Janelle Evans

I never feel my age until I overdo it. So I should just avoid overdoing it, right? The problem is it seems to take less and less for me to overdo it. Of all of life’s jokes I think this is the cruelest. Well, at least the pain lets me know I’m alive.

I’m not ready to slow down. Yes, I’ve lived a few decades, four to be exact, but my brain is still as fun-loving, happy-go-lucky as my teenage years. There are days I almost get a shock when I look in a mirror. “Who in the heck let the old lady in here?”

I swear it’s my kids. They’ve gone and hit the fast forward button on me. This slipping away of time does help me to stay focused though. On days when the busy world tries to crowd in on my writing time, my slightly morbid thoughts of not knowing how many days I have left on this earth steers my butt back toward the computer. My mind is full of so many ideas for novels. I would hate to leave here without getting them all down.

Thank you to all who have read my latest book, Stuffed Souls. The excitement I keep hearing is wonderful, but I do have a favor to ask. Please go to Amazon.com or goodreads.com and leave a review, or even better, both. I know it’s a pain and you have busy lives, but public reviews help others feel more comfortable about buying books from unknown authors. I can’t do this without you. Buyers want to know what other readers think about the book. I know I look through reviews before purchasing a book. You can help other readers in a way I really can’t. Of course I love my book, I wrote it!  Sadly, that bias alone means most listen when I say it’s a book worth reading. It has to come from others.

I’ve been writing for more than a decade now but my oldest, sixteen-year-old son has never shown any interest in what I write.

“They’re just too chickish for me,” he says.

Well…you can’t please everyone and my main focus group is girls, so it’s hard to be offended by the comment. My thirteen-year-old daughter on the other hand inhales my novels the moment she sees a copy in our home. She goes on and on, telling her brothers and everyone else how amazing they are. Her excitement is a major motivation to keep writing, but to my shock I caught my oldest son reading my latest novel, Stuffed Souls, last week. He made eye contact with me over the open book in his hands but said nothing, so I kept walking. You don’t want to jinx these things. On Friday my son stuck his head into my bathroom where I was getting ready for the day.

“You’re really twisted, Mom.”

“Oh really?” I kept right on applying my mascara. “And why’s that?”

“Your Stuffed Souls, I can’t believe you made that up. It was really good, but crazy. Are your other novels like this?”

“Hmm…They’re such different plots it’s hard to compare them, but I don’t write snooze-fests. I like fast moving stories with unpredictable plots so that’s how I try to always write. I guess you’ll finally have to pick up the first book of the Rory’s Choice series and find out for yourself.” Dare I hope he’ll become a fan too? I don’t know those “chickish” parts might be too much for him. 😉

I’m over the moon about the launch of my latest novel, Stuffed Souls. It’s my best work yet. Click here to get your copy today. The eBook version will be available next month.

I think back over the last decade of writing and realize how important both failures and successes are to my writing. Just like everything in life we don’t have all the answers, so my initial writing style leaned heavily on what I did know—script writing. Road shows, one acts, I was the queen of writing short scenes in my younger years. While this helped the dialogue stay snappy, my narratives were weak. It took time and practice, and a realization that novels are not like live theater. A book’s stage is in the readers head, so I needed to build a better structure around my characters words. Even now I don’t have all the answers, and that’s okay. I have yet to create the perfect novel, and that’s okay too. I recently heard Justin Timberlake say, “Perfection is the death of greatness.” I couldn’t agree more. I’m not done creating yet. There are many, many more stories mulling around in my head.

Only a few more days, March 1st 2018, until the official release of Stuffed Souls to the public. I wanted to answer a couple of questions I’ve been asked lately, since they seem to keep popping up.

1. The cover makes me think this book might be a scary read, how scary is it?

Answer: This book is as clean and uplifting as my Rory’s Choice series. Yes, there are some intense moments in this novel, but think R.L. Stine not Stephen King. You’ll find no gore whatsoever.

2. How kid friendly is this novel compared to your last novels?

Answer: Again, I write for young adults, which means age twelve and up. I take into careful consideration my audience at all times. I have a thirteen-year-old daughter of my own. If I wouldn’t feel comfortable with her reading it, I won’t write it.

This young Adult novel is getting rave reviews by all who have read it. I can’t wait for you to read it too. You can even pre-order pocketbook-sized copies right now through Amazon. com. Click on the book cover below for your direct link.

I’m excited and nervous all at the same time. I’ve been nominated for Top Female Author presented by TheAuthorsShow.com for my upcoming paranormal novel Stuffed Souls. Winning would be a huge boost to my writing goals, but just being nominated is pretty amazing, especially since the nomination wasn’t submitted by anyone related to me. I’ve always felt Stuffed Souls was something special. I’ve got my fingers crossed the panel of judges will feel the same. To get your own copy of this powerful book it will be on sale to the general public in just a couple of weeks, March 1st 2018.