Beautiful, Mysterious and Bizarre: M/M Horror & Urban Fantasy by Jordan Castillo Price
JCP News
Issue 30 - June 15, 2010
C O N T E N T S
THE FUTURE IS HERE, AND IT'S DAUNTING
In an attempt to save a few bucks, I had my land line disconnected and hooked up my phone through the Internet via Skype. I've been on Skype for several years now, but thus far have only used it for interviewing my friends for Packing Heat. I liked how Skype was cross-platform and cheap, and I figured they'd been around for eons in Internet-time so they had some longevity as a company.
Since I liked my existing cordless phone, I wanted to use that rather than buying a dedicated Skype phone. And I wanted to run it through my Mac, since I never do anything the easy way ;-)
So I checked out Mac forums at Skype, bought myself a part online, programmed it and installed it. Success!
And then the Skype started ringing. It was my dad, who was on Skype, too. Was it a phone call? No, that would be way too easy. IT WAS A VIDEO CALL. No doubt many of you video chat all the time and this would be no big deal. For me, it was like World of the Future.
And so now I'm paranoid everyone can watch me while I'm at my computer if I have Skype on, but I have to have Skype on for my phone to work. I've stuck a Post-It over the video camera. You know how I love those Post-Its. Just one more reason to love them.
PSYCOP, PETIT MORTS & MORE ARE AT
All Romance eBooks now carries JCP Books, LLC titles!
When you leave good reviews and ratings at ARe, you actually help me promote the books--and it makes a huge difference!
PACKING HEAT
Packing Heat is a podcast I've been putting out since 2007. My goal is to help other writers stay motivated, and to encourage them to take their writing to the next level. You don't need special gadgets to listen; Packing Heat plays in your browser, like YouTube. Or you can subscribe (and leave me glowing feedback) at iTunes!
RECENT EPISODES
Packing Heat 104:
Who's That Guy?
I was watching a movie with someone who turned to me during the last scene and said, "Who's that guy?" about the main character. Holy hell, don't let that happen in your story!
Packing Heat 105:
Hey, You
Newbie Mistakes #1
How often should your characters address one another?
Packing Heat 106:
Swifties
Newbie Mistakes #2
What's a Swifty? AKA: the adverb is not your friend.
Packing Heat 107:
Infodump
Newbie Mistakes #3
As you know, Bob, infodumps are a big problem not only in novel writing, but television and movies, too.
Full archives of the show all the way back to #1 are at the Packing Heat site.
Ca-ching!
Lots of winners this month! I was so happy with the helpful feedback on publishing and ebooks I was getting, I gave away several copies of Betweentimes as a "thanks."
Val
Kendall
Tam
Monica
Chris
Ocotillo Dawn
Kriscat
Bryoneybrynn
Agent Atlantis
Latetocomics
Ennorwyn
Jordan on the Web
Catch-all Site: JordanCastilloPrice. com
Official Channeling Morpheus Site
Back Issues
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Is starting better than finishing?
According to positive psychologist Kathryn Britton on a recent episode of the Life Habits podcast, studies have shown that striving toward a goal releases the neurotransmitter dopamine, whereas achieving a goal releases seratonin. The're both feel-good brain chemicals, but they're different.
I've been chatting with other authors and I've found that many of us feel differently about working on projects than we do about finishing them, so the neurotransmitter explanation really rang true for me.
When I'm in the middle of a project, and (hopefully) it's rolling along well, it's the best feeling in the world. I've often attributed it to the state of flow, and maybe that's just another way of experiencing a dopamine high!
Certainly, it's gratifying to finish projects, but it's a different sensation. There's a "wow" factor, but it's an edgy kind of "wow" that sometimes feels more like anxiety than excitement.
All that said, I've finished a couple of long-running projects this month, and I'm experiencing some pretty intense empty nest syndrome. I'm working through that anticlimax by powering forward on the next batch of Petit Morts. I hope you enjoy reading the recently completed stories Zero Hour and Sleepwalker as much as I enjoyed the process of creating them.
xoxo
Jordan
Sleepwalker Out This Week
Daniel Weber ("Web" to his friends) was a promising young biology student on the fast track to a prestigious grad program. That was a year and a half ago. Now he's working a dead-end security job and living in his cousin's two-flat. Thanks to the mysterious George, he's got gaps in his memory too big for his pocket notebook to fill.
Jesse Ray Jones is the taxidermist who's trying to help the Faris Natural Sciences Center secure the MAHPS Grant, a funding that would keep the foundering organization afloat for a few more years. He looks like a skatepunk and talks like a science major, which pushes Web's every last hot-button.
It's lust at first sight…but hooking up proves difficult when a supervisor at the Center is found bludgeoned to death in the petroglyph alcove—and Jesse and Web are the primary suspects.
Coming June 20 to JCP Books, LLC - later this summer to third party vendors
Click here to read the first chapter
An update on Sweets to the Sweet
I'd expected this paperback to be out June 10, but then I hit some production snags and delays. I expect it to be ready by the end of the month. If you're signed up for Quick Link emails, I'll send you a link when it's live.
(Note, for security reasons you can only change your subscription from within your email program. If it gives you trouble, just email me at jcp.heat at gmail.com and let me know how you want it!)
Ticking Down to Zero Hour
Be careful what you say in public…
One randomly generated prompt and two and a half years later, I've got me a novel. A novel way the heck outside my comfort zone, but a novel nonetheless.
On December 2, 2007's Packing Heat, I fired off a randomly generated prompt from Seventh Sanctum, just as an example, mind you. And as I kept talking on the podcast, the idea nagged and nagged at me, and I thought, "You know, I think I could actually write that."
Read more about the writing of Zero Hour
Zero Hour - Final Chapters 30 - 31
(click here for whole story starting at chapter 1)
The train car glided forward, occasionally swaying. The movement felt surprisingly POD-like, and Ernest's eyelids grew heavy where he sat, propped against Will at his side, with the wall of the car pressing into his shoulder blades. Even Will, who claimed that he hadn't slept in a POD in over four years, had trouble staying awake—though every time his head dropped forward, he jerked back to attention and blinked.
"You should sleep," Ernest said. "Last time we stopped, you cleared more of the blockage than anyone else. You must be tired."
Will ground his thumb into the corner of one eye. "I'm fine. How about you? Are you feeling okay?"
Ernest was nauseated and his head throbbed. "Yes. Good."
Will's arm tightened around his shoulders. "You're such a liar."
click here for the rest of Zero Hour (worksafe)
PsyCop Paperbacks:
PsyCop: Property (Paperback, contains Body & Soul and Secrets)
PsyCop: Partners (Paperback, contains Among the Living and Criss Cross)
Camp Hell: A PsyCop Novel
PsyCop Ebooks:
Among the Living - PsyCop Book 1
Criss Cross - PsyCop Book 2
Body & Soul - PsyCop Book 3 (2nd edition, 10/23/09)
Secrets - PsyCop Book 4
Camp Hell - PsyCop Book 5
Thaw PsyCop Short 1.1, FREE!
Striking Sparks PsyCop Novelette 2.1
Many Happy Returns PsyCop Short 2.2
Mind Reader PsyCop Short 2.3 - PDF ebook, FREE!
Stroke of Midnight PsyCop Short 3.1, FREE!
Petit Morts Ebooks:
Hue, Tint, and Shade
Slings and Arrows by Josh Lanyon
Moolah and Moonshine
Other People's Weddings by Josh Lanyon
Spanish Fly Guy
Channeling Morpheus Ebooks:
Payback
Vertigo
Manikin
Tainted
Rebirth
Heaven Sent: a Channeling Morpheus Short
Sweet Oblivion Ebooks:
Brazen
Snare
Fluid
Swarm
Elixir
Channeling Morpheus Paperbacks:
Channeling Morpheus for Scary Mary (Paperback, contains Payback, Vertigo, Manikin, Tainted and Rebirth) - Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp, Flipkart, Amazon.ca
Other Stories:
Betweentimes a funny standalone short
Sympathy a standalone contemporary romance - novelette
Hemovore a vampire thriller - novel
The Art of Dying paperback - novella anthology with Josh Lanyon
The Art of Dying ebook - novella anthology with Josh Lanyon
The Serpent in the Garden - m/f short
Starlight
Verdant (PDF, HTML, Mobi, Lit) more formats at Smashwords
The Voice (PDF, HTML, Mobi, Lit) more formats at Smashwords
Kindred Spirits
Kindle Editions:
The PsyCop series, including the Crash shorts Striking Sparks and Many Happy Returns, can now be purchased in the Kindle Store
Many Happy Returns
Starlight 
Kindred Spirits
Striking Sparks
Verdant 
The Voice
Any of the mobi ebooks on JCPBooks.com will also work on the Kindle!
Downloading direct to your iPhone or iPod?
Try the Smashwords tab in the Stanza app; many JCP Books, LLC titles are there--even some freebies!
Email me at jordan (at) psycop (dot) com
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JCP News • Jordan Castillo Price • PO Box 153 • Barneveld, WI 53507