Me: I need to make an appointment for my annual.

Receptionist: Have you seen Dr ** before?

Me: He’s my family’s primary care physician.  My old doctor is no longer seeing patients but they are in the same network and with the same  St. * clinic group.

Receptionist: Well, he can’t see you.  You have to come in, fill out a form and then he decides if he wants you as a patient.

Me: I have to come in to see if he will let me have an appointment to come in when he’s already listed as my primary care physician?

R: Yes.  Just because the insurance lists him doesn’t mean he will see you.  We’re trying to keep out the riffraff. (I swear she said riffraff)

Me:  Okay. Does this mean I need to contact my insurance company to get a new primary care physician.  I carry insurance for my family and we can’t have 2 different doctors if he decides that he doesn’t want to see me.

R: If you don’t want to come in for an appointment to see if he will accept you as a patient you do.

Me: Okay.  Thank you.

____________________

Me calling my insurance company

Me: I need to switch doctors. Mine is apparently not taking new clients although he’s my primary care physician and has to see me to decide if he wants to see me.

Insurance: You can only switch doctors once per month.  Call the network and see what doctors are taking new clients.

Me: Are there places I can go other than St. *?

Insurance: Not if you want to stay in your network coverage.

Me: Okay.  Thank you.

______________________

Me calling the doctor’s office again and getting the same receptionist.

Me: I would like a list of doctors accepting new patients.

Receptionist:  They’re all accepting new patients.

Me:  Ma’am, I am trying to schedule an appointment.  My insurance company says that I can’t leave your network.  My doctor is no longer practicing but he was in your network.  I don’t want to make an appointment to see if I can make an appointment when I’m not even a new patient because it takes time to change primary care physicians.  I’m not covered until the insurance company lists any physician changes.

Receptionist: Fine.  What is your name?

Me: I tell her.

Receptionist: Your date of birth?

Me: I tell her.

Receptionist:  Oh I see you were in our network.  You’re not on any narcotics. I can go ahead and make you an appointment.

A fine example would be during my time at college.  I had to take a public speaking course.  I didn’t do well.  Because of snow, the final was held with 5 or so students and the teacher.  I asked the teacher what my grade would be if I didn’t give the final speech.  She told me that I would barely pass and so I took it.  Hey, I passed.

During my time in Florida, I studied real estate.  The test there is a big deal.  Many flunk their first time.  You leave your possessions in a little locker and then go to a controlled area with a bank of computers in order to take the test.  It’s highly stressful.  I was pacing around the house, waiting for my husband to drive me to the testing center.  He realized that I was in trouble.  Nerves.  I drank a couple of shots of liquor.  It helped. I passed and was even reasonably sociable with the people as I left.

Alcohol stops the panic.  I no longer feel like I’m in a fight or flight mode.  My personal space is no longer as important and I don’t search for a quick exit as soon as I enter a room.

Now, drinking doesn’t work for every situation.  If given the choice I would drink before any trip to Walmart (that place is hell) or going anywhere during the holiday shopping season.  Crowded restaurants usually have bars, thank goodness.  Trips to the doctors are nerve racking.  And heaven knows I would be nicer on the day job if they let me drink, but they don’t.  I don’t believe in drinking and driving so that limits my self medicating.  I also don’t believe in getting drunk.  I’m an adult for goodness sake, not some bar fly or frat boy.  I have children that may need to go to the emergency room for any number of insane things they try and at any time of the day or night.  Being drunk would never work.

My writing has given me a way to cope.  Sounds silly.  Not really.  Everything that is going through my mind, the panic, the stress, the need for escape, all that is created in my mind.  I know this.  It’s not natural for other people to feel like they’re entering a war zone when they go to Walmart.  Just me.  My mind can also creates characters, scenes, worlds, and plots.  I simply apply something different to a bad situation.  I tell myself stories about the people around me or even pretend I’m someone else.  I don’t have to be a terrified creature hoping to grab a gallon of milk before darting to a check out.  I pretend I own the store or am tracking a murderer through the dairy section.  (Yes tracking a killer is less frightening than paying attention to soccer moms in jogging pants socializing in the middle of the aisle.)  Sometimes I simply try to convince myself that I enjoy all the people, their energy.  If I can separate myself, gain a little space, I can observe them and create characters out of the strangers.

It’s not a perfect system but it works and it might even save my liver.  :)  Now I have work to do.  Writing work.  My job was sending me to St. Louis this weekend.  I dodged that bullet.  My boss told me that I didn’t have to go.  I can’t imagine the mental games I would have to play to get through that trip.

Oh and go buy my books.  There, my promo work for today is done.

I’m writing a new novel.  I like it.  We’ll see if I like it next month.

I won’t be making any resolutions this year.  They never last.  I am hoping to turn out cleaner work.  That’s probably not going to happen either.  Sorry.

I am also doing on edits for Call of Crows.  My promoter/editor is wonderful.  Speak of edits, I should get back to work.

Just to make my publishers happy…check out

Blood Bonds

Sweet Jane

Magic Rising

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I think every writer needs a good editor.  It used to be that publishers assigned editors that went through the book with the author.  Every word was checked or at least that’s the hope.  Given the way work is pushed, those days are over.

There is also the fact that small publishing houses rely on frequently unreliable people.  I’ve had editors, who had no business in the position, leave without notice.  I’ve seen publishers close without returning rights.  I had a publisher try to turn a delightful horror into a category-romance-wannabe by rewriting my book.  I had an editor try to turn a lovely horror novella into a chic lit.  (Both those were trying to tweak my work into genres that were selling better.) I had an editor turn in a book that hadn’t been edited and then claimed she had finished the edits.  (I’m still pissed about that one.)  Hell, I’ve even had a reputable literary agent forget who I was and where she’d sent my novel after signing me.

The writing world has not been kind to me.

Back to the subject at hand. Past reviewers have noted problems in the editing of my books.  I must confess that I have trouble seeing my faults.  I get too wrapped into the story.  I read what I think should be there and perhaps what isn’t.  That is why I rely heavily on editors.  They can see what’s actually on the page.  Unfortunately, publishers require clean manuscripts or you’re back to the small times where you are at the mercy of a person who may not even read your genre.

I have to admit that I have had a few good editors.  For those, I am hugely grateful.  I often take their advice without question simply because I know they know better.  In the end, I am a humble writer who only wants to entertain.  It takes a skilled editor to make work shine.  They may not have much to do with the plot but a good editor is worth gold.

A few more favorite quotes

Books aren’t written – they’re rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it
Michael Crichton

I write and rewrite and rewrite and write and like to turn in what I think is finished work.
Gay Talese

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
Ernest Hemmingway

The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business.
John Steinbeck

My rant is over.  No, it’s not directed at any particular review.  It comes from a conversation about the publishing business.  Take it for what you will.

I am always struck with the good and the bad that comes from people around the holidays.  There were news articles about people paying off the layaway charges of complete strangers.  Huge donations being left in Salvation Army buckets.  Of course there were the harsher stories such as the Fedex guy who chucked a flat screen over a fence.

Now few of us can go around leaving large donations or paying for other peoples’ bills.  It would be nice if we each tried to be a little nicer.  A smile costs nothing.  Holding the door for someone is a simple kindness. Giving someone a compliment can change a person’s mood.  The smallest gesture can change a persons entire day.

This was just a quick thought for you all to consider.  Now I must get back to edits.  Call of Crows is being revised.

Merry Christmas

Here is a quick update on things.

Blood Bond is now available.

Sweet Jane is only .99 cents on Amazon

Call of Crows is available.

In 2012 Unleashing Darkness will be coming out from a fabulous publishing company.

On a personal note, I’m almost finished with my Christmas shopping.  Yes, I’m one of those.  :P

I’m even close to having all my wrapping done.  Hey, don’t be a hater.  I’m doing really well this year.  I usually don’t have this much accomplished this soon in December.

Hopefully I’ll have more time for updates in the near future.  BTW-I’m working on a page for my work on Facebook.  I’ll post any new sales and the like there.  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennifer-Cloud/311429232215608

I’m also on Goodreads.  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/945387.Jennifer_Cloud

Talk to everyone soon, I hope.

Which is better? Do you prefer government conspiracies and ghostly vengeance? Are darkness and death with a fairy spin more your cup of tea?

On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, I will be giving away autographed copies of my most current releases. Pick from Blood Bond or Call of Crows. Send me an email telling me which you would prefer and you will be entered into the contest.

It’s easy. Check out the pages on my site JenniferCloud.com. Decide which you would prefer and send me an email at CloudJennifer at Gmail dot com. (Replace at with @ and dot with . This is to keep the auto spammers away.) Please put contest in the subject line.

Entries can only be taken for the continental US. Sorry.  There will be one winner picked for each novel.

I’ve been fascinated with the events of World War Two since I was a kid listening to my dad’s stories. My dad participated in the D-Day invasion, was taken prisoner, and remained a POW for about ten months. This interest in all things WW2 has inspired me to write three stories to this point, two of them as yet unpublished. I’m interested not so much in the battles, but on the war’s effect on people. Everyone, whether they served on the battlefield or on the home front, was touched by the war in some way. It’s those personal stories of love and loss I want to tell. My novella “Flawless” is set in occupied France, and is the story of a beautiful French resistance fighter who teams up with an American jewel thief to steal back a priceless diamond from the Nazis.

Sometimes inspiration is thrust upon a writer. A call came out from one of my publishers asking for stories centering around the 25^th year reunion of a fictional high school. I thought back to my own high school reunion. Fat is the last thing you want to be at your high school reunion. I had put on weight, but at least I had a good reason; I was seven month pregnant! But what if my heroine didn’t have that excuse? What lengths would she go to in order look good for the reunion, and make her ex-husband sorry he’d dumped her for a younger, skinnier replacement? How could she regain her confidence and her self-esteem? I identified with my character Cara’s desire to lose weight, and others who have read the story tell me they understand the pressure of trying to look good for a high school reunion. The best part of writing this story was finding ways to torture my heroine before giving her a happily ever after! “The Girl Most Likely” will be released in November.

Sometimes inspiration is simply handed to a writer. My friend Susan had begun a story about a couple who meets when her son gets his daughter pregnant. The hero insists that the two young people marry; he grew up not knowing who his father was and he doesn’t want his grandchild to face that shame. The heroine, having been forced into a teenage marriage herself, knows that love is the only good reason to marry. I loved the premise of this story and was intrigued by the challenge of making Zane and Meg, with their different world views and serious conflict, fall in love. When Susan decided she was never going to finish the story, I asked her if I could take it and run with it, and she agreed. “A Long Way from Eden” is special to me because it’s the closest I’ve come to a collaboration.

My Awe-Struck release, “Till September” was conceived partly out of personal experience and partly from headlines in the news at the time. The story takes place on a farm in rural Saskatchewan, my home province in western Canada. Hannah Kramer is a widow who is trying to open a bed and breakfast in her century old house in an effort to save the farm left to her by her dead husband. Before he died he made her promise to look after the land as a legacy to their son Ryan.

But making a living from the land is tough, especially when expenses are high and the price of grain is low. As I was writing this story, farmers were holding large rallies to get the attention of governments, and to let them know they couldn’t survive without help. Some of my own relatives sold out or were forced into bankruptcy at the time. So this was a story close to my heart. Here’s a blurb:

For the first time since her husband’s death, Hannah Kramer can imagine herself with another man.  But then she discovers the truth about Quinn Anderson’s reason for staying at the bed and breakfast at her farm.  He’s there to buy farmland from her cash-strapped friends and neighbors and resell it to foreign buyers.  How can she love a man bent on destroying the way of life she loves?  Will Quinn convince her that he wants to build her community, not destroy it?  Can he make her believe he loves her before time runs out in September?

To read an excerpt of “Till September” please click here.

Most writers put a little bit of themselves into every book they write, and I’m no exception. A personal interest, a life experience, or an identification with the subject matter can inspire any number of stories. A tiny spark can become a very bright flame.

To read excerpts and reviews from any of my books, please go to my website at http://www.janarichards.net  Thanks for having me on your blog today, Jennifer!

Jana Richards has tried her hand at many writing projects over the years, from magazine articles and short stories to full-length paranormal suspense and romantic comedy.  She loves to create characters with a sense of humor, but also a serious side.  She believes there’s nothing more interesting then peeling back the layers of a character to see what makes them tick.

When not writing up a storm, working at her day job as an Office Administrator, or dealing with ever present mountains of laundry, Jana can be found on the local golf course pursuing her newest hobby.

Jana lives in Western Canadawith her husband Warren, along with two university aged daughters and a highly spoiled Pug/Terrier cross named Lou. You can reach her through her website at http://www.janarichards.net

REGANTAYLOR– IT’S TIME TO TELL YOUR STORY!

“It was a dark and stormy night…”

“Despite the warm sunshine he skulked toward the beach…”

“The thick downy comforter of fog that normally sits overSan FranciscoBayisn’t there this evening…”

And then what happened?

Do you find yourself with images running through your mind and the words seem to be just on the edge of your consciousness but you think you have no where to go with it?

That is, in essence, a question I recently asked a group of attendees at an author talk I participated in. The day was billed as a chance to meet and talk with a group of authors about how you too could be published. We were very fortunate first in our presentation group because we had a number of genres and publishing houses present. Even more so, was the diversity of the attendees from someone who had just finished their first manuscript to a few who had ideas but just didn’t know where to go with them.

I always tell people, yes, you can write. My feeling is if I can do it you can too. I know that seems simplistic, but when you think about it, we all have imaginations. Even folks to will tell you that they aren’t in the least creative have imaginations. I have friends, co-workers and people I meet on the bus or out and about who tell me they wish they could write things that could potentially lead to a fabulous story.

I do remember what I felt like when I started out – that I couldn’t begin to tell a story if my life depended on it. One day, following an interview with author, Jewel Adams, she invited me to participate in what she calls her “kick butt weeks”. Every few months or so she has an online write in. The goal: 1,000 words a day for 7 days. Everyone wins, even if they only manage 50 words in a day because they are there, giving it a shot. They are beginning to tell their story.

How do you start? My peers will have different and perhaps better ideas but basically I tell people: pick a subject, a theme or an event that interests you or you haven’t been able to stop thinking about. Then sit down and write it. Set aside 30 minutes a day for yourself and tell the story that needs to be told. Don’t worry about punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, tense or any of the other left brain logical functions. Just let that right brain creativity pop in and let it ride. I personally like the 1,000 words a day because studies have shown it takes something like 300 words to get the creative side of our brain in gear. Once we tap it, the sky’s the limit.

When you’ve written your first draft, read it again and that’s when you start to look at those mundane aspects like punctuation, grammar, etc. If you don’t feel solid about those English 101 aspects there are some good editors out there you can hire to work with you till you feel you have it down pat.

Don’t get hung up on perfecting those first 3 chapters or 50 pages. I’ve met any number of people over the years who tell me that they have been revising their first three chapters because they don’t want to get too far and find they have to fix something.  They’ll be there when you know how the story ends. And if you are so hung up on those early chapters, your story may never end.

There are myriad writers groups available for news, information and support, both in person and on line. Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America are two of the major ones. They offer some fabulous programs on writing, editing, submitting, getting in touch with your muse, finding an agent and/or editor. With the growth of ebooks small presses are opening their doors for more authors to join their ranks.

Telling your story can be one of the most exciting endeavors you will ever undertake. I say give yourself a chance.

(Ebook versions coming soon)

Sara Walker loved fairy tales, although she never imagined she would become part of one. As an adult, she spent too much time fantasizing about Prince Charming. It was a nice escape from her awful boyfriend and drunken aunt.

When she meets a mysterious young man at the lake, she never imagined he would be her prince or leave her a dead man as a present. His attentions aren’t the only ones Sara has attracted. She finds monsters outside her door and death on the wind.

In a world where so much is possible, Sara must come to terms with the unimaginable if she’s to have her happily ever after.

~~~

If fantasy isn’t your thing.  How about a horror?

The crimes against the Bartwell sisters happened long before their births. A mysterious payoff begins a whirlwind of blood. Only discovering the secret to their horrific history will make their troubles vanish, hopefully, before they’re added to the body count. Coming on Halloween.  Check it out at http://www.charlesriverpress.com/blood_bond.html