Do you LOVE gripping page-turners?

Melissa Keir, publisher at Inkspell Publishing (which will be publishing my Against All Obstacles in October!) has a story coming out today in a new thriller, suspense, and horror anthology called Grave Dangers.

My friend Dr. Tony Ortega has just released his new book, “Enlightened as Hell: How to Be Spiritual and Not Be a D*ck.”

New Year’s Eve is my favorite holiday. Favorite. By a landslide. I like Christmas presents, I like Easter’s pastel baby-animal decorations, I like Valentines full of chocolates. But New Year’s Eve is the greatest gift of all—a fresh start.

If you know me, you know I’m a summer girl. I was born in sunshine-soaked June. I love heat, humidity doesn’t bother me (even if it bothers my hair), and my spirit animal should be a little gecko on a desert rock.

Have you ever had that dream where you go to high school, and you say hi to your friends but they’re all laughing hysterically, so you look down and realize you completely forgot to get dressed?

Many years ago, I was on a trail ride on Long Island, and I was sitting on a joyful, spirited little horse names Iggy Pop. It was a big group of riders, and I found myself riding beside a gentleman who worked at the barn.

When I was a kid, I looooooved the library summer reading challenges. I always completely filled my row with star stickers by mid-June, then just kept on going. This summer is no exception, but sadly, no one puts up posters with gold stars for adults.

Today’s guest blog interview is with one of my best friends and my boss at the yoga studio! Landen offers some tips on practicing yoga in the summer.

Please tell us who you are and what you do.

Hi, I’m Landen Stacy, owner of Emerald Yoga Studio. I am a yoga instructor, business owner, and creative entrepreneur––not necessarily in that order. 

I am a firm believer that age brings wisdom, and wisdom enhances experiences. Complacency and stagnation do not need to be hallmarks of middle age and beyond—quite the opposite. Don’t be afraid to make a major change (or three) to your life. Here are some I recommend (and I’ve done).

I’m a goal-setter—and a goal-meeter. I always have been. Since I was a kid, I’ve had my life tightly scheduled with things I want to try and things I want to accomplish, and that’s how I’m happy. If people tell me to “relax,” it grates on my last nerve. I do relax. I do go on vacation when I can, I kick back and read books or watch TV—I really do. But the fact is, I just love being busy and doing stuff.

And this month, I found myself starting my manuscript’s first draft the same week I began 16-week training for a half marathon.

Something I’m really good at? Packing for a trip.

And now that we can start moving around again (at least, within the U.S.), and now that the summer is approaching (never fast enough, in my opinion), trip planning—and packing—is once again on the agenda.

I just finished a chapter-by-chapter outline of my current work in progress … and I’m scared.

I’m scared because I have four main characters (one a little main-er than the others) and four points of view I care about so much.

I’m scared because I outlined 67 chapters. What? I didn’t see that coming.

I’m scared because I feel like I’m being called to write this book and that’s much scarier than just wanting to write a book.

On her “Before Breakfast” podcast this week, Laura Vanderkam talked about “microhobbies”—things you enjoy that you can do in short pockets of time that you find you have during the day. I like the term microhobbies, and I realized I already have some, so I’ll share them with you in case you’re looking for something to occupy your mind and entertain you for little bursts during the day:

I’m so excited about this new project. And the problem with being so excited about a writing project is that the excitement goes hand in hand with a constant anxiety that I’m going to mess it up.

In the writing world, there are two kinds of novelists: “plotters” and “pantsers.” A plotter PLOTS the entire book before writing it—they use individual combinations of outlining, scene blocking, synopses, mapping, and other methods to get the skeleton of the story complete before sitting down to write the actual prose. Pantsers, however, don’t. They write “by the seat of their pants.”

I wrote six full-length manuscripts facing a wall.

I’ve lived in different apartments with different desks and different desk setups. But every time, my desk was head on into a wall or, when I had one of those corner desks, the corner of a room. Windowless and bare every time.

I’m not Jo … I’m Amy.

This confession is an astonishing one in the female writing community, who tend as a group to regard Jo March as the patron saint of female writers everywhere, those who long to create legacy and make a living with words. Jo is the character I’m supposed to love. Jo is the character I’m supposed to embody. Jo’s spirit is the one that’s supposed to swirl through every word as I form sentences.

But I came to an astonishing realization this week—I’m not Jo. I’m Amy.

If there’s one thing I am good at, it’s working hard.

When I was a little kid, I remember every time I complained or whined to my Dad that I was bored or I had nothing to do or no one to play with, he would say to me, quite seriously, “Why don’t you go in your room and do some work?”

“Every book is the wreck of a perfect idea.” –Iris Murdoch

Not the most optimistic quote in the world, but one that resonates with me as I madly prepare for the first draft of my next novel.

Today is launch day for www.jensafrey.com!

I’m thrilled. Just so thrilled.

It’s been almost a decade since I “retired” from writing, and it took me far too long to realize I wanted badly to come back.

Like many of you, I’m a huge reader. I read about 100 books a year. Some I love and can’t stop talking about; a small handful I don’t finish. And there are so many stories I consider my own personal classics, books I could go on at length about (and probably will in future blog posts)