Sunday, March 13, 2022

Literary Escapism: What We're Writing by Jenn McKinlay

JENN McKINLAY: I'm not going to candy coat it: Covid kicked my butt. January was a migraine and fatigue infused cocktail of yuck. So, February found me in a bottleneck of work that had me putting in sixteen hour days with breaks only to run the dogs and cry (not a lot but a little, for sure). 

I thought by March, I'd be out of the soup. I am not. The rough draft of my next rom com novella, The Attraction Distraction (out June 2022), was finished a couple of days ago and is off to the editor. The rough draft of Fatal Fascinator (dropping Jan 2023) would be complete, but I changed the method of murder and the murderer (WHY? I DON'T KNOW - IT'S JUST BETTER THIS WAY). And the revisions for my women's fiction Summer Reading (June 2023) had to get put on the back burner because both of the first drafts are coming out before Summer Reading, oh, and I just received the copyedits for The Plot and the Pendulum (Oct 2022). 

I feel like I'm doing manuscript triage. "Medic! I need a word Medic!" Why is there no such thing? 

Anyway, my brain is flatlining because I have gone from a literary quest with an academic on an uninhabited island in the Aegean Sea (The Attraction Distraction)...



To a murder mystery with a milliner and friends tripping over bodies, multiple, in a castle in Sussex, England (Fatal Fascinator)...
 

And I'll finish out (please, God) back on Martha's Vineyard with a dyslexic heroine and hot guy librarian women's fiction.

See? Literary jet lag - it's a thing.

Because I just finished the draft, here's the opener of The Attraction Distraction, so that you can get packed to come to Greece with me. It'll be fun, I swear. Also, here's an early peek at a bit of the cover! Yay! 



Chapter One 

    “Sarah, what’s your vaccination status?” 

    My head snapped up from the facsimile of a Mycenaean clay tablet on my desk. Claire Macintosh, the director of the Museum of Literature, was standing in the doorway to my office. She looked spectacular, as always, in a Viking warrior sort of way. She had strong chiseled features and was tall, very tall—like supermodel tall—but with robust curves and a head of shoulder length thick blond hair that made her look like a 1940’s pinup model. 

    “Vaccinations? Why?” I asked. 

    “We need you to acquire a piece for the collection but it’s going to require you to travel to a remote location,” she said. 

    “Oh.” I perked up. I loved to travel. The more exotic the better. 

    “I’d go but I have to attend that horrible fundraiser weekend that my mother is insisting upon,” Claire said. She looked peeved. 

    Claire’s family was loaded. She lived in a penthouse apartment on Park Avenue and it wasn’t from the salary she made here at the museum. But Claire had just turned forty and her mother, Hildy Macintosh, had made it her mission to marry her daughter off and have grand babies within the year. I’m not gossiping. Hildy literally told every person she met that this was her agenda and then asked if they knew a nice man for her daughter. Claire simply rolled her eyes and then stepped over the men that her mother threw at her feet. I’d seen it happen. It was painful to watch, actually. 

    “Is she going to try and marry you off again?” I asked. 

    Claire cringed. “Undoubtedly.” 

    When she was thirty-five, Claire became the youngest person ever appointed director of the Museum of Literature. Housed in a Georgian Revival mansion on the upper east side of Manhattan, along museum mile, it was formerly the private residence of industrialist Thomas Stewart and his beloved wife Mabel. An avid reader and book lover, Mabel Stewart had bequeathed the property to a private foundation with specific instructions to create the Museum of Literature. 

    The director was a highly coveted position, and Claire had to prove herself time and again to the very exacting museum board. I knew if she was sending me in her stead to acquire a piece for the collection then the stakes were high and failure was not an option.

                      ***

JENN: I've been getting a lot of questions about why I'm writing these ebook novellas (the short answer is spite and for more on that, click here) but along the way my motivation changed. 

The response to the first novella in the Museum of Literature romcom series, Royal Valentine, which took us to a fancy estate in Bath with a nod to Jane Austen, was so incredibly warm and supportive, I was thrilled! And it occurred to me that I was writing these short bursts of fun escapism because I needed them. I needed to wallow in Jane Austen in Bath, just like I needed to run away to an uninhabited island in the Aegean Sea and engulf myself in Ancient Greek myths and legends and all that Greek god lore. Frankly, the book nerd in me just wanted to go on a geeked out literary adventure, and amazingly thousands of readers did, too. The third novella It Happened One Christmas Eve will come out in December and then next year in 2023, all three novellas will be printed in an omnibus for those who do not like ebooks.

Will there be more after that? Yes! The ideas area already percolating, and I can't wait!

So, Reds and Readers, if you could go on a literary adventure anywhere in the world, where would you go?





56 comments:

  1. My goodness, when do you breathe? [But Reader-Me loves that you write all these wonderful tales] . . . .
    After reading this little snippet, all I can say is, “Poor Claire” . . . and now I want to read the rest of the story.

    If I could go anywhere on a literary adventure, I’d go to Venice, just to see the library . . . .

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    1. Venice - absolutely! Hmm...may have to to work that in.

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  2. JENN: So sorry to hear about your COVID struggles, I get it. I tested positive three days after flying back from the abruptly cancelled San Diego LCC in March 2020. I was sick for 2 months with the low grade fever and wracking cough, but it was the persistent crushing fatigue and headaches that really drained me.

    As for your literary jet-lag, all I can say now is WOW!!

    Hmmm, my literary adventure would be to go back to Oxford, England. I was a huge reader of British mysteries in the 1980s/1990s and I remember wandering around the colleges and also dreaming of seeing Morse's distinctive red car when I was there on previous visits.

    But also being the huge book nerd/collector and former student librarian, I would also love to visit the Bodleian library.

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    1. Oh, yes! Oxford and the Bodleian. I am in!!! Sorry, COVID got you, too. It is a mean bugger.

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  3. WOW Jenn, you are busy. How do you do it? I'll go anywhere.

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    1. That's the spirit. I honestly love writer's conferences in large part because we get to travel to places we otherwise might not go.

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  4. I'm so sorry about your COVID bout, Jenn. No fun. But I love the excerpt!

    I would love a behind-the-scenes tour of the Library of Congress. The Chesapeake SINC chapter did that a few years ago and I so wished I could have tagged along.

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    1. Oh, yes, I was supposed get an inside tour in 2020...sigh. So many events I need to redo.

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  5. Jenn, you are amazing, a woman of many superpowers. I am looking forward to every one of those books!

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  6. Royal Valentine is such a gift, a much needed diversion, a sigh inducing love story. (Sigh!) I can hardly wait for your next novella, and the next Hat Shop ( I have a crush on Harrison) and, although I never wish time away, I look forward to visiting Martha's Vineyard in summer 2023.

    So, stay healthy, my dear, and keep those sunny stories churning. Your fans depend on you for love and laughter.

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    1. Thank you, Judy. Very kind of you. It was great to get back to the hat shop crew.

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  7. Jenn, I'm so sorry that Covid ran you over like a Mack truck. I hope you are well on the way to the FULL recovery.

    As for where I'd like to go, my real world destination is always Ireland.

    If you throw in fictional places (and given that they have or at least had real world tours of filming locations) I'd love to visit Westeros or the world of Lord of the Rings. Perhaps even the 'Verse of Firefly.

    But the top of my list will always be Ireland.

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    1. Ah, Ireland, excellent choice. I need to go back. It's been almost ten years. Unacceptable!

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  8. The brain fog and fatigue are real! And it drags on and on, doesn't it?

    I don't know how you do it, Jenn. You are a writing machine!

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    1. KAREN: Yup, even now the brain fog persists. Approximately 15-30% of COVID cases develop long-COVID. That's a significant portion of the population unable to resume normal activities. It's too bad the medical community has not been able to provide treatment for these long-COVID sufferers.

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    2. The cough is what I can't shake. Two years now. Ugh.

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    3. KAREN: You are the second friend who has the cough for 2+ years. HUGS.
      For me, I am resigned to the fact that my brain fog will remain. I'm not as bad as I was in 2020 (or 2021) but it's still not normal.

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    4. The fatigue is a beast. I"m still napping every now and then like I need to catch up.
      Sorry, it got you, too, Karen!

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  9. What is wrong with me that I have never considered a literary adventure! I'll have to do something about that very soon. Meanwhile, Jenn, you have given us so much, I wish I could give you some good health back. You'll have to settle for my best wishes and hope you will soon feel more like your peppy self.

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  10. Congratulations on your latest releases and hope you're completely healed soon.

    Literary adventure: Venice, though Donna Leon has thoroughly explored the city in her books, or Cambridge, England.

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    1. Venice - yes - I think we need a Jungle Red road trip or something!

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  11. Jenn, I realize you're hardwired to go at warp speed, but don't worry if something slides to the back burner--just turn down the heat a little, let it simmer, and it (and you) will be fine. I love these rom-coms--as if Charlotte MacCleod was here, peeking over your shoulder and laughing her hiney off as you furiously type (a little mystery, a little romance, and lots of belly-laughs!).

    Archaeology nerd here--I'd walk as far back in time as I could go anywhere written language first sprang--the Mediterranean, the Middle East, India/Pakistan, central America--anywhere I could sit among the ruins and dream.

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    1. That would be amazing. I've always wondered about what was in the Library of Alexandria before it burned.

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  12. For my literary adventure I want to go into your brain! You are incredible! And do astonish me every day. This snippet is wonderful, and your writing is unlike anyone else’s! I’m so sorry you had to go through this terrible time, and I hope you are on the road to normal and…. Well, maybe better than normal.

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    1. Better than normal would be the ultimate. Thank you, my dear!

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  13. LOVE that excerpt. Jenn, you are amazing at the way you can come up with fantastic ideas at warp speed. A literary adventure anywhere? Zabriskie Point in Death Valley to be inspired by the sunrise. (That headache sounds absolutely awful.)

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    1. It was, particularly because I don't get headaches (if we don't count the Hooligans - lol). I have to go search images of sunrise at Zabriskie Point now.

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  14. I love the energy in this post, Jenn, even though you are working flat out on multiple fronts. Wow. So impressive!

    I love short fiction, so your e-RomComs are perfect. As for going somewhere, please make it the English moors or the Lake District. So beautiful.

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    1. AMANDA: Oooh, good choice! I would go back to either location.

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  15. You need to take time, every day, to turn off. You know this, deep down, you know this, so heed your body and heads needs so you can recover from COVID. Sit in the shade of your yard for a couple hours and enjoy the hummingbirds flitting around your plants, or something like that. Just STOP for a bit of time each day!

    The question of the day is where would I like to travel for a literary adventure? Someplace that I could explore on multiple mornings and then quietly read in the afternoons, maybe be with a nice cup of tea and little pastry or chocolate.

    Take care, Jenn.

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    1. I am trying to get back into meditating. For the past two years it's been impossible, but you're right, shutting down for short periods is so important.

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  16. Glad you are healing, Jenn. It is a slog back to normal. Sounds like you are hitting back with both fists!

    Travel on a literary adventure? Oh, so many choices. Scotland popped to mind first so that's where I'd head. A lonely castle in need of serious renovation outside of Edinburgh. No. It doesn't exist, but hey, it could!

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    1. The best part of fiction - all things are possible. Castle in Scotland, coming up!

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  17. I'm tired just reading all that. But that might be because I'm tired as well from everything I'm dealing with at work. Take a deep breath. It will all get done.

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  18. I have always wanted to visit Greece. Since the pandemic I joined a FB group that is mostly photos from members all over the world. This has made me want to see Romania. The Dolomite Alps, on the border between Italy and Austria is also on the bucket list because that is where Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti takes his family on holiday.

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    1. I love it when we are drawn to a place because of a story. It makes it that much sweeter. When H1 turned 11, we took him and H2 to the Harry Potter portion of Universal Studios in FL because he was so bummed out that he didn't get a letter inviting him to Hogwarts. I think he's still disappointed that it wasn't all real.

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  19. That excerpt was very enticing. How about a lovely adventure floating up the Nile from Cairo to Luxor? And staying in luxury hotels? I'm up for that!

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  20. JENN,

    Bummer about the Covid. I am so sorry that happened to you. Hope that you are feeling better.

    All of your new books sound wonderful! I love that title ATTRACTION DISTRACTION. I look forward to reading the novel. When will it be published?

    If I was to go on a literary adventure, I am not sure if it would be considered an adventure, though. I would love to visit Isabel Dalhousie's Edinburgh and meet the wonderful characters that Alexander McCall Smith created.

    Diana

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    1. Oh, that sounds fantastic, Diana. I'll come with you. There really should be a portal to enter fictional worlds, right?

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  21. Jenn, I adored Royal Valentine, and will follow your literary adventures anywhere! You are amazing!

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    1. Deborah, I adored Royal Valentine too. Following Jenn's literary adventures too.

      Diana

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    2. Aw, thanks, Debs! You're a peach and I am very excited for your next mystery. Woo hoo.

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  22. Ugh, Covid. Hope you are completely cured of it.

    I think one of the most interesting places is Taos, N.M. or even Northern New Mexico generally. Contrasts everywhere -- geographic, political, social, cultural, artistic.

    I would like to be in Taos, but I'd like to visit Newfoundland, particularly the coastline that is home to the puffins.

    I enjoyed the first novella and an looking forward to the next one.

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    1. My parents took us on a boat tour when I was fourteen just to see the puffins in the Bay of Fundy. Still one of the coolest things I've ever done.

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  23. I didn't know you could see them via boat. Cool. I thought you had to hike in. I am all for the boat.

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  24. Jenn, everything you're doing sounds wonderful! And, I think you're so smart to feed your soul by writing the ebook novellas. Of course, "hot guy librarian" is a perfect book just from that description. After reading the excerpt from The Attraction Distraction, I went to Amazon to preorder, but I couldn't find it. When will it be up for preorder?

    Having Covid and its brain fog must have been so frustrating for someone who writes for a living. My daughter had Covid the first of February and is still dealing with the brain fog and fatigue and other symptoms. She's really active and even teaches exercise, so it's been awful. And, she still has to get her children, who are in middle school, to their events.

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  25. Thank you for the snippet of your next story. I am so sorry to hear of your COVID complications. It is hard to stay still to meditate, but there are some good 5 minute meditations out there. I do one for anxiety by Mindful Peace on youtube. It may help you clear your mind so thoughts come back to you more easily.

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