Wednesday, July 3, 2013

FREE FOR 4TH FINAL DAY!

Today's the final day to download my digital "You Draw The Adventure books" for FREE! Just log on to your Amazon account, head over to my author page, and download select titles for free until midnight tonight, July 3rd :) You and you're children will enjoy drawing together!

Today's FREE digital books spotlighted are . . .

THE ZOMBIE WHO DIDN'T FIT IN
ZombieCover

Description:

YOU DRAW THE ADVENTURE in this Picture-Less Picture Book! Join Melvin the Zombie's journey while he tries to fit in.
AND . . .

THE WEREWOLF WHO LOOKED HUMAN
WerewolfCover

Description:

YOU DRAW THE ADVENTURE in this Picture-Less Picture Book! Join Daisy the Werewolf while she copes with looking different.
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PROMOTION DETAILS
FreeFor4th copy

Celebrate the 4th of July with select digital YOU DRAW THE ADVENTURE BOOKS for FREE! Log into your Amazon account, download, grab a pen and paper, and draw!

(This promotion goes from Saturday July 29, 2013 until Wednesday July 3rd, 2013).

STEPS TO FREE DIGITAL COPIES:
1. LOG IN TO YOUR AMAZON ACCOUNT
2. HEAD OVER TO MY AUTHOR PAGE
3. DOWNLOAD SELECT TITLES FOR FREE!
4. GRAB A PEN AND PAPER AND START DRAWING TODAY!
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Jason Jack is the author of over a dozen books. He inhabits a small bit of space somewhere on planet Earth, living primarily in his fantasies.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

FREE FOR 4TH: DAY 4 SPOTLIGHT

Download my digital "You Draw The Adventure books" for FREE! Just log on to your Amazon account, head over to my author page, and download select titles for free until July 3rd :) You and you're children will enjoy drawing together!

Today's FREE digital books spotlighted are . . .

THE BIRTHDAY SURPRISE
BirthdayCover

Description:
YOU DRAW THE ADVENTURE in this Picture-Less Picture Book! Help celebrate Betty’s birthday surprise, where not everything is what is seems!


AND . . .

THE FUNNY BUNNY
BunnyCover

Description:
YOU DRAW THE ADVENTURE in this Picture-Less Picture Book! Help Bogo the Funny Bunny spread laughter and joy to children everywhere!

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PROMOTION DETAILS

FreeFor4th copy

Celebrate the 4th of July with select digital YOU DRAW THE ADVENTURE BOOKS for FREE! Log into your Amazon account, download, grab a pen and paper, and draw!

(This promotion goes from Saturday July 29, 2013 until Wednesday July 3rd, 2013).

STEPS TO FREE DIGITAL COPIES:

1. LOG IN TO YOUR AMAZON ACCOUNT

2. HEAD OVER TO MY AUTHOR PAGE

3. DOWNLOAD SELECT TITLES FOR FREE!

4. GRAB A PEN AND PAPER AND START DRAWING TODAY!
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Jason Jack is the author of over a dozen books. He inhabits a small bit of space somewhere on planet Earth, living primarily in his fantasies.

IN CONCLUSION: Audio books

The Problem:

Twenty-Four hours in a day is insufficient. That's why being efficient with one's time is pertinent to success. As a writer, I read. Books, magazines, comics, and so forth have been a staple in my life since I was a child. But, there just doesn't seem to be enough time in a day to relax with a book in hand. For those days where the sun seems to set too early, I have a a not-so-secretive solution I just recently jumped into: listening to audio books.

When I'm taking my hour long jog in the morning, I'm listening to books. Washing dishes and preparing my breakfast? I have my headphones on, taking in Dickens' story telling. Eating dinner? Another opportunity to sponge up Sun Tzu's Art of War. Downtime successfully becomes time to learn and adventure.

The Fix:
1. Listen to your audio books whenever you have downtime.
2. Keep your mp3 player of choice in your pocket/purse/bag wherever you go.
3. Pre-load your player with enough books on the weekend (or your days off) for the entire week. This way, you'll always have something to listen to.
4. Enjoy.

Audio Book Sources:
FREE: Your public library. There are tons of books on CD for you to choose from which include current releases. Also, many libraries are beginning to lend digital audio books. Ask your library to find out.
FREE: Librovox.com. Provides audio books from the public domain. Don't let public domain scare you. There are a lot of great classics in the catalog. You'll find poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and even advice books. This is my secondary go-to source for audio books.
FREE: Openculture.com. This has been my most used place to download free audio books (public domain works only). I've downloaded The Christmas Carol, The Art of War, Metamorphosis, History of the United States, and more all from this one site. And they all play well.
PAID: Amazon.com/Audible.com. On Amazon, you can search and see if the particular book you're looking for has an audio format for sale which is great for non-public domain works. Audible.com (an Amazon.com company) allows Amazon users to download one audio book a month at a cheap price. I'm thinking about starting a membership to be able to listen to newer releases.

(This is not an extensive "end all, be all" list, just the sites a came across so far)

In Conclusion:
We may have limited time each day, but we can also make the most out of our twenty-four hours. If you're a reader, you should give audio books a try. If you already have, I hope you'll spread the word--books bring joy no matter what format they're in. So, start opening up your ears and eyes. What are you waiting for?

Monday, July 1, 2013

FREE FOR 4TH: DAY 3 SPOTLIGHT

Download my digital "You Draw The Adventure books" for FREE! Just log on to your Amazon account, head over to my author page, and download select titles for free until July 3rd :) You and you're children will enjoy drawing together!

Today's FREE digital book spotlighted is . . .
THE FOURTH OF JULY FIREWORKS

FireworksCover

Description:
YOU DRAW THE ADVENTURE in this Picture-Less Picture Book! Join Franky and enjoy the family festive activities of the Fourth of July!

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PROMOTION DETAILS
FreeFor4th copy

Celebrate the 4th of July with select digital YOU DRAW THE ADVENTURE BOOKS for FREE! Log into your Amazon account, download, grab a pen and paper, and draw!

(This promotion goes from Saturday July 29, 2013 until Wednesday July 3rd, 2013).

STEPS TO FREE DIGITAL COPIES:

1. LOG IN TO YOUR AMAZON ACCOUNT

2. HEAD OVER TO MY AUTHOR PAGE

3. DOWNLOAD SELECT TITLES FOR FREE!

4. GRAB A PEN AND PAPER AND START DRAWING TODAY!

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Jason Jack is the author of over a dozen books. He inhabits a small bit of space somewhere on planet Earth, living primarily in his fantasies.

IN CONCLUSION: Characterization

I wrote a short story about a guy who is forced into a situation where he has to kill a man he has never met or risk losing the perfect life he has accrued--good bye wife, daughters, home, job, and car. No more "American Dream".

Two days and 3,200 words later, I was finished and happy with the final product. I handed it to the Misses/my First Reader like a child showing off the A on his report card. She quite enjoyed it on her first read through, then thought it was average (at best) on subsequent reads. I guess those were C's on my report card, not As.

After I shed a metaphorical tear, the Misses discussed with me what she felt was missing from the story: she did not relate to the protagonist, never understood the notion that he was "living the dream life", and thus she did not care when bad things happened to him. Couple under-developed characterization with the typical first draft superfluousness and you get just an average piece.

The problem: Character Development

The Fix: I try to write with brevity and conciseness in mind, but sometimes my fast prose omits pertinent information concerning the story. The bad news is an author may not see what is missing at first glance. The good news is an author can find a reader they trust to show them what is missing, brand it into his brain, and remember to include it in the next draft and next piece. That's how my Misses helped me. The character she was supposed to root for, feel for, bored her. It was his characterization that irked her.

NounCharacterization- the act of describing distinctive characteristics or essential features.

1. Make your protagonist(s) relatable  above all else.
2. Make your protagonist(s) likable
Footnote: Thoroughly understand your character.

1. Detailed: If your reader cannot relate to your protagonist they won't feel for the protagonist. If she does not feel, then your piece (no matter its epicness, scope, or narrative) will come off as a boring read. And those who have characters that aren't human, when I say make your protagonist relatable I mean on a very basic human level. You can write a story through the perspective of a dog getting from Point A to Point B. That's cool. But why do we care? Well, maybe the dog is tired, hungry, and has puppies to feed back home--he's struggling. And, if anything else, human's understand struggle. Boom--relatable dog story.

Humans Relate To . . .

Hard work/Struggle
Days off/Vacation or Weekends
Hunger
Companionship
Love
Sex
Deprivation
Lack of Sleep
The need for achievement
Familial bonds
Parental bonds
Laziness

(These are just a few elements that drive humans that other humans can relate to.)

In Conclusion:

I just got the feedback from the Misses last night, and I've already have ideas of how to improve the story by including more characterization (essential defining traits, motivation, and relatable elements among others). Let's hope I can get an A on this next draft's report card, and I'm sure all of you will, too.