Jade Varden Official Blog

"Jade Varden HAS to be one of the best indie writers and yes guys she blew me away again with her second book in the Deck of Lies series!" "Just brace yourself for a jaw dropping storyline." BookAThonFreak has posted a new review of The Tower (Deck of Lies, #2), and I want you to read it! It's spoiler-free, so feel free to go check it out. While you're there, watch the official trailer for The Tower at the bottom of the post.

Writers have always used the best technology possible to create their books. Do you think anyone welcomed the invention of the fountain pen more than the authors of the day, who had drawers filled with empty ink bottles and used-up quills? Do you question at all that writers were the first to try out typewriters, and felt deep longing the first time the electric typewriter became available? No! Technology is even more sophisticated today, and it's even more useful for today's writers. But app-hunting takes up some pretty serious time, and you need your time for writing. So I've hunted out the apps for you to make things a little easier. Apps for Writers Even web browsers have apps and add-ons, and there's no reason not to use them. Anything that can help you save time or get things done more efficiently is worth pursuing.  Blogging . You never know when you're going to get a great idea for your next blog post. The Blogger app is available on the Android m...

"Rain is down the rabbit hole again, seeking out the truth in the thicket of lies and secrecy." "More twists, turns, and secrets exposed. It was a fun ride." Death (Deck of Lies, #3) has been reviewed at Quirky Girls Read . Visit the blog to read the entire review.  Use the links above the post to get the first three books in the series, and get caught up on the story before I release book four!

If you're a writer, there are times when you have to learn how to leave your opinions out of what you're writing. Even fiction authors who largely focus on novels might be asked to write an article or blog post, and it's definitely a good idea to do so. Any piece of writing can help you promote yourself as an author and make more people aware of who you are. But if you can't write objectively, you may end up hurting your sales and your image instead.  Shhhh... Believe it or not, I'm very good at keeping certain opinions to myself. Sure, I've passionately talked about certain words and I'm very clear about grammar rules and how I feel about them...but you definitely can't tell me if I vote, if I'm religious or how I happen to feel about any issue outside of writing whatsoever. Authors have to learn how to write objectively not just in blog posts and articles, they've got to learn how to do it in social media and forum groups, too. Th...

Every kid has a dream, right? Mine was to be a writer, and I spent a lot of time imagining how it'd be. I would sit in some beautiful room somewhere, in front of a window overlooking an idyllic garden perhaps, quietly tapping away on my keyboard at rapid speeds. No one would ever bother me. I would complete my books and send them off to some huge publishers, who would turn the pages into a perfect book with a fabulous cover and all of that. Everyone would buy the books, and I would continue writing. Now, I am a writer...and I realize how foolish every bit of that imagery really is.  I hardly ever have the time to write. It's the last thing I add to the list and the first one I take off when things get dicey, the task I wish I could get to but rarely do. And some of the time I'm not writing and yet still fully engaged in the job of being a writer, I'm dealing with other authors other than myself.  And if you're self-publishing, you're going to h...

Why did I become a writer? What's my greatest weakness? And if I could live anywhere, where would I go? Get these answers -- and a whole lot more -- in my newest author interview !

The difference between its and it's is as tiny as a single apostrophe, and yet the punctuation is fraught with so much meaning. The words are said the same way, they're pretty much spelled the same way and they appear in just about every book. But writers still get them mixed up all the time.  Apostrophes, No Rules Edition There's a reason that its and it's are confusing, and one culprit is to blame: the apostrophe . Sure it looks benign, inviting even, but when it comes to its and it's the apostrophe breaks all of its own rules.  Oftentimes, the apostrophe shows up to give possession to something. If I buy a purse, that purse is Jade's . But apostrophes serve a different function in it's : they represent a missing i . And when it comes to possession in it ? There's no apostrophe at all.  Confusing, right? It's It's actually means it is or it has . It is a pretty common expression, but it is sounds a little formal ...

I was lucky enough to discover the book version of Freaky Friday first. It was in my school library, and the title seemed interesting enough. Little did I know that through the years, I would eventually become exhausted with what's become one of the most over-used plot devices in the whole of fiction writing. But when I first read the book, it was brand-new and unique. I think that's how author Mary Rodgers intended it. The Book Freaky Friday was published in 1972, and adapted into film almost immediately. The story quickly caught on with young readers. They probably identified with Annabelle Andrews, like I did. Annabelle wakes one Friday morning after arguing with her mother, and discovers she now is her mother -- at least, she's in her mother's body instead of in her own. Freaky indeed. Now, Annabelle has to run the house and take care of her brother Ben, whom she calls Ape Face. As it turns out, being a homemaker is one adventure after the next...