J.S. Bailey's Blog, page 6

Portally-Portalness

Hey guys.

Remember this book?






The Land Beyond the Portal was my first published book-child. It came out in 2011. It features a young amnesiac, snow, devious villagers, a missing child, and an evil old dude named Litchfield.

A lot of readers really enjoyed their journey through the portal. So much, in fact, that they begged me to write a sequel.

Well, I never have thought of a way to continue the story of Laura (the aforementioned amnesiac) and her friends. But last week an author friend of mine...

New Name

No, I have not renamed myself. I am still J. S. Bailey. Or Jenn. Or whatever.

This blog was previously Where Daylight Fades. It shall henceforth be known as Brain Problems! (at least until I think of something else) because, well, I'm a writer, and we're all a little insane in some way or another.

By the way, edits and cover design begin for Servant next month! And there's this new subscribey-box-thing above the picture of my computer and shoes on the right-hand side of the screen so you can re...

Brain Problems, Servant, Cool Stuff, and More!

I have been a bad blogger lately. Well, technically I've been a good blogger since I do two posts a month over at www.obeythemuse.com, but THIS blog has unfortunately been neglected for the past several months because my brain is perpetually fried.

I realized what my brain problem is, aside from being fried. Actually it has a bunch of problems. Imagine turning on your radio and having about fifteen stations blast out of it all at the same time. You've got a jumble of classical, oldies, NPR, co...

Writing Tip

Writers: don't tell me a character is beautiful. Show me that they're human.

Amish Vampires in Space

(Wow--three months without a new post. I'm sorry, guys. I'M SORRY!)

So today I'm going to tell you about a book I just read: Amish Vampires in Space by Kerry Nietz.

When I first heard about Amish Vampires in Space, I was just as skeptical as the next person for reasons that should be quite obvious if you know anything about the Amish. The title and cover scream "camp." Just look at that girl's face. LOOK AT HER. And at the body lying on the floor. And at the chicken hidden on the back cover.





So...

Outlaw by Ted Dekker

Author Ted Dekker's latest novel, Outlaw, releases today; and I had the pleasure of reading an advance copy. I have neither read nor reviewed an ARC before this, so bear with me.

I was unsure of what to think when I heard that Outlaw was going to be released. Early reviews stated that it is "different" than Dekker's other works, which, generally speaking, are "different" to begin with. (It is not often that I read novels that contain talking bats, demon-possessed serial killers, vigilante prie...

Deprived

I love Google Street View. You know, when you go to Google Maps and hover the little man over the map, and if you stick him on a street that highlights in blue you can see what it would have looked like if you'd been standing there the moment that the Google Street View car went through.

When I was a child, I would pore over maps for hours, memorizing roads and names of towns and wondering what it would be like to be there. Google Street View has enabled me to finally see some of these places...

Release the Ferrets!

I've never known much about ferrets. I knew they are small, furry creatures that look kind of like weasels, and I knew that they kind of smell.

That was about it.

So when a friend of mine recently asked if I would keep her ferrets while she went out of town for a week, I was uncertain. I said yes because that's what friends do. Little did I know what I would have in store...

Ferret Sitting: Morning 1.

Sinister ferret enjoys skittering around. Attempted to pat on head. Very bitey. Mellow ferret...

How Badly Do You Want It?

I've been busy lately. (Nothing new there.) I've been fiddling around with a few different stories that are in varying stages of completion. I've been rereading the Harry Potter series and loving (almost) every moment of it. I've been promoting Rage's Echo like the dickens. (Quick question: How did something ever end up being "like the dickens"? Why don't we say "like the shakespeare" or "like the hemingway"? I actually don't like the shakespeare OR the hemingway [despite the quote I have her...

That Story Came from WHERE?

A typical question that any writer is going to receive from curious fans is "Where do you get the ideas for your stories?" It's a good question, and one that I love answering because the answer is simple: EVERYWHERE!

My upcoming novel RAGE'S ECHO officially releases two months from today. I say "officially" because I've had copies of my own for a month and I've been selling them to random people I know, because seriously, who wouldn't? But on October 1, you will be able to download my latest t...