The official site of author J. S. Allen
November was a relatively quiet month, as expected. It saw the typing up of my semi-final draft of my YA anthology, and that’s about it.
December should be a bit busier as I attempt to wrap things up and brace for the new year. I will review and edit the next book in my Sauragia series, give the first review/edit to my YA anthology, then maybe do some outlining and make some drawings for next spring’s anthology (all while enjoying the holiday season, of course).
Outlining can be a useful tool, but only if done properly. Of course, what constitutes proper outlining is subject to the occasion. There are some who prefer not to bother with any planning at all, but it’s worth trying at least once, and so I’ll highlight a few methods I’ve come across here.Continue reading “Outlining Your Story”
I was a tad pressed for time this week, so here’s another top 10 list. This time the subject is my 10 favorite book series! These selections exclude nonfiction, short stories, picture or poetry books, sagas, etc. (The numbers in parentheses indicate how many novel-length books are in each series. All book titles are listed below with my favorite asterisked.) For once, they are in order.Continue reading “My Ten Favorite Book Series”
What is the difference between Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Lord of the Rings?
It’s a common enough question (among a few folks, anyway) with a common enough set of answers. To some, there is no difference: both are speculative fiction (i. e. deal with made-up worlds and situations). To other, more devout followers of these genres, the differences are as clear as day. Whatever the level of discussion is, the fact remains that while they do often end up lumped together by fans and publishers alike, there is nevertheless that / separating science fiction from fantasy, suggesting that there are indeed distinctions to be drawn between the two. Hopefully this post will help clarify, if not completely solve, this issue.Continue reading “Sci-Fi or Fantasy: The Fine Line Between Genres”
I am pleased to announce the launch of a new weblog, Random History 365. It will be dedicated to delivering random historical facts and short summaries about events on the very date that they occurred (or as close to as possible). Some will be special anniversaries, but most will just be dates I happen to know or find interesting. Go check it out if you’re interested!
October was an excellent month! Not only did it see the publication of my debut novel, but also the completion of rough drafting for my 7-story YA anthology (which I subsequently began to type up), as well as the editing and compiling of 6 older stories for a middle-grade anthology that will hopefully be released sometime next spring.
This month I will focus on typing up the rest of the YA anthology, as well as the usual amount of reading and weblogging. Otherwise, it will probably be fairly quiet on the literary front.
Once you’ve got your book, story, et cetera published, it is time to move on to that third phase that relatively few of us introverted writer types bother to think about: marketing.Continue reading “Marketing Matters: The Benefits of Live Appearances”
On this day in 1986, the very first Redwall book was published by Hutchinson in the UK. To mark the 34th anniversary of this monumental work in the field of middle grade and young adult fiction, I am releasing this list of critiques that I have lovingly assembled over the course of reading this otherwise phenomenal series.Continue reading “Ten Problems with the ‘Redwall’ Series by Brian Jacques”
