Author: jlgfellers

#WriteLGBTQ #WIP #KeepingHouseNovel: Accident

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#writeLGBTQ #KeepingHouseNovel

This week’s theme is accident.  Accidentally. Accidentally on purpose.  Weren’t no accident at all.  Yeah, that’s what Crystal is saying in this one, but she’s not right about it. It really was an accident, a very badly timed one.

 

 

     “Crystal, please. Talk to me.” Brinn stepped toward her. “I’m sorry about your car window. It was an accident.”

     “It weren’t no more an accident than what your boss just did to Adam.” Crystal made the same walking motions Dane had. “Stay away. You and the Gows stay the hell away from us!”

And here’s a little something else for you. Keeping House is available for pre-order at all the other usual online selling haunts in both print and ebook formats. The Amazon buy link is in the righthand column, hint hint.

#writeLGBTQ #AppalachianElementals #KeepingHouseNovel

 

 

#WIPpetWed #AppalachianElementals 5/15/2019 Meringue and Secrets

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Welcome to my contribution to #WIPpet Wednesday*, a blog hop where authors share from their current works in progress (WIPs)!  I’m still plugging away at my yet untitled … Yes, I have a title for this WIP! You’re reading snippets from Striking Balance, a side tale in my Appalachian Elementals series.

Yay for titles!

Oh, and I also designed a new aesthetic last week. This one is about family… the young person in the lower left is Nub. To his right is someone you’re familiar with if you’ve been keeping up with my blog, and to her right is Conall. The upper characters are ones you’ll meet in Keeping House, which will be released on July 8th.

If you’ve been keeping up with this blog and/or this series thus far, then you also know who the Hunters are. This might be a bit of spoiler, but it shouldn’t be. It hopefully makes you curious as to how this all comes to be.

In case you need to catch up, here are links to other posts in this series.

WIPpet One: Something Brand New

WIPpet Two: Civilized Adult

WIPpet Three: No Daughter of Liberty

WIPpet Four: Mary’s Chicken

WIPpet Five: Johnnycakes

WIPpet Six: Short People Problems

WIPpet Seven: Apple Dumplin’ Shop

WIPpet Eight: Mired

WIPpet Nine: Eclipsed

WIPpet Ten: Poke Sallet and Common Loaf

Here’s my #WIPpet Math for 5/22/2019: I’m stealing the 9 for nine paragraphs from… Striking Balance.

Note: The first sentence, in orange, comes from Nub’s head since we’re in his POV, and he’s thinking about Mary and Davy, who are an enslaved mother and son.

     But that by no means make it right.

     I excuse myself between the main meal and the dessert course and exit through the kitchen, making my way outside and to the privy. Widow Alcott has a well-appointed one, I’ll grant her that, but I’m not there to make use of it.

Continue reading →

Well, that Hurt: 20 Ways to Navigate Twitter as an Author with Less Pain and Anguish

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I’ve been on Twitter since (checks self) 2015 as @jlgfellers. No, I don’t have other accounts, but I do manage one for a small publishing company. Neither has a huge following, but my author account has more because it’s been around longer. That said, here are a few things I’ve learned, especially in the last two years, about navigating the minefield that is the twitterverse as an author that might well keep you out of trouble with the twittergods, your followers, and your readers. These aren’t quick-fix solutions that’ll give you lots of followers and engagement. Rather, these are survival tips.

1) I didn’t mean it that way: Use hashtags with discretion. Research each by opening Twitter on a new tab and searching the hashtag. Nothing is sacred or safe online, so be careful. A hashtag might well mean the opposite of what you think.

2) Beware of misinterpretation: Just because you tweet something doesn’t mean your followers will interpret it the way you intended. Use your 280 to make your point crystal clear. GIFs and photos can help there if need be.

I didn’t engage those

bridge-loving vagrants.

I blocked instead. 🚫

3) Trend Bombs and Trolls: Twitter trends can be educational and fun until the trolls get on board (those trends can also be horrifying and misleading, but I’m not going there today), and believe me when I say that the trolls will appear sooner or later. The last trend I was involved in… I don’t remember the hashtag, so I’ve apparently blocked it out. Anyway, while the trend seemed fairly innocuous, it landed me a whole lot of new followers along with enough trolling to last me a lifetime. No, I didn’t engage those bridge-loving vagrants. I blocked instead because, as we all know— and if you don’t please learn this now— thou shalt not feed the trolls. I akin them to energy vampires. They live for conflict and would suck negative engagement through a straw if they could. Save yourself the stress unless it’s your sort of thing then, by all means, have at it. Me? I have better ways of occupying myself.

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#KeepingHouseNovel #RainbowSnippets #PromoLGBTQ Ninety-Five: Can’t Keep Up

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Guess what? Keeping House is now available for preorder in both print and ebook formats. Can we say excited? Because that’s what I am!

Hi, and welcome to #Rainbowsnippets*! This one is uniquely mine, but there are lots of other great snippets to read so after you finish here click the FB link at the bottom of the post to discover other great LGBTQIA authors and their works.

This week I’m sharing from Keeping House, the second novel in the Appalachian Elementals series.  If you like folklore, magic, ghosts, history, and a tiny touch of romance wrapped in a lovely rainbow wrapper, this series is definitely for you.

Keeping House blurb:

Centenary Rhodes is caught in a deal she didn’t make. Thanks to her eternal lover, Stowne’s, quick thinking, she’ll live forever, but there’s a hitch. Cent’s now fey, and three months out of the year she’ll live on the other side of Embreeville Mountain among the Hunter Fey, serving their king, Dane Gow.

As Cent begins wading through the anachronisms that come with being a Hunter, she learns that nothing is what it initially seems. Cent shares several past lives with Dane, who wants her back, and Stowne’s lied to Cent so many times that she’s having doubts about their marriage. To make matters worse, the past Hunter Kings are influencing Dane’s behavior, and the youngest Hunter, Brinn, might well be the most dangerous of them all.

It’s going to be a cold, dark spring, and Cent needs to unite both sides of Embreeville mountain before her eternal life, her relationship with Dane, and her marriage to Stowne come permanently undone.

Another rich Contemporary Appalachian tale about fantastic people and the magic they possess, including LGBTQIA+ characters Human and otherwise.

Appalachian Elementals Series Blurb:

Come dance with the Appalachian fey and drink a little moonshine under the full moon while you hear Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Death share tales about families of our blood, families of our making, and magic both long ago and flowing through us now.

 

On to this week’s snippet! Cent’s leaving Stowne’s side only because she has to, because a deal, as they say, is a deal.

Note: Conall and Weeds are the two guards in attendance with King Dane.

Note: The section in orange comes from last week’s snippet.

     “Let go!” Cent wrenched away and moved to stand between Pyre and Exan. “I’ll fly with them.” She blew Stowne a kiss and stretched her wings, shivering. “Hold on.” She pulled a pair of striped leg warmers from her pocket and slid them over her arms. They were horribly outdated, but they’d been a cheap thrift shop solution, and she was glad she’d remembered them. Still, they weren’t enough for the current weather.

Continue reading →

#WriteLGBTQ #WIP #KeepingHouseNovel: Forgiveness

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#writeLGBTQ #KeepingHouseNovel This week’s theme is forgiveness. Forgive and forget. Forgive but not forget. For… you get it. In this one, Dane’s can’t accept forgiveness from anyone until she can give it to herself.

 

 

 

Dane kissed each of Cent’s toes, dried her feet, then rose to her knees to place her head in Cent’s lap. “Ain’t no forgiveness for me. I’m scars and all or not one bit. Can you handle it?”

And here’s a little something else for you. Keeping House is available for pre-order on Amazon. It’ll be available on other sites soon and in both print and ebook formats. The buy link is in the righthand column, hint hint.

#writeLGBTQ #AppalachianElementals #KeepingHouseNovel

 

#WIPpetWed #AppalachianElementals 5/15/2019 Poke Sallet and Common Loaf

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So how did I do with last week’s to do/ in progress list? Well…

  • Finish formatting the print version of Keeping House and load it for print production  (waiting for approval on corrections then it’s done!)
  • Design event t-shirts for Mountain Gap Books (didn’t even start this)
  • Manage the Cleaning House audiobook production (in progress. We’re making some dialect corrections)
  • Read through anthology submissions (caught up)
  • Work on the nameless WIP that’s already over 25K (I think it’s going to be a short novel at this point) I’m almost to 30K!
  • Finish editing Mountain Gap Book’s November release (wishful thinking)
  • Prep for a July blog tour (almost done here)
  • Physical therapy on the shiny new knee
  • Submit a vendor application for a September Pride event
  • Set up a Patreon (nope)

I’ll grant myself some slack since I’m still recovering from surgery, but I’ve still got a lot to get done. But now I need to add two short writing projects to the list. I suppose those will replace my WIP writing this week, sigh. I’m becoming quite attached to this WIP, and I’m thoroughly enjoying the research involved.

I also did an aesthetic last week for this WIP, so here’s a hint of things to come.

Welcome to my contribution to #WIPpet Wednesday*, a blog hop where authors share from their current works in progress (WIPs)!  I’m still plugging away at my yet untitled WIP. Yes, I’ve a few titles in mind, but I’m not ready to share any of them as of yet.

 

 

In case you need to catch up, here are links to other posts in this series.

WIPpet One: Something Brand New

WIPpet Two: Civilized Adult

WIPpet Three: No Daughter of Liberty

WIPpet Four: Mary’s Chicken

WIPpet Five: Johnnycakes

WIPpet Six: Short People Problems

WIPpet Seven: Apple Dumplin’ Shop

WIPpet Eight: Mired

WIPpet Nine: Eclipsed

Here’s this week’s #WIPpet Math for 5/15/2019: 5+1=6 for six paragraphs from… title is coming soon, I hope.

We’re picking up where we left off last week. Nub’s stuck at a dinner party he wants no part of, and he’s thinking about Emeline, their hostess’ younger daughter, who seems trapped in her older sister’s shadow. We’re starting with Nub’s thoughts on Emeline. These are marked in orange.

One note: We’re getting into a tender topic here. Slavery was a small part of this area of Tennessee during the late 18th century, so it feels logical to add the two enslaved people I have as characters. My thoughts on this issue are the same as Nub’s. I don’t care how “well” someone is treated. It’s simply not right to own another Human. Never has been. Never will be. It’s an unfortunate part of our past that shouldn’t be forgotten lest we repeat it.

…Emeline wouldn’t believe me though, even if I told her, because she’s trapped in her sister’s shadow and Widow Alcott allows this disservice to continue.

     “I agree, Mister Baldwin,” says Widow Alcott. “One never knows what a well-mannered hired boy might be managing later in life.” She calls for Mary to serve and for Davy to refill our tankards. The main floor of their three-story cabin in insufferably hot, even with the shutters wide to the evening, and I long to be at home, sitting on the front porch, drinking a mug of my own brew, listening to the spring peepers and frogs.

     Good eats, frog. I’d go frogging after this, but I’m not dressed for it.

     Blasted dinner.

Continue reading →

#KeepingHouseNovel #RainbowSnippets #PromoLGBTQ Ninety-Five: I’ll Fly With Them

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Hi, and welcome to #Rainbowsnippets*! This one is uniquely mine, but there are lots of other great snippets to read so after you finish here click the FB link at the bottom of the post to discover other great LGBTQIA authors and their works.

I had surgery a few weeks ago, so this post was created ahead of time. Feel free to comment but please know it might take me longer than usual to respond.

This week we’re picking up where we left off in Chapter Three of Keeping House. Stowne’s stressed, Cent wants to go home, and Dane’s ready to fly. What a mess.

Note: The first paragraph, in orange, comes from last week’s snippet, and Dane’s speaking about Cent’s sigils, which have been applied with Sharpie permanent markers.

     “All us Hunters got them, but ours won’t warsh off with a good scrubbin’, and neither will yours by the time you get back to Stowne.”

     “Sigils remain intact even if they cannot be seen by the eye.” Stowne’s mouth thinned with the stress Cent knew they were feeling. “If the sigils are applied in perfect love and trust, that is. Rest assured, Centenary’s were.”

Continue reading →

#WriteLGBTQ #WIP #KeepingHouseNovel: Crazy

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#writeLGBTQ #KeepingHouseNovel

This week’s theme is crazy.  Crazymaker, crazy like a fox, “Crazy Train,” stir crazy, batshit crazy. Perhaps we’re all crazy when it gets down to it, but Dane’s talking about her critical hours of crazy in this short piece from Keeping House: An Appalachian Paranormal Fantasy, which will be released onto the world on July 8th.

 

“You gotta be crazy to put the crown on your head for the first time.” Dane flicked the bottom of her wings, wrapping them around Cent’s legs. “I put it on, and all the power and magic was mine, so I killed them all. Daddy, my brothers, and their supporters. The old kings fought me for a bit afterward, a girl in power and all, but I had the crown and my fury rivaled theirs.” 

And here’s a little something else for you. Keeping House is available for pre-order on Amazon. It’ll be available on other sites soon and in both print and ebook formats. The buy link is in the righthand column, hint hint.

#writeLGBTQ #AppalachianElementals #KeepingHouseNovel

 

#WIPpetWed #AppalachianElementals 5/8/2019 Eclipsed

/ jlgfellers / 6 Comments

Like the new ad? Yeah, I do too. So what’s going on in my world? Well…

 

 

 

Jeanne’s current to do/in progress list

  • Finish formatting the print version of Keeping House and load it for print production
  • Design event t-shirts for Mountain Gap Books
  • Manage the Cleaning House audiobook production
  • Read through anthology submissions
  • Work on the nameless WIP that’s already over 25K (I think it’s going to be a short novel at this point)
  • Finish editing Mountain Gap Book’s November release
  • Prep for a July blog tour
  • Physical therapy on the shiny new knee
  • Submit a vendor application for a September Pride event
  • Set up a Patreon

Nothing going on here. Nothing at all. Move along.

I shouldn’t have made that list because now I’m stressing. *takes a deep breath*

All right. There’s a reason we’re here so without further ado… Continue reading →

#KeepingHouseNovel #RainbowSnippets #PromoLGBTQ Ninety-Four: A Good Scrubbing

/ jlgfellers / 12 Comments

Hi, and welcome to #Rainbowsnippets*! This one is uniquely mine, but there are lots of other great snippets to read so after you finish here click the FB link at the bottom of the post to discover other great LGBTQIA authors and their works.

I had surgery a couple of weeks ago so this post was created ahead of time. Feel free to comment but please know I might be slow with my response.

 

 

 

This week we’re picking up where we left off in Chapter Three of Keeping House. Cent’s family has seen she’s protected for what lies ahead, something Dane finds… Well, see for yourself.

Note: The first paragraph, in orange, comes from last week’s snippet, and it’s Cent speaking.

     “Sorry, not sorry to disappoint you, Dane.” She unfurled her wings and rolled her shoulders to shake them open.

Continue reading →