Jolene's Writings Around the Web

We have a new look  Sharing my latest Jolene's Book and Writer's Talk podcast episode with North Florida Mystery Author, Sarah Bewley, talking about her North Florida Mystery Series, writing and living in North Florida. Great interview.

  2021 was not kind to a lot of people around the world. Just when we thought it was safe to go out more with or without our masks first, my father passed away after losing the fight with Leukemia in January. He did not want to be isolated in the hospital with no visitors, like so many patients were during the previous year. Plus, the entire medical community was just barely hanging on themselves, after being driven to the brink of exhaustion and really close to insanity. There just wasn’t enough personnel to help patients find their strength or even their will to live. There were very limited hospice nurses for home visits either. We had to rely on family members to stay with him, keep him clean, and administer his meds to help ease his passage. His wife’s daughters were such as help during this time as they both had a background in the medical fields.  After his passing, there was the inevitable in-fighting about what would happen to his body. His current wife took over all ...

Whether you love or hate the month of October it does tend to bring out strong feelings in most people. Floridians are not enamored with the month because September and October tend to be the busiest months for property destoying hurriances to sweep through. There are generally still mosquitoess, no-see-ums and knats about but also the love bugs are smashing into your windshield and front grill making a mess. To top it off it is generally still pretty warm the entire month. Unless we get some freak Artic blast dipping all the way down and pushing the hot air further into the Carribean we do not get a lot of cooler days or even nights. But there is always Halloween. No, I do not participate anymore with the holiday as my kids are all grown and my grandchildren are also grown as well. I only have two of those and have been told imfactically those will be the only ones I will have. And, at this rate I will probably not get a great-grandchild either. Anyway, I live out in rural Suwannee Co...

Just passed your midterms? - Celebrate! Just graduated from school? - Celebrate! - Just finished your first draft of that novel? - Celebrate! - for me the best way to celebrate is with Pizza and a Salad. I was never so happy than when the The Pizza Stone opened. Now I can call in my order and it will be ready for pickup by the time I get there - Fresh and Delicious - Thanks so much.  #ufcjconline What is your favorite pizza to order when you are celebrating something, have some extra cash or just need a pick-me-up to get you through the week? There are literary a million different ways to make a pizza! Factors contributing to the endless variations: Dough types: Different recipes exist for various styles, such as Neapolitan, New York, Sicilian, and Detroit-style pizza doughs.  Sauces: While tomato-based sauces are common, other options like white sauces, gravies and pesto are also used.  Toppings: The combination of available toppings, including various meats, vegetables,...

YES! I made it through the first day. I got all my assignments done and now I am listening to my only textbook online. There was a little snafu on getting access to that but with a flurry of emails between me, the textbook host, the university bookstore reps and someone else I cannot remember I finally have access to the book and have been listening to it this afternoon. I do love to create videos on PowerPoint and this is one of the three different introduction videos that each class wanted the students to create. I switch around some things, added a bit more to one than the other and of course the ever present question: "What do you hope to learn in the class" is different as well.   

  Check out one of my learning sessions I gave at the Writers Alliance of Gainesville Marketing Coalition group on Zoom. Now I may even be given a 45 to 90 minute talk at the 2026 Sunshine State Book Festival at their Writer's Day Conference the day before the festival. - (Oh My!!!) Yes, I will be graduating from Florida State College Jacksonville this month with my first bachelor's degree. You know it took 3 other tries and 40 years to get it. And YES! I have been accepted to the University of Florida - College of Journalism and Communication online masters program in Social Media! Now all I have to do is find the funds to pay for it all. I have been given the federal student loan limit for graduate students with will pay for tuition and books but I have to pay off the new Apple laptop (Baa Hum Bug!!) that I need to learn now to use efficiently as well as pay for some software to help me in my course. They were very sweet and gave me a $1500 per semester grant. (YEA! don't...

There are a lot of things happening in the world today that are just pressing on our hearts and minds. Why in the world humanity is such as dumpster fire I truly cannot comprehend some times. I mean, I get there are bad people and there are good people and then there are those just trying to figure it out. But the shear amount of creeps, Karens, and crooks who are bound and determined to destroy what they cannot possess is still so staggering. Common sense and decency seems to have been squashed and pushed aside for the majority who feel, "It is all about me!" and everyone else can just take a back seat and do without.  Since I do not have a solution to humanities stupidity or a magic wand that will allow me to erase all those who just do not really need to be on this earth a moment longer I think I will just say, "Have a great weekend", for my oldest son out there somewhere, "Happy Birthday and be safe", and finally all those brave souls out there who are...

In the Dystopian Worlds I have Read and in Real Life History We are Repeating Ourselves https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/tell-president-trump-and-elon-musk-hands-off-our-social-security Elon Musk's DOGE (the "so-called" Department of Government Efficiency), only cares about taking money from everyday people to line the pockets of himself and his billionaire buddies. Despite President Trump’s many campaign promises to serve the American people, he is not only allowing but endorsing Musk coming after your hard-earned Social Security benefits.  Since Trump's inauguration day, Elon Musk has been running amok to take away resources from programs like cancer and health care research, SNAP, Medicaid and Medicare and more. In just the last few weeks, Musk has used his platform on X to  spread outrageous lies  about Social Security to frame his pro-billionaire agenda as a righteous attack.  Congress, on both sides of the aisle, needs to fight back against the Trump administr...

Excerpt from the video and an upcoming blog post on my Workamping-In-Florida blog .   Challenges and Triumphs on the Road One of the significant challenges Debra faced was a health issue in 2023, where she encountered a blood clot in her brain. Requiring hospitalization, this experience momentarily halted her writing pursuits. However, it also taught her the importance of making her books accessible through formats like large print and audiobooks. Being on the road comes with unique challenges, notably the inconsistency of internet access. To overcome this, Debra and her husband invested in Starlink, which helped maintain connectivity to manage her writing and publishing business. Additionally, she embraced dictation tools to capture her thoughts while on the move, ensuring her creative process was not hindered by the bumps and jolts of travel. Check out her Website :  https://debraparmley.com/

Jolene's Book and Writer's Talk Podcast Interviews South Florida Author Linda Hansen. She hand painted each of the pages in her two books and is contemplating a third. "Curious about self-publishing, watercolor art, or storytelling? 📚🎨 Check out our latest episode featuring Linda Hansen who shares her unique journey as a late-blooming children's book author. Inspiring doesn't even begin to describe it! 

Jolene's Quick Review About Link Hubs such as LinkTree And Other Rambling Thoughts: I just finished presenting this video and did a Q&A session with those who showed up from the Writers Alliance of Gainesville author group. Of which I have been a member for a number of years now. We just closed the books on the 2025 Sunshine State Book Festival season and I may not be returning to that in the fall. I will be still giving the Marketing Coalition presentations once a month and have asked to be paired with a writing pod so I can finally get my fiction books published. I try to always video the presentation portion because it gives me a chance to say all the things I want to get across before people interrupt with questions. I do not mind people asking questions but my brain loses its train of thought and off we go on a tangent not related to the talk. I do have a tendency to talk quickly when I am recording as I do not want the videos to be too long. The Q& A session was good...

I am so happy, so far, with a new app called DESCRIPT which as an app for you computer as well as a web interface to use. It is probably best that I have Fiber Optic Cable Internet with decents speeds these days to use the program. It is saving me hours in editing, adding captions, and integrating the various parts of the podcast that I film separately into a final product if one video for YouTube, a high-quality MP3 file for Apple Podcast and Spotify which leaves me more time to get more done. The price for the AI Driven software package is $30 a month. I used it to take out all the double words and uhs and ums that people make while recording and to shorten videos with a more precise hand. You can assign speaker names if there is more than one person in the video so when you download the finished transcript you have an idea of who said what. There are several levels for beginners even a free, cut-down version for you to try before you commit to a monthly or yearly price. Ther...

Thank you so much L. A. Boruff for sending this great BookBox. An excellent selection and some great stickers. Cannot wait to get some time to start reading bookmail. My two daughters and granddaughter have already laid claimed to some of the items. Of couse, that may not happen until April or so. The Sunshine State Book Festival is fast approaching. I volunteered to create author promo videos and in return the authors stayed to participate in my Jolene's Book and Writer's Talk Podcast. The ads will be created and shared on the SSBF social media pages prior to February 1, 2025. The podcasts are, out of necessity, are not being editing and uploaded until after the show. Between my school schedule, recording, editing and posting schedules there just isn't any time left over to edit the 20 to 40 minute shows. I have also created videos for the Teen Lit Contest, the Writer's Workshops and A Call Out for Volunteers. Finally, I will have to do a "Thank You" to t...

There is so much happening around the world right now. My own personal area is quite booked up. Most of it is all my own doing. I volunteered to help with the social medial for the Sunshine State Book Festival in Gainesville, Florida which I will also have an author table on February 1st. And I am doing another year of conducting a monthly online writer's marketing seminar for the Writers Alliance of Gainesville. I am still a semi-volunteer with the First Coast Romance Writers in Jacksonville, Florida and their 2025 schedule is packed with workshops, romance awards, book cover contests and three anthologies. I recently volunteer to help take care of the website and social media for the Northeast Florida Sisters in Crime group out of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. They have monthly writer workshops that need to be posted on social media and I just realized I volunteered to hold a monthly Writer's Business Workshop for their members. Finally, I volunteered to do the website up...

 Welcome to 2025 and WTF are We Going to Do Now Over the last few days I have been unindated with video ad requests from the participating authors of the Sunshine State Book Festival on February 1, 2025 in Gainesville, Florida. Yes, silly me volunteered to do the videos again this year thinking that may be 10 or 15 of the 200 would show up on Zoom. But so far, there are 32 authors who have scheduled and on 3 haven't shown up. I am using my Zoom scheduler program because I already had it in place with my availability. I had to quickly adjust it though because I have new classes starting on January 6th and I want to attend some of the writing workshops that are scheduled over the next two weeks. Plus, I have my own workshop that I have to give on the Third Monday.  I am thinking About Doing Another One of these this year. Any Takers? The good thing (and, of course, the bad as well) is that, so far, each of the writers have agreed to participate in the Jolene's Book and Writer...

Coming in June 2025 is the 2nd Annual Literary Indulgence - Bookish Delight Book Festival with authors, crafts and local venders as well as featured speakers on a variety of subjects. The founder and organizer of the event Marie Morton asked me to help out with the website and social media. She and her festival committee, local authors and volunteers, are working hard to get sponsors for the event, provide real value for the vendors (Authors, crafts people and food) inside and outside of the terrific, historical venue. Check out the website for more: https://literaryindulgence.com  MORE LATER! - HAPPY HOLIDAYS - RELAX AND READ A BOOK OR TWO!

 Writer's Workshop being offered day before SSBF 2025 Attention all authors living in Southern Georgia and Northern to Central Florida! The Sunshine State Book Festival is sponsoring the Writers’ Workshop Intensive - January 31, 2025, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Cross Creek Room at Best Western Gateway Grand, Gainesville, Florida. They will be providing a light breakfast bar and lunch for the participants. Seating is Limited so please sign-up early. Visit the website for more information: https://sunshinestatebookfestival.com/writers-workshop/

Here is a quick video I created for Author Jo Ann Lordahl with a quote from one of her books called "Age Into Beauty - A Checklist" - you should give it a try. Age Into Beauty - A Checklist by JoAnn Lordahl CHAPTER FOUR - Longevity: Age 100 in Your Future? Day Forty-four — Experience — This quote comes at the end of crime writer P.D. James’ Autobiography published in 2000. A writer observing herself and her life: "Tomorrow I shall be seventy-eight and, by the time this fragment of autobiography is published, I shall be within sight of my eightieth birthday. If seventy-seven is a time to be in earnest, eighty is a time to recognize old age, accepting with such fortitude as one can muster its inevitable pains, inconvenience and indignities and rejoicing in its few compensations.... I go into old age with the companionship of loving friends even though we all know that we can’t expect to travel the whole way together. And I have my work. I shall continue to write detective...

Happy National Indie Author Day! The Indie author Project Website has some great information for authors who self-publish and wants a better relationship with their local libraries. The project provides an opportunity for both authors and all libraries to take advantage of their program and resources. They have announce next years days and on November 4, 2024 you can get a jump start on next year's offerings. IAD 2025 Date Announced! Mark your calendars! The 9th annual Indie Author Day has been announced for Friday, November 14, 2025! Registration for the 2025 event opens Monday, November 4, 2024. We look forward to celebrating another year with this incredible community! https://indieauthorday.com/

The First RVing Fiction Story was Written by Dorothy Gilman Butters. Traveling around the countryside in converted vehicles with your family has been done since the dawn of man. Wagon Trains moving the the west, the Great Depression saw families moving around trying to find work and there were always the circus and carnival people as well as traveling road shows during the summer and early fall months bringing culture to the small towns. Mrs. Gilman was not a Road Warrior but she imagined her characters were. We have some copies available on my online bookstore: https://bookstore.jolenesbooksandmore.com/product/enchanted-caravan-by-dorothy-gilman-butters/ Or you can get a copy from all the major retailers - worldwide. https://books2read.com/EnchantedCaravan