Calling All Writers: Fun Facts

Last night, my friend Jonas Lee (http://jonasleeblog.com), author of The Legend Of Carter Gabel series, invited me to be a part of his online hangout.  I think it’s up on YouTube, but I really hate watching myself, so I haven’t looked!

Anyway, during our discussion, we started talking about how we got into writing and eventually got onto the topic of fun facts that others might not know about our books.  I asked if he would write down the story he told me so that I might share it on my blog and also so that I might invite all you other writers out there to do the same thing!  I love trivia, I love fun unknown facts!

If you would like to participate, you can either write your story in the comments section OR write your own blog post and share it in the comments section!  I would love to read them!

So without further ado, please welcome Mr. Jonas Lee, Author of the Carter Gabel Saga.

As we all find the stories we love to read and befriend the authors who have written them, it is quite surreal to find yourself in their same company. For me, getting to interview the likes of Jacqueline E. Smith, Shannon A. Thompson, Nina Soden and others that I’ve had the chance to read has been wonderful. Little moments we get to share while conversing have made it feel more like a community than an endless space of internet.

What’s better than those little moments of conversation? Finding out the hidden gems behind the meaning of characters, origins of books and so many wonderful things tidbits that comprise our own little Extras portion if we were a DVD menu. For me, I shared one with Jackie last night and I will share it again for anyone who missed out on our YouTube shenanigans. 

Back when I first started blogging, I decided to try and lure hopeful followers in with a weekly story. So, I dug back into my archives and found a one-chapter fan-fiction I dabbled in. I had read The Time Traveler’s Wife and had watched the movie when that spark of “what-if” hit me and I put fingers to keys in order to get the idea out. Many years later it started out as that one-chapter piece I would offer out to fans.

Weeks went by and soon, there were eight chapters fully developed. I decided to bag the idea and continue the story offline. At that moment, the piece had originally been called The Time Traveler’s Grandchild and would evolve into A Time to Reap within a few short months. That first book spawned another and the final chapter in the Legend of Carter Gabel is now underway. It’s amazing where ideas will take us and just how many people we touch with them along the way. I’ve met some great people and I can’t wait to see how many more will be on my journey. I hope you’ll follow me and be one of them.

I just loved that story and I’m so glad to have Jonas as a friend and colleague!  Thank you so much, Jonas, for inviting me to be a part of your hangout last night and for being a guest on my blog this afternoon!

You can find the first book in The Legend of Carter Gabel series here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M8AZBKE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00M8AZBKE&linkCode=as2&tag=jonleesima-20&linkId=KK7K2EHW24G5KWG5

Thanks y’all!  Remember, leave me a story or a link in the comments section below!  I’d love to hear from you!

Friday Fun Facts

I feel like I need to be writing some kind of serious blog post, because I feel like there are a million things going on right now, but for the life of me, I can’t pick one topic to focus on.  So I’m just going to make a bit of a list.  In no particular order, here are the things on my mind.

Enjoy.

* Speaking at a writer’s group at a library tomorrow! Yay!

* Need to give myself an at-home makeover: straighten hair, paint nails, the works.

* Also need to listen to more Ed Sheeran. Like, right away.

* Pre-Release copies of Boy Band are on their way and I am SO excited!

* Need to edit short story for Lurking in the Deep.

* PS You are invited to the Lurking in the Deep online release party: https://www.facebook.com/events/1389989944654711/

* Watching Ouija right now. So far, it is a little hokey.

* I can’t believe Zayn left One Direction.  Moment of silence.

* Character Interview featuring Luke Rainer will probably be posted on Monday.

* Going to meet another local author tomorrow afternoon at Barnes and Noble.  Exciting.

* Seriously, though, where can I find a man like Ed Sheeran?  I need to date this guy.

* I read and reviewed friend and fellow author, Jonas Lee’s second book, A Time To Reap.  You can check out his blog here: http://jonasleeblog.com and my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1237989820

* I can’t wait to plant my garden.

* Please remember to enter my GoodReads Giveaway and spread the word! https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/129034-boy-band

* I can’t believe the new Walking Dead spinoff is called Fear the Walking Dead.

*To top it all off, here’s a pretty picture of one of my sunflowers from last year.

The Sunshine Award

I am thrilled to announce that A Platform of Sorts has been nominated for another award!

Thank you so much to the awesome T. Edward Redd at http://fictionfanaticandromance.wordpress.com for nominating me!

Here are the rules for The Sunshine Award:

• Display the Award on your Blog.
• Announce your win with a post and thank the Blogger who awarded you.
• Present 10 deserving Bloggers with the Award – “who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.”
• Link your awardees in the post and let them know of their being awarded.
• Write 10 interesting things about you

I hereby present the Sunshine Award to the following bloggers:

http://randalane.wordpress.com

http://wwwdotdanicacornelldotcom.wordpress.com

http://heatherellisbooks.wordpress.com

http://sookthisbooknook.wordpress.com

http://tjwiltshire.wordpress.com

http://audreyhepburnbooks.wordpress.com

http://friendlyfairytales.com

http://aislingrain.wordpress.com

http://paws2smile.wordpress.com

http://ambersalley.wordpress.com 

Congratulations!

Now… 10 interesting things about me…

1) I wrote my first book in preschool.

2) I love traveling but I don’t like flying.  I would much rather drive.

3) When I was in seventh grade, toe socks were a huge fad, but I couldn’t wear them because I have two webbed toes on both feet (worse on my right than my left though).

4) One of my favorite trips I ever took was to Hot Springs, Arkansas.  I went with my church choir in January 2003 and every night, we went swimming outside in the heated pool.  Also, the insides of all of our ears turned green.

5) I love to swing dance, but haven’t been in ages.

6) I had a poem published in my University’s Arts Journal in the “Best Of” Edition.  No one told me about it though, so I found out because one of my friends came up to me and congratulated me.  I hated that poem.  It was so awful and I’m so embarrassed to admit I wrote it.  I wish they had published the one I wrote about slaughtering a cockroach instead.  That poem is magical and hilarious and probably the best thing I’ve ever written.

7) When I was in high school, my friends and I invented our own tropical island called BanaCoco.  It had a Pirates Hotel, a church named after St. Francis of Assisi, and a bike trail that went all around the island.  I still kind of want to live there.

8) When I was in Calculus my senior year of high school, my teacher went around and handed out applications for kids he thought could pass the AP test.  I didn’t get one.

9) I’ve worked several odd jobs in my life from camp counselor to lifeguard to cashier to wedding photographer.  For the record, camp counselor/lifeguard was both my favorite and the cause of one or two mental breakdowns.

10) When I was nine, I won a goldfish from the State Fair and she actually survived for a year and two months.