Linda Joyce's Blog, page 16

Connections – got them with author J.A. Dennam

I love the game of six degrees of separation.

Some of you are nodding your heads as you read this because you already know that about me.

Some folks on Facebook challenged me, folks I’ve never met before…and it never took a full six degrees for us to find a connection. If you doubt me, find me on Facebook at Linda Joyce and let’s play the game. *smiles*

Connections, I ferret them out whenever I meet someone new. Though, I have, as far as I know, never met J.A. Dennam in person, we are linked through our love of romantic stories. She prefers suspense and adventure, while I prefer the tribulations of family. We are also linked with a Kansas connection. I lived in Olathe, a suburb of Kansas City for twelve years. I traveled all over the state while I lived there. She’s a small town Kansas girl. I’m sure that if we sit and talk about life, we have less than six degrees of separation.

Then, I learned something else that connects J.A. and I – food!

J.A. is the author of three books: Truth and Humility, Flesh of Angels, and Flesh of the Father.

The newest of these is Truth and Humility.

I am pleased to introduce author J.A. Dennam~

Linda: Thank you for coming today. I understand you have four children. Do you make up bedtime stories for each of them?

J.A.: Not often. They are very good at creating their own, though. My girls are actively writing and one of my sons suffers from insomnia like I did as a child. I encourage him to create his own story from beginning to end before falling asleep. It was a trick I used.

Linda: How do you think your fine art and your culinary passions influence your writing?

J.A.: Well, my first heroine was an artist. I incorporated some of my own artwork into the story and one piece even held an important clue to unraveling part of the mystery. How cool is that?? My second heroine was a baker. I loved writing about food especially. For some reason it’s a lot like writing about sex.

Linda: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

J.A.: I’ve put a lot of thought into this. I got nuthin’. Andy Whitfield for sure, but unfortunately he passed away. What a wonderful talent he was and ooooh so sexy.

Linda: What do you do to cure any writer’s block or writing procrastination you experience?

J.A.: I either read other books to rediscover the flow, or pay attention to things happening around me to cure the block. Something ALWAYS pops up that I can run with. For example: In the grocery checkout line, the woman ahead of me bought 4 cans of Easy Cheese. From that, I incorporated the use of Easy Cheese in the torture method that coaxed my bad guy into spilling important information. Also in the first book. I had fun with that 

Linda: Did you discover a new aspect of yourself when writing each of the books?

J.A.: Oh, yes. Whenever I’m in a bind, I try to think like one of my characters. I usually come up with something extraordinary that I wouldn’t otherwise. Then I realize…hey, that was really me!

Linda: What advice do you have for writers new to the process?

J.A.: Read a lot of books while you’re writing your first one. Your writing style may fluctuate, so edit like crazy until it’s consistent from beginning to end. Keep it under 85k words because publishers don’t want anything larger from a first time author.

Links for J.A. Books

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A9PUQSC

Nook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/truth-and-humility-j-a-dennam/1113819061?ean=2940015764178

Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/256666

Paperback copy at https://www.createspace.com/4065432

I hope you enjoyed spending time with J.A. Dennam. If you have questions, you can find her on:

FB – http://www.facebook.com/jadennamauthor

Twitter – @JADennam

Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5783958.J_A_Dennam

Email – jadennamauthor@yahoo.com

Happy Reading!

Linda Joyce

http://www.linda-joyce.com

Picture Me Reading Roundup: Weekly Highlights and Coming Soon/Stacking The Shelves (19)

To ALL my friends, especially those intrepid readers. Check this out! An opportunity for you to make Fairytale magic come to you in this wonderful giveaway.

Smiles,

Linda Joyce

Picture Me Reading Roundup: Weekly Highlights and Coming Soon/Stacking The Shelves (19).

5 Rungs to Building a Social Media Presence

 

5 Rungs to Building a Social Media Presence.

The information offered in the link above from Patrick’s Indispensible Marketing is applicable to any business person, and that includes writers and bloggers.

Recently, someone commented to one of my guest blogger’s post, but the comment had no connection to the post. Instead it was a plea for attention to their blog. Consequently, I deleted the comment.

Take a look at what Patrick has to say and together we’ll increase our Social Media Presence savvy.

Smiles,

Linda Joyce

A Humorist on Becoming A Writer

Come on in and have a seat. We’re all friends here. Let me introduce you to the woman in the spotlight.

Please meet Humorist – Bliss Follower – Writer, Becky Povich.

The photos is one Becky will use for the cover of her book.

Becoming a Writer

In the summer of 2001, I decided to write my memoir. Although I’d only written one chapter, and never submitted any of my writing, anywhere, I felt as if I was being pulled in that direction. Somehow, I sensed I would be able to accomplish the improbable task.

In May of that year, my brother called to tell me our estranged dad was gravely ill and not expected to live. I was shocked with an overwhelming feeling of sadness since I’d always told myself I wouldn’t shed one tear when he died. And I was gripped with panic because I was so afraid I wouldn’t get there in time to say, “I love you.”

I made the trip to Des Moines, Iowa to see Dad, and his health improved. After returning home, I wrote about my emotions and the words just flowed. (Ah, if only it was always that easy!) My essay landed me a spot in a local newspaper, the St. Charles County (Missouri) Journal. When I received the phone call from the editor telling me I was one of the few selected for the occasional column, I knew then that I could write.

Around 2004 I read that Chicken Soup for the Soul was looking for stories for a Father/Daughter anthology. I excitedly submitted the one I’d already written, but it wasn’t chosen. I also submitted one for their sisters anthology which did well, but didn’t make the final cut. Although I was discouraged, I kept plugging along.

In 2007, a story I submitted for Chicken Soup for the New Mom’s Soul was finally accepted and that’s when I felt like I’d really accomplished something. Right after that, I was contacted by a local writer who also had a story in the same anthology. She suggested we meet and talk about…..what else? Writing! Her name is Linda (no, not Linda Joyce!) and I am so grateful for her encouragement from the moment we met. It was through Linda that I heard about the various writing groups in the St. Louis area, joined a couple of them, read at Open Mic Nights, attended workshops and conferences, and gradually learned there is so much about writing that I didn’t know. Especially about good writing, great writing, and the importance of finding the perfect critique group….for me.

During those years I was fortunate to have other essays and stories accepted for anthologies, a couple of magazines, and I was a frequent contributor to a small Iowan newspaper.

So, even though I talked about writing my memoir in 2001, and worked on it off and on for such a long time, I finally completed it in November 2012. During those eleven years, I also gave presentations at schools and library events about Going for Your Dreams and never giving up no matter how long it takes. I think I’m a great example because I celebrated a big birthday last month, my 60th and my memoir is coming out later this year: From Pigtails to Chin Hairs: A Memoir & More.

Thank you so much, Linda Joyce, for inviting me to be a guest blogger! I truly enjoyed it and I hope your readers will also enjoy learning a bit about me and my journey to become a writer. Becky Povich

http://www.beckypovich.blogspot.com

Please feel free to e-mail me Writergal53@gmail.com and/or visit my blog http://www.beckypovich.blogspot.com

You can learn more about me and find other very interesting people on my blog list.

Tuesday Teaser and a cocktail--Bayou Born with Linda Joyce

Reblogged from Believing is Seeing:

Today, Linda Joyce joins me for a Tuesday teaser and cocktail.

It’s five o’clock somewhere...in the Bayou

Many thanks to Sandra. I appreciate this time to share with her and her readers.

There’s nothing more relaxing than kicking back with a good book and a cocktail in hand. Before we settle in, we need to gather the ingredients to ensure a tranquil time.

Read more… 364 more words

Come on over! Join me. Let's chat about books and mix a cocktail. It's never too early for a mock-tail...and that counts as a mixed beverage. :-)

The Winners Are…

The party is over. Until next year.

Cherly Hart, Ginny Lynn, and Lisa Burton are the winners from the Mardi Gras Quiz!

This is my good-bye to Mardi Gras.

I hope you enjoyed the journey with me. To see the moment-by-moment adventure, they’re on my Facebook wall.

Last Night…

Silent cleaners with rakes scrape broken stands of beads into the street. Millions of small plastic bags that once wrapped Mardi Gras beads no longer line the edges of the curb. The semi-sized street cleaner with its swirling under-carriage brushes has washed the street clean by squirting detergent and buffing the asphalt like our grandmothers used buffers to polish their wooden floors. A battalion of “billy-goats” line up elbow-to-elbow and roll down Canal Street, just like the Krewes before them, only the goats erase any remaining hint of any celebration.

The last hint that Carnival lived? The purple, green and gold beads dangling from the ornate metal sign at the hotel where I’m staying.

That, and the photographs taken, and my many memories.

Let the good times roll!

Linda Joyce

http://www.linda-joyce.com

You can’t live without DREAMS

Dreams are essential to the human spirit, or that’s my opinion. I believe in pursuing dreams…and I accept that sometimes the dream is fulfilled in the journey of the pursuit of the dream.

I would like some company over at Five for Fiction where I have shared (bared my soul) about my Top 5 Dream Dates. Please share yours, too. (Yours might inspire me to dream bigger!)

Smiles,

Linda Joyce

http://www.fiveforfiction.com/2013/02/brilliant-bonus-blogger-linda-joyce.html

http://www.linda-joyce.com

ahhh…Dream Dates

(Photo through Microsoft Clip Art, though it says the photo is from http://us.fotolia.com/microsoftclipart?xc=MP900442511)

Greetings!

Yes, it’s Dream Date time tomorrow. Can you guess what my Top 5 are?

Have you given any thought to yours? Have they been updated in a while?

Or are you the Lucky One who has checked many off their list?

On Tuesday, February 12th, I’m a guest at Five for Fiction. I’m inviting you to join me there and let’s talk Dream Dates!

http://www.fiveforfiction.com/

Smiles,

Linda Joyce

Mardi Gras is Tuesday! And you can win a prize~

© Copyright 2013 Roy Tennant, FreeLargePhotos.com.

This is the last Mardi Gras post. I’m feeling a bit sad about that, yet looking forward to going home to participate in THE party.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the countdown with me to Fat Tuesday. Music and the culture rock everywhere in New Orleans. The scent of fried seafood and spicy gumbos can be found on every block of the city.

Have you discovered something new about the City that Care Forgot?

Today marks the start of the big finale that will conclude at midnight on February 12th.

Then, the police will clear Bourbon Street, the last holdout of riotous partying in the French Quarter. The strike of midnight ushers in Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

We will be slipping into the city early Saturday morning. Promptness is required or we won’t make it to our hotel before the police barricade the streets, particularly Canal, to make a clear path for the parades coming through. We want to avoid parking on the street and leaving a car full of luggage.

While in NOLA, I’ll be collecting beads and other “throws.” I’m going to pack them up and bring them home, then offer them as prize. Throws are collectibles and a coveted item. I’ll also include in a copy of my book, Bayou Born (mailed at a later date after the print release of April 12).

Here’s the gig.

I’m posting a quiz. The answers to which can be found by reading my Friday Mardi Gras posts. Leave me a Reply with your answers to this blog post. All folks with all correct answers posted between now and midnight CST on 2/12 will have their names tossed into a hat for a drawing.

>**If you would prefer to keep your Quiz Answers confidential, go to my website, click on Contact, and send me a private email through my website.

I’ll post the winner by the end of February.

(The winner will need to send me a mailing address for a location within the USA.)

Quiz:

1. What’s the true name of the riverboat in the movie; Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?

2. Which musical artist wrote and performed This City?

3. Who is my favorite Blues man?

4. What’s the calling card of a riverboat?

5. What’s the name of Susan Spicer’s restaurant?

6. What part of my Mardi Gras costume did Ginny Lynn Harrison make?

7. Who were my guest bloggers on the topic of Mardi Gras?

8. When exactly is Twelfth Night?

9. What is my husband’s favorite meal in New Orleans?

10. What are Mardi Gras colors and what do they stand for?

I hope you have a purple, green, and gold good time on Tuesday.

Let the good times roll!

Linda Joyce

http://www.linda-joyce.com

A slice of American History: The Red Kimono

It’s a great honor to introduce author Jan Morrill and to share the news of her newest novel, The Red Kimono from the University of Arkansas Press. The book will be available next month through the University of Arkansas Press, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

I met Jan five years ago at a conference in Oklahoma. A month later, we spent a week together at the Writer’s Academy at West Texas A&M University where we attended classes with New York Times Best Selling Author Jodi Thomas. It was a memorable week for all students.

It’s often said that you can’t really know someone unless you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. While I haven’t walked a mile in Jan’s, we do share common connections. Our mothers are Japanese, and there is no escaping the sensibilities from an upbringing of a Japanese mother. Also, both Jan and I grew up as dependent children of career military men.

Jan was born and mostly raised in California. Her mother, a Buddhist Japanese American, was an internee during World War II. Her father, a Southern Baptist redhead of Irish descent, is retired from the Air Force.

The Red Kimono, as well as many of her short stories, reflect memories of growing up in a multicultural, multi-religious, multi-political environment.

Her award-winning short stories and memoir essays have been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul books and several anthologies. Recently, she was nominated for the Pushcart Prize for her short story “Xs and Os,” which appeared in the Voices Anthology. An artist as well as a writer, she is currently working on the sequel to The Red Kimono.

Here’s a peek into The Red Kimono:

In 1941, racial tensions are rising in the California community where nine-year-old Sachiko Kimura and her seventeen-year-old brother, Nobu, live. Japan has attacked Pearl Harbor, people are angry, and one night, Sachiko and Nobu witness three teenage boys taunting and beating their father in the park. Sachiko especially remembers Terrence Harris, the boy with dark skin and hazel eyes, and Nobu cannot believe the boys capable of such violence toward his father are actually his friends.

What Sachiko and Nobu do not know is that Terrence’s family had received a telegram that morning with news that Terrence’s father was killed at Pearl Harbor. Desperate to escape his pain, Terrence rushes from his home and runs into two high-school friends who convince him to find a Japanese man and get revenge. They do not know the man they attacked is Sachiko and Nobu’s father.

These three young Americans–Sachi, Nobu, and Terrence–will spend years behind bars and barbed wire. One will learn acceptance. One will seek a path to forgiveness. And one will remain imprisoned by resentment.

Linda: Jan, what sparked the idea for The Red Kimono?

Jan: Two events in my mother’s life always made me wonder how I would feel if I had been in her shoes. One event was the internment of her family during World War II. She rarely talked about the years of her internment, which was from the age of seven to eleven. But I do remember my family stopping once to visit the desolate area of Tule Lake, where she’d been in “camp.” As I tried to imagine what the camp must have looked like, my mother stood by with tears in her eyes. She told me that day that if I’d been born back then, I, too, would have been placed behind barbed wire. It was something I could hardly fathom at the time, as I’d never even been to Japan.

The other event was the murder of her father by two Black teenagers shortly after the family was released from internment. Though he was killed for the five dollars in his pocket, I took that event and created a fictitious story around it.

Linda: How did you do research for the book?

Jan: I read several books about the internment, including Only What They Could Carry by Lawson Fusao Inada and To the Stars by George Takei. Also, much of my research was done on the Densho.org website. This is a fascinating website of archived documents and videos of interviews with former internees. I also watched several documentaries on the internment, including Time of Fear, which was produced by the University of Arkansas. Over the years, I’ve visited several sites of the internment camps, such as Rohwer, Heart Mountain and Tule Lake, as well as the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. Of course, nothing beats the first hand stories of my mother and her family.

Linda: What were some interesting discoveries that you made during your research that didn’t make it into the book?

Jan: I have to say, I tried to include most of the information I found in my research because I found it so interesting and important. However, sometime after I finished writing the manuscript, I visited the Japanese American National Museum and met a very friendly docent named Frank. He was probably in his eighties and took us around the museum, telling us stories from his past. He told me several things I did not know, and that I was not able to include in the book, since not much of the book focused on the actual war. However, it makes the stories no less fascinating.

I learned that the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a unit comprised of Japanese-American soldiers, rescued the Lost Battalion and suffered over 1,000 casualties in the process to rescue 216 men trapped behind German lines. My mother’s oldest brother was a member of the 442nd. (I wrote an essay on my uncle being awarded the Bronze Star, titled “Hyphenated Americans” which appeared in Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors.) The 442nd also liberated several of the concentration camps near Dachau. One of the most interesting facts is that over 300 Nisei (second generation) women served in the Women’s Army Corp.

Linda: Will you share with us your impressions about your very first visit to Japan? How was it different from what you expected?

Jan: Probably the very first impression I had was how I stood out. I was taller than most men. It reminded me of when I attended my first Obon (Japanese dance) festival in California. I was about thirteen years old. I remember being in awe of the pretty, petite Japanese girls. I envied their straight, coal-black hair and the graceful way they danced. I felt like an awkward albatross among swans. I have to laugh looking back. It was such a pre-teen girlish way to feel.

Aside from that recollection, the next thing I noticed was how helpful the Japanese people were. They went out of their way to try to help us find our way around, even though surprisingly, they spoke little English.

And of course, I was surprised by the beauty of the country. Even in a country so crowded with people, I was able to find tranquility in the gardens and architecture. I’ve been to Japan three times, but never to northern Japan. I hope to go there someday.

Linda: You’re working on the sequel to The Red Kimono. Will you share with us a bit about the storyline? Will all the characters be returning?

Jan: The sequel is tentatively titled Broken Dreams. However, I have no doubt the title will be changed, just as Broken Dolls was changed to The Red Kimono. The sequel begins in 1957, on the day the Little Rock Nine attempt to enter Little Rock Central High School, and follows the lives of Sachi, Jubie, Nobu and Terrence through 1963. As these characters deal with their pasts and the civil rights issues of the era, the themes of prejudice, resentment and forgiveness are also a part of the sequel. I’ve also added dashes of humor and a little bit of romance to this story.

Linda: Jan, thank you for a glimpse into your writing world. What is something that others would be surprised to know about you?

Jan: I like to talk to people who disagree with me. It doesn’t happen very often these days, because it seems people can’t hold their tempers when they disagree. It seems more and more, people somehow feel we’re all supposed to agree with each other. Personally, I think that’s ridiculous. How boring this world would be if we all agreed. I like to discuss differences, and when I’ve been lucky enough to do so, I usually learn something new.

On a lighter note, I don’t like licorice or black olives. But I love fried rice and martinis.

I hope you enjoyed learning more about Jan and about a part of American history that is often not spoken of nor written in many school textbooks.

You can connect with Jan in these places:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JanMorrill.Author?ref=hl

Twitter: @janmorrill

Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=151948993&trk=tab_pro

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/yoiko1958/

Jan also bloggs:

Jan Morrill Writes

Life: Haiku by Haiku

The Red Kimono

Let’s chat with Jan. She’ll be checking in today to answer questions and respond to comments.

Happy Reading!

Linda Joyce

www.linda-joyce.com