We’re chapter-mates, J.K. and I, as well as month mates – we both have August paranormal romance releases – and she came up with the idea of guesting on each other’s blogs.
J.K.’s new release is Immortal Kiss and her website is HERE. Everyone please welcome J.K. to Alive & Knitting!
Of course, I asked her what else she creates besides worlds and characters…
THE ART OF RELAXATION
by J.K. Coi
I was very excited when Deborah agreed to come on over to my little slice of internet yesterday (www.jkcoi.blogspot.com) and talk about her Dragonfire books. But today it’s my turn, and I wondered what I would say, especially given that this blog is technically dedicated to Deborah’s love of knitting.
But of course, I’m never at a loss for words for very long. Despite our love of writing, and of strong alpha heroes who fall for equally strong, independent women, I believe that Ms. Cooke and I do have a few things in common (if I may be so bold as to say), and I quickly realized that I can contribute something meaningful to a blog such as this.
I don’t knit. Tried it a few times at the behest of my grandmother, and just couldn’t get the hang of it. My fingers won’t move into those positions, and I’m just generally uncoordinated. It’s probably a miracle that I can type as fast as I do. But I do have another outlet, something that I turn to when I’m looking to find a measure of tranquility and respite from my work. While different from writing, it still reflects my need to express my creativity and give vent to my artistic soul.
Stained glass is my “thing”. I started with it even before I was writing. I remember wanting to find something to do with my evenings and the class was reasonably priced and a friend talked me into joining with her. But wow, was I hooked after the very first night. Maybe because this type of art/craft is the kind of thing that you can see yourself doing with a respectable degree of success after just a few lessons, or maybe it’s because once you get started you know there’s a precise, step-by-step formula for getting to the finished product.
First you start with a pattern, which I usually make myself. You have to keep in mind the kind of materials that you’re working with and create your outline accordingly. For example, it’s hard to cut glass in a circular shape. Straight lines are easiest, and you don’t want your pieces to be too thin, whereby the glass will be more susceptible to cracking. You will also want to consider where each piece will be joined to the next and allow for the solder lines.
Once your pattern is ready, you need to make at least one copy of it because you’ll be cutting it up, to paste to your glass and use as a template for cutting the pieces. Once the pieces are cut (using a nifty little scoring tool), you’ll run copper foil along the glass edges, then lay it all out on your other copy of the pattern and start soldering it together with an iron (VERY HOT).
Afterward, it gets polished up nicely and you have a beautiful piece of art for your window, or a lampshade that looks great with the light shining through the different colours in the glass, or in my case—I make Christmas tree ornaments (a quick one-day project for when I just need to work out my writing stress), and terrariums for plants (great mother’s day presents).
Tell me what it is you do to relax after a hard day at work—whether you’ve been writing, or working at the office and you just need to unwind.
Before I go, I want to say thanks so much to Deborah for having me!
J.K. Coi
Immortals to Die for
Please visit me at my website for more information about upcoming books, chats, interviews, reviews, and all things Immortal.
I’m also on MySpace.
I blog at http://www.jkcoi.blogspot.com, as well as with three of my writer friends at http://www.vauxhallvixens.blogspot.com.
PS: Of course I’m going to leave you with some info about me and a little teaser of my second book, Immortal Kiss available now from Linden Bay Romance!
Pick up yours today and find out just why these are Immortals to die for!
Immortal Kiss
Evil lurks in the darkest of shadows, but a band of warriors stands ready to defend humanity against hell’s own monsters—Immortal men hand-picked by destiny and taken out of time hold the fate of the world in their hands.
It has been two years since Baron’s initiation into the world of the Immortals, and during that time, he’s been training with them, setting aside his past to embrace the challenges of his new future…a future without Maxine Deveraux.
Maxine is strong, determined, and loyal to a fault. The last person she wants to have to face is Baron Silver, the man who broke her heart, leaving her without an explanation or even a goodbye. But Maxine gave her word to Baron’s brother Jackson that she’d track him down and bring him home…and Max always keeps her promises.
When Baron encounters a vicious vampire who vows to destroy everything he loves, it doesn’t faze him in the least. He gave up everything he loved along with his humanity. But then the demon attacks Maxine leaving her broken and battered on Baron’s doorstep and he realizes there are still things he can lose…and they are things he can’t live without.
Deborah Cooke: Author 
13 responses to “Guest Author J.K. Coi”
Hi JK! Thanks for coming by Deb/Claire’s blog and teaching us the joys of stained glass. I’m always impressed by that art – so elegant and so pretty. Thanks for the book blurb – sounds great!
LikeLike
Welcome!
I’ve always thought stained glass is beautiful form of art. Thanks for sharing.
My grandkids are my A#1 favorite past time…but photography and reading are the two things that I do to relax.
Great blurb…I’m going to have to check it out!
LikeLike
Hi! Thanks to Deborah/Claire for having me here today!
The Pam, when it’s done right, stained glass is very elegant. But one of the things that makes it so is finding just the right place to put your piece to display it, you have to be cognizant of the light filtering through your glass. Some glass doesn’t need as much light to make it glitter (more transparent glass), but others need to have direct light behind it to really show and sparkle!
LikeLike
Hi Darla! I agree completely. Spending time with my son is my top priority these days, and then my time goes to my writing, so I’ve found my time for stained glass has gotten slimmer and slimmer, but I still manage to make about three dozen ornaments before Christmas and I give them to family and friends for their trees. My last big project was a matching pair of glass doors for my bedroom armoire (beautiful chinese bamboo pattern that I drew myself)
LikeLike
JK,
ah, love the glass work! And a nice cover, too. It seems my tbr pile just keeps getting taller and taller. Okay, so it’s more than just a pile. 🙂
I do lots of different crafts when I take a break from writing. I love making something useful for my writing friends (like customized clip boards) or pretties using photographs. I also quilt–so I understand how pieces need to fit together. 😉 Yep, some projects for quick finish, some for long term work.
And when I don’t craft for a creative release, I cook.
LikeLike
Hi Lizzie! It’s amazing how quickly those piles turn into mountains if you don’t pay attention LOL
I LOVE quilts, although I don’t make them myself, my grandmother does. She makes about one hundred of them throughout the year, and then donate them to the hospitals and shelters in her area for the winter.
LikeLike
Hi JK! I do have your first book of the Immortal and must read it soon. I want to get your two new ones!!! Just at your site reading about them and excited about them!
Wow on the stained glass, its so beautiful. I used to paint (watercolors, acrylics and pencil/charcoal) but been too long. I love too painting ceramics. Someday I must go back to this. In the meantime I love crocheting doilies. Those are crocheting of a pattern that like pineapples (earlier ones) and even more now like flowers etc. So I enjoy those, done with a yarn that is a thread and a small needle. I do crochet afghans too, mostly in the winter, that I donate to senior citizens homes to keep them warm!
LikeLike
Oh Caffey, thank you for visiting! I love watercolour paintings. They have such a soft, wispy quality that really draws me. Although depending on the type of painting and the style somtimes the sharp, thickness of oil paints has more impact.
I’ve actually tried a few different things, painting and pottery included, but for some reason the glasswork is what I always go back to. I have the most fun with it (and I get to steal a corner of my husband’s garage and put my stuff all over the workbench…he he he)
LikeLike
hi, deb – i knit, but my speed is about one sweater every two years or so. i tend to overestimate my capacity to complete advanced patterns and get discouraged. i also enjoy dragons! *g*
hi, j.k. – never tried stained glass, was abysmally bad at painting, and tend to get creative with my children’s photo albums now instead. the finished products look lovely but take so much effort to lay out that they are much younger in the albums than in actual years…
LikeLike
Maya hi! My sister does that with her photo albums too and they look amazing! I can never get them to look nice, it always turns out looking like a kindergarten project, lol
LikeLike
WOW, this has been a great day!
Thanks to everyone who came by to talk about their projects and hobbies. I loved it.
And many thanks to Deborah! Good night!
LikeLike
Hi JK, I liked your excerpt and have it in my wishlist at Fictionwise.
I love crafts, but not so good at most myself, though I have done macrame and wove a few baskets at one time, but not much time for that now. Luckily, my mother and aunts do everything you can name and I have things made by them all over, and my grandmother is the best family knitter and crocheter. That’s a pretty piece, love stained glass. My mother’s done some very nice pieces, it takes time and patience.
LikeLike
Oh Maya, sweaters take me a looooooooong time, too. There’s usually something that goes wrong – or I don’t like or it doesn’t look good on me – so I get discouraged and the project has to have a “time out” in my knitting basket for a while before I figure out what to do and fix it. That’s why I like knitting lace and socks – no fitting required!
Thanks so much J.K. for stopping by to chat. Now I want to learn how to do stained glass and it’s all your fault! LOL
d
LikeLike