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To listen to Jessica’s story, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Bg_39EVv0 or here, when she was featured on Kevin Price’s radio show, Price of Business: https://thedailyblaze.com/grieving-with-gratitude-and-thriving-after-trauma/

Jessica Lee Peterson is, first and foremost, a mother who has built her life around raising children. While developing her family, she also pursued a career in social work. She has been a licensed social worker since 2001, helping people and their families navigate complex systems and work through the hardships of life. In July of 2012, Jessica lost her three daughters Amara, Sophie, and Cecilia to domestic violence. Since then, she has used her grief as fuel to make the world a better place, embracing a philosophy of choosing light over darkness. She works for Washington County as an adult protection investigator and resides in River Falls, Wisconsin with her husband Matthew, stepdaughters Ellianna and Maya, and their children Trinity and Flint. You can contact Jessica through her website: .https://thistlesandthorns3x.squarespace.com/home

As an author, meeting new readers can be a rewarding experience. You’re able to get feedback on the book(s) you’ve written such as book reviews, possible ideas for future books from their comments, and get appreciated (hopefully) for the work you’ve done.

It can also be daunting or scary to meet readers and fans of the genre you write in, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction. Sometimes, the readers can get disappointed in what you write or scenes/topics you do not put in the book. And sometimes, they won’t like it at all. That’s okay. Not every story is for everyone. As an author, you have to remember that, so you don’t dwell on the negatives.

Instead, take the positive experience and bask in it. Be personable, happy to meet the reader. Excited. Let it fill you with joy for completing something many people will never do–writing and getting a book published to share with your audience.

Things you should say when you meet a new reader:

1. Hello, are you a __(genre of your book)_ reader?
2. If yes, begin telling them about your story.
3. Then, assuming they are interested in your book and purchase it, ask them if they would you be willing to post a book review on _(site where books can be reviewed)_ when they finish reading it.
4. Would you share my story with a friend who might enjoy it?
5. Do you need an autographed copy for that friend?
6. Thank the reader for reading the book.

Things you can say to a reader who has already purchased your book:

1. Did you enjoy the story?
2. If yes, would you be willing to post a book review on ______?
3. Have you shared my story with a friend who might enjoy it?
4. Do you need an autographed copy for a different friend?
5. Thank the reader for reading the book.

If you write a second/another book, be sure to thank your readers in the acknowledgements.

This week, we had the pleasure of interviewing Charles DuPuy about his new release, Say the Word. The novel is currently available to purchase here on the Written Dreams website. Come learn a little more about his heart-pounding, tear-jerking mystery as Charles shares his process with us!

About Say The Word

When physician assistant Jim Booker “saves” the life of a Mafia don’s son, the young man’s father makes him a solemn promise. Jim remembers it when he runs into an intolerable situation at Serenity, a substance abuse treatment facility in Maine.

The resulting consequences of the don’s actions threaten to land Jim in prison for the rest of his life. He struggles to come up with something, anything that will clear his name. He is helped along the way by Brianna, a counselor who works with Jim at Serenity. They join forces to try and get the tenacious state police detective off their backs, but they’ll face numerous obstacles along the way as Jim tries to prove his innocence.

The Interview

Q: What made you want to write a physician’s assistant type character for Say the Word?
A: I was a physician assistant in Maine for many years. I drew on my experience at a substance abuse treatment program for the background to Say the Word.

Q: What is your connection to Maine?
A: I moved to Maine after becoming a physician assistant in 1983. My first exposure to Maine was as a camp counselor while in college. I have hunted, fished, camped and hiked throughout the state, and enjoyed fishing for lobsters and digging clams. Maine is larger than all the other New England states put together, and it’s chock full of things to do and places to go.

Q: Any words of advice on how to cope for people who have dark demons like abuse or addiction in their lives?
It’s a waste of time and money to offer advice to people who are addicted to one or more substances. They need to reach the point in their lives where the only direction to go is up, and they’re willing to go in that direction. Without their willingness to change, any effort to help them is a waste of time, sad to say.

As for people who have suffered abuse, be it physical, sexual or psychological, a willingness to get past it is key. The most important thing they need to understand is that the abuse was not their fault. Many abused people blame themselves for what happened. That is what keeps them suffering.

Q: Why mystery? Did you find it, or did it find you?
I’ve always loved a good mystery, so writing them came naturally to me. Keeping my readers wondering what’s going to happen next is very satisfying to me. It’s the spark that keeps me writing.

Q: Words of advice to an aspiring young author?
Read everything that interests you, write daily in a diary or a journal, and explore everything in your world. Keep doing it until you know who you are and what you want to say. Then write, write, write until most of what you write satisfies you. Don’t expect everything you write to satisfy you. That’s why good writers edit and rewrite.

Q: Who do you enjoy reading?
I read to learn and to be entertained, so I read a wide range of stuff. Naturally, mysteries grab me the most. It’s likely that Edgar Allan Poe got me started, and Graham Greene, Ernest Hemingway and William Golding caught my eye. Contemporary writers include Lee Child, Dan Brown, Stuart Woods, James W. Hall, Dean Koontz, and yes, Stephen King, a fellow-Mainer. I’m constantly on the lookout for new blood, pun intended!

Every author wants to improve their craft. Here’s a few tips on what to do.

Write a lot. Write on a schedule. Write different things, different forms, different stories. One editor used to say to set a goal of writing one short story a week. If you do that, at the end of the year you’ll have 52 short stories you wouldn’t have had otherwise.

If it’s early in your arc as a writer, by the end of the first year, none of those 52 stories are likely to sell, but during that year you will have learned a lot about the art and craft of writing. And probably learned a lot about yourself as a writer.

Keep with that schedule, and at the end of the second year, you’ll have written over one hundred stories. By this point, you may have produced a few stories that have a good chance of selling and learned more about writing than you’ll ever learn in any sort of writing program.

Read a lot. Read different genres, different formats, by different authors. If you write mystery, read romance. If you write humorous, read serious stories. Pick apart the story, analyze the characters, their actions, their emotions. Are they realistic?

And most of all, don’t stress the small stuff. Writing should be fun, fulfilling, and something you enjoy doing. If you’re struggling with a story, set it aside and start something new.

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to Steve Buechler!