Wednesday 10/24 to Friday 10/26, I'll be giving away downloads of my YA paranormal novel, Antichrist 16: The Becoming. 

Nathan wants to be a normal teenager but discovers he's the Antichrist.  Yike

http://www.amazon.com/Antichrist-16-Becoming-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B0083AB0EO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1351011940&sr=1-1&keywords=antichrist+16

Belted

Love, terror, cagefighting, and triumph.  A poignant tale of personal transformation.

Go to
http://www.amazon.com/Belted-book/dp/B007TBYYX2/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kstore_2

As shocking as it sounds, people often say to me, “You look short.” 

Well, I am short.

No sense denying it.  I won’t be trying out for the NBA anytime soon.  But what of it?  I’ve been short my whole life, so you know, I’m kind of used to it.  I’ve accepted it.

Accepting the sort of writer you are can be more difficult.  Do you ever read a book and think, “Man, I wish I could write that funny/poetic/fastaced/romantic/ etc.”   Maybe you give it a shot, starting out with some, “I CAN DO ANYTHING!” superhero enthusiasm that morphs into all-too-human muttering, “This crap’s hard,” until finally you’re looking for a solid object to bang your head against as you cry, “Loser, loser, loser, loser!”

But before you resign your writing to the recycling bin, remember each of you is a unique person with something to say.  And no one can say that thing quite the same way you do.  Being your best means being yourself.  Embracing that allows your style to come through your writing. 

I don’t mean to say it’s never good to branch out--try something new. 
Just that most people who succeed play to their strengths.  If you’re funny, be
funny.  If you’re romantic, be romantic.  Find your strengths and shine those
puppies until they sparkle like Edward Cullen on a Caribbean cruise.  Once you
know your strengths, use them, and then you can become “known” for them.

And maybe, just maybe, one day you’ll wake to find you’re the number one, international bestselling, Pulitzer prize winning, millionaire, everyone-wants-to-be -me- author of the most awesome gorilla zombie love story of all time.

Okay, maybe that’s overly dramatic.  But hey--that’s just the kind of writer I am.

I thought about naming this--"I'd give my first born child for a blog review!"  But of course, I don't have children and don't plan on having any, so it didn't seem applicable.  (Please don't hate me--I really do like kids, the parent thing just didn't happen.)

But finally I got a hit.  It's only a review of the first 7500 words, but considering there are whole writing books on this very topic--ex. The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman which I highly recommend--it's still important and also a clever concept for a blog, I might add. Anyway, it was enough to get me out of the chair, doing a little boogie dance.  Go, C.J.--go C.J.!

Okay, here's the link:

http://first7500words.blogspot.com/

How do
I rate this?  Win by knockout!

Thank you Owl.

Number one reason women tell me they don’t want to do mixed martial arts?  They don’t want to get hit.  Well, duh.

Unless you’re a BDSM sex freak who enjoys fifty shades of red on her ass, who does?  Do you think I like some sweaty, tattooed, hulk of a dude taking swipes at my head and then throwing me to the ground and climbing on top of me to take more swipes at my head?  That’s my job, dammit.  (Okay, maybe I like it a little.)  But the point is--achieving mastery means paying your dues, and sometimes the dues hurt like hell.

The same holds for writing.  Why do many people want to write but never do or never finish anything or never submit anything to agents or never publish anything or when they do publish, never push to get reviews...?  Well, they don’t want to get hit.  (Read: Rejected)  And if they do put it out there and get rejected, they fold up and go home.  Know what I say?  Bye.

I’m not the best fighter in my gym by far.  Most of those boys could whip my butt, no problem, and I love them for it.  I’m not the best writer either (not that I suck, mind you), but I have something a lot of people don’t--tenacity.  Half of
winning a fight is not gassing out--not giving up.  Oh, that and learning to
take a hit.

So go ahead.  Hit me.

Honey Badger