Instant Replay!
Current mood: excited
Category: Writing and Poetry

If you weren't able to join us this afternoon you can still listen to my interview in AngelLesa's archives here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/angellesa/2008/07/10/author-jessica-shin-and-her-new-book....

It was a great interview and I had a lot of fun. Even better, Lesa was able to get my book cover featured on the front of www.blogtalkradio.com. Woohoo! Lesa is a wonderful host and she interviews a lot of great authors so please check out her other archives as well.

Until next time,

Jessica Shin

…read like you're not afraid of the consequences…....

A Rapture of Centuries now available from Cerridwen Press!

The Heat & the Devil's World available now from Amira Press!

Tell Me Lies coming soon from Cerridwen Press!

http://www.jessicashin.com....

http://www.myspace.com/jessicashin

8:29 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

I’m all official now!
Current mood: creative
Category: Writing and Poetry

The first official Jessica Shin newsletter, Shin Tao: The Way of Jessica, is now available! Check me out...no really...check me out:

http://www.jessicashin.com/images/Newsletter070108.pdf

You can also follow the link off any page in my website, www.jessicashin.com.

The newsletter will be quarterly event, and I'm praying I have enough entertaining shtuff to talk about to keep it interesting!

8:52 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Ready to get twisted?
Current mood: excited
Category: Writing and Poetry

Then check my new release from Amira Press, a short fantasy erotic romance!

The Heat and the Devil's World

The twisted world that joined them could eat them alive.

Two college friends, she an artist and he a writer, have been the best of friends for years. Friends and only friends...until one night changes everything. A chance find in a curios shop takes them on a treasure hunt to a twisted world that turns reality inside out. In this place the moon burns blue, the trees have eyes...and friends become lovers. But the reality around them is becoming decidedly more ominous. Racing from the unnatural world that now threatens their lives, will they escape or will they become permanent additions to the devil's world?

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I’m In Target!
Current mood: animated
Category: Writing and Poetry

Ok, so I'M not personally in Target. But my book is!

http://www.target.com/Rapture-Centuries-Shin-Jessica/dp/1419957325

Sweet! :)

4:12 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

What the heck is a peckafoe?
Current mood: pensive
Category: Writing and Poetry

In learning kung fu and tai chi, you come across a lot of wierd terminology. Phrases like "white snake vomits the mushroom" can be found a-plenty. You also have the imaginary creatures, like the dragon. But so far, one of them takes the cake.

I've been learning some new animal forms, a series of twelve short forms. You've got the usual tiger and dragon, some funky ones like the chicken, the ostrich and the turtle. But the one that got me was the peckafoe.

Yesterday in a moment of poignant reflection, by the calm Chattahoochee River surrounded by deciduous trees in full greenery, I said to my sifu, "What the heck is a peckafoe?"

Apparently a peckafoe is a fictitious bird similar to a grouse or a quail. Why they didn't just pick a grouse or a quail is anyone's guess. This peckafoe must have had some unique quality that made it worthy of its own form. I knew those monks were out there just making shit up. So in some ways they're kind of like writers. We take worlds that don't exist, people who don't exist and situations that never happened and give them life, turn them into something of substance. Something that can be experienced, enjoyed and heartily sought after. We make the imaginary real, at least for a few hours.

Here's to all the writers - our kung fu is strong!

Currently listening : Mediterraneo By Marc Antoine Release date: 2003-09-23

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Turn Away
Current mood: artistic
Category: Writing and Poetry

I've never been the type of writer who could finish a book, then turn around and begin editing right away. I always needed time between the two events, like ending a relationship and having the ability to analyze it. How much time is enough? Who knows. 350 degrees for 20 minutes doesn't work for everything.

Last year I struggled with a novella. The premise of the story was great. The sex was hot. But it felt disjointed, like it was angry with itself. Finally I gave up and let it macerate in its own misery. For nearly a year. A few nights ago I picked it up and suddenly everything fell into place. I had answers for questions, righted the wrongs and left my characters with a very satisfying "the end."

I am not an especially different person than I was a year ago. I didn't make any major plot changes. The only difference was time. Like a wine you can really lay down, my story seemed to mature all on its own. All I needed to do was pop the cork at the right time.

Currently listening : Loose By Nelly Furtado Release date: 2006-06-20

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Crossworlds
Current mood: contemplative
Category: Travel and Places

I just got back from two weeks in Europe. It was my first time there and it was incredible. As if I didn't have enough story ideas to keep me busy for ten years, I now have enough to keep me busy for twenty years.

It is a different world over there, even with the many familiar sights. The difference is in the little details, from how you flush the toilet to how you ride the subway to the way you order and eat your meals. But the true difference was the air, the atmosphere...the incredible history that lives right along side modern day life is almost like living in two worlds at once. I think one of the best examples is, oddly enough, a cemetery.

Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, famous in its own right but even more so because Jim Morrison is buried there, could have kept me occupied for the whole trip. The unmatched attention to detail that went into those gravestones and crypts of centuries past is oddly inspiring. The care (or the money) was so great that hours upon hours were spent painstakingly carving out the images, the scrollwork, the names. And these centuries-old tombs, some so old the writing had completely weathered away, sat right along side modern stones with death dates as recent as 2007. The ancient and the modern, living and dying side by side.

Quietly residing next to The Seine is Notre Dame, which was only a name and part of a classic novel before I saw it. The cathedral, from the outside, is a work of art I could never hope to put into words. But when I entered, the weight of years and history and memories was consuming - I could feel it on my skin, taste it, almost hear the echoes of the past. The building seemed to breathe around me, alive, maybe itself remembering the years gone by. I couldn't stop the physical reaction; I was almost moved to tears. The artwork inside was difficult to see because it was nighttime and not well lit, but I didn't need to see it. I was feeling everything I would ever need to know about Notre Dame. Have you ever smelled history? Visit this cathedral and you will. I left there a different person. Just those few moments within Notre Dame was worth the whole trip.

I can't wait to go back. Who wants to go with me?

Currently listening : The Best of the Doors By The Doors Release date: 2006-08-08

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Caveman Pic Up!
Current mood: fabulous
Category: Writing and Poetry

I finally got a digital version of the pic of me with the Ellora's Cave cavemen and it's now a permanent part of my RT 2008 photo album....and my new profile pic. Wooo-hooo, baby! My husband wants to know where all of their hands are...yipe!

10:20 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Don’t Say It’s Over
Current mood: content
Category: Writing and Poetry

It's been a wild ride at RT 2008. Yesterday was the book fair and that was a lot of fun. My first book signing! I met a lot of people and got to chat with other authors, some media folks and general passers-by.

Towards the end of the fair all the lights cut off and we were completely engulfed in darkness. After everyone's suprised "oh!" we all expected them to come right back on....they didn't. Everyone started pulling out their cell phones to see in front of them. Who knew your cell phone doubled as a flashlight? The joys of multitaskers. Finally after five or ten minutes they came back on and everyone cheered. Funny how dependant we are on something we take for granted; when we get it back we're so excited, only to take it for granted again moments later.

But alas, my time at RT has come to an end. I ship out early this afternoon, back to the Gateway to the South, full of books, pictures and memories. The books will be read, the pictures posted to my website and the memories I will take with me everywhere I go.

4:22 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

It’s Not Over Yet!
Current mood: fabulous
Category: Writing and Poetry

It's Friday of RT week and it's been a busy, busy time so far. Events attended include: marketing for e-books, the Ellora's Cave Old Hollywood Party (where I had my OWN Hollywood Star since I'm with Cerridwen!), a thriller workshop, the Faery Ball, an urban fantasy workshop and, as they say, much much more.

Tonight is the Vampire Ball. I only have some cheesy fake teeth I got as a give-away (cute for promo, but maybe not so cute compared to the smashing outfits I'm sure will be there) so my costume will have to get all its merit from the dress.

I've met some really great people so far and I'm so glad I came for my virgin RT experience this year. Some authors I've been anxious to meet I'm actually getting to hang out with! Vanessa Gilfoy, M.A. Ellis, Kaenar Langford, Joanna Waugh, Cheryl Dragon, Lacey Savage, Natasha Moore - it's been an absolute pleasure hanging out with all of you - and it's not over yet!

3:11 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment