Sunday, December 6th, 2009
WHAT I’M CURRENTLY READING: Princeps’ Fury, Jim Butcher
***
So I’m working on the fifth chapter of RAGE, and it’s very slow-going. More like a slow boil than full-blown rage.
This is one of those stories that it’s not enough to get a fast draft down and then return to it in a revision and polish to get it right; I have to get it as close to right as possible the first time. Which is a little daunting (especially with the events of chapter five; oy, I’m torn between wanting to tell my protagonist NOOOOOOOOOOO and wanting to tell my protagonist FINE THEN JUST DO IT ALREADY).
I’ve got Nirvana playing on iTunes (my iPod died, alas!), I’m about to get some tea. I have a Cinnabon waiting for me after I do a good job today.
Okay, chapter 5. In the immortal words of the Sick Puppies: One of us is going down.
Tags: Jackie Morse Kessler, Rage, writing
Posted in Rage | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
I know, I’ve been away. Sorry!!! I plead insane business.
But I have updates. And news. 
First, updates: My fabulous editor loved the revision I gave her, so HUNGER moved onto copy edits. (In case you’re wondering, that’s when things like grammar, consistency and style get reviewed very closely, and I then review all of those copy edits to make sure I agree with them and make any necessary changes. Fun, fun, fun! Actually…shhh, don’t tell, but I love reviewing copy edits. Probably because I’ve been a copy editor for more than a dozen years.)
I just finished reviewing the copy edits, and I sent everything back to my editor. So the next step will be proofreading, and getting marketing involved. And hopefully soon, I’ll have an actual month for the book, not just a season (fall 2010). More to follow!
Second, news: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Graphia Books has just bought the second book in the series, which will be called RAGE, to be published in spring 2011.
**JACKIE THROWS CONFETTI AND DOES A HAPPY DANCE**
What’s that? You want to know what RAGE is about? Heh. Stay tuned. 
Tags: Hunger, Jackie Morse Kessler, Rage, writing
Posted in Hunger, Rage | 11 Comments »
Sunday, September 20th, 2009
By now, some of you may be wondering what the heck the Post Mortem part of my website is all about. (Or maybe not. But for the sake of this blog post, and my fragile ego, I’m going to act as if I’ve been bombarded with questions about Post Mortem.)
Simply put, Post Mortem is a fake talk-radio show. And Death is the host.
Now, I have to be clear: this isn’t Neil Gaiman’s Death (although she is incredibly fabulous), and this isn’t Terry Pratchett’s Death (with or without all caps when he speaks). This is my Death. (Which, taken out of context, sounds incredibly weird and perhaps a little creepy.) Specifically, this is the character Death, who will appear in my upcoming novel HUNGER.
For more about Death and his role in HUNGER…well, you’ll have to be patient. (A year, folks. One year. We can do it!)
As for Post Mortem, here’s the deal: Death — cuddly, fun-loving guy that he is — has decided to interview the characters of other authors. The other authors’ characters, bless them, have happily agreed to come on over and answer some questions and talk about things…including what it’s like working with their authors.
Yeah, I’m pretty psyched about it too.
Some of the authors whose characters will be guests on Post Mortem? Heather Brewer. Rachel Caine. Mari Mancusi. Michelle Rowen.
So stay tuned.
Tags: Death, Hunger, Jackie Morse Kessler, Post Mortem
Posted in Post Mortem | 5 Comments »
Friday, September 18th, 2009
Here’s how it began:
In October 2008, I had dinner with my agent. And I told her that I hoped to be a big enough writer one day to write the book I’ve been itching to write for years. The conversation went something like this:
AGENT: What book?
ME: It’s about an anorexic teenage girl who becomes Famine of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
AGENT: [PAUSES] So why haven’t you written it yet?
ME: Um. Well. No one wants to read about eating disorders.
AGENT: Of course they do!
ME: I guess I should write it.
AGENT: I guess you should.
So I stopped working on two other novels and started thinking through the book that would be called HUNGER. It took me two false starts before I knew who the main character was. Once I found her, the first scene came pouring out. Then I wound up changing the setting of the story — originally, it opened in a hospital wing; now it opens in the protagonist’s bedroom. And then the first three chapters practically wrote themselves.
Another pause, this time for me to really get the worldbuilding. When you’re writing anything — but especially when writing anything with fantasy — you need to know the rules of the world you’re creating. In my case, I had to understand the purpose of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. (You may be thinking: “Come on, the purpose is to herald the start of Armageddon. You know, the end of everything.” And to that I say: “Heh heh heh.”) Once I figured them out…the rest of the book just happened.
It took me four weeks to write. After letting it simmer for about ten years. (Please don’t wait ten years to write a book. Really. If you have a story in you, get it out.) And then I gave the draft of HUNGER to my critique partner. And she said she loved it. (She also said she loved the character Death. And later, she gave me the most fantabulous present ever. But that’ll be another blog post.) With my CP’s blessing, I gave HUNGER to my agent.
My agent stayed up all night to read it. (I love her.)
A few months later, HUNGER sold to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. And you’ll see the results in fall 2010.
Tags: Hunger, Jackie Morse Kessler
Posted in Hunger | 8 Comments »
Thursday, September 17th, 2009
Hi, I’m Jackie Morse Kessler. I write stuff. My novel HUNGER will hit the shelves in fall 2010, which feels like a really, really long time from now. But hey, by then Lost will be over. (Great, now I just made myself sad. Where’s the chocolate?)
So. Let’s see. What to put in my debut blog post?
Okay.
Some things about me, in no particular order:
I am short. Like, really short. Like, you’re probably taller than me. I used to think I was five feet tall. But then I went for my physical exam, and either the RN was being evil or I’ve shrunk. Now I’m 4’11.5″. On the plus side, people tend to grab stuff off the high shelves for me in stores. (On the minus side, my pants are too long.)
I am a New Yorker. I was born in Brooklyn, worked in Manhattan, and now I live upstate. (Yes, I’m still allowed to call myself a New Yorker. It’s in the rules.) I come into NYC often; sometimes it’s for work–my agent and my publisher are in the city–but other times, it’s because NYC is a lot of fun.
I have a lot of comic books. Used to have 9,000 of them, but then our basement flooded. I had to pitch a lot. I cried. Favorite comic series: Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. I don’t collect them anymore, but I keep drifting by my local comic shop. I might start up again soon. Might. Maybe.
I read a lot. A lot. Right now, I’m reading Gena Showalter’s Intertwined and Gregory Maguire’s Son of a Witch. I have about 200 books that are waiting to be read. The next book will be Jasper Fforde’s The Eyre Affair. In a perfect world, I’d sit around all day, writing, reading, and eating chocolate.
That’s it for now. (Can’t tell you too much about me in the first post; I’d run out of material to talk about in a week.) The next blog post will talk more about HUNGER, and what Post Mortem is all about. Hope your September is going great!
Tags: Hunger, Jackie Morse Kessler, Post Mortem
Posted in Just Jax | 4 Comments »
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