Ask the Author: Jewel Allen
Answered Questions (7)
Jewel Allen
A sentence about an obscure historical event (especially set in the Philippines, where I grew up) usually triggers book ideas. If I research it and find little information, my imagination goes on overdrive. I then picture a female and male protagonist in that situation and start daydreaming how they will fall in love and solve the story problem.
Jewel Allen
I am writing Book 3, The Rogue Raider, of the Islands of the Crown series. I am revising Blemish, a historical novel about a wealthy 17 year old girl who is diagnosed with leprosy, is banished to the leper colony, and unexpectedly finds love and beauty. I am also finishing Deadline, a contemporary romantic suspense novel that takes a Colorado journalist to the Philippines to negotiate the release of her stepbrother from smugglers.
Jewel Allen
Write about something you are passionate about and that only you can write. Put yourself in your stories. Those are the books that will resonate most with your readers.
Jewel Allen
I love being able to share my love for the Philippines and Spain through my books. I also love making up stories about a girl and a guy falling in love and overcoming obstacles to their happily ever after.
Jewel Allen
If I feel bored or burnt out writing a story, I work on something else for a while. I like to write poems, too. They get my creative juices flowing.
Jewel Allen
Where do all the socks go???
Jewel Allen
In 2008, I wanted to enter a first chapter contest at LDStorymakers Writer's Conference. I had just bought an electric typewriter and relished that exciting feeling of putting on a fresh sheet of paper. I knew I wanted the novel to be scary because I'm a sucker for creepy ghost stories. After I thought for a minute, this is what came out: "There's a ghost moon tonight."
I pictured a grandfather telling his grandson about the time when he was growing up and there was one night of the month without a moon, and ghosts came out. That first sentence didn't stay in the final manuscript. In fact, the point of view changed altogether, to the narrator's younger 17-year-old self, but I still like that original first chapter. It takes me back to the nights in the Philippines when I would listen, wide-eyed, to elderly relatives telling a ghost story.
That first chapter won first place in the suspense division. As the prizes were being handed out, one of the judges said, "I want to know what happens next!" Well, as it was, there weren't any other pages to the story. I had to write on, thanks to that encouraging response, and just so I knew for myself what happened. Incidentally, I soon replaced the typewriter with a computer. I ran out of typewriter ribbon as the story grew.
I pictured a grandfather telling his grandson about the time when he was growing up and there was one night of the month without a moon, and ghosts came out. That first sentence didn't stay in the final manuscript. In fact, the point of view changed altogether, to the narrator's younger 17-year-old self, but I still like that original first chapter. It takes me back to the nights in the Philippines when I would listen, wide-eyed, to elderly relatives telling a ghost story.
That first chapter won first place in the suspense division. As the prizes were being handed out, one of the judges said, "I want to know what happens next!" Well, as it was, there weren't any other pages to the story. I had to write on, thanks to that encouraging response, and just so I knew for myself what happened. Incidentally, I soon replaced the typewriter with a computer. I ran out of typewriter ribbon as the story grew.
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