First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy
First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy
First Cup of Coffee – March 6, 2026
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I'm back to the old format! We wish Sydney well in her new job and now you get me unedited again, but also on video. Bug or feature. Also, AMONG THE THORNS ARCs are here!
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Thank you for listening! You all take care.
00:01.66
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.
00:17.08
Jeffe Kennedy
Delicious. Today is, say it with me, people, for the first time in a long time, right? It's Friday! Woo-hoo! March 6th. march sixth
00:30.69
Jeffe Kennedy
Um, and regular listeners will realize that I've going back to the old format. Um, slight difference. I'm still using fancy new microphone that assistant Sidney Sidney had me get. Uh, but I'm on video. So if you are watching this on video, you can see the big honking decidedly phallic microphone.
01:03.20
Jeffe Kennedy
Won't be gross like certain commanders in chief pretending to fellate the microphone, but I do admit it's tempting.
01:14.90
Jeffe Kennedy
So yeah, we're going back to old format. Uh, I really thought it was cool what Sydney was doing, uh, with the, you know, fancy editing and so forth, but I didn't feel like it made a substantive difference. And, um, you all can let me know if you would rather we go back to, um, audio only. I know some people were really missing the video.
01:43.83
Jeffe Kennedy
Um,
01:46.90
Jeffe Kennedy
Yeah, it just um it didn't work out. It was a good idea. it didn't work out the way I wanted it to. And the lovely Sydney has gotten a brilliant new day job. So we wish her very well. And she needs to devote all of her time to that.
02:06.26
Jeffe Kennedy
And I wanted to get some other things going to ramp up because um here we are. Soon Among the Thorns will be out. Yay! And look what I got.
02:18.07
Jeffe Kennedy
Look what I got behind me here. If you are on video, you will see that I have Arcs of Among the Thorns. I love this cover. Isn't it beautiful?
02:29.78
Jeffe Kennedy
I love the um subdued, subtle quality of it. I'm definitely going have to have orange nails for book tour because I'm definitely going on book tour again for this very excited next week I will be at Tucson festival of books.
02:49.66
Jeffe Kennedy
I will um. I'm doing a couple of panels. Let me see if I can tell you easily what I'm going to be on.
03:05.04
Jeffe Kennedy
Um, well, I actually let me do a little pause here.
03:14.10
Jeffe Kennedy
Okay, here we go. I am on two panels, both on Saturday. one is at 1130 in the morning, and I'm going to be on there with Alex Harrow and Julie Long with, uh, Victoria Saliko.
03:30.54
Jeffe Kennedy
I'm guessing on pronunciation of her name, moderating, uh, on how to heal a heart. What does it cost love when you've cost to love when you've been broken, ah Join us as we discuss crafting relationships that simmer and take the art of emotional intimacy and why sometimes the slowest burns leave the deepest marks.
03:55.75
Jeffe Kennedy
I can love that. And then the other panel that I'm on is at two thirty and this is creating worlds that breathe.
04:08.86
Jeffe Kennedy
Again with Alex Harrow we're going to be besties at this festival. Every great fantasy begins with a world that feels lived in but how do you build a universe? from scratch join Alex Harrow Adrian Young and Jennifer Lambert as they discuss building fantasy worlds that feel real. They will compare notes on the research and imagination required and just how they craft unforgettable settings. Um, and that one is matter moderated by Natalie Polston.
04:41.75
Jeffe Kennedy
Um, so I'm very excited about being at Tucson festival of books next week. It's just simply a fantastic festival. I went to it a few years back and it's amazing plus it works out well that I can see my mom.
05:00.22
Jeffe Kennedy
It is her birthday on Monday.
05:05.27
Jeffe Kennedy
Happy birthday, mommy. I'm trying to decide what I'm going to do for podcast schedule now. um Because we've gone to Friday only because of Sydney's day job schedule. But I'm thinking that...
05:21.33
Jeffe Kennedy
I don't know was once a week good. Should I go back to twice a week. I'm feeling like I should do one Monday because I may not be able to do one on Friday because of the aforementioned Tucson Festival of Books.
05:34.39
Jeffe Kennedy
I could potentially do one from my hotel room, but I don't always do that as we know. Uh, if you have feedback, let me know. Uh, I'm going to try to keep a lot of the same things, uh, that Sydney put in place that you can send me questions and, um, of course you all tag me on social media and ask me stuff anyway.
05:58.26
Jeffe Kennedy
So so yeah mom's birthday on Monday she will be 84. I won't be there till Thursday but we will do some celebrating together at the end of the week and. Um, yeah, I'm looking at also um on Tuesday 10th. is going to be the anniversary of my stepdad's ah death, which is I don't normally pay attention to these kinds of I don't know, is there a special word for a death anniversary, but it's amazing to me that that was two years ago.
06:39.45
Jeffe Kennedy
And I look back on on the last two years and how I suppose I've been visiting this a lot. So sorry if it gets tiresome, but on just how hard the last two years have been, it's just really, um, there's been so much and I think I'm, it's good for me to To kind of observe this I've not really fond of this phrase but I guess it's useful to sit with it.
07:10.52
Jeffe Kennedy
I guess that comes from therapy speak you know sit with your emotions or sit with an idea. As opposed to i don't know blazing past it or dismissing it.
07:22.36
Jeffe Kennedy
um But I think it's good for me to acknowledge that that things have been hard. And um i was it's it's been a difficult week. It's been a rough week for me. um And let's see, we could talk about writing a little bit. I am working on ah Blades, Books, and the Bandit, and I'm still a little shy of 30,000 words. I'm not nearly where I thought I would be this week. I'm also kind of acknowledging the fact that it's the pollen has really shot up here and I do have allergies. So I think some of my not feeling good is from the pollen.
08:04.98
Jeffe Kennedy
But, um yeah, I think these anniversaries do bring our thoughts back around to ah what we're feeling and experiencing and what we're going through.
08:20.76
Jeffe Kennedy
And I think a focus of this podcast from the beginning, and I'm on the eighth season now, I guess, ah is talking about the process of creating and what it's like to be a creative and just you know, trying to maintain your life at the same time. And I think that we all have these, these challenges, right? You know, like how do you um deal with the mundane necessities of life, like keeping a roof over your head, but also dealing with accumulated traumas.
08:56.66
Jeffe Kennedy
My friend who always gives me very good advice was, that giving me good advice, circular argument is circular.
09:07.00
Jeffe Kennedy
ah I was complaining about not getting much written this week because of emotional topsy-turviness and mostly to do with, with my husband.
09:19.62
Jeffe Kennedy
It's my partner. And yeah I said, yes, that, you know, I'm still on track to finish this book on time and I needed to chill. And she said, um maybe instead of telling yourself you need to chill,
09:33.85
Jeffe Kennedy
You can say to yourself, it's okay, I'm worrying now. There are good reasons for that, but it's going to be fine. I'm allowed to worry. I'm allowed to be exhausted, but this will pass.
09:47.19
Jeffe Kennedy
And I thought, you know... ah that's actually really decent advice. And she said something similar to me when I was going through all this stuff with my mom, right? And, and it is better, you know, things do get better. And I guess we tell ourselves these things, you know, like this too shall pass and all of that.
10:07.86
Jeffe Kennedy
But yeah, I think that keeping in mind that it's okay to be upset at the state of the world, uh, that it's, you know, okay to be worried about things and giving ourselves the grace to, to allow ourselves to, to be worried.
10:34.42
Jeffe Kennedy
Yesterday, i had breakfast with the wonderful Jim Sorensen, who is a delight as always. And then I just wasn't getting any writing done for the rest of the day. I was kind of hurling myself at the wall. And I've talked about this a lot, right? You know, like, how do you know when you need to keep at it? And when you are indeed just beating yourself brainless, you And I finally just decided to get some other business done. So I took care of um, some things like my car, my the car i got from my mom, the infinity.
11:10.17
Jeffe Kennedy
I finally got the plates on it. People that took me four trips to MVD. I don't think I told you of my um, trials and tribulations on that and I won't go into it now.
11:24.41
Jeffe Kennedy
But yeah, four trips to MVD to get that done.
11:31.26
Jeffe Kennedy
But it's done now. And I have my beautiful turquoise plates on there. I don't look like I'm a jerk from Arizona anymore, which actually matters to me a whole lot. um And there was something else I got off my plate yesterday morning.
11:47.80
Jeffe Kennedy
oh just figuring out some marketing plans. um I would like to... Do some more stuff getting you all to read love lies and lay lines with the second book coming out in May. So I've got plans for that. And then also among the thorns and doing everything for that.
12:08.36
Jeffe Kennedy
Um,
12:10.61
Jeffe Kennedy
I'm really excited for all of those things and yeah, it's going to be, it's going to be good. It's just, um, again, feeling like a lot of things. I feel like I had this brief respite where I was all chirpy and like I've closed chapters and things are done and I did, but you know, now I'm sort of looking at the next pile of things that have to get done and, um, that's all right.
12:38.53
Jeffe Kennedy
Um, I did last weekend, let's see, because I haven't talked too well since last Friday. I had a great weekend last weekend. I really did. i um went to yoga class, my favorite yoga class, and it was good to be there. And it was it was kind of interesting because ah my yoga teacher...
13:01.80
Jeffe Kennedy
references the fact that she has to work on being fierce. She's a very gentle person. And um we do have this one pose. If you do Iyengar yoga or anything like that, you will know that there is fierce pose. And so she references this sometimes about how um she needs to work on being fierce.
13:24.31
Jeffe Kennedy
So at the beginning of class, she also live streams it. And she was talking to a few of the people who were on the live stream and the rest of us are all there, you know, sitting on our mats, being meditative and preparing ourselves.
13:37.53
Jeffe Kennedy
And the, someone on through the live stream said that she was very quiet and they couldn't hear her. And she said, Oh, you know, so she's fiddling with her microphone and turning it up and asking, is that better? And yeah,
13:50.33
Jeffe Kennedy
They said, well, kind of. And she said, OK, well, I'll just speak loudly. And so me being me, I called out and I said, be fierce, Melissa. And boy, she took that as the the theme for the class. we We were fierce through the class. We did all kinds of channeling, ferocious energy, and it was a great class. And afterwards, she came and she hugged me and said, thank you for the prompt and the reminder to be fierce. And I think that's a good thing to remember, too. You know, even as we tell it tell ourselves, it's okay that you're exhausted. It's okay that you're worried. It's okay that things are difficult.
14:29.53
Jeffe Kennedy
oh we also can channel that inner ferocity to meet the world with this, you know, that we um can speak up, that we can hold a strong pose, right?
14:46.49
Jeffe Kennedy
We can have that shining light that is our boundary that we tell people, you know, no this is this is who I am and and these are the things that are important to me and that that i ask to be respected if you want to be part of my life.
15:08.09
Jeffe Kennedy
So, um, and then I brunch with my friend Megan afterwards and did some errands. I got a bunch of things done and Sunday i got the garage entirely. Well, not entirely cleaned up all of the stuff that I brought from my moms. It's either put away, stacked up somewhere. of There's stuff in my office here. You could probably see in the background if you're on video and you know, I have art to hang. i have some art I have to sell, still have to sell the Lexus. Um,
15:36.82
Jeffe Kennedy
Um, but these things are getting done and I was able to get my car back in the garage because things are at least pushed off to the side. And I think this weekend I'm going to work on really cleaning out the garage more.
15:49.98
Jeffe Kennedy
So, so yeah, that'll be good. And we shall see. Um, yeah, so it was funny after I was feeling really good about accomplishing all those things, then it got to be a difficult week after that.
16:09.05
Jeffe Kennedy
So, um, but that's life, right? You know, sometimes just stuff happens and we get allergies and get emotional tumult and trying to figure out how to work through it or work around it.
16:25.88
Jeffe Kennedy
Um, Yeah. I'm very happy. i think I already talked about this, but I'm losing track of time have the dining room table set up and my grandmother's chandelier hanging. And now I got um the little washers for stabilizing the bezels so I can get up there and get those fixed. I want to get a dimmer switch on the chandelier. I'm going to have a dinner party at some point. um Lots of things, lots of things to do, both, um domestically and with books and marketing and so forth.
17:00.82
Jeffe Kennedy
My um therapist, ah um excuse me, um get choked up just talking about her. um
17:11.35
Jeffe Kennedy
I told her that I was doing all of this rearranging with the house and, you know, getting some of these long delay tasks done. and And she made the excited face. And I said, why is this psychologically significant? And she said, yeah, I think it could be.
17:26.71
Jeffe Kennedy
Um, which I probably mentioned already, but I'll get back on track now that I am, i going to be doing this part of my life again, handling the podcast, see if I can remember how I used to post this and everywhere I had it up and so forth.
17:44.28
Jeffe Kennedy
But, um, Oh, and then the other exciting thing, which is, it's interesting. I mentioned that March 10th is two year anniversary of my stepdad's death. Uh, for those of you who don't know, ah he died as I was trying to, give him CPR. Uh, so that was the first time I've had someone actually die under my hands.
18:09.27
Jeffe Kennedy
Maybe that I've actually watched die human being, So sort of still processing that, but it's also the release day for the Italian edition of never the roses. And it's so beautiful. If you watch my Instagram, um, I've been resharing the publishers, uh, cover and the wonderful graphics that they're putting together. Take a look because, um, Italian roses, I feel like we all need Italian roses right now. Um,
18:42.23
Jeffe Kennedy
So um on that note, I'm going to sign off and figure out about getting this uploaded. And I will probably go ahead and talk to you all on Monday.
18:53.11
Jeffe Kennedy
You all take care. Bye bye.