Jade Varden Official Blog

Some of the world's greatest writers never become famous in their own lifetimes. One of America's best never made much money with his writing, and by the time he died only two of his books were in print...because he paid for them himself.  Henry David Thoreau, who was born David Henry, paid to have 1,000 copies of his book A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers printed...less than 300 sold. He built himself a shack in the woods after being schooled at Harvard, and many of his contemporaries thought he was quite odd. Maybe they weren't wrong -- but he was still a brilliant writer. It just took a long time for anyone to realize it.  Into the Woods He was born in Concord, Massachusetts and went to Harvard in 1833 to study science, philosophy, math, rhetoric and the classics. But as an adult, Thoreau decided he wanted to escape the polished atmosphere of city living...and all the rest of society.  In his own words, Thoreau went out into the wo...

When a book is very popular among a large group of readers, filmmakers generally like to take special care with the film adaptation. They consult the author of the work, they read the book themselves, they pay homage to the original material. This isn't what happened when Flowers in the Attic was transformed from a YA horror book that struck a strong note with teen girls...into 93 minutes of on-screen swill that you can't ever get back. Cringe if you like, but that description really isn't harsh enough for one of the worst book-to-film adaptations in the known world. The Book Full disclosure: I'm a little biased. Flowers in the Attic is actually a very special book to me, as it inspired me to become a writer (the jury's still out on whether or not I am). It was written before I was born and published in 1979 by V. C. Andrews, known to friends and family as Virginia. The book was her first and it was an almost immediate success, spawning three sequels, o...

"I  would recommend this to everyone who likes to be shocked and intrigued." Justice has been reviewed at Books for YA! , and I couldn't be more pleased. Go and read the whole thing, and don't forget that you can win the book free. Look to the left of the blog to sign up for one or both of my giveaways, and get your own copy of Justice.

Every author probably dreams about becoming an overnight success the moment they put the first word on the first page of the manuscript. The dream is reinforced by books like Twilight and the Harry Potter books -- which were practically household names before they even hit the shelves. But some books are a bit slower in the bestseller race...and that doesn't necessarily mean they've lost.  It's much easier if your book becomes a bestseller in 20 minutes, instead of 20 years...but would you really be disappointed if decades later something you wrote became one of the most famous books of all time? That's what happened to children's author Margaret Wise Brown, who wrote a book way, way back in 1947 that you've probably heard a thousand times.  It's called Goodnight Moon , and it's one of the best-loved and best-known bedtime stories ever written. It's also a bestseller, but it didn't gain that title for many, many years after its ...

 "Lies, odd family connections and dirty deeds seeping out of every brick in the fancy mansion she lives in..."  "Jade's writing is style is vivid and concise." Author and friend of the blog, Melanie Cusick-Jones, recently posted her review of Death at Goodreads, and I hope you'll go and read it! While you're there, check out her book Hope's Daughter .

If you use improper grammar, do you write bad...or badly? Know the difference, and you can at least change the descriptor. Bad and -ly If you've heard the song, you know what the word means. Bad in slang can be used to describe any number of positive opinions and feelings. In more formal usage, bad usually denotes something that is undesirable. In grammar, it's a bomb waiting to explode ugliness all over your writing. The problem is, bad has a friend named -ly , and you never know when or where he's going to show up...or if he's supposed to be there.  When -ly shows up to your word party, he changes everything. He attaches to bad to become badly , and that's a whole different part of speech altogether. Now, the word is an adverb, a word that's used only to modify another adverb, a verb or an adjective.What does that mean? It's simple: it means badly can only mingle with another word at the party. If I say I was badly and end the sen...

There are so many words in the English language, the actual number can't even be provided. Some experts have tried to estimate, but there are new words being added all the time (and a ton of weird ones that people never really use). What I'm saying is, when you're writing about or writing with punctuation and letters, there's a word for that. There's a word for every itty bitty little piece of punctuation, for the extra add-ons in letters, for every wacky symbol you might find when you're reading. Dotting the Is  Everything has a name, even in punctuation. Knowing the proper words for things comes in pretty handy, especially if you've got a question about proper usage. Trying to use a search engine without knowing the right words is an exercise in frustration...and won't you sound learned and impressive if you know that the little dot over the i and j is properly called a tittle ? It's a fun little word, a lot more interesting than the...

Which isn't used for people. That's one of the first rules of writing you need to know, and the first rule of using that/which and who/whom properly.  That/Which   I've talked (a lot ) about proper use of the word that in the past. It's one of the most over-used and under-valued words in the English language. I find it shoved in everywhere when I'm reading, and my experience is that it can be eliminated at least half the time. But one of the most important rules of using that and which is often ignored: it's not for people.   That and which are used for items , things , businesses and all other inanimate (non-conscious) objects. These words are not used to describe people. For example:   I saw the blue folder that was on the desk.   I'm talking about a thing or an object, so I'm using the word that . In this example, I could just as easily use which instead. I can't use who .    I saw the blue folder who was on th...