First Cup of Coffee – September 12, 2025

My topsy-turvy, exhausting week, introducing exciting new changes to this podcast and my social media - welcome Sydney! - and why GRRM being at 70% now and 70% three years ago doesn't mean no progress.

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Transcript

00:01.18
Jeffe Kennedy
Good morning, everyone. This is Jeffe Kennedy, also writing as Jennifer K. Lambert, author of Epic Fantasy Romance. I'm here with my first cup of coffee.

00:15.97
Jeffe Kennedy
Just delicious. Today is Say It With Me, people. is Friday. Woo-hoo! um September 12th. And, yeah, it's been a week.

00:29.06
Jeffe Kennedy
It's been a week, I think. No matter where you are. ah So many things, so many things. um And I almost don't know where to start. actually I actually take that back. I don't know where to start.

00:44.88
Jeffe Kennedy
Let me start with my week. Personally, i apologize for no podcast on Tuesday. That's because I was um taking my mother back to Tucson.

00:59.83
Jeffe Kennedy
So the visit did not go well. She ended up staying for four days instead of two weeks and only wanted to go home.

01:13.09
Jeffe Kennedy
So she um much prefers being back in her house with her friends and doesn't want to be here even for a visit of any length.

01:27.02
Jeffe Kennedy
So there we are. So I ended up driving to Tucson back and forth twice in nine days, which was exhausting and a lot and not at all what I had planned on or hoped to do.

01:45.72
Jeffe Kennedy
So, so yeah, it's about, um, seven and a half hour drive, eight with stops. Um, so I, you know, Did a podcast last Friday, but in case you didn't hear that one, I drove to Tucson on Monday, spent um Tuesday handling some financial stuff for my mom and various business things.

02:10.16
Jeffe Kennedy
Drove her back here on Wednesday, ah had a few days here and then um Monday drove her back to Tucson, drove back here on Tuesday.

02:27.09
Jeffe Kennedy
and uh yeah that was a lot so i'm feeling more rested today yesterday i went to um 10 000 waves and got my body and soul massage treatment with my favorite practitioner and so like those of you out there who have been listening for a long time and i've heard my ruminations on self-care and what does that mean and trying to figure out you know like When is it spending money on yourself frivolous frivolously and you know I don't know the whole the whole money thing right you know like how much do you put money away for the future and I know a lot of people are worried about money right now especially in the US s with um the billionaires apparently not happy to have uh most of it they want ours too.

03:23.94
Jeffe Kennedy
But um

03:27.03
Jeffe Kennedy
08.15 Yeah, so I am doing this massage this treatment. Um, once a month and it's funny because I have been getting this treatment from this same guy karma at 10,000 waves. So I highly recommend for longer than I've lived in Santa Fe probably 20 years now and When I first moved to Santa Fe, I thought I'm just going to come and get this treatment all the time.

04:01.92
Jeffe Kennedy
And did that happen? No, it ended up being that the only times I really went up to 10,000 waves, which is this great Japanese style spa up above town on the ski road ah up to the ski area.

04:21.43
Jeffe Kennedy
Um, yeah, the only times I go are like when people were in town visiting. So yeah, it's a funny thing, isn't it? So, you know, like I came here as a tourist and went there and but then once I was local, I stopped.

04:40.72
Jeffe Kennedy
So and I just remember I forgot to get my locals discount yesterday. I really need to remember to do that. It's 10% not inconsiderable because it's kind of expensive.

04:51.84
Jeffe Kennedy
And when I said to my friend Megan, you know, that I was doing this, she said, oh, because you're rich now. And it's like, well, I'm not rich now. And I worry about like, am I putting enough money away for the future?

05:05.25
Jeffe Kennedy
Since I will be pretty much on my own that way. I figure.

05:11.98
Jeffe Kennedy
But it's that. You know spending money on self-care right this monthly massage cost less than I pay someone to clean my house both of which are arguably. Um, what optional disposable income kinds of things. so

05:30.88
Jeffe Kennedy
Um, what do they call that discretionary discretionary expenses. It's not food. It's not shelter. Ah, but yeah, I am.

05:45.27
Jeffe Kennedy
I've been doing that now for three months since um well actually for right July on the September October because when Kelly was here we did that and then I went ahead and I've been doing a thing where when on my way out I make the reservation for next time so that way I don't fall into this um you know oh I'll make that reservation at some point. I'll think about it tomorrow.

06:18.01
Jeffe Kennedy
So I've done that now for three months in a row, August, September. but I'm sorry, July, August, September, three months in a row. What are what is time? Um, and I'm, I'm feeling proud of myself that I like committed to doing this and, um, no, it's not cheap, but it's also so good for me.

06:38.92
Jeffe Kennedy
and going to see him monthly. He's starting to learn like where I keep tension and what parts need work and all of that kind of thing and amusingly he did comment that my body was much tighter this time than last time and I'm like gosh I wonder why.

06:56.75
Jeffe Kennedy
wonder if it was like wearing myself out driving back and forth from Tucson.

07:04.43
Jeffe Kennedy
Sitting in the car right. So, um, but yeah, anyway, I feel like I deserve some sort of 90 day chip, right? Maybe we need like, like AA has, uh, the self care society SES, um, where you like get a chip for keeping up with some kind of, uh, self care activity. That is something you would tend to dismiss as being a frivolous expense or too much time or not worth it.

07:40.08
Jeffe Kennedy
I like this idea. of So sort of segueing into ah the next thing, because I was thinking, oh, could put Sydney on creating that if we had a reader discord or something.

07:55.79
Jeffe Kennedy
Because, so this is the other big thing, is this is probably not the last podcast. Don't tense up. ah The last podcast I will be doing on my own.

08:10.52
Jeffe Kennedy
I will still record the podcast, but I did hire someone to take over my social media as I wished wishing, hoping and praying ah express the intention to do and steadfast listener, John, a Judah bar suggested a recent graduate of his. He's a professor and professor film.

08:40.51
Jeffe Kennedy
ah And this gal Sydney is now officially ah my social media assistant and I have met with her a couple of times.

08:54.27
Jeffe Kennedy
And she has ideas people ideas with a capital I and starting with this podcast. So one of the things I'm going to be doing is as soon as I record this.

09:08.56
Jeffe Kennedy
I'm going to pop it in a Dropbox folder for her and she is going to I know. Okay. i want you all to just take a breath. She's going to edit it.

09:20.66
Jeffe Kennedy
I know we are going from no production value to i wouldn't say ah cream although I think she'll probably do a great job but she's going to make this hair thing professional.

09:35.44
Jeffe Kennedy
Uh, so we'll see. She wants to put an official intro and outro on it. She says, and lest you be worrying, I don't know if you are, uh, but lest you, lest you do, uh, she is wants to keep the fresh and conversational style.

09:56.28
Jeffe Kennedy
Uh, so we'll have that low production value quality of chatting over coffee, but, uh, she will edit out the various mistakes and so forth. And like if I end up cutting it halfway through. so some of you know, like when I've done, uh, two separate ones, cause I don't want have to figure out how to splice it together. I think she will actually splice it together and she will do things with keywords and she, she's very sweet. She's y'all. She's great.

10:30.03
Jeffe Kennedy
Uh, she, uh, rather gently asked if I would be open to ah a better microphone to approve the sound quality. And so I've basically given her carte blanche. I'm like, just tell me, tell me what you want me to do.

10:45.80
Jeffe Kennedy
Um, I learned what a Finstagram is. Did you all know what a Finstagram is? This is why i've I've been joking about it, that I've hired hired a certified young person ah with capital letters.

10:59.39
Jeffe Kennedy
So a Finstagram is ah fake Instagram, which is, it's still on Instagram, but it's like your, it's your more personal Instagram account.

11:14.30
Jeffe Kennedy
So you have like the one for the brand on the books and then you have the one for i assume things like pictures of deer and the sunflowers. So and apparently the young people TM expect people to have this.

11:31.56
Jeffe Kennedy
So she's gonna start handling all that stuff for me expect changes but it shouldn't be hugely hugely different.

11:44.15
Jeffe Kennedy
I'm Killian's prowling his way through it but I think he's fine. Ah, it'll be interesting to see. Ah, and she's also going to like instead of having like the whole thing on Instagram we'll just have snippets so you can like get the I don't know a highlight or something.

12:05.07
Jeffe Kennedy
I am washing my hands of it and I'm very excited to um, Regain some time that I spend doing these things or to not to put too fine a point on it to um actually get some social media things done that I have not been doing.

12:24.18
Jeffe Kennedy
I know I really feel like I've fallen behind this summer. But now we are in the fall, which to me always feels like new beginnings. I don't know if that comes from, you know, like i always love September and the start of school.

12:39.16
Jeffe Kennedy
This is my favorite season. It's gorgeous season in New Mexico. There are sunflowers everywhere. I should put a sunflower picture on here.

12:50.63
Jeffe Kennedy
um I suspect sidebar that with Sydney we will probably not have daily pictures anymore.

13:01.16
Jeffe Kennedy
Those will be on the fence to gram no doubt. Um, but um, she'll probably like brand it with the logo and make it be all official and like I know who am i what has become of me.

13:19.34
Jeffe Kennedy
Ah, Yeah, but so, you know, beautiful autumn with these golden sunflowers and the blue skies and it's just um the air is crisp and the sun is melting hot and it's delightful. It's just, it's perfection. I live in paradise and I'm getting my act together again. I had planned to start writing Magic Reborn this week that got blown out of the water, obviously with the extra trip to Tucson.

13:52.10
Jeffe Kennedy
So now I am, ah i just wrote off this week. I thought I'm going to catch up on business. Why is it? I'm always catching up on business, right? But I am. I'm catching up on business.

14:04.93
Jeffe Kennedy
I am.

14:09.36
Jeffe Kennedy
I'm finally going to set up my new laptop that I bought. I didn't want to mess with that in the midst of revisions. So.

14:20.32
Jeffe Kennedy
yeah do that I'm I'm mostly caught up on financial stuff. I'm hoping to finish that out today. Disperse funds for the first time in a couple of months. Fortunately, it's not a lot of money so people shouldn't be too mad at me.

14:37.53
Jeffe Kennedy
Um, yeah, so so I feel like I'm kind of slowly getting a handle on things.

14:47.95
Jeffe Kennedy
Uh, and I was going to say something else. Oh, I've been invited to Tucson festival of books in March. So I will be there and doing that. That should be great. Um, and there was something else that was kind of fun.

15:04.23
Jeffe Kennedy
oh I'm going to be doing an event. If you are local to nuwebo Mexico to New Mexico, down in Albuquerque, There is a bookstore called books on the Bosque and I am going to be doing an event there on November 2nd.

15:20.28
Jeffe Kennedy
So that should be really super fun. Uh, and so then the other thing I wanted to talk about, i think this is funny as because after bubonicon a few weeks ago, I talked about chatting with George, George R. Martin about just things and like The mean person at world con saying since he was going to die soon would he have someone else finish his books um spoiler.

15:50.93
Jeffe Kennedy
He is not going to die soon. He's doing quite well.

15:57.34
Jeffe Kennedy
But I talked about that if you're. a steady listener, a regular listener, then you, you will have recalled me talking about that. And I also brought up that he had told me that he's 70% of the way through that final book for ah song of ice and fire that game of Thrones series.

16:15.32
Jeffe Kennedy
Well, amusingly to me, anyway, some of the, uh, George RR Martin van cast people picked this up.

16:26.54
Jeffe Kennedy
I probably like looking for search terms and so forth. And if you're listening from that, you know, welcome. that's That's great. I don't talk about George all that often. There was a fair amount made of me saying that I'm not close friends with George, um but we're friendly, which I feel like is still accurate. by that, I mean, you know, like he knows my name and we sit and chat and we have lunch and dinner together and I've been to his house, but I am not an intimate person.

16:56.82
Jeffe Kennedy
friend. I you know where we're collegial

17:02.68
Jeffe Kennedy
but i mean it was funny because someone did tag me on Instagram saying could they share the stuff from the podcast and I was like yeah sure I mean probably you know publicly published podcast and thank you for asking. It was very considerate and thoughtful and polite but yeah sure.

17:22.99
Jeffe Kennedy
ah But then they pressed me for more information, you know, like, could I say anything else? And I was like, yeah no, because i don't know, Georgia's private life. Right. Um, but, but, but I do have a point.

17:37.32
Jeffe Kennedy
I think what's salient is because like my own Google searches turn this up, you know, and they say, oh, well, um, you know, that I reported this. 70% and they're saying which is the same place that George says he was three years ago He hasn't progressed any and I want to explain to you all something about percentages and writing books because apparently I don't know this isn't clear to everyone because the other thing that George said is that this is the longest book he's ever written.

18:07.86
Jeffe Kennedy
So let me explain that if you are 70% into 100 page book which is a very short book but I'm just going with round numbers. If you're 70% into 100 page book that means you've written 70 pages of it right.

18:27.78
Jeffe Kennedy
If you are 70% into a thousand page book then you've written 700 pages. So three years ago he might have been at 700 pages into 1000 page book and what George told me is that he told me how many pages he's written so far which I don't feel at liberty to say.

18:52.01
Jeffe Kennedy
Um, but let's say it's 2000 it's not 2000. But if he was if he had written 70 page 700 pages three years ago of a 1000 page book and so he was 70% through but he has since figured out that this is going to be a 2000 page book then 70% of that is.

19:19.22
Jeffe Kennedy
i had to do the math really quick on this. ah I want to make sure i I knew what I thought it was, but I wanted to double check it. 1400 pages, right?

19:31.98
Jeffe Kennedy
Still 70% in because it turned out to be a longer book, but that doesn't mean he hasn't made progress in the last three years. He may have written 700 pages in the last three years. He may have doubled the length of what he's written so far.

19:48.57
Jeffe Kennedy
So going with that percentage doesn't really tell you all that much. Um, the book is coming along with winter right. All right. On that note I am going to get this uploaded probably for the last time doing this on my own.

20:05.57
Jeffe Kennedy
Uh, and um, look forward to on Tuesday Getting a whole new whole new first cup of coffee experience.

20:19.75
Jeffe Kennedy
All right. um You all take care. I will talk to you on Tuesday. Bye-bye.