Without My Cape

Hi.

I'm sure you don't recognize me without my cape.

Well, maybe you do. I'm J. Rose Alexander, co-author of the young adult series, "Faction" about teenage superheroes in Iowa.

Just from the description of our first novels, you might get the idea that I'm a bit quirky. And I'm ok with that, because it makes me love writing and love coming up with crazy stories. I'm not limited to superheroes, but I do love them.

I usually identify myself a Fantasy/Scifi/Urban Fantasy writer. I have branched out, but you'll have to talk to my alter-ego about that. Wink-wink, nudge-nudge. I really like coming up with new characters and new situation to throw my characters. In this little introduction, please let me tell you a little bit about my stories. I'm going to focus right now on the stories. I'll tell you more about me another time.

If you haven't had a chance to read The Faction Stories, please do. They are a lark, and I have a blast writing them. They'll also give you a feel for the way I tell a story.

I've promised a few times on our blog over there that I would be releasing a few of my own stories, solo projects, that I'm really quite proud of. I'm in the stages of the first major edit on the first of these projects, called, "Shadow in Glass." I decided to release this story, even though it's one of my newer stories, because it's stand-alone. There's a sequel brewing, but it doesn't need it. It's also, for me, a fairly 'straight' story-- there aren't any superheros or vampires, it's not a space opera, and no one is trying to take over the world. There is some space/time continuum stuff, but that's not the point of the story.

Hopefully, during that editing time, I will have a chance to finish the first of my Superhero Stories, and the first of the Witchwolf Chronicles. They are parallel stories, which meet up later on in a series called "Legends". Don't worry; these stories are so fleshed out, I'll be putting up time lines and family trees.

After Legends, I've let my *coff* friend Kay Rhodes take over. The storylines get very mature.

But fear not. I also have a space opera, a high fantasy, urban fantasy, and straight scifi. I think that Simon and I have a few other collaborations we've tossed around as well.

I'm also going to tackle some more serious literary topics if it so pleases the court. Like how people write, how we edit, how we come up with our ideas. Also, as you might have guessed, highlight some books I've read and help out some fellow indie authors.

So. Ladies and Gents. Here we go. Now you know what my cape is hiding.

~Jenn

Joe Fan-pire

Look, I have a non-Faction blog too!

Last night, I got to download a brand new book by the wonderful Mr. Steven Luna. I enjoyed the original, and he's released a sequel. It was really really really hard not to turn my nook on start reading at midnight. I wanted to; I enjoyed Joe Vampire A LOT. He's restored my faith in Vampire Literature-- which you'll find out I'm really quite a fan of.

(Remind me to upload that paper, won't you? It's called Dracula was Schizophrenic!, and it was a wonderful term paper in college.)

Anyway. It was tough, and I will get to it this weekend. But you know what solidified my determination to not start reading it yet? It was simple phrase I utter to my husband:

"I have to get my book finished first!"

It was an amazing phrase. Delightful to hear myself say it. It's even been a hell of a trip in the month since Faction went live.

"What do you do for a living?"
"I'm a drafter/designer for X company- oh, and I'm an author."
--FIST PUMP--
Thirty years waiting for those words, and it feels REALLY good to say them.

So knowing how exciting it is to get review and get feed back (not just from people you know), I would like to request that you go over to Amazon or BN.com and read both Joe Vampire and the newest sure-to-be-a-best-seller Joe Vampire: The Afterlife by Mr. Luna. Give him the thrill of a review, and new fan. Because trust me. Joe's cool.

I'll be reading as soon as my book is ready to go.

~Jenn