Category Archives: Amazon Parrot

Falling in love with your MS again

2012-08-21 09.50.10

Have you ever picked up a MS that has been laying dormant and fall in love with it all over again? I use to think when I did that perhaps I was being conceited. That was until I wrote this on my author page on FB and learned that was not the case.  In fact one person wrote, “If you don’t love your work who will?”

And that solidified it. Working on Vol 2 of my Jasper, Amazon Parrot series I realized it would be a good idea to reread the first one so I could bridge the two together. Sitting down on the couch I got my Pepsi and started to read. It had been a while since I had done this and I fell in love all over again. I laughed at the same spots, I smirked at the reactions of some of the characters and just truly enjoyed the read.  There has been an occasion where a friend had read this MS out loud to me so I could catch anything that would need to be fixed. Instead I ended up laughing and then out of the blue it hit me. I wrote this, me.

I truly love this book. I have lived and breathed this MS for a few years now. I think as authors we need to fall in love all over again with our works. Not just a few times but down the road pick it up and enjoy the words you wrote. Enjoy the adventure that falls off the page.  If you don’t, like that comment suggested, who else will? We have to enjoy what we do and trust me it will show on the pages whether the words are works of love or just a task that was done.

Case in point is another MS that I will be submitting soon, “Squirrel Mafia”which is a true story of the war between the squirrels in my back yard versus me. It makes me giggle and I hope it will make others laugh out loud for that was the point of the book. This is my first attempt at true humor. But most important it was a labor of time, effort and love over a topic that was just so much fun to write about.

I truly hope my fellow writers and bloggers that when you put words down that you are having a good time, enjoying what you are doing and absolutely having fun. It makes all the difference in the world. And if you can do that the words will shine through to others.

The Serenading of Jasper

Jasper loves to be serenade by his daddy and the harmonica. I have stored up some videos such like the one below for the times my husband is not around.

The things you do for your baby boy. The things you do.

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

JasperPic

 Jenny, http://jennysblogspot.com, thankyou for tagging me in The Next Big Thing Blog Hop. For those of you who don’t know, the goal is for me to answer a list of questions about my book, and then at the bottom of the post, I’ll tag five more authors, who will answer the same questions next week. Here we go. Sounds like fun right?

What is the title of your book? Jasper, Amazon Parrot: A Rainforest Adventure

Where did the idea for the book come from? It came from my Amazon parrot Jasper who has been a member of our household since 1999. He is 18 years old.

What genre does your book fall under? A children’s fiction chapter book.

Will your book be self-published or represented under an agency?I am in the process of submitting to traditional publishers in hope someone will love it as much as I do.

 How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?It took me three months.

 Give a one sentence synopsis of your novel:

Jasper the Amazon parrot spends his day exploring the secrets of the rainforest with his partner in crime Charlie, a spider monkey.

What other works would you compare your story to? To be honest I can not think of any. When I was researching books to nail down my age group nothing came within my view.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?  My bird Jasper was my inspiration. To the outside world he is well just a bird. But he is more than that. In this book I got to share with everyone the true personality of my buddy in a way that people might not possibly imagine.  His Jasperness shines through in the pages written.

What else might pique the reader’s interest?

Here is a short piece from the book:

The next day, movement broke the silence within the nest just enough to wake up Jasper. He heard his mama coaching the other egg to crack. She nudged and nudged, but the egg remained uncracked. Jasper saw his mom continue to stare at the egg and then he heard her sigh.

What’s wrong with it?” he asked his mother.

I don’t know, son. There could be a few reasons. Maybe I did not sit on it enough to keep it warm. Maybe it does not have a baby inside. I am not sure,” she said.

Jasper did not know what to say to his mother. While he did not know what it would be like to have a brother or sister, it would have given him company for the times his mother was out gathering food and supplies. What he did know was that she was sad. Maybe that was what he was feeling on the inside of his tiny body.

Sally came to where Jasper sat and gave him a big hug. “ It was not meant

to be. A lesson we all learn as we grow older, Jasper.”

It is time to tag five authors so they can take a turn at answering the same questions. For those I tag, you all need to answer the same questions and then put your answers a week from today which would be December 17th. Tag five more authors at the bottom of your post and let the hopping continue. I wanted to again thank the authors who helped me during NaNoWriMo 2012 who posted on my blog while I did that frenzy.

Jo Ann Mason

http://cerridewnspeaks.blogspot.com

Michael D. Fowler

http://themikebehere.wordpress.com

Lynn Thompson

http://lynnthompsonbooks.blogspot.com

Merry Farmer

http://merryfarmer.net/

Victoria Treder

http://tredalong.com/