Judith Graves's Blog

While it certainly took me longer than expected, I'm so happy to have finished my latest picture book, ONCE UPON: A FAIRYTALE ALPHABET.

I've self-published this one as it was initially just a fun project I did with the students of Holy Cross Elementary, where I worked as the school's library technician. Students were asked to vote on a selection of fairytale vocabulary words and their choices were the terms I used to create the rhymes and illustrations for the book.

Of course, then COVID hit and things went sideways, still, I managed to complete the project and, well, it's here!

Hi! I know it's been forever and this is likely not the kind of book you were expecting me to release next...but I have a picture book that's just been born. I've written and illustrated it and am so pleased it has been published with Acorn Press, a small press based in Charlottetown, PEI.

The title is A TALE OF TWO KITTIES and it's based on a few of my own furbabies - wonderful kitties and pups we've had walking alongside us through this wild world.

I hope readers find it cute and sassy!

Judith

CRAZY BEAUTIFUL LETTERS: Learn the basics of brush lettering, the joys of happy mail and envelope art, as well as 13 creative lettering projects YOU can do in this hands-on, project-filled guide to modern calligraphy.

This book can be used to guide individual progress, but also functions well as a family friendly – let’s create something super cool tonight – activity book. All projects are broken down, step-by-step with accompanying photographs. I selected each project for it’s easy-to-do value and practical use potential, and offer creative variations. The goal is to introduce you to the concepts and then send you off on your creative path.

It’s time to reconnect with others through our words, our art, and send our messages of support through the time-honoured skill of letter writing. So join me on this creative journey and let’s make some crazy beautiful letters together.

___

This is my first non-fiction title and while it’s not my usual horror / contemporary young adult fiction fare, I’m thrilled to combine my love of writing…um…with my love of WRITING, modern calligraphy and brush lettering, that is. In CRAZY BEAUTIFUL LETTERS I also share tips and tricks I’ve learned after starting my own illustration and design business, primarily my work with watercolours.

This book has been a labour of love and very much a team effort with a focus on my crazy beautiful home town, Cold Lake, Alberta, as well as the Lakeland region. From coffee table book worthy photos by Cold Lake-based photographer, Linda Goymer, to the wonderful mothers and daughters from my community who volunteered for a day of lettering and crafting as they modelled the various step-by-step instructions.

Many thanks to all!

Ebook available NOW for preorder: AMAZON

Print edition purchase links coming shortly.

My small town has an incredible new venue for the local arts scene, The Grande Parlour Theatre. I have been fortunate to be involved with this theatre since its inception and now that it has been born – wowza – it is NOT holding anything back. From full-length original musicals to classic theatres offerings like Arsenic and Old Lace and Nunsense – Grande Parlour is a thriving, growing, wondrous thing.

This summer Grande Parlour and Beantrees Cafe (owned by the same smart and artsy individual), hosted the first (of many – I hope!) Verge Arts Festival in Cold Lake. Just look at all the yummies!

I was thrilled to have my one-act play, STALLED, selected as part of six original productions to be featured during the festival. My show was directed by the uber talented Megan Bailey and performed by the marvellous Teresa Petit, Allison Vachon, and Matt Evans – locals all and so amazing.

I hope to have some still shots of the show to post shortly.

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL!

Grande Parlour is also doing a run of INHABITED, a full-length horror show I co-wrote with Teresa Petit and Julie Waage, for a whopping seven nights with the final curtain going up on, you guessed it, Halloween night! If you’re anywhere close by and can make it for one of the showings…you won’t regret purchasing tickets and making an overnight trip to the little arts town that could. Get your tickets here!

The Young Alberta Book Society (YABS) and their TALEBLAZERS program is a treasure for Alberta schools, public libraries, and artists. Taleblazers sends authors, illustrators, and storytellers across the province during the month of October. They subsidize travelling expenses, ensuring both the booking libraries, as well as the artists benefit.

We are so lucky to have a program like this and I never take my participation for granted.

I’m thankful I landed a few spots during this round of touring and had a wonderful time meeting students, library staff, keen readers and aspiring writers. This month I travelled to Edson, Edmonton (MillWoods / Sherwood Park), Oyen, and Sylvan Lake. Along the way I managed to take a few photos of abandoned structures, visit a ghost town, and get my Halloween / horror writer mind geared up for November and NANO. (If you’re doing NANO this year, find me there: JudithG)

The timing was perfect as I was also celebrating the launch of INFILTRATE, my latest book in the Retribution Series, co-authored by Natasha Deen and Sigmund Brouwer.

Thanks again to YABS and the schools / libraries I visited!

SIDE NOTE FOR WRITER FRIENDS:

My small press, Leap Books, has a call for submissions going until the end of December. If you love Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN and write short stories – this might be of interest:

“Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by slight ligaments are we bound to prosperity and ruin.”

 ~ Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
 Formal Invitation
Bring On Your Mad Scientists, God Complexes, and Creature Creations…

2018 marks the 200th anniversary / bicentennial of the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the perfect literary exploration of science and ethics – what humanity is capable of and the consequences of our achievements. Shelley is often referred to as the mother of science fiction, tackling topics far beyond what was accepted in “women’s literature”.

And so we send out the call. Writers, forward thinkers, brilliant minds – give us your best short story (4-6k words) in any time period, setting, genre mix you can imagine..but it MUST be Frankenstein inspired. In other words, it must feature the kind of science that scares you, contain a moral dilemma, a hint of romance, and enough gothic / horror vibes to satisfy discerning readers…and YOU may be one of the lucky 13 contributors to our 2018 young adult anthology titled, STRANGELY ARE OUR SOULS CONSTRUCTED.

Submissions must be original, polished, double-spaced pieces between 4-6k words, in Word format, and be unpublished elsewhere.

Email submissions only.

Send to: leapbks@gmail.com

Subject line must include:  STRANGELY ENTRY

Submission deadline: December 31, 2017

I’m often asked, “How can I get started writing a book?”, so I’ve decided to offer up my process in case it sheds some light. This is by no means THE way to write a short story or novel or script, but it’s a general breakdown of the way I write. Everyone’s process is different. Seeing how others develop their projects, however, is useful. You can see what works, or what doesn’t…for YOU. Then pick and choose which methods you want to try and start experimenting.

Enough setup. Here goes…my process condensed to a blog post.

Initial Concept

My office, where at least one dog and a cup of coffee are a MUST! Note the whiteboard on the wall and the letter sorter filled with “ideas” waiting to be picked over.

A unique situation or character makes itself known. I might jot down a fun line of dialogue and wonder about the character behind the words. Or I may read about a strange incident in the news or on the Net…one that has me asking questions or taps into an interest of mine. I write these little tidbits down in a coil notebook, on a scrap piece of paper, on a paper napkin – whatever I can find – and keep them in my “Ideas” folder on my desk.

I let these concepts simmer. The ones I find myself going back to…jotting more details down on those bits of paper, dreaming up names for the characters, settings…those rise to the top of the folder until one seems to dominate.

That’s the one I move forward with.

Plotting

Once I know what story I’m going to write, it’s time to figure out how best to write it. I could sit down and begin writing a few chapters with no real structure to refer to, but over time I’ve learned this strategy only gets me frustrated with the story, confused about the character motives, and I usually write myself into a corner. After that, I chuck the project in the trash and it never sees the light of day again.

Sooo…I am officially a plotter, planner, list-maker kind of writer. Having structure and a goal for each chapter, each step in the story, keeps me on task and gets the project finished. This may not be the method for you. You might want more freedom when writing or feel this kind of structure would stifle your creativity. But when plotting or creating a chapter-by-chapter outline, I still have loads of room to be creative when I sit down to write. I’ve created a map, with signposts and landmarks I want to visit along the way, but the journey itself is still a great adventure.

Using a blend of Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat and Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey, I come up with a logline (a single sentence that sums up the project including – a hero to root for, what’s at stake, why they might fail), then break the story down into the major points of action that need to occur to take the main character from beginning, middle, end, and hint at beyond. I often work a beatsheet on my whiteboard so I can easily wipe out the stuff I don’t want and for some reason, seeing the story up on a wall helps to show where things are lacking. In Word, I further divide those moments into individual chapters with a few key scenes in each. I highly recommend you read Snyder and Campbell for yourself before just jumping into the beatsheets you’ll find online. They are great tools, but you need the original context their creators provide to get the most benefit from them.

My drafts are usually quite short 30-45,000 words (the average YA novel sits close to 60-70,000 words) so I often end up with a 16-22 chapter breakdown that itself is only about 2000 words.

Then I dive in. My Word document now has a tidy logline at the top to keep me focused on the guts of the story. And each chapter begins with the little summery of events I’ve already outlined. Sometimes I start from Chapter One and move through to the end, but more and more I find myself jumping from chapter to chapter, writing the scenes that call out to me at different times when I am perhaps in different moods. Some days I don’t have the energy for a fight scene and would rather dig into an emotional moment my character is experiencing. This is the benefit of having an outline – I can hop around the story without sacrificing structure.

NOTE: I push through to the end of the project without revising chapters. This stage is all about getting the story down, the razzle-dazzle / polishing comes later.

Revision

When things get down to the wire and I’m on a deadline, my office shifts to the dining room table. It doesn’t matter where you write, only that you DO!

When I have the first draft complete, it’s a bare bones sort of thing. I have used far too many clichés, there will be grammar and spelling errors, there will be too much dialogue and far too little description (probably why I like to write scripts!), but it is a solid starting point.

Now the real work begins.

I do several passes through the entire document. One pass focuses on emotion – am I cranking up the inner life of my character / letting the reader in? One focuses on description – what’s around my character? How does he / she see the world? And the final pass is for cleaning up the grammar, etc as much as I can before sending the file to my wonderful beta readers and critique partners for fresh eyes.

Crit partners and beta readers are invaluable. They will point out plot holes, character issues, and spot typos you have been staring at for months without noticing. They are a writer’s secret weapon, never take them for granted.

Revise based on their notes (keeping and tossing suggestions as they either work for your vision of the story or not).

NOTE: my word count will have grown considerably as I fleshed out the story and I may have added / combined chapters as needed.

If you’ve gotten this far, you will have a project that is polished and ready to pitch to editors or agents.

How long will this process take? That depends entirely on YOU and the amount of time and energy you’re willing to invest in your story.

So…what are you waiting for?

Happy to help spread the word about the latest Leap Books: SHINE title about to launch. Jessica Bayliss has written a creeptastic novella that includes music, demonic creatures, and a hint of romance. Who could ask for anything more? Well, a cover would be awesome…so…here we are celebrating the cover reveal for BROKEN CHORDS in a one day blog blitz organized by YA Book Bound. Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of this post for a chance to win a $10 Amazon giftcard. Enjoy!

 

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Broken Chords










by Jessica Bayliss
Genre: YA Horror (novella)
Release date: October 2nd 2017
Leap Books

Summary:

They rip, they tear, they FEED, and you never come back again.

Here’s how last year’s Gypsy Cob Music Festival should have gone. Lenora “Lenny” Ragno was supposed to rock her duet with her long-time crush, Jeb, during the open-mic competition. Then, swept up in the glow of success, he’d finally kiss her. Instead, Lenny choked on stage and spent the whole year dodging him online. And avoiding playing her fiddle in public. She thought her worst nightmare was behind her, but she was way wrong.

Now, she’s back at Gypsy Cob where avoiding a public performance is about as impossible as hiding from Jeb. She thinks facing him will be the scariest part of the festival, but when one of their friends talks everyone into trying astral projection, Lenny catches the eye of a demonic entity that marks her as its own.

Now, whenever it wants, the demon can pluck Lenny from her reality and transport her to a hellish between-world, haunted by its countless, gruesome victims. If she doesn’t want to become one of them, she must discover the nature of the demon’s hold on her and remove it. But how can she defeat a literal demon when she can’t even get over her personal ones?














 

About the Author

Jessica Bayliss is a fiction author who loves all things reading and writing. Her genre-bending fiction holds a little something for everyone. A lover of ghost tales and horror since her days scanning VHS rental shelves–admittedly with eyes half-averted from the gory covers–a touch of the mysterious always finds a home in Jessica’s work. Romance with a dash of supernatural. Horror with a bit of humor. You get the gist. Jessica also writes across age groups and is a firm believer in the motto, there is a new reader born every day, whether young or not-so-young. Because one cannot live on writing alone, Jessica also spends a great deal of time with friends and family. She is a lover of all animals especially one very special Havanese and one extremely ornery cockatiel. She also loves to eat, cook, and exercise–in that order–and is a firm believer that coffee makes the world a better place.

Jessica also has stories in several of Leap Books anthologies: Beware the Little White Rabbit and Fright Before Christmas.

Author Links:

 

GIVEAWAY:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal Organized by:

Wow. Wasn’t expecting this, but I’m over the moon that EXPOSED, my title in the Retribution series which includes Burned by Natasha Deen and Unleashed by Sigmund Brouwer, is one of eight nominees for the Ontario Library Association Forest of Reading Program’s GOLDEN OAK Award for 2017.

The Forest of Reading is an umbrella literacy program which features a number of different awards for various categories of fiction and non-fiction. Here’s some general information from their website:

The Forest of Reading® is Canada’s largest recreational reading program! This initiative of the Ontario Library Association (OLA) offers eight reading programs to encourage a love of reading in people of all ages. The Forest helps celebrate Canadian books, publishers, authors and illustrators. More than 250,000 readers participate annually from their School and/or Public Library. All Ontarians / Canadians are invited to participate via their local public library, school library, or individually.

Goals of the Forest of Reading

To develop recognition for Canadian authors and Canadian books
To contribute to the financial stability of the Canadian publishing industry
To provide teachers, teacher-librarians, librarians, library staff and parents with a meaningful tool for improving literacy in schools and libraries
To respond to community interest and needs

Just look at all the stellar titles nominated this year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In particular, Exposed is nominated for the Golden Oak Award celebrating titles selected as solid reads for new adult readers / perhaps struggling teen readers. Nominated titles can be fiction or non-fiction, but either way they are selected specifically for this target audience as titles that help “…new adult readers to gain the skills to accomplish everyday tasks, as well as foster the love of reading.”.

How freaking cool is that? I’m so excited, I’m planning a Toronto area / Ontario tour via Authors’ Booking Service and I hope to be visiting public libraries and new reader groups to chat all things bookish.

Here is the list and book summaries for the  2017 Golden Oak nominees. Congrats to all!

For all my school and public library friends, this is a title, and a series, you’ll want to scoop up for your middle grade fiction sections. There’s mystery, a hint of romance, environmentalism, and a handy reader guide with curriculum connections. And besides all that educational stuff, the stories will hook readers looking for a bit of eco intrigue.

TANGLED LINES

High school changes everything for Kenzie Ryan and Angelo Sanchez—especially their relationship. After spending all summer cracking crimes against endangered wildlife in Big Pine Key, Florida, now they barely see each other. Angelo hangs out with a Porsche-driving quarterback and a stunning local “Conch princess” and Kenzie struggles with being a newbie among the Key West cliques.

But high school drama gets over-shadowed when horrific numbers of pelicans are found tortured near the islands where they live. Kenzie begs Angelo to help stop the slaughter, but he refuses until a stunning family secret is revealed.

When a Sanchez Fish House employee falls under suspicion, the list of suspects explodes, and the discovery of illegal activity exposes Angelo and Kenzie to the same deadly risk faced by the pelicans they are trying to save…

AVAILABLE NOW!  Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble

Grab the rest of the series!

About Bonnie J Doerr:

Bonnie J. Doerr, an avid traveler, gardener, and nature lover, is the acclaimed author of eco-mystery novels for tweens. For over thirty years, she taught reading and writing skills to students of all ages—from kindergarten to college. Ms. Doerr enjoys sharing her ecological research, writing experiences, and educational insights with adults and children. Her work has been described as a “mashup of Jean Craighead George and Carl Hiaasen” by some and as a “teen detective series inspired by Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys by others. Her work has been honored by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) with a grant for its use in environmental education and has been included in Milkweed Editions literary field guides. She lives in a log cabin on the edge of a historic park in North Carolina.

Learn more about Bonnie at www.BonnieDoerrBooks.com.

Follow Bonnie on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Enter the draw for an AMAZON gift card. Don’t miss out on a chance to win! a Rafflecopter giveaway

This May I was fortunate to be selected as a touring artist for the 39th annual TD Canadian Children’s Book Week. This tour is a big one in the Canadian publishing industry, sending authors to provinces other than their own for an entire week of school visits, as well as public library and community events. The goal is to introduce authors to a new readership and, of course, foster a love of reading and the writing process across the country.

Here I am presenting a horror writing session to grade 9 students at the Halifax Central Library. Great crowd! Great building!

Authors are able to list three provinces they’d like to tour, but the organizers can place you wherever you’re needed. I was thrilled to learn I’d be touring Nova Scotia, a province close to my heart as my father was from Cape Breton.

When you sign the contract, you agree to be physically and mentally prepared for an intensive amount of touring, traveling, meeting new readers, and interacting with teachers, librarians, volunteers, and to be prepared for just about anything. But if you’re like me, this is a “bring it on!’ kind of tour. Traveling to a new place, talking books and writing, sharing stories with new friends – what’s not to love?

Cape George Lighthouse

Setting up at one of the many schools I visited…an empty gym which will soon be filled with students and teachers.

Book Week is a flurry of activity from the moment you know where you’re touring, to getting on the plane/train/dog sled/helicopter to arriving at your destination. Once there, you’re “on” most of the time and your energy level needs to be high, however, there are moments to explore the landscape, discover the beauty of another province, and meet some very cool people along the way.

Posing with students from Antigonish. ” Say ZOMBIES!”

I couldn’t wait for it to begin and now that it’s over…I’m chomping a the bit to apply again. What an incredible opportunity! Thanks so much to Book Week organizer, Shannon Howe Barnes, to my tour coordinator, Elizabeth Eve (such a fun lady – she’s brilliant – she plays the banjo!), the volunteers, teachers, students, librarians, and keen writerly folk.

If you’re a touring author, consider applying for next year’s tour, and if you’re a teacher or library staff member, consider booking a reading – you and your students / patrons will be inspired!

Want to see more photos from my Book Week tour? Check them out on my Instagram feed or Facebook page.