What's SJ Up To Now?

Hey there, ladies and gentlemen! I know I've been a little quiet since the release of Loving Instincts, the third vampire novel in the Instincts series, and I do apologize for that. It's kind of a funny thing when a new book is released. There's so much excitement, and undeniably a huge amount of nerves with waiting for the first reader responses to come in. So far, those have been wonderful. I thank everyone who has sent me emails, left comments here, posted to my Facebook, and messaged me on Twitter, about how you've enjoyed the story. It means more than I can ever fully express, and I hope you all know that it's those kinds of sweet things that keep me hitting the keys in creating the next story for you.

And so, what have I been typing at lately? Well, I'm happy to say that the next Conquest book, FEELING THE RHYTHM, which is the story for Conquest's drummer, Brad Delfini, is now in my editor's hands. Yes, that's right. After being in the works for many long months, it's finished! Woo hoo! My editor and I are going to work very hard to get it out this year, and right now we're shooting for a December release.

After finishing FEELING THE RHYTHM, my plan was to take a good long break from writing. If you've seen LOVING INSTINCTS, you know that book was 100k words in length. FEELING THE RHYTHM has come in at about 90k. I figured between those two huge manuscripts, I'd earned a break, but my editor kindly reminded me that I have to get another book to her by the end of the year. That reminder had me tossing my break out the window and now I'm working on Book 4 in the Instincts series.

On a non-writing note, some of you may remember the review I wrote for the movie, Judas Kiss. (You can see it HERE.) Well, in that review, I pretty much sung the praises of actor Sean Paul Lockhart and the wonderful job he did in the movie. I said I hoped to see him in more movies and in lead roles. Not so long ago, I found out that he and writer/director, Rob Moretti, are making a movie called "Truth", with Sean Paul Lockhart in the lead role. Hooray!

The movie's Facebook page is here: http://www.facebook.com/truththemovie

With this movie, like with so many independent projects, they've needed funding. They were having a campaign to raise funds, which I did put in a small contribution for (hey, I've always been the type to put my money where my mouth is), but the campaign has since ended. You can still view it HERE. The thing that got me about this was I watched a video of them talking about the movie, and they seemed truly passionate about the movie and the story they wanted to tell. It touched me, because I know what it's like to have a dream. I was there a few years ago when I was trying to become a published author. It's not easy being an independent artist, whether author, filmmaker, actor, painter, musician, or any of the others who work so hard to bring their craft to the public. The old adage of how someone "suffers for their craft" is very true. It's a labor of love, and you hope beyond hope to reach people with your work. So I can relate to where they're coming from, and I truly hope they get to make their movie.

Speaking of movies, I need movie recs! Once I finish Instincts Bk 4, I'm taking my break and I want to watch some good movies! So feel welcomed to email me, post recs on my FB wall, message them to me on Twitter, post them here, anywhere and everywhere is fine. Sadly, since Judas Kiss, I have no recs to offer back because all I've been doing is writing! Though, I will recommend Bunraku, which I watched a long time  ago and thought was awesome, but didn't write a review for because I figured everyone would think I'm biased since Gackt stars in it and it's no secret that I sort of, kind of, absolutely LOVE Gackt :-D

And so, my dear readers, that's what I've been up to. You know, other than working full-time at the evil day job, chasing my child, and tending to my horses who are never quite spoiled enough in their minds. I know a few of you are waiting - and have been very patiently waiting - for Brad's story, and I promise to do all I can to get it to you all this year. Thank you, so very much, to those who have picked up LOVING INSTINCTS, and my thanks to everyone for all your wonderful support.

Gackt