Author of Epic Western Novel Alias Jeannie Delaney & Multidisciplinary Artist
Thursday 9 May 2024
JO. B. CREATIVE!: IT'S NOT A LAUGHING MATTER - ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY...
JO. B. CREATIVE!: IT'S NOT A LAUGHING MATTER - ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY...: IT'S NOT A LAUGHING MATTER - ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY & HUMOUR It's a deadly serious topic. A de...
IT'S NOT A LAUGHING MATTER - ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY & HUMOUR
IT'S NOT A LAUGHING MATTER - ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY & HUMOUR
And yet, despite the tough subject matter and sometimes grim nature of much of the story - in the gunfights and death scenes expected of a western - there is plenty of humour. I was determined on that. A story of this length and theme needs its quota of funny for a bit of respite. Besides, I'm not a serious person, so writing something like Alias was rather a foreign endeavour for someone like me. Fun and funny became an essential element. Jeannie, my protagonist, has an irreverent, dirty and sometimes hilarious sense of humour. She tells funny stories and jokes a lot and is good at it. I had to look up jokes and funny stories online (a hard but important job) and sometimes had hysterics myself, as did hubby, my long-suffering PA. I hope, and think, I got some funny included.
I was inspired by The Virginian, High Chapperal, Alias Smith and Jones and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid during the sixties. All had a high quota of funny, but I also wanted deadly no quarters held in the storyline. This was a woman, and the whole point of the story was to place her in situations that a man or boy would find themselves in and be treated as male. I found that incredibly exciting. These were vital factors and the story's reason for being. Thus humour is regularly injected, particularly when she's a kid.
Here's a portion of the chapter where we're introduced to Jeannie's Gran, on her first visit to Coyote Creek to see the family. She finds young Jeannie wallowing in a horse trough...
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I HOPE THIS SAMPLE CAN BE BLOWN UP FOR READING - OTHERWISE YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO BUY THE BOOK! |
Practical jokes and running amok with her gang constitute Jeannie's early life, followed by ribald and dirty jokes with her frontier friends.
If my readers have a good laugh, I'll have done my job. Approaching three hundred readers, some of whom have steamed through it at the rate of a railroad train - particularly on Kindle Unlimited - have apparently enjoyed it, and the story has procured five star reviews. Some have noted that the story is unique, powerful, and even enjoyable. So yes, I've done my job!
Oh, and just to keep folk up to date - I'll be letting you know when Book 2 is available. Not long now.
Thursday 2 May 2024
NARROW BOATING, HISTORY, FEMALE PIRATES, THE TRILOGY & OTHER STUFF
NARROW BOATING, MY FAVOURITE FARMHOUSE, SUFFOLK HISTORY, FEMALE PIRATES,
THE TRILOGY & OTHER STUFF
BOATING
A short while ago we had a few days on Dotterel, our narrow boat moored in Warwickshire. I needed a respite from trilogies (just the one!), although I confess I wrote the back matter for Book 2. (For the benefit of those who've just joined me, I published Book 1 of my epic western trilogy Alias Jeannie Delaney last summer and It's doing well. The story charts the life of a devastating and charismatic pants wearing cowgirl who's the fastest gun in the west and a great lover to both men and women).
Meanwhile hubby is preparing for the Birmingham Canal Challenge in May, hence our time on the boat. He had always wanted to take part in the challenge, which consists of narrow boats cruising the interesting and the lesser used navigations within and outside Birmingham. It's also a means of keeping the canal system open and used. We are both watery folk. I was brought up opposite the river Thames, and I swum the river as a kid and I've rowed since I was a teenager. Hubby loved books about canal cruising and took narrowboat trips with family and friends and adores it. We now paddle a traditional Canadian canoe and a rubber one. After I recovered from depression, pre pandemic, I told him to do the challenge. He'd looked after me long enough, time to go! So, we've been cleaning Dotterel, our boat, and son Tom and I will be joining hubby and crew for the challenge itself.
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| OCCASIONALLY HUBBY GETS THE TILLER! |
HISTORY
Meanwhile I've been researching facts about the Suffolk marshes. The story behind that: My dad's best friend, an army mate met during the war, owned a 17th century farmhouse known as Dingle on the edge of the marshlands in Suffolk (it is listed - Dingle Farm, which his grandfather bought after WW1.
Nearly every year when I and my brothers were young, my dad's friend rented the house to us for a week during the summer. I adored that house. Absolutely loved it! I'm only sorry we didn't own it ourselves. I'll be sharing a post about that in due course. I've got numerous photos of Dingle, including one of me as a little kid sitting on that doorstep with our friend's daughter. I've also been researching the history of Suffolk, and in so doing, came across two female pirates! Lady Mary killigrew and Margery Lambert. Of course, that sent me off on another tangent, so that's another blog post to come!
'Suffolk was also home to two of the most famous women pirates of the sixteenth century: Lady Mary Killigrew from Woolverstone and Margery, wife of Peter Lambert ...'
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LADY MARY KILLIGREW |
AND NOW ...THE TRILOGY!
I've sent off the back matter for Book 2 and final detail thoughts for the front cover illustration. I'm up to date now. The only real issue I have is my author website. It's great for layout arrangements initially, which I have done on my laptop screen, but when reviewed on phone layouts, which is what most folk look at, the layout is all over the show, and elements disappear. I then find them somewhere at the bottom of my design. So I began designing the layout based on phone usage and tried to find a compromise for both that and laptop screens, which seemed a good idea. That didn't really work either (all over the show again). Finally, in attempting to add a link to his blog - Jo B Creative - although I Googled how to do it, failed miserably. I still can't do it. Hubby told me I needed a computer geek - him. So I can have another crack at it with tech geek on hand. So hold onto your hats, folks - Book 2 will be available come the summer, a year after Book 1, which seems reasonable.
OTHER STUFF
General creativity and artwork is therapeutic for the old brainbox. I've been videoing artistic endeavours and uploading them to my YouTube shorts channel. Rather satisfying. Only mumble is that previously I was able to add music to the clips, but a short while ago I was getting 'upload failed' when uploading through YouTube itself. When I upload directly from Google Photos, I can't find how to add music. Technology, eh? Great when it works etcetera...
On that note I'll bid you farewell, for now...
Facebook Jo Ballantyne
Friday 26 April 2024
JO. B. CREATIVE!: THE BRILLIANCE OF KINDLE UNLIMITED
JO. B. CREATIVE!: THE BRILLIANCE OF KINDLE UNLIMITED: THE BRILLIANCE OF KINDLE UNLIMITED Fancy reading an offbeat western? A traditional, epic western trilogy with a twist? Alias Jeannie Delane...
THE BRILLIANCE OF KINDLE UNLIMITED
THE BRILLIANCE OF KINDLE UNLIMITED
Fancy reading an offbeat western? A traditional, epic western trilogy with a twist?
Alias Jeannie Delaney is a gripping epic western trilogy charting the life of a devastating and charismatic pants-wearing cowgirl. She's the fastest gun in the west, a great lover to both men and women, and this is her journey to find her true self on the American frontier.The e-book can be borrowed through Kindle Unlimited, a virtual library system, which will cost you $11.99c a month. A Kindle is smaller than a book, allowing you to read on your e-reader or the Kindle app on your phone or tablet from the palm of your hand. You don't need a Kindle to use Kindle Unlimited. You can use the free Kindle app on your phone or tablet with just a few taps. With Amazon's Kindle subscription service, you can access unlimited books for less than what it would cost you to buy one physical book per month.
A fair number of people on Kindle Unlimited have read Book 1, and some of these readers have steamed through it like a railroad train! If you have a self-published book on Kindle Unlimited, unlike Amazon itself, you can access the reader's progress through the book. Apparently when a reader likes Jeannie's story, they really like it, and can't put it down! What can I say?! This is telling you something that Amazon itself doesn't. You know nothing about your readers when they buy their books there. So Kindle Unlimited is very, very useful.
The Kindle version of Alias Jeannie Delaney - Book 1 - Go West, Girl! is 78 cents and the paperback version in $9.84 depending upon your preference.
Here are comments from readers of Book 1:
I just grabbed my copy of "Alias Jeannie Delaney - Book 1 - Go West, Girl!" on Amazon. The premise of a charismatic and skilled cowgirl on a journey of self-discovery is absolutely captivating. Kudos on the rave reviews and the unique twist you've brought to the western genre.'
Yee-hah! I'm enjoying this soooo much! Not just because of the story but also because of the quality of the writing, and the loving detail put into it. Clearly a lot of research - Kit Mackenzie writes as though she's actually been there. I'm relishing the nuances of her fab writing. I so enjoyed reading the novel in detail, and relishing the nuances of the fab writing. Rereading it and absorbing the world and the atmosphere she's created. It's a terrific story with strong characters (to put it mildly!) and a powerful arc. The writing is 24 carat gold.
I'm just reading the preview at the moment, it's great! I just love kit Mackenzie's descriptions of where Jeannie is, so atmospheric 😌 I've got to chapter 12 and loving it! A fascinating angle. Good on my phone too. This novel is a refreshing change from the usual western. Easy to read and I'm thoroughly enjoying it! Kit writes brilliantly, describing the American Plains in all their beauty as they were back then.
I'm already deep in Chapter 1 of the book and loving it!
A unique and fascinating Western theme. Kit Mackenzie has an enviable writing skill!
Five star reviews from Booksprout
I’ve just finished reading ‘Go West, Girl.’ It was a very good read - a real page-turner, or whatever is the right term on a Kindle. Your descriptions were so vivid I could imagine I was in Coyote Creek. I’m not sure whether or not I like Jeannie - I feel sorry for her that she is so unhappy, but realise it’s because she was ahead of her time, and getting frustrated as she kicked against the social rules of her time. I admire that she refused to accept the norms of times - and people like her made things much more equitable for us today. No doubt you’ll keep us posted re the next book.
A unique western read. well written and entertaining! Five stars. This is a different take on a western and I really enjoyed it. Jeannie is an independent woman focused on living her life on her terms before it was socially acceptable to do so. It is well written and entertaining!
Great western story! Not like any Western book I've ever read... Jeannie is best described as a difficult child. I love her grown-up character. She lives life on her own terms, not always liked but well-respected. I'm looking forward to more stories of her life.
Just finished reading Alias Jeanne Delaney. I found it a really fascinating and an interesting read. Quite extraordinary. Loved your ability to set the scene, making it feel as if the reader was there themself experiencing the scene and the surroundings. I know that you said it might not be my kind of book but I have to tell you that it is! quite unlike anything I have read before. Well done and I hope that it becomes a best seller. I look forward to the next instalment in book 2.
Sunday 14 April 2024
JO. B. CREATIVE!: MY BIG, BLACK DOG
JO. B. CREATIVE!: MY BIG, BLACK DOG: MY BIG BLACK DOG I've just come out of a rather nasty bit of brain explosion and the need to ...
Monday 1 April 2024
JO. B. CREATIVE!: DID THIS PERSON REALLY WRITE THAT GRITTY, SOMETIME...
JO. B. CREATIVE!: DID THIS PERSON REALLY WRITE THAT GRITTY, SOMETIME...: DID THIS SWEET HOPSCOTCHING STEAMPUNK GAL WHO LOVES THE COLOUR PINK & STUFFED ANIMALS REALLY WRITE THAT GRITTY, SOMETIMES DARK WESTERN...
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