Peek at the Process: I almost missed a deadline!

*Author note* All titles with an asterisk will be listed with purchase links at the end of the post.

Hey, everyone! Gather around and grab a seat. I have a story to tell about how disaster nearly struck!

Now, is it quite as dramatic as the intro? In some ways, yes. For anyone who’s been around here for a while, you know I have multiple projects in the pipeline. Always. At the moment, I have 17 titles I’m under contract for. (This is not a complaint, I love it. I chose my projects, they were not forced upon me.) As such, I try to keep a detailed list of my deadlines. On this list, I order them from closest due date and onward. I double and triple check this list. I lean heavily upon it to keep myself in line with what needs to be turned in when.

It’s Release Day: Paper Cranes.

Hey, guys! I am so excited. Writing life is crazy (more on that in my next blog post), but today I’m taking a moment to share my latest release, Paper Cranes, which is releasing in eBook at midnight tonight!

This twisty suspense brought me back to my heart pounding roots and it was so much fun to write! Paper Cranes is my book in the multi-author, multi-genre, madness that is the Crazy Town series. It follows twenty-one-year-old Yelena Ogden while she tries to find her place in the world away from her serial-killer father, Daddy Lester. Yes folks, you read that right. Her father is a crazier-than-a-loony-toon serial killer, and he wants her back home. What complications might arise for poor Yelena when he’s not the only one with designs on her?

Click here to get your copy today, and keep reading for a snippet from Chapter 1.

Upcoming Releases: Destiny’s Knight

Hey, guys! To prep for my upcoming release, Destiny’s Knight, I thought I’d share a little snippet from the book. You can preorder your eBook copy or purchase the paperback by clicking here.

Forest of Viribus, The next morning

The sun streaks through the dirt crusted windows to fall across Destiny’s locks. She mumbles in her sleep, and I cover my mouth to smother a laugh.

Peek at the Process: Six of my favorite writing tips!

Hey, everyone. This post is going to be pretty short, because I’m working against a deadline. I wanted to hop on here and share six of my favorite writing tips. Three for writing battle/fight scenes and three for general fiction writing.

Three things to help write a compelling battle scene:

1. Pull in all of the senses. Sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. You might wonder how, but it can be anything from yelled insults, noticing the size of the opponent, blood in the mouth from the hero being hit, the feel of the hilt of a sword in the palm, to the scent of the dirt the hero’s face was just shoved into.
2. Choose 1 POV character for the scene and stick with them. This is especially important if you have multiple POV characters in your book. This character is who your reader will experience the fight through.
3. Don’t be scared to almost kill off your POV character. Near death is good in books.

Three things to help improve your general fiction writing:

1. Whatever emotion your character is feeling, the word for the emotion should never enter into the scene. If your character is scared, have the hair on their arms raise, their heat race, stomach knot, a cold sweat slick their brow. Show us how they feel!
2. Write each scene from the POV of the character with the most to lose. If you only have one POV character, challenge them! Even if they’re the only one in the scene, you need to make it difficult on them, even if it’s a phone ringing every five seconds while they’re trying to get a moment to run to the bathroom.
3. If you run into a scene that has you puzzled, and writing sprints aren’t cutting it, get up and try acting it out. Physical movement and verbal speech activate more of the brain and may help you shake loose some new ideas.

Thank you for reading and happy writing!

Sincerely,

Justina