The Comeback-Plus
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.
I assure you I haven’t been just sitting on my hands all this time. I owned and ran a yoga studio. I wrote lots of newsletters and emails and social media posts for students and prospective students. I created lots of yoga classes, including some with literary themes. I was doing important work that I loved, and making people happy.
But I really, really, really missed writing novels, and making people happy that way. So now, I’m back to it! And I feel like I never left.
When I first started writing (at the turn of the CENTURY, and that’s no hyperbole!), I just wrote books and sent them out and that was it. All this other stuff wasn’t nearly as important: having an Internet presence, having a social media presence, getting myself out there. And publishing as an industry has changed drastically—for the better, I think, with more diversity of voices and self-publishing.
I’m making a comeback, but it’s a comeback-plus, because of all the moving parts I didn’t work with before. It’s a challenge but after owning a business, I’m not really learning from the ground up—I’m just learning it in the context of being an author in the current market. It’s a little daunting, but mostly exciting.
Before my website went live, I gave my Mom access so she could check it out and tell me what she thought, and she said exactly what I wanted to hear: “I love it! It shows everything you do and everything you have to offer.” Mission accomplished!
So please browse around the site. You’ll find:
An About page that will tell you a little bit about me.
This Blog, which you’ve already found! I’ve been writing entries since my team began this website process, so you’d have some different things to read by launch day.
A Bookshelf, which includes summaries of and links to buy my different books, both romance and fantasy. These are books that were published between 2004 and 2012. I just finished a new manuscript called “Against All Obstacles,” about a man and a woman who fall in love while competing against one another in an obstacle-course race. I’ll let you know the status of that upcoming book, and currently I’m writing a novel tentatively titled “Foreverness,” a retelling of several classic fairy tales (and I don’t mind saying I LOVE it!).
An Editing Services page, because I’m not only a writer, I’m an editor-for-hire! See if I can help you out with any projects.
BardCover Yoga! My own yoga creation, BardCover Yoga classes translate themes, plot, and characters from classic literature and mythology into meditation and movement on the yoga mat. A bard is a storyteller, and since I’m covering books I didn’t myself write, I thought I’m kind of “covering” them. Also, BardCover, hardcover? I know, I’m a nerd. But you can purchase individual yoga classes (and keep them forever). There’s one class up there at the moment, but the next two classes will cover “The Great Gatsby” and “Beauty and the Beast,” so keep an eye out for those and more!
A Shop! Yeah, I love shopping, you love shopping, so head over there for some retail therapy. I’ll be adding a new collection of items to this shop every other month. This collection’s theme is Empowerment, and is filled with items meant to remind you of your own inner (and outer!) power. I have a tendency to create strong heroines in my books, so I wanted to also celebrate that with this collection. I only sell things I really love, and I hope you love them too.
My Hero page, which links to the social media and website of my man, writer Teddy Kechris, so you can follow and read him too.
A FREE literary-themed meditation! Did you join my email list? When you do, you’ll get this amazing audio meditation that you can do over and over, with different visualizations each time. Get on it!
And I’ll be brief, but I want to thank my team.
Landen Stacy, who designed and created this website, insisting on tinkering with the smallest things so it all looks absolutely beautiful. He’s talented and patient and I’m grateful to not only work with him, but to have him as a friend. He’s the owner of Emerald Yoga Studio, so please go check him out (and take virtual and live classes!) at www.emeraldyoga.com.
My mom, MaryAnn Safrey, who selects and designs all the items in the Shop. I felt I needed to go with a real fashionista for this job, and I made the right call because she’s great at translating my vision into a shop full of fun. Go check out the shirts, nightshirt, pillows, and more. She’s already started on the next two collections.
My longtime critique partner, Bobbi Lerman, who is an amazing writer and stellar friend, and the person I trust most to tell me something I wrote “makes no f*cking sense.” Read her writing (and join her really fun workshops!) at http://scribblersink.com.
My boo, Teddy, who really is the reason for my comeback. I watched him write on his laptop day after day after day, until one day I realized, I really miss that. Now we both do it. The difference is, he treats it like a job and just does it with quiet stoicism; whereas I complain and moan about every sentence I type.
I hope this new website serves you, not just as a place to buy my books (though I hope you will!) but as a resource for you. Feel free to email me any time at jen@jensafrey.com.
