5 Mar
Hello. Thank you for clicking on my name in a comment section of a blog. Your click took you to this WordPress blog I originally started way back before I published with a pen name. My pen name is J.Q. Rose.
If you have a minute, please click here to hop on over to my current blog, Focused on Story, at the J.Q. Rose, Author site and catch up with me. I’d love to hear from you.
Thanks for visiting.
To connect with J.Q. Rose online, click on the sites below.
5 Mar
Now is the time to plan your spring garden
This vegetable gardening guide is packed with tips you can use!
Here’ s what readers are saying about it now.
5 Stars– Great Gardening Book “This is a great little book for gardeners. It’s got step by step directions and lots of helpful tips.” Sandra C.
5 Stars–Simple to Follow Quick Tips “Love the easy flow and down to earth approach! Great tips from tried and true gardening. New gardeners and the more seasoned can find helpful ideas to utilize.” Starr R.
Click here to check it out and download now from amazon.
Click here to order from major digital booksellers.
18 Mar
A couple of weeks ago the Alliance of Independent Authors announced the establishment of an Ethical Author Code in response to a general concern about the behaviour of some authors, both self-published and traditionally published. Like the vast majority of authors I know, I already follow the principles behind this code but I believe there is a real value in stating this more explicitly.
I would encourage any of my author friends to also publicly commit to this code. It doesn’t cost you anything, you aren’t signing up to an organisation, it is just a public declaration to behave responsibly and ethically in all aspects of your writing career.
To find out more, please either click on the image above or click on the link here.
When I market my books, I put my readers first. This means that I…
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6 Mar
I just completed presenting a month long workshop on creative writing for the county schools continuing education program. We had a terrific, creative group of adults. It was a pleasure to work with them. Their enthusiasm for writing was contagious. Their questions and ideas stirred me to new thinking. And my constant research to present the different elements of writing was an adventure in discovery.
I tried to introduce and expand on as many topics as I could in that short time–character development, dialogue, plot, theme, setting, conflict, POV, show, don’t tell, and more. On top of all this, we devoted time to writing!
I relied a lot on Stephen King’s book On Writing and Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones as resources. I am including a list of books I feel would be great additions to their library. Do you have outstanding books you would suggest for new and veteran writers?
Thanks.
BIBLIOGRAPHY- CREATIVE WRITING
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Author: Anne Lamott
Chicago Manual of Style
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing
Author: The Editors of Writer’s Digest
Publisher: Writer’s Digest Books
How to be a Writer: Building Your Creative Skills Through Practice and Play
Author: Barbara Baig
The Elements of Style
Author: William Strunk and E.B.White.
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Scribner
On Writing Well
Author: William Zinsser
Author: Francine Prose
Publisher: HarperCollins
Writers on Writing: Collected Essays from The New York Times
Editor: John Darnton
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
Author: Natalie Goldberg
Publisher: Shambhala
26 Jan
In February I will be presenting a creative writing workshop through our local public school’s continuing education program. I think this poster will be a great visual for the participants to keep in mind.
We all get overwrought worrying about what we’re going to write. Staring at a blank page is a bit intimidating. I will help lift the pressure off the workshop attendees by telling them no one will be reading their writing. We will just practice writing with the freedom of knowing we don’t ever have to show it to anyone. Just write.
Remember the days when writing was so much fun? Creating dragons, flying through the puffy clouds, and making up all kinds of fantasy worlds on paper. Go back to the joy of spewing out all those marvelous ideas. Have fun with it and just write for yourself.
Just write…
28 Dec
Yes, I tried it. I published my short story, The Good Neighbors, on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) using my pen name, J.Q. Rose. I am not a guru when it comes to formatting, so I was really nervous about getting it right. I learned a LOT about formatting. I think the short story, 4000 words, was a good one for the first (and last?) project because there were no chapter headings to worry about formatting or any need to add hyperlinks to them.
The most difficult problem for me was to come up with a book cover. I am not satisfied with this one…pretty amateurish, but I wanted to clue readers into the idea that it is a funny, holiday story. And hey, selling a book for 99 cents doesn’t leave any cash to pay an artist to design a book cover. Since the same characters are in this story as in my e-book, Sunshine Boulevard, I wanted to connect the two stories. I did that by choosing a flamingo. Two flamingos are on the cover of Sunshine.
Actually the process is very simple for a short story anyway. After I pubbed it, I discovered a ridiculous, obvious error, so I re-pubbed it with no problem after fixing the error. I was also amazed the story showed up within 24 hours for sale on amazon.
The story features characters, Jim and Gloria Hart, from my mystery e-book, Sunshine Boulevard, published in March from Muse It Up Publishing. I hope to use it as a promotional tool to garner interest in Sunshine Boulevard. I am donating the royalties from the story to local food pantries. The story is only 99 cents, so not much income for donations, but I’ll just throw the change into the pot to add to my monthly donation to our local food pantry.
Check out my humorous story, The Good Neighbors on amazon. While you’re there, discover Sunshine Boulevard on amazon or at the Muse It Up Publishing bookstore and major online booksellers.
Let me know about your experience with self-pubbing on KDP.
Happy New Year 2012!!
24 Dec
The Nativity scene from Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Florida
Wishing you all the gifts of the Christmas season–peace, joy, hope, and love–
now and throughout the new year 2012!
19 Dec
Mystery author Marilyn Meredith spotlights my mystery, Sunshine Boulevard on her blog. Comment for a chance to win my holiday, short story, The Good Neighbors.
J Q Rose
NEW for the holidays-The Good Neighbors short story at http://ping.fm/DsNPP
Sunshine Boulevard, mystery/light horror
http://www.jqrose.webs.com
http://www.jqroseauthor.blogspot.com
11 Dec
Join me at Gail R. Branan’s delightful blog, Flowers on the Fence.
Leave a comment to be eligible to WIN the random drawing for a PDF copy of The Good Neighbors, a short holiday story that will make you smile.
The Good Neighbors–Jim and Gloria Hart, snowbirds from Michigan, always help out the neighbors in their Florida retirement community when asked. Who knew being good could turn out to be so bad?
J Q Rose
NEW for the holidays-The Good Neighbors short story at http://ping.fm/q4qRZ
Sunshine Boulevard, mystery/light horror
http://www.jqrose.webs.com
http://www.jqroseauthor.blogspot.com
J. Q. Rose 