Jessica Ferguson

Author, Writing Coach, Speaker

K is for Kindle

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I’m not a Kindle lover. I own one because I won it in a contest. And yes, I rush to Amazon when friends tell me they have a new book available or I see a FREE book that sounds promising. The few books I’ve read and finished on my Kindle (okay, four or five at the most) have kept my interest and have been well written. And I have to admit, I seem to read faster using the Kindle than if I’m holding my beloved print books. But, I’m kicking and screaming. I hate change. I’d rather own a print book–no matter how long it takes me to read it and no matter how much it weighs. I like having real page-turning paper in my hot little hands. I like seeing bookmarks and flyers hanging raggedly out of my books. I like taking a pen or pencil or marker and making notes in the margin,  underlining beautiful passages or quotes. I’d rather spend the money for what’s often referred to as a real book, than a couple of bucks for a book I can’t prop up on my shelf and admire.  I like flipping back and forth and viewing the cover any time I want. I like knowing exactly what page I’m on and exactly how many pages I have left–with no effort.  Silly? Probably–because change is coming. Rather, it’s here.

It breaks my heart to spend ten or twenty bucks for books I can’t stack on my bedside table. I refuse to do it.  It has to be a mighty special friend/author/story for me to spend more than $5.00 in the ebook world. Does that sound mean? Maybe so, and here’s more meanness from me. There was a time I didn’t place much value on book reviews–after all, we have our own personal taste when it comes to reading material.  I’m sad to say now I do.  If reviewers complain about typos, ramblings, bad grammar, plot holes, I pass on purchasing.  If we’re going to put our books out there ourselves, we have a responsibility to do it right.  And you can take that to the bank!

Do you own a Kindle or another book reading device? How do you feel about finding typos and poorly constructed sentences in your books? Do you want the author to put forth some effort to learn his/her craft? Does it really matter? Am I just being mean? Let me hear from you.

J is for Jewelry-Making

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Sometimes I get so discouraged with my writing that I threaten to quit and make jewelry. One birthday, my husband and daughter gave me a lot of jewelry-making supplies. I got all kinds of chains, ribbons, twine and turquoise–my favorite–and a plastic container with little compartments to keep it all neatly inside. I even visited a jewelry making  group. That’s the closest I’ve come to actually making good my threat.
I love jewelry fixings of all kinds. 

I’m not a shopper. No matter what I’m looking for, I end up at the jewelry counter of the store, perusing the jewelry. This is known as escape. Yes, I recognize it.

Even though I love the idea of creating one-of-a-kind bracelets, necklaces and earrings, and have several books showing me how, step by step, I don’t have the patience.  I wouldn’t be any better at making jewelry than I am at sewing.  Put a needle and thread in my hands and I’m disastrous! The idea of jewelry making is my escape.

What’s your escape when writing gets tough?

I is for Interview

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When I wrote for Beaumont newspapers, the Chamber of Commerce and insert magazines, I interviewed all kinds of people about their professions, their hobbies, and their hopes and dreams. Everyone from students to business owners. My favorite interview was  with a Toastmasters organization. There were a lot of things I wanted to know about the club because I’ve always been curious about them. Because I had a genuine interest in it, I felt I did a better job with the interview and the article.

Today, I’m a staff writer for Southern Writers Magazine.  I interview writers. Scheduled articles are with Louisiana author Vicki Allen, Arkansas author Robin Carrol, Mississippi author Terri Blackstock and Texas author Wendy Lanier. I enjoy interviewing all kinds of writers–more than any other subject I’ve written about–and find I learn something from each interview.  
If you’re interested, you can subscribe to Southern Writers Magazine HERE.  We also have a short story contest you can enter. Check it out because there are some great prizes!

What do you most want to know about writers? Share a question that I might incorporate in future interviews.

H is for Hackman

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I’m a huge Gene Hackman fan.  One of my favorite movies is the 1986 sports film, Hoosiers.  I wonder if this was the closest Hackman came to playing a romantic hero. I liked his interaction with Barbara Hershey. She sure didn’t make it easy for him.

Hackman won Acadmey Awards for The French Connection and Unforgiven. To my way of thinking, he should have won more. He’s an excellent actor. That chuckle of his is both creepy and sexy. I would have loved for him to play the romantic hero–even if he is a little scary. Okay, a lot scary. I also love the film Class Action, a story about a lawsuit concerning injuries caused by a defective automobile; The Chamber, based on a John Grisham novel and Runaway Jury. The guy has made some outstanding movies.

But did you know Gene Hackman is a novelist?
He wrote three books with undersea archaeologist Daniel Lenihan: Wake of the Perdido Star (1999), Justice for None (2004), and Escape from Andersonville (2008). In 2011, his novel  Payback at Morning Peak (2011) hit the shelves and got some good reviews. If your interested, check Amazon.

Who’s your favorite actor/author? And why?

G is for Genealogy

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Genealogy:   A record or table of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or ancestors; a family tree
.

I’m hooked on genealogy and have been for a number of years. I put it away for a long time but last year, after watching Who Do You Think You Are? on Friday nights, I dug out my disorganized notes and records, joined ancestry.com and started searching.

Genealogy is addictive. I struggle between writing fiction and wanting to devote all my time to writing my family history–at least, a few personal family stories like  the one below.
Me and Grandma
I was closer to Grandma than her other grandkids. Maybe because we lived right across the pasture and I saw her every day. When I was little, I stayed with Grandma while Mama worked. I watched her wring the necks of chickens, slam them to the ground and laugh while they flopped to death. There was something a little scary, yet fascinating about watching my old Grandma, long grey hair knotted at the base of her neck, killing chickens.
When I got older, I’d still hang out with Grandma. I thought she could teach me something school books, and my own mom, couldn’t.
Being at Grandma’s house always felt right.

But this story isn’t 100% true. I wasn’t any closer to Grandma than the other grandkids; I did live across the pasture. And I did stay with her when I was little while my mom worked but once I started calling my panties ‘drawers’ and the front porch a ‘gallery’, Mom put me in a kindergarten. I did watch Grandma (I really called her Mamaw) wring the necks of chickens, and she did twist her long hair in a knot. She laughed too. Yes, she fascinated me, so is the story a lie?

I wonder what keeps people from ‘elaborating’ their family history, stories about their ancestors? 

John Henry Roach is 18 years old. Mattie Mae Smith is 16 years old. Too handsome and beautiful to be wringing the necks of chickens.

F = FALLS, FESTIVALS AND FAIS DOS DOS

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After spending three weeks in the flatlands of Oklahoma, I need to revisit my homeland–Louisiana. Actually, I’m from Texas but we’ve lived in Louisiana for 20+ years; it’s home now. Daughter was born in Louisiana, graduated from LSU and claims the state and the college with Tiger pride. In fact, she discovered the Falls. Here she is standing beneath a waterfall. Okay, so it’s not Niagara Falls but it’s still a waterfall.
There are about fifteen waterfalls hidden within 5,000 acres just two hours northwest of New Orleans, near St. Francisville, and not far from the infamous Angola Prison. One can hike, bike, go birding or hunting on the acreage.

Daughter and friends took a hiking tour through Pack and Paddle. For upcoming trips and events, go HERE. 

Louisiana is an interesting state. Visitors can come any time of the year and there will be a festival they can experience. Check out all the festivals HERE. 

Fais do-do is a name for a Cajun dance party or hoedown, originating before World War II. The name comes  from the French phrase that roughly translates as “go to beddy-bye.” Young Cajun mothers took their crying infants into a “cry room” and whispered “fais do do”, hoping to get their whimpering baby to sleep. It’s said they were afraid their hubbys would dance with someone else if they didn’t get the kiddo to sleep and get back out there. Before the party began, attendees gathered ingredients to make a big pot of gumbo.

 I certainly ate my share of chicken and sausage gumbo … before I became a vegetarian.

Now, if you’re a writer who wants to plop your characters in the middle of Louisiana to fall in love, murder someone or discover weird circles in sugar cane fields, please, do your research. North Louisiana, South Louisiana, Central Louisiana and Southwest Louisiana are all extremely different from each other. There’s nothing worse than an author misrepresenting our state.

You know all those movies you watch (and laugh at) set in Louisiana? For the record, we don’t talk that way!

F = FALLS, FESTIVALS AND FAIS DOS DOS

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After spending three weeks in the flatlands of Oklahoma, I need to revisit my homeland–Louisiana. Actually, I’m from Texas but we’ve lived in Louisiana for 20+ years; it’s home now. Daughter was born in Louisiana, graduated from LSU and claims the state and the college with Tiger pride. In fact, she discovered the Falls. Here she is standing beneath a waterfall. Okay, so it’s not Niagara Falls but it’s still a waterfall.
There are about fifteen waterfalls hidden within 5,000 acres just two hours northwest of New Orleans, near St. Francisville, and not far from the infamous Angola Prison. One can hike, bike, go birding or hunting on the acreage.

Daughter and friends took a hiking tour through Pack and Paddle. For upcoming trips and events, go HERE. 

Louisiana is an interesting state. Visitors can come any time of the year and there will be a festival they can experience. Check out all the festivals HERE. 

Fais do-do is a name for a Cajun dance party or hoedown, originating before World War II. The name comes  from the French phrase that roughly translates as “go to beddy-bye.” Young Cajun mothers took their crying infants into a “cry room” and whispered “fais do do”, hoping to get their whimpering baby to sleep. It’s said they were afraid their hubbys would dance with someone else if they didn’t get the kiddo to sleep and get back out there. Before the party began, attendees gathered ingredients to make a big pot of gumbo.

 I certainly ate my share of chicken and sausage gumbo … before I became a vegetarian.

Now, if you’re a writer who wants to plop your characters in the middle of Louisiana to fall in love, murder someone or discover weird circles in sugar cane fields, please, do your research. North Louisiana, South Louisiana, Central Louisiana and Southwest Louisiana are all extremely different from each other. There’s nothing worse than an author misrepresenting our state.

You know all those movies you watch (and laugh at) set in Louisiana? For the record, we don’t talk that way!

E Words: Energy and Elaborate

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ENERGY
The strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity. A feeling of possessing such strength and vitality. Dynamic quality energy: the capacity of acting or being active & intellectual energy: a usually positive spiritual force energy flowing through all people

ELABORATE
Involving many carefully arranged parts or details; detailed and complicated in design and planning. . Planned or executed with painstaking attention to numerous parts or details. Intricate and rich in detail.
——-

Energy and Elaborate–two wonderful words: I love it when I get an idea for a short story or novel and feel the energy of it flowing on the paper. When I feel the energy, then I believe my reader does too. Not every idea I come up with reaches that point and I have to elaborate until I get on the right path. Sometimes I never capture what I’m aiming for and lose all enthusiasm for the piece.

Do you think there’s a trick to creating energy in your writing? Like me, do you elaborate, flesh it out, layer it until you connect with that strength, vitality, voice you’re striving for? Sometimes I take a look at my verbs, cut the passive and add active verbs to make my piece come alive.
Would you like to share your writing secrets with us?

DETERMINED to Make it Right

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Determined – Having made a firm decision and being resolved not to change it. Processing or displaying resolve. Marked by or showing determination; resolute: was engaged in a protracted struggle with a determined enemy.  

I went to bed last night with no D word in sight ; it came to me loud and clear this morning. Determined. I admire those who are determined to accomplish their goals, who resolve to lose weight, complete a novel, begin and finish a screenplay or a book of poetry.
I admire anyone who resolves to win a battle with a determined enemy. And that brings me to this because I’m determined to make it right:  
When I chose my C word, when it came to me, nagged at me, it was defnitely Charles but I misunderstood the reason behind it. I hadn’t visited Charles’ blog in a week or longer because we’ve just moved to Oklahoma and I’m behind in everything. I just knew Charles was constantly on my mind for some reason. Now I know why. After going to his blog yesterday afternoon, and reading all the posts I’ve missed, I learned that his wife Lana has been diagnosed with cancer–a horrible C word. Suddenly, I knew why Charles was on my mind.

I’m a firm believer that God puts things on my mind and heart for a reason; he expects action from me. In this case, prayer.  So this morning I’m determined to make it right. I’m asking everyone who reads this post (at any time-today, tomorrow, next year) to join me and send up prayers for Lana. If you aren’t a praying person then please, send good thoughts their way. Visualize/pray that Charles and Lana find the right doctors to help them, and that those doctors and every medical person they come in contact with will be kind, considerate, helpful and knowledgeable. Pray that Lana and Charles use wisdom in their decision making, and that Charles is able to take the time he needs away from work to be with Lana in all her appointments. Pray that Lana is healed and that she and Charles have many more years of marital bliss.

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

And because I know you’re doing this, I’m going to add, Amen and Amen.

Read Charles Gramlich’s post HERE.  Lana is an artist and a photographer. Visit HERE to see some of her work.

C for Charles

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I couldn’t get past C for Charles. I tossed other words around in my head, but didn’t feel comfortable with them. So today, C stands for Charles Gramlich. 

Charles Gramlich grew up on a farm in Arkansas but moved to the New Orleans area in 1986 to teach psychology at a local university. He’s published several novels, a couple of nonfiction books, two collections of short stories, a memoir and a chapbook of vampire haiku–among other things.  He writes in different genres.  A year or so back, I interviewed him for my Louisiana Saturday Night column. (click & scroll down to read.)

I became acquainted with Charles by reading comments on blogs. When I read his blog, I became a fan and ordered his book Write with Fire, Thoughts on the Craft of Writing.  I laughed my way through his ebook, Days of Beer: A Memoir of a Beer Drinkin’ Man. 

Charles and I have never met but have a couple of mutual friends. He has a dedicated following and if you spend time on his blog, you’ll learn why. Because of his generous nature and his blog-reading dedication, I always feel encouraged. I think he’s very worthy of being my C-word.