Ask the Author: Jackie Weger
Answered Questions (12)
Jackie Weger
NO! I am so not into horror. A burnt egg is a horror to me. Blessings, Jackie Weger
Jackie Weger
My summer reading is varied: I'm into The No ! Ladies' Detective Agency. I adore Alexander McCall Smith's books. I'm reading a couple of Karin Slaughter's books. I have Isabel Allende's Daughter of Fortune on my desk and Randy Wayne White's Doc Ford Novels are high on my TBR.
I'm spending free time working in my container garden, which decided on its own to spread out. I can't keep up!
I'm spending free time working in my container garden, which decided on its own to spread out. I can't keep up!
Jackie Weger
I don't like to talk about a work in progress. I think it jinxes the excitement I have for the story if I blather about it.
Jackie Weger
I make my own hours and I don't have to wear panty hose to work.
Jackie Weger
Who killed my sister-in-law? It has never been solved.
Jackie Weger
Hi, Nancy: I do a lot of research for my books, especially about a job a character might have. I sometimes discover facts so obscure and use those and hear from readers--Not so! I wrote about orphans in The Reluctant Hero going to a conclave to meet adoptive parents. Readers suggested things like conclaves don't happen. But they do, especially for difficult to place orphans. I talked to a volunteer who was raising money for the orphans air fare. Odd fact: States pay for the conclave site and air fare for the social worker to accompany the orphans--but the little guys have to raise funds for their trip. It is always a question of: Do I use this info or not? In the end, if it works for the characters and plot, I use it--and take my lumps. I once wrote a book about a young female trapper in the Louisiana swamps. Readers wrote in and said that doesn't happen in the 21st Century. I lived with those trappers for part of a winter. Now along come a reality show on alligator trappers. Research is much easier now with the Internet, but I always double check. If I have a restaurant scene and I haven't visited the restaurant, I talk to the chef or manager. Writers have to remember that when we compose a story that takes place in a reader's community--we have to get it right because our readers live there. they know the scoop. And yes, I read the kind of books I like to write, but I also read across all genres. A good book is for entertainment. I love to read.
Keep in touch. Best from Jackie Weger
Keep in touch. Best from Jackie Weger
Jackie Weger
My all time favorite couple in a novel is Charlie Allnut and Rose Sayer in the African Queen. Wow! What a combination. I have two tattered copies of the book. I reread them at least once a year. They never lose their magic.
Jackie Weger
Hello, Jean Hill. Sorry, I don't shop on amazon.uk. If you don't mind a suggestion? Do use the wonderful short link to your book found when you click the blue envelope on your Amazon book page:
Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1782224149.
I appreciate that you are trying to connect and promote your book, but the first words shared should not be: "Buy my book." Also it is a print edition and very costly. I'm an indie author. I promote my units as ebooks, often offering them free and discounted. Your title does not show an ebook edition. I don't have a clue what to suggest to a UK author about ehow to sell a print edition. I see both Paragon Publishing and Lightning source as distributor. Nor do I see an author bio page on amazon. You might consider creating one via Author Central. You might consider a Goodreads Giveaway. Do you have a webpage? blog? Facebook page? Twitter account? Have you considered a virtual book tour? There are some very good folks at Book Partners in Crime promotions. Wishing you great good luck with your book.
Cordially,
JackieWeger
eNovel Authors at Work
No Perfect Secret
Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1782224149.
I appreciate that you are trying to connect and promote your book, but the first words shared should not be: "Buy my book." Also it is a print edition and very costly. I'm an indie author. I promote my units as ebooks, often offering them free and discounted. Your title does not show an ebook edition. I don't have a clue what to suggest to a UK author about ehow to sell a print edition. I see both Paragon Publishing and Lightning source as distributor. Nor do I see an author bio page on amazon. You might consider creating one via Author Central. You might consider a Goodreads Giveaway. Do you have a webpage? blog? Facebook page? Twitter account? Have you considered a virtual book tour? There are some very good folks at Book Partners in Crime promotions. Wishing you great good luck with your book.
Cordially,
JackieWeger
eNovel Authors at Work
No Perfect Secret
Jackie Weger
Hi, Joanie: You asked an excellent question. Phoebe's dialogue and manner of speaking is her 'voice'. It is her heritage and background. Her people settled in the swamps early in the seventeenth century. Their vocabulary dates back to Chaucer and Shakespeare. It is archaic English, but of course, it was corrupted after her family moved out of the swamps. We have so many different cultures and manners of speaking in the South. What I did with Phoebe's voice is try to maintain the rhythm and pattern of archaic English, not necessarily the words. I once went to fiddle festival in the West Virginia mountains in the heart of Appalachia and the people in those mountains sounded just like Phoebe. In our modern society we consider these folks poor and under educated. Many do not have formal schooling beyond 8th grade or high school, but they are a breed apart. They work, they are proud, own their own land, farm, build their own houses and provide for their families. And gosh--can they make music!
One of the best things you can do as a writer, is know your characters. Dialogue comes when you keep those characters on page together. If they are in one another's space--they talk. It only takes one character with a mission to keep a book flowing because all other characters in the book help or hinder that mission. The mission can be small or large, but it has to be the driving force for the main protagonist. Phoebe's mission was to find a home for the Hawleys. A character's mission could as easily be to keep a secret or expose a secret. Both work.
Here is a P.S. I was not allowed to say 'ain't' when I was growing up. I was taught by nuns. If we kids said "I'm goin' home." We were made to write "going" 100 times. Lesson learned--but, that gave me a good 'ear' and a life long fascination with dialect.
Thanks again for a terrific question. I hope my answer suits. Keep in touch.
Jackie Weger
New Release, just out. 99¢ No Perfect Destiny
One of the best things you can do as a writer, is know your characters. Dialogue comes when you keep those characters on page together. If they are in one another's space--they talk. It only takes one character with a mission to keep a book flowing because all other characters in the book help or hinder that mission. The mission can be small or large, but it has to be the driving force for the main protagonist. Phoebe's mission was to find a home for the Hawleys. A character's mission could as easily be to keep a secret or expose a secret. Both work.
Here is a P.S. I was not allowed to say 'ain't' when I was growing up. I was taught by nuns. If we kids said "I'm goin' home." We were made to write "going" 100 times. Lesson learned--but, that gave me a good 'ear' and a life long fascination with dialect.
Thanks again for a terrific question. I hope my answer suits. Keep in touch.
Jackie Weger
New Release, just out. 99¢ No Perfect Destiny
Jackie Weger
My very best advice to aspiring writers is: Think for yourself. Make the best decisions you can for your book. If you are producing an ebook, learn the industry. That is critical.
Jackie Weger
I just sit at my keyboard and write one word at a time. Every writer I know has ideas and storylines rattling around in his or her head. I do, too. An article in a newspaper might trigger a "What if?" We seem to find stories everywhere.
Jackie Weger
If a story bogs down it is because I perhaps wrote a scene that does not work or a scene or bit of dialogue takes the story in a direction that doesn't fit the characters or the story. I backtrack and reread until I find where I went off the grid. Other times life events get in the way writing. Everybody has those. I don't call it writer's block, though.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more