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    When art imitates life …

    So I did some work on Assassin 3 this weekend, and I wrote a scene where Finnegan Lane drops barbecue sauce on his suit jacket. Finn is the foster brother/best friend/handler to Gin Blanco, the assassin. There’s nothing Finn likes more than a well-tailored suit, so staining his jacket upset him.

    After I write this scene, I go out and get barbecue for lunch. And what happens? I drop baked beans all over my placemat on my kitchen table. Sigh … :rolleyes:

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    Sold, baby!

    10 Comments

    You know that major good news I teased you guys about earlier this week? Well, I’ve finally gotten the greenlight to announce that … drumroll please … the Assassin series has sold! Huzzah! 😎

    My wonderful agent has brokered a three-book deal with Pocket (which is part of Simon & Schuster). The first book is tentatively titled Gin on the Rocks and will (hopefully) come out in fall 2009. The books will debut in trade paperback, then get re-released in mass market.

    At this point, a lot of stuff is still up in the air. I’m not sure if we’re calling it the Elemental Assassin series, the Gin Blanco series, or just the Assassin series. The title might change too, and I’ll let you guys know when I get a specific release date.

    The books will be a little different from my Bigtime series. The Assassin books are urban fantasy, instead of paranormal romance, and follow one character. Since the books are UF, they are quite a bit darker and grittier than the Bigtime books. Lots of people die in some fairly gruesome ways, and the language is much harsher. But at their heart, the Assassin books are still fun, sexy, action-packed fantasies.

    The main character/narrator is Gin Blanco, who runs a barbecue restaurant by day and assassinates people by night. Gin is an elemental who has the magical ability to create, control, and manipulate ice and stone (the other two elements are fire and air). There are also vampires and giants and dwarves galore, and the book is set in the fictional southern metropolis of Ashland.

    Anyway, much more to come. Right now, it’s happy dance time! :ww:

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    Some final thoughts on RAW …

    2 Comments

    I should add that I had every intention of taking some pictures at RAW … until I realized about 50 miles up the interstate that I’d left my camera at home. Dumb, Jen, really dumb. :rolleyes:

    So, unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures to share. Maybe next year.

    I think the thing I like most about conferences is just meeting so many other people who love books. Everywhere you go, from standing in line at the buffet to riding up in the elevator, you can strike up a conversation with someone about who they’re reading, who they want to meet, who their favorite author is … it’s just awesome.

    The bad thing about conferences is that I’m terribly with names. Seriously. Terribly. I remember people’s faces, but not their names. I also have a weird tendency to remember conversations about books and who people like to read. You’d think that would help me remember names … but not so much. So if we’ve met at a conference before and run into each other again, please remind me where we met and what kind of books we talked about. Then, perhaps the lightbulb will turn on.

    Also, it can be disconcerting to have people stare at your chest to get a glimpse of your nametag. But you get used to it after a while.

    Of course, there were more things I wished I’d been able to do at RAW. Talk to more of the authors, meet more readers, talk more about books. This is true of any conference I go to. But hey — a gal needs her beauty sleep.

    So this is my wrap-up of RAW. Overall, a great conference for readers and authors. A big thumbs up. 😎

    What about you guys? What are some of your favorite book conferences or fantasy cons? Share in the comments.