When Inspiration Strikes

posted in: Various Musings | 2

I know there are bound to be some of you thinking…wondering…hoping.  “Why hasn’t Jade finished the Nicki Sosebee series yet?”  “When the hell is she going to write the next Tangled Web book already?”  “What about the next Bullet book?  You promised!”

Friends, I wish I had a good and easy answer for you.  Well, I do have an answer, but it’s not necessarily what you want to hear.  I have lots of stories in my head, all vying to get out.  Some stories aren’t “ripe” yet—some of them need more time to germinate.  Once at that stage, though, I start writing the one that’s grabbed me.  Sometimes the germinating process takes years (for example, I conceived Old House over fifteen years before I actually wrote it).  Other times, it might take minutes or hours. 

That’s the case with Finger Bang.  Last month, one of the women (Kristen) on my Street Team messaged me an article about Orgasmic Meditation.  She’d found it funny but she shared it with me because the business interviewed for the article is located in Boulder, Colorado, a city Kristen knows I go to from time to time.  We had a great laugh about it that morning, and then I went about my business.  I took a shower, a place where lots of my book ideas hit me.  (It’s either there, in bed when I’m trying to sleep, or when I’m on the road by myself.)  That silly idea that we’d had a chuckle over germinated into a book idea in a matter of minutes.  In fact, I was so inspired that I wrote the blurb for it that day and announced it on my page later on as my next project.

Why does it happen that way for some ideas and not for others?  I don’t know.  The idea for Seal All Exits has been in my head for close to two years and I’ve even started writing it, but it’s still not quite where I’d like it to be.  That said, I will be writing that book this year if it kills me.  There are others, though, that are begging for my attention, but I’ve tried to write more than one book at a time before, and I just can’t do it.  I can’t even write a story at the same time I’m writing a book.  Whatever I’m writing demands my full attention, and I can’t divide it between two (or more) projects.

That said, I’ve made the decision to approach my writing more like a business.  I have solid deadlines now.  I used to write until a book was done and then get it polished before moving on to the next one, but I tended to let my inspiration pull me along.  That often works, but Rock Bottom took three months to write.  Why?  Because it was hard to write and my inspiration was lower.  Ethan had a lot of demons and I took my time traversing through them.  I’m not doing that anymore.  Now I’m going to push through the tougher spots.  I have goals and deadlines now, and why?  Because I’m tired of working for the man. 😉  It’s not going to happen if I don’t make this my business.

So what’s on tap?  Lots.  If you’re curious, here’s a quick outline of what I have planned (according to stage of germination): 

  • Finger Bang—release date 6/27/14
  • Inked—an anthology revolving around all things tattoos—five full-length books written by me and four author friends (Jo-Anna Walker, Stacy Gail, Scarlett Metal, and K. Pinson)—release date 8/25/14
  • Seal All Exits—Tangled Web 3.  I plan to release it this year, but I’m not sure where it falls in my writing timeline
  • Feverish 1.5—yes, I’ll officially launch this spinoff series this year
  • I also plan to release the next Bullet book (either Zane or Nick—not sure which) and a zombie novel (yes, really—but you’ll still know it’s me)

Anyway, I’m sorry I have no rhyme or reason as to why I write the way I do.  I forced myself to write Fake (Nicki #9) this year, because it was long overdue, but it was difficult, because it wasn’t fully ripe.  I may have to do that with one or two other stories this year as well, but just know this—I am fully committed to finishing out all the series I’ve started, and I’ll write them as soon as I can.  Sorry my brain doesn’t always cooperate, but I hope in some instances that the wait is worth it.

2 Responses

  1. Hart Johnson

    Man, isn’t that nuts, how some ideas come fully formed and others take years to ferment. My better ones are the fermenty ones, I think. But I HAVE had books I’ve written that hit me hard and fast. My one that is nagging me now is another LONG project (either serial or trilogy) that first started to bug me about two years ago. Man, am I eager to get started… just have to finish book 12 of Shot.

    • Jade

      You’re so close, Hart. It is VERY crazy how that happens, but I don’t question it. I just figure it’s the strange way my brain works sometimes. 🙂

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