Jade Varden Official Blog

 "I fell in love with this book. It pulled me in very quickly, and I did not want to put it down." "There are many great YA authors out there, but Varden's style stands out." Justice (Deck of Lies, #1) has been reviewed by The Eager Reader, and I'm eager for you to read the whole thing !

Are you writing from all five senses...or just one? It's standard to describe what your characters are seeing, but there's a lot more to living life than that. If you really want to immerse your readers in your world, you're going to have to let them know what it's like to be there. You're going to have to write from all five senses. The Five Senses Many book characters have all five senses, but how often do writers acknowledge that? To make your writing really descriptive , you've got to write from all five of those senses and really make every page come alive for your readers. Sight The easiest sense to capture in print is sight. It's standard to describe what your characters look like, where they are, everything they can see. It's so common to focus on the sense of sight, in fact, that you might end up neglecting the other senses -- which are just as important. Sound The sense of sound is often captured in books in dialogue . Ev...

A story we've all heard almost didn't make it, because the author trying to publish it was rejected so many times. She heard the word "no" from publishers so much, in fact, that she decided to self-publish -- just like so many of today's authors. The thing is, she did it way back in 1902...more than a hundred years before the Kindle existed.  Beatrix Potter started writing as a child. She invented her own secret writing code and started recording the events of her life as young as 15 years old. As a girl, she often secretly brought small animals into her house. She loved writing stories, but Beatrix Potter also has a scientific mind. She tried to publish a paper about fungi and algae, but because she was female she couldn't submit it. Her parents tried to find suitors for Beatrix as she became of an age to marry, but she rejected them all and retained her single status against their wishes. Her Own Way She wanted to be a writer. Beatrix submitt...

Would you read a novel with more than a thousand pages? Could you even pick it up? In a modern world where any question can be answered in seconds and entertainment is accessible from a dozen different electronic devices, how long is too long when you're writing a book? Lots of writers struggle with writing full-length novels, because there's a whole lot of words involved, but at the opposite end of the spectrum you have a few who do something that's even worse: they write too much. If you're going to extreme lengths in your books, it might actually be a serious problem you need to address. Book Length I saw a forum thread, the other day, where a writer was asking how many words you have to write to technically create a book. I've addressed the question of book length before, but I didn't address a big book problem that some writers don't even realize exists: going to extreme lengths.  When is a Book Too Long?  The longest actual novel eve...

The official trailer for Death (Deck of Lies, #3) is here! I'm unveiling it here first, but soon you'll be able to find it on Smashwords, Goodreads and Twitter. As always, you can tell me what you think of it in the comments section. 

How many errors have snuck past you in editing? No author can get through an entire book without making a mistake (and I personally can't seem to get through a single paragraph without them), but it's not entirely your fault. Words are confusing, and they have lots of different forms that only adds fuel to the fires of bafflement. But if the wrong usage of a word sneaked past you in the past, you can prevent it in the future -- just learn which one's right. In the epic battle of sneaked vs. snuck, which word will win? Sneaking in the Past By and large, books are written in the past tense. Some authors do create their books using present tense, but past tense is the most popular...and this makes it difficult to chose the right word forms. Words like sneak , which have more than one past tense form, really only exist to make your job difficult (that's my theory, anyway).  So, which one's right? Both of them. Whether you're using sneaked or snuck , e...

One of the most iconic characters of all time is also the most confused. Mary Poppins on the page isn't a whole lot like the Disney version that would become famous three decades later. Mary Poppins was heavily adapted for the screen, yet the film version is probably more well-known than the book that came first. The Book Mary Poppins was published in 1934 by P. L. Travers, and it became only the first in an 8-book series that would spawn decades and even generations. But the first book created a legendary character that all children, young and old, recognize immediately...as Julie Andrews.  Like the Disney film, the book revolves around the Banks family. They live at Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane in London. In the book, Mr. and Mrs. Banks have four children, not two. In addition to Jane and Michael, there is a pair of twins named John and Barbara. Mary Poppins arrives at the house on a gust of wind quite soon after Katie Nana, the nanny, storms out of t...

A while back, I blogged about a novel that's based on one of the books from the Old Testament. It's only fair to give equal space to a novel that's based on one of the books of the New Testament -- one of the most well-known and beloved, in fact. The Original  The Gospel of St. Luke, often titled simply Luke in the New Testament, details the life and times of Jesus Christ. No matter what you happen to believe, you're familiar with the unusual story surrounding his birth: a young, virginal girl is visited by an angel. The angel tells her that she will bear a Messiah, the son of God Himself, through immaculate conception. Mary, the young girl who is chosen for this task, faces censure and trouble. Her husband, Joseph, proves to be an understanding man. He takes his wife away to have her baby, which they'll raise together, and the infant is born in a manger because they can find no shelter at he inn. More than two thousand years later, this event...

 "Justice is AMAZING!"  "This is an EXCELLENT book - it doesn’t matter if you label it as YA, suspense, thriller, drama...the perfect amount of romance, action and secrets to resolve." Ruty at Reading...Dreaming has reviewed Justice, and I'm pleased to say she's given it 5/5 stars. Visit the blog to read the full review .  The July release celebration for Death is ongoing, so you can download a FREE copy of Justice at Smashwords with the code SSWIN to see how your review of the book compares!

One of America's most well-loved writers is also one of the unluckiest. Jack London faced rather miserable circumstances early in life, and before he found fame and fortune he had a mailbox stuffed full of ugly rejection letters. You can still see some of them today, on display at his famous estate. There are almost enough, in fact, to use as wallpaper.  Jack London was born illegitimately in California to a single mother. As a child, London was raised by an ex-slave and worked in a cannery. As a teen, London worked on fishing and sealing boats before he returned to land to attend high school at 19.  He loved to read, and as a natural extension of his love of words began to write when he wasn't working in the canning factory. London submitted many early poems, short stories and poems to publications throughout California in his early years of writing, but received rejection in return. His mother committed suicide when he was 21. Devastated by this and by his biologi...

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is considered by many to be the only American fairy tale, a story that takes a little girl from a farm in the midwest to a fantasy land of talking lions and amazing wonders. More commonly known as The Wizard of Oz , the book turned into several sequels, a well-known stage play and one iconic film that's still a must-watch for anyone under the age of twelve. But when you try to compare the book against the film, it's almost like talking about two totally different stories. The Hollywood version of the book is so over-altered it's nearly unrecognizable. In fact, one of the most famous elements of the story never factored into the book at all: it's complete movie fiction. The Book The first edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz had an initial printing of 10,000 copies. Baum assembled the very first copy of the book himself and hand-delivered it to his sister Mary Louise Baum. The first edition sold out in the months, and the...

Writers are naturally creative people. Their imaginations are finely-honed, their visualization skills superb...they're not necessarily imbued with great gifts for punctuation and grammar. Being an author doesn't automatically make you a gifted editor , too, and it takes a lot of time to read and re-read your work over and over again. Should you consider hiring a professional editor to get the job done instead?  Professional Editors The self-publishing industry has created its own market, and there's no shortage of professionals that authors can hire if they've got the money. Professional editing services abound if you need a little help cleaning up your pages. Some editing services are geared specifically toward indie authors, and along with traditional proofreading services they provide ebook formatting as well.  Is it worth it?  Cost . Professional editing services don't come cheap, and everybody's got their own way of doing things. You may ...

Review swapping. It's always a hot forum topic on author boards, and it's a survival tactic for many indie writers who are trying to promote new books. But before you jump on the review swapping bandwagon and start putting your to-be-read list together, envisioning all those great reviews your work is about to receive, read this post...and find out why I'm passionately, deeply against the very idea of trading reviews -- with anyone .  Tit for Tat There's nothing wrong with trading. As a matter of fact, I've said more than once that we ought to simply do away with the money and go back to a system of bartering. Coinage is made up anyway; money has value because we give it value. Trading is the much older, much more reliable form of currency -- and it's been highly beneficial to a ton of indie authors out there.  But it's also got a dark side...one that just might swallow your reputation whole.  Review Swapping Pros There are obvious b...

Though it was published way, way back in 1813, Pride and Prejudice is still one of today's most popular books. It's sold more than 20 million copies around the world, and not just because so many English teachers assign it as homework (which is what happened to me). Even though the story was written by an English miss who lived and died on the page nearly 200 years ago, the story resonates strongly with American readers and book lovers around the world....even when it's pushed into England of the twenty-first century. The Original  Elizabeth Bennet is the heroine of Pride and Prejudice , and one of the best-loved characters ever penned. She is a product of her times, and as such expected to conduct herself accordingly in all manners of education, morality and marriage. She is the daughter of a country gentleman in a small town outside London, much like the author Jane Austen herself. The excitement begins when an eligible young bachelor moves into nearby Netherf...

Irregardless is a hot-button word among grammarians, and that makes it confusing for writers. Is it a word, or isn't it? Should you be using it in your writing, or shouldn't you? It all depends on where you stand on this debate. Many wordsmiths either totally love it, or completely hate it. It's a Word! If you look up irregardless in the dictionary, you're going to find it. The Oxford English Dictionary and the American Heritage Dictionary both have a listing for this word, which would seem to legitimize it. However, in both cases the word is listed as "nonstandard," and the Heritage actually defines the word as regardless .  Doesn't that mean irregardless isn't a word? That all depends on how you view it. Because the word has been accepted into the dictionary and because it has found its way into the common vernacular and because it has a definite meaning (regardless), many passionately argue that irregardless is most certainly a word.  ...

I'm going to share a personal story...a love story. It's about me and a book. I started writing it around 7 years ago, after I'd been sort of half-thinking about it for several years. I worked on that book for over 2 years. Before I knew it, I had a massive file filled with research notes, pictures of maps all over my desktop, and an epic manuscript of over 300,000 words (that's massive).  And love. I was filled with love for that book, which I started to think of (around chapter 9) as "my masterpiece." Some of you may not be aware of the true danger I was in at that point. It's for you that I have to share this advice: don't fall in love with your work. It could ruin you.  Being in Love What's so bad about falling in love with one's work? Doesn't loving your books make your writing better? You know what, maybe it does. Maybe that epic manuscript is the best thing I've ever written or will ever write -- but that isn't t...

I've blogged about the importance of creating a 3-dimensional main character before, but there are lots of other people who populate the pages of a book. Many writers develop a connection to their main characters, the hero or heroine who must go through all the trials and tribulations before they reach their happy ending...or tragic conclusion. But you should spend some time thinking about the supporting cast in your book, too, and make all of them as real as possible. Who Am I? With each and every character you create, take the time to think a little bit about who they are. I create a character sheet for all my books, with a brief bio for everybody who's going to appear. The bio tells me what the character's complete name is, what their nicknames are if they've got any, what they look like (and, in the case of the Deck of Lies series, which designers they prefer). But beyond this, there are other important details that writers need to include for many of th...

"I really enjoyed reading this book...it only got better towards the end." Another reader sounded off on Justice recently at Total Teen Fiction . Go read the full review to see what she liked, and didn't like, about the beginning of the Deck of Lies. She's not the only one reading about lies, murder and family secrets this week. A new post on another book blog suggests that one reader may already be embroiled in a weekend Deck of Lies reading marathon. Visit Sarah Elizabeth's Bookshelf to see what she had to say about the beginning of Justice!

Some writers are so afraid of being rejected or judged in any way, they won't even let others see their work. This was the case for one American woman who would go on to become one of the most celebrated poets of all time. It's only through a quirk of fate that any of us know she existed -- upon her death, she instructed that all of her writings should be burned to ash.  Lucky for us, that's not what happened.  Emily Dickinson lived in Massachusetts, and in her 56 years on Earth she barely saw any of the world. In fact, she barely saw what was going on outside her own room. This is where she spent most of her time, usually wearing white clothing, scribbling away furiously at her poems and her letters. Though she was a homebody who reportedly did not like to greet guests who came to the family house, she was a prolific letter-writer who maintained many close friendships through correspondence.  But most of her time was spent writing poetry, usually on the to...

Justice (Deck of Lies, #1) has been selected as the Indie Book of the Week by the good folks at Bibliofreak . Visit the site and click on the cover of Justice to read all the Amazon reviews and get your Kindle copy of the book!