Happy 4th

Hello again!  I hope if you are in the US that your 4^th of July was a great one.  Mine has been fantastic!  Nothing like celebrating our birth as a country.

The Sentinel’s Insurgency is currently in the editing phases with the publisher.  I hope to soon have a release date for it.   It’s been pretty exciting going through the editing process and the cover design.  I cannot wait until you’ll be able to see the finished product. 

The Hardship is moving along with a new executive producer being brought on board.  I met with both executive producers last month and I’m excited to see the enthusiasm for my script!   The biggest challenge thus far for this independent production company is funding.  But I know the hurdle with be jumped soon. 

The Veiled is completed and with my beta readers for suggestion.  So far, I’ve received some great comments, like “I love it!”

And finally, an author has interviewed me by the name of Johanna Rae.  Please check it out, http://www.johannamrae.blogspot.co.nz/

Happy reading and love to you all!

Excerpt from "The Veiled" (c) 2013 Jennifer Osborn

Gazing to look out the window, he could see the sun filtering through the trees in sharp rays.  Their golden light breaking the darkness apart.  As he studies the dust dancing in the light, a feral face appeared before him, gazing at him with a snarl.

Jack recoiled back so quickly that he landed with a thud on his backside.  With a delft quickness, the creature was inside the cabin and on top of Jack, pounding him into the floor.  Jack responded by swinging up to the figure and striking it in its face hard.  That succeeded in momentarily stunning it.   His eyes were exactly like Serena’s, only his irises were a mint green.

Jack could see it was a Shilund, like Serena, but decidedly male.  His canines were bigger, and his body was all muscled and stern.  The male growled at Jack and pulled back to strike again, when suddenly his weight was off of Jack.  It was a blur of movement as the Shilund male was thrown across the room, and a rumble echoed off the walls.

Jack looked up to see Serena standing in front of him in a protective stance, bearing her fangs to the male laying across the room.   She was impressive…and scary.  Jack stood up, only to be held back by Serena.

“Remain still!” she ordered and Jack nodded okay.

The male was up in a moment, his chest heaving with anger.

“What is this?”  The male demanded through gritted teeth.  “You have a human here!”

“This does not concern you Rafhey!”  Serena spat, holding her stance before Jack.

“I can-“ Jack began.

“Quiet!” Serena screamed.

Okay, so he’d try to keep his mouth shut.

“Doesn’t concern me?  Are you crazy Serena!”  Rafhey began to pace slightly.  “You have this human here with you.  You are breaking the law!”

“No one needs to know this,” Serena began, “you can turn and leave exactly as you came.” She indicated the door with an incline of her head.

The room became quiet, only the heavy panting of Serena and Rafhey.  Jack could hear his own heart beat in his ears.

Rafhey took a step forward, and Jack found himself attempting to get in front of Serena and pull her behind him.  Whatever was going to happen, he didn’t want her hurt.  Not for anything.

Serena frustrated pulled Jack back and whinnied, “Stop that! He won’t hurt me!”

Jack tried not to be moved, but Serena pulled him easily behind her.  Man was she strong.

Rafhey moved another step closer and threatened, “Baden will rain down hell on this place knowing a human is here…alive.   You know the law.  This will not pass.”

“Baden need not know.”  Serena walked closer to Rafhey, “You can keep this to yourself.  The human is only here long enough to heal and leave.”

Rafhey looked Jack up and down disdainfully, “He looks well enough now.  Are you sure it was only to let him heal? “

Serena seemed taken back.  “Of course that is all.  Why else would I allow a human here?”

“I don’t know Serena.  You tell me?”   His fierce eyes glowed suspicion.

Cue the jeopardy music.  Neither party moved, but seemed to stare each other down, each poised for conflict.

Rafhey shifted slightly, his hand moving toward the inside of his robe, slowly revealing a gleaming blade.

Her movement was so fast; Jack could not track it.  One moment Serena was with him, and the next she had Rafhey against the wall holding him by his throat, his legs dangling in mid air.  The blade dropped harmlessly to the ground.

The noise coming from her was animalistic and low.

“You. Will. Not. Touch. Him.” The menace was clear.  Serena pushed Rafhey further up the wall, waiting for him to respond.   He could only manage to scratch at her hand to loosen it, but was unsuccessful.

Rafhey struggled, his voice a whisper. “—Let….me….go.”

Serena continued to growl as she held him, squeezing her hand tighter, which only succeeded in sending a panicked look on Rafhey’s face as all air was completely cut off.   He began to lose consciousness.

“Serena!” Jack shouted, hoping to catch her attention.  He didn’t want to see her kill him, even though he could care less for Rafhey.  This was all about Serena.

Serena’s eyes flickered toward Jack's direction in acknowledgement of her name, and she released Rafhey.  He landed in a tangled mess.

Rafhey struggled for breath, pulling in the air as deeply as he could through coughs.  Grasping onto his throat, he glared up at Serena.

Serena squatted down in front of him and spoke between clenched teeth.  “Get out of my house.   And if you breathe a word of this to anyone, I will gut you.  Do you understand?”

Rafhey stared at her, still attempting to breathe.  He made no attempt to answer her.

Serena grabbed the blade from the floor and held it to his throat.  Rafhey froze.

“I asked, do you understand?” She glared at him unflinchingly.

“Yes.” He whispered.

“Good.”  She replied as she stood and dropped the blade at his feet.  “Now get out.”

Rafhey gathered himself, weaving like a drunk and paused at the front door.  “One day Serena, you will answer for this.  Mark my words.”

Her only response was to snarl again at him as she stood in front of Jack to protect him.  Rafhey reluctantly turned and disappeared into the golden sunlight streaming in through the door.

Jack felt himself relax, and he sat back on the bed.  What had just happened here?  He couldn’t figure out why this Rafhey character was so on edge, like someone had just peed in his Wheaties.

Updates

Hello!! I'm sorry I have not posted in a while. I've been keeping my nose to the grindstone as it were.  As a writer, I have so many WIPs (works in progress) that develop a beginning and then need to remain where they are until such time as I can devote more time to them. I don't like leaving my characters hanging waiting for my attention, but you have to learn the fine art of balancing between writing current works, promoting finished works and developing or recording story ideas. At times, it is a schizophrenic proposition. Throw in there moving from book or story writing to script writing and you have a few challenges to overcome; but I am happy to bring you up to date on a few items.

"The Sentinel's Insurgency"

I'm extremely happy to announce "The Sentinel Insurgency" has been picked up for publication. I'm tremendously excited about the process this will go through with the publisher. I've signed the contracts and will begin the editing process shortly. I don't know why, but I am looking forward to the cover design the most. I am totally interested in how the artist will interpret the story into a single image. I suppose that process is particularly appealing to me because of my own art work.

One item regarding this, although I write mostly young adult fiction, "The Sentinel Insurgency" is a decidedly adult story with adult themes. It is not in the romance genre, but deals with items that might not be appropriate for a younger audience. However, I am tremendously proud of the story and how this might develop into a full book at a later date.

I'll keep you up to date on the release date as soon as it is available.

"The Veiled" aka "Breaking Shadows"

This is a current work in progress and one I am very excited about. This is a paranormal story that has some action, romance and a little bit of horror if you will. This story started off with a single scene I could not get out of my head, and the characters banged around in my head until I started writing them down. The start of the story was such that, I wasn't sure it was going to be horror or a straight story. I've never written horror, but the beginning was dark and mysterious to the point of I didn't know if the characters were good guys or bad. I let them tell me. I can't wait to get this one done and pitched to a publisher!

"Elemental Awakening"

The book is finished, and I have an agent that is currently interested in signing me for this book. I'm psyched! The story of Caelum was one that I've carried with me for 3 years, and I'm so ready to introduce him to the world.

"Light Bringer"

I've put this story on hold for now. So I don't have any updates at the moment. Vander and Sada are patiently waiting for me to finish telling their story!

Diving in......

2013 has started to be an interesting year of change, and it is only 3 days old!  It makes me very excited as to where this year will end up going.

Lately, I have felt more of a sense of urgency in getting my writing career off the ground.  So much so, that today, I actually requested to go part time in my full time job.  I am a little nervous about it all, and I keep replaying questions in my mind of "What if I am not good enough..." or "What if I fail..." or even, "Am I leaving a stable, good paying job with great benefits to go down a dead end?"  The doubts flood me.

But oddly, in the midst of this, I know that I should do this, or at least, try.  My full time job has taken so much out of me in the last year that I have failed to keep my promise to work on my writing even at night.  My brain and spirit spent, I simply come home and do lesser endeavors  like sleep or play on the computer.    If my job were less stressful, I might be able to do both, but as of now, I feel unable to do it.  So I stood at a cross-roads and made a decision.  Lord help me.

Within the last week, I almost feel like someone is trying to tell me something.  I received messages from different places that seemed to encourage me to do this.

First was a fortune cookie, that surprisingly read, "The only people who never fail are those who never try."  I smiled when I read that and looked around the restaurant to see if somehow this was a joke on me.  But, no such human conspiracy was at hand.

The second message, if you will, was on the Ripped Together Blog  (http://www.rippedtogether.com/blog/).  They cite a quote from Mark Twain, which read,
"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born… and the day you find out why."
I sat staring at the quote, feeling like it was meant just for me.

And my final message was today, when on of the attorney's in my office, handed me a quote, which read, "I learned early in life that you can't just have dreams.  You have to do something to make them happen.  Dreams are essential to winning, but I've met a lot of people who have been praying about their dreams for twenty years and haven't done anything about them.  A dream is a wish, and it will be come a frustration and a regret if you don't act on it."

I know I need to do this, and I know all the odds against me -- I'm ill educated with grammer, I'm too old to consider changing careers, I'll struggle with even buying groceries.  But, I know in my heart I need to try or I will regret it.

Wish me luck...and say a prayer.

Hugs to you all,  Jen

Andy Whitfield -- Be here now

Today is a day for memorials in a lot of ways.  For Americans, it is the remembrance of an awful point in our history, when thousands were killed by terrorists.  That singular event, galvanized a nation into action.

But also, a year ago today, an actor by the name of Andy Whitfield succumbed to cancer at the age of 38, leaving behind a wife and two small children.  His death hit me in a very personal way.   Andy, as a person, was a very kind, gently soul, who loved his family deeply.  He cared for his fellow man and showed compassion to those less fortunate.  Even in the midst of his treatment for cancer, he allowed film crews to document his journey.  Which sadly, ended in his death.

I just wanted to write about this to say I was thinking of him on this day.  I am thinking of his wife and children and was touched by his wife's email to me giving me hugs over a well wish to her and her children.

It makes me consider, what do we leave behind?  What is our legacy in our individual lives?  I hope that I do like Andy and like those who died in the world trade center, and leave a legacy of love to those family and friends around me, and to even those who did not know me, but viewed my life from afar.

I miss you Andy.

Vashti Whitfield
Be Here now documentary
Lucy Lawless remembers Andy Whitfield

Moving...moving....moving

Ah! Back at my computer, writing my little heart out.  It feels like it has been forever, but finally I am able to sit down and work.

I had an art show on August 18th at the Covedale Arts Center and that took a lot of prep time away from writing.  But the show was really good.  Always good to hear what others thought of my art.  I didn't sell anything, because no one wanted prints.  I'm certainly not going to part with my originals, much to the chagrin of fellow artists in the tent next to me.  It was so appalling to them that I wouldn't part with them, even when I had offers to buy them.  But I frowned and wanted to ask, "Excuse me, could you part with your children?"

Yesterday was the car wash to raise money for the making of The Hardship movie.  That was fun and great to meet people who wanted to support the military.  We had to correct their thinking to let them know it was to raise money for a movie and not for the actual military.  I'm not sure how much we raised, but every little bit will help get this movie to screen.

A few weeks ago, the producer had asked me to come up with about 10 to 15 minutes of scenes to be used to film and subsequently made into the trailer.  This trailer will only be use to post online to raise funding.  

So I diligently ran through the most important scenes from which to glean the basics of the story.  I sent those to her feeling good about what I had selected.  She returned that back to me with an outline of what she'd like to see instead.  It was a little different than the script, but her being the producer and in charge, I wrote a trailer based on her ideas, and not so much what the script contains.  I hope this does not interfere with the funding in anyvway, but as a writer, sometimes you have to give the people in charge what they want, much like any job.

They plan on filming the trailer in the next couple of weeks.

Elemental edits are coming along nicely, albeit slowly.  I am in awe of Allison Cassatta who can crank those out without breaking a sweat, but I am very slow at editing my stuff.  I am on Chapter 7 of an 19 Chapter book.  Then I go through the arduous task of corrections once my friend has read through and found errors.    I cannot wait to get to the point of inquiry letters to publishers for this story.

AND....as if my life cannot get get hectic enough, I am forming a production company with an acting friend of mine, who divides her time between her and LA.  Our first project slated is my script, "The Invisible Rainbow" (which Allison Cassatta did the artwork for!).  So many exciting things to look forward to.

I must keep moving....moving....moving!

Script editing vs Book Editing

Right now I am in the midst of script edits for "The Hardship".  Finding the ability to shift gears from book editing to script editing takes me a moment.  I didn't realize that would happen until I really started  getting into the guts of editing "Elemental" and then jumping over to script edits.

The producer of The Hardship sent me a list of suggested scenes and basic edits.  The scene edits forced me to stop and think all the way through the entirety of the script to make sure the continuity wasn't lost, not unlike book edits.  However, where books allow for the insight into a characters thinking and feelings, script writing forces you to act out the emotion or the thought.  Sometimes that can be a bit dicey.  If the audience doesn't get it the way you meant it to, the interpretation can be a bit different.  But I guess that isn't too bad, art can be like that.  You mean it one way and someone takes a completely different meaning from what you have presented.

I love script writing, it's clean and logical and follows a really nice pattern of layout that I like.  The challenge ends up being that the conversations have to be spot on.  It helps to actually read them out loud as your write it to make sure it sounds like a conversation one would have with someone else.

Back to my edits!  If you are interested in following the progress of The Hardship film, you can like it on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/thehardshipmovie.

:)

Wouldn't it be nice?

On my run this morning, I started thinking over the thoughts that had been running through my head concerning other stories that I have read from some really great writers.

The last couple of days, I have been thinking as reader and pondering the beautiful way in which some writers bring their characters to life.  It got me thinking about how it be so great if those characters were real tangible people.  Flaws and all.  

I'm tired of the Katie Holms, Tom Cruises, Brad Pitts and Sandra Bullock types brought to life by their publicists and managers.  It is tired some.  It made me wish for the Daniel from the Lauren Kate's Series, or Tohrment or Veck from J.R. Ward's Series, or even Patch from Becca Fitzpatrick's books.  I know they are angels, a vampire and a human thrown in for good measure.  But just their strong beliefs to do right, their fierce loyalty and ability to love.  We miss that in the people around us I believe and our real life "characters" in the form of stars disappoint sometimes on so many levels as we are voyers into their lives.  But still, it has me wishing.

Yes,  have been thinking, wouldn't it be nice.  I so hope that readers want to know my characters as much as I do

Will I ever get there?

Like a lot of aspiring authors, getting a major project off the ground is a challenging effort at best.  Add the element of working full time and managing a home, the attempt becomes a major effort.  

I find myself more frustrated day in and day out with trying to get the goal of my first book published.  Setting aside the needed time to do it become harder and harder.   I rally against the seemingly insurmountable task of getting this off the ground.

Additionally, due to my lack of education, I find I struggle with punctuation and grammer in so many areas of my writing.  I didn't realize how much I lacked until a friend began helping me edit my book, chapter by chapter.  One day she brought an edited chapter to me and quipped, "I feel like a school teacher with a big red pen and I'm sorry." I smiled and assured her this was exactly what I wanted her to do, but I couldn't help thinking inside how useless I feel in that regard.

The desire to write still fuels me on and it is the total love of the characters and story that keeps me sane. But quoting Morpheus from The Matrix, not being able to spend time doing what you feel you were born to do is like a "splinter in the mind".  

One day I hope to have a big pair of tweezers!