Joëlle Anthony
J. M. Kelly
Welcome to My Blog
The Friday Five – Author Interviews
I recently had the pleasure of asking author, Cynthia Cheng, the Friday Five questions. Her debut novel, ASPIRATIONS, is available now at Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores. This Canadian writer, born and raised in Toronto, likes to blog about...
Your Writing – an exercise
Hi. Today I'm giving you five words to use in a 100 or less word story. I totally stole the idea from Miss Snark (although, it's a pretty common writing exercise). She got about 500 entries. I'm hoping for five. Show me what you've got! carpet exacerbate right pumpkin...
My Writing – Lower your expectations
What? Lower your expectations! What kind of loser advice is that? Well, I'll tell you. When I am revising a novel, it's not unusual for me to write for 4-5 hours per day. In the final stretch, I can put in 6-9 hours. Pretty impressive, right? I am basically useless...
Teen Topic Tuesday – Teens push for Green Power
Tuesdays are topics that I think might be of interest to teens. I'm welcome to suggestions too. Here in the South we have an opportunity to participate in Green Power Switch. We opt to pay a little extra each month on our power bill and then the power company uses the...
FRAMED by Frank Cottrell Boyce
This is another great British MG. Set in a small town in Wales where their claim to fame is more rain than anywhere else in the UK, it's about...well, I'm not going to tell you because if I do, I'll spoil it. The beginnings a bit of a mystery. I will say it's got...
Parent Swap by Terence Blacker
I'd once thought of writing a book about two families who swapped kids, so when I saw the title of this book, I thought, "Old Slow Joe, missed the boat." However, that's not what this book is about, so you never know...any editors out there like that idea? Okay, I...
New postings under nonfiction & Contact is now working
Hi, Everyone. I've finally posted a few of my articles in the nonfiction section. Forgive the goofy formatting on some of it. I'd rather get back to writing my novel than goof around with it anymore! Also, the audio on the contact page should now be working, and...
Tough Love by Joelle Anthony
Originally published in the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Bulletin, March/April 2007 It’s very easy to fall in love with your characters, but it can be detrimental to your plotting. How many times have you heard a writer affectionately refer to...
The Pitfalls of Hiring a Service to Find an Agent by Joelle Anthony
Originally published in the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators bulletin, September/October 2006 For some writers, the query is much harder to write than the manuscript. However, agents across the board are begging you not to succumb to services like...
A Questionable Beginning by Joelle Anthony
Originally published in the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Bulletin, January/February 2005 Beginning an article with a question can be weak at best and a lazy habit at worst. Every time I sit down to write nonfiction a nice stream of catchy...
The Friday Five – Author Interviews
Today I'm interviewing yours truly. Not only will it let me introduce myself, but it gives me another week to get some other authors interviewed. I will ask each author to answer five of ten questions and submit a brief bio. When possible, I'll read their books and...
Thursday – Your Writing
Hi. If you're a writer, Thursday's your day to tell me about it. Feel free to introduce yourself, tell me what you like to write, and anything else of interest. Also, I'll try to have some fun writer exercises up here that we can do together, or other writerly things...
On pace to ninety books or so…
Last year I read roughly 125 books. Looking through my log, I was surprised to see that probably 15% were adult fiction. I don't think of myself as reading adult fiction, but I guess I do sometimes. I probably read some nonfiction too, but I rarely remember to log it...
Writer Wednesday
I mostly write young adult fiction. I am currently working on a new novel which came to me in a surprising way. I have a manuscript called TRUE BLUE BABY which has generated a fair amount of interest, but needs a little work (see the music page to learn more about...
Chipmunks, Skunks, and baby birds, Oh, My!
I think there is a chipmunk living in my office, courtesy of Grinder. He brought us one the other day, let it go under the couch and then went back outside to see what else he could find. We left the door open all day, but despite that, I've seen the chipmunk both in...
Still reading…
Hi, All. Well, the book I just read didn't really pass muster with me, so I'm not going to mention it here. It was by an author that I love, so it just goes to show that even if you find a great author, everything they write, might not be for you. I'll be picking up...
Animals who earn their keep
I know that people really like dogs because they come when you call them and they're so glad to see you, as if they're amazed you can leave the house and ever come back. And dogs are cool. I know some dogs I like. But we don't call our house Chez Gatos for nothing....
Recent Books I’ve read
Hi. I've been reading even while I haven't been blogging (surprise, surprise!). Here are a few books that I've read recently that you might want to check out. THE ISABEL FACTOR by Gayle Friesen - Canadian YA I adore this book. This is just fantastic. I can't say...