Skull Creek Stakeout

Skull Creek Stakeout

August 6, 2013 | Age Range: 9 and up | Series: The Caden Chronicles

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Skull Creek Stakeout

The good news is, vampires aren’t real. The bad news is…you can’t believe the news.

Nick Caden is a normal fourteen-year-old kid with a “supernatural” knack for finding trouble, ghosts, vampires, and all sorts of undead–or so it seems.

After solving the ghost story murder at Deadwood Canyon, Nick lands a job as a roving reporter for The Cool Ghoul Gazette, a website on paranormal or supernatural disturbances. When the editor sends Nick to investigate a murder in Transylvania, North Carolina, the young super sleuth finds a corpse with fangs, bite marks and a stake driven through the heart. If Nick proves vampires are real, his job as an investigative journalist is set for life! But once he begins to peel back the clues surrounding the mystery of Skull Creek Nick finds his new job is not only scary and dangerous but about to suck the life out of him.

The Skull Creek Stakeout – a story middle-readers and adults can sink their teeth into.

The Caden Chronicles – winner of the 2013 Selah award for Young Adult fiction.

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About The Caden Chronicles Series

Social networking has changed the way young people communicate. Can we keep books in “their” loop? According to KidSay Market Researchers, Facebook is now the favorite website among tween (8-11) boys and teen (12-15) girls. Over 90% of tween boys and girls play games online. Could an adventure mystery series that plays off today’s fascination with the paranormal be the perfect antidote to the adolescent blank-stare fascination with video games?

“I want to give middle school readers (boys especially) a compelling story they can fall into, one that spurs their imagination and gets them jazzed about reading and using their creative gifts.”

Positioning Statement:
* Mystery adventure based on the paranormal fascination that exposes the myths and lies of the occult
* Spur discussion on spirits, souls,  ghosts, the undead, vampires, etc…
* Seeks to get parents and kids talking about the afterlife

Selling Points:
* Great read for boys and girls
* Entertaining, humorous, high adventure, focusing on intrigue and suspense
* Plays off today’s fascination with paranormal events and trends
* Discussion questions at the end of the book designed to get kids thinking about the consequences of our decisions

Dead Man’s Hand

Dead Man's HandRelease date: 2012 | Age Range: 9 and up | Series: The Caden Chronicles

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Kindle | NOOK

It’s All Just a Show…Right? ‘This is an authentic old west ghost town, son. Around these parts the dead don’t stay dead.’

Nick Caden’s vacation at Deadwood Canyon Ghost Town takes a deadly turn toward trouble when the fourteen-year-old finds himself trapped in a livery stable with the infamous outlaw Jesse James. The shooter whirls, aims and… vanishes. Great theatrics, Nick thinks, except now he’s alone in the hayloft with the bullet-riddled body of Billy the Kid. And by the time the sheriff arrives, the body disappears.

Soon Nick is caught in a deadly chase—from an abandoned gold mine, through forbidden buffalo hunting grounds, and across Rattlesnake Gulch. Around every turn he finds another suspect. Will Nick solve the murder? Will his parents have him committed? Or will the town’s infatuation with Hollywood theatrics conceal the real truth about souls, spirits and the destiny that awaits those who die.

Praise for Dead Man’s Hand
This is teen fiction that’s not just for teens. I for one can’t wait for the next book in the series. For adventure, suspense and just plain laugh-out-loud fun, you can’t do better than Dead Man’s Hand. ~ Ann Tatlock, two-time Christy award winner

Dead Man’s Hand is an exciting ghost-story with lots of surprises. A great read for kids who love a good mystery. I highly recommend it! ~ Levi Holmes, son of best-selling author and two-time Christy Award nominee, Gina Holmes ~ Dry as Rain & Crossing Oceans

Dead Man’s Hand was a perfect mixture of suspenseful and spooky. I loved all the detective stuff. It taught me how to find a murderer! ~ Abby Dellosso, daughter of Mike Dellosso, author of Frantic and Rearview

With a plot that lassos you in, Dead Man’s Hand is a fantastical read! ~ Laura Tatlock, 15-year-old daughter of Christy award winning author of Promises to Keep

I am reading this book aloud to my seventh grade english class and they absolutely love it. It is really intriguing and gets the childrens attention. (And mine) It is so hard not to read ahead because I am so engrossed in the book too! ~ Goodreads

Why I Write for Boys

Readers Are Leaders - Buy A Boy A BookWhy do I write for boys?

First I are one. Have been for as long as I can remember. Given the advancements in modern science and the cultural acceptance of transgender persons, a day may come when I am something different. But for now I’m a boy – albeit an older, smelly one.

Here’s another reason I write for boys. Women make up 91 percent of romance book buyers. The average romance reader is most likely to be aged between 30 and 54 years. Romance fiction generated $1.438 billion in sales in 2012 and was the top-performing category on the best-seller lists in 2012.

So basically, women and girls have all the books they need.

But boys?

Boys have Sports Center, video games, movies, TV shows,YouTube, and lots of other visually stimulating distractions but not nearly enough books. When ranking leisure activities, reading lands near the bottom. Which is a shame since boys really, really, need to be reading. Here’s why.

  • Two thirds of eighth grade boys do not read at grade level.
  • Boys lag behind girls in reading proficiency in all 50 states – in some states by as many as ten percentage points.
  •  Boys who grow up in homes where books are plentiful go further in school than those who don’t. Boys with low-education families can do as well as children with high-education families if they have access to books at home.

And that’s just one of many statistics that support my Don Quixote quest to write fast, easy, fun books for boys.

 I recognize that I am writing into a shrinking market. Boys do not buy books – moms do. But first moms need to find boy books. I do not have a clue how that happens. I wish I did. I think they must shop at bookstores. Problem is, bookstores are closing. Or, if not closing, replacing racks of book space with Legos and Vera Bradley purses.

 If I could speak to those mothers I would say, give me a chance to help your son learn to love reading. Give me a chance to take your son on an adventure where there may be zombies, vampires, and ghosts, but also a positive message that runs counter to the dark and disturbing images found in so many books and movies. Give me a chance to shine a light of hope into their world of darkness and do so without using cuss words, sex, and senseless violence. In other words, give reading a chance to change a life.

 Readers are leaders – buy a boy a book.

 

 

Prayer Circles

EJ_Prayer_Circle“At some point, most of us stop living out of imagination and start living out of memory. But there is nothing God loves more than keeping promises, answering prayers, performing miracles, and fulfilling dreams. Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers. God isn’t offended by your biggest dreams or boldest prayers. He is offended by anything less.” ~ Mark Batterson, author of The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears.

Over Christmas a friend recommended The Circle Maker to my wife. I, in turn, borrowed my wife’s copy, read the first few pages, and purchased a Kindle copy. (As a fellow Zondervan / HarperCollins author I like supporting the home team.) The real blessings in the book are the profound nuggets of wisdom Batterson offers readers. Here are  a few I highlighted.

The greatest moments in life are the miraculous moments when human impotence and divine omnipotence intersect.

Who you become is determined by how you pray. Ultimately, the transcript of your prayers becomes the script of your life.

Miracles are the by-product of prayers that were prayed by you or for you.

We pray out of our ignorance, but God answers out of His omniscience .

Stop praying for it and start praising God for it. True faith celebrates before the miracle happens.

Praise is a higher dimension of faith.

When imagination is sacrificed on the altar of logic, God is robbed of the glory that rightfully belongs to Him.

Faith is the willingness to look foolish.

Work like it depends on us and pray like it depends on God.

To me, a book sold is not a book sold; it’s a prayer answered.

Have vision beyond your resources.

Faith is allowing your God-given vision to determine your budget.

If the vision is from God, it will most definitely be beyond your means.

The Almighty is moved by big dreams and bold prayers.

I admit, I’m a sucker for hope-filled, inspirational books, so of course I find encouragement in Batterson simple instructions to pray circles around your fears, problems, and dreams.

Most days I walk our yard, praying aloud to God. I specifically mention those areas where I need help and say thanks when I see His hand working on my behalf. So I am familiar with circle-prayer-walking. But I also forget most of what I say and pray. That’s why I also keep a prayer journal.

Now I am also adding a prayer-circle sheet to my daily devotional time.

As the head of a publishing company I have lots of books I could pray over. If I prayed over each one daily, that is all I would have time to do. But I’m also an author who is constantly asking God to bless my own writing, too.

This year I began my prayer-circle journey with a blank sheet of paper. In the center I placed my prayer and circled it. I write my payers in blue ink and God’s promises in red. I also have lousy penmanship, but I trust God can read my hand writing, even if others cannot. Each time I find a promise in Scripture or a praise passage, I add it to my sheet. In this way I “surround” my dream with God’s promises.

Will it make a difference? Will God honor His promises and bless my writing? That’s up to Him. But I can already tell a difference in my attitude. I now expect Dead Low Tide, Skull Creek Stakeout, and Dead Man’s Hand to sell out their first print run. My prayer goal is 8000 copies sold of each. That may not seem like a huge number but Batterson reminds us that 95 percent of books don’t sell five thousand copies.

I am asking God to move the Caden Chronicles series into that 5 percent.

If you believe God has called you into a work, ask for His blessing and circle your prayer with praise and His promises. And please, please, please … if God answers your prayer, let me know! I would love to see how He is working in your life.

EJ

Prayer_Circle_Caden_Chronicles_Series

 

The Day I Met JFK

The Day I Met JFKPlease note: what you are about to read is all hearsay. I was there but do not remember any of the details of the events of which I am about to report. My sister says it all happened as she described and I am certain it did. My sister is always right, even when she’s wrong.

So here’s what happened. Marji and I were staying with Grandmamma Jones in the Green House – green being the color of the structure, not the name of the owner, though on the Jones side of the family there is a strand of Greens. There is also a thread of Gays but we will leave that alone for now.

Okay, so Grandma Jones babysat us that day and as she was prone to do, we went visiting her neighbors. On this occasion, her neighbor was the governor of North Carolina. “She led us around back,” my sister recalls, “and we sat on the back steps. The maids brought us lemonade.”

I do not know what Grandmamma Jones did while Marji and I sipped lemonade. I suppose she advised the governor on how he should run his state. Grandmamma Jones excelled at giving advice.

At some point, Grandmamma Jones returned and marched us to the front of the Governor’s Mansion. JFK arrived, we stood, I watched. At least that’s what my sister tells me. Again, I was only three, so I only remember this in a vague heard-it-countless-times-before-so-it-must-be-true sort of way. For all I know I might have been home watching Mr. Kangaroo on a black and white TV.

“The President patted you on the head, turned and walked up the steps into the Governor’s Mansion. For some reason you took this as your cue to follow him inside. You got as far as the foyer before they stopped you.”

My son flashing his JFK smile

My son flashing his JFK smile

At 11:21 am CST fifty years ago yesterday, Jack Ruby murdered Lee Harvey Oswald. We will never know if Oswald acted alone, if Ruby was hired to silence President Kennedy’s assassin or how the course of our nation might have been altered had JFK lived and served two terms. But I know this: on a warm day in 1960 I met JFK.

Or so my sister says.

Writing Romantic Comedy

Writing Romantic ComedyAt writers’ conferences I  sometimes get asked to explain the formula for writing romantic comedy. Here is a  basic plot outline of what you  often find in a Romantic Comedy book or movie.

 

Act I

1) Introduction – Introduce the hero before the romantic rival. Readers and audiences instinctively identify with the first character who appears on the screen. This is often your lead character.

2) Establish your lead character’s motivation. What does he / she want outside of a relationship. Fly to the moon, be a White House reporter, get free cable? In a properly structured film (or novel), the hero’s outer motivation, which defines the story concept, is established no later than 25% of the way through the story.

3) Inciting Encounter – What disturbing event disrupts your lead’s normal life?

4) Call to Action –  Challenge your lead to accept this new adventure

4) Denial of Call to Action – Show how your main character(s) resist the challenge.

5) Repeat of Call to Action based on  emotions – Appeal to your lead on an emotional level. “Little Jimmy will die if you do not …”

6) Acceptance of Call to Action – Show your lead reluctantly accepting the challenge.

7) Begin the quest – Your main characters set off on their great adventure.

 

Act II

1st date: Chance encounter –  Show the first meeting between the hero and the romance. Both in real life and in fiction, the most enthralling part of any relationship comes with that first, head-over-heels, all-consuming attraction.

2nd date: Background revealed, values presented, ground rules established

3rd date: First Physical Encounter, A Touch of Flesh

4th date: Falling for each other while in pursuit of external goals (Remember that outward motivation introduced at the start? This drives the story and your two love birds apart.)

5th date: Conflict spills into work – Love and conflicting goals threaten their work.

6th date: Hostile Encounter – First fight, differences aired.

8) Friend’s Support Scene – Friends come to rescue, talk your lead off the ledge.

7th date: Domestic Encounters – Couple plays house. Makes a craft, cooks, baby sits.

8th date: Work Interrupted – Now work is not simply interrupted, but threatened. She shows up at his office. In the middle of a big presentation, he calls her boss to say he’s taking her to lunch.

9) Friend’s Strategy Scene – Friends step in to offer new strategy for salvaging the relationship that is now, obviously, unraveling.

10) Point of No Return – The hero / heroine should commit to the relationship by the mid-point of the book. The halfway mark of any journey is the POINT OF NO RETURN – that moment where the traveler is closer to the destination than the point of origin. Show the hero making a physical, emotional, tangible commitment that indicates that there’s no turning back. From here on she can never return to the emotional life she was living when the story began.

9th date: Friend relationships Interrupted – Friends must go. “Pick, it’s me or them.”

11) First Termination Scene – Having committed to each other (rather than friends), blow up the relationship over misunderstandings, stress, cultural differences, etc…

10th date: Meet the Family – Playing House – Restore the relationship by playing house and meeting the family

11th date: Prom Night – Cinderella Ball Scene – All is going well, marriage might be an option, until…

Secrets Exposed Scene – Clock strikes 12 and real identities / motives are revealed

Final Termination – “You go your way, I’ll go mine.” “Fine.” “Fine!”

 

Act III

One Last Chance Scene – Hero or Heroine comes to their senses and realizes they cannot live without each other

Sacrifice Offered Scene – Hero or Heroine offers to forgo their external goals for the love of the other

12th date: Final Encounter – Win or Lose Love

13th date: Tie Up Loose Ends – Sail Into Sonset

 

The Top Ten Mistakes Every Author Needs to Know before Clicking “Self Publish” – Eddie Jones

The Top Ten Mistakes Every Author Needs to Know before Clicking “Publish”Mistake #1 -Spend Thousands with a Self Publishing Firm

The average print self-published book sells about 100-150 copies – and most of these are to friends and family. Many self-pub companies will proof your manuscript but fail to do substantial edits. They sell you marketing plans that seem impressive but do not generate sales Again, most self published books sell 300 copies or less. “Rather than publish hundreds of thousands of copies of a few books, Lulu’s mission is to publish 100 copies of 100,000 books.”~ Publishers Weekly

Mistake #2 -Get a Friend or Family Member to Design the Cover

Sure, you know someone who is a graphic designer, but do they know the CreateSpace specs? Have they worked with a Lightening Source template? Do they know the top three colors that sell women’s books? Are they experts in font design, interior layout, and know what current book designs are trending?

Mistake #3 -Fail to Hire a Content Editor

Critique groups are great but you need two and possibly three editors on every book. If you are going to spend your money hire a content editor to give you macro and micro edits. (Preferably one that has actually worked for a publishing house.) Follow up with a proof editor to catch all the grammar and odd phrasing. Enlist sharp-eyed friends to be your beta readers. Only then are you ready to consider self-publishing.

Mistake #4 -Think the Book Will Sell Itself

No book sells itself.  As the author, you are responsible for the care and feeding of your book. No one else cares for your book the way you do. If God placed this story on your heart then do not abandon it at birth. This is your baby; care for it!

Mistake #5 -Try to Sell to Bookstores

Bookstores do not want your self-published book. They want income, and lots of it. That’s why they sell items other than books. If a bookstore agrees to carry your book or allow you to hold a book signing they are doing YOU a favor. Be gracious, thank them, but do not expect a bookstore to make your book a best seller.

Mistake #6 -Price Your Book to High

You are not Nicholas Sparks or John Grisham so do not expect the consumer to pay top dollar for your book. You may think your book is worth $14.95 but the consumer determines the perceived value of your book. Create an attractive entry-level price, grow legs under your book, and increase the price only after your book has sold hundreds.

Mistake #7 -No Kindle Version of Your Book

You will make more money selling Kindle copies of your book than you ever will selling print. Kindle copies cost less to produce and produce more income for you. Once you understand this you are miles ahead of most authors.

Mistake #8 -Think a Major Publisher Will Want  Your Self-Published Book

They will not. You gave birth to a book. It is yours. A large publisher does not want your book unless it has sold thousands – as in twenty to thirty thousand.  And if you self-published and sold thirty thousand copies and made $1.50 profit on each sale why would you WANT to give a publisher 70% of that profit?

Mistake #9 -Publish a Poorly Written Book

Sometimes an editor cannot fix a manuscript and some books should never be published. First novels, even second and third, are seldom ready for publication. But the allure of self-publishing remains. Fight the urge to see your name in print. Instead, learn the craft. Go to conferences. Sit under faculty who have sold to major houses. Learn from their mistakes – not yours.

Mistake #10 – Ignore Mistakes 1-9 and Think Your Book is the Exception

It is not. The Shack was an exception – and still needs a good content editor. Writing, publishing, and selling a book is hard work. You want it to be hard. Otherwise, all books – even great books – would sell for a penny. Accept that you will have to write a great book, market it, hire editors, cover and book designers, beg for Amazon reviews and be satisfied selling 20 Kindle copies a month for a long time before readers recognize your book is worth $3. Accept that truth and you might be ready to self-publish.