Joseph Clay – Author

Offical Blog

20 Jun 2017

What Happened – Writing is the Easy Part – So I Thought (WU #14-17)

UnGlued

What’s up friends? I have a couple of reasons for asking. The first, I want to know and the second, I have no idea what is up with me. So I’m hoping someone knows what is going on. I feel like I’m running in a hundred different directions and not getting nothing done at all. Most of the time my writing keeps me half way sane, but lately it’s driving me crazy, as the characters are taking over and taunting me.

I’ll start with the writing updates. Below is the progress made since the last blog was posted on 5-4-2017 titled “Want to be a Published Author! (WU #13-17)”. Reading it may shed some light on the updates and blog below.

Working Projects

Witch’s Dilemma Video Trailer: At last post I had no idea the status of this project. I’m happy to report it has been completed with the exception of the credits at the end. The video is awesome, Jayce Boynton owner of Capture Scratch Productions, LLC., did an excellent job. Since the restructuring and forming of ThunderHorse Publishing, the logo for the company will need to be added to the credits also. The Logo should be completed within two weeks. However the video will be held from public view till Witch’s Dilemma has been pulled from the retail market and republished under ThunderHorse Publishing.

Writing Projects

[No book will be released until after the Publishing company is up and running. My goal is to have all the projects ready for publishing when that happens. I uses a 7 stage system in my writing process letting me know at what stage each writing project is at.  Her is the numbering system explanations; 1-Write * 2 – Manuscript Review * 3 – Rewrite * 4 – Edit * 5 – Proofread * 6 – Book Cover Art /Illustrations/Format/Book Trailer Video * 7 – Publish. I have listed the projects below in order of expected release.]

Thunder Bear: (Stages/Completion Percentage – 1/100%, 2/100%, 6/25%, Book Cover Art is complet.) Clare at Human Voices and I are wrapping up the discussions on the changes that need to be made to the manuscript, this includes story line adjustments and formatting.

The Bet: (Stages/Completion Percentage – 1/75%). This will be a love story with an erotic twist that came out of no where after arguing with my characters. I’ll explain how it fell into place in the blog below.

The Erotic Tales of Joe: (Stages/Completion Percentage – 1/25%). This book of erotic short stories has been through same changes since the last blog. The word count of 76,770 has declined to 64,023 and the total of stories went from 7 to 6 but two poems were added. The reason for this will be covered in the blog below also. At this time the book contains these completed tales and poems. “To a Princes” (Poem) * “Masterful Tongue” (Poem) * “Across the Hall – One Door Down” * “Paula’s Second Chance” * “Professor Rothschild – Cougar 101” * “What Damn Day is it Anyway” * “I Love Them Both” * “Making a Last Ditch Effort”. I would like to have twenty stories in this book putting the word count somewhere around 150,000 and 200,000 words. I have seven more stories outlined, so will need to come up with another five or six tales and/or poems.

The Tales of Joe: (Stages/Completion Percentage – 1/20%). This book hasn’t got much attention. At this time the book contains six stories which are titled. “Bloody Waters of Wahoo Creek” * “Death of a Soul – Birth of a Killer” * “To Die in Peace is to Rest in Peace” * “Night of Dreams” * “The Birds of Peace” * “Cursed; To Be or Not to Be”. Like above I would like to have twenty stories in this book putting the word count somewhere around 150,000 and 200,000 words. I have two outlined, which means I need around twelve more.

Demons of the Jungle: (Stages/Completion Percentage – 1/100%, 2/100%). If that title looks familiar it should, it’s my first published novel. Demons of the Jungle will lead us straight into the blog.

Blog #14-17 Pic1

Writing is not easy, buy a long shot. But I feel compared to all the other hats an independent author wears it is the easiest part. But sometimes due to the authors ego and stubbornness it becomes difficult which leads to everything getting crazy.

[For more on what an independent author does read my post “A Glimpse into the Glamorous Life of an Independent Author”.]

Demons of the Jungle is my baby, as it’s my first published worked and is in eBook and Paperback format. There has already been one major revision to the book as I felt it was not my best work. Read “When is a second edition needed?” That blog will explain my line of thinking on that re-write. The second edition was an improvement over the first from book cover art to story. However people either like it or hate it, and the written reviews are harsh to say the least. The first and second editions were done by different editors. The editor I use now, Clare at Human Voices, who is not one of the two mentioned above, is top notch and the best in the business. As I have said a thousand times I trust her completely with my writing career. I had her do a manuscript review on the second edition. We will get into what she found in the next blog as we cover the rewrite in depth. Maybe the old saying, the third time is a charm will hold true here.

How The Bet came to life. I love Edgar Allan Poe and remember in his The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, the tale titled “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, had a sequel to it titled “The Mystery of Marie Roget.” From the manuscript West on the East – Noon Judgment I had to cut a whole chapter due to content and I needed to also get rid of some characters. That chapter dealt with two lead female characters that played off each other and intertwined through the chapter. The chapter was too long to be a short story. Then my brain kicked in and I snapped my fingers as I thought, That’s it, I’ll break it up into two different stories, similar to what Poe did. As I was celebrating my genius of an idea, my gut was telling me, nope that will never work. “Learning to Please – Christina’s Story”, would be the first story with “The Secrets of Delilah” being the sequel. I finished “Learning to Please – Christina’s Story” and placed it into The Erotic Tales of Joe short story collection and began working on “The Secrets of Delilah”. The stories were tying in great and I was laughing at my characters as they were telling me I was no Poe and what I was doing wasn’t going to work as they needed to stay together. Laughing at them was a mistake. Once I got to the end of “The Secrets of Delilah” the struggle became real. Although the stories had meshed and “The Secrets of Delilah” was a sequel of “Learning to Please – Christina’s Story” the ending didn’t feel right or end the way I wanted it to. The characters started taunting me each day, to put it all back together and make it a novel. This battle went on for weeks until I gave in and reevaluated the situation as I realized they were right and one of the story’s endings had to change to make it work. I walked away leaving it to simmer for a couple of more days before returning to it. The characters had calmed down by then, but were ready to do battle again if I didn’t see the light. I was shaking my head in less than a minute. There, right in front of me, was a chapter that had all the components of a great erotic love story. All it needed was a few tweaks and the word count would come out around 75,000 words with the ending the way I wanted. “Learning to Please – Christina’s Story” was removed from The Erotic Tales of Joe leaving the book short a story and about 12,000 words. The writing process started over with the chapter intact bringing to life the love story titled The Bet.

[Note: To find out what happened with my first ever manuscript West on the East – Noon Judgment; read my blogged titled “Numbers to Words: My Journey from Engineering to Writing.]

Till next week,

-JC-

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04 May 2017

Want to be a Published Author! (WU #13-17)

Hello my faithful readers. Time for a weekly writing update and blog. A lot of you are wondering, and I don’t blame you, why I haven’t been posting weekly updates? The last post was on March, 31, 2017 over a month ago. I normally don’t tie my writing blog with my personal one but since I also vanished from social media all together I wrote a blog explaining me and S.A.D titled Has S.A.D. Driven Joe to the Fiery Pit?

Now on to the writing the updates. Even though I suffer from S.A.D. I do get a lot of writing done in the winter months as I don’t venture out unless absolutely necessary.

  • Witch’s Dilemma Video Trailer: I have no idea of the status of this project. It is on my list of things to find out by the next post.
  • Thunder Bear: As of the last post Thunder Bear was headed to the editors for a manuscript review. Well as of this writing the review has been completed and returned. Clare at Human Voices  and I are in discussion of that review ironing out the story.
  • The Tales of Joe: One new story in the writing stage. Revenge or Justice is a dark and twisted tale. Status not changed Stage 1. This book has been placed on hold.
  • The Erotic Tales of Joe: This is where most of the writing time has been spent. Across the Hall – One Door Down which was in stage 2 of 3 as of last post is complete. Other short stories that have been completed since the last posting. Paula’s Second Chance, Professor Rothschild – Cougar 101, and What Damn Day is it Anyway. The next three tales of heated passion come from the manuscript West on the East – Noon Judgment. (To read about that manuscript click here.) They include the following short stories.  Learning to Please – Christina’s Story is complete. Keeping the Unit Intact, I changed the name of this tale to I Love Them Both. The story has went from stage 1 to 2 and is near completion. Making a Last Ditch Effort is another tale that was written and completed since the last posting. The short story also comes from the manuscript West on the East – Noon Judgment. That gives me a total of 7 stories out of the twenty I would like to have. That will put the word count between 150,000 and 200,000 words.
  • One Date and Done. This erotic tale is on hold and will be a Novella or a Novel.

 

WU _13-17

Why am I putting One Date and Done on hold along with other projects such as the rewrite of my first book Demons of the Jungle and the Tales of Joe. All this and more is explained in my personal blog Has S.A.D. Driven Joe to the Fiery Pit?

The short version, all this is being done for legal and tax reasons. I will be pulling Demons of the Jungle and Witch’s Dilemma from Joe’s Book Store, Amazon, and Nook in the near future. They will be republished under the publishing company that is in the process of being formed named ThunderHorse Publishing. All my adventures such as the bookstore and others will be owned by one company and that company will be the publishing company.

ThunderHorse Publishing will not only be publishing my books, but other independent authors as well. ThunderHorse Publishing will offer a full range of services that will include; Formatting, Cover Design, and Illustrations. The publishing company will also offer Manuscript Reviews, Editing and Proofreading along with assistance in Marketing your book over Social Media and other marketing advice. These services can be purchased individually or in packages. At ThunderHorse Publishing we will assign your book an Unique ISBN number from Bowker allowing your work to be recognized around the world, something that the free ISBN numbers don’t do, if you choose that package.

[Writers Note: Tackling the subject of ISBN Numbers will be the first blog written by ThunderHorse Publishing. ]

With all that said ThunderHorse Publishing will be looking for new independent writers in the near future. If you think writing is for you ThunderHorse Publishing could be your guide. I will post all the updates from the publishing company here until the website and blog or functional. All of the companines post will be on my Facebook Author Page and Twitter Feed. Pass this along with anyone that may want to fulfill their dream of becoming a published author.

Till next week,

-JC-

 

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31 Mar 2017

Nope that’s not Flash Fiction! (WWU #12-17)

I got up this morning and “BOOM” it was Friday. Then it hit me like a sledge-hammer, Joe you going to post a blog this week?  That sledge-hammer has a name, Tiffany Miller, who owns The Marketing Mill and handles my marketing, and trust me I ain’t easy to market. Any who it was her text message that brought the hammer down. So before I get another knot on my head I present to you for your reading pleasure Joes Weekly Writing Update along with some writing tips that answer questions like how many words are in a novel, flash fiction or a short story. Maybe you have a desire to write a novella or maybe a novelette. I have included all the word counts and a brief description of each in this weeks blog.

Weekly Writing Update

  • Thunder Bear Cover Voting: Voting concluded March 26, 2017 and the votes have been counted. The winner is TB-5 with 94 votes, taking Silver was TB-3 with 89 votes and taking Bronze TB-1 with 77 votes. To see all the covers click  here.
tb-5

Copyright ©2017 Rick Chappell ©2017 Joseph Clay

  • Witch’s Dilemma Video Trailer: Due to no fault of Jayce Boynton owner of Capture Scratch Productions, LLC.. the video has ben pushed back at least a couple of weeks. Yep I know you are putting the puzzle together and thinking. If  it ain’t Jayce’s fault it must be Joes. Correct you are my friend and you have earned the title of Watson!
  • Thunder Bear the Novel: The manuscript has been completed. Total word count 91,109. Thunder Bear has a scheduled appointment with Clare at Human Voices  on Monday April the third and will arrive on time.
  • The Tales of Joe: One new story in the writing stage. Revenge or Justice is a dark and twisted tale.
  • The Erotic Tales of Joe: 4 – 1 = 3 are in the writing stages. Across the Hall – One Door Down is near completion, stage 2 of 3 and is a new story. The next three tales of heated passion come from the manuscript West on the East – Noon Judgment. To read about that manuscript click here. They include the following short stories.  Learning to Please – Christina’s Story, Keeping the Unit Intact, and One Date and Done. All the stories that were pulled from West on the East – Noon Judgment are in Stage 1 of 3 of the writing progress with the exception of One Date and Done, which is in stage two.
  • New Project – One Date and Done. This erotic tale is the minus one from above. I was going to included it in The Erotic Tales of Joe. However when it got into stage two of the rewrite the word count quickly escalated. I was well above the short story word count and was pushing the word count for a Novella. After reviewing  it I decided to pull it from the short story collection and make it a single book.  For more on word count and book categories read the blog below.

WWU _18

As you write you shouldn’t worry about word count. However once the manuscript is complete you need to know what type of book you have written. The type of book will  play into your marketing strategy, how you price it, and who to market it to. For example, The Erotic Tales of Joe is a short story compilation. According to definition a short story has a word count  between 3,500 and 7,500 words.  One Date and Done is pushing 30,000 words, which is a novella and to long for a short story. Why does that matter. The reader is expecting something they can read in one sitting, only a few characters, and one single episode. Below you will find a general break down of word count and a definition of each type of book or tale. Now these numbers are not in stone and each genre within each category has its on rules.

  • Flash Fiction (53 – 1,000 Words). Flash fiction also known as short, short stories, micro fiction or postcard fiction. These stories are extremely short and normally deal with a single event.
  • Short Story (3,500 – 7,500 Words). A short story is basically fictional prose, written in a narrative style. However, the narrative style may either be first person or third, or whichever the author chooses. The short story is one of the most common forms of writing and does not usually involve major twists and conflicts, and involvement of various sub-plots and multiple characters is not common. Traditionally, short stories were meant to be read in a single sitting. They are usually published individually in magazines and then collected and published in a collection.

The words “novel,” “novelette,” and “novella” come from the Italian word “novella,” feminine of “novello,” which means “new.”

  • Novelette (7,500 – 17,000 Words). A novelette is also a narrative fictional prose. Back in the day, the term “novelette” referred to a story that was romantic or sentimental in character.

[Writers note: Novelette’s are a thing of the past and the term is hardly used. This is where you can fudge on your numbers and expand the Short Story and Novella count.  The Novelette word count consist of 9,500 words. (17,000 – 7,500). If we divide 9,500 by two we get 4,750. We add 4,750 to the end count of our Short Story which was 7,500 and we come up with a new ending total of 12,250. As you will see the beginning count for a Novella is 17,000. From that we subtract the 4,750 and we get, 12,500.]

  • Novella (17,000 – 40,000 Words). Novellas have been called a long short story or a short novel. It can involve multiple sub-plots, twists, and characters. Its length constraints mean you’ll find fewer conflicts in a novella than you will in a novel, but there will also be more nuance and complication not found in a short story. Novellas are more often focused on one character’s personal and emotional development rather than with large-scale issues. Unlike novels, novellas are usually not divided into chapters, and like short stories, they are often meant to be read in one sitting. They are considered to be an awkward length and it may be more difficult to get a novella published. The internet is turning that around as an eBook really doesn’t take length in to consideration where traditional publishing (paper and hardback) do and use length to determine if it is feasible (price wise) to print. Most erotic tales are nothing more than Novellas.
  • Novel (40,000 – Plus Words). The novel is one of the more common works of fiction. A novel often involves multiple major characters, sub-plots, conflicts, points of view, and twists. Due to its considerable length, a novel is meant to be read over a period of days.

[Writers note: Here is where things get messy. The word count of a novel is really questionable. The only main rule that seems to be firm is the minimum word count needs to be greater than 40,000 words. This is also where the different genres came in to play. Some editors often consider a novel has a word count between 80,000 – 120,000. Romance novels, however, can be shorter than that and fantasy, horror, and science fiction usually see works of greater lengths.]

Remember there is a story in everyone’s soul begging to came out. What is your story and who better to tell it than you.

Till next week keep reading, writing and smiling,

J.C.

 

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22 Mar 2017

Is Knowing How to Spell and Type a Must (WWU #11-17)

Before we get into the blog part of this week’s update, let’s quickly cover what has been happening in Joe’s World of Writing.

  • In the coming weeks watch for the video book trailer in production for Witch’s Dilemma by Jayce Boynton owner of Capture Scratch Productions, LLC..
  • Voting on the book cover for Thunder Bear is still open. The polls will close Sunday March 26, 2017 at midnight. The winner will be announced in the weekly writing update posted in the week of 3-28/4-3, 2017. At this time TB-5 is in the lead by 6 votes. To see all the covers visit here.
  • Thunder Bear, the manuscript, is still on schedule to be completed and submitted to Clare at Human Voices for a manuscript review by the end of the month.
  • The other projects The Tales of Joe and The Erotic Tales of Joe, are still in the works with no new progress at this time.

Blog #11-17 Feature

Now on to the short blog feature.

“Do Not Let Your Weakness Define Who You Are And Stop You From Chasing Your Dream.” J.C.

At meet and greets, book signings and other events at least one person will make the following comment.

“Man I wish I had your vocabulary and could spell as well as you. So I could write books also. It would take me forever oh. I hunt and peck when I type.”

Well if any of you remember me from high school, college or in the work force y’all know I can’t type, my vocabulary is that of an eighth grader most of the time, and I can’t spell worth a damn. I was told more than once and by more than one teacher.

 “Joseph you need to buckle down in English, because punctuation, grammar, and spelling are important. Work on your spelling, its atrocious. Sound the word out syllable by syllable. You will need these skills to survive in the real world.”

Sounding out syllables is fine and dandy if you speak properly. I’m from the Deep South and spent some time in Texas and mix the two dilects and the drawl. So I don’t speak the English language the way it is meant to be spoken. Sounding out the words with me doesn’t work. If I spelled the way I speak “Dog” would be spelled “Dawg”, “Climb” would be spelled “Clim”, and “Atrocious” would be “Nutrocious”. Toss in the fact that any word that ends in “ing” I drop the “g”, example “running” would be spelled “runnin.”

Well to everyone’s surprise I graduated college and hit the work force. From day one there was always someone to check my work, mainly spelling and grammar. Sure it was shabby and I had to change a lot but my mechanical ability and math skills outweighed the bad English. After the first year or two I moved up, and from then on out had a secretary. When I left the engineering field in 2014 I had two patents under my belt, held the positions of Chef Engineer for a Fortune 500 company, Document Control Engineer for one of the biggest suppliers of car parts in the US and China and a Project Manager for the east coast for another company.

I know what you are thinking, how in the heck did he become a writer. Easy, that’s what I decided to do. I still type around twenty to thirty words a minute and over half are spelled wrong. But in today’s world we have spell check and auto correct. Be careful with those as auto correct will insert a word that is close to the spelling which may not be the word you wanted. See last week’s blog for an example. When I spell a word so badly that spell check or auto correct has no idea what the word is supposed to be I turn to my personal assistant, Siri. I also have a Dictionary on my desk and there is one built into word. For my extended vocabulary I use a Thesaurus, which is also on my desk and built into word. Most of the posts that appear on my author page are proofread before posting by the Queen herself, or shortly thereafter by the Tiffany whose company The Marketing Mill handles my marketing. 75% of all the blogs I write are edited and proofed, I manage to sneak a couple by  their watchful eyes. I have a professional editor/proofreader who handles all the published works.

You see writing a book is not about how well you know the English Language, spelling, a huge vocabulary, or knowing the rules of the language. Writing is a passion that comes from within. Something you feel you must do. Your reward is a simple one, you make peace with your soul. The icing on the cake is your writing allows those who read it to escape to another world and forget what ever troubles are weighing them down, or bringing them pleasure on a rainy day.

Till Next Time,

J.C.

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17 Mar 2017

Writing Update WWU #10-17 and Writing Tips

WWU 10-17

Oh yeah, welcome to Friday my friends, I can smell the weekend, what about you? I can also see the spring on the horizon and summertime is not for away. We know what that means, time to get that swimsuit body into shape!

I got a lot to cover so let’s get straight to the updates.

  • Thunder Bear Book Cover: The polls are still open so there is time to cast your vote for the book. Not sure what I’m talking about read ‘Help Me Choose a Book Cover’. The tally is as follows. TB-1 (20) votes, TB-3 (30) votes, TB-4 (10) Votes, and TB-5 (30) votes
  • Thunder Bear: down to the last two or three chapters, I have it scheduled for completion for the last of the month.
  • Tales of Joe: This is the short story collection. I finished a re-write of a story I originally penned back in 1978 titled The Bloody Waters of Wahoo Creek. For my friends who live or have lived in and around Sargent Georgia, this tale comes from the folk-lore of the headless woman in search of her husband. That makes a total of five stories so far. The book also includes the following tales. Cursed; To Be or Not To Be, Death of a Soul – Birth of a Killer, Night of Dreams and The Birds of Peace.
  • The Erotic Tales of Joe: At this time this book still has only one tale, a poem titled To a Princess. The good news is there are two stories out lined. The exciting news, I have solicited the help of two excellent erotic writers to write the female point of view in these tales. The first titled Getting My Mojo Back will feature Ava Bell as a female co-lead and G. Michelle as the other female co-lead. Me of course, I’m the male lead. Yeah I’m a lucky guy. The second title Lust Verses Commitment will be feature G. Michelle as the female lead.

That covers the updates.

I have read a couple of books from independent authors over the last week who didn’t have their work edited by a professional editor/proofreader. They made several  common new author mistakes. So this week I wanted to share a couple of writing tips. The excerpts that I will use as examples are from my manuscript Witch’s Dilemma.

Line Break

The line break is used for:

  • To change Point of View (POV)
  • To show an amount of time has elapsed since the last sentence read.

There is no right way or wrong way to insert a line break. However to help your reader follow the story it is essential that one is used. I use a space, *** centered, followed by another space, and no indention for the  paragraph following the ***. Like you do at the beginning of a new chapter.

Example:

 “I agree. I’ll be in around two to go over your discussion material for the conference, that give you time to get a shower and regroup?”
Megan nodded as she picked up her bag, along with the pink pieces of paper that had her messages on them.
Sandra knocked on the door before she stepped in. Megan was leaned back in her chair, eyes opened, with her ear buds in place. “Meg, you ready to get started?” Sandra inquired as she walked closer.

Now if you read the whole chapter you will see that this conversation wrapped up around one o’clock and Sandra is going to come see Megan at two. Without the line break it appears that Megan followed her to her office, but yet that was left out of the story.

Now read it with the line break inserted. 

  “I agree. I’ll be in around two to go over your discussion material for the conference, that give you time to get a shower and regroup?”
  Megan nodded as she picked up her bag, along with the pink pieces of paper that had her messages on them.

***

Sandra knocked on the door before she stepped in. Megan was leaned back in her chair, eyes opened, with her ear buds in place. “Meg, you ready to get started?” Sandra inquired as she walked closer.

Next the reader doesn’t need to know every move the characters make, or do they want to know. If the characters actions are not moving the story forward, well to put it in the words of Elmore Leonard, its Hoopte Doodle and needs to go.

Never Trust Auto Correct or Spell Check

When writing a scene in a book the writer tends to be focused on what is in their head and not on what they are putting on the screen which will transfer to paper later. If you depend on auto correct and spell check too much it’s going to bite you sooner or later.

Example:

   Levi was removing the ear buds from his ears as he spoke. “With all due respect, detective, this is a free country, once they walk out of here they have the right to go where they wish and will (excursion) that right, please don’t tell me your department has a problem with that.” Levi stated as he took a step toward the detective.

The word (excursion) is spelled correctly but is not the word that was meant to be used, (exercise) is the proper word. When typing ‘exercise’ it was misspelled and auto correct changed it to ‘excursion’.

Text and Background

I write an article for Live, Laugh, Love Nashville who has a blog and Facebook page. These articles are for a feature called Music Mondays. It is an informative article on the local talent here in Nashville. When you write an article on someone whether it be an individual or group three reputations are at stake. They are listed below in order of importance.

  1. The person or group the article is about
  2. The person who writes the article
  3. The person or group who posts the article.

The rules to follow are simple and will give you a professional looking piece. For starters, the person or group is the main focus of the article, not the writer or the organization posting the article. Do not misquote them, if you don’t understand an answer, ask, and if you don’t get a reply leave it out. The lead in to the story, if not about the person or group, should be no more than two lines, one preferably, as they are the feature of the article. Nothing is to draw attention away from the article and the stars of that article. This includes but not limited to, a flashy back ground that covers text or headers, some text centered, while other text is left or right justified, using a dark background and when text is cut and pasted, it has a white background. With all that said here are some basic tips to follow.

  • Use a white or light-colored back ground for your text, which should be black. Makes sure your blog background doesn’t interfere with the text by distracting from it.
  • If you are cutting and pasting a piece written for you, make sure you keep the paragraph structure correct.
  • If you are writing the article, have it edited and proofed, and if at all possible let the client read it before posting.
  • Use pictures sparingly one or two at the beginning of the text with one or two at the end. It’s recommended not to break the text up.
  • Make all text the same, left, right, or center justified, do not mix.

Besides this blog I have an obscure one that holds all my book reviews, interviews and the articles I have written for Live, Laugh, Love Nashville. I use it to lay the articles out to visualize what I think they should look like. None have been published but I decided to publish my book review with Nashville Author G. Michelle as an example of a journalistic piece. You will notice the clean white back ground with black text. No it doesn’t have a lot of color or bells and whistles in the blog background, but that allows the person or group and the article to be the center of attention.

Book review: Promise Me Always by G. Michelle

Till next week keep reading, writing and dreaming,

J.C.

 

 

 

 

 

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09 Mar 2017

Witch’s Dilemma: eBook Release WWU # 9-17

After five months of brisk sales of Witch’s Dilemma in Paperback, the time has come to release the eBook version. The eBook format will go on sale Friday March, 17 2017. You can preorder your copy now on Amazon to get a step ahead of the game. Price $5.99.

WD Book Poster WS

©2017 Joseph Clay

Book Cover Design by: Rick Chappell ©2017 Rick Chappell

“The devils you know are angels of mercy compared to the hell you are about to encounter.”

World-renowned paranormal psychiatrist and practicing witch Doctor Valerie Bell and her husband, computer genius and strip club-owner Adam Bell, have an unusual marriage, but when Adam goes missing and a mutilated body is found in his car, Valerie begins to fear for her safety. At first she uses her powers of witchcraft and her position as a profiler for the Fort Worth Police Department to help with the investigation, but when she receives a threatening ransom note from a madman she turns to a private investigator for help.

Levi West, mysterious, sharp-witted and sexy, has come to Texas to help two women, Debra and Patricia, who are in the care of the non-profit organization Basham House. The women have endured a terrible supernatural ordeal in the Congolese jungle, and Levi takes them to Valerie for psychiatric therapy. During their first appointment Valerie tells them about her husband’s disappearance and begs Levi for help. But with so many skeletons hiding in Valerie’s closet, how can he be sure that he can trust her?

With the clock ticking, Valerie faces a dangerous dilemma: come up with the ransom money or execute a risky plan to save her career and her reputation. Whatever she chooses, she must act quickly. Although she keeps the details of her past firmly locked away, unfolding events threaten to drop the key right into the hands of the wrong people, and Valerie only has one week in which to assemble an unstoppable team before somebody unlocks the door. Can she convince Levi to help her in time, or will her sordid past end up splashed across the six o’clock news?

As the investigation continues, connections are made between Adam’s disappearance and a series of brutal killings, the Salem Stake murders, which took place six years previously. The killer was never found, and the bodies of the thirteen victims were all discovered alone, in rooms locked from the inside. So when a message from the returned Salem Stake is found in Adam’s car, alongside the unidentifiable body, the police begin to wonder how he could be connected to the unsolved crimes.

Witch’s Dilemma is a novel filled with twists, turns and plenty of questions to keep you guessing. Will the mystery of Adam’s disappearance ever be solved? Who is behind the Salem Stake murders and is it too late to bring them to justice? And is there more to the police investigation than meets the eye? As loyalties change and sexual attractions burn sudden and fierce, every character learns the price that must be paid when confronting a life-changing dilemma.

Dive into Witch’s Dilemma for an explosive adventure packed with witchcraft, sex, betrayal and bloodthirsty vengeance.

The other blogs in the Witch’s Dilemma series: Texas Witching Hour – Valerie and Associates – Fort Worth Government – LACN Investigations – Rounding out the Cast – The Bell Witch Haunting – Some Things Can’t be Explained.

 

Book blurb written by Clare Diston @ Human Voices.

Witch’s Dilemma and blog edited by Clare Diston @ Human Voices.

Posted in Book Releases, Weekly Updates and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
03 Mar 2017
2 Comments

Help Me Choose a Book Cover – WWU #8-17

Welcome to Friday everyone the weekend is only hours away depending on what time line you standing in, but like the song say’s, it’s five o’clock somewhere.

This week I am asking for help from all of you. The next book I’m releasing is titled Thunder Bear which is book one in The New Era Series. I’m close to wrapping it up and getting it over the great pond for a manuscript review by my editor Clare owner of Human Voices Editorial Services. When I get to this stage of the process I start planning the art work. The rough draft will go to John Cannon so he can start the illustrations, and Rick Chappell and I have already discussed the visions for the cover. These talented people or part of my All-Star Book Team, and make my life so much easier.

Well as it turns out Rick came up with 5 different designs, and I can’t decide which one I like the best, so I decided to let y’all pick. The process has no forms to fill out, you want be added to a mailing list, or be hounded by phone calls. All you got to do is make a comment on this post or my Facebook page with the number of the cover you prefer. With out further ado I present to you the choices for Cover Design of Thunder Bear.

© 2017 Rick Chappell

All art work is protected under the copyright laws and may not be downloaded or used with out written permission by the owner Rick Chappell .

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TB-1

 

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TB-2

 

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TB-3

 

tb-4

TB-4

 

tb-5

TB-5

There you go, cast your votes I will update the results in my weekly blog letting everyone know which cover is winning.

Till next week everyone have a great weekend and be safe.

 

J.C.

Posted in Weekly Updates and tagged , , , , , , ,
24 Feb 2017

Book review: Promise Me Always by G. Michelle #7-17

g-michelle-2 G. Michelle – Author

 

G. Michelle writes contemporary romances and is unapologetic about giving her characters not only a happily ever after, but also snarky comebacks, playful banter, sexy males, and hot, steamy action. G. Michelle states that she, herself, is an avid reader of ‘smutty’ romance and likes to include a little in her books. What’s a good read without it, right?

She gleefully admits her addiction to coffee, depressing indie music, and Netflix. When she’s not at her daytime job working as a Family Counselor—or, if you prefer, being a responsible adult, you can find her driving her family crazy with promises that she’ll only be ‘a few more minutes’ at the computer!

As you can see in her photo above she is strapped in for the ride. Trust me you too should buckle up as well and hang on when you read this tale, as the romance is a steamy trip down a bumpy Bayou road.

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Joe’s rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Promise Me Always is the first book in G. Michelle’s Bayou Romance Series, with two more to come. I’m being totally honest when I say I can’t wait to read them.

Promise Me Always is love story of two people, Gabe and Evie, with an excellent and tight plot. The tale is set in New Orleans, Louisiana, and you can feel the humid air, smell the magnolia blossoms, and sense the passion and deception from chapter one. Was the deception intentional or was it by mistake? It could be that one character felt that deception was the only way to keep the truth hid. To them it was the right thing do and necessary to protect all involved, never thinking about the devastation it was causing those near and dear to them. Will the truth ever come out and if so will it be too late to mend the broken hearts left in deceptions wake. Yes this story is filled with twist and turns that will keep you guessing till the final page.

The sexual scenes are steamy to say the least and are scattered throughout the book. When the tension reaches its peak between Gabe and Evie, along with the readers, ‘BAM’ G. Michelle drops a sex scene in just at the right time. Not only are the love scenes tastefully done but are believable and told from each characters point of view.

Gabe and Evie or both strong characters and G. Michelle masterfully brings their flaws to the surface as well as their strong points. The supporting cast is also full of colorful characters which makes the book more believable, as in the south family is everything, and that theme shows throughout the book. The dialogue is right on point for this part of the country and is filled with wit, wise cracks, southern humor and charm.

 What Did I Learn from the Author?

As you know I write these reviews from a writer’s perspective so, as a writer, what did I learn from this author? First off, Promise Me Always, is G. Michelle’s first book and is as close to flawless as one could hope for. G. Michelle did not make any of the new independent author mistakes that so many do. You have read from me over and over, that if you are an independent author, please don’t think you can do it all – you will just wind up releasing shabby work that hurts us all, and it will take you several books that are well done to recoup any readers you have left. Nothing can be perfect, but you can get it as close as possible, as G. Michelle did.

(Note: See Joseph’s All-Star Book Team – if you are in need of an editor, illustrator or cover art designer, the people listed there can help you put out the best work possible.)

Next, although this book has more back story than most it is appropriate and enhances the story instead of bogging it down. That is the way back story is supposed to be used, and Phillip Margolin is a master at it and I use the same approach in my books. I did a piece on Mister Margolin and this technique when I reviewed, Woman with a Gun. Usually if an author, especially a new one, writes too much of a back story it ends up not relevant to the story at all and bogs the story down, that is not the case in Promise Me Always.

The way G. Michelle changed point of views in the same chapter was a lot like the way Ava Bell does it in her book Miles from Home. I use line breaks, G. Michelle also uses the line break technique but instead of the ‘***’ I use centered, she justifies left and inserts the name of the character the point of view is coming from. I like this and see where in can come in handy during sex scenes, as we all know the woman and the man, who are tangling the sheets going at it are not thinking or feeling the same thing.

I also learned to keep the sex scenes real, they don’t have to be pulled off while hanging from a cliff one-handed. I found it refreshing that you could tell Gabe and Eve were normal people who were making love but at other times having raw sex, they never came across as porn stars or contortionists, as not once did I stop and think, there is no way in hell you can have sex in that manner.

See we all can learn from one another and thank you G. Michelle for the lesson you taught me in your writing and can’t wait to get my hands on the next book in this series.

There you go as you can see I feel this book is worth the dough. You will find the links below to bring home, in paperback or to your Kindle, Promise Me Always. G. Michelle has also agreed to answer Joe’s Twenty off the Wall Questions, where we find out more about G. Michelle than is listed in her bio. Be looking for it soon.

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Promise me Always Paperback

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Promise me Always eBook

Connect with G. Michelle on Facebook

Posted in Book Reviews - An Authors Perspective, Joe on Writing and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
22 Feb 2017

Q and A with Tiffany Miller – The Marketing Mill #6-17

The Q and A with Tiffany Miller – The Marketing Mill has been relocated to Independent Artist of America (IAA).

Posted in Joe on Writing, Q and A with Independent Authors - Editors - and Others and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
17 Feb 2017

The Art of Punctuation

I’m a proofreader, and that means it’s my job to think about punctuation (so you don’t have to!). Fortunately, I’m a punctuation geek, so I don’t mind this at all. In fact, today I thought I’d share three of my favourite punctuation marks with you. I know, punctuation probably doesn’t get your heart racing, but hey—it […]

via Beautiful punctuation — Human Voices | Clare Diston

Posted in Joe on Writing and tagged , , , | Leave a comment

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