Tag Archives: books

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20 November, 2025

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published, storyteller, writing

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Like a Rolling Stone

Blelo evwebody,

I bet you’re wondering how that author event went, right?

…..

It was awesome!

Well, to be honest, I was super nervous and really freaked out all day. We set up at 9 a.m. at the library, the event started at 11 a.m., and we left around 3:30 p.m. But I channeled my mom’s outgoing energy and used my best people skills. M said I did awesome. I even sold 20 books and gave away some bookmarks and business cards! And my free funky pen giveaway was a big hit! People really liked them. When someone would walk by my table, I’d ask if they wanted a free pen and then I’d ask if they wanted a book! ^_^

This is me all set up and ready to go!

Now I am ready to get to work on my next books!

I also want to try to find some other author events to sign up for. I hope the next ones will be easier. I’m sure they’ll still be scary but hopefully I won’t be as freaked out.

Side-note: Our youngest cat, who’s still in kittenhood, decided it’d be cool to turn on our kitchen faucet and flood our kitchen. It went into our basement. Flooded everything. We already had the sheetrock in the basement stairwell replaced. We might have to tear up the kitchen tile. There are industrial fans and dehumidifiers everywhere. Ugh. Impudent little fluff. -_-*

Anyhoo, I hope I can start writing something this fall/winter. I’d really like to. Crappy things just keep happening to us. It’s stressing us out. Sigh.

Well, keep on trucking, kids.

J

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24 October, 2025

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determination, published, self-portrait, storyteller

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It’s Electric, Boogie Woogie

Blelo, evwebody!

It has been a busy summer into fall.

A cool thing that happened was that my science fiction crime drama, Code of Murder, won a 2025 International Impact Book Award and got the finalist medal in the Science Fiction-Suspense Category of the Global Book Awards. That was really cool. :o)

I am still trying to get my books/me out there. It is very hard. I only have 7 ratings on Code of Murder on Amazon. Marketing is very hard when you don’t have a marketing department behind you or your own publicist. But how are indie authors supposed to afford that? And then the emails you get from individual people claiming to promise to put you and your books in front of people are very sketchy and you know you’d end up paying them hundreds of dollars.

Anyway, I have a cool new website and everything. And I got a Goodreads author account, too.

So I have put myself out there in lots of places.

In a couple weekends I am doing something scary. I am going to be at my first-ever in-person author event. O_O It’s at a local library. They’re having lots of local authors come and sell their books and meet the community. I’ll have a table where I’ll be signing and selling my books, and giving away bookmarks, business cards, and some funky pens I found. :o) It is a great opportunity to get my face out there! But I am very scared and nervous. I hope I don’t chicken out. :o( M is being very supportive. He is going to come with me and help me stay strong….. I just hope I can do it!

Attempting to start some more stories, too. I hope fall will be a good writing time.

Next week is Halloween. My second favorite holiday! I’m so excited! I love October. My second favorite month (also my birth month). ^_^

Happy writing, happy reading, and happy All Hallows Eve!

-J

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18 April, 2025

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New Book Published

Hello, everybody. My science fiction crime drama, Code of Murder, has been published and is now available on Amazon in e-book and paperback formats. 🙂

Here is the back cover copy:

“In a near-future metropolis where technology blurs the lines between life and death, Detective Cordell Washington is thrust into a maelstrom of brutal murders and digital horror. When a series of meticulously staged crime scenes and eerie links to a legacy serial killer emerge, Cordell finds his grasp on reality and justice slipping away. With the ominous Genesys System promising eternal life yet concealing ominous secrets, every revelation forces him to confront not only a twisted killer but also the darkness within himself. As stakes reach a fever pitch, Cordell must decipher clues that could either shatter his world or deliver him from the relentless nightmare threatening to consume him.”

If you like crime, thriller, mystery, or science fiction, or just reading (maybe?), I invite you to check it out. 🙂

Of course I’m back to thinking it’s terrible. 😦 I was just looking at all the releases on Amazon and just noticing I’m just a tiny voice in a sea of yelling and screaming writers wanting to be heard. Yeah, I’m “special.” Just like everyone else. I only hope that people like it and don’t think it’s complete shite. I would hate for big crime junkies to read it and give me terrible reviews and say it’s awful. 😦 I guess we’ll see.

Anyway, I am happy I finished it and it’s up and out there. The next one that I will be publishing is my science fiction space opera novella. I’m nervous about that one, too. (Me? No!)

Happy reading,

J

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28 January, 2024

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determination, storyteller, writing

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BElieve In YOUrself

For the longest time (months, years even), I have struggled with my writing. I have had a hard time picking up the pen or typing on the keys. I have felt my writing is, quite frankly, utter shit.

I have constantly been comparing myself to other writers. Whether it’s not writing as prolifically as others or thinking their work is better, I just seem to have been measuring myself to everyone else. And I’ve been doing it for a long time.

I’ve also been making ridiculous, unattainable, unrealistic goals. Like, I have to write 5 books and 20 short stories, no excuses, by the time I’m 40 (which is only a few years off). Why? Because apparently that would make me a *real* writer/author. *That* would make me as successful and comparable to other authors.

You can kinda see where this makes you become miserable as a writer. The other day I realized, guess what? Somewhere along the lines here, writing stopped being fun. It started to become a chore and work. And I already write and edit for my day job so I definitely don’t want to feel that way about my personal life.

Because writing…writing is my soul. I am meant to write. I am meant to tell stories. I’ve always known it.

So when that stops being fun. Well, that’s a problem.

I told M about this and he agreed completely and said he saw this in me. So the other day I just said “F it,” and I just went for it. And I ended up writing about 3500 words to my sci-fi crime drama. And you know what? It felt amazing. I had fun. I didn’t care. I just wrote my story and I loved it.

And I still feel that way. I’m just going for it. I’m gonna write when I want to. I don’t care what so-and-so is doing or how many books and stories whoever put out, or how whatshername’s book is doing on Amazon. I’m going to write my stories.

And I’m gonna publish my stories and books when I’m good and ready and I know people will like them because I believe in them. And I believe in me.

-J