We need a temperature test before marriage

He owns dozens of heavy sweaters and jackets. I have one that hangs in the closet.

He wears jeans, long johns, boots, a sweater, a jacket, a hat, and gloves. I wear jeans, a t-shirt, and runners. We look unbelievably incongruous walking side by side.

He turns the heat up. I turn it down.

He turns on the gas fireplace. I turn it off.

He piles on extra blankets. I drag in the fan and set it up on my side of the bed.

He wants to cuddle. I can’t take the heat.

We knew none of this before we got married. Really, there has to be a better way.

http://www.darlenejonesauthor.com

Do we really need K?

Playing word games in my head trying to combat insomnia brought me to the realization that “k” is a pretty useless letter.

I mean, how many 2 letter words can you make with it? Kf isn’t a word. Kh isn’t a word. Kn isn’t a word. I get nowhere trying to sleep with k. M on the other hand? Ma, me, my and assorted abbreviations—ml, mc, md, MP, Mr., MS, m…zzzzzzzzz.

This observation got me to thinking about k words. We can neel on our nees without the k. We can nit without the k. We can cut with a nife just as well as a knife.

And then there’s the question of words like cat. Why not kat (after all it’s kitten not citten)? Or why circus and not cirkus? Try explaining those anomalies to an English as a Second Language learner.

What about the ck blend, you ask. Let’s go for the soft and hard c instead. French has delightful little accent marks to guide pronunciation. We could adopt some for ourselves. Quick becomes quiç or qui¢ or quiċ. Knack becomes naċ. The possibilities are endless.

As for my cousin Kirk … I’m sure he has a middle name.

http://www.darlenejonesauthor.com

The travelling wedding dress

A while back I wrote about sorting through my photos. Of course I found wedding pictures and seeing them brought this to mind.

Mom: When do you want to go shopping for your wedding dress?
Me: I’m going to wear yours.
Mom: You’ve been saying that since you were a little girl, but are you sure you really want to?

We dig the dress out from the back of the closet. Ivory satin with a row of tiny buttons down that back that I love now as much as I did when I was a kid. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see that none of the buttons are missing. As the satin was never pure white, the slightly yellowed look is not a deterrent to wearing the dress.

I try it on. The hem needs to be straightened, but otherwise it feels fine. We shop for shoes and a veil to go with the dress and find both easily enough.

My wedding day is on what would have been my parents’ 25^th anniversary if my father hadn’t died the year before. A tough day for us—especially for my mother; but we get through it and I hope that the hugs and good cheer can lighten, for a while at least, my mother’s load of grief.



A number of years later I’m asked to model “our” wedding dress in a charity fashion show. As we gather backstage, I find a woman about my mother’s age wearing her dress which is identical to mine.

“My mother bought her dress in Yorkton, Saskatchewan,” I tell her, “just after the war. She said she had two choices and said that neither fit properly, but she liked this one best.”

The lady nods knowingly. “I bought mine in Calgary, Alberta in 1945 and this was the only choice. Luckily it fit me reasonably well.”

I feel a kinship to this stranger as we model on the catwalk together and marvel at circumstances that brought us together.

The dress still hangs in the back of my closet with all our memories firmly attached. My daughter didn’t wear it, but perhaps one day my granddaughter will and my and my mother’s spirits will walk down the aisle with her.

www.darlenjonesauthor.com

Uzo survives

I haven’t heard from my friend Uzo in a long while and then I get this message.

“I am currently writing you from a low-cost hotel. I lost "everything" in my apartment to a flood which devastated many homes in my vicinity (it rained heavily for six hours). Ah! It was really bad. In one case, neighbours had to break into a man’s fortress-like house (he wasn’t present at the time) to carry off his bedridden wife.

I think I can now relate on a deeper level with victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.”

I Google his city (in Nigeria) and find pictures like this.


Yes, I think, he can relate.

I write back and comment that a “low-cost” hotel can’t be very nice. (I’ve seen enough in many parts of the world to know what they are like.)

Uzo writes back.

“Well, the hotel room is better when compared to other places I lived in—a two-bedroom apartment with a leaky roof, and then a mud house in the northern part of the country (in this case, I had to fetch water each day and there was no power throughout my one-year-and-a-half stay).

“I've to reprioritize my spending from now on, bearing in mind I have to replace (buy) some essentials at least, like settee and chair cushions, electronics. You may be wondering, but most of us (if not all) do not have insurance (schemes). I don't trust the state government to help; they put us in this mess with their shitty road constructions. They've seen the extent of damage caused by the disaster and are saying help is not for everyone. Can you imagine that?”

I ask if he’ll be able to move back to his home.

“Yes, I intend to go back home. In the meantime, I've invited some friends to help me clear, reorganize, and wash the things I can still use.”

I admire Uzo’s strength and resiliency. And I bitterly resent those who could, but don’t help—the wealthy elite of the world.

www.darlenejonesauthor.com

Proofreading is an art

From the first draft to the second last, my writing partner and I send chapters back and forth. We ask questions, make suggestions, point out errors in time lines, holes in plot lines, identify discrepancies in character development, and highlight the great bits.

Finally, we come to the second last draft—the one that requires the scrutiny for details. Our goal is always to have a “clean” manuscript.

My writing partner puts the chapters into one document, sends it to me, and I send it to my Kindle.

Why?

I’ve learned that reading on the Kindle puts me in “book” mode and I see the things I miss on the big screen. Note that this draft is already formatted for ereaders so I’m seeing what the buyer will see. Periods in the wrong place, a word that just doesn’t work, “is” when it should be “it,” and a couple of times I spot a missing word that needs to be added, or an extra word to be deleted.

I find a few “that” where I think it should be “who.” I make note of them and my writing partner emails back.

Just now I was looking up when to use who and that. It's okay to use that for a person, animal, or thing. The criterion has more to do with whether it's a restrictive clause or not (whether the antecedent is named and whether the sentence can stand without the whole clause). 
As far as I can tell from that, it's okay to use "that" in those cases where I have used it. It's a complicated thing though.

I see this sentence, Dad had moved to Regina to teach high school there. I comment,
I think at some other point, her dad was teaching in a college not high school.

I bookmark each page that needs attention on my Kindle and then go back to the computer copy to add my notes with Track Changes. No, I don’t scroll through pages and pages to find the one I need. I pick an unusual word on the page I’ve bookmarked and then use Find to get to the right page on the computer.  

I send the file back to my writing partner. She writes, “I went through your suggestions. I had found some of them but missed others, so thank you!” 

I offer to read it one more time, but she declines. I know she’ll go through it one or two more times. Our goal is to have an error free document and we get it right most of the time. After all, two heads are better than one.

www.darlenejonesauthor.com

Will I be sorry I threw out my old photos?

I spent the last two days going through three huge boxes of old photos from the pre-computer days with the original intent of scanning them to my computer.
Instead I threw the vast majority into the recycle bin.

Why?

• The photos were not the greatest quality as I didn’t have a good camera in those days.
• I’m not and never have been a good photographer. I blame this on poor eyesight and (more accurately) lack of real interest.
• I had three questions as I looked through the pictures. Where is this? What is this? Who is this? If I couldn’t answer even one of those questions, I junked the photo.
• Very often a fourth question came to mind. Why ever did I take this picture? And to the junk pile it went.

What did I keep?

• Pictures of family, but only the ones of people I recognized and remembered. Why, oh why didn’t someone label those old photos, I asked myself as I leafed through them. And then, in the quandary of deciding what to do with each one, this question popped into mind. What, I thought, is the point of keeping a picture of some relative I don’t remember? How would I explain who he or she was to my granddaughter? And why would my granddaughter care about a stranger?

Will I regret the great “cull?”

• I don’t think so.
• I hope not.

Did I make a huge mistake?

What do you think?

What have you done with your old photos?

www.darlenejonesauthor.com

Traversing the Sahara - adventure and romance

Like an ocean, the desert holds a magnetic pull that mesmerizes us. From Bamako to Mopti to Tombouctou to Goa and all the villages in between, I was forever captivated by the Sahara.
In Whispers Under the Baobab, I tried to convey the majesty of the desert as I had Flo flee for her life with young Josef as her guide.

Other authors have written more comprehensive tales of survival in the Sahara - Jane Johnson, for one. Her romance / adventure stories are captivating. Here are two that I particularly enjoyed.



www.darlenejonesauthor.com

Blurbs are still tough to write. What do you think of these?

Her dream was to go to university. Instead she’s working in a nursing home hunting a killer.
When high school graduate, Bittany Wright, gets a job cleaning at Happy Hearts nursing home, she is terrified of old lady Flo and desperately wishes she could be in college instead.
An unlikely friendship develops between the two. Brittany discovers that Flo, who may or may not have Alzheimer’s, is in grave danger. But, from whom and why?
As Flo’s condition worsens, Brittany scrambles to save her. But, ironically, it may be Flo who saves Brittany.
When the Sun was Mine: If you like suspenseful mysteries with complex and strong characters you’ll love this adult read, hopeful and humorous in spite of the ugliness of Alzheimer’s.
Buy When the Sun was Mine to experience a unique friendship steeped in intrigue and surprising twists.



The old lady is dead, but she could still destroy him.
When rebel leader, Sidu Diagho, learns that reporter Flo Mc Allister has died, he knows that her power to destroy him is still very much alive.
Flo was with him during the coup attempts. She saw everything, yet has remained silent all these years. But Sidu could still be tried at The Hague for his crimes with her notes the testimony needed to convict him.
Sidu is not the only one seeking to unravel the truth through Flo’s records. How much does Flo’s young friend Brit know? And Flo’s son and his wife? What did Flo tell them?
Sidu will do what he must to find and destroy the evidence against him.
Whispers Under the Baobab: A thrilling mystery—notes in code, unsent love letters—the  story weaving from past to present as the characters race to solve Flo’s puzzles.
Buy Whispers Under the Baobab to join the hunt and perhaps shed a tear or two.

www.darlenejonesauthor.com

Between Books aka Wallowing in Author Limbo

Latest novel published - sigh of relief.
Holiday in Mexico - brain reduced to mush in the heat.
Back home - routines restored.
Time to think of starting a new book, ie procrastinate.
And procrastination leads to sorting through old photos which leads to this blog.
Much of Whispers Under the Baobab is set in West Africa in 1970, and among my pictures I found a few I had taken back then that will give you a glimpse of what Flo saw and experienced as she fled across the Sahara to safety in Bamako.                                                                      Click here for more information.
Here is the only picture I still have of the 14th century mosque in Tombouctou, destroyed by Islamists in 2012.

From Tombouctou, Flo and Josef traveled by boat - the General Sumaré - down the Niger River. Flo was on the second level and was able to go up on the top deck to view the surroundings. Josef, on the main deck would not have had that luxury.

When the General Sumaré beached on a sand bar, the women and children were taken to shore in these pirogues. They are propelled by pushing poles into the river bed and walking along the side of the boat. Back in 1970, goods were transported hundreds of kilometers from Guinea to Mali in these (heavily loaded) pirogues powered by man.

Nearing Bamako, this is what the terrain looked like with calabashes growing in the fields.

The Tuareg ring that Flo bought on her journey and wore on a leather thong.


www.darlenejonesauthor.com

Stories that won't quit

Okay, here’s the thing. Ever since you were a kid you wanted to write a book.
You write that book and publish it.

BUT, the story just won’t quit and suddenly (or not so suddenly as you don’t write that fast) the one book morphs into four—never had you dreamed of writing a series, a sci-fi one at that.


Okay, that’s done. What next? A compilation of short, mostly humorous, bits.

And then?  Another story, of course. Never had you dreamed of writing a mystery, but here it is.

BUT, this too, does not want to quit and a few months later you have a sequel.

You don’t think these two will become a trilogy or a series, but you never know for you've learned that it’s the story that has the control, not the author.

www.darlenejonesauthor.com

Blurbs are tough to write - what do you think of these?

~~~~ EMBATTLED ~~~~

Gifted with superpowers she can’t refuse, her life spirals out of control.
Bounced from a jungle battle, to an Islamist stronghold, to a corrupt Columbian trial, Em Roberts, your average school principal, knows that something is dreadfully wrong.
Now she must challenge “the voice” in her head— the voice that transports her around the world, forces her to face unbelievable danger, and insists she can stop wars.
Will she outwit that voice and end the nightmare, or will she die trying?
EMBATTLED is book one of the Em and Yves series. If you like “soft” science fiction with a touch of romance, then you’ll love the harsh reality and magic of Darlene Jones’s series.
Buy EMBATTLED today to join Em as she “saves” the world.



~~~~EMPOWERED~~~~

She’s crazy to build her life on childhood visions, but …
Jasmine Wade, rich man’s eye-candy, trusts in visions she experienced as a child. In them she “traveled” with a woman facing incredible danger and vanquishing evil. Driven by this ideal,
Jasmine is determined to change the world—at least her little corner of it.
Kidnapped, not for ransom, but to be eliminated, Jasmine must depend on her wits to survive.
But where, in this mix, are the aliens who are using her as their tool? Will they be the ones to save Jasmine? And, if not …?
EMPOWERED, book two of the Em and Yves sci-fi series –action, suspense, and human relationships woven into a story you won't want to put down.
Buy EMPOWERED to enjoy grand adventure as aliens try to “fix” Earth.




~~~~EMBRACED~~~~

Controlled by an Alien, Abby must decide if he’s real before she loses her sanity.
When school principal, Abby Davies, hears clickings in the fillings of her teeth she doesn’t understand why she believes they are messages from aliens.
Changing the world was never part of her career plan … but, letters she didn’t send bearing her signature are showing up in newspapers around the world. The things asked for in the letters are coming true.
To complicate matters even more, the alien controlling Abby has fallen in love with her. Is this her one chance for true love?
EMBRACED – Book three of the Em and Yves sci-fi series brings the alien down to Earth.
Buy EMBRACED to see if Abby survives alien intervention in her life and finds love.




~~~~EMBROILED~~~~

Inexplicably drawn to the man stalking her, she knows she needs help.
School principal, Emily Roberts, can’t shake her attraction to the man following her. Scared, she turns to the wonderful Dr. David, but even he can’t help her.  Real fear sets in when the stalker claims to be an alien who has loved her in other lives.
Now, trapped in his perfect heavenly world, she is the only one who sees the danger threatening him.
Does she love him enough to give up her life on Earth and stay with him forever … if she can save him, that is?
EMBROILED – From a reviewer “Em/Jaz/Abby/Emily – how are all related? What has Jones done to bring these heroines full circle? To answer that question would be a spoiler. Better to say that some of the story line in this book which concludes the series made me very angry. Involving the reader so strongly in the characters’ lives is surely the sign of a powerful author. All I will say is that the ending is satisfying in every way.”
Buy EMBROILED now and travel with Emily to experience a world “up there somewhere.”

www.darlenejonesauthor.com

How to make an author's day

Received this review today and, yes, it made my day.  
Reviewed by Sherri Fulmer Moorer for Readers' Favorite
Brittany Wright's life isn't going as she hoped. She can't afford to go to college, despite graduating as valedictorian of her class, and is stuck in a small town, working as a cleaner at Happy Hearts Nursing Home. The job goes wrong from day one when she stumbles upon Flo, the home's most eccentric patient who terrifies Brittany, but also holds a strange allure. An unlikely friendship develops between Brittany and Flo, despite the shadow of Alzheimer's - a friendship that is discouraged by the home's head nurse, who forbids Brittany from seeing Flo and forces her to sneak into the home after hours. The nurse's reaction strikes Brittany as curious, until she sneaks in one day to find that Flo is being treated unethically. Soon, Brittany finds herself and two of her remaining high school friends embroiled in a mystery surrounding Happy Hearts that's putting Flo and the other patients in grave danger from the very people who are supposed to protect them. When the Sun Was Mine by Darlene Jones is an intriguing mystery with twists, turns, and revelations that will keep readers guessing.
I truly enjoyed this story, and think it could appeal to both young adult and adult audiences. When the Sun Was Mine is more than a mystery; it captures the essence of multi-generational friendship. This book reminded me of the senior citizens that I became friends with when I volunteered in a nursing home right out of college. It also touches on the issues that affect both the young and old, from the expense of a college education and life planning to elder care and end of life issues. The mystery bridges the gap between two divergent generations to show us that friendships can truly transcend anything. Darlene Jones does a wonderful job of not only weaving a compelling mystery, but showing readers the beauty of friendship as well.

What does Uzo have to say about my new book?

Always exciting when “the book” is finally edited, formatted, and published. Holding the print copy in your hands never fails to make your heart beat a little faster. You’ve done it.


Whispers Under the Baobab, my seventh book, is as gratifying as my first. Perhaps even more so for not only have I honed the craft of writing in the process, I’ve set much of this one in West Africa including Mali, a country that has been dear to my heart ever since I lived there many years ago.

Even more gratifying are the comments from my Nigerian friend, who graciously agreed to be a beta reader.

As an African currently living in Nigeria, my country, I could relate especially with the African setting. Aside from developing the plot, Jones doesn’t fail to present the reader with tidbits about the life and culture of Sidu’s people.
Some sequels tend to lose steam along the way, but not this one. This second installment is a book you can relax to, and finish in a day. If you are looking for a novel where good triumphs over evil, where love is mutual and undying, where new friendships are forged from the unlikeliest of situations, and above all, where the plot is driven by suspense and some bit of code-cracking, then Whispers Under the Baobab is the book for you.
Darlene Jones demonstrates exceptional talent as a wordsmith, and for plotting an intriguing story whose premise invites readers be to resolute in their quest for what is true and right.

See both books here: http://ow.ly/aKXh30bMH88

Rubber Ducky Reading

My little granddaughter has a collection of rubber duckies. She came home from her walk with Grandpa and showed me the latest addition - the pink one.

"Grandma, her name is Darla and she found your new book and is reading it."

Gotta love the kid. Here's the book she's referring to. If you've read When the Sun was Mine, my new book, Whispers Under the Baobab is a sequel of sorts (perhaps companion piece would be a better description), for they do not have to be read in a particular order.

When high school graduate, Brittany Wright, gets a job cleaning at Happy Hearts nursing home, she is terrified of old lady Flo and desperately wishes she could be in college instead. As an unlikely friendship develops between the two, Brittany discovers that Flo is in grave danger. But, from whom and why? As Flo’s Alzheimer’s worsens, Brittany scrambles to save her. But, ironically, it may be Flo who saves Brittany.

When rebel leader, Sidu Diagho, learns that reporter,

Flo Mc Allister, has died, he knows that her power to destroy him is still very much alive.

Flo was with him during the coup attempts and all these years later Sidu could yet be tried at The Hague with her notes the testimony needed to convict him.

And the girl, Flo's friend? How much does she know?

Sidu will do what he must to destroy the evidence against him.

How writers write.

Do writers  sit in a coffee shop or work at home? Do they insist on silence or handle noise by tuning it out? Long hand? Computer? Typewriter? Voice entry?

Haruki Murakami (http://ow.ly/RUSX308ju8Y) says, “When I’m in writing mode for a novel, I get up at four a.m. and work for five to six hours. In the afternoon, I run for ten kilometers or swim for fifteen hundred meters (or do both), then I read a bit and listen to some music. I go to bed at nine p.m.”

Maya Angelou (http://ow.ly/RUSX308ju8Y) says, “I keep a hotel room in my hometown and pay for it by the month.

I go around 6:30 in the morning. I have a bedroom, with a bed, a table, and a bath. I have Roget’s Thesaurus, a dictionary, and the Bible.  I have all the paintings and any decoration taken out of the room. I ask the management and housekeeping not to enter the room, just in case I’ve thrown a piece of paper on the floor, I don’t want it discarded. But I’ve never slept there, I’m usually out of there by 2. And then I go home and I read what I’ve written that morning, and I try to edit then. Clean it up.”

Emily St. Jonh Mandel, author of Last Night in Montreal (Unbridled Books, 2009) and The Singer’s Gun (Unbridled, May 2010):

“I do most of my writing in my home office, at my unbelievably messy desk. It’s by far my favorite place to write—my cats and my music are there, and it’s a very peaceful room. I live in Brooklyn and work at a university in Manhattan, and I get off work in the mid-afternoon. Often if I have theatre tickets or some other plans that require me to be in Manhattan that evening, I’ll linger at work for a few hours. When that happens, I go to the library at the university where I work and write there for a while. Often, very often, I’ll find myself writing in the subway. I spend two hours a day on the F train, five days a week, and I always carry a notebook with me.”

Alexander Chee, author of Edinburgh (Picador, 2002) and the forthcoming The Queen of the Night:

“Usually it’s trains where I get the most writing done—I wish I could get a residency from Amtrak on a sleeper car, or an office booth in a cafe car. I recently had a residency at a colony in Florida, where I had two days of writing 17 pages a day and it would have continued if I hadn’t had to leave. I think anonymity and displacement help me no matter where I am—I need to feel like I’ve vanished and no one can find me.”

Nova Ren Suma, author of Dani Noir (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster, 2009) and Imaginary Girls (Dutton, summer 2011):

“I live in a tiny apartment in New York and can sometimes be found writing first thing in the mornings at a cafe, if I can find a good table, but I don’t stay there for long. There are the crowds. The noise. I can’t control the music on the stereo. The real place where I get most of my writing done is called the Writers Room. Billed as an urban writers’ colony in New York City, it’s a place for writers of all genres to go for space, quiet, and uninterrupted time to work. At various desks in the giant loft space of the Writers Room, I’ve written, no exaggeration, thousands of pages. When you pay for an ‘office space’ like this and have a dedicated place to go, one filled with other working writers typing up their own pages, it makes you all the more motivated to do your own work.”

And the rest of us?

            I believe most authors (like me) work at home, at a desk tucked in a corner somewhere, tuning out the normal noises of family going about their daily lives (or wearing earplugs) and adjusting their schedule to the demands of life.

Others don’t have it so good. My Nigerian writer friend says:

Pls you may have to ignore the doc I sent in my previous email. Because of the acute shortage of power I am sort of working under duress. Once I fix my gen I’ll be able to work freely.

And later:

I’ve serviced my generator and now I don’t have to depend on the government for power.

Like many other peace-abiding Nigerians, we somehow still manage to survive. Everyday is an ordeal and sometimes I can’t help but feel the Lord God is punishing us all for the crimes some of us (including the cabal) made by turning to the legendary tyrant Buhari. Nigeria’s pitiful condition is an open book. A researcher some years ago said we are the “Happiest People on Earth.” I wonder if this survey will stand the test of time.

Robert J. Sawyer says it best in answer to this question.

“Name some of the rituals or habits you indulge in while writing.”

Not to be dismissive, but the answer is (a) none, and (b) it should be none. A writer needs to write, period. He or she can’t wait for the muse, shouldn’t need peace and quiet and isn’t entitled to perfect conditions or the perfect spot. Rituals? Fingers on the home typing row. Habits? Getting down to work, whether it’s in my home, on a plane, in a hotel room or (among other places I’ve actually opened up my computer and started writing) in the ruins of Pompeii, on a ferry in Australia or on a park bench in the Yukon.

 www.darlenejonesaauthor.com

Looking for a good book?

Avid readers are always looking for a “good” book. Of course what makes a book good to one reader is not necessarily going to appeal to the next, but we all search for that sometimes elusive read that will have us turning the pages into the wee hours of the night. We read reviews, seek out books on-line, watch for our favorite authors latest releases, and most importantly look for suggestions from fellow readers for word of mouth is said to be the best advertising off all.

And so I present three books I’ve read recently for your consideration.

French Rhapsody by Antoine Laurain

A letter that arrives 33 years late, a rock band that missed a chance to touch fame, the members of that group who have led diverse lives now trying to reconnect. Throw in right wing politics, an upcoming election and you have a compelling read. I decided to read this novel because I had already enjoyed two of Laurain’s books, The President’s Hat and The Red Notebook.

The Tenth Gift by Jane Johnson

Two women who lived 400 years apart are brought together by an embroidery book with faint dairy entries that tells a tale of pirates and captivity in 1625 Morocco. This review comment was enough to entice me to read the book. “The Tenth Gift is wildly yet convincingly romantic—a rare combo…both a sensitive portrayal of Muslim culture and a delectable adventure of the heart.”—USA Today I now have more of Johnson’s novels loaded in my Kindle.

Watch the Shadows by Robin Winter

I know Robin (via our Internet connection) and had already read her first book Night Must Wait, a gripping story of the Biafran War. I tried to read her second book, Future Past, but it was too dark for me. Watch the Shadows is dark too, but so intriguing. Winters brings together a diverse group of characters—several homeless people, a postman, a couple of professors … and and a young girl determined to solve the mystery of the odd things that are happening in her neighborhood. Why are the birds leaving? Why are many of the homeless disappearing? How did her neighbor’s cat lose its tail? I'm glued to this book every night and will be until I finish it.

www.darlenejonesauthor.com

Living Language

A friend recently wrote that the day was “dank.” The kind of day she liked, good for thinking. But what is the definition of dank?

Webster’s Dictionary:

dank

Adjective, | dæŋk

Definition of DANK

:unpleasantly cool and humid

a dank cellar

dank rain forests

Urban Dictionary:

dank

an expression frequently used by stoners and hippies for something of high quality.

That borritos was dank, man.
or… That borritos was the dankness

As with so many words, usage changes meaning.

• “Gay” used to mean happy. I have a cousin named Gay. Imagine how calling out to her now would sound to others.
• “Fag” was a cigarette.
• “Friend” and “pirate” were nouns.
• “Tweet” was a sound birds made.
• “Cloud” was condensed vapor up in the sky.
• “I hear ya” used to mean I heard you, now it’s an expression of empathy

And new words constantly add themselves to our language: twerk, memes … and eventually many of them are listed in official dictionaries.

Perhaps, though, it is hyperbole that is the most disconcerting. We so often hear, especially from sports announcers it seems, “He gave 110% in that game.” No, he didn’t. What you saw was his 100%. To give more would not be humanly possible.

Our language will continue to grow and transform. Meanwhile communicating without insulting someone or saying something ridiculous can be like crossing a minefield. So tread carefully.

 www.darlenejonesauthor.com

Harry Leslie Smith – in his own words

Survivor of the Great Depression, RAF veteran, Activist for the Welfare State, Author of Harry’s Last Stand Love Among the Ruins, 1923 & The Empress of Australia

I have lived a very long time. Tomorrow, it will be exactly 94 years ago that a midwife with a love of harsh gin and rolled cigarettes delivered me into my mother’s tired, working-class arms. Neither the midwife nor my mother would have expected me to live to almost 100 because my ancestors had lived in poverty for as long as there was recorded history in Yorkshire.

Nowadays, when wealth is considered wisdom, too often old age is derided, disrespected or feared, perhaps because it is the last stage in our human journey before death. But in this era of Trump and Brexit, ignoring the assets of knowledge that are acquired over a long life could be as lethal as disregarding a dead canary in a coal mine. Read more here

Harry’s Tweets:

• The West’s indifference to loss of human life that does not live in privilege will be our downfall.
• I stand for immigration, I stand for tolerance, I stand for progress, I stand for equality & prosperity, I stand with migrants.
• I was 1st introduced to the #gigeconomyduring the Great Depression when I’d watch my dad beg at factory gates for a few hours work.
• #DonaldTrumpis a danger to global stability, democracy, and just common decency.
• I’ve heard these words before people, but then I was a teen in Yorkshire watching newsreels of Hitler.
• It makes me quite angry that my generation fought to defeat fascism & Hitler in our youth but now in the winter of our years came #trump.
• I don’t envy wealth but I despise those who destroy society for their own profit and greed. Society only works when we all pay fair taxes.
• The only thing that stands in the way of #DonaldTrump destroying society is us. Silence is not the answer to tyranny.

www.darlenejonesauthor.com 

How to make an author’s day

Received this review today and, yes, it made my day. 

Reviewed by Sherri Fulmer Moorer for Readers’ Favorite

Brittany Wright’s life isn’t going as she hoped. She can’t afford to go to college, despite graduating as valedictorian of her class, and is stuck in a small town, working as a cleaner at Happy Hearts Nursing Home. The job goes wrong from day one when she stumbles upon Flo, the home’s most eccentric patient who terrifies Brittany, but also holds a strange allure. An unlikely friendship develops between Brittany and Flo, despite the shadow of Alzheimer’s – a friendship that is discouraged by the home’s head nurse, who forbids Brittany from seeing Flo and forces her to sneak into the home after hours. The nurse’s reaction strikes Brittany as curious, until she sneaks in one day to find that Flo is being treated unethically. Soon, Brittany finds herself and two of her remaining high school friends embroiled in a mystery surrounding Happy Hearts that’s putting Flo and the other patients in grave danger from the very people who are supposed to protect them. When the Sun Was Mine by Darlene Jones is an intriguing mystery with twists, turns, and revelations that will keep readers guessing.

I truly enjoyed this story, and think it could appeal to both young adult and adult audiences. When the Sun Was Mine is more than a mystery; it captures the essence of multi-generational friendship. This book reminded me of the senior citizens that I became friends with when I volunteered in a nursing home right out of college. It also touches on the issues that affect both the young and old, from the expense of a college education and life planning to elder care and end of life issues. The mystery bridges the gap between two divergent generations to show us that friendships can truly transcend anything. Darlene Jones does a wonderful job of not only weaving a compelling mystery, but showing readers the beauty of friendship as well.

 www.darlenejonesauthor.com

Another thing authors do for us

Mom suggested I read the Laura Ingalls Wilder books to my children when they were young. She read Little House in the Big Woods to her grade one students each year and assured me the children loved the story.

I went out and bought the first book in the series, couldn’t hurt to try, being my philosophy. Besides, didn’t want Mom nagging me—not that she would have. Well, maybe only a little.

Each evening we sat on the sofa and read a chapter before bedtime. Like my mother’s students, my children were enraptured by the story. I was too, and reading together offered me the opportunity to tell my children more about my childhood on the farm as I was able to relate many of my own experiences to the book.

At the time, we lived on the edge of the city with farmland and a creek across the street. We huddled together on the sofa as I read about the Ingles family in their wagon surrounded by howling wolves. Just then we heard the howl of coyotes echoing across the snowy field. I think I was as scared as my kids and we all clung to my husband when he walked in the door.

Now, my daughter is reading the book to her daughter. The munchkin gives me a thumps up and says, “Grandma, best story ever.” Bravo! We have another generation enthralled with Laura’s story. We live in the heart of the city now, so she won’t hear any howling, as her mother reads, but as she asks what churning is and what traps are, she will learn about life in another time.

It’s not often that we can relive the past and there are many instances when we wouldn’t want to, but the marvel of a book is that it can and does take us on a journey. Laura Ingalls Wilder, gave my daughter and granddaughter, through her writing, a glimpse into another world and time.  She gave me an almost tangible link to my parents and our life on the farm.

Thank you to Ms. Wilder and all the authors who take us on such journeys.

http://www.darlenejonesauthor.com

Building a book cover

Outline, first draft, rewrite, copy edit, proof read, and choose a cover. Finally, I’ve reached the truly fun stage of preparing a book for publication. Working with my new cover designer is exciting for I never know what her brilliant brain will come up with.

I loved the cover she designed for When the Sun was Mine –

not at all what I had in mind, but ever so much better than the image my non-artistic brain had imagined. Let’s see what she’ll do with the sequel.

• Mon 3/20 10:06 am

Hello Anita,

I hope this finds you well.

I am in the final stages of completing a new novel about Flo and Brit (When the Sun was Mine) and am hoping you would do a cover for me.

Please say yes!

Anita’s response comes a couple of hours later. Yes! She’ll do it, wants to know when I need it and is ready to brainstorm in a couple of days. (Yes, Anita reads the book before she works on the cover design.)

• Mon 3/20 2:09 pm

Hi, thrilled to hear that you’re willing to do this cover too. I could send you the word file if you’d like to start reading it. And I’m in no great rush.

Anita asks me to send the book and wants to know if I’m looking to have covers for both eBook and wrap/paperback? Then she asks for more information:

• Tue 3/21 10:49 am

Hi Anita,

Here’s my novel. As you read keep in mind that I’m still doing some fine tuning and it hasn’t been formatted yet.

Your questions:

• Interior type: Black and White, Black and White with Bleed, Full Color, or Full Color with Bleed? Black and white – no bleed.
• Trim size: 5×8
• Number of pages: I don’t have that yet.
• Paper Color: White or Cream? Cream
• Author Name: Darlene Jones
• Title: Ah, now that’s one of the hardest parts of writing a novel. I had a couple of ideas, but when I checked Amazon there were numerous books with those titles and they were all cheesy romances. My book is definitely not a cheesy romance.
• Tagline/subtitle if applicable: Will be working on the tag line and blurb in the next few days 
• Back cover blurb:
• Do you have anything specific in mind?  If so, can you please provide samples of photos/imagery/other books that helps tell your vision? I thought perhaps a boy herding goats in the savanna of West Africa superimposed over a battle or a man’s silhouette. You’ll see why when you read the book. BUT as this is directly connected to When the Sun was Mine, perhaps the cover should be connected in some way?
• If you don’t have anything specific in mind, please see the following: Argh, ask the tough questions, why don’t you?

1. What is the genre? Always difficult to answer because my books are cross genre and I need to have a genre that fits Amazon’s categories. Possibly adventure or mystery/adventure or …
2. Synopsis You read the first book (When the Sun was Mine) so you know that story. In this book, Sidu is desperately trying to find out what Flo wrote on her laptop all those nights at Happy Hearts for she witnessed his crimes and if the authorities get their hands on evidence he could face a trial at The Hague and possible death. He kidnaps Brit to enlist her help for he knows she spent a lot of time with Flo. Meanwhile, Perry and Nancy have Flo’s files, but much of it is gibberish. Then Nancy figures out how to decipher Flo’s code and Brit finds letters of Flo’s and the pieces start to come together. 
3. What other books might be a good comparison to your story? (Please include links.)
4. Are there any books with covers that resemble what you are looking for in terms of design? (Please include links)
5. What is the emotion/vibe you want the design to communicate? Danger, love, triumph over evil, and anything that strikes you after reading the MS. I’ve tried to show life in Africa back in 1970 (which is when I lived in Mali).
6. Anything else you would like to add? Anita, I trust your judgement completely. You came up with a perfect cover for Sun, one that I never would have thought of so please don’t feel limited in anyway by my thoughts. ALSO. I welcome any ideas you might have for title and genre or anything else that comes to mind.

On March 29, Anita tells me she finished reading my book and really enjoyed it. My cover artist likes my book. Bonus! Then she adds, “I have been thinking about your story, and I understand your references to “a boy herding goats in the savanna of West Africa superimposed over a battle or a man’s silhouette,” I am just trying to think of how we can tie it with the same design style as book #1.  I did a quick search for herding goats and battle stocks There are lots of photos of battles and goats but not in the setting we need.

Another concept that came to me was a desert scene with a baobab tree with silhouettes of Sidu and Flo.  It captures the setting with a little bit of romance.  So I looked for some trees and these too are hard to find.  I can find silhouettes of trees but was thinking we should keep the silhouettes to the people if we use any.

I did create an inspiration board as a starting point. Many of these are not a good fit to work with, but might trigger an idea, or if you see something that catches your eye I can see if I can find something that is better suited:

http://www.istockphoto.com/collaboration/boards/sxChB4_rMk-ydsjNXYAwp

• Wed 3/20 8:53 pm

Anita, I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed my book. You’re the first one to read it besides my writing partner/editor.

I love the camel/desert pictures, but that’s the smaller part of the story. I think the middle picture in the seventh row could work as that’s the exact image of a baobab tree that I pictured as I wrote. And there are some huts in the background which rather mirrors the building on the cover of the first book. Silhouettes would add the right touch for the romance too. If you do the silhouettes the woman should be in a pagne. I’ve attached a couple of pictures so you can see what the clothing looks like – the first is one that I took when I was in Mali, the second I found on the Internet.

Anita tells me she’ll do some experimenting and explore silhouette images and see if the stock I picked will work for us.  She’s concerned about the exposure of the photo as it is very light.

Anita warns me that they’re expecting another big snow storm and may have a power loss.

NOTE: Anita is north of Boston and I’m on Vancouver Island

On Tuesday, April 4, Anita sends me to a link she thinks might work as the angle of it ties in with the girl from book #1:

http://www.istockphoto.com/photo/baobab-sunset-burst-gm476757284-66259397

“And,” she says, “When I blend it in with some of the imagery from the first book it is starting to take shape and have a streamlined look.”

• Tue 4/4 2:52 pm

Anita, I have to say that I had a picture in my head of one big tree that they could meet under. I like the way you have tied it to When the Sun was Mine, but the trees are so tall, they make me look up right away and not focus on the center of the page. What about a picture like the attached?

Anita says she understands what I mean, but the challenge with the stock I picked is that the trunk is too short so it would have to be located near the upper half of the cover and it might be overpowering.

On April 6, Anita writes, “I attached a composite with the tree you last shared.  Let me know what you think.  If we go with this tree, we’d need to use a solid color for the spine since the tree branches are cut off, I can’t really extend them unless we find another stock where the full branches/tips are showing then I can manipulate and add those in.

For some reason I feel a sunset theme fits well with this story.  It helps set a dramatic tone.”

We go back and forth as Anita experiments with pictures I’ve chosen. She has concerns about perspective as she tries to incorporate huts into the trees to make it look realistic and we have to consider the issue of silhouettes of the people.

On April 10, Anita sends me a picture she’s not happy with as she can’t overcome the over exposure of the tree and asks if we could use another tree or a desert scene or something else.

• Mon 4/10 3:54 pm

I agree. The impact of the tree is lost.

How about this? The tree is the kind that’s found in West Africa and the terrain suits too.

https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/image-photo/africa-sunset-baobab-trees-colorful-sky-178172774?src=wuq4LvAcYCdGAN3-ff9vNQ-1-6

On April 11, Anita sends another composite.

• Tue 4/11 10:06 am

Anita, the tree and sky work, but not the couple – she’s too big and old and he looks like a white man.

With this picture, is it possible to have the village in the background?

Anita asks me to search for couples and send links to those I like and to try to find some where they sit in tall grass as that works best to help blend the photos.

• Tue 4/11 1:42 pm

OMG I don’t know how you do this. My eyes are going buggy. Trying to find silhouettes, but either the man doesn’t look African or has the wrong clothes on or you see too much of their faces or the pose is entirely too sappy romantic or….

But I might have a solution. Would this silhouette work if you put it as if they were walking towards the tree? Also could this village be way in the background?

Anita agrees that it’s a time consuming process especially when looking for specifics. She can’t use my choice (an image of a couple holding hands) as their bodies are cut off, so in order to use it, it has to be enlarged and cover the entire page. But the village is a possibility depending on the image we end up using for the couple.

She attaches a sample.

• Tue 4/11 6:35 pm

Anita, I really like this!!!

And I should have realized about the silhouette. That’s likely why I’m not a graphic artist – LOL.

Here are some silhouettes that might work. I particularly like the first one as it suits the story right down to the ponytail.

On April 12 Anita says, “I think we have a winner!!  This is obviously a rough draft but the silhouette will be very similar to this, the houses as well. I’ll play around with the birds and see where they might best fit in to tie it in with book #1, as well as some minor tweaks with blending, shadows and colors, once we’ve finalized the concept.

• Wed 4/12 11:04 am

Anita, There are so many aspects I love – the barren terrain, the subtlety of the village that is barely there (how do the people survive?), the dominance of the tree and the sky—all fit so well with the images I had in my head as I wrote. The silhouettes work well too. The man’s profile looks “African” (as opposed to American black) and the clothes are right as is the positioning – not a romantic couple per se, but showing a “togetherness” in that immense landscape.

I will purchase the stock and get them to you later today or tomorrow.

On April 13, Anita asks if I’ve decided on a title and if I have the firmed up page total as well as the back cover blurb?

• Fri 4/14 11:41 AM

Hi Anita,

The book should be about 265 pages and I’ve attached the back cover for you.

Title: Whispers under the Baobab

On April 14 Anita sends me the current version.

• Sat 4/14 9:04 AM

Anita, it’s beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Once again you have done an amazing job.

I ask for a few tweaks which Anita completes in a couple of days and sends the final version asking if I like it.

• Mon 4/18 10:45 AM

Anita, I don’t just like it, I love it! The cover alone should “grab” readers. I’m impressed with your creativity and the way you can bring my vague ideas to such a brilliant conclusion.

My Beta reader is a young Nigerian – the one who came up with the When the Sun was Mine title. I sent him a picture of the new cover and he says: “Whoever did this cover deserves a special thanks from me, and well, a tall glass of sweet palm wine *smiles* I love it.”

Anita says, “Thank you so much for sharing, you truly made my day … and so very neat to receive such a nice compliment from someone from a different culture, especially when trying to resemble a scene from his world.” Thank you!!

And I say, Thank you, Anita!  Contact Anita:  www.race-point.com  

www.darlenejonesauthor.com