A.E. Jones's Blog, page 24

Trying Something New

If you have been following my blog for a while you know that my father and I participate in our small town’s annual chalk walk event. Over the past 10 or so years, we have stuck to classic cartoon characters from Snoopy, to Sylvester & Tweety, to Winnie the Pooh, to name just a few.

This year, my father wanted to do something different. So we tackled 3-D.

While it was definitely not our normal genre, it was an interesting change from what we have done in the past. And it got me thinking.

What if I wrote something that wasn’t paranormal? I’ve been tinkering with maybe trying my hand at a romantic suspense, or perhaps a sci-fi romance…

You never know where inspiration and a new world will come from. But I’m open to the possibility…

So here is this year’s pic! What do you think?

[image error]

 

The Power of Word of Mouth

[image error]A cute little marketing story to share with you…

Today I got a voicemail from my Dentist’s Office. Normally I get reminder calls before my cleanings, but I knew that I didn’t have one coming up anytime soon, so I was a little confused. Then I listened to the message…

The dental assistant called me. One of the patients she spoke to that day told her that she likes to read paranormal. The assistant thought of me immediately and told her that I write paranormal, but she couldn’t remember my pen name. So a quick call was made to ask me what my pen name was so that she could share it with her patient!

How wonderful it that! Word of mouth is a powerful tool (and yes, I know there’s pun potential there…dentist…mouth. Can’t help myself sometimes!)

Having people talk about your writing with others is a gift that I can never thank you all enough for.

So thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…well, you get the idea

Writer’s Guide to Sagging Middles

[image error]For a writer, middles can be quite troublesome. In a book, the beginning draws the reader in and the ending gives the reader a satisfying (hopefully) conclusion. The hardest thing to write? The daggone middle of the book. You have to propel that story along and keep the reader tagging along for the ride.

You’ll hear writers talk about sagging middles and while they might be talking about their midsection, more then likely they mean the middle of their work. It is so important to draw the reader into the story and KEEP THEM INVESTED. So the middle is very important. If it sags, the reader might abandon the story and never read the amazing ending.

For me, getting to the middle of the book is sometimes stressful. Ultimately, it is one of the turning points  (in both the story and my writing) and begins the set up for the rest of the unveiling. Because the center of the book is so important, as a writer it is often hard to get to it and get through it. Which is why I’m so happy to have gotten to the middle of my current novel and am starting to pick up speed in anticipation of the second half of the story!

Think of this way…when you start to exercise, it is so much easier to finish the workout once you’ve reached the half way mark. That’s how it feels once you’ve gotten past that middle scene. Not only does the reader want that happy-ever-after to happen, but so does the writer!

Sit-ups and crunches aside, I made it through the middle and am heading toward that finish line.

Summer Loving

[image error]

Last night I was working on my work in progress and I heard a scream. It was a cat screaming at the top of their lungs and if you’ve ever heard one before, you know how spooky it can be. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck and I ran into my living room thinking that one of my two cats had gotten hurt or caught on something.

I found my girl cat with her nose pressed against the sliding glass door looking out on my back patio. On the patio, nose pressed to the glass looking into my living room, was another cat. Who was screaming.

I tapped on the glass to try to get it to go away and it simply sat there staring at my girl cat. I closed the curtains which didn’t stop girl cat from peeking outside when I wasn’t looking (she is a flirt at heart). Then when I looked out to see what was happening, the cat on the patio rolled over and showed my cat it’s belly which caused my cat to meow at him.

And the more I watched these two interact, the more it made me think of Romeo and Juliet. Now, you may wonder how I made that leap? Well, keep in mind that I was in the middle of writing a scene in my romance novel when this happened, and Romeo (outside cat) had finally stopping howling at Juliet (inside cat). Instead, he made low noises in his throat. (Think balcony soliloquy).

What light through yonder window breaks…

And for a little while the cats looking longingly through the window at each other until I finally shooed Romeo away. I felt bad about it, but these two were never destined to be together (plus Juliet has been fixed so, Romeo needed to move on to the next villa).

It was a fun distraction (once Romeo stopped yowling) and made me think of young love in the summertime. How fast and hot a relationship can burn until summer fades away making room for fall. And it gave me some fodder to think about for my own stories…

 

Summertime for Writers

[image error]Even though today is not the first “official” day of summer, it always has kicked off the season for me. And it’s a fun one. It puts me in a casual mood. The lightweight clothes and sandals make me so very happy. Not to mention the sunshine and being able to sit outside and write, write, write!

For me, the season lightens my mood and hopefully that means my writing comes easier as well. It’s a time for rejuvenation. And that is something that writers need in both their real and imaginary worlds.

As I sit barefoot on my front porch watching the sun set, I hope you’re ready to enjoy the new season to come!

Before I sign off, I want to take the time to acknowledge the men and women who are currently serving or who have served in our armed services. Thank you for everything that you have done for this country.

 

Snippets of Emotion

[image error]

I don’t have time to watch much TV anymore. Between my day job and my writing, watching TV is a luxury. However tonight I had a show on as I was working on my computer. When a commercial came on, I would mute the TV. But then for some reason I started to watch the commercials without the sound and I was fascinated.

If you throw out the wacky ones (and lets be honest, there are quite a few of those) and you concentrate on the commercials that tell a story, you can get hooked. And the more I started to examine the “good” ones, the more I realized that they resonated with me. They told stories of love and family. They were snippets of emotion that pulled you in and held onto you for the thirty or sixty seconds.

For writers, I think that our scenes are snippets of emotion. The good ones are remembered and talked about because they elicit emotions. We become part of the scene and the character’s laughter and tears become ours as well. Because that’s what a good scene does – it evokes something from the reader (and the writer).

 

A Cat’s Life

[image error]

If you’ve read my work, you know that I usually have cats in my stories. Some play secondary parts and some…not so secondary. I have always had a fascination with cats. I think it’s because in some respects I’m jealous of them.

I imagine what it would be like to be a cat…

I can lay down wherever and whenever I want (just plop down and squeeze my eyes shut)
I can ignore you (or pretend to ignore you) when I don’t like what you’re saying
I can be haughty when I want to be
I can be affectionate when I want to be
I can have people offer excuses for me…”I don’t know what to say other than cats don’t listen”
I can get away with attitude or what I like to call cattitude
I can have someone take care of me while I lounge around
I can do yoga stretches like a yogi master
I can jump the equivalent of a three story building in a single bound (look out Superman)
I can meow until I get my way

Yep, a cat’s life is pretty sweet. Plus cats are all about personality. Maybe that’s why I’m so attracted to them. It’s like having a built in character study with fur in your own living room. And writers are all about good characters.

So tonight, I’m going to pat my two kitties on the head and thank them for inspiring me…maybe they’ll appreciate it, or then again, maybe they won’t. With cats it’s all about mood.

Who is my Audience?

[image error]Lately, I’ve been spending time thinking about my readers. As a writer, that is something I should do more often than not, because as I write my stories, I have to like what I create for myself, but I also need to write something that I hope my readers like as well. If I don’t, no one will read my stories and that is a writer’s biggest fear. Or it’s my fear, anyway.

When I look at my novels, I think about what comes into play and ultimately what my audience likes to read. My stories have humor, mystery, romance, and sarcasm, mashed together in a supernatural blender.

But ultimately the books circle around a recurring theme. My characters are on a search for self. Their journey includes various challenges, but the crux is about gaining confidence in yourself in order to trust the people. Without trust there is no chance for relationships or love.

Which means my audience likes funny, angsty, challenging mysteries with heart and growth. You guys are pretty sophisticated!!

So there is a little bit of everything in my stories. If you’re a current reader, thank you for your amazing support. If you’re new to my books and are considering joining audience AE then I just want to say…

Welcome and enjoy the show!

 

Break Time

[image error]In the past three months I have released three flashback stories in my Mind Sweeper series. And while it has been a blast, I need to step back and work on my next project. But I also need to take a break as well.

Even though I think of myself as the Energizer Bunny sometimes, I have to remember that I can’t go non-stop without falling over and running out of batteries

Protect Me Release Day!

Yay! Release day is here for PROTECT ME! These prequels have been a labor of love. It has been so fun to write these stories and that is due to the secret I’m going to share with you…

Our characters become our friends.

It’s true. If they are good characters, they become three-dimensional. And my Mind Sweeper characters are very real to me. I can almost touch them at times.

So spending time with them is a pleasure. That’s what these flashback stories let me do. I got to go back and see how this unconventional group of people became a family. How can that not be a joy to write?

And no worries…I have attached my release day tiara picture below. You were wondering if I’d forgotten, but I have your back!

PROTECT ME AVAILABLE NOW:   Amazon     iTunes     Kobo    B&N

[image error]