One Hex of a Journey

Three and a half years ago I had a witch named Jazz pop into my life. She wasn’t a vague idea or one of those “what ifs” that we authors are familiar with. No, she showed up with a fully history and demanded I tell her story. You figure when a witch informs you she and her entire class was expelled from the Witches Academy in 1313 to be banished to the mortal world for 100 years as long as they behaved and they’re all still around in the 21st century, that there will be some interesting stories there. And boy, were there.

The trouble is, the publisher I was with at the time didn’t like the concept and even if you’ve had two midlist books published, it’s not easy for an author who’s been published in category since 1979 to find just the right home for her work. It meant a new agent who fell in love with Jazz and her fellow witches and who was willing to find just that right home for a snarky sassy witch whose bunny slippers oddly named Fluff and Puff sport razor sharp teeth and were more efficient than a garbage disposal, a cranky ghost haunting this witch’s 1956 T-Bird convertible, a mortal housemate who knows there’s odd things out there, we are talking LA after all!, but still freaks out when meeting a vampire. And not to mention said witch’s vampire ex who was once an enforcer for the vampire community and now works as a PI for the supernaturals.

I was so happy when Deb Werksman at Sourcebooks acquired 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover and wanted more books. She recognized my crazy vision about Jazz and the other witches and let me run with it. And not once has she winced!

And I’m so happy that reviewers and readers felt the same way I did about Jazz and company. Many have told me they’re looking forward to the next book, Hex Appeal, which will be out this Halloween. Look for some fan fiction contests leading up to the book’s release and it will also be carried in Target.

Then, the news always seemed to get better as a producer let us know she’d love to pitch Jazz and crew as a TV series pilot or a movie. So Jazz is moving on out there and needless to say, I’m very happy for her and would love it if she does show up on the small or big screen.

I just finished writing the third book, Wicked By Any Other Name, which will be out next March and features Stasi Romanov, one of Jazz’s fellow witches, who has a few odd critters in her household too, such as a pervert of a gargoyle who likes hanging out in her lingerie boutique’s dressing rooms.

This series is a joy to write and I swear I have no idea what will happen next, but the characters are more than happy to let me know. And Fluff and Puff are right there to help me. My own bunny slippers are pretty quiet, but I had the true Fluff and Puff tattooed on my ankle and they really do look like the real thing.

So yes, it’s been one hex of a journey that’s been fun, crazy and wild all at the same time. We’re just one big happy, slightly freaky family, and one I feel very comfortable with. Hm, I wonder what that says about me. :}

I’ll be giving away 3 signed copies of 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover to 3 who comment. And I hope you’ll all pick up Hex Appeal when it comes out in late October. It would make Jazz, Fluff & Puff happy too.

Could you be comfortable with a family where pretty much anything that can happen does happen? Or would you worry that your bunny slippers might nibble off your toes if they didn’t want to be worn that day?

Linda