A.E. Jones's Blog, page 6
November 30, 2020
Inspiration and Concentration – time to play together nicely…
I’ll admit it – I’m a bit stuck right now with the story I’ve been working on. This past month has not been a productive one for me in the writing department.
Now I have to remind myself that I did just release a book, but I’m getting that antsy feeling to write. The problem is I’m also suffering from a lack of concentration. Normally I can sit down and write at night after my day job. Lately, that has not been so easy.
So I’m looking for some inspiration, but also I need to sit my bum in a chair and actually write for more than a few minutes. Any suggestions? I’ve been playing music softly to distract the voices in my head – not the voices of my characters, but the voices of all the other worries we all have right now.
But isn’t that the point of stories? To take us to another place. Heck, I’ve been escaping in other books my whole life, but especially this year. So now I need to escape in my own story.
Let’s see if I can find the right combination of inspiration and concentration to start that blinking cursor to stop mocking me.
November 23, 2020
An Author Celebrating with Pictures…
It’s hard to believe it has already been a month since TILL DEMON DO US PART was released. For me, I’m still celebrating. Why not? Writing a book is an act of patience, love, exasperation, time, sweat…you get the idea. So still enjoying it a month later is not too much of a stretch.
So how am I celebrating it? With a book trailer and a teaser…yes, a picture sometimes is worth a thousand words.
So tell me what you think of the teaser and check out the video – you have 45 seconds to check it out, don’t you?
If you can’t see the video click HERE
November 16, 2020
Finding Ways to Escape
As you all know, lately I’ve been spending much of my writer’s brain in my paranormal wedding planners world. And it’s a great world to spend time in. But the other day I was talking to a writer friend about the seven year old demon twin characters who play a large part in my demon brother trilogy and it made me laugh at the trouble the two of them constantly find themselves in. Which had me picking up DEMONS WILL BE DEMONS the first book in the series and sitting down to read it again.
Yep, authors do read their books again. At least this author does. I think the reason why I wanted to read this particular story at this particular time is that while the demon trilogy is about three brothers who find love, the true magic of these stories is the extended family and friends who reach out and love these characters. Who push them out of their comfort zones but are also there to hold them up when they stumble.
We all need family and friends right now, especially when many of us can’t be physically together. So this is my escape to a place built on family and support.
Here’s to hoping each of you find your own escape.
November 9, 2020
Celebrating AE Jones Style
So we just celebrated Halloween, aka my favorite holiday, and I want to share my costume this year. Even though I didn’t get to wear it at the office this year, I did walk around and show my neighbors. They’re used to seeing me each year in my Halloween finest!
So what do you think? I keep going, and going, and going! Even have the batteries on my leg to keep the bunny moving!
To help celebrate Halloween and my new release for a couple more days, I’m keeping IN SICKNESS AND IN ELF for free and FROM THIS FAE FORWARD for 99 cents. If you haven’t snatched them up, do it before the prices change.
Find a way to celebrate in your own way. It might not be the way you have in the past, but it doesn’t mean you still can’t enjoy things!
Check out the books HERE
October 26, 2020
Till Demon Do Us Part Release Day!
Yay! I wondered if this day would ever happen, but it’s finally here! The sixth and final book in my paranormal wedding planner series is out in the world! I’m so happy to share McHenry and Darcinda’s story with you.
Of course, release day means my kickbutt princess tiara picture. Check it out!
Did you know that this book wasn’t supposed to exist? Yep, my original plan was to write a five book series for the five males on the Tribunal team. But then Darcinda entered the series and she fascinated me. A faerie healer who spoke her mind and wore the best t shirts. She was a secondary character who appeared again and again in the other books.
And then in book three Julia and Jack met McHenry, and in the very first scene he appeared in, I knew he would have his own book. Seriously. He was full-on three dimensional to me and I developed a crush. Yes, I admit I get crushes on my characters. And I knew McHenry needed to have his happy-ever-after. And boy did he get his! But not without working for it. Sometimes the best things in life are the ones we work for, right?
Love is Magic.
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What’s a faerie to do when the demon equivalent of a grizzly bear needs her healing powers? Rush to his side. Even though the man wants nothing to do with her, the more time Darcinda spends with the demon, the more his noble and caring sides are revealed.
McHenry wants to be left alone with his forge and his metals. His grumbling hermit persona scares most people away. The last person he wants on his land is the faerie healer who isn’t intimidated by him. At all. The longer she stays, the more he realizes she’s a light in his dark, lonely world.
But he can’t let anyone near his heart.
Especially when a secret he’s been hiding threatens to destroy them all.
When the truth comes out, can those he pushed away be his salvation? Including the exasperating healer with the sea-green eyes and selfless heart?
October 19, 2020
Excerpt – Till Demon Do Us Part
In one week, Till Demon Do Us Part releases. Yay! So I thought it made sense to share an excerpt with you. A teaser to see what is going to happen in the final book of the series. So, here goes…
Chapter 1
McHenry took a deep breath as he stood back and used his sleeve to wipe sweat off his brow.
The forge in front of him billowed flames like the bowels of hell—the perfect blistering temperature for the type of metal he’d just immersed in it. A few seconds more and he’d remove the bar and begin to mold it into something.
He wasn’t sure what the something was yet, but the metal would tell him what it wanted to be. It always did.
He reached into the forge with metal tongs and held the bar aloft, the end bright orange with just the right hint of yellow. The flames licked his hands and would have burned them if they weren’t bespelled to take the heat. Placing the molten end of the rod on the anvil to his left, he picked up a mallet and pounded it a couple of times to test its give. A couple of quick taps and the metal flattened easily.
After a few more taps, the metal began to take shape into a flat strip. There it is. Something decorative. Maybe he could send it as a belated wedding gift to Jack and Julia.
He paused in the middle of working the metal. When was the last time he’d been inspired to make a gift for someone? And since the first time he’d met Julia, she accused him of working with supernatural supremacists, his urge to make something for her was even more surprising. He’d blustered and pushed her away, but unlike everyone else who scurried from him, she wasn’t afraid.
And with Julia came her werewolf mate, Jack, and all his other teammates and their mates. And as much as he tried to scare them all away, they weren’t put off by his blustering ways either. But he couldn’t let them get too close. Couldn’t let anyone get too close.
Jack and Julia had been married for months now. They invited him to their wedding, but he wasn’t able to attend. Of course he couldn’t tell them the real reason he couldn’t go, not if he wanted his reputation as a cranky hermit to remain intact.
Not that he cared a fig about propriety or what people thought of him.
He liked being alone. In the past there was only him and his two nephews to worry about. And now both Andrew and Jamie were grown, he didn’t need to worry about them—much. Although he hadn’t been seeing much of Andrew lately, which meant it was time to do some investigating.
A shadow fell over the door and McHenry turned. As if his earlier thoughts had summoned his nephew, there was Andrew, standing just outside. Normally Andrew burst into a room, but this time he hesitated, as if afraid to enter, which set McHenry’s alarms to clanging.
He nodded to his nephew. “Where’ve you been hidin’ lately?”
Andrew blanched, which ratcheted up McHenry’s already jangling nerves even further.
“Spit it out, son. It can’t be that bad, now.”
“I’ve met someone.”
McHenry couldn’t keep from smiling. “Have you? Is it serious?”
“Very.”
“Why have you been keepin’ it a secret?”
Andrew looked away.
The evasion set all sorts of bad scenarios to running in his head. Andrew knew better than to be cavorting with a married lass. “What is it?”
“She’s been visiting the Burrow, so we were taking things slowly.”
“That sounds like a smart idea, son. You’re still young.”
“I’m twenty-five.”
He said it with such determination, McHenry didn’t dare smile at him. In McHenry’s eyes, he would always be the defiant young boy who came to live with him a dozen years ago.
“So tell me about the lass.”
“She’s amazing. She’s beautiful and so smart. And she makes me laugh. Tells me I’m too serious and I need to enjoy life.”
McHenry liked what he was hearing so far. “You said she’s visitin’. Who in the village is she staying with?”
Andrew took a breath before responding. “She’s been staying for the past few months with Corinne, her aunt.”
McHenry’s stomach twisted. No no no. Please be a niece from her husband’s side. “What is her name?”
“Selina.”
Hells. “Do you know who her father is?”
Andrew gulped. “I do. I mean I didn’t, not until today.”
“Damnation, Andrew! I told you not to get anywhere near the demon king.”
“I didn’t.”
“No, you went near his daughter!” McHenry bellowed. “Break it off!”
Andrew scowled. “No. I love her. We want to be together. And we did a handfasting, like you told us they do in Scotland.”
McHenry groaned. He should never have told the boys about that damn tradition.
“Do you honestly think her father will be okay with this? He probably has some hoity-toity demon lined up for her.”
“I wanted to ask her father’s permission to marry her, but Selina wants to talk to him first.”
At least one of them was thinking clearly. The girl had probably saved his nephew from being incinerated.
“How do you think this is goin’ to end up, Andrew? He won’t let you marry her.”
Andrew fisted his hands at his sides. “I love her and she loves me! I don’t care who her father is.”
McHenry slammed the mallet down, and the anvil shook slightly. He cursed himself for his recklessness.
The anvil continued to vibrate even though he hadn’t swung the mallet again.
He froze as the air buzzed with static electricity, as if heralding a storm.
Various metals in his shop vibrated, then began clanking together in an out-of-tune chorus.
Andrew looked around. “What’s happening?”
Only one thing could cause this.
“I think your lass just told him.”
The shards, bars, and hunks of metal levitated from the workstations, pointing toward them, hovering like a swarm of metallic wasps.
McHenry grabbed his nephew and shoved him toward the door, shielding him from the metal rocketing toward them.
“Run!”
October 14, 2020
Cover Reveal: Till Demon Do Us Part
I know, I know, it’s Wednesday and I missed my Monday blog, but I think you’ll forgive me since I’m sharing my cover and blurb for Till Demon Do Us Part! It’s almost time to release the final book in this series. Just in time for Halloween, of course!
Love is Magic.
What’s a faerie to do when the demon equivalent of a grizzly bear needs her healing powers? Rush to his side. Even though the man wants nothing to do with her, the more time Darcinda spends with the demon, the more his noble and caring sides are revealed.
McHenry wants to be left alone with his forge and his metals. His grumbling hermit persona scares most people away. The last person he wants on his land is the faerie healer who isn’t intimidated by him. At all. The longer she stays, the more he realizes she’s a light in his dark, lonely world.
But he can’t let anyone near his heart.
Especially when a secret he’s been hiding threatens to destroy them all.
When the truth comes out, can those he pushed away be his salvation? Including the exasperating healer with the sea-green eyes and selfless heart?
October 5, 2020
A Writer’s Version of Mountain Climbing
I just finished my proof edits for TILL DEMON DO US PART and do you know what that means? I’m almost at the top of the summit! It’s time to send Till Demon Do Us Part to my formatter to get the book ready for publishing.
Yay! Very soon McHenry’s and Darcinda’s story will be in your hands. And I couldn’t me more happy. Honest. I equate it to standing at the top of that mountain and looking at the amazing world down below knowing that I accomplished something – scaled something new and challenging.
And boy this book was definitely a challenge for me, as I documented through my earlier blog posts this year. But I think it turned out to be a good story and a great ending to the series (if I do say so myself!).
At this point in the process I get a little giddy at the anticipation of sharing with you. But I’ll control myself…maybe (or not).
Stay tuned and I’ll let you know when I reach the top and when you can expect to be spending time with the curmudgeonly, big-hearted demon and his spunky faerie healer.
September 28, 2020
A Writer Doesn’t Have to be an Island
You might have heard the saying that an author is an island, working alone. And in some respects that’s true. When I’m writing, it is me and my laptop. But there are obvious aspects of writing that involves others, like editing.
Today I spent over an hour talking to a writer friend of mine about one of the books she’s writing. There is something so invigorating about talking to other writers about writing, especially about the story itself. Or brainstorming – those discussions always make me so very happy.
Spending time with writers is a pick me up. Unfortunately, I haven’t got to do that much this year. But that doesn’t mean I can’t find other ways to reach out. I will email, call and zoom to my heart’s content to get that writer fix with my writer friends.
Because right now we all need a pick me up.
September 21, 2020
How a Writer Looks for Mistakes
I spent the weekend finishing line edits. Exciting, right? Now I’m reading the manuscript through cover to cover before I send it off to my proofread editor. Why, you might ask? Because I want it to be as clean as possible.
Here’s the thing about proof edits. They might be considered the ‘simplest’ edits but they can also be the easiest to miss. When you are reading tens of thousands of words, it’s understandable that a comma might be missed, or a quote. And don’t get me started on there vs. their, or lead vs led. As you can imagine, it’s a bleary-eyed journey. Which means the more eyes that read it the better.
The good news is even after reading it several times I still like the story! Over the course of the next few weeks, I will read the book again and again. So I’m happy I still smile and cry when I read it.
One of my beta readers told me she cried when she read the story. I told her that made me so happy – which might be a twisted response to some – but to me it means she was invested in the story and characters. That’s all a writer can ask for.
