Jacqueline C. Thomas - Romance Novelist

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A Full Manuscript Request!

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A early “finished” draft of Sailing in Silicon Valley.

A lot happened yesterday for me as an American. I like many of my fellow Americans sat glued to our television not believing the images being broadcast of the insurrection and seige at the Capital. However, this post isn’t about yesterday’s events in Washington D.C. Something else happened yesterday for me personally– something big. I got an email from a literary agent requesting the full manuscript of Sailing in Silicon Valley. Amidst the chaos going on, I opened my email as my phone buzzed to notify me of the email. My husband was sitting on the couch, and watched in confusion as I shot up from my chair and began to scream hysterically.

The pure joy against the carnage that was happening on the television was indescribable. I grabbed my laptop and went over the manuscript one last time, double checking, and triple checking for errors that I had possibly missed. With a deep breath and a trembling hand I sent my full manuscript off to the agent. Along with the manuscript I sent my deepest hopes and wildest dreams of it being a success. It was the oddest sensation, to finally have something I’ve so desired, yearned for, worked for, cired over, and beat my head against my desk for to finally happen.

This morning I woke, feeling an emotional hangover from the events of the day before. Then I remembered, an agent asked for my full manuscript. The heaviness of the emotions from the day before seemed to lift. I know what happened yesterday in D.C. is incredibly serious, and lives were lost, but if this past year has really taught me anything it is to celebrate the joys in life. I also know that there is a 50/50 chance that the agent won’t like the full manuscript and I am doing my best to temper my enthusiasm. But for today, I am allowing myself to be really excited and enjoy the moment.

I remember last year about writing about how your query letter only has to work once. I compared the perfect query letter to mixing a great cocktail. Each component to the letter needing to be mixed just right. I guess I may have got the cocktail right. Even more important I am glad that the manuscript piqued interest. So for the first time ever I feel like I have moved to another step in the process of making a dream in my life come true. Even if the manuscript is passed on, I at least have got the chance to know what a full manuscript request feels like. I will tell you it feels incredible, amazing, and it is pure JOY.

A Writer’s Year in Review: 2020

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My husband snuck this shot on the morning of December’s #PitMad Competition as I sent my first tweet out.

I like many am so ready to see the end of 2020. It has been a terrifying, heartbreaking, and odd year. It has also been a year of new opportunities for me as well. I started the year professionally, with a massive promotion to run the marketing department for a national company, and was chosen to represent the company at the largest national conference in the country in February in L.A. At the same time I was head-hunted by another company and given the opportunity to grow further professionally and work at the global level. I started the new job that is in the business events industry on March 4, 2020- talk about timing. I stayed with the company until I was furloughed and then recalled, then furloughed indefinitely in the fall. It was a wild, sad, and soul crushing experience.

While I tried to hold onto my professional career, I finished my Master’s degree this past May. That was an enormous accomplishment, and I am proud of myself that I did it. While there was no party, or even a graduation ceremony, it did not diminish my joy that my degree was finally finished.

Writing wise, 2020 has been a productive year. I started the year writing a novel, about two love interests with tragedies in their lives. The two characters have to rescue each other- thus turning the trope of knight on horseback upside down. I am planning to self-publish this book in the first quarter of 2021. It will be my first published novel.

As the pandemic gripped the U.S. and much of the globe in the spring of 2020 I published Quarantine Stories on the blog. I came up with the idea walking down the beach in Malibu, CA. on the earlier mention work trip. I wondered what romance would look like in a time of quarantine and lockdown. I wrote 20 short stories and published them here on the blog. The short story format was a new one for me, and I enjoyed the challenge.

As summer started, I found more and more people asking me if I was going to make Quarantine Stories into a book. I thought about it and decided to give it a shot. I wrote five additional stories that are exclusive to the book, and went through the process of self-publishing. My husband and I have put out a magazine for our business for years, but self-publishing a story collection was entirely different. I walked all of the way through the process and I sold more copies than I thought I would but it was far from a bestseller. In full disclosure I didn’t ever expect it to be a bestseller. I had two things against me, I’m an unknown author and it’s a short story collection.

In September my professional life crashed and burnt as my time with the job that I’d started in March became a different type of Covid victim. My children were also starting remote learning at the same time. Rather than look for another job right away, I wanted to take some time to take stock and possibly change directions. I also became a full-time mom again, just when my family needed me most. This time off also gave me the time I had so desperately wanted to really focus on my writing.

In the fall, out of nowhere a truly unique story idea came to me, and I completed my second novel of the year. It’s working title is Willow, after the main female character. The story is set in the future where marriages are not made via love matches but breeding compatibility. This was different from my normal romance writing in setting and time. It was a fun novel to write and I am so grateful to my husband for bringing me my laptop and coffee each morning, encouraging me to keep writing. I have yet to reread through it for the first time, and I only hope it is as good as I think it might be.

I also did A LOT of querying this year. I put out two books to query and had what I would call great success in Twitter’s #PitMad contests. I was able to snag agent “likes” with each round. This past December was my greatest interest yet, and I am continuing to wait for news as I write this. I pitched the two books I’ve queried this year, Sailing in Silicon Valley, and The Lake Michigan Affair.

As 2020 draws to a close, I have put my efforts into editing the book that I started the year writing, the one about the two lovers who rescue each other. I plan to self-publish it in the new year, if I have not signed with an agent yet. I am excited to put out an actual novel in story and length. I also feel that this novel is much more of my style of storytelling.

Looking to the positives of a new year, and the opportunities it brings, I’ve started to look for a new job to put my career back on track. Once I hear back from the #PitMad agents, (hopefully sign with one) I can move forward querying or finally start down the traditional publishing path. I also hope to compete 2 or 3 new novels in 2021. I can feel the muse starting to come to life again, and the spark of an idea is there…

So to all of my readers, I wish you a very happy, safe, healthy and productive New Year!

BOOK REVIEW: In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren

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So, I am just going to be upfront, and say, I am not a fan of romantic comedies, nor romances with warm cozy feels. It’s just not my thing, and that’s okay. I understand for some that is totally their jam, and that’s cool. Earlier in the year I bought a copy of Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren. The book had the right amount of sweet, sexy, and drama for me. I really liked it. Granted there wasn’t gun play, or super high-stakes that would pull the love interests apart but it still kept me glued to the story.

I subscribe to the Smart Bitches Read Read Trashy Books newsletter, where they reviewed Christina Lauren’s newest book In a Holdaze. I was intrigued by the glowing review, and I remembered how much I’d enjoyed reading Love and Other Words so I decided to give the new one a chance. A time-traveling, holiday themed romance, why not.

Oh man this book had all of the holiday feels-in a good way! 2020 has been one hell of a year for some many reasons, and the holidays were the perfect topping on a crap year. It was lovely to escape to a holiday season where Covid was non-exsistant. We are swept away to Mae’s close friend’s and family cabin in Park City, UT. There is a unique ensemble cast in this book- fellow cabin mates that Mae has spent every Christmas with each year of her life.

Mae has the biggest crush on Andrew who is a few years older than her. She’s had a crush on him since her teen years, and secretly pines for him. (SPOILER ALERT!!) In a uniquely inventive twist to the plot, Mae gets the chance to be bold, and gets to see what life would be like, if she stopped being so afraid, and made big changes to her life, job, and telling Andrew the truth.

Guys, this is one steamy book! The chemistry between Mae and Andrew is almost electric, while sweet and cozy at the same time. Get this, the love scenes in this book are incredible in their intensity without ever describing a body part, movement, etc! It is a masterclass in writing sex. This fact speaks to the talent of the writing duo Christina Lauren. I was so invested in the characters, that I didn’t need descriptive sex scenes.

Normally, a book that has that cozy vibe is so not my thing but I found, particularly this holiday season it was exactly what I needed. It was wonderful to read a book where friends and family could come together and celebrate in a non-Covid world. It was a great reminder of “normal” holidays and a glimmer of hope for the future.

I could not put this book down. I read it in two days in the week before Christmas. I loved Mae’s bravery, and the excitement and sweetness of the relationship between Andrew and Mae. This is a great book, and the time travel in it is great! I found it a little jarring at first, but I felt that it was intentionally written that way, so we feel just like Mae. I highly recommend this book, it’s a fun, easy read with well-rounded characters.

I liked this book so much that when my husband gifted me a copy of the Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren for Christmas this year, I dug into it right away. This one is more of a traditional romantic comedy so far (I’m six chapters in) but I’m enjoying it so far.

Life is Vivid, Rich and Creative Right Now.

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Life truly is beautiful!

So I finished another novel over the weekend. As cliche as it sounds, I dreamt this one too, or at least the basis of it. I am always fascinated in the ways that inspiration comes seeping up into my writing. I think there was a lot of influence from current events and the political landscape. This work was a little different than anything I’ve ever written before. It is set in the future in an ultra-conservative/ religious America, where birth rates have dropped and the ultimate goal is to repopulate the world, but as a romance novel. It sounds strange but guys, it came out so incredible!

What I found particularly interesting with this book is that at no point did I have a major attack of self doubt. With every book I’ve ever written, right before the halfway point I usually have this sense of doubt, like the story is garbage, the characters aren’t believable and I should just stop writing. Most of the time I push through this feeling and in the end, I am usually really pleased with the finished product. To this point, I’ve not produced a work, where I’ve thought, eh you should’ve stopped. With this newly completed project that doubt didn’t come, and I don’t know if that means anything or not but I am grateful.

It really is the strangest thing, life has changed so much in the past six months, from reaching major career goals, and moving to the top of my field to now being home and writing full time. Life is weird guys. I was thinking back to a conversation I had with an old boss last year, we were talking about homeschooling and while I loved and romanticized about the idea, I never saw it in my future. I couldn’t put my career on hold to educate my kids. A year later, my kids are home elearning and I find myself being a part time teacher to support my kid’s education. What is also neat about this is my kids are seeing me write. My daughter has taken to becoming a writer herself and often writes short stories during her breaks. They’re dramatic and dark, and adorable.

So, two months into being a full-time writer, I am really loving it. I feel so pleased to have completed another novel. The last one I finished was in February pre-Covid, career change, furlough, and life basically turning upside down. I am really excited about the book I just finished, I really think it may be some of my best writing yet. I cannot describe how wonderful the feeling is to get up in the mornings and know that I have all day to write. For so long, I worked full-time, while completing my Master’s Degree, and I still managed to write. I would write after my kids went to bed in the evenings, on lunch breaks, or on weekends. Now I can write whenever the mood strikes and it is WONDERFUL!

As I write this blog post I am looking out the window at my treeline on my property rich with fall color. I know how odd this must sound, but I feel like everything is richer in experience this year, even the fall colors in my backyard. I don’t know if this is because I have the time to sit back and enjoy them or if they are truly more vibrant. I feel the same about my writing right now too, it just seems more substantial for some reason.

Creatively, all cylinders are firing right now. What I find truly amazing was that I really pushed to finish this last novel so I can start my NaNoWriMo novel. I already have the idea, and I know where the story will goes. This is unheard of at least for me. Normally I search for months thinking of the perfect idea of my Nano book. This year, the idea came hard and strong, and I was like, well finish the novel you are currently working on and you can start on your next one. Seriously, muse?!? Believe me I am not complaining! If I can pull this off I’ll have completed three novels this year and one short story collection… WOW! I am not bragging, I am just in awe of my endeavors especially in light of everything going on with a global pandemic.

In between writing, I’ve also been querying for my first book Sailing in Silicon Valley. While I have yet to get a bite, I am still pressing forward. I’ve also been toying with the idea of releasing The Lake Michigan Affair, which is a novel I wrote for my first NanoWriMo. It is the story of a devout woman who falls for a Catholic Cardinal, together they put everything on the line for their love. I queried the book for over a year, and after countless rejections, I think I might just self publish it. I’ll be interested to see how the book does on Amazon. My only experience is Quarantine Stories, which has met my expectations sales wise but hasn’t been a massive hit. I know that I have a few things working against me there, first I am an unknown author, second it’s a short story collection, and third short romance stories are kind of odd.

So in the meantime with the five days before NaNoWriMo starts, I’ll do a little research about the next project. I will also continue to query for Sailing in Silicon Valley. Overall, I will continue to enjoy life with all of the vivid richness it seems to possess right now.

A Romance Writer’s Guide To Creating the Perfect Romantic Evening (Home Edition)

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Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our fourteenth wedding anniversary. Each year we mark the day by doing something special. Sometimes we do something big but most years it’s just a dinner out. This year we had originally planned to have a big present to each other- we were going to drive from L.A. to San Francisco along the Pacific Coast Highway. We planned the trip in early 2020 thinking Covid would most likely be over– Ha! As summer turned to fall it became very clear that travel would not be happening. So we thought we’d maybe go away for a weekend locally, my sister offered to generously lend her condo to us. We watched as the Covid numbers rose drastically over the past two weeks in our part of the country. Our anniversary would be celebrated at home.

My poor husband who loves to travel, is having a difficult time not being able to see the world right now. On top of it all, yesterday Chicago announced that people from Indiana are not allowed into the city right now. We are within the Chicagoland area but live across the border in Indiana. While this might not seem like a big deal, we do a lot of the cultural activities that the city has to offer, along with shopping and dining. All of this being said, I realized we would have an anniversary unlike any other. I was going to have to put my romance writer’s brain into overdrive to make a special romantic day. That being said, where most people I know are emotionally exhausted from staying at home and our new way of life.

So here is a romance writer’s guide to the perfect romantic evening…

Start with the menu!

This is the one element that may take some pre-planning so start here. Think about what your mate likes to eat and go from there. As it was my wedding anniversary we recreated the dinner that we ate at our wedding. Here is our menu for our romantic evening:

Starter:

Cheese Board & Cocktails

Main:

Filet of Beef

Sides:

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Steamed Spring Peas

Sauteed Mushroom

To Drink: Best quality Red Wine

Dessert:

Chocolate Cake (My husband’s favorite)

Perfectly grilled steaks on our wedding china.

Now, Set the Mood!

Candles are your friend. I went through my house to the rooms I knew our romantic evening would take place in, setting candles ahead of time, and a lighter in each room. This gave an intimate glow and keep the lighting dim and cozy.

Don’t forget your music! You can’t have a romantic evening without it. I am such a huge fan of Frank Sinatra and music in his genre so this was the soundtrack to most of our evening. We finished our evening with Nora Jones, as one of her songs was our wedding song. We danced after our dinner in our kitchen amongst the candle light- believe me this was incredibly romantic.

The Little Touches:

So I’m not evening going to begin to say when the last time I was dressed up was. I used to wear heels, and make-up almost everyday in my pre-covid life. But with furloughs, and job losses my daily uniform is most commonly a pair of leggings and sweatshirt. Make-up- ha! I haven’t done a full face of make-up in months.

Make-up, a Martini, and Frank

So prior to our evening starting, I made myself a martini, put on some Frank and put in some extra effort for our night. A full face of make-up, a dress, complete with heels. I even put on my wedding pearls. I had fun putting myself together, and I found that it actually gave me butterflies. I was excited for our at home date.

When I came downstairs, my husband was nibbling at the cheese board and his jaw fell. I didn’t tell him I had planned to do anything special. I walked around the room and lit the candles and turned on the music. The effect was immediate. My husband who is a t-shirt and jeans kinda guy excused himself and returned equally dressed for the occasion- it was a nice surprise.

The Sweetest Anniversary Card from our kids.

But what about the kids?

We have two school aged children at home with us. So you must be wondering how that worked? I explained to them what a wedding anniversary was and I showed them wedding pictures. They got it… sort of. I’m all about keeping it real so I’ll show my hand. There was a bribery as well. I fed our children dinner early and told them each they could watch their iPads until 9:30 pm. They were thrilled. There was also the promise of cake. I told each of them if they stayed in their rooms for the evening they’d be rewarded with a slice of cake when the hubs and I had some. Deal done! For the most part they did really well too. We were even presented with a card while we had our cocktail hour, and the kids finished up their dinner, in a separate room.

Bribery Cake… I mean dessert.

Keep your Partner in Mind:

My husband and I have been together for a while an now and I know what he likes and doesn’t. I am confident in saying he knows my likes and dislikes as well. When you’re trying to plan a romantic evening, keep you partner in mind. Pro tip: the more you try to make the evening special for your partner- the more special it will be for you in return.

Upon reflection, I can honestly say yesterday was one of the best anniversaries we’ve had so far. Sure, it wasn’t on the beach of the Pacific Ocean, but boy it was something really special. I am so grateful for a spouse who was as committed to making our night special. I realized this morning, that while we may be stuck at home for the foreseeable future, it doesn’t have to be boring. I think we’ll do an at home date night more often. Sure, we may not pull out all of the stops but just enjoying each other is special.

Fourteen Years ago!

Being a Full-Time-ish Writer One Month On

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My nightstand reading pile.

Hello all. Boy time flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it? A little over a month ago I stepped away from my job in the corporate world to devote my time writing full time AND to assist my kids with their elearning. As the school year for my grade school aged children began, it was apparent that something was going to give, and I made the choice to step away. That being said, I recognized that there was an opportunity to fully lean into putting my efforts towards writing full time. My husband who is also an author, fully supported and encouraged this course of action.

So one month in, I have a lot to show for this past month. I self-published my first book! This was a huge deal for me. It’s the first time I’ve ever done this and boy is there a learning curve here. I was lucky enough to know how to use Adobe to layout my print edition, and cover design. I also had to learn Amazon’s KDP for the ebook. Page numbers, author accounts, and royalty structures, there was and still is so much to learn. BUT… It’s been fun so far. I am grateful to have had the time to dedicate towards, instead of having to sneak it in after work or on lunch breaks.

I’ve also continued to query for another completed novel that I wrote a few years back. My dream is still to go the traditional publishing route. I sent out my first round of queries in early September, and I am surprised to say I’ve heard back from most agents, granted it was a pass, but that’s okay. I will say the more I query, the thicker my skin gets, and that is a good thing. I queried last year for a different novel, and almost hit the 100 query letters sent mark. So querying continues and I’ll keep you all updated on any developments. I just keep reminding myself it only takes one yes, to change your life. Keep going!

All of this being said, while all of these endeavors are relevant to writing, they’re not actually writing. So I am happy to report that I’ve started writing a new project. I’m about 20K words in, and while it’s still a romance, it’s different than anything I’ve ever written before. Set about a hundred years in the future, in a new America, how will Willow find safety and love? So far the writing is going very well. That is in part to my husband who has shoved my computer, headphones, and coffee at me each morning to write in the seclusion of my bedroom while he readies our children for their day of elearning. When the school bell rings, I stop writing and am plugged into their needs.

I’ve been lucky enough to be able to write here and there during the day, between math lessons, and snacks, but overall it’s not a productive time for writing. So I’ve learned to use this time for other writing endeavors, such as marketing Quarantine Stories, learn KDP, or read. I’m reading an excellent book right now, Conjure Women by Afia Atakora. This story is so enveloping that it completely sweeps me away. I try to sneak in a chapter here and there, but I find that when I pick this book up, I am unable to put it down.

In addition to all of these things, I am also settling in at home, which historically has always been the death nail for being able to be home full time for me. I have found that clearing closets, gardening and learning how to quilt have been great cures for writer’s block. I am enjoying this time to be home with my family, and being able to be truly “plugged-in” to family life. When I think back to this time last year, working full time, finishing grad school and still writing, I wonder how I managed, but somehow I did. This thought spurs me on to continue writing, and pushing myself. If I could do it then when life was busier, I can surely do it now, and do it better.