Gerald Everett Jones's Blog: Gerald Everett Jones - Author, page 44

CKQ3 – Can you picture Willa’s house in Pasadena?

Christmas Karma Question #3
It’s a Craftsman house much like this, but imagine its curb appeal somewhat less impressive.
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Photo 123r

Willa hasn’t been motivated lately to keep the place up. It’s not on the wrong side of the tracks, but it’s not next to a mansion, either. It’s the house Willa grew up in. She and her hubby Norm paid off the mortgage, and her mother continued to live with them after her dad took off for destinations unknown. She’s sure it’s her house – until he shows up!

In my humorous novel Christmas Karma, Willa Nawiki gets a series of surprise visits from friends and family – just a week before the holiday and when she’s totally not ready to talk to anyone, much less clean her house.

So why not let Willa’s story lighten your mood as a break from your holiday tasks?

During the holidays, buy the Kindle or EPUB for 99 cents. Gift the paperback or download the Audible book to your phone.

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Amazon (Paperback, Kindle, Audible)

Barnes & Noble (Paperback, Nook/EPUB)

 

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CKQ2 – How do you feel about friends or relatives dropping by unannounced during the holidays?

Christmas Karma Question #2
It’s that time of year to open your heart, but maybe your living room isn’t quite ready?
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Photo 123r.com

They’re always so cheerful – because they had time to get ready!

In my humorous novel Christmas Karma, Willa Nawiki gets a series of surprise visits from friends and family – just a week before the holiday and when she’s totally not ready to talk to anyone, much less clean her house. Most surprising of all is when her crusty father shows up. He’s been gone for years!

So why not let Willa’s story lighten your mood as a break from your holiday tasks?

During the holidays, buy the Kindle or EPUB for 99 cents. Gift the paperback or download the Audible book to your phone.

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Amazon (Paperback, Kindle, Audible)

Barnes & Noble (Paperback, Nook/EPUB)

 

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CKQ1 – What does your guardian angel look like?

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Angel by Francesco Bartolozzi

Christmas Karma Question #1
Do you think you have a guardian angel? Or perhaps you call her / him / it your spirit guide? Etheric double? Sage self?

This one bears a strong resemblance to my local reference librarian as she points the way to a shelf in the upper stacks.

I don’t think an angel can get you a better airline booking. Maybe the determination to find yourself something better?

In the opening chapter of my humorous novel Christmas Karma, Willa Nawiki’s guardian angel explains why Willa isn’t at all ready to cope with the holiday – and that an angel can’t clean her house or decorate a tree.

So why not let Willa’s story lighten your mood as a break from your holiday tasks?

Starting today, buy the Kindle or EPUB for 99 cents. Gift the paperback or download the Audible book to your phone.

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Amazon (Paperback, Kindle, Audible)

Barnes & Noble (Paperback, Nook/EPUB)

 

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Answers on CreateSpace Migration to KDP

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I named my small press LaPuerta Books and Media – “la puerta” meaning “the door” in Spanish. It’s all about the unlimited opportunity of self-publishing.

Robin Quinn of Quinn’s Word for Word Asks Me About My Experience Migrating POD Paperbacks

My longtime friend and colleague Robin Quinn, who is herself an expert on book development, asked me for this contribution to her blog. As you might expect, the migration from CreateSpace to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Print on Demand (POD) for paperback production was not quite as automatic as Amazon promised it would be. #amwriting #selfpub

http://quinnswordforword.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-buzz-on-books-more-interview-1.html

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It’s About Boy-Girl Chemistry and Failing Ever Upward

[image error]When I was in high school, my chemistry teacher approached me and asked with a sly grin, “You interested in mining?” I told him absolutely not. I was going to be a writer. Little did I suspect that he wanted to send me to a student conference on metallurgy where I could seek the fellowship of like-minded teens on a minimally supervised road-trip to the Big City. Undeterred by my abrupt negative response, he grumbled, “Well, you’re interested in mining your own business, aren’t you?” And he sent me anyway.

Now I realize I should’ve listened more carefully to everything he said.

I wrote about a particularly instructive episode in my studies with this crusty chemistry teacher – and my comely lab colleague – in my short story “Chemistry,” which is featured in my collection Boychik Lit. In that book, I include six short stories about coming of age, failing ever upward, and boy-girl chemistry. There’s also a glib essay on the fiction genre (only?) I call boychik lit.

It’s a Kindle book (also EPUB). It’s cheap (but not slutty) and a quick read on your smartphone while you’re waiting for her to finish in the bathroom.

Boychik Lit Kindle

Boychik Lit EPUB

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Remember, Russian Dressing Isn’t Even Russian!

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Watch for these #fakenews Liar’s Tricks before you forward that post to all your friends…

Change the order of events. Reverse cause and effect to make the perpetrator the victim.
Accuse the accuser. If you’re guilty, blame your innocent opponent before the news breaks.
Stretch the analogy. You can generalize all you want if you reinforce the reader’s existing opinions.
Focus on a side issue. Pick one that’s hot so you can distract from the real story.
Release late Friday. Or after the closing bell.
Confuse with “alternative facts.” If you can’t quash the rumor, create multiple bogus versions of events to bury the story in noise.
Point to anomalies as trends. This scorching day means more drought to come.
Use a pitchman. Lying people are more interesting than honest graphics.
Animate your charts. Shorten attention spans and reduce study time.
Use nonstandard chart formats. Make eye-catching puzzles out of your boring facts.
Abuse the Net Promoter Score. Just because they sent you a survey doesn’t mean they intend to improve anything.
And, no matter what you do, leverage emotion! Leverage anger or strong sentimentality to cloud the logic and make it go viral.

There’s more in How to Lie with Charts: Fourth Edition (Paperback or Kindle)

 

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Art Crime whitepaper included in Scholar’s Edition of the art history novel

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Who were these people really?

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The fictional version of the story is now backed up by peer journal documentation.

This special scholar’s courseware edition of Bonfire of the Vanderbiltsincludes the full text of the novel, along with the author’s research whitepaper “Deconstructing the Scandalous Narrative of The Baptism,” which appeared in the Fall 2016 issue of The Journal of Art Crime. Also included in the endmatter are:

Extensive research bibliography
Rare photographs from the private collection of the painter’s family
Links to related audiovisual supplementary materials, including the recording of the author’s presentation on the The Baptism to the American Art Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

In 1892 Paris, Julius Stewart painted The Baptism, a Vanderbilt family scene that contains an embarrassing secret. In the novel, art historian Grace Atwood becomes obsessed with the painting and its hidden clues for reasons that have more to do with her personal ghosts. Either her doting husband is trying to make her think she’s crazy, or she really is in the early stages of dementia.

Praise for Bonfire of the Vanderbilts

“I must say, I am impressed with your sleuthing, your imagination and your ability to weave a story. Your theory is fascinating, and I personally would be quite excited if any piece of it proved true.”  —  Carson Joyner Clark, biographer of painter Julius Stewart

“Alva Vanderbilt Belmont would be very grateful to you for researching a Vanderbilt family painting – as will all the family. And as I do. Historians keep us alive!”  —  Margaret Hayden Rector, Vanderbilt biographer, author of Alva,That Vanderbilt-Belmont Woman

“Of the many inquiries we get, this has been the most interesting in a long time.”  —  The Very Rev. Harry E. Krauss (retired)

“I think you’ve done an extraordinary job of researching and speculating on the painting. You’ve certainly convinced me that this was a Vanderbilt affair!”  —  Mary Sudman Donovan, Historian, Episcopal Church USA, Author of A Different Call: Women’s Ministries in the Episcopal Church, 1850-1920

The new Scholar’s Edition is available from booksellers worldwide in EPUB or Kindle formats:

Amazon Kindle     B&N Nook

 

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‘Choke Hold’ Paperback Giveaway on Goodreads

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Goodreads Book Giveaway


Choke Hold
by Gerald Everett Jones

Giveaway ends November 27, 2017.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

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New Rave Review for Choke Hold – a crime novel about police brutality

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This from D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer for Midwest Book Review:

Choke Hold sounds like a legal thriller, but it opens with a dose of unexpected humor: “Putting a law firm above a funeral home might seem an unwise marketing decision. But the price was right on the rent.” Both businesses are struggling, and both proprietors are involved in civil rights issues in their community which take them away from their appointed positions and into dangers which include confronting injustice and murder.

Subtle humor is injected into a story line that holds emotional connections, action, and social issues alike (“Whenever they turned on the waterworks, he could feel the size of his retainer shrinking…So, here she was – no cash, no credit – and probably (and this was the real challenge) with no idea whatever where chubby hubby had his assets hid.”). The infusion of all these elements into a story that ultimately revolves around murder and survival makes for a multi-faceted production that is, in turn, a gripping story of lost causes, choking situations, and heartbreak.

It should be noted that Choke Hold is replete with descriptions of urban noir culture and a sense of the urgency of race relations in the 1980s. Issues of oppression and justice are wound into the overall story of character choices and interactions, making for a saga that takes one man’s ill-fated encounter with the police and expands the tale to demonstrate its wider-reaching impact on individuals and the community.

What happens when authorities and justice systems don’t seem to care about injustice and the outcome of brutality?

Choke Hold succeeds in posing some hard questions in the course of its descriptions of a personal injury lawyer’s special challenge, making it a top recommendation for those who like police and legal procedural mysteries tempered by a healthy dose of social inspection and a light dash of wry humor throughout.

Choke Hold is now available in paperback and in EPUB (Nook) and Kindle formats.

One practical result of this book’s publication could be to encourage debate about whether to bring back the inquest process in police-involved wrongful-death cases. I’ve read that even some parties in law enforcement and the judiciary think that such a prompt, open process could help defuse public anger and improve communication based on facts rather than rumors.

 

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Wuddya think? Do I need new glasses?

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Martin Scorsese can make any movie he wants. Gerald Everett Jones can make any book he wants.

That’s fair.

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