Jade Varden Official Blog

It's not always great fun to come up with character names. In fact, for many authors it's more of a hassle. The protagonist is one thing, but when you have to come up with names for that guy in the hallway, that random next door neighbor and everybody's brother, of course you're going to get a little cross-eyed. Figure out everything you need to know about character names, and make it easier on yourself.  By Any Other Name Pretty much every character is going to need a name , but the most important belongs to your main character.  With every main character, keep a few points in mind: make it easy to remember, easy to spell and unique enough to stand out. You want your main character to be memorable and sharable, and for that you've got to have a name that trips right off the tongue.  The same rules don't apply to all the other characters in your books, with the exception of the main supporting cast. Love interests should also be fairly easy to spel...

Indie authors need social media to promote. You hear it all the time, but what you don't hear is that sometimes it's a waste of time. What you don't know about the secret life of social media could be hurting you. Or at least, it could be wasting all your best efforts. Sunday Always Comes Too Late When you tweet links, do you know which ones get clicked? Or do you just post and post, waiting for it to work? Do you write Facebook statuses, and can't figure out why they don't trend? And what about that YouTube channel that looks as desolate as a ghost town in a Western movie? You aren't a bad marketer. You just don't know the secret of social media : it's different every day. Focus your efforts and tailor your links not to your audience and not to your genre. Let the day of the week determine how you're going to promote. Because here's what you don't know: it already does. Monday, Monday Start out every work week ...

There are 9 parts of speech in the English language, and all sorts of rules about how you ought to use them. But when it comes to a and an , maybe we could use a few more...because sometimes, knowing the rules won't help you pick the right article. Articles...And Other "A" Words A or an ? This seemingly simple question plagues all writers at some point.  There is a rule (isn't there always) that is meant to be followed: use a before words beginning with a consonant; use an for words that start with a vowel. So if you write An antique chair would best suit this room , it's right. So is A contemporary chair is the only option . But if you say A hour ago , you're wrong. Yes, I know that h is a consonant ...but it's not pronounced in hour so it stops existing (not really, just grammatically). The same thing happens when you ask for an honest opinion , but normal rules apply when you want a ham sandwich . Yes, it's confusing....

"You've been following me," Ariel looked at Sheila , and she smiled . Who am I talking about up there? When you over-use pronouns, you confuse readers. Learn the tricks of spotting excessive pronoun usage, and eliminate it from your writing. He Said , She Said , They Said Eliza looked at Mary . She shuddered before she spoke . "They're coming for us ." There are so many pronouns in the example above, no one can tell what's going on. Did Eliza both shudder and speak, or did Mary? Maybe Eliza shuddered, and Mary spoke. Or it could be the other way around. Maybe there's a third she involved in this mix.  The point is, I don't know. And you know what? I'm not going to try to sit here and figure it out. When I'm reading a book, the last thing I want to do is play the Match the Pronoun game. If I have to stop reading to ask " wait -- is that 'he' Marcus or Dave? " then you aren't doing your job as...

"The characters were so rich and real, I felt like I was watching a movie." "It was so well written, the plot lines flow beautifully and the characters are so real." Find out why the reviewer at Eastern Sunset Reads loved Justice (Deck of Lies, #1) when you visit the blog!

You know that expression you're mixing your metaphors ? For a long time, I didn't know what it meant. It's totally okay if you don't know what it means, either, because I made it a point to figure it out...and now I do.    Mixing It Up By its very definition, a metaphor is a little ambiguous. Basically, it's a figure of speech. Metaphors do not make literal sense. For example, writing love is a rose in full blossom is a metaphor. When you say learning is a journey , it's a metaphor. To apply a word or phrase to something that doesn't really fit is to create a metaphor. So what the heck does it mean when you mix metaphors? You've heard the phrase we have to tighten our belts . It means that you're going to be cutting back on expenses to save money. You've also heard the phrase empty pockets . Even if your pockets aren't literally empty, this metaphor means they're empty of money. So if I were to say we have to tighten our be...

I've made mention of the fact that I read a lot of forums and other blogs...and it's no secret that I am frequently frustrated by what I find there. But I've noticed a certain theme cropping up, again and again, to which I must (once more) take exception. There's an idea out there that writing books is easy, and it's really the promotion that's hard. I beg to differ on both accounts. Wrong. Anyone who's ever had writer's block knows that it isn't easy to write a book. Some have even said that it's something anyone can do. That's wrong. Some people do not have the imagination to create a brand-new story out of whole cloth. Others haven't the vocabulary. And still more cannot write in a way that's comprehensive to others. Some people have great ideas for stories but never finish them, while others run out of ideas so they can't finish either. Writing a book takes a certain degree of stubbornness that just isn't pre...

As a writer of mysteries, I have to drop clues into my books. But in any genre, authors often include clues deep inside stories that hint at certain plot points. It's not hard to add clues to a book. What's difficult is hiding them. Elementary, My Dear Watson I'm a lifelong fan of mysteries, which is where you're supposed to find the most clues in stories. I am not a fan of Sherlock Holmes, perhaps the most famous literary investigator of all time. Why? Because the author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, didn't leave clues. Holmes mysteries are invariably solved on the last page, when Holmes reveals all the keen observations he made throughout the story. I always started shouting every time I finished. If I had been told about the muddy pants on page one, maybe I could be Sherlock Holmes, too. But that's not the way it was written...ever. You need to give your audience clues, because half the fun is in guessing at what's coming, what's reall...