THE REWARD is out today!

Posted on June 12, 2017July 1, 2017 by Jade A. Waters

It’s finally here. The Reward is out today!

Wow, am I excited. I’ve been waiting a long time for this one—the third and final book in my Lessons In Control series—and I bet you have, too!

In honor of the book’s release, Carina Press is still offering some killer deals on book one, The Assignment, and book two, The Discipline. You can pick up The Assignment on Amazon for only $0.99, and The Discipline here for only $1.99! The Reward is available at the low release price of $3.99, so you can get all three for less than the price of lunch. Yes!

I will be visiting a couple other sites this week with some final series goodness, so you’ll want to follow along for our mini tour… Wednesday I’ll be visiting F. Dot Leonora with a few things to say about her lovely nod to the Lessons In Control series, then Thursday and Friday you can catch sexy excerpts of The Reward with Malin James and Rachel Kramer Bussel. After that, you won’t want to miss a series closing interview with the fabulous Rose Caraway. Woo hoo!

And of course, we can’t very well end the series without one final bang (heh) here on my site, right? So here’s your chance! Leave a comment below with your name and email address as well as why you’d like to win not one book but two—a free ebook copy of both The Assignment and The Discipline, the first two books of the Lessons In Control series—and you’ll be entered to win them! Only one entry per person and you’ll want to act fast; your comment must be entered by 11:59 pm PST tomorrow (June 13, 2017). The winner will be notified this week with their free copies. Easy giveaway, right? So please do enter.

But don’t forget—all this goodness is in celebration of the release of The Reward, out today. I hope you’ll pick up your copy at any of the following eretailers:

Amazon US Amazon UK Carina Press Barnes & Noble Google Play iBooks Kobo

Thanks so much for joining me and happy reading!

XX,
Jade

Price Break for Your Lessons In Control!

Posted on May 24, 2017May 24, 2017 by Jade A. Waters

Hi everyone!

Oh, have I got exciting news for you as of today! As you may know, my Lessons In Control series is almost complete… Book 1, The Assignment, came out back in December, while book 2, The Discipline, made its way into the world in March. I am now eagerly awaiting June 12^th, when you will be able to get your hands on book 3,
The Reward. Yes!

But, I know, I know. Sometimes it’s hard to wait. Maybe you bought book 1 but decided to hold on buying book 2 so that you could read it and book 3 all in one fell swoop. Or, maybe you’ve just been incredibly patient, and you’re waiting to buy all three books at once so you can spend a whole weekend reading the series.

All three covers of Jade A. Waters's Lessons in Control series!

Collect all three!

If you’re one of these people, have I got killer news for you!

As of today, and in celebration of the soon-to-be released book 3, Carina Press is offering a price deal on the first two books of my Lessons In Control series. That’s right—The Assignment is available on vendor sites for a mere $0.99, and The Discipline is available on sites for $1.99. Whoa! The Reward, which you can preorder right now on Amazon, is $3.99—so you can basically buy all three books for under seven dollars. Holy smokes. That’s three books for less than the price of lunch!

Coming oh so soon…

What a deal!

So, I do hope you’ll take advantage of it and check out my series at this awesome price break while the deal lasts (and it won’t last long!). Head over to my Lessons In Control page for all vendor purchase links, or simply pick up The Assignment on Amazon, The Discipline on Amazon, and preorder The Reward on Amazon, too. I am super excited for you to get to read the whole series at such a great price!

And, if you haven’t signed up my newsletter yet, please be sure to do so. All subscribers will be getting exclusive access to a free preview chapter of The Reward in a very short time, so you can be sure that yes indeed, you want this cheaper-than-lunch deal! 🙂 Sign up right here for news sent to your email inbox no more than once a month.

Thanks so much for joining me, and happy ordering and reading!

XX,
Jade

Lessons In Control and Poetry: News Round Up!

Posted on April 1, 2017April 1, 2017 by Jade A. Waters

Hi everyone! It’s been awhile, but I have lots of news I wanted to share today, both about the Lessons In Control series and a new mini-project I’m embarking on! Woo hoo!

I’ll start with Lessons In Control, specifically book one—I am delighted to share that The Assignment is a finalist for the Pauline Reage Novel award from the National Leather Association – International (NLA-I). Holy cow! The NLA-I is a leading organization for activists in the pansexual SM/leather/fetish community. Their annual awards are named after activists and writers to recognize excellence in writing and publishing about Leather, SM, bondage and fetishes. Whoa! This was some majorly happy news, and I’m thrilled to be a finalist. In the past, the award has been given in various categories to some seriously awesome authors. Here are this year’s finalists for the Pauline Reage category:

Risk Aware by Amelia C Gromley (Riptide Publishing)
Heart’s Master by Elizabeth Schechter (Circlet Press)
The Viscountess Interrogates: A Dominion Erotic Mystery by Cameron Quintain (Circlet Press)
Skyscraper by Scott Alexander Hess (Unzipped Books, an imprint of Lethe Press)
The Gambler’s Lady by Angela Hamm (Blushing Books)
The Assignment by Jade A. Waters (Carina Press)

I cannot express how honored I am to be on this list! The winners will be announced at the National Leather Association – International’s Annual General Meeting on April 23^rd. Fingers crossed!

Okay, next up: book two, The Discipline. Wow, do I have a lot to say about The Discipline! First, there have been a few excerpts from the book if you haven’t checked them out. One happened right here, another over visited Lady Smut a couple weeks ago, and finally, one appeared just yesterday over at F. Leonora Solomon’s place. I was so happy to get to tour the book around at these stops!

Now for some extra fun—if you’re in the mood for a LIVE excerpt from The Discipline and happen to be the in LA area, then I hope you’ll join me next Sunday, April 9^th, at Lady Jane’s Salon OC. The event takes place at The Ripped Bodice, 3806 Main Street in Culver City, from 4 to 6 pm. I’ll be reading along with Pamela DuMond, Sabrina Sol, and Allison Morse. The entry fee is one gently used romance novel or $5, and in exchange you’ll hear some sweet and sexy excerpts. Please come out and say hi! I’ll have all sorts of series swag to giveaway there, too.

If you want to find out more about The Discipline, or even the overall series and my writing process, I wanted to point out an interview over at Lady Smut that happened a little bit ago—the fabulous Rachel Kramer Bussel interviewed me about my writing over there, and I had a good time answering her questions. Check it out if you missed it! Also, on a related note—I will forever celebrate my connection to Rachel since she is the very reason I ever got published in the first place. That said, I encourage you to check out her newest calls for submission. She is always on the lookout for new work!

All right, I can’t very well talk about Lessons In Control without mentioning book three, The Reward. I’ve got to say, I thought at first that book one was my favorite. Then book two was such a bear to write, I thought I liked it most. But…after all the editing of book three, I can officially say it is my favorite. I’m happy to report that it’s not only available for pre-order (out June 12^th!), but that we have official back cover copy! Check it out:

What if the fantasy never had to stop?

It’s been a year since Dean Sova turned Maya Clery’s world inside out. There isn’t a secret fantasy that Maya and Dean haven’t explored—each one more tantalizing and mind-blowing than the last. But while their relationship may be stronger than ever, taking the next step pushes boundaries neither one of them is prepared to face.

Dean couldn’t care less about Maya’s background—all her choices made her the woman he wants to tie to his bed and never let go. But not even a Dom as strong as Dean can keep the past at bay. When a threat from Maya’s old life surfaces, she’ll have to choose once and for all: fight for freedom under Dean’s command, or lose the reward she’s worked so hard for—the chance to be happy with the man she loves.

Book three of Lessons in Control

This book is approximately 89,000 words

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise! Find out more at CarinaPress.com/RomancePromise.

Oh, wow. I’m so pumped for you to read this one, guys! Be sure to pre-order your copy at any of the following places:

Amazon US Amazon UK Carina Press Barnes & Noble Google Play iBooks Kobo

So…that’s all on the series. Now, I have just a little ditty to share about a new mini-project I’ve taken on. To be honest, life has decided to throw some pretty big tragedies my way at the moment…and writing has become tricky with all of it going on. But, I caught a very light wind the other day, and I wanted to run with it. You see, April is the official month for the Blogging A to Z Challenge, and I’ve long wanted to take advantage of this on my poetry site. It sort of clicked the other night that I could spin some of the rockiness I’m feeling and poetry together, and still take part in this challenge through a poem every day (excluding Sunday)—except with a twist: each poem will be part of one continuous, month-long poem. I hope you’ll join me on this adventure, which is titled “A Love Affair, From A to Z.” It’s a bittersweet thing that I’m hoping to be able to continue (without tearing my eyeballs out), so if you’d like to read along, be sure to start with today’s “A – Always.”

News, news, news—and I think that’s all of it! Happy weekend and reading to all!

XX,
Jade

PS Have you signed up for my newsletter? Subscribers will be getting a free preview of book three, The Reward, before it’s released. Don’t miss out!

THE DISCIPLINE Is Here – And It’s Giveaway Time!

Posted on March 6, 2017March 6, 2017 by Jade A. Waters

Hurray! It’s here! Today is the release day for The Discipline, book 2 of my Lessons In Control series!

Holy moly, I’m so excited for you to be able to read this book. This whole series has been a whirlwind and a total dream to work on, too, which is why today I’m thrilled to be celebrating the release of the next stage in Maya and Dean’s D/s journey. And in my humble opinion, every good celebration needs some prizes, yes? So, I’m not only going to tell you about the book and share a sexy excerpt, but I also have two—2!—opportunities for you to win some goodies! Yesssss!

First, I want to tell you about the making of The Discipline. As some of you who follow along are aware, I had some big life and health things come up in the making of book 2 that seriously knocked me on my ass. This founded a bit of a joke with pals—wow, was The Discipline taking more discipline than I could fathom. It was a rocky road, complete with more drafts than I’d ever imagined doing before, and between my tremendously fabulous beta readers—Malin James, Tamsin Flowers, and Michael Knight—as well as my kick ass, amazing editor, Rhonda Stapleton, that manuscript got worked like a good little submissive [manuscript] should. 🙂 The first version I wrote is nothing like what it turned out to be, but in the end, I was quite pleased. Honestly, until I turned in edits on book 3, The Reward, just a few weeks ago, I was pretty convinced book 2 was my favorite installment. (Naturally, I think the series just got better though. Stay tuned for more on book 3, out in June!)

But, moving on, I’m sure you don’t want to hear me blather about the making of. You want to know about the book itself—and I am delighted to tell you more about The Discipline! Having established their D/s relationship in The Assignment, Maya and Dean are now continuing on their sexy, explorative path with bigger, sexier adventures (hint: discipline!). Their relationship is also growing, meaning that while they’re working on all their kinks (heh), they’re also working on their budding romance. The Discipline sees them through sexier times, wilder exploration, hotter fantasies, and the reveal of some past secrets in Dean’s life that definitely challenges them in their dynamic. Mmmm…so much fun! But of course, you’ll have to read the book to know what I’m talking about. For now, let me share a smokin’ excerpt. Then, we’ll get to two awesome contest opportunities. Sound good?

Let’s kick off with an excerpt from The Discipline:

Dean seized my waist and whirled me around, using his body to steer me to the bed as a gasp fell from my lips. The front of my thighs met the mattress, the feel of his chest on my back sending tingles through my limbs. Dean played his fingers over my stomach and clasped the silky fabric of my shirt against me. I ached to be naked with him in an instant.

Especially knowing that what was in the bag would please him as much as it would.

“Well?” Dean pressed his mouth against the side of my face, and I heard the speeding of his breath when I lifted the bag. My fingers trembled while I loosened the ties that cinched the top of it together. I wanted to make a show of it, so rather than turning the bag upside down to dump the contents over the bedspread, I reached inside to pull one item out at a time.

First, I held up the coil of rope he’d left at my place.

“Say it.”

“Rope, for you to tie me up with.”

He reached out a hand to fondle the strands with me before I tossed the coil of rope onto the comforter. “A perfect pick. I’d brought some, just in case, but I prefer this one against your skin. You look delectable in burgundy.” His low voice and blatant words made my pussy swell. He’d told me that before, when I was tied up, but it never stopped exciting me. “Keep going.”

I slipped my hand back in the bag as Dean brushed aside my hair, layering soft kisses across the nape of my neck. He slid his fingers up the center of my shirt, and I grabbed the vibrator I used often on my own to hold it up in front of us. Dean growled in my ear when I said, “And my vibrator…”

“You want to be teased, don’t you?”

“Yes.” My cheeks warmed while I set the vibrator down and Dean started to unbutton my shirt. He arched up his hips, his cock digging into my ass, but I kept going. I held up the bottle of lube that had made its way into our repertoire numerous times already, be it for endless rounds of fucking or the bit of anal play we sometimes liked to add to the fun. I purred, “Also, I want to be fucked. A lot. And…everywhere.”

“Christ, Maya.” Dean spun me around to face him, sucking me up in a fevered kiss while I clung to the cinch sack. But I broke away and held up a hand to stop him.

“Wait. I’m not done,” I whispered.

The brightness of his eyes nearly doubled at my insistence. Inside the bag, I thumbed the toy I’d brought that could rock both our worlds. Dean gripped my lower back as I wrestled the flogger up between us, and holding it up made me more aware of its texture and the anticipation blazing within me.

Dean’s smile spread in an intoxicating mix of happy and seductive. He stared at it, then me. “You brought it.”

“I did.”

“Does that mean…?”

“It does. At some point this weekend, I want you to use it on me.” A hypnotic jolt struck me when I said it, the hair lifting on the back of my neck. The prospect, his expression—all of it had my nerves prickling with desire.

Dean pressed his body tighter to mine. “You saying that makes it even hotter.”

“Does it?”

“Yes. Oh, yes.”

He didn’t say anything more while I swung the flogger beside us, the suede leather strands creating a subtle swish in the room. Dean lowered his mouth to mine again, his hands coming up between us to finish unfastening my shirt buttons down to my waist as I tossed the flogger aside. His tongue was wild, his fingers quick to untuck my shirt from my slacks. But he didn’t help it off or attempt to unhook my bra, instead sweeping his palms over my waist and drawing tingles into my belly before he started trailing his tongue down the center of my chest. Once he dropped to his knees in front of me, I sucked in a breath.

“I cannot wait to use everything that you brought with you. Everything I brought, too.” He curved his hands over my hips and guided me back until my legs met the foot of the bed. As he kept his eyes on me, he undid the button of my pants and teased down my zipper. “Such excellent choices, birthday girl. I think you deserve something special for that.”

His eyes sparkled at the hook of his fingertips under the waist of my slacks to work them down around my ankles. I moved to step out of them, but Dean held them in place with a firm grip over the mass of fabric and my ankles.

“Keep your legs together.”

He broke the drag of his fingers over my hips to urge my hands behind my back. I laced them together, and he returned to his main focus with an abrupt snag of the crotch of my panties. Playfully, he breathed over my already heated sex, never touching me with his mouth while he gazed up at me. My heart picked up the rhythm of a snare drum, but my legs were pressed too tightly together for the delightful trail of his fingers up the seam formed between them. I quivered when Dean stroked the tiny patch of flesh he’d exposed for what felt like an eternity, stirring up my wetness with a touch so light I almost didn’t feel it.

Oh, yeah. I love that part of the book. It just gets better and better, too, so you’ll definitely want to read the whole thing.

However, now it’s time for two opportunities to win!

First is a chance to win an epub copy of book 1, The Assignment, so that you can read it before you launch your reading of book 2. Entry is easy: simply leave a comment below that (1) tells me your favorite type of discipline (woo-ha!) or, if you’re shier and/or more private about such things and/or just don’t feel like answering that question, then instead (2) tell me why you’d like to read book 1, The Assignment. That’s it! That’s all. Every comment entered by 11:59 pm PST today, March 6, 2017 will be eligible to win the copy of The Assignment, and I will raffle off entries and notify the lucky winner tomorrow, March 7^th. Please be sure you register your name and email when you leave your comment so that I can contact you if you win!

Cover of The Assignment by Jade A. Waters

Win me!

Now for giveaway two: a swag goodie bag for early buyers of The Discipline! This one is also easy—anyone who purchases The Discipline and/or pays for a pre-ordered copy during the book’s first three days of release (so by 11:59 pm PST March 9^th, 2017) and forwards me their receipt at jade@jadeawaters.com before Saturday, March 11^th, 2017 will be eligible to win:

Lessons In Control swag: a sexy LIC series bookmark, postcard, and fridge magnet for The Assignment
An Amazon gift card for $25
And, a personal note from me

Doesn’t that sound fun? I sure hope you’re intrigued. If so, please be sure to purchase your copy of The Discipline by the deadline and forward me your receipt before the weekend so that you’ll be entered to win. You can pick up The Discipline on Amazon or at any of the buy links below. If you are a newsletter subscriber and dove in for the early purchase deal offered there, you will automatically be entered into this chance to win, too! (If you aren’t, please sign up—lots of goodies happen there.) I will be running the raffle for this one over the weekend and contacting the lucky winner the week of Monday, March 13^th in order to send along prizes. Thank you for picking up your copy of the book and for reading, too!

I really appreciate your support and am so pumped to offer up these goodies for loyal readers like you. Thanks for entering!

The Discipline Blurb:

How far would you go to fulfill a fantasy?

Maya Clery has taken risks before. Her relationship with Dean Sova started out as a risk—a series of sexual assignments, each hotter, wilder, more intense than the last. Exploring her submissive side with a powerful, trustworthy Dominant has been everything she hoped for, everything she needed.

Dean pushes Maya to her limits—it’s one of the things she loves most about him. But as they push the boundaries outside their sex life, meeting friends and family members, Maya realizes there’s still much she doesn’t know about the man with whom she’s sharing her bed.

And when a fantasy simmering between them becomes their latest challenge, past secrets begin to reveal weaknesses in their relationship that neither is ready to face.

Book two of Lessons in Control

This book is approximately 78,000 words

Carina Press acknowledges the editorial services of Rhonda Edits, LLC

Pick up your copy of The Discipline, eISBN: 9781459294318:

Amazon US Amazon UK Carina Press Barnes & Noble Google Play iBooks Kobo

And happy reading to all!

XX,
Jade

New Year, Fun News!

Posted on January 10, 2017January 8, 2017 by Jade A. Waters

Happy 2017, everyone!

It’s a new year, which means all sorts of fun new things are happening. Woo hoo! As you may have heard, my debut erotic romance novel, The Assignment, released back in December—it’s been very exciting! But, thankfully, the wild release ride isn’t over yet. I’m thrilled to share not only that Lessons in Control book two, The Discipline, is out in a couple short months on March 13^th and ready to pre-order now, but that we have an official back cover blurb to go with its sexy ass front cover. Score!

In just a moment, you’ll find some enticing information about what’s ahead in book two for dear Maya Clery and her romantic lead, Dean Sova…but don’t forget to read on after, since I have some nifty events to remind you of, too.

For now, let me introduce you to The Discipline…

How far would you go to fulfill a fantasy?

And when a fantasy simmering between them becomes their latest challenge, past secrets begin to reveal weaknesses in their relationship that neither is ready to face.

Book two of Lessons in Control

This book is approximately 78,000 words

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise! Find out more at CarinaPress.com/RomancePromise

Oh, man-o. Are you excited? I’m excited. I have had so much fun writing Maya and Dean’s journey, so I can’t wait for the second installment of their story to make its way into your hands. And, though you can preorder the book now, there’s still a little time to kill before you’ll have it delivered. Fortunately, I have two sexy and free reading events I hope you’ll join me at this month to tide you over!

The first is just around the corner on January 24^th, in Oakland, California. It’s the Dirty Old Women Read Erotica event at Octopus Literary Salon at 2101 Webster Street (at 22^nd). I’m delighted to be one of the two featured readers there that night! The event starts at 7:30 p.m. with an open mic, and then both Zoe Kat and I will be reading some sexiness to you from 8 to 9. I’ll be reading a smoking hot excerpt from The Assignment, and I’ll also have some swag from the book for those who attend. I sure hope you join us!

I’ve got swag!

Then, one week later on January 31st, I’ll be down in L.A. with the fabulous Rachel Kramer Bussel as well as authors Jocelyn Bringas and Melina Greenport to celebrate the just released Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Volume 2. We’ll be reading at Skylight Books L.A. at 1818 N. Vermont Avenue starting at 7:30 pm, with excerpts from both volumes out so far. I’ll be taking you on an erotic, romantic, Shakespearean inspired journey with a snippet from my contribution to Volume 1, “Ophelia the Second.” This story is one that’s still quite dear to me, so I do hope you’ll make it out to visit and enjoy the free reading. And if you miss the earlier Dirty Old Women reading, don’t worry—I’ll have some swag from The Assignment for you to grab there, as well. I look forward to seeing you at both events, so please come out, hear some sexy words, and say hi!

Until these awesome readings, please be sure to pick up your copy of The Assignment if you haven’t already done so, and also pre-order your copy of The Discipline today. The final book, The Reward, will be out not all that far away in June…so you’ll want to be read up and ready for when that time arrives!

Please check out the Lessons In Control page for all buy links and info for The Assignment, and you can pre-order your copy of The Discipline at:

Amazon US Amazon UK Carina Press Barnes & Noble Google Play iBooks Kobo

Thanks so much for joining in and reading, and I look forward to seeing you in Oakland and L.A. soon!

XX,
Jade

We [Were] On a Break!

Posted on March 8, 2016December 29, 2016 by Jade A. Waters

I am the worst at taking a break. I’ve been this way my whole life—relaxation is a thing I enjoy, but most of the time, there has to be something else going on simultaneously. Hell, it wasn’t until recently that I took up watching some TV before bed while needing to talk myself into lying still on the couch (because, sadly, reading revs me up and makes it impossible to pass out). I have a friend who describes me as being incapable of slowing down, but I often correct him to say that I can, I just prefer to have my wheels spinning at all times, if not in person, then at least in the back of my head.

The slowing of the wheels is something I’m actively working on this year. I’ve been going through a lot that I’ve mentioned on the blog, but there’s been other off-site stuff, too, which has made my series-writing ride quite the adventure. Add to this that moderation is a concept lost on me (just give me a pile of candy and I’ll blow your mind, swear), and the fact that I’m still pretty good at pushing past pain…well, put all this together, and you’ve got a flashy sports car that eventually has a major break down and stops working.

Obviously, that, in the middle of a 3-book series, simply will not do.

Which is why I’ve set up various rewards to honor the need to slow my roll in this already unique process. Since I just typed “The End” and closed off the draft for The Discipline, book 2 in the Lessons in Control series, the one I greet you with today is a deal I made with myself long ago: two full weeks off! This is a time for me to not only not think about the book while it simmers, but to essentially take a mini-writing-pseudo-vacation. Yes, writing is my passion, my sustenance, my love—but revisit that moderation in all things clause, and eventually, one can overdose in love, too.

Plus, a “vacation” always brightens the landscape of pretty much anything, so here I am, taking one!

What does this mean? Save for the potential of my copy edits showing up during this rest time, I’m not doing a lick of writing beyond a blog post or two, and maybe even a little revise of a poem and a piece of flash I wrote a while back, since it’s high time I get some fiction up in this joint. But beyond that? I’m practicing chilling out interspersed with moments of handling a short To Do list I avoided while staying focused on the series. This last weekend, for example, I swapped between bills, taxes, and major social time with friends. I even kicked off Saturday morning with pancakes, bacon, and a coconut milk latte in front of a TV show while still in my robe. Guys, this sort of thing hasn’t happened in years. And you know what? It felt pretty good.

There are other cool things happening in this two-week break, too. One, I’ve got a slew of awesome social encounters I’ve delayed: karaoke, luncheons, dinners, happy hours, and, hell, I might even take myself dancing and then sleep in this weekend! Whoa! Also, I’m finally reading a book. I know this sounds like a no brainer—but between being all up in this series and not being able to read before bed lest it keep me awake, I’ve pretty much been catching only blog posts here and there, and thus haven’t touched a book since, oh, late August (shameful, I know, but it’s the truth). Oh and extra chill-worthy: I’m rewatching Fringe from start to finish. This is my favorite series of all time, right before the wicked tie for second between The Tudors, Dexter, Friends (bonus points if you caught the show reference in the title of this post), Grey’s Anatomy, and the first six seasons of The Vampire Diaries (don’t even talk to me about the current season). I have tons of other good things planned for this time, too, but let it be said: there will be some real relaxation for me. I’m excited!

On top of that, I’m not going to feel guilty. Not at all. I know my lovely little characters can wait for me, and everything—life, series, etc.—will return to normal when I’m back.

We are, after all, on a break. 🙂

XX,
Jade

THE Process

Posted on February 16, 2016December 29, 2016 by Jade A. Waters

Okay, here’s the deal: I kept fooling myself into believing I have a systemized process, and it’s become abundantly clear I’m full of shit.

As some of you may have noticed, I’ve been fairly quiet on both this site and my poetry site. For the most part, I’ve had my head down working on the Lessons in Control series. I’m getting more and more excited to talk about it as we get closer to launch in December, but for now, I’m tied up (heh) in edits for The Assignment (book one), the drafting of The Discipline (book two)—and later down the line, the drafting of The Reward (book three).

The process has been thrilling, shocking, and terrifying, all at the same time. My editor, Rhonda Stapleton, has been a dream through the work we’re doing on book one—but alongside that, I’ve had a hell of a journey on book two. Whatever “process” I swore I had for writing books has been, well, doctored.

Let me give you a little background. The first real book I wrote (because I’m excluding the fictional biography I wrote at 11 as well the YA horror I wrote at 13) was a romantic fantasy that took me 17 years to complete, and at the end of it, I learned one very important thing: I’m neither a fantasy writer OR a strictly spec fic writer. I love sexual content, and I love dripping that all over the pages of whatever the hell I’m writing. So for my next book, I opted to write a comedic memoir about the year and a half I semi-intentionally stopped having sex. (True story!) Turned out, for a book about not having sex, it actually had a lot of sexual content—but it was also about healing from heartbreak, finding oneself, and a bit of ridiculousness that happened in that period, among other things. Honestly, I haven’t talked a ton about this thing since it’s shelved in lieu of what I currently love writing (that would be erotica in its various forms), but, the point is that it took me about three years to write, the end confirming that (1) I needed to write more because it was my life blood and (2) I was capable of finishing things faster than I thought.

Next came a bunch of short stories. I had a spec fic writing mentor at the time who suggested what I needed was to start and stop over and over again, so I could feel more confident in the process before I took on another book. Whoa nelly, did that turn out to be a boon: I wrote something like two dozen short stories in a few months. Plus, I wrote them fast. 4-6k in a couple hours? No problem! I had become a binge writer who also learned the skill of drafting without backtracking, because one can always chop and revise later. I was pretty sure that nifty trick would carry with me for life.

Flash forward to the recent past, and there came The Assignment. I’d been plotting and stewing about how I might be able to write an erotica series for a couple months, and, meanwhile, had an extremely transformative relationship that sparked all sorts of ideas in my head. Then…we broke up. Okay, in actuality, I had to pry myself away because the entire thing was about to ruin me, but a well-timed vacation and a keen interest in the “do not disturb” function on my phone created utter magic. Even through my devastation, the plot of my story became clear and I proceeded to channel all that breakup energy into writing The Assignment. That book—which I am seriously excited for you to read when it comes out in December—took me a whopping week and a half to outline, and right around one month to draft.

For realsies.

And suddenly—I knew my process: outline, speed draft without editing, let it breathe, go in and proceed to smoothe. Check! Oh yeah. It was that simple, and it would be, forever. Right? So while the final version was off wandering the world for a home, I proceeded to start another book—but the entire time, I couldn’t figure out what had happened to my process because I seemed to be going in circles…for almost eight months.

I’d just upped my speed and written a book in a month. How on earth did this thing take so long?

Then came some real life chaos that fucked with me. It took a while for me to get a clue on how to handle it, but when I did, I opted for a book break. I spent a couple months writing shorts and reworking my confidence, so that when The Assignment found a home at Carina Press and they wanted the entire series, I was both giddy and ready to write book two. Except, not so much. I was still contending with the residual chaos that culminated in the attack of the chronic migraines while also struggling to realize this was in no uncertain terms affecting my process. I drafted about 30k. I got migraine sick. I drafted 10k. I was still migraine sick. I tore up 20k. Edits for book one came. I finished them and then drafted 20k. But again, I was really sick and had to straight up stop. When I was migraine-free and ready to go again, I not only cut out about 15k, but completely replotted the rest of the book.

Ha. Take that, process!

Oh, and my binge writing tendency in that entire time period? M.I.A. 1-2k became a good day! But I plodded along, accepting that I would produce, delete, rewrite, break, etc., until somewhere around December when—while setting my 2016 goals—I took a step back and thought, hmm, maybe I should just write the damn book however it comes out, and stop being an asshole to myself because the process happens to have changed from what it was before.

Amazing concept, right?

I have to say—since then, things have continued to be pretty good over here. I turned in another round of edits on book one, and when I sat down to begin the final chunk of the book two draft this last weekend, I didn’t even bat an eyelash at the fact that the first thing I did was replot the last 20k again.

Go figure.

So, ladies and gentlemen, it’s safe it say: I have discovered the real process! It’s good, and I’m going to share it with you. You should grab a pen. Go ahead, I will wait. *Taps foot.* I know you want the Secret to the Writing Universe I discovered over the last few months, and now, I’m going to give it to you!

Okay, you ready?

Here it is.

The official process is…

Whatever fucking works.

Yep. That’s it. (Did you write that down?) 🙂

I have no idea if my process is “no process” because of life things, or just because that’s the truth of the matter, but I’m pleased to have established this riveting…process. Also, I’m curious about everyone else—what’s your process? I’d love to hear in the comments.

For now, though, time for me to get back to work.

It’s a process. 😉

XX,
Jade

On a Scale of 1 to 10…(News!)

Posted on October 26, 2015October 26, 2015 by Jade A. Waters

On a scale of 1 to 10…I’m this excited:

To translate, that’s, like, 15. Or maybe 20…

Or, maybe I’m just too excited to put a number on it!

See, I’ve had some news under my hat for a bit now, but, um, the word is officially out:

Screen shot of Jade's series announcement on Pub Lunch

Official posting from Pub Lunch

I am so, so thrilled to get to share this news! My fabulous agent Jessica Alvarez has been shopping around my erotic romance book for a little while, and I’m ecstatic that it’s been picked up by Carina Press—along with the rest of the series! The Assignment, The Discipline, and The Reward are all slated to be published starting sometime in late 2016 in the Lessons in Control series, and I seriously can’t be more delighted!

You may recall me mentioning the process of writing the first book in the series a couple times—it was a wild thing that just poured out of me at a bizarrely fast pace, and even though I put the continuation of the series aside for a while, I couldn’t stop imagining my characters resuming their tale. Theirs is a sexy, edgy, BDSM experience full of all sorts of adventures and heated exploration—and I have so much more to share with you in the coming months about not just the first book, but the whole series.

A giant thank you to Carina Press for taking a chance on my debut novel (and then second and third, too!), and to Jessica Alvarez for helping me on this journey!

Much more to report in the future, folks—but for now, please picture me bouncing around my house squealing (because it is totally happening)! 🙂

Thank you so much for being part of the excitement with me!

XX,
Jade