JO. B. CREATIVE

Author & Multi-Disciplinary Artist

Friday, 15 November 2024

A GRIPPING CHRISTMAS!









THE AUTHOR







A devastating cowgirl comes of age on the wild frontier
Her gun is snake strike fast & her sexuality is as fluid as a miner's whiskey.

Jeannie Morgan, the fastest gun west of the Mississippi, is a devastating and charismatic pants-wearing cowgirl who is also a magnificent lover to both men and women. As she navigates the unforgiving frontier, she must confront her own identity and desires, all while facing down deadly confrontations and personal tragedies. Will she find happiness or will her her tomboy beauty, her powerful persona and her lethal gun finally be the death of her? Read the series and find out.

Available in E-book, paperback & Kindle Unlimited on Amazon. 












TWO CHAPTER SAMPLES
BOOK 1 



















BOOK 2 
















JO. B. CREATIVE!: THE MAKING OF JEANNIE MORGAN BY THE AUTHOR - ME

JO. B. CREATIVE!: THE MAKING OF JEANNIE MORGAN BY THE AUTHOR - ME: This is a long one - go put the kettle on!  THE MAKING OF  JEANNIE MORGAN,  THE FASTEST GUN IN THE WEST, BY THE AUTHOR MY ORIGINAL ARTWORKS ...

THE MAKING OF JEANNIE MORGAN BY THE AUTHOR - ME

This is a long one - go put the kettle on! 



THE MAKING OF 
JEANNIE MORGAN, 
THE FASTEST GUN IN THE WEST,
BY THE AUTHOR




MY ORIGINAL ARTWORKS OF JEANNIE


Authors have their own intimate view of their heroes, and their novels are often their 'babies', thrown out of their nests to make their own way into the world. Mine certainly is! Readers have their own views of these heroes too. I wonder how often those views coincide? Some authors barely describe their heroes, just giving a hint, perhaps, but I wanted to describe Jeannie - every bit of her. 

My view of her is so exciting. But it's impossible for an author to ask their readers to see their heroes in the same way because no-one can peer into another's mind, and the reader might feel completely differently about the hero. But at least one can try describing one's thoughts and sharing them. 

My 'fans' - I have a few! 😄- told me that of course I'm Jeannie - who knew?! I shouldn't be surprised. 

Jeannie's creation began when I was a teenager, my pubescent  imagination conjuring her up before going to sleep. I'd watched sixties westerns where women barely existed, let alone played the fastest gun, and, because my fascination for the wild west was growing, I wanted to redress the balance and, eventually, to write the novel I wanted to read but no-one had written (until the 1995 movie The Quick and the Dead with Sharon Stone came along).

Years later I became desperate to share Jeannie's story. This stems from the times when my parents and siblings found this incredibly creative and offbeat girl - me - would far rather row a boat than housekeep😝and they found me hard to appreciate. I was down-beaten and teased relentlessly. The fact that Jeannie's a cowgirl and that played the part at living history events happen to be incidental!








                                 LIVING HISTORY 


As an artist I illustrated Jeannie to bring her alive, but it took years to achieve her look and persona the way I envisaged them in my mind. I was inspired by magazine photographs of people - usually men - in various heroic poses or with the kind of face I imagined, and used them as reference for drawings of her. It excited me tremendously when I was able to make her credible, but horrendously embarrassed about showing them to anyone. Over the years she became more detailed and OTT.
But that's part of the storyline and a hero/ine for you!

I was a teenager when I created my first painting of her, and mother said: 'Oh - is this your Adonis?' I said: 'It's a woman.' 'Oh.' At least mother considered her beautiful.




                                               MY 1ST IMAGE OF
                                                  JEANNIE, IN OILS - A TAD BUTCH, 
                                                PERHAPS! PAINTED IN THE
                                              EARLY SEVENTIES. 



Years later I finally showed them to hubby. I cringed under a pillow while he looked at them. 'She's sexy! Get on with the story, for goodness sake.' I love that man. 

I wanted a stunningly beautiful tomboy. Not chocolate box beauty. A beautiful youth look if you will. Obviously not everyone's idea of beauty is the same, but this is mine for Jeannie. I know every bit of her. Every character trait, every facet of her look. Some of the characters in the story describe her as being a 'pretty boy' before they quickly cotton on to her gender. For a nano moment people might mistake her for a boy or youth, but a nano second later her more feminine features confirm that she is female. Her sensual, curved, full lips verify that. Sleek arched eyebrows. Thick eyelashes. Smooth, bronzed hairless skin, slightly shiny. A long, womanly neck. She has a hero's jaw, but that too is smooth and softly squared, not ugly or exaggerated. High cheekbones. Dimpled cheeks which crease with a lopsided toothy grin. See? I've got her all figured out.

She's 5ft ten and half inches tall. Slim, athletic. Broad shoulders, small but definite bosom, slim hips. She's not top heavy or pear shaped. She has a definite waist. Her hands are fairly large, strong and bronzed, but gentle. In one of my first chapters, a character states: 'Ain't never seen no deputy who looks like that!'  She has masculine mannerisms and movements, but they're almost graceful, not cumbersome. There's nothing ugly about Jeannie. I was inspired by descriptions of Wild Bill Hickok: Elizabeth Custer said: 'Physically he was a delight to look upon. Tall, light, and free in every emotion, he rode and walked as if every muscle was perfection.' She clearly fancied him! A newspaper article quoted: 'So graceful in his movements that with his long auburn hair tinged with red and gentle soporific eyes he had an almost feminine mien.'



     WILD BILL HICKOK 


Jeannie's hair is thick and corn coloured, wavy and tousled. Romantic. A semi fringe covers her forehead and hair curls before her ears. Her hair is short at the front but reaches over her collar at the back. Definitely romantic. I was inspired by Michelangelo's David.  




             MICHELANGELO'S DAVID



She generally wears a Stetson, man's shirt, close fitting jeans and cowboy boots worn beneath her pants. A gun belt and Colt.45 adorn her hips. A Bowie knife is sheathed at her waist, and sometimes she wears a fringed jacket. She carries a Winchester rifle beneath her saddle. Extremely sexy and stylish. For posh occasions she wears dapper male clothes - long velvet jacket and pants, a white silk shirt, sometimes a cravat, even a cummerbund. Later in the story she wears a bandana around her forehead, Indian style, denoting her respect and friendship with the Shoshonis. 

Her mannerisms and character border on mesmerising. She smokes a slim cheroot, winks at people and pale laughter lines spread out from her eyes. Those eyes are something else. A translucent pale blue beneath sleepy eyelids. Hypnotic and  unblinking, they can slice you in two. She's pretty scary. Terrifying sometimes. Cold as ice if she doesn't like you. The only person unafraid of her is her Gran. She adopts boy's clothes aged around eight, after pilfering her favourite brother's wardrobe and cutting her long fair hair short, vowing never to wear female clothes ever again. She has great taste in male clothing and looks stunning the older she grows. 

She's wild in her youth and hilarious, remaining funny into adulthood. She's capable of great gentility and kindness, particularly towards animals, kids and old folks, who adore her. She's wall-to-wall charismatic magnetism, and many people are jealous of her. She's the centre of attention the moment she appears on the scene. 

She's incredibly sexy and, because of her easygoing sexuality, falls in love with women as well as men, who reciprocate easily, sometimes against their better judgement. Particularly men, whose jealousies over her lethal gun and fighting prowess reign supreme. Many men want her dead. She adores sex, passionate or gentle, because it's the only thing that can make her feel good when times are crappy. She loves art and music, plays a mouth organ, and she's good at dancing a jig. 

As the years passed as I developed her, she became devastating in looks and persona, unlike the real Calamity Jane, bless her. The geography of the western frontier treats Jeannie well, even if some of its people don't. She relishes life there and wants to be part of it. 

People tell me that I tell Jeannie's story with passion. I'm not surprised! She's been in my head forever, and I needed to share her with the world. Why that is, I'm uncertain, and that still taxes my brain! It has everything to do with my past and my mental issues. Whatever the answer, here she is, in all her glory. 😊


The result of sharing Jeannie with the world? More than I could imagine. The first professional to assure me that my trilogy, as it eventually became, wasn't rubbish, was my editor. She loved it, made great suggestions and edits, and told me that 'Your writing is 24 carat gold!'. I love you, Caroline!

It's almost a year since I published Alias Jeannie Delaney - Book 1 - Go West, Girl! on Amazon, and the results have been tremendous. Numerous five star reviews and ratings, and my 850  readers are keen and waiting patiently for Book 3, which I'm currently editing. Because the story is so offbeat, in a niche of its own and hard to market, we - me and my amazing PA hubby - had to put in the extra work to do it. I collaborated with my excellent cover designer to produce the cover graphics, and used Canva computer software to create marketing materials, so my art has came in handy over and over. 

What will happen once the whole trilogy is 'out there'? I won't be finished with Jeannie. There's too much history at stake. I've got other ideas for the future, so it definitely won't be 'Ciao!' as in Jeannie's words, but 'See ya soon!'. 



                                                  THE AUTHOR 







A devastating cowgirl comes of age on the wild frontier
Her gun is snake strike fast & her sexuality is as fluid as a miner's whiskey.

Jeannie Morgan, the fastest gun west of the Mississippi, is a devastating and charismatic pants-wearing cowgirl who is also a magnificent lover to both men and women. As she navigates the unforgiving frontier, she must confront her own identity and desires, all while facing down deadly confrontations and personal tragedies. Will she find happiness or will her her tomboy beauty, her powerful persona and her lethal gun finally be the death of her? Read the series and find out.

Available in E-book, paperback & Kindle Unlimited on Amazon. 












TWO CHAPTER SAMPLES
BOOK 1 



















BOOK 2 













































Saturday, 2 November 2024

JO. B. CREATIVE!: DON'T DO IT UNLESS YOU REALLY, REALLY MEAN IT. (SE...

JO. B. CREATIVE!: DON'T DO IT UNLESS YOU REALLY, REALLY MEAN IT. (SE...: DON'T DO IT UNLESS YOU REALLY,  REALLY MEAN IT.  (SELF PUBLISHING, THAT IS).                                                            ...

JO. B. CREATIVE!: DON'T DO IT UNLESS YOU REALLY, REALLY MEAN IT. (SE...

JO. B. CREATIVE!: DON'T DO IT UNLESS YOU REALLY, REALLY MEAN IT. (SE...: DON'T DO IT UNLESS YOU REALLY,  REALLY MEAN IT.  (SELF PUBLISHING, THAT IS).                                                            ...

Wednesday, 30 October 2024

DON'T DO IT UNLESS YOU REALLY, REALLY MEAN IT. (SELF PUBLISHING, THAT IS).


DON'T DO IT UNLESS YOU REALLY, 
REALLY MEAN IT. 
(SELF PUBLISHING, THAT IS). 





                                                                     IT'S AN UPHILL BATTLE! 


    'How do I go about self-publishing? I haven't a clue.' 
    A fellow writer asks. Neither do any of us, dear Fellow Writer. As they say - I wouldn't have started from there. 
    'Don't.' (self-publish), says another writer. He's struggling to sell his non-fiction book. He doesn't regret the experience but he advises not to self-publish because it's so damn hard and books don't sell (they do, but it all depends). The market is glutted, he says, and there aren't enough readers. 

The market is glutted but there are enough readers. They're born and reach adulthood all the time. The market is glutted because anyone can place their book, rubbish or otherwise, onto Amazon, and a discerning - or not - public will decide whether or not it's rubbish in which case it won't sell. If it's not rubbish, or indeed it's brilliant, it will sell, and there are thousands of those - readers just have to find them. Amazon as a book retailer wouldn't exist if books didn't sell. It depends on a whole host of factors. 

When I start talking about the self-published first two novels of  my trilogy Alias Jeannie Delaney, people invariably say: 
    'Well done.' 
    I respond: 'Thank you!'  
    Then they ask that question: 'How do you go about it?' 
    Writing, do you mean? Keep writing! Join a wring group for feedback. Oh - self-publishing, you mean, because they're writing a novel or a series, or anecdotal stories, a children's book or a non-fiction book on a subject close to their hearts. It depends on what they've written and how it's going to be marketed. 

Self publishing is undoubtedly one of the hardest things anyone can do. I had a couple of 'How exciting/s!' when I shared that I was about to launch Book 1. Bless 'em for saying that and I did thank them, but no - it ain't exciting! Far from it. 

However - I won't say don't self publish. It ain't the easiest of journeys, but it all depends on what you're trying to sell, your pricing, who you're targeting, your marketing strategy, a bit of reader psychology and knowing how to place your book in front of the right reader. Then there's writing a blurb for the book, formatting the manuscript, finding the right professional editor and a cover designer. 
 
I've always been an artist (I worked in advertising studios) and writer, and both my crafts have improved tremendously over the years. So I collaborated with my cover designer and I'm pleased I did that. 

I'm marketing a trilogy - a western with a twist. It's pretty singular and thankfully my readers have loved it. I create marketing material on Canva, a free graphics package, and I enjoy doing that. I also created what turned out to be a powerful cover reveal for Book 2 (here it is).

 

Alias Jeannie Delaney - 
Book 2 - The Outlaw's Return.
(Turn up the volume!)


I write blog posts about my witing, the story, the trials and tribulations of self publishing, and life in general and share them on the major social media platforms. I've done well doing that, and keep doing it. 

There's undoubtedly a major difference between trying to sell factual material and fiction. Factual writing, such as local history, your memoirs, or something close to your heart, can be very dry unless you have a natural gift for storytelling. Writing up your knowledge or anecdotes in such a way that you suck your readers into your world can be incredibly hard. Also, depending upon the content, one may need to break up the text with quality illustrations or photographs. Novels, on the whole, don't contain images, although some do. Images are limited to the book cover and promotional material. 


                                    


Next - the really hard part. 
Get your hypothetical 
armour on. In order to market your work, you have to think with a business mindset - hubby helps me business wise - he was a businessman - but we're both very creative and often come up with fresh, creative ideas for marketing. 
It's hard graft and it's done my head in.

My trilogy has taken over forty years, spasmodically, in the making. From conception in my teens and early twenties during the sixties and seventies, when I noticed a gap in traditional TV and cinematic westerns for decent roles for women (much less fastest guns) which I felt needed to be filled. Over the years I wrote the story that I wanted to read, and that led to publication last year. So you really, really have to want to do it if you're going to reap any rewards. 



                                                      NOVELIST AT WORK 


My final word is about the mental health - depression and anxiety - of creatives and authors in particular. I've suffered most of my life, particularly since having a family. I was always a moody kid, but having my own really hit me psychologically and biologically. Then writing, editing and marketing a trilogy - an offbeat one with a twist at that - really did my head in, and I'm struggling with that, with the help of my soulmate hubby and my lovely councillor. I've described in previous posts how I want my readers to see Jeannie, my protagonist, as I do, both in the telling of the story and visually, so I also post my original illustrations to show them. Maybe they do see her as I do. Who knows? I also hear music and see images that remind me of her. That's painful, not inspiring. Oh, how I wish I could be inspired instead! 

But never mind, I'm working through all this, and my mindset is gradually but oh so slowly beginning to accept things the way they are. A bit of meditating mindfulness, distractions, exercise, you name it, etcetera...


PS. Don't read your reviews, good or bad! 




                                                        THE AUTHOR & HER HUBBY






A devastating cowgirl comes of age on the wild frontier
Her gun is snake strike fast & her sexuality is as fluid as a miner's whiskey.

Jeannie Morgan, the fastest gun west of the Mississippi, is a devastating and charismatic pants-wearing cowgirl who is also a magnificent lover to both men and women. As she navigates the unforgiving frontier, she must confront her own identity and desires, all while facing down deadly confrontations and personal tragedies. Will she find happiness or will her her tomboy beauty, her powerful persona and her lethal gun finally be the death of her? Read the series and find out.

Available in E-book & paperback on Amazon. 













TWO CHAPTER SAMPLES
BOOK 1 




















BOOK 2 


















Tuesday, 22 October 2024

JO. B. CREATIVE!: RIP-ROARING REVIEWS!

JO. B. CREATIVE!: RIP-ROARING REVIEWS!:                                                      'Brilliant reviews - and for the record, I’m reading ‘The Outlaw’s Return’ at the m...