-Catherine Drinker Bowen

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We’d like to thank her for taking the time to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

Jaden: My first published work was the self-published version of RACING THE DEVIL, published under another title. My second published work was the second version, released by Nightshadows Press. This is the third incarnation of my first publication. I guess it took me awhile to get it right! Other than RACING THE DEVIL, my first publication credit was a chapter in Now Write! Mysteries, a collection of writing exercises published by Tarcher/Penguin for writers of crime fiction.

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

Jaden: My latest release is a reissue of the first book in my Jared McKean private detective series. It’s evolved quite a bit since its first incarnation, but the essence is the same. Nashville-based PI Jared McKean is 36 years old, coming to grips with the loss of his job as a homicide detective, and divorced from a woman he still loves. He has a son with Down syndrome, a best friend with AIDS, and a troubled nephew who comes out of the closet and runs away from home. Jared also has a weakness for women in jeopardy—until one frames him for murder. He’s a good man trying to juggle personal and family commitments while keeping himself out of prison and protecting the people he loves from danger and sometimes from themselves.

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who (or what) else do you feel has contributed to your success?

Jaden: There are so many! My practically perfect husband, Mike. My beautiful and supportive mom. Clay Stafford, for letting me help put on Killer Nashville, which led to getting my terrific agent, Jill Marr. My current publishers, Martin and Judith Shepard of The Permanent Press, and the Quill & Dagger Writer’s Guild, who have been helping me hone my craft for more years than I care to say. Not to mention a host of supportive, encouraging friends, co-workers, and fellow writers. When I think of all the people who have helped and encouraged me, I feel like I must be the most blessed person on earth.

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

Jaden: In an ideal world, 9 pm to 2 am. I’m something of a night owl, but I have a day job, so writing until 2 am is not really feasible these days. When I get that 6 million dollar movie deal, though…

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

Jaden: Never stop learning. Never stop trying to be better at what you do. Persevere, but while you’re persevering, take workshops, read books on writing, study the work of writers you love. Do everything you can to make your writing shine and to make yourself the best writer you can possibly be. There is always room to grow.

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RACING THE DEVIL is available now and you can read a sample and the quick click to your favorite retailer to get your own copy. Visit her webpage and you’re on your way. Jaden Terrell is also at home on the web at her blog, Murderous Musings. Like her Facebook page to keep current with news and events.

]]> http://authorscoop.com/2012/02/03/5-minutes-alone-with-jaden-terrell/feed/ http://authorscoop.com/2012/02/03/friday-morning-litlinks-187/ http://authorscoop.com/2012/02/03/friday-morning-litlinks-187/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:15:57 +0000 Jamie Mason http://authorscoop.com/?p=17384

While she’s left us, we will still get to enjoy one last book of poems by Wislawa Szymborska, due to be released later this year. (The Telegraph)

Friend to AuthorScoop, Gregg Hurwitz, is tapped to write BATMAN: THE DARK NIGHT for DC Comics. He’s a little bit thrilled. (DC Universe)

Six degrees of separation from your favorite book, courtesy of (GalleyCat)

The United States fell to 47th ranked in the world for freedom of the press. (The Atlantic)

Here’s some writing prompts from famous authors. (The Huffington Post)

Random House says it’ll raise the price on ebooks for lending, but it will allow the lending at least. (Publishers Weekly)

BookWeb has a look at what’s up and coming in Indie books. (bookweb)

First it was books, now it’s printed magazines that electronic reading is squishing. (The Telegraph)

“On this day in 1931, the Arkansas state legislature passed a motion to pray for the soul of H. L. Mencken. One of Mencken’s Laws was ‘Nature abhors a moron,’ and one of his favorite pastimes was to attack the South for being especially ruled by the ‘booboisie’; upon finding itself elevated to ‘the apex of moronia,’ Arkansas had apparently had enough…” (Today In Literature)

- Thomas Mann

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Emma Hagestadt peers into Joanna Trollope’s Daughters-in-law. (The Independent)

Kevin Canfield calls The Daily You: How the New Advertising Industry Is Defining Your Identity and Your Worth, by Joseph Turow, an “enlightening yet frustrating book. (San Francisco Chronicle)

One link. 32 reviews. (Seattle Times)

Wanna be a journalist? Yeah, there’s an app for that. Rawporter looks to make the man-on-the-street a trusted source for news. (ReadWriteWeb.com)

And if you need an app for inspiration for your fiction, there’s THE ARTIST’S WAY for smartphones as well. (GalleyCat)

Michael Chabon is the first announced speaker for this year’s Book Expo America. Watch the chart fill in at (BookExpoAmerica.com)

Barnes & Noble says they won’t sell Amazon-published books. (The New York Times)

Have a look at the 20 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World. (flavorwire)

Book blurbs: the good, the bad, and the ugly truth of it. (The Millions)

Fourteen year old, Clare Kocher, is perched atop an online writing contest for Harper Collins subsidiary, InkPop. (triblocal.com)

Nobel Prize-winning poet, Wislawa Szymborska, dies at age 88. RIP. (The Telegraph)

American philosopher and Freud-jouster, Frank Cioffi, dies at age 83. (The New York Times)

“On this day in 1970 Bertrand Russell died, aged ninety-seven. Like Henri Bergson before him, Russell won his 1950 Nobel Prize in literature without ever having published any. In presenting the award, the most that the Swedish Academy could offer to justify their selection of a mathematician-philosopher-social activist was the view that Russell often wrote as ‘the outspoken hero in a Shaw comedy’ talked, and that his commitment to ‘rationality and humanity’ was ‘in the spirit of Nobel’s intention.’…) (Today in Literature)

-Cyril Connolly

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THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, by John Green, gets all the stars at (USA Today)

The Telegraph finds excellent new volumes of poetry from Kinsella, Byard, Mort, Padel, and Sebald. (The Telegraph)

The San Fransisco Chronicle fairly swoons over Liz Moore’s novel, HEFT. (SFGate.com)

This title is everywhere: THAT’S DISGUSTING: UNRAVELING THE MYSTERIES OF REVULSION, by Rachel Herz. (The Denver Post)

We’d like to thank her for coming back once again to take part in our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: Tell us a little about your new release, ON THE BRIGHT SIDE.

S.R. Johannes (Shelli): Gabby is a disgruntled tween angel who has just been assigned to protect her school nemesis and ex-beffie. Problem is her ex-beffie is dating Gabby’s longtime crush. Instead of protecting Angela, Gabby pranks her (since when is sticking toilet paper to her shoe or spinach in her teeth a sin?) Soon, Gabby gets out of control and is put on probation by her SKYAgent, who has anger management issues of his own. Determined to right her wrongs, Gabby steals an ancient artifact that allows her to return to Earth for just one day. Without knowing, she kicks off a series of events and learns what can happen when you hate someone to death.

AuthorScoop: Was it hard to kill off your main character right from the start and get her playing in the hereafter?

Shelli: Nope. An angel book doesn’t really work unless I kill at least one person off.

The hardest part was 1) making death funny and 2) creating a brand new world from scratch. I wanted to explore the light side of death and to do that I needed to get away from the religious aspects of Heaven. I could only do that by creating a fresh place called Cirrus.

AuthorScoop: Have the rigors of writing back-to-back books changed the way you read?

Shelli: Uh - yeah. I don’t have time to. I don’t get enough time to write as it is so if I read I want to be writing and vice versa. But I will say, these two books have both been written for several years so it’s not like I just wrote them in the last 2 months. It was just a matter of putting them out right. Which was exhausting and gave me very little time to read the last few months.

AuthorScoop: And with the hindsight of a serial YA novelist, what new advice would you offer to aspiring writers?

Shelli: Go with your gut. I’ve realized if I stick to my gut – I never go wrong for me. I find this comes with confidence though. If you are not confident – you are more easily persuaded by feedback. Don’t get me wrong, I get feedback and criticism, but if I am confident, I can tell what I need to change and what needs to stay – no matter what people say.

AuthorScoop: What’s next for S.R. Johannes?

Shelli: I am in an Anthology called IN HIS EYES coming Feb. 14th with me and about 15 other indie authors. The stories included come form our male protags and are written from his perspective about love and loss. I also plan to get the sequel to UNTRACEABLE (called UNCONTROLLABLE) out in the summer. I can’t really see beyond that right now

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ON THE BRIGHT SIDE is available now and S.R. Johannes runs a lovely website that will get you where you need to go for ordering and information. Just make a wish and click. She offers plenty of access via her social media page, and for more up-to-the-minute updates on Shelli and her work, be sure to check out her blog.

125 brand-name authors vote in the Greatest Books of All Time. (The Atlantic)

McGraw-Hill seems to be looking to sell, rather than branch off, its educational endeavors. (Financial Times)

The publisher of Bernard Schlink’s, THE READER, is in a clash over profits from The Weinstein Company’s film adaptation of it. (Deadline.com)

Edinburgh’s International Book Festival - refreshingly - wants authors, not celebrities, for its headline events. (The Guardian)

The National Times makes a case for why teens should read their porn, not watch it. (The Age)

Books bring nations together: Taiwan and China make cooperative noises over their ties in literature. (Focus Taiwan)

If you don’t like Apples terms, don’t use iAuthor, simple as that says (ZDnet.com)

Hank Haney wishes Tiger would read, THE BIG MISS: MY YEARS COACHING TIGER WOODS, before he gets upset about it. (USA Today)

Bangladeshi author, Taslima Nasreen’s, book, NIRBASAN, sparks a controversy at the Kolkata International Book Fair. (TheHindu.com)

Editor, Sam Vaughan, dies at age 83. RIP (the-leader.com)

“On this day in 1814 Lord Byron’s ‘The Corsair’ was published, selling out its entire first run of 10,000 copies. The poem was one of a handful of melodramatic verse-tales written by Byron between 1812-16, a period in which he was at the height of poetic fame in England…” (Today In Literature)