Words cannot express how important the fans are. Alas, my abilities of that of a wordsmith are no more. Simply put, they are the reason behind my existence and motivation for me to continue my writing.

The greatest joy of writing is showing and taking readers on an adventure of a life time through my characters perspectives.

I am working on several stories, Heart of Darkness; the second book in the Heart Series, Impractical Heart; a teen series, and Dragon's Fury are just to name a few. An updated schedule of the various stages my manuscripts are in, can be found on my website. www.jpastoriusbooks.com

I am an avid reader. My favorite authors varies from all over the writing spectrum. Dan Brown, Brad Melzer, Rick Riordan, J.K. Rowling, Holly Black, Jodi Picoult. The list goes on.

Believe it or not, my characters. They want their story told and sometimes the stories come to me in dreams. I find myself writing down ideas in random places and driving my husband crazy with my babble. He's always interested to see what's going on in my mind, when I'm not being a total recluse. I blame the characters.

Reading of course! I enjoy reading works from new and upcoming authors like myself through wattpad. I'm somewhat of an artist and enjoy drawing face portraits of people, snatching up a free swing when I can to soar through the air, and trying new foods.

Usually I am searching for a particular author; however, I always discover new ebooks and authors through the related content displayed. It's a good feature to have because I am a binge reader. I enjoy reading through each synopsis before making any purchases.

Yes. I wrote my first story at the age of sixteen over the summer. It was a murder mystery called Old Habits Die Hard. Unfortunately, I believe my father's house devoured the script while I was away at school because I never saw it again. A bleak end for a hard and cold story.

Usually, I'm up early in the morning to the evening writing. It consists copious amounts of tea, water, cookies and music. Various scenes of my works are written while listening to symphonic music. Once I start I cannot stop until the character releases me from their hold. I'm in pajamas scribbling away and speaking gibberish until a. my bladder is full and I can no longer go on, b. the character is in an unconscious state or c. my husband entices me from my cave with delicious smelling food. What?! I like to eat. I can't help it. It's a weakness.

I started with the Arthur Books written by Marc Brown. The stories always had a positive impact on me and my daily life, family dynamics were present in the stories, I loved Arthur's relationships with various characters and how they evolved over time, and there was always a moral to the story. I enjoy seeing those aspects and hope to incorporate that into my own works.

The tone of the story usually sets the dynamics of my cover design. I.e. if the there is an undertone of something dark and sinister going on in the story, then I want the cover to reflect that. I usually hire a graphic designer to put together my covers for the story if I'm having trouble expressing my thoughts or starting the process.