Author J. R. DuBois: Unfiltered

The other day, one of my writer friends said to me, "Stop trying to listen to advice that you know in your heart wasn't for you. Publish the d*mn book. It's ready and so are you." I have to say, it was one of the most loving things someone could have said to me. A lot of folks today cherish encouraging words and actions on the parts of their loved ones and significant others. And I do, too, I suppose, but what I really cherish and value is when they speak truth over me, independent of how it might make me feel in the moment. My book is ready for publication. There is something small I want to tweak in the beginning to decrease the wordcount a bit, and Lord knows I have no cover and haven't formatted it or gotten any ISBN numbers, etc, but I'm holding off on doing so until I finish the first draft of Jezra so I don't mis-represent the characters and bleed the different motivations and personalities across the manuscripts. But. It is still ready. Even as is....

I feel like I'm desiccating. Not that I'm not alive. Not that I'm sad or depressed. I'm restless . I feel like a suped-up car, throttle down, revved up, my wheels spinning into the ground, going nowhere despite how hard I'm pressing the gas. I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of toiling. I'm tired of putting all of my efforts towards things which don't seem to appreciate the effort. ( Matthew 7:6 "...do not throw your pearls before pigs, for they will trample them under feet, and turn and tear you to pieces." ) I feel torn to pieces. I feel yanked in different directions. I feel like I can TASTE what I'm supposed to be doing, where I'm supposed to be going, how maybe I should be doing it, and yet stunted for trying to get all the answers now, and to do it my way, on my terms, in my time. When I was with my friends in Georgia, I felt... whole. Now, that's a lot to put on some friends. This is me telling them, in the event that they...

Hi again, from me & my Romeo. So a lot has been happening this last month-ish. Last time I posted was at the beginning of January, and thus far, my main efforts have been digging into this second book of mine (coined the Jezra Story for now), and selecting a platform for a monthly newsletter combining three seemingly un-related topics across fiction (duh), faith (double duh), and fitness (triple duh). ( Check out my Substack here ; second installment forthcoming.) But! Also, in addition to all of this mess, I've been *trying* to consistently post on social media (which is actually harder than you'd think, though, in theory, all I should need do is just share what I'm already doing), AND an agent REQUESTED A FULL COPY OF MY MANUSCRIPT . Now. This is a big deal. BUT. It still by no means means (lol, means means... English is funny) that I'll be offered a letter of representation, and now I'm in a waiting game for a couple months to learn whether or not they like e...

 One of the themes of A Conduit of Fire is truth vs widely-accepted lies. At the original time of writing -- ten years ago -- I didn't realize this would be a theme of the book, but it is. The book is already written and I am well on my way to completing the second rough draft for Book Two, but I would be lying if recent events didn't impact the development of COF as well as Book Two. This world, as much as I love it, my country, and people (I truly, truly do; many claim to love people but they only like the idea of them, or those who are identical to them in thought, behavior, appearance, beliefs, or otherwise), is going crazy. It is only fueling some of the ideas for the end of Book Two and development of Book Three, which has yet to have had an initial draft (I wrote draft one of Book Two before I even edited COF, and now I've definitely had my work cut out for me). That said, this notion of truth is very important to all of our lives and how we are to live them. One of...

"Cat Sunbathes by Excessively Overgrown Pond" One of my writing views this morning. Kota insists on drinking and sun-bathing by our overgrown pond, but it's been a beautiful morning, and she's so cute. Hubs keeps expecting her to fall-in (she's blind), but she's cautious and nimble, and I'm quite sure my heart is Kota-shaped. That's just conjecture, though... Hey Conduits! This week, I didn't write as many hours as I intended (life got in the way), but I spent the same amount of time thinking through issues/plot structures, and still made some very important strides. Since I'm writing Book Two, all those pesky questions I created in Book One need to be answered. Two of the biggest ones are now effectively answered, with another to be answered soon, and I'm proud to say it's not answered via an info-dump (which is hard to do!). As it stands, I am either smack-dab in the middle of Book Two, or much closer to the climax than I realize (isn...

Sometimes life doesn't go as planned and you're forced to choose what gets done. I am a STRONG believer in getting the IMPORTANT done over the urgent. That said, as two of my friends like to say, you only have so many "spoons" you can hold in a day. This is my usual schedule: Write 2 hours (or more, Muse-depending) on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. By aiming to write 2 hours on these 4-5 days, I ensure that I usually write for that amount of time AT LEAST three of those days, if not four. And when life is being kind, all five. Tuesday and Thursdays are my long days at the gym, so I usually edit/beta read for others/ignore writing completely on those days to focus on my career as a personal trainer (I also do this on almost every day of the week as well, even weekends, because... that's an entrepreneur for you, but I'm talking super-specific stuff). This week, given that my second elderly cat was diagnosed with a fatal disease after an emergen...

What do you enjoy about fantasy books? (Or books/reading in general?) For me, I love the immersion into a world that is different than the one in which we live. That said, the world must be familiar-enough that I could see myself in it, immerse myself into the role of the characters, regardless what gender or belief-system they have. It is, in essence, an escape, but not necessarily because I dislike my life, but because it is a chance to explore new things and experience situations I might not otherwise be able to -- including the ability to do what humans simply cannot: magic. Stories, to me, are one of the best ways we can communicate with one another, to share our experiences, to record history, and to learn lessons. And communication is one of the most important aspects to connecting with our peers. Which is why I am extremely humbled and grateful to God that I have the opportunity to be a part of building that connection. A little about Chronicles of Liren. Firstly, Liren tends t...

 Well hello there, reader. Or more like, absent reader. I bailed on this blog one year ago, when I promised I wouldn't. The reason I promised was that this blog is meant to invite people into getting to know me as an author, to hopefully build rapport (and yes, an audience) for my upcoming novel, the third in a series, which is not yet published. The GOOD (read: GREAT) new is that I have literally spent the entirety of 2021 editing, rewriting, editing, rewriting, beta reading, beta reading, and beta reading my first book. I am quite sure it's time to start pitching to agents and publishers. (Though, I admit; finding male fantasy beta readers is impossible. Goodness. I know the genre is full of readers, so where ARE you guys? Literally?) Firstly, for those very few who have been following this blog before I went AWOL, I apologize for my absence and will be doing better. Furthermore, I will not bore you with my methods. I am an AVID reader, and haven't read about one of my fa...

So here's a thing I've learned about myself during this year, "the year of 2020," "the year of COVID:" once I set a schedule, I am loathe to stray from it, and when I do, it can derail my creative process. And yet, ironically, I claim to celebrate spontaneity -- which I do. Sometimes. So long as I don't have plans. (...) (*Note, upon re-reading this entry, I wish to point out that this blog will include all the ranting and railing and celebrating that comes with writing a book, which includes what is forthcoming, and doesn't always seem obviously linked to the creative process. But if you, reader, are a fellow creative, perhaps you can empathize with how much scheduling can, in fact, impede or enhance the creative process and either stimulate or depress the Muse.*) I am blessed to have the opportunity to work for myself and create my own schedule. It is a luxury I experienced while dabbling with a multi-level marketing business years ago, then shifti...

Welcome to the blog for the development of my, that is, J. R. DuBois's epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Liren. My name is Jessica, and I am delighted you are here. The Chronicles of Liren has been in the works for eight or more years (since 2012...ish), and has since grown from the whimsical pantsing of a would-be novelist into the complicated, detailed, convoluted epic that it has become and is still becoming. They liken to the style and length of Tolkien, Jordan, Rothfuss, Sanderson, Rowling, and even Gabaldon (though not QUITE that lengthy). Currently, the saga is expected to be told within three volumes, perhaps four -- that is, of course, unless the characters, now fully-fleshed and well into their own  right minds, carry it elsewhere, my own intentions be damned. This year, 2020, while detrimental to many, opened the doors for my creative Muse to build the world Liren has become. I started with the intention of writing one volume, and have, to my utter surprise and plea...