J. H. Authors

One Woman. Three Names. Many Books.

Books

Found in the Wild!

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In Bookstores now.png

Seeing your books in a bookstore never, ever gets old. Yesterday I went to a Barnes & Noble, and saw both Chime and Punishment, the 3rd in my Clock Shop series, and A Christmas Peril, the debut of my Theater Cop series, close by each other on the shelf marked “New Releases”. I beamed. Since I was alone, I couldn’t share it with anyone, so I thought it was worth a post!

I’m currently on a “blog tour” for A Christmas Peril—here’s the schedule! I had a great tour for Chime and Punishment in August. What a whirlwind these past two months have been–truly a dream come true!

Over at the Wicked Cozy Authors blog I posted about A Christmas Peril’s path to publication! It took a while, but here it is!

Thanks for all of your support!

 

Tick Tock Tick Tock

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Sunday was T – 6 months. 6 months before my birthday. A birthday that ends in a “0”.

6 months used to feel like a long time. Now it flies, FLIES by. So it is time to get the ducks lined up.

What do I want to be different in 6 months? And what am I going to do about it?

I want to get back in shape. Three years ago this fall I ran a half marathon. Two years ago this summer I did spring triathlons. Last year, nothing. I need goals–am thinking about signing up for a couple of 5Ks to get moving. Am not going to talk about losing x pounds or y inches. Just want to be in fierce shape.

Balance. Still trying, still losing. But reframing, realizing that I can’t have traditional 9-5 balance in my life. Need to figure it out, and steal time where I can.

Writing. I am revising my first novel again–getting rid of a character completely, shuffling a couple of scenes. Then back to #2 and continue shopping for an agent.

Reading. Less for work. More for pleasure. Much, much more.

Gratitude. I have a wonderful life. I am grateful for it, and want to keep being more conscious of how blessed I am. No matter what happens, I am blessed.

 

Cozy Holiday Reading

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Last fall was so nuts that I didn’t read a single book. Or shall I say a single fiction book. But I made up a lot of ground during the holidays, and thought I would catch you up.

I read IF WALLS COULD TALK by Juliet Blackwell, THE DIVA COOKS A GOOSE by Krista Davis, HOLIDAY GRIND by Cleo Coyle and DEATH OF AN AMBITIOUS WOMAN by Barbara Ross. I am fans of the Diva series, and the Coffehouse series and these holiday themed books didn’t disappoint. IF WALLS COULD TALK promised to be a good series as well.

DEATH OF AN AMBITIOUS WOMAN is Barbara Ross’s first published novel. It is not a cozy, but more of a traditional mystery. And it is wonderful. I highly recommend it.

Now that I’ve rejoined the reading world I have started Rachel Brady’s DEAD LIFT. I will report back.

Happy reading!

 

 

A Christmas Carol Challenge

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My favorite story of all time is Charles Dickens’ 1843 A CHRISTMAS CAROL. I hear some of you groaning. But hear me out. Have you read the book? While there is sentiment, there is also a brutal portrayal of the times. The themes of selfishness and redemption transcend generations. Dickens balances light and dark beautifully, which helps make the payoff so great.

Because of some overly sentimental versions the story is often dismissed. That is a mistake. Dickens condemns the London of Ebenezer Scrooge as he tells the story of redemption. Some of these scenes are difficult to watch (or read), and they are often cut. I am thinking specifically of the scene that Marley shows Scrooge of the ghosts who have lost the power for good, and are condemned to walk the earth powerless to help. Or the two children (Ignorance and Want) that the Ghost of Christmas Present has under his robe. Or Old Joe…

Knowing that I love this story (and I do) I have set up my own December Challenge. To write about a different version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL every day. Think that is impossible? I have a dozen DVDs sitting here right now that give me a good head start on the project.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the daily offerings. The Christmas Carol Challenge 2010 begins tomorrow–see you then!

The Girl…

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Who read all of Stieg Larsson‘s novels on her vacation.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The Girl Who Played with Fire. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. I had heard so much about these books. My book club selected the first one for our next book. I’ve been reading DorothyL posts about them. And I’ve archived an in depth reading/picking apart of Dragon Tattoo.

One problem with being a writer is that it is hard to turn the critic off. And I’ll admit, I was wary when I waded in. There are a ton of characters. Lots of info dumps. But I decided to just go along for the ride.

And what a ride it was. Two good stories (I count Dragon Tattoo as one, and Fire and Hornet’s Nest as two parts of the same story) well told. And two great characters. Mikael Blomkvist. And especially Lisbeth Salander.

I normally don’t like noir, or graphic violence. And there is plenty of both. That said, I got through them, because I wanted to find out what happened.

I think I may try and see the movies. Or should I let them live in my imagination for a while longer? What do you think?

The Joy of Jane

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A few years (late 1990's) back my sister and I (roommates at the time) watched Sense and Sensibility on almost a daily basis. The Emma Thompson version. That was before I bought the DVD of Pride and Prejudice, which became a yearly viewing occasion. And we saw Persuasion on PBS. And Gweneth's Emma.

Last year PBS showed a more recent version of Sense and Sensibility. And Persuasion. Never mind the movie version of Pride and Prejudice. There was also a version of Mansfield Park, but I missed it. As I had in novel form.

In fact, I'd missed a lot of Jane in novel form. I'd read P&P in high school, but not since. I'd read Persuasion in grad school, and then again just for the joy of it. I'd long considered Persuasion my favorite of her novels, but who was I to say? I hadn't read the rest, just seen them on TV. Which, lovely as some of the adaptations are (and I will write a blog about that at some point), isn't the same.

So a few friends and I decided to make this the year of Jane. We are reading all of her novels. In the order she wrote them (not the order they were published.) We met last weekend, and talked about Northanger Abbey. Not her best, but not Jane's best is still pretty good. And as a writer, reading her first work was really interesting.

PBS has been kind enough to schedule five weeks of Jane Austen movies (3 of Emma, Northanger Abbey and replay of last year's Persuasion). And the book project will continue as well. Reports on both will be forthcoming.