A.E. Jones's Blog, page 31

Out with the Old

This weekend I rummaged through one of my closets and found a large plastic container that I hadn’t opened in years. I wasn’t even sure what was inside. So I pulled the lid off and delved into the box.

Inside were stacks of school papers from when I was working toward my MBA. At the time, I thought it was so very important to hold onto these papers, homework assignments, etc. Now? Not so much. They weren’t important anymore because I had no sense of context to what they were about. And it got me thinking about my writing (doesn’t everything?).

As I continue to write and grow as an author, I realize that what was important in the past is not as important now. Characters, plot, scene, description can be pared down into what matters in moving the story forward and giving the reader an emotional response.

Ultimately, the reader needs context. Because that’s what makes the story resonate to them.

So as I head to the recycle bins to throw away all of these old papers,  I tell myself to let go of the old and look to the future for the sake of closet space and my writing style!

 

 

 

Why my Cats are Mad at Me

If you have been following my posts for a while, you know that I am in the midst of content edits. These edits are the ones where I dive in and:

revise scenes – this could mean tweaking a few lines (easy), or paragraphs (not so easy), or pages (are you kidding me?)
create new scenes – this is when I realize I cheated the readers out of something they need or my changes in other scenes necessitate further explanation
trash scenes – tears wiped away as I hit the delete key

As you can imagine, this takes a lot of concentration. So my cats have been feeling a bit out of sorts with me. Over the weekend, I was working away and I got this tingling along my neck that someone was watching me. I turned and this is what I saw…

Yep, I think my cats were feeling a bit neglected.Can you tell they’re not shy voicing their opinions?

But I forged ahead and kept working. And so you don’t think I’m a total ogre, I’ll let you know that both sat on my lap later that night and got some attention. I don’t want them to feel neglected and to be honest I’m a bit scared of them!

I mean, look at those glares…

Time to Fall Out of Love

As you know, I have been diligently working on the next book in my paranormal wedding planner series, FROM THIS FAE FORWARD. My editor read the manuscript and has sent back content edits. Content edits are the big, overarching changes that deal with the story and characters.

Sometimes content edits can be hard to swallow, because authors are in that honeymoon stage with their book at this phase of the process. But here’s the thing. You can’t be so in love with the story that you refuse to make changes to it. So now is the time when you have to fall out of love with it, even if just for a little bit. You need perspective. Because in all honesty, there is something that you can do to make it that much better if you keep an open mind.

Once you’ve accepted that, you can start the edits. Okay…accepted.

So now I am diving into the editing pool and making changes to the story. And even though editing is NOT my favorite part of the process, there is something exciting about looking at the story and saying, ‘what if…’

What if I made the heroine’s motivation and back story different to explain why she reacts the way she does?
What if I change the antagonist’s reason for evil? (pretty cool when you get to decide someone’s reason for being evil, right?)
What if I make the hero have more angst in his background? (we love those angsty heroes)
What if the climax scene gets thrown out the window for a new one now that I have made the earlier changes?

And the what ifs can go on and on if I let them…

But at some point, I will have to reign in the what ifs and let the story stand on its own. Then the story will head to a beta reader and then on to detail edits. And once I am done with all of the edits?

I can fall in love with it all over again.

 

 

 

 

Knowledge is Power

I recently attended an all day writing conference featuring best selling author, Bob Mayer. Hours of advice and teaching that had my brain hurting by the end of the day – but hurting in a ‘good’ way.

There are so many things I could share with you from that day, but I am going to spend time on two.

The Original Idea

Bob stressed the importance of this. Ultimately it is the seed that starts your story. And many writers can get stuck on the idea. But one of the things that resonated with me from this part of the talk was when he said: “Where’s the shiver?”

What excites you about the story? What excites the people you tell it to? Does it have umph? Emotion? Passion? THAT is what makes a good idea.

Character

To Bob, the character is the most important part of the story. And here is where the talk got interesting. He said that a character’s turning points can be described as follows:

What does the character want?
What does the character really want?
What does the character need?

As we know in life, wants and needs don’t always go hand in hand. The same goes for character. It’s definitely an interesting way to look at characters and their development.

One of  the tidbits of wisdom in discussing character and plot development was when he said that if the protagonist as they exist at the beginning of the book were thrown into the climactic scene at the end, they would fail.

Why? Because the character has to change and grow as the story progresses so that they CAN face their fears and the climatic scene at the end!

Cool stuff, huh? Do you understand why my head was hurting in a good way?

Before I sign off of my blog today, which is Memorial Day here in the US. I want to take a moment to thank the men and women who have served in our armed services. Your dedication and sacrifice should never be forgotten. Thank you.

 

Celebration: Author Style

You all have been traveling the paranormal wedding planner path this past month with the release of IN SICKNESS AND IN ELF, the first book in my new series. And it has been a heck of a celebration so far. Thanks for joining in on the fun!

Well, I have a new cause for celebration tonight. I finished the first draft of my next novel in the series, FROM THIS FAE FORWARD. Yay! Yahoo! Yes!

And there you go – my rather muted celebration, author style. Why so subdued you might ask? Cause now comes the hard part. Yep, you heard it correctly. Writing the book is not the hard part. Editing is the hard part, at least for me. I had someone ask me about my writing process recently and I thought I would share some of that with you. Here goes…

Write the daggone book (me)
Complete read-through and edit (me)
Send to editor for content read
Edit (me)
Send to editor for detail edits
Edit (me)
Send to editor for final edits
Edit (me)
Send for proof read
Edit (me)
Send to formatter
Review files (me)
Release Book (me)

Basically, I am just finishing up step 2, which leaves 11 more steps to go! A lot of work, I know, but it will be worth it in the end. That’s when I get to wear my author tiara and really celebrate. In the meantime, I’ll let you know how things go.

Yay! Yahoo! Yes! Okay, now I’m just getting carried away…

Why I’m Glad I Opened this Email

On Friday morning I received an email with a subject line of one word: ‘Congratulations’. Now for most of you wary computer users, seeing the word congratulations from an address you don’t recognize sets off all kinds of alarm bells. Does the email contain a Trojan, or worm, or malware hidden inside just in time to screw up your day (and it was Friday the 13th remember).

But I opened it and promised not to click on any links inside (cause that’s how they get you).

Instead of a computer virus or declaration that I won a trip to some tropical island with ‘no strings attached,’ I found out that SENTINEL LOST, book 5 in my Mind Sweeper Series is a finalist for paranormal romance in the Booksellers Best Awards this year. Yippee!

And it got me thinking about my stories. How even though I sent SENTINEL LOST out into the world last year, that doesn’t mean that my work is done. Yes, I just introduced my new wedding planner series, but Kyle and my Cleveland-based supes are far from finished telling their stories. They continue to entertain new readers and I will be writing new stories in my Mind Sweeper Universe as well.

So it was a huge honor to find out that SENTINEL LOST is a finalist. Gave me a boost. (Believe or not, we writers need to get a boost every once in a while.) The winners will be announced at RWA Nationals this year in July and I’ll be there with my fingers crossed.

Don’t you worry, I’ll let you know how it goes!

Paranormal Wedding Planning 101

It’s hard to believe that it has been a week since IN SICKNESS AND IN ELF released. And boy has it been a crazy, fun-filled one!

First, I got to wear my tiara last week and if you have been following me for a while, you know how much I love my tiara from the dollar store. It represents accomplishment and it makes me feel important on the day my book heads out into the world. In essence, I’m throwing a birthday party for my novel with hats included!

I have also been providing everyone with Paranormal Wedding Planning 101. Here are a few samples…

If werewolves are invited to the wedding, avoid full moons and steak tartare.
Sunrise weddings are not in vogue with the vampire.
Dress fittings – remember to leave room for the bride’s wings.
If you think children wreak havoc at weddings, try dealing with sprites.

You get the idea[image error]

I also spoke on Thursday at the wonderful new writing center that is attached to the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library. I love spending time with writers. It rejuvenates me EVERY time.

I finished off the week going to a co-worker’s wedding. Which was a wonderful way to research my next books! I would see something and think, “That’s cool! So how do I make it paranormal?”

And on we go, one fun story at a time!

 

In Sickness and In Elf Release Day!

Do you know what time it is? It’s time for my release day blog! Today IN SICKNESS AND IN ELF is heading out into the world and I am so, so excited to see what people think of it.

There is something thrilling about taking an idea and watching it grow into not just one book, but an entire series. Of course, if you’ve been following me for a while you know I am ALL ABOUT series books. The characters I create all want their own stories to be told and why should I deny them?

As usual, I am sitting with my release day tiara on, so I have attached my newest release day picture. For those of you who have just started following me, let me explain…

When I released Mind Sweeper, my first book, I felt like I was a kick-butt writer princess and so it seemed fitting that on release day I was going to wear a tiara. And I did. Well, it has become somewhat of a tradition now. Same tiara from the dollar store that sits in my office in a place of honor when not in use.

I still love the pink star at the top, since a writer is all about symbolism[image error]

So I’ll stop blathering on now, since you have other, more important things to read (hint, hint).

And thanks for celebrating my release day with me!

IN SICKNESS AND IN ELF:  Amazon    Kobo     iBooks

 

Exclusive Excerpt

Can’t wait until Monday to read IN SICKNESS AND IN ELF? Well, Heroes and Heartbreakers has an exclusive excerpt available for your reading pleasure!

Check it out HERE

A Cat With No Name

The teasers continue…May 2nd, IN SICKNESS AND IN ELF book 1 in my paranormal wedding planners series releases!