Jade Varden Official Blog

There are certain grammar myths out there that can make even the best writers go bad. English teachers have learned how to strike fear into the hearts of their students, but there's no reason you should be afraid of prepositions. It's time to find out the truth about the proper way to use prepositions in your writing. Prepositions Remember the rule? A preposition is anywhere a mouse can go. This includes words like from , under , to , above , as , into , out , through and on -- to name just a few. Prepositions are one of the most-used elements of the English language...and they're used to invoke terror in the minds of writers everywhere.  It's a commonly-accepted rule of English, and writing in general, that it's simply not okay to end a sentence with a preposition. This rule renders such common expressions as "what's going on?" and "what's up?" inherently flawed, not to mention renders oft-heard phrases like "what is ...

I visited the Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile blog recently, and shared some of my secrets in a new guest post.  Go read my Confessions to find out how, and where, I hide many little clues in my books that just might help you solve some of the mysteries. There are tons of clues in my upcoming book, Death (Deck of Lies, #3).

Bad writing. Everyone's afraid of it, and everyone's seen it at one time or another. It's always a threat you're going to have to face if you want to write books, and it's always out there lurking inside sentences and paragraphs. But if you want to avoid it, you've got to know exactly how to spot it. In order to keep your work free of bad writing, you need to understand it. What Makes Writing Bad? Saying that a piece of writing is "bad" is really ambiguous, and not at all helpful. Learn how to spot specific elements that make for bad writing, and you'll know exactly how to fix them. Telling a scene . One of the first rules of writing is show, don't tell . I covered this at length in a previous post . Basically, the trick to good writing is to be descriptive. Don't tell me that Sarah walked down the sidewalk, feeling angry . Show me Sarah, angrily kicking rocks out of her path and glaring at the trees as she walks past them. What ...

If you're a regular visitor to the blog, you may notice that my Amazon widget keeps changing (it's on the right side, under my list of followers). The widget shows a smattering of the books I've reviewed here on the blog, but Amazon limits the number of books I'm allowed to include. Because I can't possibly put them all on the list, I've come up with my own system of choosing which books are featured, and for how long. When I add a new review to the blog, unless I don't want to recommend the book it'll be put on the widget right away. But I will start taking books away from the list as I add more to it. Which books will be removed? It's not necessarily based on time. Books I really like will stay on the list, so the longer a book stays on the widget the more I like it! I don't do a rating system on this blog, but if you keep an eye on my widget you'll know which indie books are my favorite and which...aren't so much my favorites.

I probably wouldn't have found this book, or decided to read it, if the author hadn't contacted me through Twitter. Since Subterfuge in Heart met all my review requirements, I decided to go ahead and agree to review it. I'm pleased to say the decision paid off; this is a wonderfully well-written book. When I review it on Amazon, I'll give it five stars -- but it really deserves six.     From the first page, it became clear to me that this book was a cut above the rest. To be perfectly honest, as a writer it made me feel like a bit of a hack. So I decided, quite early, to leave my own literary leanings at the door and look at this book like a reader instead of a writer. It was impossible not to get swept away in the narrative, anyway. Like Charles Dickens, Tobias Troy begins the story with the birth of the protagonist, immediately introducing the reader to a fascinatingly complicated mind. Our hero is a genius, and his storytell...

Words are a beautiful thing. Through them, one can sum up the whole of human existence, explain the mysteries of the universe, invent fascinating settings that have never been seen by any pair of eyes. It's easy to fall in love with words...and it's easy to get carried away when writing them. When you're writing, be careful not to start over-writing. What is Over-Writing? Language is rich and full, and English in particular has a mind-numbing collection of words. Certain words are evocative, provocative, offensive, image-inducing...let's face it, words can do it all. But if I use a word like lugubrious instead of gloomy , hardly anyone will know what I'm talking about. I can just as easily use the word invigorating instead of the much lesser-known salubrious .  Yes, it sounds impressive to use more flowery language, but obviously if you stretch your mind to find really uncommon adjectives you're going to frustrate your readers. Not many readers a...

"Read it very quickly and quite liked the characters. They were all well written and well developed." The good folks at the Peacock Flock read Justice recently, and kindly wrote a review. Visit the blog to find out what birds of a feather think of the beginning of the Deck of Lies.

Apostrophes are an essential element in punctuation, but so many authors get their placement confused -- or worse, leave them out entirely. A tiny little apostrophe can change the meaning of a sentence entirely, and when a wrong one appears it might just lead readers astray. Always be careful with your apostrophes, and learn how to use them well to make sure your words are getting the point across. Using Apostrophes, Let Me Count the Ways Apostrophes serve many extremely important functions in language; certain words could never even exist without them. To understand how to use apostrophes correctly, you've got to understand how, exactly, they're used. Missing letters In certain circumstances, apostrophes can be used to represent missing letters -- this is the case in absolutely every single contraction. Words like can't , don't , you're and all the rest rely upon apostrophes to exist. We get so used to seeing contractions, it's easy to forget wha...