Jaye A. Jones

REJECTION! I did the whole query letter thing and got rejected a lot. I have thick skin, so it didn't deter me until one agent showed actual interest...but only if I changed the main characters age to 16. My character was 19. She had 19 year old problems. I changed the book as she asked, didn't like the result, and still got rejected. I didn't like the choice I made to change what I'd written to fit into what this agent thought would be marketable. I want to write what I want. That's when I started to seriously consider self-publishing.

Soulless by Gail Carriger - I couldn't get enough of this book, or this series! Aside from the vampires and the werewolves and all the things I love, it presented a brand new supernatural concept for me, which happens so rarely. The humor and the quirkiness is SO the author. She isn't being any certain way but the way she wants. And it's weird. And It's AWESOME. Plus the main character is so so flawed. I love her. To me she's perfect. Lesson learned: Your main character shouldn't be perfect, and be uncompromising in your strange-ass self as a writer!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - What awkward, stubborn preadolescent wouldn't adore Elizabeth Bennett? Thank you to the teacher who made me read this even though it so didn't sound like my thing. Lesson learned: Things might not take you where you planned. Don't be so rigid, keep an open mind as a writer!

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - The way she writes demands that you read it in one single sitting. HOW do some authors harness such power?! Lesson learned: Keep the stakes high and keep a story moving!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling - All of the Harry Potter series of course, but why specifically PoA? It is the first time time-travel was done correctly, in my opinion, in ANYTHING! It actually makes sense in my over-analyzing brain. Plus Sirius is my favorite HP character. Also, this book got dark. Like for realsies dark. Lesson learned: Readers, no matter their age, aren't fragile!

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs - This book brought me to the genre I should have been writing all along. Sometimes I write other genres, sure, but my heart will always belong to the vampires, and the werewolves, and to magic. When I read Moon Called, I realized I'd been studying for my writing career my whole life. My favorite TV shows, movies, books were all paranormal urban fantasy with heart and humor. Well DUH! That's what I should be writing! Lesson learned: Write what you know!