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Jan Thomas

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

March 15, 1962

Website

http://www.janthomas.net

Genre

Crime, Nonfiction, Thriller

Member Since

July 2014

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Jan was a firefighter/medic for 14 years until an injury cut short her career. Having loved creative writing for most of her life, she became an award-winning weekly humor columnist for the Mountain Democrat in California from 1990 to 2005. She has also spent the last 15 years working as a role-player at a Police Academy and as a "professional bad guy" for numerous other law enforcement agencies in training exercises. She has written several screenplays and "Done In One" is her first novel. Jan lives in Northern California with her husband, a retired S.W.A.T. Sniper and their two Saint Bernards. ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Jan Thomas YOU matter. Your point of view matters. If you don't already keep a journal, start doing it. And I don't mean a "diary" (boys, sheesh). When things ca…moreYOU matter. Your point of view matters. If you don't already keep a journal, start doing it. And I don't mean a "diary" (boys, sheesh). When things catch your attention, either funny, tragic, electrifying, whatever it is, when your mind says "Wow, can you imagine if THAT happened HERE?" follow that thought. Even if you only write a sentence about a funny sign you saw, write it down. Put a notepad and pen by your bed. The next time you wake from a vivid dream, write it down! My entire fantasy trilogy came out of a dream I had in a single night! Your life experiences have shaped you. Remember the first time you realized life isn't fair? Or the first time an adult lied to you? How you mourned the death of that trust you implicitly gave the adults in your life? These experiences all shape you and make you who you are. ALL of this is grist for your mill. Material to be mined for nuggets of truth, passion, hope, love, joy. You've felt these things. What caused these feelings and how did it CHANGE you in a fundamental way?
Play the "what if?" game and talk it through or write it down. It doesn't have to fit a bigger story just yet. If it's poignant or moves you in any way, jot it down. You'll find that these are universal emotions felt by most human beings.
As a weekly columnist, I worried at first, that not only did I have to write every week, it had to be funny. But I found if people got my sense of humor, I could just riff about the world around me much like a stand-up comedian does. But every time I saw something that caught my attention or tickled my fancy, I wrote it down. I had little notes and would put them in a file. If my deadline came and I didn't already have that week's idea fleshed out, I'd go to my file and invariably find several things that shared a link. Like they were all examples of "Stupid Advertising". And it was really that simple. Then other people started noticing things and they'd pass their little notes on to me. I've never really had writer's block. I've written myself into a CORNER, but writer's block is something I just don't tolerate. Just observing the world around you should give you inspiration.

Your commute is dull? Do you ever seen the same cars day after day? Do you KNOW other cars by now? Are you having a "car affair" when you merge onto the highway? When all else fails, take a trip to Walmart. If you can't see something there that moves you in SOME way (even if it's disgust or horror!), perhaps you aren't a writer after all. But my gut says YOU ARE! I believe in you. So should you.(less)

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What’s the best thing about being a writer?

Jan Thomas You can make your characters as good or as evil as you want them to be. I used to worry that if I made a villain TOO despicable, people would know I …more You can make your characters as good or as evil as you want them to be. I used to worry that if I made a villain TOO despicable, people would know I wrote it and think I was capable of such behavior. Not true.
And you don't have to explain everything you "create". Meaning, if you say an alien aircraft landed in your back yard, you don't have to explain how it survived entry into the Earth's atmosphere! Further, you can then discover cool things amongst the wreckage and not need to know HOW they work. "Hey, it's alien technology! I just know when I pointed it at a tree and pushed the button, the tree disintegrated!" Enough said! It's freeing to know you don't need to explain EVERYTHING. I am an intensely logical thinker and that was a big personal stumbling block for me. I now know I don't have to know...ya know? All things are possible. You don't have to be the hero unless you want to be. You've made a terrible, demented bad guy? Great! When the hero defeats him, the victory will be that much sweeter knowing the evil you've rid the world of.
That fantasy about a co-worker? Write it down! Be as bold as you want to be on the page. It's freeing! Imagine if you got stuck in an elevator with six other people. And then you stay stuck, for quite awhile. What would THAT look like? Would you be a leader or a follower? Would you keep everyone calm or have a claustrophobic meltdown of epic proportions? I say "You", but I mean your characters. Because aren't our characters all part of us? Even if it's just to say "I would never want to be as universally hated as Bob." And then describe WHY he's hated. The world is your playground. The Universe is your playground! Your MIND is your playground! PLAY! (less)

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Jan Thomas’s books

Average rating: 3.71 · 99 ratings · 12 reviews · 1 distinct work

Done in One
by

Grant Jerkins,

Jan Thomas (Goodreads Author)

3.77 avg rating — 112 ratings — published 2015 — 3 editions

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1 post
Jan Thomas's Blog: LETHAL: With a side of Love and Laughter.

Introduction

Hi there. I just finished answering a bunch of questions here with the good folks on Goodreads, and I will be attempting to keep a journal of the life of "Done in One" which was born on 01-13-2015 (with co-author Grant Jerkins).
Within the body of the questions I've already answered, I think you'll get the essence of who I am and what I hope to accomplish. The first goal has been met with "Done in Read more of this blog post »

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