JennaGrayscene2

Synopsis and cover art for; A few moments with me and Madison Carter.

I find Madison Carter sitting in a corner of the room, her eyes fixed in uncontrollable despair. She has subconsciously removed all the furniture and possessions around her and retreated to a blank page, yearning for safety and comfort.

This isn't her lounge any longer. It isn't the room full of memories, laughter and warmth she sat in only minutes ago. That room had been constructed with bricks and plaster, covered in maroon and crème paint, crammed with life. We are now a sterile, thin and fragile space created from folds made in white paper. It does not possess the necessary power to stop the ceaseless sludge on the other side. Tears and oil inevitably seep through, pain and dirt will smear across the surface and the grief and rust must corrode all in its path.

Madison is a sketch in an artist's pad. A series of lines, somehow holding themselves together in the form of a human body. She is unravelling, losing her shape and focus, willing to dissolve. The features have almost completely disappeared from her face, as has her ever-changing fractal light.

I see black, grey and white.

Lines of disbelief and shock swirl around her skin, creating a weak shell that cannot survive the torrent.

Agents vs the artist ... A long history of unwarranted blame.

Morning, afternoon, evening :)

Strangely enough, I'd planned to post a blog or vlog about the publishing world. This isn't it but here we are nonetheless.

This morning I saw a post on Twitter - an image taken from another site, I believe - that blamed publishing agents for many things; favouritism, nepotism, not loving my book and representing me-ism ... You get the idea.
It so happens that I had recently chatted to an agent about similar issues. After the conversation, and read this carefully, CAREFULLY, I do not believe agents deserve any of the hassle they receive ... And I have rejection letters and am an indie author/publisher. I should despise these people because I don't live in a Hogwarts sized mansion, swimming in a pool filled with champagne.
In many sectors of employment, there are agents, there are middle men/women/agencies. Some are the epitome of fairness and from the moment they step inside their office, they strive to improve their clients' lot in life. Some are money grabbing parasites. Now, think of this basic human act/behaviour for a second; bad news is remembered and spreads, whereas good news gets lost along the way most of the time. For every story you hear about a great agent, you'll hear ten about #!@?!!%#@!:? agents. Get it?
Let's continue.
You've typed 'The end'. Now what? Your book is the greatest piece of literature ever created. Of course it is, you wrote it...you aren't biased in any way.
You send it away and can't believe that agents from all over the universe aren't queuing outside your house, desperate for your signature. This is where the BLAME starts :/ You blame the agents for not understanding you  or your book. Then, unfortunately (and it hurts, I know) the rejection letters start arriving. How:#$!$#!**@ dare they?? More blame follows.
A crossroads appears at this point. The author improves, learns from the advice given and resubmits.
The author self publishes(a recent addition to the publishing world, don't forget) and immediately gives up on the traditional route. They hold a grudge against agents and publishers that only grows with every day/ week/ month that their book doesn't become a bestseller.
They self publish because the option fits for them and submit to agents WHEN THEY BELIEVE THEY HAVE A BOOK THAT IS GOOD ENOUGH. This is how I now work.

Lots of factors have to be considered by agents, remember that; financial costs, the current marketplace, excellent writing plus a million others I don't know about.

Okay, enough rambling from me today :)

Jay

Test number 2

:D It's working...stay with me!

Test

:D Test for a secret project ... Shhhh! ;)

Female: 918

Hi :)

So, I'm working on many new books at the present time. One of these is Female: 918, a dystopian YA :)

I have 2 chapters up on Wattpad here; http://www.wattpad.com/48943646-f918-prologue-chapter-one & here; http://www.wattpad.com/50325711-f918-chapter-2

An artist friend who is just too talented to put in words, Sharon Stone(Facebook page) illustrated the main character for me. Great isn't it??? :D

Chat soon ... chapter 3 awaits! I want this book out by the end of November!! :)

My writing process blog tour!! :D

Hello :)

I have to begin by thanking Ellie Irving for inviting me to the blog tour :D It turns out that Ellie grew up in the same area as me. Small world as the saying goes! :) You can find out about Ellie & her work here; www.ellieirving.com

Now, although my last post was on the negative side, this one is all about writing...and that's the part I LOVE ❤ the most :-D

Also, even though I tried to find 3 others to pass this over to, everyone was already involved or had already posted...which proves how popular a blog tour it is. Visit 2 new friends of mine, Lauriane Povey, here; http://t.co/zt3TD7rHLm who is also posting today and continuing the tour, and the Blondie Camps blog; http://t.co/LgXRrKCYFj - I know she is due to post soon, too :D

Q1 - What am I working on? Okay. I have...6...yes, you read that correctly...6 books currently in different stages. Some new, some nearing completion. Wow O_O 6? Really?
Here's a run down - Amelia Maylock, book 5. Fantasy/ magic for the tween/ teen reader.
Holly Silverstone, book 2. Fantasy/ gothic/ magical for the tween/ teen reader.(Darker than the Amelia Maylock books)
The Long journey to ...? ;) I haven't decided on the title yet. It is the follow on to The Long Journey to Sincerity, my YA dystopian.
A supernatural/ gothic/ YA/ fantasy(Oh, yes, I mix it up!)
A new dystopian.
The Danny Monroe series. Tween/ teen supernatural.

Q2 - How does my work differ from others in the same genre?
As Q1 shows, I do not stick to one genre. I think the best way to answer this, and I know others will have said the same, is that we(authors) put so much of our own personality in our work. I didn't realise until recently that nearly all of my books have a sarcastic or humorous character in them. Even my dystopian YA finds time to lighten the mood with some dry wit ;) Places are based on my own surroundings, as are many situations. I also seem to have a 'thing' for characters wearing masks. They pop up all over the place. I think it is because I believe everyone 'wears' a mask, at some point in their life...trying to be something else, or act a certain way. Ooh, I'm such a sneaky writer! ;)

Q3 - Why do I write what I do?
This is difficult to answer. Why do I write about magic, different realms, dimensions, creatures...science fiction and all the rest. Break these stories down...to the absolute base level and you'll find the strongest theme is self belief, overcoming the dangerous/ terrifying etc situations that the characters face...believing in yourself, and good or truth winning out. Also, I believe there are many parts to life that can't be explained. Never let your light go out. There's a good reason that is one of my quotes on Goodreads :)

Q4 - How does my writing process work?
I mentioned this recently in a YouTube video here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJilWzqSMNw&list=UUmkp6YYM5yVMeiwxD7N460A
The ideas pour out sometimes. There might not even be a story yet the words are there :) Some ideas shout louder than others. As you can imagine from my previous answers, I have a lot of scribbled notes, notebooks, files saved and so on. Today, hopefully, I will have a new piece typed up that will be a raw, unedited mass of words. If you can, and I do very often, set a goal of an absolutely ridiculous word count for one day in the week. I'm talking 5,000+. Then, just go for it :D

Okay, thanks for reading :D