JP McLean

Molly Gets Her Groom On

March 12, 2014 By JPMcLean 6 Comments

Molly Gets her Groom On

What do I do besides make up lies I call fiction?

One of the things I’ve gotten very good at since I started writing is prioritizing…also known around here as putting things off. I’d delegate, but for some reason that rarely works for me.

Take grooming the dog, for example. Molly was due for a clip at Christmas, but with all the company and cooking and such, well, I figured another week or two wouldn’t hurt. She got a brush and a bath and we made it through Christmas.

After Christmas we had more visitors and then I had to make a trip out of town. Those excuses worked wonders for a few more weeks. Then conveniently, the Cave Master himself had to go out of town. I managed to weasel another two weeks out of that one. Last month’s snowfall granted me another reprieve, despite the rolling eyeballs when I explained that it was just too cold for a clip.

But eventually, even I couldn’t ignore the whispers of, “You can’t see a thing, can you girl,” and the oft-repeated, “aren’t you a shaggy dog.”

So the ever-so-patient Good Golly Miss Molly Dalai Lama got her groom on.

Whether you’re prioritizing, procrastinating, or one of the lucky ones delegating, be sure to spend some of your new free time reading. You can order Secret Sky with one simple click here. Your adventure awaits… (And if ebooks aren’t for you, click the Bookstore tab for other purchase options, or just click the covers below:

Spring Fever Melt-down

February 24, 2014 By JPMcLean 9 Comments

Each year around this time, I suffer Spring Fever melt-down. It starts when the snowdrops and aconites break through the cold winter soil to show their bright, sunny faces, and quickly ramps up with the return of the robins.

The fever hit hard last week and drew me outside in shirtsleeves to turn soil, yank weeds and cut down a sea of dead stalks that should have been composted months ago. When the fever’s in full stride, it’s easy to push away thoughts of unwritten chapters and hunker down over a garden fork.

With fresh dirt under my fingernails, I felt a renewed commitment to get my neglected gardens back in shape, but that first day’s work had my back reminding me to take it easy.

The weather cooled, my fever subsided and a few days later I’m in town with a friend, running errands. She suggests a stop at the nursery.

Why not, I think? I’ll just have a wee look-see.

But the moment I walk through the doors, the fever sets in. I inhale the heady scent of forced blooms and my pupils dilate. A garden centre in February is like a crack house to the bloom-starved, flower-addicted gardener.

I wander wide-eyed up and down the aisles touching lush foliage and cooing. Before I know it, I’ve gathered an armful of the little darlings and I make a break for the till.

Later on, safely home, I set my drugs…err…flowers out on the lawn to admire, and contemplate where I’ll plant them. They’ll be fine left outside, I reason, after all, the crocuses are already blooming.

I should know by now that a trip to the garden centre this early in the year never ends well.

For now, the hot flash of spring fever is under control, snuffed out under a blanket of winter snow. But it’ll be back. It always comes back!

If you’re snowed in today, why not curl up with a good book and escape the cold. You can order Secret Sky for Kindle with one simple click here. Go on…your adventure awaits. And if ebooks aren’t your preference, click on the Bookstore tab, or the covers below for more options.

Does Fiction Require Research?

February 18, 2014 By JPMcLean 8 Comments

Does fiction require research? You wouldn’t think a fiction writer would have much to research—after all, we can just make it up as we go. Right? Well, not with my fiction.

My characters are your colleagues and neighbours. They read the same newspaper as you and borrow the salt from your table in the cafeteria. I’ve anchored the stories in the here and now because my fiction has an element of fantasy and I think it’s easier to believe the impossible bits if those bits are set in familiar and realistic settings.

That requires research.

The research isn’t always extensive and it is rarely elusive, but it’s something I do continuously. In a typical day, I’ll look up things like, Pacific Northwest ocean temperatures in May; bridge clearance heights on False Creek; symptoms of hypothermia; and sunrise and sunset times in Southern California in September.

None of it’s rocket science, but each detail adds to the believability of the whole. For example, I don’t want to describe a flight in the dark when it would have been daylight, or have a character suffer hypothermia when the water temperatures would have been warm enough to bathe.

When you get it right

One of my greatest compliments came from someone who thought I must have spent a lot of time in an area where I’d set a scene. They knew the area well and thought I’d described it perfectly. In fact, I’d never been there, but I’d researched the hell out of it. I combed detailed street maps, contour maps, and a store-by-store layout of the streets. I Google Earthed it (yes, that’s a new verb—see what you can do when you write fiction!) and studied traffic cams until I knew the terrain.

My research isn’t perfect and I don’t use everything I learn, but it’s always interesting. Like the time I needed to know more about whips and found myself in a BDSM site looking at spanking skirts. Not kidding—you can buy those. That was an education!

So my fiction isn’t entirely made up. Some of the details are strikingly real. My job is to make it so believable that you’ll question the impossibility of the Gift and get swept up in the story. And isn’t that whole point of a good story? A great escape, even if it’s only between pages.

And if you’re curious about the details I researched for Secret Sky, you can pick it up for just $2.99 from Kindle with one click right here. And if kindle or eBooks aren’t your preference, click on the bookstore tab for other purchase options (or just click on the covers below).

Something’s Gotta Give

February 4, 2014 By JPMcLean 4 Comments

I’ve never been pulled in as many directions as I have in the past year and a half. They are all good and worthy directions—there are just so many of them! Something’s gotta give.

Writing and publishing the Gift Trilogy set me on the steepest learning curve I’ve ever tackled. Some days, it feels like I’m on the Grouse Grind. I know the exercise is good for me and I’ll feel better when I’m done, but damn if it isn’t a tough climb.

And writing is only part of it. Developing and maintaining an author platform is also important. In fact, it’s critical if you want to connect with readers, which I do. It also helps me connect with other writers and keep apprised of new tools and services in the industry. The downside to wanting it all is finding the time to do it all.

Hence, something’s gotta give

When I started writing, I fit it into the crevices of my life. Soon there were no more crevices and I had to start carving out space. Television was the first thing to go followed by leisurely flips through magazines.

When I decided to publish, meticulous garden grooming hit the curb and home canning was replaced by Trader Joe’s.

Now I’m building my author platform and the cuts continue. I used to be a news junky…not now. I used to have lengthy telephone conversations with my friends…now I send them short emails.

I’m even cutting my precious writing time to make room. I’ve read that the ideal mix is 70/30 with 70% of your time spent writing. Perhaps before I die I’ll get there, but right now, it’s a struggle.

Yesterday I tackled a stack of books that I’d read, but had neglected to put into Goodreads. In fact, I’d been absent on Goodreads for about two months. (My apologies to my Goodreads friends who are getting that dump right now.) Other components in my author platform have suffered a similar fate from time to time. And my platform isn’t huge; there’s my blog, Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads. That’s it.

So bear with me if this blog takes a hit from time to time. I’ll get better at the other stuff and I have faith that it will all make sense one day (hopefully before I die). I’ll be okay as long as I don’t have to carve eating out of my day. Well maybe I can cut that back a bit. After all, I’d like to figure out Google+ one of these days.