Hi Jordan! Let’s start things off with a quick “Jordan L. Hawk for Dummies” tutorial. Tell us a bit about yourself and your background and the meaning of life. (You can skip that last part if you want to. :-D)
A. I live just outside of Charlotte, NC, with my husband and several very dumb (but cute!) cats. I spent most of my twenties and early thirties as a professional student, and have worked as an archaeologist and a wildlife biologist, two careers which have absolutely nothing in common. I like playing video games, goofing off on the internet, and brewing my own mead.
::Foresooth! You make your own mead? I can Google mead…::
A. The meaning of life is 42.
::Oh, that’s deep. Remember that, kids. 42. Good answer!::
Q. What made you decide to self-publish your work rather than to go the route of traditional publishing?
A. To make a long story short, I’m what author Janine Spendlove once described as a “control enthusiast.” I like being able to ensure I have a good cover, a good editor, good ebook formatting, etc. If something goes wrong, it’s on me—but that also means it’s in my power to fix it. If a cover or a blurb doesn’t seem to work as well as I thought it would, I can change it. I can track sales data weekly or monthly to find out what sorts of promotions work—or don’t.
It’s an enormous amount of work, and it does take away from writing time, but I’ve loved every minute of it. :)
Q. How long does it typically take you to hammer out a first draft?
A. It can vary, but Widdershins took me about five weeks to write, not counting prep work or revisions. Even though it’s less than half the length, Hunter of Demons took me almost as long, because Caleb refused to tell me important details about his character.
Q. Are you a plotter or a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer?
A. I’m a compulsive plotter. I spend the first couple of weeks working on a story doing research and laying out a complete storyboard from beginning to end. Once I’ve done that, I take some time to write up quick “sketches” of most of the scenes so I can get a feel for what works and what doesn’t. Only then do I start writing.
Q. What makes you laugh?
A. Adorable cat photos, which puts me in the same category as 99% of the internet. And I frequently laugh at myself, because I’m the queen of doing brain-dead things. I’m so going to win a Darwin Award some day.
Q. Is writing sex scenes difficult? (I always have to ask this because, you know, there are only so many ways to vary the business of the naughty, yet writers seem to keep coming up with new ways to make me say, “Hot damn!”) ^_^
A. It’s gotten easier with practice. ;) Seriously, the first sex scene I wrote must have taken me two hours to get on the page—and trust me, it wasn’t much longer than a page. Now I look forward to writing them.
::Hey! Practice! Just like in real life:: :-D
Q. Would you like to tell us a bit about your new book Hunter of Demons?
And we’d love if you’d consider sharing an excerpt with us!
Caleb sat on the floor, trying not to think, trying not to feel.
The exorcism hadn’t worked. Of course it hadn’t; what had he expected from a bunch of Specs? Maybe it had all just been a show, trying to punish him for going unregistered.
What were they going to do with him now? Take him away, definitely. Lock him up somewhere, most likely. Wait for the monster inside him to take control permanently…maybe?
Something stirred within, a tiger awakened from a semi-doze. “Why would I do such a thing?”
Caleb pressed his lips together, but he couldn’t silence his thoughts. Demons—NHEs—whatever the fuck you wanted to call them—possessed people. Everyone, mal and normal alike, was warned from childhood not to strike bargains, not to do anything to attract the attention of etheric entities. Community relations officers came into schools twice a year: don’t do drugs, don’t drink and drive, don’t play with loaded guns, don’t summon demons. He’d never thought much about it, except as one of the perils of life, like looking both ways before crossing the street.
And now here he was. Doomed.
“Are all mortals so illogical?”
It was trying to trick him. The thing in his head, the thing which had killed Ben—
“Mortals are not prey. Our prey is demons. And now we are too late, and I cannot even smell it anymore.”
Not “our,” there wasn’t any “our,” no matter what the monster inside wanted him to think. And yet the urge to get up and run into the night, to track the demon down, to bite and kill, twisted around Caleb’s spine.
No. He dug his nails into his palms, hard. He was still human. He wouldn’t give in.
Q. What new projects do you currently have in the works, if you don’t mind sharing some more?
A. Right now, I’m hard at work on Threshold, the sequel to Widdershins. Once that’s completed and turned into my editor, it will be back to the SPECTR series for books 3 and 4.
::Squeeeee! Sequels::
Q. Where can readers find you on the internet?
A. My homepage and blog can be found at http://www.jordanlhawk.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jordanlhawk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordanlhawk
Thanks so much for being here with us today, Jordan! It’s been fun getting to know a bit more about you.
**And now for the contest portion of the program. Beginning right here, right now, Jordan is offering the chance for one lucky reader to win an e-Copy of her book Widdershins (Whyborne & Griffin #1)! Entering is easy! All you have to do is leave a comment (including your email address) on this post, and that’s it. But be sure to do it before 11:59pm Pacific time on February 9, 2013, or it’ll be too late. Good luck!**
Yay! Thanks for having me on the blog today. Also, kitty? What kitty? :D
So glad to have you here, Jordan!
Heh, lucky freaking kitty, right? That man could carry me on his back any day. :-D
Oh..want! Please count me in!
Doublemom2001(AT)aol(dot) com
Hugs, Mandy!
Yay! I will have to check this out. But what I really really really want is another Widdershins book…pleeeeeeeaase!!!
Lisa don’t enter me in the drawing :)
Woot! I’m sooooo excited for more Whyborne & Griffin!
No pressure or anything, though, Jordan. ;-)
LOL, oh no, none at all! ;) I’m actually working on the next Whyborne & Griffin book, Threshold, right now. (Well, not literally right now…you know what I mean!) It’s scheduled to come out in June, so not too long from now.
Please enter me in the contest. Sconesandcider (at) yahoo ( dot) com
Thanks!
Count me in please, this sounds so good!
peanutty222@hotmail.com
Thank you! :)
Sounds great! Please count me in. Thanks!
Heh…. don’t enter me into the contest but I wanted to say woooooot and lend my support. I’ll blog about the Giveaway.
Yay, thank you! :)
Thanks to Heather for telling me how good the Widdershins is, and thanks to Rhys for blogging about this contest! I would love to try my luck at winning a copy (llogan24@gmail.com).
Great interview! Hunter of Demons sounds great, too – I’ll have to add it to my TBR. :)
…and thanks to Lisa and Rhys for letting me know this book existed!
All props to Rhys! ::bows to her pimping ways::
If not for her, I may have never found it either! :)
Thanks! :)
Sounds like a great read.
Thank you!
Widdershins keeps getting mentioned on my twitter feed and I’ve seen nothing but praise for it. It sounds like a must read.
grumpyabs(at)gmail(dot)com
That’s what we like to hear. ;) Thank you.
Loved the excerpt! And I just read the blurb for Widdershins – want to read it! :)
Please count me in!
goingtoreadnow (at) gmail.com
Hey Jordan!! It’s great to read your interview and learn more about your books and how you come about the ideas, etc. Thanks for sharing!!! I’d love to read it as well!
~Rush~
taina1959 at yahoo.com
Hey, sweetie! *waves* Thanks for stopping by. :D
I’m a fan, and I’d love my own e copy of Widdershins, please! Thank you
I would love to win Widdershins. Thanks for the introduction to a new to me author. The Hainted cover is so gorgeous.
strive4bst(At) yahoo(Dot) com
Please count me in.
mlucette(at)gmail(dot)com
I found the kitty, though it was hard to draw my eye to the backpack ;). Thank you for the opportunity to win the book.
Ooh!! This is so something I’m going to love!! lol…. ha! That picture cracked me up too! lol.. I look forward to your coming books!!!
Judi
arella3173_loveless@yahoo(dot)com
Lemme tell ya, Kitty Man made my everything go rrrrrowrrrr when I found him. :-D
Ooh, I haven’t heard of Widdershins before now, but I really want to read it now! Along with the SPECTR books. That excerpt was great.
I hope that I can read this book, please count me in, thank you.
Please, count e in.
Just read the blurb for WIDDERSHINS, and it sounds intense and great!
vitajex(at)aol(Dot)com
Congrats on your new release! Your covers are so gorgeous. :-) YIKES! You’ve published three novels since I’ve met you, and I’m still trying to get my first one out, lol.
madisonparklove@gmail.com
What a great interview and excerpt, and the pictures! *Faints*
Please add me too :)
Sue
corieltauviqueen at yahoo dot co dot uk
Hey all! Sorry it’s taken me so long to get to the drawing for Widdershins today, but I finally did! :-P
Using Random.org, I generated a list of all entrants, and the winner is…
Karl S
Congratulations to you, Karl. You’ll be hearing from Jordan soon.
And on behalf of Jordan and myself, thanks so much to you all for participating in the contest.
Have a great rest of the day!
Lisa
Congrats, Karl, and thank you so much to everyone who left a comment!