First Cup of Coffee – August 26, 2025

Things not to say to authors and how George R.R. Martin won't ever let someone else finish his books. Also, wondering if I'm on an uphill trajectory or a peak, and how I'm going to hire someone to do my social media.

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Transcript

00:01.51
Jeffe Kennedy
Good morning everyone. This is Jeffe Kennedy. Also writing is Jennifer K. Lambert, author of Epic Fantasy Romance. I'm here with my first cup of coffee.

00:16.02
Jeffe Kennedy
Delicious. Today is Tuesday, August 26th. a My Aunt Karen's birthday. Shout out to my Aunt Karen. Happy, happy birthday.

00:26.58
Jeffe Kennedy
We've always had very close birthdays together. Well, of course, I'm the 22nd. She's the 26th. So, yeah, my whole life, yeah. apologize that I did not record a podcast on Friday.

00:41.22
Jeffe Kennedy
i know I said I would. I did not. Mea culpa. Yeah. I ended up having to go down to Bubonicon early. And I just um I thought I was going to squeeze in a podcast before I went.

00:55.38
Jeffe Kennedy
And then I didn't. But the good news is is I had a great time at Bubonicon this year. It was amazing. i was Toastmaster and that was fun. i got to interview the guests of honor.

01:10.87
Jeffe Kennedy
And everyone said I did a great job. So that makes me happy. I got complimented several times on my moderating abilities, which is very pleasing to me because I do try hard.

01:24.99
Jeffe Kennedy
Uh, yeah. So, what else? Oh, also, um, thanks to Ashby who brought me this beautiful latte mug that matches my teapot that I got for my birthday last year.

01:39.79
Jeffe Kennedy
um Yeah. So let's see. what's What is there to tell you all? I am doing fine on this revision. I think it's coming along pretty well.

01:53.65
Jeffe Kennedy
I talked about it last week and among the thorns, obviously, and I'm at almost 60% on the revision. So very hopeful that I will get it done by this weekend when I have to go drive to Tucson to get Mi Madre. Yeah.

02:11.19
Jeffe Kennedy
Bring my mom back with her kitties to visit for a little bit.

02:17.26
Jeffe Kennedy
So it's funny because now that Bubonicon is over, which is for those not in the know, our local SFF con down in Albuquerque, uh,

02:30.52
Jeffe Kennedy
It is a yes named for bubonic plague because we are one of the last, if not the last place with a bubonic plague in the wild.

02:43.60
Jeffe Kennedy
So yeah and the, the logo is, is a wrap. Our mascot is a rat. I figured out that this was my 10th year going to Bubonicon.

02:54.41
Jeffe Kennedy
So yeah, that's funny, isn't it? I think I missed one year, but uh, yeah, it was, uh, it was great. A lot of people were there this year.

03:06.90
Jeffe Kennedy
it was, um, we're kind of back up to pre pandemic numbers and yeah it was, um, just a really good time. All the panels were really good. All the conversations were great.

03:22.48
Jeffe Kennedy
I got to hang out with all kinds of wonderful people, um, had dinner with, um, George R. R. Martin one night and his assistant twig and twig and I got to have a breakfast together and catch up.

03:37.32
Jeffe Kennedy
um arkady martine and vivian shaw uh ursula vernon who's also t kingfisher was there we hung out a bit uh delilah s dawson was one of the guests of honor and joe haldeman was the other guest of honor and it was great to get to know joe better and of course love ah joe's spouse partner and turns out financial support for many years gay haldeman uh just really good people uh Melinda Snodgrass was there we had a great time with her uh Darynda Jones got to hang out with Darynda a number of times so that was really nice just to have that friend time with Darynda who else am I forgetting Diana Roland

04:25.01
Jeffe Kennedy
good times hanging out with her.

04:29.89
Jeffe Kennedy
Jim Sorenson, Jim Sorenson got a, uh, a room full of people to sing happy birthday to me, which was very sweet of him. And kind of funny. You think like the restaurant with the sombreros is bad.

04:44.34
Jeffe Kennedy
Uh, a hall full of people singing you happy birthday is like another experience entirely. like But it was, Jim said he asked several people if anyone thought that I would hate it.

04:58.84
Jeffe Kennedy
And everyone agreed that I would not hate it. And I, and they were right. In fact, I did. I loved it. It was really lovely.

05:08.58
Jeffe Kennedy
And it turned out that it was my birthday and the day after the Haldeman's 60th anniversary. 60. Impressive. So, you know, it's a good time of the month, good time of the year.

05:23.21
Jeffe Kennedy
Uh, yeah. So let's see what else I already talked about that. I'm working on this, um, revision, but the revision that will never die, but I do think it's working fine. I think it's working better.

05:40.90
Jeffe Kennedy
um we shall, we shall see. I have been almost done reading Mansfield park, uh, which I had never read. And my friend Kelly had said she was doing a reread of it.

05:56.20
Jeffe Kennedy
So I've, it's been interesting reading Mansfield park because I don't actually know the ending. Um, and I do love it when I can go into ah book, especially one as well known as that, because I've never seen any of the shows either that I don't know where it's going. And I love it when a romance, and this is a romance. I mean, there's a lot of other elements to it, which there are in romances.

06:24.89
Jeffe Kennedy
I should do a little aside to tell you that um I did get referred to as a romance writer ah couple of times at Bubonicon because people at science fiction fantasy conventions always have to say something about me being a romance writer as if I don't write fantasy.

06:42.71
Jeffe Kennedy
And so it's weird because it's people treat like as soon as there's a capital R romance on the story that somehow I've said it many times that it's like the anti-matter and that it cancels everything out.

06:56.71
Jeffe Kennedy
Um, but I want to talk about Mansfield Park. I'm getting summoned by the kitty for rescue. But I don't want to lose my train of thought there. ah Yes, Mansfield Park is about many things. And it's interesting because Austin is sometimes criticized for um ignoring or leaving out or glossing the of the political things going on at the time, but she actually doesn't, you know, it's just there in the background of their lives.

07:27.89
Jeffe Kennedy
And in this one, it's, It's still background. She doesn't go into it, but it's very clear that ah the the Lord of Mansfield Park, he has to go to Antigua for a while to deal with problems there. And it's implied that he's dealing with slave uprising and that that is where the money is coming from. And so she never explicitly goes into slavery is really bad and this kind of thing.

07:55.53
Jeffe Kennedy
But this is something I talk about a whole lot right that I really feel like you want the agenda to be second to story and it's enough. It's enough to have that in there and to have that kind of implicit.

08:10.12
Jeffe Kennedy
Uh, criticism. Austin is very deft in not letting you know who who she as the author thinks is a good or bad person and there are a lot more.

08:24.62
Jeffe Kennedy
very gray, morally gray characters in Mansfield park. Uh, people were, yeah, I'm not sure how it's going to come out. I'm not sure how it's going to fall out with all of the people.

08:35.79
Jeffe Kennedy
And so I've been enjoying the read, although it's been a slow read. I feel like my concentration just hasn't been good. I could tell you when I started this book and it was a while ago.

08:46.48
Jeffe Kennedy
Um,

08:49.66
Jeffe Kennedy
Yeah, I've been reading it all month. I started it on off on August 2nd. So i need to kind of getting some focus back.

09:00.74
Jeffe Kennedy
And so yeah, i kind of touched on this before that I keep feeling like now that we've on a con is done that I am I'm done with travel and I am done with con travel for a little while.

09:16.43
Jeffe Kennedy
but um i do have to do a couple more things of travel with my mom but at least it's not con travel I guess so. Um, all right, I'll go rescue the cat.

09:31.95
Jeffe Kennedy
Okay kitty cat gets hung up and calls for me on his harness. Ah yeah, so let's see Other things it was um Bubonicon is a nice con because it is small and intimate and we're all hanging out in the single hotel bar together a whole lot of the time and so I didn't mention Michael Cassut or Connie Willis did I mention them I got to hang out with them too. There's so many people so many really great writers and creators that are there that it's just um yeah unparalleled.

10:09.94
Jeffe Kennedy
But um Yeah, I went and had breakfast with twig who used to be manager of beastly books which is George's bookstore and now twig is full time assistant to George and really doing an amazing job at it. Everyone was commenting on how well twig is handling that job.

10:30.81
Jeffe Kennedy
It's um part like secretary organizer keeping track of all the things uh anticipating george's needs and of course george is getting a little bit older although you know what he looks great after the opening ceremony as i came out and george walked up to me and uh and was smiling and happy and he was like hi and We talked a little bit about the shithead at Worldcon. Actually, I should tell you, i shouldn't assume everyone knows.

11:01.05
Jeffe Kennedy
At Worldcon, George was on a panel. i I may have mentioned this already, but ah yeah, George was on a panel with Brandon Sanderson. And Brandon Sanderson really got his start because Robert Jordan picked him...

11:16.07
Jeffe Kennedy
to finish the wheel of time series because robert jordan had gotten too old to do it and so he tapped brandon sanderson brandon sanderson finished it and i think very arguably this is what made sanderson's career he's gone on to do other things but yeah. ah so they're on a panel together and someone stood up and said to George since you're probably going to die soon are you going to pick someone like Brandon Sanderson to finish your song of ice and fire series.

11:51.10
Jeffe Kennedy
I mean just going to say this since clearly it needs to be said but don't do this people don't

12:01.47
Jeffe Kennedy
Everybody has understandable frustration that a song of ice and fire is not finished. It comes out of love and passion. People want to know how the story ends besides the HBO miniseries. They want George's ending.

12:13.63
Jeffe Kennedy
They want George to finish writing it. We all want George to finish writing it. Um, but pointing out to him, when he is actually not all that old either.

12:25.55
Jeffe Kennedy
and he's lost a bunch of weight. He's taking Ozempic and he's looking spry and he's feeling good. You don't say to somebody since you're probably going to die soon.

12:42.43
Jeffe Kennedy
And I can tell you all right now with great authority that George and I are not close, but we are friendly. And I can promise you that George is never, ever, ever going to have someone else finish that series for him.

12:56.86
Jeffe Kennedy
ah He's had offers. He's had opportunities. ah He is going to finish it himself. He says it's the longest book he's ever written. He's 70% through it. ah If he says that, I believe him.

13:09.44
Jeffe Kennedy
And he's not going to die soon, people. you know, have some. Have some humanity. know graders are just people who happen to write books right. You know they're not this. um Para social.

13:26.19
Jeffe Kennedy
Quasi human that you get to. and don't know rope into doing whatever you want them to do.

13:35.55
Jeffe Kennedy
So anyway George and I talked about that a little bit and while he was kind of sad about it because he's human and. well um he was also perky and really engaged and having a great time at the con so we don't remember how I got on that.

13:58.78
Jeffe Kennedy
Oh well. um I guess I was talking about oh yes because twig is being his assistant so twig and I went and had breakfast and it's interesting when a number of your friends start talking to you about things like saying things to you when you're hearing Well, you all know I'm, I'm a Dallas. And so I do believe that the universe speaks to us in various ways.

14:22.87
Jeffe Kennedy
And I think that when your friends start saying things along particular themes, that it is partly their love for you, obviously, but also it is a, um, it's the universe speaking to you. It's, it's sending you messages, right?

14:40.09
Jeffe Kennedy
So the Wednesday before Bubonicon, I had lunch with my friend Chantal. Sorry, Minerva Spencer. I probably just outed her, but I don't think it matters. so

14:54.78
Jeffe Kennedy
And she was talking to me about outsourcing some things. And we were talking about, i was saying that I was kind of thinking about outsourcing my social media.

15:08.89
Jeffe Kennedy
And she said she thought I should absolutely do that.

15:14.62
Jeffe Kennedy
Because the thing is, is I'm falling behind. I know I'm falling behind. it's not just the ah skipping the occasional podcast. I know that, you know, like with the Catherine Heigl tick tock thing, that was amazing. And I'm not using tick knock tick tock. Well, I don't like it.

15:31.81
Jeffe Kennedy
And I have long said I've long advised if you don't like a particular form of social media, don't do it because it shows. um but I also need to be capitalizing on that. And I've been falling behind on my, um, you know, Instagram and so forth.

15:51.98
Jeffe Kennedy
Uh, I had to do this year because I left on early Friday morning on my birthday. I missed like all of the Facebook happy birthday posts. I wasn't online all weekend, which was actually really good for me.

16:04.35
Jeffe Kennedy
Um, finding these ways to protect my energy, ah not being online is a big one, but I feel bad because always before I have managed to do individual replies on thank yous to the birthday wishes because I really do appreciate them. I, I love that people wish me happy birthday and sing to me, but this year I just, because I didn't get online until Well, really Monday morning, Monday afternoon, because I had to work first.

16:38.71
Jeffe Kennedy
um So I just did the big thank you post, um which I don't like doing. But and I know a lot of people do anyway. um

16:51.94
Jeffe Kennedy
So yeah, Minerva Spencer was saying, i think that's a really great idea. You should absolutely hire someone to do your social media. So I talked to assistant Carien about that, asked her how she would feel. And she very graciously said, if you want to get a new assistant, you can, I'll understand. And I'm like, no, I don't want a new assistant. She's great at the things that she does. I want someone who will work with her, who will interface with her.

17:16.86
Jeffe Kennedy
Uh,

17:19.61
Jeffe Kennedy
Yeah. And that she would like do a whole lot of making of the calls. So then, so I was like, okay, I'm going to this thing. If anyone is interested in doing my social media, hit me up in comments. You know how to find me.

17:34.76
Jeffe Kennedy
I do look at a lot of my DMS more or less. Anyway, there's multiple ways to reach me. um Or if you know someone really good. But there's a twist. Keep listening. So when I was talking to twig over breakfast and I was sort of regaling in with the story of my book tour and like some of the, like my terrible, awful Saturday, if you're, you've been listening, you know, about that day where like everything was going wrong and you twig was wanting to know how it went and, uh, and if how I felt about traveling alone and generally I felt fine traveling alone. I've traveled alone a whole lot, but also,

18:14.62
Jeffe Kennedy
I was feeling like it would have been helpful to have someone with me. Um, and twig tweak volunteer. you He's so sweet. He is like, uh, that, that I wouldn't have to pay him that if, as long as I paid his costs and that he would just take vacation from Georgia and go with me, just have someone help with like the mental bandwidth of things. You know, like if I had had someone just to handle that stupid thing of finding me a mouse,

18:41.96
Jeffe Kennedy
It would have made a huge difference just in the the mental load. So Twig thinks that I need someone who will be ah physical assistant who can travel with me and do my social media who would you know like I can feed them content and they'll you know remind me to take pictures and help me take videos and all this thing and I don't know twig keeps talking about me being on this upward trajectory and then it's only going to get worse and you know a huge part of me feels like this is the peak and it's all downhill from here.

19:20.17
Jeffe Kennedy
Um I I don't know why that's uh it'll be interesting to see um twig is convinced that it's like skyrocket trajectory but you know I'm not George RR Martin either.

19:34.41
Jeffe Kennedy
We'll see. So anyway. um Yeah, and I don't know who this person would be, but I definitely want someone who is great at tick tock who really loves doing the social media thing who would potentially be willing to to travel with me to some of this stuff.

19:54.92
Jeffe Kennedy
And yeah, I mean, the thing is, is I can't pay a huge salary either. So, you know, it'd be part time, but This is what I'm thinking.

20:06.56
Jeffe Kennedy
So on that note, I am going to get to work on this revision, try to catch up on some of these business things I'm behind on. But I will talk to you all on Friday.

20:18.28
Jeffe Kennedy
You all take care. Bye-bye.