Tag Archives: Arkansas author

There’s a Need for Large Print Books


 

Yesterday, I went to my local library to have something printed. Honestly, I could just buy myself a printer and not leave my house, but then I wouldn’t have the experiences I do at my local library. Plus, our local libraries need our support hence the reason why I prefer paying the library to use their copying machines. Not to mention, checking out a few books while I’m there.

I live in a small country town. Majority of the patrons I meet at my local library are elderly and retired individuals. I love to listen to the stories they share while they check out their books at the front desk.

One of the stories I listened in on included the lack of large print books. They told the librarian that they enjoy reading books, too, and that at their age, it is harder to see the print on regular paperback books.

As an author, I hadn’t put much thought into large print. My list of published titles consists mostly of ebooks. I do have two books that are paperback, Dana’s First Fish, Chaos: Supernatural Realms; one is for children and the other is for young adults.

As I prepare one of my recently published books, Rancher’s Daughter, for a paperback release, a thought came to me. I have a chance to broaden my readership if I also publish it in large print.

I had to look this one up and stumbled upon a website that I had visited a few times before. Joanna Penn is a wonderful author, who explains how to publish large print and how it is actually more popular than I realized. You can view her post here.

 

Drinking Coffee and Writing to Jimmy Buffett


breakfast and writing

Being an author with ADD is quite hard. I can’t focus on just one writing project. I talked to a few co-worker’s about a few of my writing projects that I was working on and they asked me how was it that I didn’t get them mixed up? I told them that it’s like my brain has many web browsers open and that I’m unable to shut all but one off.

It’s true, though, I do have anywhere from two to four writing projects going. For some, that’s bad, but for others, it’s just the way we are. In a way, I can finish two or more writing projects at the same time.

Last year, I set a goal for myself, publish 6 titles a year for 5 years. Last summer, I switched jobs and found myself having quite a lot of time, so it was easy to use up that time to write, to focus on every one of my writing projects that I had going. I would drop my daughter off at school and head home and write until it was time to pick her up. Before I knew it, I had written three novellas, two non-fiction books, and a short story.

I ended up publishing that short story and one of my novellas last year, as well as a novel that my editor had sent back to me earlier in the year. The other two novellas that I had finished, I had published earlier this year. As for those two non-fiction books, they are set to be published this summer.

Now, the thing about having so much time on my hands and having ADD is that I find myself wanting to play video games or watch Netflix. It wasn’t too hard to find myself losing my discipline. Though I would work on my writing projects, the word count wasn’t nearly as much as it used to be.

It was time to change it up. With my laptop and notebook in my bag, I stopped by my local coffee shop, ordered a breakfast sandwich and a coffee, and then plopped myself into one of their comfy chairs and started writing. It didn’t take me long to come up with over 1100 words. I know that isn’t enough to some, but it’s a start. I also didn’t stay but a few hours.

Since yesterday went so well, I found myself repeating the process; sitting at my local coffee shop with my laptop opened to one of my works-in-progress. Today’s music is much different as it was yesterday.  As I sat down, I plugged in my earbuds, hoping to find something on Youtube that I could write to. The coffee shop owner tells Alexa to shuffle Jimmy Buffett and Cheeseburger In Paradise immediately rings out through the speakers. I didn’t bother with my earbuds and Youtube as I found myself singing along to Jimmy Buffett, while my fingers clicked across the keyboard on my laptop.

Something about listening to Jimmy Buffett helps fuel the creative juices in so many ways for me. Maybe it’s that I wish I was on the beach somewhere instead of being landlocked. With Jimmy Buffett playing, I could picture myself sitting at one of my favorite places that I frequented when I lived near the beach years ago, writing as if I was living my dream; sitting on the beach, writing full-time.

Whatever helps, right?

What inspires you? What fuels your creativity?

Interested in checking out one of my books? Visit my webpage: www.twistedcrowpress.com

 

I’m having a contest for a free book give away


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Yesterday, I received my Dana’s First Fish coloring books. And yesterday I decided to start a little contest on my author page on Facebook. All it takes to enter into the contest is to ‘like’ and ‘share’ a picture of the cover of Dana’s First Fish from my Facebook wall. Then post in the comments section below to say that you have ‘liked’ and ‘shared’. One winner will be randomly picked and I will announce the winner on my Facebook page. I will then contact that person to let them know they have won so that I can get their mailing address from them in order to ship them their gift bag.

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The gift bag give away will include a Dana’s First Fish story book and coloring book, along with a few fishy toys. I will pick one winner each week from now until the week before Christmas – 8 Nov – 19 Dec. It makes a great Christmas present for that special little one you have in mind.

Come stop by my Facebook page for your chance to win a copy of my book, Dana’s First Fish http://www.facebook.com/AuthorJenniferNAdams

Dana’s First Fish tells the story about a little girl whose mom is taking her to get her first pet. Dana has decided that she wants to get a goldfish. But where do goldfish come from? Dana and her mom go on an adventurous journey to find out!

Book Signing at the Taste of Bryant


ImageTuesday night was a very busy night. I set up a booth for a book signing at the Taste of Bryant event that drew a crowd of almost 900 people. A few of those people even included some politicians. At least three of those politicians stopped by my booth and chatted with me. One politician, Asa Hutchinson, Republican candidate for Arkansas Governor, chatted with me and bought one of my books for his grandchildren. It was an honor to have met him in person and have a chance to chat with him for a few minutes. He is really a great guy!

ImageThe Taste of Bryant seemed to have been a popular event as I watched a constant flow of people visiting each vendor table. The aroma of BBQ, salsa, coffee, cooked meats, and other spices nearby only teased my senses, drawing even my attention to the vendor tables. My mother, who joined me for the event, continued to bring back samples of food from each vendor, telling me how delicious each one was. She brought back a few samples for myself, one of which was chips and dip from Moe’s Southwest Grill. The cheese dip and salsa was a little spicy, but it was really good!

ImageThe crowd was finally starting to dwindle and it was time to pack up and leave. I enjoyed chatting with everyone that visited my booth. It was a successful night for the Taste of Bryant, including myself as I sold a handful of books. I’m looking forward to setting up a booth at the next big event in September.

I ramble when I’m nervous…


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Picture belongs to the wonderful ladies at the Bryant Area Chamber of Commerce http://www.facebook.com/BryantAreaChamberOfCommerce

Yesterday I took part in a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Bryant Area Chamber of Commerce. I was the one cutting the ribbon. I’ve never done such a thing before, nor have I ever attended a ribbon cutting, so I did not know what to expect. There were at least twenty people there, which amazed me, but made my day! I had not prepared a speech, nor did I know what I was going to talk about, so when it was time for me to talk I began to ramble on about my book and upcoming events. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind talking about my book or what I have coming up, it was the fact that I was nervous speaking in front of a crowd, that I had forgotten to talk about a few things, like the projects I’m currently working on. I think I was just baffled at how many people that came to see me and hear me talk.

I may have to pay another visit to Dr. Yolanda Mitchell, my Speech teacher at PTC. She had helped me get up in front of the class and give a speech…three times. I spoke to her after class one day and told her I have a fear of speaking in front of people, her response was, “Well, I’m sorry, but in order to pass this class you have to give a speech.” Well, nuts! I didn’t think I could do it the first time, I thought I was going to faint,  but nonetheless, I did speak in front of my classmates three times. I was nervous each time and each time I lost my train of thought and began to babble on about the topic I was giving the speech on. It didn’t matter that I had notes in front of me, I was still nervous. I made a ‘B’ in that class, which made me happy. I had also gotten over the fear of speaking in front of people. If you tell yourself you can’t do something, you’ll only believe it. Now If I can just get over the nervousness I’ll be doing a whole lot better lol!

After I cut the ceremonial ribbon I got the chance to speak to these wonderful people individually about the process of getting published and the young adult novel that I wrote. I also told them about the other children’s books that I’m currently working on and the hopes to having another published soon. I even talked with a woman about a book reading opportunity. The best part about that is I get to read to a group of children.

It turned out to be such a wonderful day. I got the chance to meet a few of the amazing people that make up our wonderful growing town of Bryant, Arkansas. I’m looking forward to each door that opens, and to each opportunity that comes my way.

Book purchasing


DFF4Dana’s First Fish tells the story about a little girl whose mom is taking her to get her first pet. Dana has decided that she wants to get a goldfish. But where do goldfish come from? Dana and her mom go on an adventurous journey to find out!

Paperbacks are $6.99 or eBooks $5.99

You can purchase them online: http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-62510-529-5

If you would like to receive an autographed copy of my children’s book, Dana’s First Fish, go to my Facebook page and send me an email: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJenniferNAdams

You can also check my upcoming events tab to buy one and have it autographed in person: https://jennnadams.wordpress.com/upcoming-events