Tag Archives: writing a young adult novel

New Cover for Chaos

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Jennifernadams_ebook (2)

I had debated on what I wanted on the cover and had spent quite a bit of time looking for an artist to work on the cover art for me.

I think it’s vibrant and eye-catching. I love the purple!

What do you think?

You can find Chaos as an ebook and in paperback format on Amazon.

Two sisters find themselves in a magical world of supernatural creatures and a book that just might send them on a path to find their destiny.

It is the lack of having supernatural abilities that makes Noelle a non-believer. Anya, her younger sister, believes in almost everything, and tries her best to change Noelle’s view of the world, including reminding her they are part shifter.

It isn’t until one morning during a ride into work with her uncle, the town sheriff, when Noelle begins to question her disbelief in all things supernatural. She has a premonition which sends her and Anya on a quest to find a book that may lead to their destiny. A destiny that takes them through a portal into the Faerie realm.

If you love books about magical faeries, shifters, and werewolves which also includes mystery, action, and adventure then this is the book for you!

You can find all of my books, recently published and upcoming, under my name and my pen name, posted on my website: www.twistedcrowpress.com/books
Or, you can find them on Amazon:
For all books published under my name, Jennifer N. Adams on Amazon, click here.
For all books published under my pen name, J. Raven Wilde on Amazon, click here.

When Do You Find Time To Write?

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writing on the road

Working on my next novel while running errands with my dad.

People still ask me how I find the time to write. To them, I’m quite a busy person.

“You’re a single mom with a special needs kiddo, you work full time, yet you have time to write and publish books? How do you do it?”

“Well, I make time,” I say with a shrug. “I love to write, so, I write.”

True, I have my hands completely full with my daughter. Being a special needs parent is a full-time job in itself, but I wouldn’t change a thing.

I’m often approached by aspiring authors telling me that they don’t have the time to write, yet they want to write and publish a book. If you want to be a writer, then be one. Don’t sit on the sidelines saying how you wish you could be one. Make it happen. Authors don’t find time to write, they make time.

Authors don’t find time to write, they make time.

I was going to college full-time, working part-time, volunteering, taking care of my daughter as a single mom, and helping my grandmother. In the middle of all that I had written and published three books; one of which was a novel.

I have been able to remove ‘attending classes, studying and doing homework’ off of my plate, but my plate is still full. Between IEP meetings (I’ve had 6 this year so far), meeting with someone from the school (a weekly event, if not daily), school events, afterschool events, daily life requirements of housework and errands, work (the main money-bringer), I still find thirty minutes to an hour, sometimes more, to write. If my daughter is at school and I’m off work, that’s plenty of time (8 hours, give or take time out for lunch) to write and get my errands and housework completed.

Being an author is a job.

Since starting my new job last year, I have had nothing but time to write, that I have made it my second job. Being an author is a job. You not only work on your next book, but you have to promote and market the work that you have published. How else are you going to earn an income from your work if no one knows it’s out there?

However, I tend to spend a lot of time writing than I do marketing. That could be a good thing or a bad thing. I’m writing more, which means there will be more published works out there. The more you have published, the more your work will be noticed. I had also decided not to market as much until I had more published works out there.

I’m not saying all of this to brag, honestly! I’m trying to encourage others to make the time. I once used to look at published authors, wishing that I, too, could write and publish a book. I decided to tell myself that I could.

I started writing my novel, Chaos when my daughter was a few months old. I kept pushing it aside as I lacked the motivation to continue. My grandmother became my cheerleader, in a way, urging me to keep going. She knew I wanted to be a published author. I’m glad I listened to her.

Now that she is no longer here, I find myself thinking about her and what she would say each time that I need that little boost of encouragement. Or, I see the pride in my daughter’s eyes when she takes my children’s picture book to school to show everyone that her mommy wrote it. That right there is all the motivation I need.

Sometimes Creativity Takes a Break

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creative-cat

I often find my creativity taking a leave of absence when I’m in the middle of a writing project. I typically binge watch a TV series or spend some time at my local library looking for a good book or series, then curl up on the couch at home and read. Or, I choose a handful of books from Kindle Unlimited, filling up my Kindle. It isn’t long before my creative juices start flowing again.

For the past month, I had been working hard on three of my five works-in-progress. You’re probably thinking, “Wait a minute, you’re working on that many writing projects at the same time?” Well, yes, it’s pretty common among us writers to do that. I have ADD, so my brain can’t just focus on one thing as it’s all over the place. And being creative, I have so, so many ideas running rampant inside my head…

Anywho. I tend to get quite a bit of writing done this way. When the opportunity presents itself, why not take up on it?

Our minds need a break, just like our bodies. When we have a hard time focusing on something, it’s probably a sign that we need to take a break and let our batteries re-charge.

I often find myself stepping away from my writing. It gives me time to focus on other things. After a few days, or sometimes a week passes by, my creativity returns and I’m back to pounding out the words on the keyboard.

All work and no play…

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Essay writing makes actual writing boring…or in my case it has taken the fun out of creative writing! In one class I have written 4 essay’s, with one more to go. In another class I have written one small essay with a much bigger one due at the end of this month. In another class I have written one rough draft essay and ten small essays. And my fourth class, I’m lucky to not have written any essays, just some small writing pieces to turn in for homework.

Even though I have written all of these essays, I still try to continue working on my manuscript…whenever I find the time. It normally takes me a little longer to accomplish this as it seems more like a task now.

I have five chapters left to work on and hope to have it finished before the end of this semester. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can find the motivation to push forward.      

The Next Big Thing

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Jae at http://litandscribbles.wordpress.com told me about writing The Next Big Thing blog chain post. It is to answer a few questions about the book that I am currently working on. By doing this, it gives some sort of insight on what my book is about…hopefully. So, if you have a question that isn’t listed here, please feel free to ask it and I will try to the best of my ability to answer it for you.

Thank you Jae for the help and for the idea!!

What is the working title of your book?

Into the Realm of the Supernatural: Chaos This is the first book in a series.

Where did the idea for the book come from?

I had a dream about it, then started writing the ideas down in a notebook and piecing them together. I think a lot of authors book ideas come from dreams, look at Stephen King.

As soon as I figured out how I wanted my story to begin, I start writing it. I use a large dry erase board to write down key information to help me write. Later I will add chapters that need attention on the dry erase board.

Whenever I am away from the computer I am always scribbling notes in my notebook. When I get home, I’ll type up my notes and piece the story together, adding to it as I go along.

What genre does your book fall under?

Young Adult Fantasy

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Usually authors don’t have a say in who plays whom. I would pick Channing Tatum as the role for the Sheriff James Bailey. I think he would play a good uncle role for Anya and Noelle. As for Noelle, I would pick, Jennifer Lawrence. You might remember her from the lead role as Katniss from the Hunger Games. Noelle, is an independent, athletic young woman. She’s an avid runner and a great role model for her younger sister Anya. For Anya, I would pick, Scout-Taylor Compton. Anya tries to be a good teenager, but sometimes trouble finds her. She has a love for classic movies and even sneaks out late at night to watch a good black and white film at the cinema.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

(I honestly couldn’t think of a one sentence synopsis, so I came up with two short paragraphs)

Not much goes on in the little farming town of Pratt, Arkansas.  At least that’s what most of the 282 people who live here think.  Noelle Bailey, a local high school graduate, is one of those people who believe that nothing out of the ordinary or abnormal exists, especially in Pratt.  However, she soon learns that she is part of the abnormal.

James, Noelle’s uncle and Pratt’s sheriff, is trying to solve a chain of murders as a secret from his past begins to unravel.  His two nieces, Noelle and Anya, quickly notice changes in themselves as they get caught up in the events that occur, surrounding his investigation.  One thing leads to another as a doorway to their future opens, pulling them inside.  To complicate matters, the FBI arrive and request James’ to help in the unsolved mysteries.  He soon discovers that he has a more important unsolved mystery requiring specifically his attention most of all.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I will definitely use an agency. Self-publishing will be the last resort.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Almost three years. I’ll be starting on my second draft very soon.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I am not sure as most books are usually all vampires, or all werewolves, or all faeries, or a huge mix of all three. I don’t have any vampires in my book. I have a mix of mostly weres and shifters and a few faeries.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

My Grandmother inspired me to keep working on this novel. I would put it down as I had to deal with real life and then she would ask if I was done with my book.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I actually did my homework on particular things for the book; for example the sheriff’s job, Sheriff’s sub stations, forensics, types of hunting rifles, etc. I also used real towns, just renamed the businesses; I added a few buildings and rebuilt some old buildings that were once there, like the school. I kept most of the actual street names; though I added a few.

I find it important for the reader to see that the author knows what they’re writing about, instead of just adding words to a page.

Almost done with this semester

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I have two more weeks left of this semester; I couldn’t be more elated for a much needed mental break. It’s tough being a writer and a college student at the same time. I’m looking forward to getting back into writing.

I’ve completed my first rough draft I’m certain. (my Young Adult novel/ manuscript) Now I know what really needs to be worked on. Hopefully it won’t take me nearly as long as it did to edit the first draft. I already have over 40K words, so adding more words is a bonus to me. It’s a young adult novel, so really anything over 40K is acceptable. If it were a novel the word count would have to be 100K. Since I only write young adult and children’s books I wouldn’t be worrying about writing that many words anyway. My time is already limited enough and it’s taken me three years just to write this one young adult novel. I couldn’t even imagine how long it’ll take me to write an actual novel.

I’ve had the love to write since I can remember. I didn’t start to get serious until my mid-twenties. Though I’ve had many distractions, I’ve never given up. At times we, ourselves, can be our toughest critics. My friend Jeff could attest to this, as I would tell him how I didn’t think something I’ve written was great at all. He would tell me otherwise. Though I would say this, I would still never give up. What happened was that I had lost my passion for writing; all I had to do was find it again. I did.

I continued to use that passion and my love for writing and wrote a children’s book this past summer; which I turned into a publishing company. It’s currently going through illustrations right now. I enjoy receiving emails from someone at that company telling me what process is next and what all they will do. I still get giddy each time someone emails me; like I did the first time my manuscript was accepted for publication.

Next semester I’ll be taking Creative Writing and English Comp 2 in hopes to better my writing skills and to also bring out my creativeness. Sometimes I can get the ideas to flow and sometimes, well, it’s like they’re stuck in my brain somewhere…if that makes sense. But when I can get it to flow, it flows; sometimes never ending and I love that.