Hello Coffee and Crochet lovers,
JenEric Designs, JenEric Coffee, The Travelling TARDIS, Jen Desmarais, and Eric Desmarais will be at this year’s (September the 6th to the 8th) Ottawa Comiccon at the EY Centre.
Come get your coffee, crochet, and books!
We’ll be at booths 2604-2606!
Can’t wait to see you there!
Jen and Éric
Hello Friends, Fans, and Family,
Speculating Canada is an award winning podcast and interview series that interviews fantastic Canadian and genre personalities.
You may remember a few months ago that Jen was interviewed by the wonderful Derek Newman-Stille. You can see her interview on their website.
Well I (Éric) was interviewed last week. It was a lot of fun, and Derek is a fantastic interviewer, steering my hectic mind in a semi-coherent direction.
Go watch the interview on their website.
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
I wrote a list of 5 books for a website called Shepherd. The goal was to curate a list of my favourite 5 books with similar vibes to my own book.
I had a lot of fun writing this list and even more fun reading the books.
I have since read another book that I would add: Skater Boy by Anthony Nerada, but I read it after I submitted to the website, so it missed out, sadly.
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
Hello Friends, Fans, and Family,
Speculating Canada is an award winning podcast and interview series that interviews fantastic Canadian and genre personalities.
Jen was interviewed by the wonderful Derek Newman-Stille. You can see the interview on their website.
It’s a great interview and gives you a great insight into how she works and does so many fantastic things.
Jen says:
I was interviewed for Speculating Canada yesterday!! It was so much fun.
We discuss Queer writing, the interrelationship between craft-making and writing, writing with a community, and writing with a partner (specifically my husband).
It’s a long interview, about 50 minutes, so get comfy!
It certainly made me blush from all the compliments.
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
There’s this site that allows for any picture to be transformed into a digital puzzle. For free. And you can play for free.
I used it for the cover of Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers. See that puzzle here.
And now, here is the puzzle for Crushing It!
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
Here follows the accounts of 2003-version MSN chats between Tommy and Carter, set in the middle of Crushing It as they navigate their long-distance relationship.
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
Download the printable Discussion Guide
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
Crushing It was sent out for reviews in May, and I’ve received some in return. Here’s one from author S.M. Carriere:
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
How do you write an urban fantasy if your main protagonist has no idea that he lives in a magical world? How do you let the readers who are introduced to the Aetherverse in Crushing It know that there even is a magical world, if your protagonist is unaware that it exists?
I had to figure out the answers to these questions once I realized that this book was, well, a book.
I decided to bookend the main content with a secondary point of view; that of Carter, the love interest. He grew up in the magical community and knows almost everything there is to know about it.
In the prologue, he and Kennedy are talking about the imminent arrival of her brother, who Jason wants to keep in the dark regarding the magical community. It’s Jason’s perogative; as the soon to be brother-in-law, he wants to get a feel for Tommy’s character before introducing life-changing information.
Then the interlude shows Carter’s anxiety over keeping such a big secret from Tommy. Will he be upset once he finds out? He won’t be told until the wedding, which doesn’t happen in this book!
Finally, the epilogue is a letter from Carter to Tommy counting down the days until the wedding. His excitement over finally getting to tell the secret is obvious.
The novellette at the end of the book, also from Carter’s POV, starts to really show his strengths and skills… and mistakes.
One of the benefits of leaving the main character out of the loop regarding the magical community: in book 2, I can introduce it to both the readers and the character at once. Not only does this happen in book 2 of Lucky in Love, but the explanation is in book 2 of The Gates of Westmeath as well as a nice little recap! Win-win, in my book! (Pun intended)
I don’t want to spoil too many surprises now, in the hopes that book 2 will be published in the future, but if you want to sneak a peek at what our magical world looks like (and you want to keep it in the Young Adult category), check out Éric’s Baker City Mysteries series! Book 4 came out this year!
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
The Mystery of the Dancing Lights by Éric Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
