Overused Phrases in Thriller Novels

Happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! I know I'm late. I had stuff for my normal job to do. hahaha. Today, we'll be talking about overused phrases (clichés) in thriller novels specifically. You've probably all seen/read these before, but just so you know, I'm in a thriller group where the readers poked some fun at the genre this week, and these were the phrases they came up with. I'm sure I've used a couple, but I do my LEVEL best to avoid stuff like this.

Ready? Grab a coffee and get comfy. Here we gooooooooo...

First up, we have the body language phrases:

• I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
• I bit my knuckles.
• The smile did not reach my eyes.
• I instantly collapsed.
• My eyes darkened.
• His eyes sparkled with recognition.
• Bit my tongue until a metallic taste filled my mouth.
• Calluses.
• Boobies bouncing boobily.
• Bite the inside of your cheek.
• Nails digging into palms.
• Pacing back and forth.
• Hearts beating out of chests.
• White knuckling something (like a steering wheel).
• Shivers dancing down spines.
• Knitting brows.
• Hooded eyes.
• Ice in veins.
• Click or cluck tongue. 
• Lips that turn into a line.
  

Okay, and now we go to descriptions:

• Toothy smiles.
• Watery smiles.
• Sickening thuds.
• Padding out of a room.
• Awaking with a start.
• Scarlet cheeks.
• Throats with bile filling them.
• Suddenly gasping.
• A bit too thin.
• Red like strawberries.
• Cold, dead, and unseeing eyes.
• Invisible lint.

Additional ones:

• Realizing X amount of time had passed.
• A woman who doesn't know how beautiful she is.
• A sensation of eyes boring into you.
• Prickling sensation.
• Little half moons in palms.
• Chairs scraping across linoleum floors.
• Screaming only to realize it's me.
• Swallowing the lump.
• Steam curling from mugs.
• Bowels turning to water.
• Small of your back being touched.
• Those darn jaw ticks.

Now, these phrases aren't bad on their own, but when you're writing them into your novel, try to keep in mind 1k other people are also writing them into their novels. There are a few of these I have issue with that could be worded better:

• Released a breath I didn't know I was holding.

Yeah, you knew you were holding your breath. It's an automatic feature of being human, breathing, and it doesn't stop unless you tell it to with your brain.

Use this instead: Released my breath as I relaxed.

• My/His/Her eyes darkened.

Are you or they a magician? How are your/their eyes changing color? They're not.

Use this instead: His eyelids dropped halfway, and he tipped his chin down a bit.

• Pacing back and forth.

This is four words where one will do. I go over this in some of the editing posts I've written. When someone paces, back and forth is implied. You don't have to beat the reader over the head with it.

Use this instead: She paced between the fridge and the window, stopping to peek out each time. Or simply: She paced.

• Knitted brows.

This is one of those things that drives me batty. You don't have to use this exact phrase. Change it up. Get creative. That's your job as a writer.

Try: Pulled his eyebrows together until they nearly touched. Or: Scrunched her nose and wrinkled her forehead, causing her brows to get closer. 

• Suddenly gasping or suddenly gasped.

A gasp is sudden. You only need one of those words, not both. I don't even have a use this instead hint here. I mean, leave off a word. haha

• Bowels turning to water.

I'm so glad I've never seen this. I'd stop reading. Your bowels can't turn to water and neither can your legs or a smile. Just stop it.

Use this instead: A sudden urge to shit slammed into me like a noon train, and I clenched my butt cheeks.

Here are some tips I've worked up in the past. Here is a game you can play with phrases like this so you can alter them.

What are your favorite common phrases? Ping me a comment, and let me know!

I hope you all got something out of this post, even if it was just a chuckle.

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Lessons from Traveling

Welcome back to the blog, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'll be talking about the lessons I've learned from doing a TON of traveling. From my author job to my other job (not telling you what that is), I had to figure out how to be fully mobile so I could keep things running as smoothly as possible when I'm away from my home computer. I'm gonna share how I accomplish it with all of you. I know, I'm a peach. :)

Without further ado... Grab that coffee and a notebook because here we gooooooo!

Lesson 1:

Know where you're going and what you'll have access to while you're there.

This one was hard for me because I'm used to having the programs, wifi, and power supplies I need when I need them. Having things like Photoshop at my fingertips allows me to do my job in a streamlined way, but I can't haul my laptop and monitor everywhere I go. It's not economical, and my laptop is a beast of a machine. It's super heavy and is a bit of a power hog.

I discovered that you can't do everything on an iPad that you can do on a laptop, so I adjusted. We'll get into what I do to avoid these things at the end so you can focus on the issues and not the solutions. Onward!

Lesson 2:

Understand space limitations.

I thought I'd have just a little room to do the things I needed to do on the airplane. That just wasn't the case. You also probably won't need your whole purse. Take what's vital.

Lesson 3:

Books are heavy and take more space than you think. 

One is a lot, and more than one pushes your limits unless you're a body builder or have wheels (even then, you have to lift for the overhead). Along with everything else I had to take with me, I discovered I needed to have the husband help me lift my bag when I took more than one.

Lesson 4:

Clothes are overrated.

Sure, you need enough to get you through the days you'll be gone, but more than that, and you're just flexing.

Lesson 5:

Cute Airpod cases are crap.

From having them come apart and flip open to scatter my beloved Airpods to the wind to having them randomly stop sticking to the case, I've been through some stuff.

Lesson 6:

You'll need a business card at the exact moment you aren't carrying one.

This happens to me every time I travel, and I always promise myself I'll stick a few in my wallet. hahaha No. I don't. 

Lesson 7:

You won't be able to do the thing when you need to.

I thought I could handle everything I needed to while I was on the go, but I quickly realized there are some things I can't do remotely.

Solutions:

• Assure you have plenty of outlets where you're staying so when your devices decide to die on you, there's a plug nearby.
• Get cases with keyboards attached. Yes, they're heavier, but if you're used to typing on a keyboard, you'll struggle with a screen.
• Pack light if you have access to a washer and dryer. You don't need ten outfits for a five-day trip.
• Check the website to see if you have wifi. This has tripped me up more than once, and I end up using my phone as a hot spot. Yuck.
• Find apps that easily do the things you're used to doing on your desktop for the iPad (if this is how you roll--I do highly suggest getting at least a small iPad for travel).
• Get a robust Airpod case that clicks closed and hooks onto things.
• One book will do ya. If you truly need more, go digital.
• Be better than I am, and add those business cards or bookmarks to your wallet (or get a digital one). That way, when someone asks, you have it on hand.
• Airplanes are best suited for phone use and not typing on a keyboard. Find a way to work from your phone when in the air. Your elbows will thank me, and your seatmates will thank me, too!
• Work ahead. Do as much as you can before you leave, and use automation to keep things running while you're away. That way, all you have to do is monitor everything.
  

There ya go. These are the hard-won lessons I learned from traveling with my stuff. As you may know, I'm about to move states, and when I say we're back and forth between the new place and home a lot, it's an understatement. We're here as much as we're there, and I haven't moved all my work stuff yet. ha. Ugh.

My usual packing list:

• iPad with keyboard case
• Pen and small pad of paper
• One book
• Batteries or backups for things that need them
• Medications
• Phone
• Small wallet with ID and one credit card 

All that goes in a very small backpack, and then I put clothes for exactly the number of days I'll be gone plus one, my overnight bag with shampoo and such in it, and my chargers into a small suitcase. It's changed my life for the better. I no longer worry about my bag getting lost because chargers and clothes are easy to replace, and I can work and have my meds either way because of the backpack.

I hope you got something out of the post for today! Can you think of anything I missed? If so, drop me a comment and let me know! Thanks for reading and being awesome. :)

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Character Development Hacks

Howdy, y'all! Welcome back. Hump day! I love Wednesdays. It means the weekend is so close I can smell it. No, that's not my feet. I don't think it is, anyway. :) Today! Today, we're talking about characters. Specifically, we're talking about character development hacks. This is where you'll get the info to fill out my free, printable character bio sheets. *shameless self plug* Hint: They're in the back. We'll go into how you can develop a character with flaws, a great arc, and at least one redeeming quality (if that's what you're looking for). 

Ready? Grab a cup of Jo and a warm blanket, and let's get to the meat and potatoes.

Great. Now I want a burrito and hashbrowns...

I find a lot of people struggle to come up with character names, but you don't actually need that when you first start to develop a character. Feel free to leave it until the end. When you're ready, pop on over to a baby name website and browse, or go to one of those character name generators that are all over the place. Here's one of many.

There are five easy ways to get the basic info you need to fill out the bio:

1. Base the character on someone you know.
2. Base the character on someone you've heard about.
3. Base the character on your pet.
4. Base the character on someone in a dream.
5. Close your eyes and draw traits out of a hat.

When you're ready to get deeper, think about the story itself and how the character will navigate the pages. Is it more of a quest story, or is it romance? Is the character going to have an ah-ha moment, or do they know themselves fairly well from the start?

Be sure you include any redeeming qualities unless you're writing a villain. Your villains need to be bad to the bone. Crafting complex villains is a whole other topic, and I've addressed that in this post. We won't go any further into that here.

If you base your character on someone you know, be sure to change the name, first of all, but secondly, look at what you have:

• A Personality - Unless your person is a rock, they have a personality. They have likes, dislikes, a birthday, and all sorts of other goodies for you to swipe.
• Character Flaws - Those things that make us unique. Perhaps they snarf every time they see a baby or they're prone to talking about other people.
• Instant Answers to What If Questions - Instant knowledge about how they react in certain situations. Like, what would they do if an airplane fell out of the sky onto their home? This is what I mean.
• Growth Potential - We all see in others what we can't see in ourselves, and we all know what the person could possibly do to improve themselves.
• Traits - They have eyes, hands, height, weight, a zodiac sign, hair (maybe), and skin tone.

These are all things you can use. Perhaps you want to combine person A with person B or C. Do it! This helps you create believable characters, in most cases.

I say in most cases because I came upon a peculiar review on I, Zombie where the reviewer stated the mother in the novel threw them off. No mother would act like that, be so nonchalant about her kid running off to fight the good fight.

That mother was based upon my own. She might've been unbelievable, but she was mine. :) I had a mom that rarely showed the emotions on the outside that were raging on the inside. *shrug* I got used to it, and I used it for fodder. hahaha She fit the mold perfectly. Trixie wouldn't have done all she did if she didn't have a mom who was cheering rather than nay saying.

So, do that. Even if it gets you a two-star review, use it. They don't know how realistic it is, but you do.

This will help you build robust characters with tons of personality that readers can't get enough of. They'll want to be that character for Halloween (Katniss) or will shiver in the night when they think about him or her being outside the window (Tobias). These are the things that stick with readers.

One more example, and then I'll let you move on.

I used to despise history. I loathed the thought of sitting in a classroom and memorizing facts. Yuck. It's boring, and I'll never use any of this. These were my thoughts going into my World History class.

Y'all, I got a professor who focused on the people in history rather than the facts and dates. I fell in love with so many characters: Nero, Genghis Khan (obvi.), Queen Elizabeth I, Pope Hadrian, Napoleon, and so many others. It made the class fun and engaging, and I never forgot the lesson that professor gave me about characters. He made me realize it's the people that stay with you, not their great or small deeds or their dates of living, but the personalities and the flaws that make you love them.

Teach the people. Write the people. Everything else is just bonus material.

A good character is the one thing that will make or break your novel.

I hope this helped and you got something useful out of this post! What's your favorite literary character? I have so many, it would take me a year to write them all down. haha

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

AI Audiobook Narration Comparison to Human Narration

Happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! Today is that post I promised you all on Friday. I've embedded the sound, so be sure you click to hear the audio. Now, let's talk about how AI differs from humans before we listen. After all, that's what you're here for, right? You love my ramblings so much you click my posts to read them, right? hahaha :)

Not.

Okay, grab a coffee and a blanket, and let's dive on in.

When I got an email about AI being an option for audiobooks, I was intrigued. I wondered how it would sound in contrast to a human. Being me, I dove on in and started on the samples. Sadly, I had coffee in my hand, and I had to clean my iPad screen afterward.

Not only is it bad; it's next-level bad. There's absolutely zero inflection. It's just the reading of the text on the page. I mean, if I'm going all out and doing audio, I'm going to have inflection in my story, someone to read it as it's meant to be read.

I did a quick comparison. Now, I don't have a recording booth, and I'm a shit narrator, so these sound like crap, but one is a lot more crap than the other. Listen closely. :)

 

Here's what we read:

Chapter One

New Year’s Day, 2042

“What were you thinking, Brit? You don’t know what that stuff’s gonna do to you!”
“What I was thinking was I wanna have a special ability like everyone else.”
Griffin’s temper rose so high, he could feel his nostrils flare. “Everyone? Not me.” His words came out with a growl, and Brittany flinched like he’d lashed at her with a knife. Tears sprang to her eyes, and he softened his tone. “You know how I feel about that drug. It’s not right to mess with nature.”
She shook her head. “I’ve heard what you think, and I believe you’re wrong. People that took M ten years ago are fine, and their kids have been born with an ability. I want to pass that on to my own… our kids—”
He lifted a hand. “There can never be an our again. You’ve sealed that fate. I refuse to be with someone who’s been tampered with. Remember, those people who took the original version of M, the one that was tested and run through a million clinical trials, paid through the nose for it. You’ve taken some street copy that costs a hundred bucks. There’s no telling what it’ll do to you long term.”

If you're a reader, you read like the second one, not the first. I'm not sure what kind of programming was done to make this a thing, and I'm not sure what they were thinking, releasing it before it's really ready to read like a person, but... OOF.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

That old saying truly hits the mark here. I mean, I get what they're trying to do, but because books aren't audio narration guides, and because this AI can't seem to pick up on nuances (punctuation, anyone?), it's very flat. Emotionless. Chapter one of M is all about emotion.

This is the moment the boy realizes he's lost the girl. He's angry, he feels betrayed, and he wants her to know where he stands. AI didn't convey any of that.

For me, this is a hard pass. There are a lot of ways AI can be useful, but this isn't one of them. Audiobook narrators are gems. Hard stop. Just like writers can't be replaced by AI because we sound different when you read our work in your head, narrators can't be replaced by AI because they aren't human and don't understand our speech and inflections.

If you're looking to have a book made into audio, I suggest Random Reads Studio. I met Christy, and she's one of the nicest people ever. She'll do a variety of payment options, too. Here's a quick soundbite of her voice on SoundCloud, so you can see if she's a fit for your book. 

You can find her on ACX here, IG here, and Facebook at the link above. Even if you don't go with her, please branch out and find a human to narrate your book if you're going audible.

What did you think of the difference? Did you love it? Hate it? Drop me a comment and let me know!

I hope you all got something out of this post. You know I do my best to educate and keep you up to date on all the things. :)

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Why Self-Publishing Was My Best Decision

It's the weekend! *confetti* Welcome back, good people of the blogosphere! Today, we're talking about self publishing and why it was my best decision ever. I know not everyone wants to self publish, but for me, it was the only way forward. Hard stop. So, let's not waste a ton of time up here and just get to it.

Wait! I forgot to say: Be SURE you're around next week. I have a super-awesome surprise for you all that has to do with AI and audio. :)

Now, let's dive in. Grab your cup of Jo and get comfy.

There are a ton of things to navigate in the Indie world like cattiness, theft, and scams, but those all take a back seat to the benefits (at least, they do for me). 

I mean, I write because I have to. If I didn't, I'd go stark-raving mad. There are all these voices in my head that tell me this and that. I can only shut them up by creating (this goes for art, too).

When I'm down or stressed, I take out my frustrations either on the keyboard or the canvas. I'm sure a lot of you are the same way.

Because it's an outlet, it can't become something I have to do. If I went with a traditional publisher, I'd have deadlines and people telling me what my cover should look like. Or even telling me how I can and can't format a book.

I did mention I'm also Type A? Oh, no? I am. Judging by the very detailed list of help topics on this blog, you probably knew already.

That Type A has a lot to do with why I can't go trad. I need control without deadlines. When I do have a deadline, I lock up, unable to do anything at all. If someone tells me my cover has to be such-and-such way, I get jittery and nervous because I rarely like designs other than my own.

I get to blog about whatever I choose, and I don't have someone telling me which book signings I can attend. If I screw up, I only have myself to answer to. I could go on, but I think you get the point.

Being an Indie is freeing. I get to write what I want when I want. Who wouldn't want that?

Not to mention the royalties are all mine. I don't have to give a publisher $0.99 out of every dollar I make. I get the whole $0.35 when I sell a $1 book. Win. I also don't have to pay back any signing bonus. Win.

Now, I'm not pooing on trad authors. If they can do that, more power to them. Anyone who can see a deadline and hit it is amazing to me. Anyone who can navigate the world we live in without getting cancelled and dropped by their publisher because of something they write? Impressive.

In other words, I made the best decision for me when I went Indie. That doesn't mean it's the best decision for everyone. After all, it's expensive to do what we do.

Which are you? Why did you go that route? Share! I'd love to discuss it. :)

I hope you got something out of this post! Be SURE to come back for the fun next week.

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Unexpected Inspirations

Welcome, and happy Wednesday! Just two more days until we hit the weekend. Yay! My son is getting married on Sunday, and two of my grand babies are having a birthday party on Saturday, so it should be a good time. :) BUT! That's not why we're here today, is it? Nooooo, sir. Today, we're talking about unexpected inspirations for stories. Man, have I got some doozies. I'm hoping this post will get you all looking around you and at the news to find something you can twist on its head and write.

Ready? Grab your cup, fill it up, and let's get right into it!

So, I'm the kind of writer who takes inspiration from weird shit. For example: I'm riding in the car with my husband one day, and I see an old house. I think, Wow. I bet that house has some serious stories to tell. Then my brain was flooded with all the things that house might have seen in its lifetime. An epiphany hit then, and my brain went full stop. Perhaps the house fits into my PPSK series somehow. It certainly looks creepy with all the windows busted out and the porch falling down...

That's when I wrote The House. It came after Intensification, but I knew it had to be linked somehow. If you read all about our dear Hank, you know he was in a mental hospital for a number of years. That house ended up being the reason. Boom. Story inspiration.

If we back up, we can look at Emancipation. That story idea came from an episode of 20/20 where they were talking about a lady lawyer trying to get a man out of prison. He didn't do it! We all know that story, right? I thought, What if he did do it, and he wasn't shy about admitting it? What if her story isn't what she's portraying it to be?

You gotta have the what if, right?

I spent months figuring out what her true motive was for the book, learning about prison life, and asking questions of people around me who know more than I do. My release date was timed so readers would get to the last page on or around the final date in the book. Boom. Story inspiration.

If we go even further back, we come to Yassa: Genghis Khan's Coming of Age Tale. Did you know that book came from a college essay I had to write? Yeah. I became enthralled with the story of Temujin and Jamuka, and I started to wonder what could've broken such a tightly woven friendship. Well, it had to be a woman...

Boom. Story inspiration.

Somewhere between those two lies M. I was having a casual chat with my kiddos about DNA and altering it, and one of my sons mentioned how cool it might be to have a pill that would do that. I dove into research on DNA myself, and I learned what else might be altered if you did what I wanted. That story is plausible because of the research, but it never would've been created if not for the conversation. Boom.

I tell you all this to get here: There are stories all around you that need telling. You just have to be paying attention. Perhaps there's a painting that you find intriguing. Why? What if it came to life? What if it's a long-lost relic belonging to the vampire race? What if it's the only object in the world that can awaken their princess?

THINK. Twist. Believe.

This is how stories are made.

You know you have one in you, so find it in one of those unexpected places. It's crazy what can be used for story fodder. 

What titles has the world around you sparked in your soul? Drop me a comment and let me know. I might just pick it up and read it. :D

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

My Favorite Ways to Connect with Readers

Happy Monday, y'all! What a weekend! I had a fantastic time at Authors Rock Roanoke in Virginia, and it got me thinking about readers and how I like to connect with them. Sit back, grab your coffee and a cozy blanket, and let's get right into it, shall we?

Let's start with my least favorite way to connect and go from there. I don't prefer to message with anyone. Ever. It takes too much of my time, and I always end up leaving people on read. Folks end up with hurt feelings or assume I'm not interested. My truth is: I'm just too damned busy to have my phone in my face all day. If you have my number and message me, it's a crapshoot to know if I'll answer. Usually, I do, but it takes a while sometimes. So, don't message me. hahaha

Second least favorite is via social media. I do like to connect with people this way, but it's so difficult to keep up with every single channel, and like I said above, I'm really bad at responding. Sometimes I don't get the notification, and sometimes I just space out and forget. Don't let this stop you from hitting me up with a comment, but remember it may take me time to respond. If I ever missed something from you, I'm sorry! I'm booked out for days with my day job.

Last on the leasts list is email, but I do prefer that over either of the other two. I'll respond from there for sure, and we can have long conversations!!

Second favorite is running into people in the wild. Not at an author conference, but when someone recognizes me out and about and stops me to say hello. This rarely happens, because I'm more well known in author circles than reader circles (because of this blog), but I really love it when it does. Makes me feel kinda famous. :)

My favorite way to connect with a reader has to be in person. I really enjoy sitting down with them and shooting the shit. We can reach a deeper level of connection when we talk about our hobbies outside the book world. 

For example: I love to paint and create art, and I adore riding horses (I used to be an instructor). 

One of those things, you probably know from following me here for so long, but the other one, you probably didn't know before today. I've also had a ton of different jobs in my lifetime, so if you ever see me out and about, ask me about them! I'd love to chat. Maybe we've done similar things and have war stories to share.

This is why I most prefer to meet people in person. I can't ask you to buy my book because my brain doesn't work that way, but I can talk about nearly everything else. :)

So, hit me up. I love it!

Question: How do YOU like to connect with readers?

Thanks for reading and being cool. Next week, I'm planning to dive into some other things I think you might find helpful.

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Tools for Marketing - Author Edition

Happy Friday, everyone! If you happen to be in the Roanoke, Virginia, area tomorrow, pop on down to the Holiday Inn Tanglewood and say HI. We'll be there from 9:30am-2pm. If you don't have a ticket, you can get one here. It's a short and sweet book signing you'll have a blast at. Okay, let's get our scoot on.

Today, we're talking about tools on the market that will help you with book promotion and give you ideas if you get stuck in your narrative. It's mostly about the promotional side though. :) Grab your coffee or tea and let's get right into it!

There are a number of social media aggregators on the market that will help you schedule posts on your socials way in advance. All of them are different and give you different socials and options. We'll start with these, and I'll go over FOUR of them. There are others, but many want you to get a demo before you get a price or a trial run, and others not listed are astronomically priced. :)

For the sake of apples to apples, we'll assume each user has 10 channels they'd like to connect and one user.

Buffer

This is the only one of the four listed here that has a free option. 3 social accounts at no charge, 10 scheduled posts, and 1 user. If you're not running a company, this isn't a terrible value. From here, though, the price increases dramatically. For $60 a year, you get ONE channel. Each channel after that costs you an extra $5 per month. At our base of 10 channels, that's $600 a year with only ONE user. This can add up fast.

It does have a visual calendar where you can drag and drop your posts around, making it easy to fix when you screw up and schedule the right thing on the wrong day.

SocialPilot

7 channels are included in the base plan with one user. You have a content library where you can put things you use often like hashtag collections, images, videos, etc. You can add custom fields once you get to the premium level. This base plan will cost you $30 a month or $306 per year. 

There are no analytics on the base plan. If you want 11 channels (the closest to Buffer with 10), it'll cost you $50 monthly or $510 per year. Still better than 10 channels for $600. This 11-channel plan also lets you have up to 3 users.

Again, you have a calendar with days where you can drag and drop.

Loomly

This one is kinda funky on the pricing. There's a basic plan that's free, and you get the same as Buffer (1 user and 3 channels), but you can't see the other plan unless you email them for a quote. I hate doing this. Just be upfront with your pricing, please. Sheesh. It does have some cool features I've been playing with like instant post creation when your blog feed pushes RSS. Then it asks if it can post it. You can also see everything in one place like the others, and you can set posting times ahead.

Updating: I found out. It's $384 for two users and 10 social accounts, but there are a lot of things you don't get like analytics.

Hootsuite

This is one we all know and love but can't afford. They aren't for the casual user. Their basic plan is pro and starts at $99 per month. I know. For that $99, you get 1 user, 10 socials, suggested times for posting, and "so much more." At $1200 a year, I better get a gold sink with that. It used to be free, and then it went to like $5 per month. Pretty sure I have a post about it around the blog somewhere.

Now on to tools that won't cost you an arm and a leg for images or other fodder.

Adobe Express

This sweet nugget is free for the basics, and it includes a LOT of stuff. Here's the link if you'd like to see for yourself. If you're in the market for a lot more included stuff, it's $100 a year for one person. Worth it. No more buying stock photos. YAY!

Chat GPT

Be pissed if you wanna be, but this program can save you a TON of time coming up with social media share texts--yes, even on the FREE version. You tell it what channels you're pushing to, and it'll get all happy with the emoji and verbiage. Then you just copy and paste. I feel like it's not taking a job from someone else in this case; it's helping save YOU time. Be specific, and tell it if there's a specific hashtag you want it to use. You'll be cranking out content in no time.

It can also help you get unstuck if you're stuck by giving you ideas about what's coming next in your book. This isn't using AI to write; it's more like chatting with a friend and brainstorming ideas. Try it out! It gave me a wonderful idea for a twist in my newest serial killer novel (coming soon), and I'm sure it'll have you thinking outside the box in no time.

So, there they are! These tools will save you time, and for an author, time is everything. Get back every second you can.

I hope you enjoyed this post! If there are any tools you'd like me to mention in posts like these, let me know in the comments below. Yes, you'll need a Google account, but that helps me control SPAM and trolls. :)

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

5 Tools I Couldn't Publish Without

HUMP DAY! Just two days until the weekend. Wooooo! Welcome back to the blog, y'all! Today, we'll be talking about tools. You know, those things that help you along the way? These will be specifically for Indie authors, though any author could use them, I suppose. Trad pubbers don't really need the help though. Anywaaaaay, enough rambling!

Grab your coffee and a cozy blanket, and let's get right into it.

Number one on my list is Microsoft Word. There. I said it. I use this program to write all my stuff. Not only is it an awesome word editor, but when my computer crashed, it kept my most recent file. #MadLove for Word. I tried other writing tools (looking at you, Scrivener), and when the program died, so did 14k words. Never again. Ever. Ugh.

Second is Adobe Photoshop. Because I went to school to learn design and how to use this beautiful program, I can use it to make covers like these:

Third on my lovely list is Adobe InDesign. Again, because I went to school, I know how to make interiors that look like these (print books only):

HINT: Click on them to see them larger.

Fourth is Jutoh. This is what I use to create my ebooks and output them in a myriad of file formats. It does PDF, Word document, and used to do .mobi before it became obsolete. I can make pretty books like this:

Fifth on the list, and because there are now SO many options, is Amazon Author Central. I also publish to Smashwords (now Draft2Digital). Author Central just gives me the ability to do everything from publishing my paperbacks to ordering them.

So, there are the five tools I couldn't publish without. Marketing is another conversation we'll get into on Friday. I have time savers I plan to share with you all. :)

What tools could you not live without?

Thank you so much for showing up and reading. I hope you got something out of this post. If not, I hope it was a lovely read either way. No, I don't create covers for other people, but I edit and typeset for IBGW because those are the things I'm willing to do. My covers are my own. :)

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

What I Wish Readers Knew About Self-Published Authors

Happy Monday, and welcome back to the blog, y’all! I’m getting a little deep with the readers today, and we’ll be talking about all the things I wish y’all knew about us self-published authors. Up until very recently, and in some cases still, we were considered the red-headed stepchildren of the publishing industry. We produce crap, right? We have terrible editing and shite covers, right? Well, allow me to clear a few things up. :)

If you’re ready to hear the ramblings of a crazy person, hunker down with a doughnut and a cup of coffee, and let’s get into the nitty gritty.

Those books you see with homemade covers and bad editing are usually an example of an author that doesn’t know what they’re doing. That’s all it is. As they grow and learn to be a person in the industry, they start to understand what it takes to make a great book people want to read and will tell their friends about.

If you think the first things out of Stephen King’s fingers was the brilliance it is today, you’re mistaken. He even talks about it in his book On Writing. He says the first things you write will always be absolute shit, and you should put it in a drawer and forget about it until you’re an established author. Then pull it out and laugh about it. First drafts should lay in a drawer until you forget what you wrote so you can come back to it with fresh eyes for edits.

New writers don’t start on a level that’s Christine worthy. They start somewhere around the I-want-to-write-and-have-drive-but-don’t-understand-what-to-do-next level. Then they write, and they rush to publish (because it’s so easy now and they’re excited).

Does that mean they shouldn’t be given some grace? No. It means they need to learn how to do and be better than they were day one. I mean, I started here, and I now have over fifty books published. That first stuff wasn’t the worst, but it also wasn’t the first thing I ever wrote. Those stories will never see the light of day, and I’ll certainly never publish them. Beg all you want. You’ll never see them. Nope.

Even my first book, Yassa, wasn’t great, as I said. I was one of those beginners. I grew.

Let me tell you a little something else you may not know:

Indie authors pay from their own pockets for editing and cover design. Unlike a traditional publisher, which handles every aspect of the publishing of a book (think: audio, editing, cover, different languages, etc.), an Indie has to do all that themselves.

There’s no team of people there. It’s usually just one person footing the bill for all of the above.

Now I invite you to listen to this podcast where I talk about what we make when we sell a book. I get very deeply into the numbers. Tell me, if we make just around $0.35 for each book we sell, how long it takes us to recoup a $3,000 edit? I’ll wait.

That’s right, $8,571.5 books sold. Most readers don't want to pay more than $0.99-$1.99 for a book, so here we are.

Add in marketing tools (because no one can do all this stuff alone) and the cover, and you’re looking at an Indie needing to sell TEN THOUSAND books to BREAK EVEN.

Most just think it’s not worth it and quit. Those of us who’ve been around a while know that we need to learn to do a lot of this stuff ourselves OR get a less expensive edit, which is where a lot of those nagging errors come in.

Even if you don’t think a book is worth five stars, maybe a nicely worded note to the author along the lines of “Hey, I noticed a number of grammatical errors, but I really love your writing style, and once you get your feet under you, I’d love to read some more! Keep me on your list for new releases, please” might just go a long way. Just don’t smack it with a one-star review.

Because they’ll improve. We all do. You want to be there to see that happen, right?

If you’re an author, be sure you listen to that podcast. It’s telling.

If you’re a reader, try to keep some of this in the back of your mind as you navigate the book world. Please.

I hope you all enjoyed this post! Which author have you seen come a long way? Colleen Hoover isn’t an answer. Hahaha That woman has always been the diamond she is now. No one truly discovered her until recently though. I'm talking about an author that started in the doldrums and is now doing very well. Do you know of a breakout author (one who hit with their first book)?

Well, that’s all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Biggest Mistakes I've Made as an Indie Author

Happy Friday, y'all! Today, I'm going to tell you about some of my biggest pitfalls as an Indie author. These are things I wish I'd never done, things I did that I regret doing, and things I hope you learn something from. If you do end up doing these things, make sure you understand that it may not work out when you sign up for whatever it may be or hire whomever. I'd say 100% of the time, these things got me absolutely nowhere and cost me time, readers, and money.

Ready? Oh, I know you are. Grab that coffee and a notepad; you're gonna want to write these down.

My smallest mistake was believing I could handle all the marketing of all my stuff alone. I couldn't, but I also simply needed the right tools to help me along and a good schedule for sharing my stuff. I had one but didn't have the other, and my work suffered because of it.

Just above that on the rung was believing friends and family would help me with those things. Yeah, that didn't happen either. Would you believe I got a call from a sister who asked me how to buy my friend's book on Amazon when I knew damned good and well my sister hadn't read half of what I've written? Yeah. That's now my expectation. Bitter? Me? Not at all. It's just reality, and that's okay. Did it make me curl my lip? Yes, but I won't hold it against her.

Above that, we have losing my newsletter. Y'all, I'll be honest, I just didn't have the energy to keep up with any of this stuff after I lost my mama and Covid lock down happened. Because I couldn't write, I baked, and I sent that stuff via my newsletter, but then I lost my son. I kind of withdrew from everything and turned to art (you can see my sad gallery here). It's been a rough couple years, but losing that newsletter hit hard. That was over 500 subscribers strong.

One step higher, and we see letting that damned troll get to me and shutting off the blog. Sure, I still popped in to share books that were new, but it wasn't the same, and I know that. I'm not sorry because I am actually human, and those comments did actually hurt. Now you might understand yet another reason I make people log in to comment now. In addition to the spam. Spam was BAD. Anyway, I'm losing my train of thought. Back on the tracks, you!

Up another rung and we have joining boxed-freaking sets. They cost money most of the time, and I have yet to have had a good experience with one. I stopped doing them. With the first, there were sixteen authors, and each one was supposed to share and promote the others. I was quite a way down the ladder, but I did my part. Other people didn't. By the time it got to me, people had already pulled their books down. It was a mess. For the second, it was personal because it was supposed to be a boxed set for MS research. Our organizer ran off with the money. I EVEN MADE A SEPARATE DONATION. Boy, if I ever run into her...

Go a bit higher and you find shutting off from socials for as long as I did. It's not easy coming back from that, and I missed a lot of the booms the book world saw during that time. BookTok was a huge one. It's nearly impossible to get your audience back. I mean, I get it. Trust is gone. I was just going through some shit.

Not writing my novels is the next on the list. Though I have been doing things here and there (like the second Recipe for Redemption book), I'm not anywhere near as productive as I used to be. I have a list of ideas and nothing to show for it. Several books are nearly done, but I can't seem to find the time to finish them. I took on a job for a while working for a company as their marketing manager, and while their business grew, mine shrank like male anatomy in an ice bath. Go figure.

Now, my biggest mistake as an Indie author was not putting my money in the right places. I went through a couple stints with a couple of PAs that got me nowhere (that was costly), and I didn't put money where it might have helped me. I wasted a lot on swag and crap I gave away when really I should've used it to sign up for tools I needed to help my marketing and anything else that would've bought me time. Time for a writer is everything.

It takes a lot of time to do what we do. It takes a lot of luck to be successful at what we do. I feel like I have a whole other life to live, and I just keep aging like some tree. I've been a mom since I was very young, and my kids are now out of the house. Do I have time to do what I want to do? No. I don't. I'm gonna fight like hell to get it back though, and this time, I have a world of experience in my pocket.

Maybe my biggest mistake was not inventing a time machine. Doya think?

There you go. These were my biggest mistakes as an Indie author. Have you made any of these? Did you get anything out of this post? Drop me a comment and let me know.

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Why Rats Make Awesome Pets and Why You Shouldn't Get One

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the blog. :) If it's your first time visiting me, super welcome, and I hope you stick around. It's easy to subscribe; look to the right. So! Why are we all here today? Rats. We're gonna talk about those little fluffballs that steal our hearts then leave us, and I'll tell you why you shouldn't get one.

Ready? Grab a cup of coffee and get cozy, because we're diving right on in.

Rats, specifically fancy rats (not wild like their cousins), as pets were first bred for color variety by two men named Jack Black and Jimmy Shaw in the Victorian Era. Up until then, rats were wild and dangerous, and many people viewed them as pests. They were also used in betting arenas, but I don't like to think about the fates that befell those cuties. Very sad.

How can you tell the difference between a wildie and a dom? Basically, you look at color and ears. While some domesticated rats still have top ears, a large majority of them have what are known as dumbo ears (ears lower on the head, like Agnus--the rat in the picture here). Wild rats are usually brown, and dom rats are generally any other color (but can still be brown).

Rats are intelligent, have been known to show empathy, grieve, can be litter trained, and are more than willing to be trained for the right treat (or any treat, really). A lot of people call them pocket puppies because they behave a lot like dogs. All these traits come together to make rats one of the best ever pets.

At one time, I had five, and I'm peppering their photos in as we go here. Mine were all females because I love the mischief they get into and how much energy they have. I got Agnus because I'd had a rat when I was younger, and she was my bestie. Her name was Baby, and we ran all over town together. She adored sitting on my shoulder and just hanging out. I didn't know at the time you need more than one for that rat to have a full life, and I didn't know rats couldn't be kept in tanks because there's not enough ventilation. Boy, did I make some errors in the beginning I had to undo quickly. haha. ha. Ugh.

For starters, you need at least three rats for a proper hierarchy to form (this is one reason you shouldn't get one--you should get MANY). I had Agnus for two weeks before I traipsed out and picked up Gemini (shown on the right here--LOOK at her EARRRRS). Man, did we ever bond. They were trained to come to me when I called them and jump in a bag-type carrier when they were ready to go back to their cage and have breakfast freshies (fruit and veg, and the occasional meaty treat).

Gemini started chasing my bestie Aggie around and biting Agnus's tail. Solution? Get another rat.

Here's the rub: You can't introduce just one rat when the other two are six months older like that. You have to get at least two more rats so they have same age, same sex company. You do not want to mix males and females. Baby rats are cute, but these critters multiply at an alarming rate. So, I got three girls (Shelia on the left here, Ethel on the right down below, and Betty on the left a little lower) in case one passed away for some reason.

They all lived. They were quarantined in a separate cage for two weeks then introduced to my other two girls via what's known as the carrier method. So, I had FIVE rats. I decided to give them the best lives I could, got them the biggest, best enclosure I could, and built them a nice playpen around it so I could just open the door and give them time in the out.

Rats need at least an hour of active time outside their cage daily so they can run and stretch their legs to ward off Hind Leg Degeneration or HLD. We had a lovely routine, and I never had an issue getting them back in the cage after they'd been out. Food is a wonderful motivator. hahaha

While I did have five rats, Aggie was my heart rat and the one I was most closely bonded with. If you haven't figured it out yet, she was the only one I really wanted. All the others were literally for her.

Another reason you shouldn't get a rat is because they'll die and break your heart. Aggie lived almost two years, which is the standard, but Gemma died first. After that, they dropped like flies. It's so hard to have them, love them, and lose them so quickly. Both of those girls died in my arms, and the others... Well, they went on their own.

One thing to remember about rats is that they only live about two years, so they're in your life for a flash, but you're in theirs forever. Whatever you can do for yours (if you get some) while they're on this earth is something they'll have their whole lives. My girls loved puzzle toys with treats in them, and they adored their rat tree (huge cat tree, but we don't talk about those here).

You also may not want to get a rat if you have other pets. Rats should never be around other pets, and cats should never be in the room with rats. It only takes seconds for an accident to occur, and I've seen some pretty messed up cats because the rat got scared and attacked. Same goes for dogs. Rats have enormous teeth that can cut through tendon and muscle like butter.

They need enrichment daily through either pea fishing (that's what Betty is doing up there) or some other kind of puzzle to make them work to get their food. They don't want pellets fed to them in a bowl; wild rats have to hunt and forage, and their counterparts need that stimulation. Besides, would you want bland cardboard fed to you in a bowl? No. Yuck.

A lot of people complain about the smell of rats (but they REEK, Jo!), but I found if you clean the litter box twice a week, the cage every two weeks, and have an air purifier nearby, you'll never smell them. Not ever. 

They can also be goofy and funny. They each have their own little personality, and it's fun getting to know them. If you want a rat as a pet, please seek out an actual breeder who breeds for temperament and health rather than coat color or ear type. You'll thank me later.

So, the reasons to have rats as pets far outweigh the downsides. They're a lot of work, which makes them totally unsuitable for small children to manage alone, and they're expensive if they have to go to the doctor (Agnus, I'm looking at you), but they give so much love and affection in return. Plus, they fit in your pocket, which is pretty cool.

Here are some fun pictures of Aggie and Gemma to brighten your day. What's better than rats in hats?

I hope you all enjoyed this post and learned a thing or three, and I hope to see you again!

Have you ever owned a rat? What did you love most about them? Interested in getting some and have questions? Ask me. I'm an open book.

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

How My Writing Has Evolved Over Time

Welcome back, good people of the blogosphere, and happy Monday. We're going to have a beautiful week, so prepare yourselves! Today, we'll be taking a look at some of my earliest writing (both here on the blog and in my first novel, which coincide, weirdly) and see just how cringe we can make the experience (for me, obviously). This should be a riot. I haven't visited my early blog posts for a long time. haha

If you're ready to get going and laugh alongside me, grab some coffee and settle in. Here we go!

My first-ever blog post can be found here. This was back when I didn't understand what the hell a blog was or how to run one. I literally thought I could write a gabillion posts on one book. Boy, how naive was I?

Bold as I am, my dumbass posted a snippet from my book, and when I read it now, I want to slap myself silly. Let's just grab the first paragraph and have a looksee.

*********

He screamed, louder this time, as Temujin cut off another one of his fingers. I involuntarily flexed my own in response to the act. I had never seen a man fight like my friend had last night. It was like something other than his own mind was working his muscles, causing him to strike and slash like a harbinger of death. It made me appreciate that I had made a friend of him and not an enemy. When he began to peel back the man’s skin from his body, I almost vomited. I took a few steps away and turned my head.

*********

While this isn't terrible, it's not great, either. How would I write this today? Let's just see...

*********

He screamed again, louder than the first time, as Temujin removed another one of the man's fingers with the swift strike of a blade. 

I involuntarily clenched my fists. I'd never seen a man fight like Temujin had last night. It was as though he was possessed, a demon from Hell working his muscles, causing him to strike and slash like a harbinger of death. It made me glad I'd made a friend of him and not an enemy. When he began to peel the man’s skin back from his body, I took a few steps away and turned my head, nausea roiling. 

*********

This is how I'd revise. New character, new paragraph, and staying in one tense (first-person past). While Jamuka is the person from whom we're getting the story in the prologue, it's still about the other man. Not a bad opening line for a book though.

Now, let's go back and take a peek at my first advice blog. You can find it here. It's not exactly advice, but it is book-world news about closing bookstores.

All I can think of as I read my rambling diatribe is the sad loss of contractions. You'd think, someone who writes like I do now would've been into contractions from the start. Nope. I suppose I loved writing everything out formally. *vomit* It also sounds so transactional. Like, who the frack did I think I was? Zero humility. Though I still have very lofty opinions of myself, they're much more focused than they were back then. hahaha

Okay, those two were from 2012 (I've been around a while), so let's jump forward to 2014. Check this one out. We're talking about fun writing exercises, and I seem to have adopted my style for a greeting by then. I also have become far more comfortable with my readers, and even went above and beyond by making printable things for y'all.

Gonna jump forward to 2016 and see how we fare now. Surprisingly, I found a post where I talked about my MS diagnoses. Didn't think I'd done that before. Don't I look stupid? LOL! You can see it here, and you'll notice I was putting a lot of images in my posts back then. Scroll down to the comments section, and if those don't make you tear up... Yeah, you don't have a heart. 

I also noticed a BUNCH of my 2016 posts were cover reveals and new releases. How freaking dull am I? Jeesh.

Okay, now we'll go to 2018 and see where I was...

44 posts that year compared to 71 the year before and hundreds the years before that. You could literally see me slowing down. *cries in my coffee* I even remember the troll who caused me to halt the blog. Boy, was that frustrating. I got nasty comments telling me how I wasn't doing enough... I wrote a whole post about it. Well, to hell with them. I was doing what I could at the time. Ugh. Don't sign up for that newsletter!! It's dead and gone. Also to be resurrected sometime in the future!

I did come across this beauty of a post while I was digging. It's still how I write today and how I'm able to crank out thousands of words in just a few hours. Go enjoy it because I seem to have honed my blog voice by then.

I've gotten awfully wordy today! I hope you had a good laugh and were riveted to the page long enough to get down here. I'm excited about what Wednesday will bring, and I hope to see you all back here for that. This was fun and cathartic. :)

That's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON! <----this has stayed with this blog since day one. *happy tear*

Jo

Books I Return To Again and Again (And Why)

Happy Friday! Hello, good people of the blogosphere. Welcome back. Our weekend is right around the corner, and I know you're all excited about that (well, I know I am). I have some travel coming next week, but the blog shouldn't suffer my absence. Today, though, I'd love to just have a chat about some of my favorite books of all time. These are books I can read over and over because picking one up feels a lot like coming home after a long journey.

You know when you've been away for a while, and you return home, and there are your things, your memories, and your comfort items you couldn't fit in a suitcase? That's the feeling I'm talking about. These reads warm you from the inside out. You remember the first time you read them, why, and the feelings you had along the way.

That's the topic for today. So, if you're ready to get going, grab one of those cozy comfort items, and hunker down for a scroll.

First up, and I know a lot of you have this as one of your favorite reads as well: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. 

I don't know what it is about the first line of this book "It is a well-known fact that a man in possession of a great fortune must be in want of a wife." It always makes me feel like I'm opening the door to a familiar world and stepping into a beautiful story.

Character arcs in this book might be some of my favorites, alongside the next book, but the growth of both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy is perfect. Both of them are consumed with pride about themselves and prejudice against the other. The former because the latter is rich and she thinks very highly of herself, though she doesn't say that. You can see it in the way she addresses Mr. Collins and Charlotte. Mr. Darcy shows his prejudice by talking about Elizabeth's sister Jane and their mother, looking down on the woman because she's so invested in making good matches for her girls. 

Let's not forget about Jane Bennett. She's perhaps one of the most humble, kind people ever to be written into a novel. I love Jane's personality of acceptance and gentleness. Everyone should strive to be more like Jane, in my humble opinion. She's close to perfect, but her rosy glasses are also a flaw.

I also get lost in the language, and if I'm not careful, I find myself thinking and writing in Austen's voice pretty often after reading. If you're looking for a wonderful story that's so much more than the film could ever be, pick it up. You won't be sorry. I read it every year.

Next up, we have The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Every time I go to read this, I find one of the books has gone missing and have to buy the whole series all over again. I read it once every few years, but I used to read it yearly, like the first. Life has a way of slowing us all down, sadly.

What do I love about this series? Wow. I feel like that's a long answer, but I'll try to sum it up. Let me think... It must be because of the hope it inspires. Because the characters are so beautifully flawed from day one, they have a lot of growth potential, and Lewis really does a great job of showing exactly how someone can go from being a total snot-nosed brat to being a responsible, accepting human with grace and a mind for discipline.

There are seven books in this series, and my favorite one is The Horse and His Boy. I was very upset that they quit making the movies after The Voyage of the Dawn Treader because I was looking forward to seeing Shasta on the big screen. Perhaps they struggled to find a way back then to bring a voice to the horse who accompanies Shasta back to Narnia. They could do it well now, and they seemed to have no issue with Aslan, so I'm not sure where the hangup was.

Anyway, I adore all the characters in this series, probably as much as I adore the characters in Lord of the Rings. All of them are flawed, and all of them have beautiful character arcs. Over the next year, I hope to dive back in and rejoin Lucy as she steps through the wardrobe and discovers the magical world just beyond the doors.

This series really keeps your attention, so if you're looking for a long read that's well written and engaging, pick it up. Let me know if you enjoyed it.

What are some of your go-to books? Is there one you read yearly or often? Why? Drop me a comment and let me know!

I hope you enjoyed this post and it brought up some good feelings and memories for you.

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Navigating Big Life Changes

Happy Wednesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, we're talking about something that's hitting me hard right now, and that's Big Life Changes. Not only am I moving for the first time in over ten years, but I've also gone back to a previous job that's very demanding on my writer self. How the hell am I managing to also come back here and blog?

Well, that's the topic for today's post, silly. This is how I'm feeling about everything I have going on:

I know I can get wordy up here, but not today, gosh darn it. Get cozy and get scrolling!

Let's start by getting a rundown of things considered to be Big Life Changes. 

• Death of a loved one
• Changing careers or major career shifts
• Marriage or divorce
• Having children or becoming an empty-nester
• Major illness, injury, or health diagnosis
• Retirement or planning for retirement
• Starting or ending a significant relationship
• Financial gain or loss (bankruptcy, inheritance, winning money, job loss)
• Returning to school or significant educational pursuit
• Relocating to a new city, state, or country (separate from moving houses locally)
• Launching a new business or creative venture
• Significant milestone birthdays (turning 40, 50, 60, etc.)
• Becoming a caretaker for someone ill or elderly
• Pets passing away or adopting new pets
• Significant personal accomplishments (publishing a major work, reaching a personal goal)
• Spiritual or philosophical transformations

I don't know about you, but I'm going through a number of those right now:

• Relocating to a new state
• Becoming an empty nester
• Major career shift
• Pets passing away
• And I'm always struggling with my illness, so... Yeah...

It's a lot, but scheduling and planning helps a ton. One thing you have to keep in mind as you go through these things is carving out time for yourself. If you get sick or worn out, you won't have the energy to keep up with anything else. It's imperative you take care of you.

Steps I take to take to navigate huge task dumps:

• Talking it out over coffee with a friend
• Breaking tasks into smaller pieces so I can easily get my head around them
• Sorting and planning, realistically, time to do each task
• Writing everything out in a planner with time slots
• Using a timer to ensure I stick to the plan and wrapping up super quickly when it goes off

These not only save my sanity, but they allow me to accomplish things in smaller pieces so I get both a sense of pride and a sense of accomplishment. Checking things off a list feels SO GOOD, doesn't it? Not only that, but I make sure to work in time for friends, family, and my own leisure pursuits (y'all know about the new Hunger Games book--enough said).

If I sit down and try to do everything at once, it all becomes a jumbled mess in front of me, but by breaking it down and scheduling it, everything suddenly has a time and a reason. It's much easier to accomplish little things than big ones.

My other job is rather demanding right now because I'm trying to clean up and get my team on a new path. Researching tools that will help us do our job was a big part of that, and properly utilizing the tools we already had, and are paying for, required a lot of up-front work. It was overwhelming, but I took a stand-back-and-examine approach, and I think I have our priorities sorted. That was a huge step. It's frustrating to see tools that aren't being used, but we've gotten our bull by the horns now.

Revitalizing this blog is a huge personal goal of mine, and because I'm unapologetic about what I post or if I miss a day, I feel like that turns a lot of people off. However, I refuse to change that about myself. If I can't do it, I can't do it, but I hope you all know I give it my level best. It's important to me, so I make it as much of a priority as I can. :)

Bear with me through the changes. We'll find our footing. I promise you.

What kind of Big Life Changes are you dealing with right now? Any advice to add?

I hope you all took something away from this post and enjoyed the read. Unsure what the next post will be about, but we'll get through it together! I hope. hahaha

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Book Reviews 101 - Where to Start When You Don't Know How to Start

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Today we'll talk about something interesting in the realm of books. I've had so many people come to me and ask where they should start when writing a book review. I figured I'd answer somewhere everyone can see it and take something away. If you're ready, grab a cuppa, and let's get rolling!

Book reviews are subjective. I said it. You know it. It's gonna be okay.

That's not all!

There's more?

Of course there is. There's subjectivity, yes, but there's also having a good baseline to start from. You want to rate on more than feelings. Those are still important, which is why they're in the list below, but they're not the end all be all for most people.

You'll also want to consider the following:

Pacing - Were you bored to tears during the first 3/4 of the book only to have the last quarter fly past? Were you bogged down in the language the author used? Was there too much dialogue and not enough action? It's a fine balance to get a book to carry the reader at just the right pace from page one to the end. Consider how well that balance was achieved.

Characters - Did you give a shit about them? Did they have a nice arc (experience change in a profound or minor way)? Were there too many? Were their names impossible to pronounce which caused you to trip over it every time you read it? Take all these things into account. Building complex characters that people can care about is difficult and part of the skill of writing a great novel.

Feeling - How did you feel as you read the book? If it's a suspense novel or murder mystery, were you on the edge of your seat, wondering what was about to happen? If it was a love story, did you feel all gushy and gooey at the end? Same with every genre--the feeling the words in the book give you should match the classification.

Overall Writing - Were sentences constructed in a way that didn't throw you out of the narrative? Were there a lot of typos? Was the overall story built well with a beginning, middle, and end (or cliffhanger)? Did it keep you interested? Think about the prowess of the author when considering this point. I feel like it's important even in trad pub. I mean, they have in-house editors, and many of them are supposed to be the best in the business. I've read Indie books with fewer errors than trad books.

Because I'm me (editor), and grammatical errors throw me out of a good story, I tend to give a full two stars of consideration for overall writing. You may assign feeling two stars. It's totally up to you.

Here are a few things most reviewers don't do:

• Complain that there's too much sex.
• Complain about too much violence.
• Consider price.
• Talk about specifics of the plot.
• Summarize the book.

Why don't they do those things?

I'm so glad you asked!

If you pick up an erotic novel... Yeah. Or even spicy romance can fall into that category. I mean, you know what you're getting into. It's bad form to complain about it in the review. This also goes for level of violence. If you've picked up a hard-boiled detective novel or a thriller, chances are, there's gonna be violence. To buy the book then slam it in the review for fitting into the genre it's classed as is rude. 

Price is what it is. If you were entertained for a day, that cost you less than a movie that only lasts a couple hours. Think about it before you yap about it. Authors have to make a living, too! If they don't, you won't have more books to read. We'll all quit.

Then what?

Specific plot points might have been planned as surprises. Don't ruin it for everyone else, please. This also goes for summarizing the damned novel. It ruins the book! Stop. It.

Here's a review for a series I haven't yet finished as an example:

Oh, man! Just when I thought I had the twists figured out, I was sucker punched from a mile away. I love this author's writing style, and her characters leap off the page and into my lap. Tension was kept high throughout the whole series so far, which is a plus for me. My fingers are itching to get hold of the last two. Love triangles with dire consequences for the choice made are the order of the day, but I still kinda want the MC to choose the guy I want. Yes, they're both amazing men, but I have my heart set on one, and nothing is going to talk me out of it. What a beautiful story arc for the MC. I've loved seeing her grow from page one. I look forward to what else she may do or discover about herself along the way. If you love magic, romance, and a good fade-to-black scene cut, I highly recommend this series. Loved it. Highly enjoyable read with few errors. Five stars.

As you can see, I didn't go into specifics, but I still managed to touch on every point I made above. It's possible if you consider the four topic sections and just talk about that. Insert yourself into your review because of the subjective nature of what you're writing, and you'll always write something that tells others what to expect.

Anyone wanna guess the series? :)

What do you think? Ever see a review that pissed you off? Have you seen some great ones? I'd love to know. Drop me a comment below and tell me.

I hope you all enjoyed yourselves today! Next week, we'll get back into the AI stuff. I needed a break from the monotony. :)

Well, folks, that's all for today!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo