October 2021

A Weekend of Zombies and Peopling

/ Life

Yesterday, my bff invited me to an outdoor dance class to learn part of the iconic zombie dance from Michael Jackson’s Thriller for spooky season. In case you need a reminder, here it is (jump to about 8:28 if it doesn’t start there automatically):

Now, I am not a dancer. I’m not remotely a dancer. I have decent rhythm thanks to a lot of high school band, but I’ve got zero moves. That being said, I still like to occasionally throw myself into silliness, and I’m old enough to own that I’m terrible and I just don’t care.

So I ripped up an old t-shirt for that real zombie look and headed out to muddle my way through a dance routine.

It. Was. A. BLAST!

I remain absolutely terrible, but I got most of the moves in the right order, if not with the right amount of finesse. But I figure a zombie would lumber rather than shimmy, so I was just going for that truly authentic zombie experience. 😂

There’s a video, which will never, ever see the light of day because it’s hilarious, but here’s a photo of me in my five-minute zombie finery:

A photo of me in a ripped up t-shirt, pretending to be a zombie on a rooftop parking garage downtown with a tall blue glass building behind me.

After I finished being a zombie, Mr M and I had an outdoor cul-de-sac potluck where I had to remember how to make small talk. It was nice to meet all of the neighbors we haven’t had a chance to yet (mostly because I am a hermit at the best of times and the pandemic wasn’t exactly that), but I am now done with people for a while, lol. I forgot how draining socializing can be, even when it’s fun.

How about you? Did you do anything fun this weekend?

Say Hello to Eclipse the Moon!

/ Author News, Eclipse the Moon, Writing
Voyager placeholder cover for ECLIPSE THE MOON. Official cover to come.

Book two has a title, Eclipse the Moon, and it’s up for preorder! But, Jessie, I hear you saying, book one isn’t even out yet! And you would be correct. However, Eclipse the Moon is coming out next summer, so after you read Hunt the Stars, you’ll only have a few months to wait for book two. Yay!

If you mosey over to the book page, you can see the preliminary catalog copy, the placeholder cover, and preorder links. I put the catalog copy behind a spoiler tag just in case you don’t want to know anything about book two until you read HTS.

All of the info is subject to change, because I didn’t even know the release date until I happened upon the preorder page this morning, so I don’t know if it’s completely final or not. If it is, then it’ll come out during my birthday week! 🎉

I’m probably not going to be pushing this one too hard until HTS comes out, but now when I refer to ETM, you’ll know what I’m talking about. :)

Oh, and I saw an early copy of the cover today and it’s gorgeous, so I will definitely share that when it’s ready!

Stock Photo Gems

/ Writing

Before I forget: Polaris Rising is on sale for $1.99 (ebook) in the US/Canada this month. If you’ve been waiting to pick up a copy, your time is now!

When I start writing a new book, I like to peruse stock photo sites to find images of my main characters. I have an idea of what they look like, but having a photo gives me something to reference, and it’s something I can send to my publisher when they ask for descriptions. But because I have a picture in my head, it means I have to spend quite a bit of time finding just the right image. (Yay, procrastination!)

And sometimes, while doing a deep dive of a stock photo site, I find an image that’s pure gold. I am now the proud owner of a license to use “Young attractive couple and british [sic] cat in a dark room.” Click through for the unblurred picture, but be warned it’s NSFW because it shows a woman in lingerie. Don’t click through on your work computer!

A man in a suit staring at the camera with a cat photo behind him. The bottom of the photo is blurred out.
Click to reveal, NSFW (lingerie)

Every single element of this photo is *chef’s kiss*. The framed cat in the background (apparently British). The man staring intensely at the camera and ironing the woman’s stocking while she’s wearing it. Her balancing atop what must be the world’s sturdiest ironing board. The longer you look at it, the more you see.

There’s another photo in the series that I didn’t buy, but it’s worth a look, too (also NSFW). This artist has some really beautiful, unique shots, but a lot of them are deeply weird. I love it!

Now I have to get back to work on book three in the Starlight’s Shadow trilogy. I hope you have a good weekend!