J.S. Bailey's Blog, page 11

The Continuing Saga of Jenn Versus Deer

So I've had this problem of deer coming into my yard and utilizing my plants as a sort of outdoor buffet line. Everything I plant gets eaten. Strawberries? Entire plants gone without a trace. Pine trees? They add those on the side as a garnish. Lately they've taken an interest in one of my apple trees, which is maybe six feet tall at the most. Last month the tree bore many beautiful white blooms which soon either fell off or ended up in some Bambi's stomach. Many leaves replaced the blooms, a...

Busy, Busy, Busy...

I know, I haven't posted much on here this month. I've been polishing up the manuscript for Rage's Echo, which is more of an epic undertaking than writing the rough draft. I haven't even been reading as often, either, which stinks because there are LOADS of books I want to read and I just don't always have the time to do it.

Anyway, I self published my Christian speculative fiction short story "Vapors" earlier this month, and it is now available only in the Amazon Kindle store. I designed a ni...

"Sinner's Lament"

Sinner's Lament
By J. S. Bailey
Copyright 2012

I want to talk but no one's hereThere's no one close and no one nearAnd though I walk and breathe I'm deadFrom unseen wounds in heart and head.
My soul is gone, and with it, loveThe One who cares dwells up aboveOr all around, I cannot seeBut God, no one will talk to me.
I'm freaking out, I'm losing touchIt's getting all to be too muchTo breathe is torture, life is painLife's gonna make me go insane.
I'm sinking, slipping, swallowed upWhy would you...

The Genesis of Story

"How do you come up with ideas for your stories?"

I'm sure that most, if not all, writers will hear this question in their lifetimes. It is a good question. How do we come up with all those nifty little ideas that eventually turn into short stories or novels or poems?

Every single bit of information that we receive through our senses is, in essence, an idea. A sad song on the radio. A delicious morsel savored at a fancy restaurant downtown. A bit of gossip uttered in a whisper as you walk past ...

"One Small Jar"

 (Author's note: I wrote this nearly a year ago. Sometimes putting memories into words helps ease the pain, though it is doubtful that the pain will ever truly be gone until I breathe my last.)


One Small Jar
By J. S. Bailey
"Conception came out," he says(conception? no, no, you're wrong)then puts it in a jar and leaves.A jar so smalland lifeless like the tomb it is.i want to see i want to see my baby(Why would you want to?)"Sure," she saysthen picks the jar off the counterlike it's nothingAnd...

The Tale of a Pseudo-Pseudonym

There are many reasons that an author may choose to use a pseudonym for his or her writing. Maybe he writes both action-packed Westerns and steamy romance novels and doesn't want to baffle his fans by using the same author name for each genre. Maybe an author's given name is Hcnsiuygewr Ykjbd and wishes to use a more easily pronounceable moniker on his books. Maybe his given name is identical to that of an already-published author or a celebrity. Or maybe he just hates his name. The possibili...

Pseudo-what?

There are many reasons that an author may choose to use a pseudonym for his or her writing. Maybe he writes both action-packed Westerns and steamy romance novels and doesn't want to baffle his fans by using the same author name for each genre. Maybe an author's given name is Hcnsiuygewr Ykjbd and wishes to use a more easily pronounceable moniker on his books. Maybe his given name is identical to that of an already-published author or a celebrity. Or maybe he just hates his name. The possibili...

Meet the Author: Erin Healy

Good morning, readers! Today we give a warm welcome to novelist Erin Healy. After editing fiction for many years, Erin began to write novels of her own by collaborating with author Ted Dekker on the novels Kiss and Burn. Healy's more recent works include Never Let You Go, The Promises She Keeps, and The Baker's Wife. Erin's next novel, House of Mercy, will be released in 2012 through Thomas Nelson.
First of all, tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? When did you first start...

You Know You've Been Reading Too Much Koontz When...

I have a confession to make. I am a Dean Koontz junkie. I have read approximately ten quintillion of his books--I swear there really are that many--and, after having read them, I noticed certain changes in myself. I am distrustful of strangers. I think that people follow me wherever I go. I start freaking out during thunderstorms because I think it's a sign of the apocalypse. I've begun to wear a toupee and Hawaiian shirts for kicks. (Just kidding about that last part.)

For lack of anything be...

Doubt

Am I too young? Do I know enough about the ways of the world? Do I know enough about God? Am I too young to write about God? Am I too inexperienced to channel my own pain and suffering into characters who have never lived? Am I putting too much of myself into my work? Will I find my writing too immature a year from now? Two years? Ten? Am I too young?

What if nobody likes it? What if I've pushed the envelope too far? What if I haven't pushed it far enough? What if it has already been done by s...