Writing 101: Your Origin Story

Is there a specific book or author who made you want to be a writer? For many who pursue this path, the answer is yes. Lots of authors today can tell you stories about their yesterdays, days filled with reading other people's words...until soon, those days became filled with writing their own. 

And my origin story, like this holiday weekend, begins with V. C. Andrews.

In the Beginning...

I was a bit of a precocious child. I was never much interested in children's books. And besides, I didn't have a whole lot of access to children's books anyway. When I was growing up, I was always the only kid around unless I was in school. Around any of my family members, I was the lone kid.

So it was perfectly natural for me to go off and do things by myself. What, was I going to hang around the adults? No way. And since being by yourself isn't always fun but reading is, I was a reader. 

That's how I discovered V.C. Andrews. It was Thanksgiving, and I was 9. Too early, I know, to read V.C. Andrews. Seriously, don't let your young kids read V.C. Andrews because they may turn out like me (and I'm terrible, quite). But I did read it, and it was Flowers in the Attic. And at the end of the first chapter, my mind was made up. 

I was going to be an author, too.

Petals on the Wind: Looking Ahead

In case you haven't heard, it's Petals on the Wind weekend here at the blog. So instead of indie news, this week it's all about POTW news. What can you expect from the adaptation that airs tomorrow night? 

Sex scenes. 

At least, that's what the trailer indicates. Of course there's more than sex in the film. The trailers and stills are very limited, but to me it looks as though Corinne's role has been somewhat extended for the Lifetime movie. I could be wrong, of course, but since the entire book is told from Cathy's perspective the reader sees very little of Corinne throughout. Contrarywise, Heather Graham is peppered throughout the trailers.

Future Books on Film: Petals on the Wind

Petals on the Wind was the first follow-up book to the massively successful Flowers in the Attic. And like its predecessor,  Petals was picked to become a big screen adaptation. It was meant to happen about 25 years ago. It finally will happen this weekend.

The Book

POTW picks up right where Flowers left off, with the three surviving Dolls on a bus headed south. They plan to go all the way to Florida.

They won't ever get there. Carrie is violently sick on the bus, and they're kicked (literally) to the curb. Also on the bus is Henrietta Beech, and though she can't talk she takes matters into her own capable hands.

Petals on the Wind Weekend

It's Petals on the Wind weekend here at Jade's blog! The movie premieres on Lifetime this Memorial Day, and we're going to celebrate with special blog posts all weekend long. But what good is a holiday weekend without freebies? 

Deck of Lies

FamiLIES

  

Use the link above any time this weekend to get your free digital copy of Deck of Lies: The Full Deck. That's Books 1 through 4, the entire series. If you like Petals, you'll enjoy this tale of family deception. Can you uncover all the secrets?

Writing 101: Do You Have Trouble Opening Up, Too?

Ever wondered what's going on behind the scenes of my blog? Well, I'll tell you: it's a damn mess. I have like 40 half-written blog posts, and at least 6 of them are all about how I have trouble writing blog posts. Sort of like this one. It's another one of my attempts to explain this problem I have: when I write, it's difficult for me to open up. And since I am a writer, this is a fatal flaw. Have you got it, too? 

It Ain't Easy Being Green

Some time ago, I made a big deal about my New Year's resolution. The resolution was that I was going to get more personal with my blog posts, in the style of another blogger that I admire. This goal quickly deteriorated into several rambling blog posts, each worse than the next, which have never been published. You see, I have difficulty opening up about things -- particularly with anonymous strangers I don't actually know. And since I'm a writer, that's a really big problem. Writers have to open up and tap into their own feelings. Otherwise, the writing isn't going to be as good as it can be. 

So, what can we do about it? 

Sweet Justice

"This certainly turned out to be a great read."

"There are still a lot of lies to uncover...I am excited to find out more."

Justice (Deck of Lies #1) has been reviewed at Random Things in Action. Visit the blog to read the entire review, and then go get your copy of the book!

Writing 101: How to Use QR Codes

When you're an indie author, the ebook market is where you live. And if you're going to be a part of the digital market, you're going to have to stay well-versed in all the trends, gadgets and gimmicks that are being used in the mobile world. So if you don't already know how to use QR codes, now's the time to learn.

Quick Response

QR codes look like graphic representations of bar codes, and in a way they are similar. QR codes, Quick Response codes, can be read by cell phone and tablet cameras. They're used to take users instantly to a web page, so no one has to go to Google or type in a long web address.

Writing 101: Third-Party Marketing

As a self-published author, you have to be your own publicist. But you don't necessarily have to do all the marketing yourself. There are ways to encourage others to do your marketing for you. 

Marketing, Pass it On 

It's more possible than it sounds, and there are no loaded guns or weird ransom notes required. In fact, you still have to do most of the work (which is always going to be the case).