reporter asked me if I had a motorcyle. I shook my head. He asked if I wanted one. I shook my head. He asked if I wore combat boots. No. Camo pants? No. Do I have local friends? Yes.

“I just can’t believe you’re not Marta,” he repeated. “You made the character so believable. She seemed so real. I was sure she was you.”

I thanked him. I mean, he was paying me quite a compliment. Marta should feel real. She’s out of my imagination but she does live in my world. She’s as close to me as Jackie and Kai, Holly, and Taylor who gets her own book in May.

My characters need to live and breathe in the story. I’m a writer. My job is to write well.

Shameless

September 25, 2007 by Jane · View all 12 comments

Shameless self-promotion, that’s what this blog is all about.

I think I’ve asked for reader reviews and support before, but I’ve never come out and said, “please, sir, may I have some more?” (from the musical Oliver Twist, a childhood favorite) but I’m asking now.

I’m asking those of you who write me and tell me how much you like my 5 Spot books to spread the word about ODD MOM OUT (or Flirting or Frog Prince if one of those was your favorite reads) and the best way to spread the word is good old fashioned word of mouth. Tell your friends ODD MOM is out now and available and if your store, or your friend’s local bookstore, doesn’t have the book in, ask the store to order it in. If it’s in and sold out, ask the store to reorder. If ODD MOM OUT is there but not Flirting or Frog Prince, ask them to order the other books to join ODD MOM OUT on the shelf. Readers are telling me that if they like one book, they like all three.

So why am I asking for favors? Because the publishers give us a very short time to make a splash, and they watch those reprintings very closely. If a book’s in demand, it sells fast and the store knows, and the sales reps know, and the regional managers know and it gets the reputation of being a hot seller. If it sits on the shelves without a lot of momentum, it gets a reputation of…well, being…slow. And well, slow lovemaking maybe extremely sexy, but slow sales aren’t.

I hear from readers that they found my book on a bookstore front table where the sign says “New Fiction”, and that’s great. A lot of readers shop the new fiction tables at the front of the store, but you don’t just land on that table by accident. Publishers pay to have you there, and even if you’re on the front table in Barnes & Noble or Borders, its only going to be for a week or two. And two weeks on a table isn’t enough to give a book ‘legs’, and only you, the reader can give a book legs. Authors may write books, publishers may print and distribute them, but only readers make a book a strong seller.

I’m asking because I’ve found many of my favorite authors through reader recommendations. I would never have become a Christine Feehan, JR Ward, or Loretta Chase fan if readers hadn’t emailed me and said, “Jane, you’ve got to read this author!” I do get the book, and I thrilled to discover someone I wouldn’t have found otherwise and it’s a win-win. The author gets a new fan, and I discover a new great author and let’s face it, most of us women are so busy we won’t have time to find the great steals and deals for ourselves, we need help.

And since I’m asking, I’m just going to shoot for the moon and say what all of us authors would love to beg our readers to do:

1) if you love a book….please consider writing a review at Amazon or B&N.com. If you love my book, definitely please consider writing at review at Amazon or B&N.com. 🙂

2) if you love a book ask your local library to order copies so other folks can read the book, even if they can’t afford to buy a copy for themselves.

3) if you love a book, let your local bookseller know. Lots of booksellers don’t have time to read everything and all it takes is one or two customers saying, “this is a great book, you’ve got to read XYZ” and the bookseller finds another gem to enjoy personally, as well as recommend to his or her customers.

4) and lastly, if you love a book, let the author know. I guarantee it will make his or her day.

And now I’m done asking for favors and shifting gears. I’ve got to get a Q&A for a Dallas tv station finished tonight so the show producers have it in the morning. I’ve spoken to a Visalia Times-Delta reporter this afternoon. I spent two hours on the phone discussing the Flirting with Forty script that’s being developed for Lifetime.

Life is good, its very good, and two days from now it just gets better with ODD MOM OUT’s official release party and a week from tomorrow I fly to California launching a 6 week book tour. It’s going to be a demanding, interesting, and exciting 6 weeks. I hope you’ll be coming along for the ride.

Shut Up And Sing

September 22, 2007 by Jane · View all 16 comments

Every year for my boyfriend’s birthday I make him a scrapbook of the past year. While working on the scrapbook at a card table in the living room last night I watched the film, Shut Up and Sing which follows the Dixie Chicks from 2003 or 2006. It was an amazing documentary and extremely powerful in that it just sneaks up on you.

I’d never been a huge Dixie Chicks fan and Natalie’s comment in 2003 on the eve of war that she was ashamed President Bush was from Texas didn’t impact me one way or other other as:

1) I like country western music but am by no means a die-hard

2) I am used to entertainers sharing their views, liberal or otherwise

3) And it’s a free country, we’re supposed to encourage free speech

I knew there had been a huge backlash against the Dixie Chicks, driven by two very right wing political groups. Country music stations boycotted the Dixie Chicks for years. Country music fans burned and smashed their entire Dixie Chicks collection. The band was picketed, shamed, attacked, humiliated. But what I didn’t know was that this went on for years.

Watching the documentary, realizing that three women were viciously and violently attacked for expressing an opinion unnerved me. As I watched the film footage I had the eerie feeling I was back in South Africa before apartheid ended. It seemed that the US had come tragicially close to becoming a police state, censoring both music choices and free expression.

Why can’t a woman express disappointment in a political figure? Why can’t a woman feel shame without being ridiculed on nearly every tv network, as well as having a death sentence put on her head?

Over and over country music djs said the Dixie Chicks should just shut up and sing.

Bullshit. Shut up?

The moment we shut up, the moment women are silenced, is the moment we don’t matter.

We matter. We have minds. And we must voice our opinions–even nonpopular opinions. Balance comes from having a right, a left and a middle.

If you have a night to watch a great story, rent Shut UP And Sing, its interesting as well as inspiring. And if you want to hear some amazing music, look for their last album. It’s powerful stuff and an answer to the world that stomped all over them for daring to think and feel and disagree.

For one of my favorite songs–ever–check out the video clip.

O Mom

September 21, 2007 by Jane · View all 4 comments

Those of you who read my blog know I write about being a mom, a lot, so when I was invited to join the blogging moms over at Working Mother.com I jumped at the chance. My new Working Mother blog is called O Mom, because let’s face it, that’s all my kids seems to say, but when they say it it’s more like “Oooooooh Moom!”

I’ve posted the Working Mom.com blog in my sidebar under Where Jane Blogs, but have included the link to Working Mother.com in case you want to drop in and browse around and see what’s happening with the magazine and the working moms contributing to the site.

I’m a little nervous about being the new girl but I guess if we don’t take risks, we’re not going to get anywhere.

http://www.workingmother.com/web?service=vpage/161

Reality, My Friend

September 20, 2007 by Jane · One comment so far

My house is a mess. The laundry is piling up. I was at my computer until midnight working and back at my desk at 6:45 a.m. before waking boys up at 7. My oldest son was driven to school at 8, he in dark despair, me in chirpy uncertain pep-him-up mood even as I wonder and worry, is he going to be okay?

I park in garage, see garbage still waiting to be taken all the way out, see clothes that need to be donated to Goodwill, see boxes of marketing supplies and a dozen pairs of shoes blocking entrance to house. It’s okay. It’ll get cleaned up soon.

Dashing into house I head upstairs to shower and start getting ready for my morning appearance. I have a 10 am signing at the Pacific Northwest Bookseller’s Assn’s Annual Show which is happily in Bellevue this year not Portland. Must also mail books and press stuff enroute to convention center. Need to buy dogfood, too. But that can wait til later.

ODD MOM OUT is officially out one week from today with the Bellevue launch party and benefit for Hopelink’s Adult Literacy Program taking place a week from tonight at Barnes & Noble but some stores already have it out on their shelves and Amazon and B&N.com have been shipping it since last weekend.

I am definitely excited that the book is almost available everywhere. I’m looking forward to hearing what readers think. It’ll be great to get the book tour started, too, as it’s going to be quite a road trip. But in the back of my head there’s this little voice yammering, “Who’ll take care of the kids? Who’s going to take out the trash? Where’s the dog food? And what about all that laundry?”

Little voice, go to sleep.

Either that, or give me some Paxil.

Please Don’t Tell

September 19, 2007 by Jane · View all 2 comments

I love my kids so much. I love that despite the divorce and the death of their grandmother last February they still don’t know everything bad in the world. They’re still innocents in many ways. I want to protect that innocence, too.

My twelve year old son is now in 7th grade and he had to fill out lots of student forms the first couple weeks of school. I had to sign each to show that I was aware of what he had to do. I skimmed some of his answers and tried to correct a few misspellings so he made a better first impression. And then I flat out changed one of his answers. I know, I know. It wasn’t my paper and wasn’t my answer, but God help me, I couldn’t have the world knowing the truth.

The question : What newspapers and news magazines does your family subscribe to?

My son’s answer: The Seattle Times, People Magazine and Sports Illustrated

Bless my son. He was honest. We do get the Seattle Times every morning and I love my People and Jake loves his SI, but those aren’t the magazines teachers want us to receive. We don’t subscribe to Time, Newsweek or New Republic. We don’t read Atlantic Monthly or The New Yorker, either. But I can’t have him telling a teacher that People is our source of news. It’d be like admitting that my evening news is Inside Edition. Those are the secrets we carry with us to the grave. Heck, I’m not just a novelist. I’m a former award winning Social Studies & English teacher. I’m supposed to be educated about current events, and Britney’s meltdown at the MTV Awards Show doesn’t count as a true current event.

So gently, using an eraser, I rubbed out People and SI and filled in National Geographic and Smithsonian.

I do get them.

Not that I always read them.