Yay! It’s Freebee Fridays time!

First of all,

Congrats to everyone who got in on the action last week and downloaded a free version of “A Hint of Frost” by Hailey Edwards before Amazon caught up with the little blue lady.

If you’d like to find out more about Hailey, hop on over to http://haileyedwards.net/

I had fun breaking into Amazon last week.

Well, thanks for not blowing them up, because I rather like Amazon. This week Jamie Ayres is coming over.

Wait, wasn’t she a winner a few weeks ago?

Yes she was! Jamie is a reader. She hangs out here a lot, and her debut novel was just released. Pretty cool, huh?

It’s only cool is things explode in it.

Umm, I honestly don’t know, but let’s see what she has to say. Put your smiley face on… here she comes.

Well, Hello There. Welcome, Welcome.

Come on in and get comfy.

Well, you look rather sure of yourself, young lady.

Yeah, well, I did my research. I know what I’m in for. Let’s cut to the chase Little Blue Lady. I’m Jamie Ayres (but you can call me Jaim-O)

A Lady who doesn’t like to mess around!?

Okay, so what do you want?

I’d like a gallon of coffee and a credit card to buy an unlimited amount of Norman Love Chocolates. Oh, and I’d also like to give away a copy of 18 Things.

Well, you have to earn the right to give something away here, Miss Smarty Pants!

Bring It!

Well this is a feisty one! Okay… Ms. Ayres… What makes you think your book is good enough to read? I saw the cover. It looks boring.

Don’t judge a book by… Oh, never mind… It’s a story about unconditional love, redeeming hope, and taking leaps of faith to achieve goals, with lots of laughs and Yoda-like wisdom sprinkled throughout.

Yoda! A fellow alien! Maybe this isn’t as boring as it looks!

What would make me want to read it, other than Yoda?

For the same reason we read any story—we long to know we’re not alone, they remind us of ourselves, they give us a new perspective, they make us laugh and entertain us. Sometimes, they make us feel emotions we wish we had in our everyday lives.

I have no emotion

I doubt that’s true.

You look very emotional.

Actually, right now I think you’re blue.

Am not!

Have you looked in the mirror?

Stop that!

Jennifer, she’s picking on me!

That’s part of the interviewer gig… brush it off, don’t let her get the upper hand!

Well, okay then. So, mis Ayre-y Ayres.

Does anything explode in this novel?

Yes.

Think Stay Puff Marshmallow Man.

Oh! I like marshmallows. Wait a minute.

Ha! I just got that. I loved that movie!

Me, too.

That makes us movie sisters!

Well, okay, then sister.

Other than exploding marshmallows, what’s the book about?

Can eighteen things save a life?

Olga Gay Worontzoff thinks her biggest problems are an awful name (after her grandmothers of course) and not attending prom with Conner, her best friend and secret crush since kindergarten.

Just as she’s finally embracing the joys of living life for the moment, her therapist reveals a terrifying secret and Olga’s world is shaken. In the past year, it took eighteen remarkable things to change a life, but nothing she believed about her mission is true.

Now she doesn’t just risk losing her true soul-mate forever, she risks losing her very soul.

Whaaaat? It doesn’t sound like things explode. And you’re another one of those chicks who sounds like they are reading when I asked what their story is about. I hate that!

Ummmm, Sorry?

You best be!

Now you must redeem yourself! Have you ever actually exploded anything?

As a teacher, I’ve done the baking soda and vinegar volcano reaction many times. Also, probably everyone has done fireworks on the 4^th of July, but have they blown up a watermelon with fireworks? Enough said.

Hee Hee. That sounds like fun!

Have you ever painted you hair blue?

No, but I let my students do it twice!

And guess what, it was to motivate them to READ!

You sound like such a cool teacher!

Have you ever thought of maybe taking over the world?

Yes. I’m thinking of embedding a secret code in the text of my next book, 18 Truths, that will put everyone automatically under my hypnosis after they read it. I will then order them to build me a Death Star and take over galaxies one by one. Would you like to help?

YES! I am up to the challenge! Finally, a kindred spirit! Have you ever actually been in space?

I’m originally from Dagobah. Do you think an evil-genius writer and master of words could actually be a mere human? Psh!

Ha! Finally an admission of the truth! I knew someone with such an extra-ordinary talent had to be from another world! Welcome to Earth, Ms. Jamie of Dagobah!

It’s nice to be here.

Does this mean I can give away a copy of my book?

Yes! Absolutely! Let’s allow people to comment below, and then you, in your infinite alien wisdom, can pick a winner

Great!

Let’s do it!

If anyone would like to win a free copy of “18 things” leave a comment below. We will choose a winner on Monday.

How about we give the winner a choice of an ebook or paperback?

You got it!

So start commenting!

If you’d like a chance to win a free copy of 18 Things, please leave a comment below, and if you’d like to find out more about Jamie Ayres, hop on over to http://jamieayres.com/

This one made me laugh. There is a point in the Gold Mine manuscript where a secondary lead character finds out that someone is his father. His reaction is “You’re . . . my . . . father?” (minor action element for dramatic effect). “My father?”

What made me laugh is that the publisher said “This immediately bought to mind Star Wars”

For an intro into where these tips are coming from, please see my post: A Full Manuscript Rejection, or a Gold Mine? You can also click “Rant Worthy Topics” in my right navigation bar. Choose “Gold Mine Manuscript” to see all the lessons to date.

Now, I actually did not think “Star Wars” when I read it, but there is another element in this story that has since been removed… My son and I (he also read the manuscript) were talking about this other element, and my husband said: “She stole that from Star Wars!” I was thinking it in the back of my head, but he verbalized it very well.

The problem is, Star Wars is not just a story that was written over thirty years ago. It is a piece of Americana. There are too many people in the USA, and in the world, who have seen Star Wars… even memorized it. You simply CANNOT mess with themes like that anymore, unless you are careful.

Now, is this to say that no person will ever find out about questionable parentage again in literature? No, of course not. However, you need to be VERY CAREFUL when you do it. Like this publisher stated in an earlier post… Find the uniqueness in what is not unique.

You need to make this your own. When they read your tear-jerking scene, they should see only your characters in their minds, not Luke laying on that platform and then falling down the shaft. If an element has been used before, and notably so, work that scene harder than any other scene. Make sure, without a doubt, that the element is now YOURS. Make them forget all about Luke Skywalker.