Aphrodisia Authors :: Blog

Man, I would prefer to be sniffing that than what I’m smelling in my office right now. We have a joint refrigerator in my office suite and let’s just say someone left their food in their too long. My boss opens the fridge this morning and all stench breaks loose. Hoo-wee! My eyes are still watering. Time for another group email where people have to clean out their fuzzy green messes. I get to feel superior about this one because I haven’t brought anything refrigerated for a loooooong time, so I know whatever the stinkpot is, it doesn’t belong to me.

Anyway, on to the minty freshness of contracts. I got some from my agent Monday afternoon when I got home from work. I admit that I may have done a booty shaking happy dance. I also may have hugged the contracts while doing aforementioned dance. Perhaps. I confess to nothing.

After several hours of translating mind-bending, IQ dropping legalese, I sent a few questions to my awesome agent…and poof! I have a contract. Signed, sealed, pretty, and sent off to the Powers That Be.

Now for the fun part. I’m putting in for my provisional PAN membership at RWA. Technically, I could have done it with my first Kensington contract, but I never got around to it, so I’m doing it with this one. Woot! I feel so official.

So, I’m either high off the giddiness of contracts and official writer-ness, or I’m high from the fumes of whatever died in the fridge. Your call.

Crystal Jordan
IN ICE, SEXY BEAST V (Sept 08)
CARNAL DESIRES (Dec 08)
Kensington Aphrodisia
www.crystaljordan.com

I know it’s a day early, but this is without a doubt my favorite holiday, so I MUST celebrate. It’s the perfect day: a nice sugar rush to look forward to, costumes, and glitter, and pumpkins (Oh, my!). No family gathering to gird my loins for, no need to cook or clean, everything can be purchased with a quick trip to Sam’s Club. In a word: sublime.

For me, Halloween works the same way my books do. I (or my characters) can be anything I want to be. A sexy detective.

Or the classic maid.

Of course, I’ve never had figures like these ladies and never will, so my costume would cover more skin, but the principle is the same. Sadly, this is also like my books–my heroines are way cuter than me. BUT we can all dress up and have fun tomorrow! It’s the Best. Holiday. Ever!

(And I have to say I love how shocked and surprised this jack-o-lantern looks)

I don’t usually have a particular person/actor/model in mind when I come up with descriptions for my characters. I know some writers scour until they find just the right picture and then refer back to it while they write.

Not me.

In fact, I just have a list of character traits and names I’ve used for each of my books, and when I come up with names and descriptions in a new one, I go for a look and name that I think fits the personality I want…and try to make sure it doesn’t match another character I already have. Or get too close to another character, anyway. There are only so many combinations, you know?

However, there’s always that one book that doesn’t fit the norm, that breaks the usual mold. I went looking for a volleyball player because a character I’m working on plays the sport…and there she was. MY character in the flesh. Her real name is Logan Tom (hey, I didn’t name her–blame her parents), and she’s Dani-the-heroine come to life. Crazy, right?

So, I guess there’s always some person that can be inspiration for our work, even if we don’t mean for them to be. Of course, now I’m running the internet around looking for other photos of my heroine’s doppleganger so I get her just right.

Another fun inspiration I always like to keep around is a favorite Italian model/actor named Raoul Bova. I fell madly in lust with him when he played in Under The Tuscan Sun with Diane Lane. Isn’t he scrumptious?

This got me thinking about what inspires people to write a character the way they do. Is it a picture? A person they know in real life? Or is it completely made up the way my characters usually are? I work from my list quite happily, but I’m an obsessive compulsive list maker. Lists of traits, hair/eye combinations, scenes to write versus scenes I’ve already checked off the list, sexual positions so I don’t repeat too often. It all goes on a list. Maybe that’s something that inspires my writing in general. Checking off each box as I go and finishing a list is a challenge for me. It’s me against the list. But in the meantime…models and actors aren’t a bad way to go for a visual pick me up when planning out a character.

Pretty.

-Crystal Jordan
www.crystaljordan.com

There are no two words that are prettier to an author than The End. We like it, we love it, we want some more of it.

Unfortunately for most of us, getting to The End is an eternal pain in the backside. Some of us write a million drafts, some of us sculpt and hone one draft. Any way you look at it, the process is one of pain, misery, and tears. You lose sleep at night and your blood has a higher caffeine concentration than a latte from Starbucks with fifteen espresso shots. And that’s when things are going well. That agony is balanced by this scary, overwhelming drive to finish. If the characters are talking to you and the world building is working, it’s a rush that’s right next door to orgasm. (Nothing ever actually beats an “O” face. Not even chocolate. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)

When we get to The End, it’s a time of joyous celebration and end zone dances that put the NFL to shame.

Why am I blogging about this? You guessed it. I just put a full-length novel manuscript to bed last night at 1AM. I’m a bit loopy, but grinning from ear to ear. Is it wrong or weird to pet a manuscript while it sits on your desk awaiting the UPS delivery guy?

Hope y’all are having as awesome a day as I am!

-Crystal Jordan
http://www.crystaljordan.com

This is Crystal Jordan, checking in for the very first time on the Aphrodisia Author blog. I think I’m the newest author to sell to Aphrodisia, and I’m very excited to be here.

On to my tale of wonder. I have to share how I sold to Kensington, because it is hands down the coolest story I have to tell. Here’s how it went:

I arrived in Dallas, Texas late Monday for an early Tuesday tourist day before the Romance Writers of America conference began on Wednesday. I sleep in Tuesday morning and am woken by Eden Bradley, a fellow naughty writer, and we discuss what we’ll be doing for the day.

A call beeps in. It’s not a number I recognize, and I consider not answering. Then I realize it might be one of my online friends that I’ve never spoken to over the phone…who might be calling from the lobby (Note to self: if the 212 area code pops up on caller ID, it’s time to spiral into gleefully panicked hysteria). I tell Eden I’ll be right back and click over.

“Hi, this is John Scognamiglio…” My first thought is that’s not how I say his name in my head. Mild buzzing in ears. “I’d like to offer for your story…” More buzzing. He wanted to buy my polar bear shape-shifter story. Oh. My. Holy. Jesus.

I babble something incomprehensible before I click back over to Eden and start screaming and jumping up and down on the hotel bed. I apologize to the Hyatt Hotel…I don’t think I did any real damage to the mattress. Eden cries and I call everyone who’s ever met me.

There’s a certain life that comes with being an author. Certain sacrifices of time and energy that go into writing a book. So to sell to Kensington while surrounded by a bunch of people who understand what I do on a daily basis was simply priceless.

Then I had to find an agent and run around conference subtly stalking every agent I’m interested in. (Also, my friends dragged me out and bought me my first tattoo and then to a tranny karaoke bar).

Two weeks after I got home I have an awesome, fabulous agent and now I’m looking at a whole new career. It’s wild and crazy, but I’m really excited. Here’s hoping for a bunch more tales of wonder to relay to everyone.

So, I’m here and happy to be so.

Crystal Jordan

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