Author: Kristen James

“Good” Writing

by Kristen James

The book world seems to be a hotbed these days. First we had the line between traditional authors and indie authors, and now indie, or self published authors, are drawing lines based on where they publish. Just Amazon? Or everywhere? It seems like a business decision to me, that each author should make for themselves, but I’ve seen some heated and mean conversations online about it. Along with that, there’s an almost frantic search for all information on book marketing and the best tips. You know, the secrets that really work. It could lead one to believe the way to make it as an author is through marketing. All this has been on my mind because you can get so focused on it that you’re not writing or improving your storytelling abilities. I want to believe the writing industry is still about producing great stories, and that the best books will spread by reader word of mouth.

I’ll admit I look at the bestsellers and think about what makes them sell. But I don’t simply look at how the book is marketed, I also look at what’s in the story that draws readers in. We love strong characters that we identify with, especially when they’re facing a giant hurdle. Sometimes it’s a hurdle we might encounter, and other times it symbolizes some kind of hardship or rite of passage. Those huge bestsellers all seem to take us somewhere new and different, even if that’s back in time. Think of Water for Elephants. It’s a very different story. Or The Help. Both of those novels take me to a reality that I didn’t know about in such depth. I haven’t read The Hunger Games yet, but I can tell they take you to a different time or dimension. In some books, that “other place” is just a small town with an engaging cast of characters. This element is one aspect of a great story. Another thing I’ve noticed is that I can’t always put my finger on it. That might be the best part for me. I read a story and savor it, and find myself going back again and again to think about the characters, what something really meant, or how other characters might have done it differently. Memorable characters, there’s something to that…

To write or not to write, is that actually a question?

by Kristen James

I suppose that is a question for most people and maybe even many authors, but it’s hard to imagine going a week without writing. It’s my hobby, passion and job. Yeah, I’m a bit obsessed with constantly creating. (I have trouble following a recipe; I always want to get creative with the spices, which you should double, and maybe the other ingredients too.) I usually have several projects in the works. That way, if I don’t feel excited about one project on that given day I can write on a different one.

I have several writing announcements in February, and I just published my collection of short stories called Quickies. Many of these stories have been published in print and online, and one did pretty well in a Writer’s Digest competition. The book also includes my two Kindle novellas, The Fairy and her Giant and Diversity Problems. So it offers quite a mix of my different genres.

Click here to preview on Amazon Kindle.

Along with the two novellas, Quickies includes:

The Look – a romance mini

Which One? – a mother is put in a tough spot when as she tries to save her children during a store robbery.

Demands of the Job – how can he live with himself if he endangers the one he loves?

Valentine’s Day – it’s once again the yearly reminder of the day he lost his wife. He finds a new connection but is scared of sharing it with his young son.

Living In The Christmas Tree – How do you say goodbye to your child forever, on Christmas?

The Perfect Christmas – He lived his life thinking he didn’t need anyone…until now.

In The Land of Huckleberries and Wokas – Native American fiction. She always thought the stories were just stories, but now she’s been taken from her tribe.

This is a short story that placed 32nd out of 12,000 entries in a Writer’s Digest short story competition. I’m expanding it into a novella for release later this year. It’s a bit like The River People, but about a young Klamath girl that is taken from her tribe during a raid. The Klamath live around a huge, shallow lake with marshes, so they made marsh shoes similar to snow shoes. They also had dugout canoes and guided them through the reeds with a stick to gather Wokas, aka pond lily seeds. They made all kinds of foods out the these seed pods. The story is an action/adventure story, but it’s so interesting to learn about (and incorporate) their lifestyle.

Well, I’ll be back later with more updates, including another surprise release coming soon. 🙂

Snow in Oregon!

by Kristen James

A light dusting of snow fell on the valley floor yesterday so we took the kids and headed up to the deeper snow  to sled.

 

We were lucky and timed it just right for the perfect conditions: powdery snow and sunshine!

I had never gone sledding with the kids before so it was a blast to take one at a time down the hill.

Before we left the mountain, a snowstorm blew in and sent down a torrent of fat flakes. Luckily there was a group of people playing in a meadow and they had several fires going. We borrowed one to warm up and drink our hot cider.

 

 

 

Here’s a picture I took the same day, from my house. We have eight bald eagles that have been flying up and down the river and playing. They’ll fly together or sit in the trees and chirp in a song like way.

We keep a list of animals we’ve seen from our house, and it includes otters, mallards, Canadian Geese, wood ducks, pheasants, quail, blue heron, great horned owls, hawks, white and black tail deer, and a few more domesticated animals like cows, sheep and goats. There’s at least 100 animals on our list! Last week, we saw two bucks play fighting in the field across the river. It looked like a larger buck was teaching a spike how to fight for next year. There’s such an abundance of wildlife and beautiful scenery here; I feel so blessed to call Oregon home!

 

 

Kauai Spy Games

by Kristen James

Click here to sample or purchaseKauai Spy Games – a bestselling book in “Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue” on Kindle.

Only 99 Cents for a limited time!

39 5-star reviews.

Seasoned covert operative Jeff Ivanov knows something is stirring in paradise. His never ending antics and perchance for romance got him a two year leave, aka paid vacation, to his childhood home of Kauai. The Garden Island, however, is a hotbed of nationalities with hidden national agendas. Even while enjoying the island Aloha life, he can’t miss the gorgeous Russian ladies flirting with scientists and engineers from Kauai Missile Base. When his old team members start to show up, the party’s on. Of course their mission isn’t condoned or even recorded. The Na Pali Seven do not exist.

As the son of a US Naval Captain and a Russian born professor, his role is to use his Russian connection to block the Russians from getting too close to the enamored scientists. The assignment gets real easy when Anya saunters into the bar and into his sights. They play the game together but emotions are dangerously real.

The Na Pali Seven could be responsible for stopping the largest and most devastating attack on US soil and Ivanov might be falling for the enemy.

Get it here!

“This book was a fantastic fast paced read full of action and intrigue! I love books that delve into the secret world of our armed forces and their special ops teams that protect us from hidden dangers everyday! As a woman, I especially enjoyed the strong female characters in the book. I hope there is more to come for the Na Pali Team as well as Jeff and Anya.”  ~5 star review

Embers of Hope, Flickers of Passion

by Kristen James

Embers of Hope, Flickers of Passion

A story about balancing motherhood, friendship and romance…

Savanna dreaded telling her family and friends about her failed marriage so much that she hid it while living in another state. But she can’t stay away when her best friend Cassie loses her husband, who dies on duty as a firefighter. Savanna quickly returns home to help, longing to find herself again and make a home for her daughter. She meets Mike’s best friend, Jason, the man who talked him into staying with the department just before the fatal fire. He’s also the man who once saved Savanna’s life. Though hurting herself, something deep inside her won’t let her walk away. Jason needs her but she’s off limits on so many levels. She’s falling for this sexy firefighter but he confuses her to no end. Savanna’s a single mom with secrets, and she could lose her best friend over him.

Review from Melissa from There For You:
I am a woman. If you cut me, do I not bleed? If you offer me chocolate, do I not take it? If you offer me romance, do I not read it?! Of course I do, I am woman. Let me introduce you to my newest weakness. Romance novels by author Kristen James. I met Kristen via an interview I recently did on her (Interview) and decided to try her book. Boy is the woman, and reader, in me happy I did! Embers of Hope, Flickers of Passion is a well written love story, reminiscent of the movie Backdraft, in the fact that the main character, Jason, is a firefighter and his best friend, Mike, is killed in a fire.

The central characters of the story are Savanna, her best friend Cassie, Cassie’s husband Mike and Mike’s best friend Jason. The story starts off with Savanna moving herself, and her infant daughter Aubrey, or Bobby Boo as she is affectionately called, to Texas to help her best friend, Cassie, recover from the very recent death of her husband Mike. Mike is a firefighter who is killed in the line of duty. Mike’s best friend, Jason, is held accountable by himself and Cassie, even though he was not involved in the accident. Savanna quickly realizes that Jason is the firefighter who saved her life a few years before.

Being the mother hen that she is, Savanna soon decides that she not only needs to repair Cassie but also Jason, thus throwing herself in the middle of the two since Cassie blames him. The reader soon realizes that Savanna needs some saving herself as the last 2 or so years of her life with her ex-husband Eric have been horrible. After hearing parts of Savanna’s story, and an intense internal feeling of need, Jason also feels the need to help Savanna.

A beautifully woven plot, Embers of Hope, Flickers of Passion, will have you crying with Cassie, cheering for Jason, and praying Eric does not return to distinguish the flames that are spreading between Jason and Savanna. A romance novel that any woman with a history of being burned by love, and has hopes to rekindle the flame, can enjoy. Next up, More Than Memories, in the Kristen James romance novels.

I hope today you get your daily helping of romance and chocolate! Enjoy your day :)) -Melissa

A room without books is like a body without a soul. -Cicero

How to Be a Full Time Writer – now available!

by Kristen James

How To Be A Full Time Writer and Editor

 Through Ghostwriting, Freelance Writing, Editing, Co-Writing and Your Writing

Do you love your job? You should! If you don’t, I’d love to help you create a job you love.

I created my own job through a mix of publishing and editing, and then I began ghostwriting. This allowed me to set my own hours, choose my projects, and work from home while dropping the daily commute. I share the sites I used, provide resources, and give tips for finding work, bidding, winning projects, avoiding problem clients and projects, and earning more money.  These tips include actual, winning bids and things to watch out for. You can use some or all of the methods that have worked for me to create a job perfectly suited to your interests and passions.

This is a great way to earn extra income, offset a crisis after job loss, or earn a living. For me, being a “full time” writer means earning full time pay, and not necessarily working eight hours a day.

In How to Be A Full Time Writer, I share:

  • My story
  • Ways to make money online related to writing, editing and publishing
  • How to get started and create a winning profile
  • What not to do
  • Tips to win more projects
  • Red Flags – time to walk away
  • How to price your bids
  • How to make money through your own writing
  • Secrets to selling more ebooks

Whether you’re completely new to online freelancing or already working, this book will jump start your projects and save you time and headaches from problem projects and clients. This 70 page guide cuts the fluff to give you easy to use information, tips and links.

Sample or purchase here.

Coming Soon – In The Land of Huckleberries and Wokas

by Kristen James

In The Land of Huckleberries and Wokas, a Native American adventure novella, was expanded from a short story that placed 32nd out of 12,000 plus entries in Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition. (Wokas are pond lily seeds from the Klamath marshes.)

The stories weren’t just stores, after all. Snow Bird had listened all through her childhood to scary tales of braves raiding camps and taking slaves, but she had never truly feared such a thing happening. When others told her these stories, her father patted her head and smiled, reassuring her that the elders used stories to keep the children close to camp.

Yet now she sat with her hands bound in front of her while her captors drank from the river. They had rushed into camp and attacked those around the dinner fire. With knives tied to their wrists and clubs to swing, they had hit and stunned the adults in a confusing blink of the eye.

Snow Bird is taken far from her home and people, but she refuses to give up hope. She is surprised by someone who wants to help her, and surprised by her own bravery and strength.

***

I started thinking about this short story and had to the tell the rest of it. It’s similar to my Native American novel The River People, but set in eastern Oregon in the Klamath Basin.

I’ll keep you updated and post a link when it’s available on Kindle.

“The Look” – A Romance Mini

by Kristen James

(First appeared on Books-n-Kisses)

The pouring rain outside made it feel more like late evening than six in the morning. Annalisa stared out into it, her back to the office door. Sounds banged and clicked in from the busy shop outside as she tried to jumpstart herself.

The sound of the door swinging open did it. The outside noise jumped in volume, then dimmed again as it slammed shut. She spun around.

“We don’t need some change agent coming in here. We can handle this ourselves!” A very fit man with a long sleeve shirt and jeans threw a stack of papers onto her desk. Some slid across it and hung over the edge on her side. Spotting her, he stood mid gesture and blank faced, watching her push the papers back into a somewhat neat stack.

The day went from bleak to super charged in 2.3 seconds, and not because he’d burst into the office. This guy needed to be in a clothing ad, maybe for outdoor gear. He had a movie star, Brad Pitt type face, and she imagined running her hand along his jaw, checking for stubble.

She sat and leaned back in her chair. “What kind of ideas do you have?”

“Who are you?”

“Looks like I’m the person you’re looking for. Mr. Rici brought me in to see how we can improve the processes out there.” She glanced down at his papers to keep her eyes away from his tall and lean figure, the piercing blue eyes set in a firm face. Soon she realized he had thoughtfully written out several process improvement ideas with calculations on how much time each would save.

Sometime during her scanning, he asked, “Do you have a name?”

She finally looked up and realized he’d sat down and had been watching her for several minutes. Evaluating her. Memorizing her. His face had softened considerably and now he stared at her in wonder. She’d been about to compliment his ideas but got caught up in gazing back at him.

Oh, yeah, her name.

“I’m Annalisa Gildhart, and you?”

“Dan.” He extended his hand in a polite gesture that threw her. His shake was firm but not too hard…and they didn’t break the physical contact right away. He nodded toward the papers. “You know, people aren’t expecting you to listen to our ideas.”

She smiled, thankful for his honesty. “I’m here to help, believe it or not, and that means working with you to keep this place running. These are great ideas, Dan.”

A slow smile spread across his face, and the flirtatious tilt to it made her think he’d reacted more to her smile than her words. Still, he looked much more at ease.

It was her that was tingling inside.

Dan leaned back and studied her. Change always made people nervous, but he almost looked like he’d be willing to drop the old us-against-you routine. Oh, she hoped he’d keep that attitude and prevent a hotbed of tension. Everyone would have to work together or this place would be closing within three months.

“So you might be around a while?” The smile lifted even more on one side.

“Yeah.” She was local too, but kept her answer short.

They were smiling across the desk at each other when someone else rapped on the door and cracked it. “Mrs. Gildhart, you’re on. Everyone’s gathered for the morning meeting.”

She pulled in a deep breath as she rose, then grabbed the papers. She’d like to show them she was on their side and wanted their ideas.

Dan gave her a reassuring smile. “This revamp is starting to look much better than I anticipated.” The gleam in his eye sent shivers up her back as she stepped out of the office.  Annalisa agreed. She just hoped she could concentrate on work with him around… but, wow, those jeans looked good on him.

Copyright Kristen James, all rights reserved. If you like the short stories and previews on my blog, try my Kindle freebie, Embers of Hope, Flickers of Passion. 

A Roller Coaster Ride

by Kristen James

I just published “The Perfect Christmas,” a short story that appeared in Skive Quarterly around 2005. I hope you enjoy it!

I’ve been trying to think of interesting things to share here on my author blog, and it’s a little funny that a writer has a hard time finding things to share. I could write about writing, but writing tips are more for other writers than readers. I will share that this last month or so has been a wild and fun roller coaster ride with my books. A Cowboy For Christmas hit #100 in Kindle and then More Than Memories reached #92 yesterday. I’ve been on the Movers & Shakers list with several different books and also hit the top of the category in Romantic Suspense and Contemporary Romance. The reason those numbers are so exciting is that they represent just how many people are reading my books.

This means some exciting things for my writing career. I’ve worked as a publisher and freelance writer for the last several years, which has been great because I could work on “work” projects and my own writing from home. This allowed me to get an amazing amount of writing done and sharpen my writing skills. I’m so happy I was able to work out my own job the way I did, but I’m also excited about where I’m headed. I’ve backed off from publishing quite a bit over the last year, and from ghostwriting and freelance writing over the last six months. I have a couple writing projects right now but I plan to transition to working on my own fiction full time in 2012.

I’ve actually published 2-4 books a year the last couple of years, but I want to work on a longer, deeper book. I have a couple projects in the works for publication in 2012 and I might also write more novellas like The Fairy and her Giant.

Thank you to everyone for your friendship and for reading my work. Here’s to another exciting year!

I’d love to hear from some of you… what do readers want to read on author blogs?

 

The Perfect Christmas (Short Story)

by Kristen James

The Perfect Christmas   by Kristen James    First Published by Skive Quarterly

 

Could this be a retirement-age crisis? Mark mused as he strolled down Sixtieth Avenue in the biting cold. Funny, he never imagined himself having one, but then, who does? He’d made it to sixty without any major breakdowns, and thus far had attributed that to his stoic prejudice against marriage. Only now did he question that.

A little late, he’d decided. But with Christmas bearing down on houses and shops with glaring lights, giant snow-filled balloons, and overly extravagant lawn figurines, he suddenly wished he could have a quiet evening celebration with someone. Not a wife. Not a big family. So he wasn’t sure what he wanted, and that was the crisis part.

Rushing around him, everyone else apparently had plenty of shopping to do. That he didn’t wish for. He’d enjoyed his time alone over the years when others were forced to migrate to family gatherings for long dinners.

He turned the corner and crossed the street to his office building. Though it was dark, he wasn’t done for the day. He’d taken the walk for a diversion, to waken himself and refresh his mind for another session. By putting in a few extra hours today, he would be done and could have an extended weekend to relax.

The itch for company? He used to find a companion here and there. They’d date for a few months – sometimes almost a year.

He saw the homeless woman standing outside his building and paused, ceasing his conversation with himself as well. She wasn’t blocking the entrance and he could enter without speaking to her. However, since she’d first appeared a week ago, he felt a need to see her face, hear her voice. Silly. Holiday hoo-ha catching up to him.

He passed inside and took the elevator up, wondering all the while what the woman looked like. She’d been facing the other way, dressed in a shabby, faded blue coat and black ski cap. His colleagues wanted her gone, taken care of, taken somewhere else. He’d contemplated giving her money for a hotel, at least for the holiday, but where would that lead? She’d simply be back on the street in four days.

He stepped out of the elevator and walked to his office, now thinking of the proposal sitting on his desk. There were a few letters to write, a phone call to make, and some loose ends he’d been pushing back.

That woman did look a bit like his sister. Sitting at his desk, he scanned papers with his eyes but couldn’t make his brain comprehend. He’d searched for his sister on and off all through his life. If alive, she’d be his only relative, and that wasn’t something he needed or wanted. But, maybe, it would be nice to know how her life turned out.

Sighing loudly, he threw up his hands in surrender. His mind must be aging as well as his body. Well, he supposed it wouldn’t ruin anything if he came in the next day to finish up. And what were his plans for the next day? For the weekend? For Christmas?

He took his trip in reverse, and somewhere between floor fifteen and one, he determined to give the homeless woman something. An old, solitary man like him had nothing to lose. Only everything to give. Maybe he should donate more; give his time, perhaps and do something besides ignore the imminent end to his existence.

Outside, the woman was still turned the other way, toward the busy street corner, holding her sign. Yes, very much like his sister, he thought with each step closer.

 

***

 

A car slowed, but only to let out a shopper. She tried for a smile, but the classy businesswoman didn’t even look. People stared right through her. They threw glares behind her, actually, and she realized another beggar must be edging in on her corner. She turned, not sure she could get him to leave. No, she would probably have to leave.

A man in an expensive coat and neat, gray hair stood lifeless ten feet away from her. He stared right at her, but his lined face wasn’t repulsed. Instead, tears streamed down both cheeks.

“Susan! My word, Susan!”

He rushed and embraced her before she could really see him. Who knew her? That voice . . . she slowly comprehended, but didn’t believe.

“Susan? You know your own brother, don’t you?”

“Mark? Can it be?” She felt weak and dizzy, but light. Could that be happiness? She wasn’t sure she remembered anymore. “Mark?”

“Yes, it’s your brother Mark. This is wonderful – you’re here for Christmas! Let’s go celebrate.”