First, I want to apologize to those of you who have been following For Adora here on my blog. I have been very busy finishing the final edits on my first novel. Therefore, For Adora will remain unfinished because I will be making changes here on my blog/website. I’ve been working on my first novel for six or seven years, and during that time, this blog has had no real direction.
However, now that my first novel will soon be making its public appearance and I am already in full swing writing my second novel, I have decided it is time to make some changes here to the blog — to be more intentional in the things I post.
I hope those of you who have been following me will continue to do so. I hope you will still find things of interest and enjoyment here.
Changes will begin to appear within the next week, until the new intentional posts begin. I’m excited about it, and I hope you will catch my excitement!
Now that you’ve heard and seen the video for Jodi Essex’s latest single, “Fearless”, join me tomorrow for my interview with Jodi about her EP, titled “Fearless” which releases tomorrow. It’s an interview that will inspire and encourage you. Don’t miss it!
A haunted house children’s book in Shakespearean Metre. To be released next Friday!
Master Axel, a sturdy, steadfast rabbit, finds a terrified person named “Person” living in a house full of hideous horrors. Master Axel wonders which of the many monsters is the reason Mr. Person is so terrified, but it turns out to be more of a mystery than the exploratory rabbit expected…
Mr. Lauser also created the cover. Here is how he says he did it:
Everything on the cover is hand-drawn, including the text and the gradient around the edges (done with sponges). It’s just cleaned and arranged on the computer (to get the texture, the title is in fact zoomed in on tiny writing).
Patrick Lauser will be releasing his book trailer for this book tomorrow and I will either share it or a link to it here. I’m sure you won’t want to miss it.
Patrick Lauser is releasing his first children’s book soon and tomorrow is his Cover Reveal Day. I will also be sharing in his Cover Reveal, so be sure to stop back tomorrow to see Patrick Lauser’s Cover for “What Does Mr. Person Fear?”
In the first part of this article, previously posted here, I mostly addressed why a Christian writer should write well, though I also touched on some ways we can do that. In this article, I will address more ways in which we actually can write well.
In the first article, I mentioned learning. What do we need to learn? Every writer should have a fairly good knowledge of the basics of writing: spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and how to know when to begin and end a paragraph. Every writer should also know how to properly write dialogue. These are the mechanics of writing, and if you find any of these items difficult, you can still be a good writer. How? You will need to hire an editor. I will address editors more in depth later in this article.
When your manuscript is complete and you are reading over it looking for errors, remember to read aloud. I mentioned this in my last “Self-Editing Tips” post, but now I’d like to add that you may have to read aloud through your manuscript more than once in order to catch all of the things I am sharing in these posts. But remember, the more errors you can find and fix on your own, the less you will have to pay an editor to find, and the less will end up in the final published copy.
So, what are you looking for this time?
I want to mention a couple more grammar items here. One I mentioned in the last “Self-Editing Tips” post, (click on editing in Categories to find all my posts about editing and self-editing), is a very common error in the use of the words lie and lay. I am going to ask you to read a post on another blog that explains this very well, along with one or two other common grammatical errors, so click here. This post was written by a writer friend of mine on a blog that a group of six writers, including me, post on.
In addition to the grammar you just read on that post, I would like to address who and whom. I continually see writers using who but never using whom when they should.
Who is used as the subject of a verb or as a complement of a linking verb. For example: It was Sara who baked the peach pies. When writing a sentence, first determine what the verbs are — was and baked. Next, find the subject for each verb: Sara and who. Because who is a subject, it is correct. Who won the fifty yard dash?
Whom is used as the object of the verb or as the object of a preposition. It’s an objective pronoun. For example: Jason took whom to the prom? In this sentence, the subject and verb are “Jason took”. The pronoun that follows the verb is the object of the verb. Therefore whom is correct. Example: She’s playing tennis with whom? This pronoun is the object of the preposition with, so whom is the proper choice.
However, you need to be careful. Sometimes the prepositional pronoun in question can also be a subject — if it is, you need to use who. For example: Princess Liana cheered for who exhibited the best character. Even though the pronoun follows the preposition “for”, it is also the subject of the second verb “exhibited”. When used as a subject, always use who.
As a writer and an avid reader, I find that just as two of the writing tools above have changed a lot over the years, so have the books that get published. Due to the option of self-publishing and the ability to publish not only hardcover or paperback books, but also ebooks. The market is over saturated with writers and their works.
In some ways this is a good thing. In other ways, not so much. I do not mean to step on anyone’s toes in this article nor am I looking for an argument. I simply want to write what I have seen, learned, and experienced for myself with the hope that it may present food for thought for both readers and writers alike.
I have loved to read ever since I learned how to do so. I have also dreamed of being a published writer for many years…
Black Jade: A Daiyu Wu Mystery is the first book of the Daiyu Wu Mysteries series by Gloria Oliver. As a Book Reviewer, I received a free ebook copy of this book and this is my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor any review.
The setting of Black Jade is Texas in 1930. In Black Jade, Ms. Oliver often refers to the Yellow Terror and Daiyu Wu and her family are treated as strange and looked down upon, and to be feared. If you know anything about 1930s U.S. history, it was at that time that Chinese immigrants were coming into the United States and westerners feared that the Chinese would invade their lands. They also believed the Chinese were a threat to Western values, and the media coined the term “Yellow Peril” when referring to the Chinese.
Apparently, Ms. Oliver decided to use the term “Yellow Terror” in her story and she portrayed how it affected a Chinese family who wanted nothing but to live in the United States and run their business. They had fled China because their daughter was not accepted in the Chinese culture because she was blind.
Black Jade is both a historical mystery and an amateur sleuth mystery, as young Daiyu is quite intelligent and very aware of her surroundings, and one day while working in the family’s laundry, she stumbles upon the scent of garlic. With the help of her friend, Jacques, she discovers the source of the odor is a green ballgown. This leads Daiyu to believe someone has committed murder using arsenic.
That is the beginning of the mystery that sends Daiyu, her dog, Prince Razor, and Jacques on quite an adventure to discover who was murdered and who committed the crime.
Gloria Oliver paints wonderful descriptions that take the reader deep into the places that Daiyu and Jacques go, into a society that isn’t quite sure how to react to a clever, blind Chinese girl, into a family that has problems, and into a coroner’s lab. She has created unique characters that are very interesting and engaging, and a murder mystery that will keep you guessing.
The only thing I struggled with while reading this story was being able to see Daiyu and Jacques as adults. The way they are treated by Daiyu’s parents and most of the people they came into contact with, as well as their interactions with and reactions to each other, convinced me they were youth. However, this did not, in any way, hinder my enjoyment of the story.
Daiyu’s dog, Prince Razor, and a young man who showed interest in Daiyu were wonderful additions to the cast of characters.
If you enjoy good murder mysteries on the cozy side, you will enjoy Black Jade. I will issue one warning for sensitive readers that there are a handful of curse words scattered about the story, but they can easily be overlooked.
Black Jade is well written, educational, and entertaining.
![Black Jade: A Daiyu Wu Mystery (Daiyu Wu Mysteries Book 1) by [Gloria Oliver]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51XMFjG0MOS.jpg)
Kelly F Barr 