Jade Varden Official Blog

Lots of people swear. Sometimes alcohol plays a part, other times it may be sports. Around my house, you're sure you hear it if any cable news station is on the television. Profanity creeps into daily life, like it or not, and that's why it also appears in books. How do you write it into yours, and should you warn your readers when you do?  Censorship and Warning Labels In the American culture, profanity is still profane. Certain words are regulated, and surrounded by rules. You can only hear certain swear words on certain cable channels, while others are offered up regularly across all networks. You'll find profanity filters on forums and online video games, and you're sure to see at least one offended face if you cry out one of these "off-limits" words in a church. When certain words are considered to be taboo, writers have to tread very lightly indeed.  When is it okay to use profanity in your books? That depends entirely upon the genre. It...

Deck of Lies: The Full Deck is available today! What will you find in the boxed set edition of the series? Watch the trailer to find out...

In celebration of the season, today I've got a special edition of Books on Film, featuring my very favorite holiday movie It's a Wonderful Life . It's a wonderful movie, but you probably don't know it's also a great short story. It's one of those rare tales that's got it all: angels, romance, Christmas, shattered dreams, scandal, money...even Jimmy Stewart.  The Book One of the most beloved and most-watched Christmas classics of all time is based on a little-known short story called The Greatest Gift . It was written in 1943 by Phillip Van Doren Stern, revolving around a main character named George Pratt. The story opens on Pratt standing on a bridge, ready to commit suicide. He's approached by a bizarre little man in worn clothing. George tells the man that really, he wishes he had never even been born. So the weird little man grants George Pratt his wish. The man gives George a bag he's carrying, and tells him to use it as part of a co...

The boxed set edition of the Deck of Lies will be released on Christmas Day! All four books in the series are included, along with extras that I've never revealed before. The Full Deck edition includes entries from Elizabeth's diary, Fallon's private blog posts, and Carsyn's journal entries. Check the blog during the Christmas holiday to see the trailer and find out how you can get the boxed set.    Deck of Lies: The Full Deck includes all family trees, plus some new ones, all the covers, and all the stuff you wanted to see and didn't (like Rain's letter to River). If you think your family has a lot of drama this holiday season, you should really check out the one in this series!

Lots of people believe the world is going to end, and lots of that can be blamed on good fiction. A good story can instill fear in an entire population. Once upon a time, back when the TV didn't exist, a nationwide panic was created over a radio program. The public literally believed that Earth had been invaded by an alien population. That is good writing. The end of the world can make for a great topic -- just ask the Mayans. We're still talking about them 2,000 years later . A good story is pretty powerful stuff.   The End of the World as They Know It Writing about a catastrophic, world-ending event can be a heady experience. You can make it thrilling, you can make it sad, you can make it frightening and horrifying. That's the power of the pen: you can do anything you want. But some writers take even that a little too far. Because you can't just end a world out of nowhere. You've got to lead up to it, a little. Before you can end your fictional w...

There are so many words in the English language, it's not even possible to count them all. This is how I know there is absolutely no reason whatsoever for you to make up any more of them. As a self-published author, this is something you just cannot do, and I'll explain why.  Neologisms, Portmanteaus and Other Stuff You Should Avoid Making up new words has become a trendy activity, oddly enough. This may be due to the fact that so many people have trouble correctly using the ones we've already got. You might have all sorts of reasons for using neologisms, new words or brand-new uses for words, in your books. You might think it's cute to create portmanteaus, words that have been shoved together to create new meanings. You might really feel the spirit of creativity. You might, in fact, be channeling the spirit of the great Lewis Carroll himself, the man who wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and coined quite a few new words.  Edit them out of the ...

Writing a book is incredibly difficult. Writing a great book is practically impossible. When you sit down to write yours, ask and answer three questions. If you break writing down to its simplest form, you'll find it's really not so difficult after all. Master the basics, and all the rest is just polish.  Three Questions Every novel, no matter how thick or complicated, revolves around three specific questions. Ask them, and make sure you know the answers, when you're writing yours.  Who? Every novel needs at least one main character . Juggling more than one main is hard, but it can create a very rich and engaging story. Make your main character(s) interesting and identifiable, and your readers will enjoy finding out about them.  Where?   Every book has a setting . Research yours to make it real and rich on the page. Readers want details. What's the weather like? What are the buildings like? What do the rooms look like? Good descriptive writing ...

Some readers love them, some readers hate them. Entire books have been built around them, and fans will practically go to war to defend their particular choice. They're love triangles, and they're a bear to write. Before you do it, find out if it's even worth it to include this very dicey plot point in your story.  Three's a Crowd She likes him, but he likes someone else. It's a classic scenario, a literary tactic so old you can even find it in Shakespeare. Or maybe even in the Bible. And because it's so old, it's going to be really hard for any writer to use successfully. Readers have already seen it all before.  That's why you have to make you love triangles fresh and interesting if you're going to include them. Shakespeare didn't stop at a three-way knot of emotion; he added more parties to his triangles. While Helena was pining for Demetrius and he was pining for Hermia, she was madly in love with Lysander and all but oblivious t...