Jen Castleberry's Blog, page 8

Darcy and Narnia (And Etsy, oh my!)

Oh my god, if I could write a Darcy, I would. One day, maybe I might. If I could travel back in time, into a fairytale place, I would snatch him right up. Although I might not live in Jane Austen’s zip-your-lady-lips England. Can you imagine Darcy in Narnia? I’ll take a bit of Turkish Delight with my brooding, pretentious, devastatingly handsome ass, thank you.  If you could experience any literary romance, in any literary setting, who would you choose, and where? Leave it in the comments! Happy

Poetry and Etsy Art Prints

I am a secret lover of poetry, and in college, (many a moon ago), I thought I had a pretty good hand for it. I dug out my old Five Star while spring cleaning this morning and happened upon some okay, and some not-so-okay, pieces. Here's an okay one. Mine Eve, the sea, wherein her undulating folds, soma, a'rest, and ethereal,encased by fluid skin, my soul. Somnolent, adrift, in genesis,and tranquil sanctuary. Luminous, my soul! paling the bleak, Cimmerian sea.My dwelling, these cavernous depths,

Backyard Bunnies and Bunny Classics

We started the day with a sweet miracle. The last of our yearly spring bunnies ventured out of its nest and hopped on to bigger and brighter things.  We’ve been keeping watch over this litter and their sweet mama every day while the doggies begged for a chance to join us.  I found the nest empty this morning and the last little straggler nosing its way along the perimeter of our yard.  It found the hole its mama had burrowed out beneath our fence and poof, it was gone! Have a lovely life, tiny

Blog Tour!

The Fantastic Flying Book Club will be hosting a blog tour for CARGO from May 18th - May 24th!Stay tuned for all the fun, and in the meantime, spend a few minutes (cough, hours) perusing FFBC!  

4-3-2016

Hello, everyone! I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus from the blog this past month, but I’m back with a bit of exciting news!  CARGO will soon be available in print!  Look out for a paperback version on Amazon in mid-April!  I’ll be doing another giveaway, too, so check back for updates! The REVIEWS tab above has gotten a bit of a spruce!  Check out the book bloggers who’ve been gracious enough to feature CARGO! Book Two has a name!  STOWAWAY!  It’s well on its way and should be debuting this fall! 

2-14-16

Happy Valentines Day!  It's been a little while since I've blogged, and there's been big news in the interim!  CARGO is doing exceptionally well!  It's sold 30 copies, and was recently downloaded 1,339 times during a two-day free promotion!  1,708 KENP pages have also been read, which comes out to roughly 11 copies.  So I'm counting readership at about 1,380 total in under a month!   Seven positive reviews and one critical review have been posted to Amazon, and the positivity is outstanding.

01-31-16

CARGO has been launched on Amazon Kindle, and I’m a mix of residual nerves and budding excitement. Every day that passes, every sale, and every review puts me more at ease, but I think it will be a long road before I celebrate myself.  I still want the approval of others, of readers.  I want them to love these characters as much as I do.  I want them to see every inch of the world I’ve created.  I want them to want more.  In thirteen days, Cargo sold 26 copies, and I’m learning more about

1-26-2016

As the first month of this new year comes to a close, I am reminded of my resolutions, and the scariest and most important of these is this: to be myself, publically and unashamedly. (Although I’ve wondered many times over if qualifiers such as these set the bar out of my reach.) I have kept the dearest parts of myself locked up for years, just barely allowing a peak to anyone, desperate to protect my own self-assessments. I have an idea, and a firm idea, too, of what my strengths are, where I

New Years Day

When I was small, I read my stories out loud, I illustrated them and gifted them and I was proud of them.  As I got older and more uncertain of myself, I tucked my dreams of authorship into a secret place.  I never let them out to stretch their legs unless I was alone.  I kept whole worlds locked away, utterly terrified of ambush, of how the opinions of others might ruin them and me.  But in 2016, I pledge to swing wide the gates and let down the drawbridge and invite the world in.  Whether or

12-24-15

Merry Christmas Eve! I'm lucky to have today and tomorrow off, but of course, I've spent most of the holiday tweaking the manuscript.  I can't help myself.  Hours slip away when I'm writing, which confirms for me the legitimacy of my quest for professional authorship!  If I have been lucky enough to discover a hobby that brings me so much joy, then I should embrace it to the fullest extent that I possibly can!     In the midst of all this editing, though, I cannot forget to embrace the little