jwrites

One of the things I have discovered about myself is that I'm not happy unless there are a lot of irons in the fire and, believe me, the fire is full of irons. I'm as busy as a long-tailed cat in a roomful of rockers and as happy as a pig in cool mud on a hot Summer's day.

I'm working on a number of other things that weren't mentioned above. Some of them are truly epic and a few are more jumps into a small pond for those who enjoy reading short. They're all a lot of fun in the making. More about that at a later date, okay?

If you'd like to get a glimpse of what's contained in the books now available or some stuff that's upcoming, course your cursor to the covers presented on this page and do the "click" thing. If you've had it for today, thanks for stopping by and, please, come back soon. I've decided against starting a newsletter. I figure I write too much stuff about myself as it is and, for me, it's demeaning and I feel guilty and a little dirty when I do. I don't know why, but at least I'm honest about it.

See ya...

J.

ALL BOOKS, WITH THE EXCEPTIONS OF ON TO MARS 2, THE RACE IS ON and The COFFEE SHOP CHRONICLES, ARE AVAILABLE FROM DOUBLE DRAGON PUBLISHING AND MANY OTHER OUTLETS ON THE INTERNET. JUST CLICK ON THE DESIRED COVER FOR MORE INFORMATION. SOME OF THEM ARE AVAILABLE IN LARGE PRINT PAPERBACK FROM LULU.COM. THE LARGE PRINT FORMAT MAKES THEM EASY ON THE EYES. VERY NICE FOR CUDDLING UP TO AND HAVING A GREAT READ WITHOUT SQUINTING OR SCROUNGING AROUND FOR THOSE CONFOUNDED READING GLASSES YOU MISPLACED.

THE QUALITY IN ALL OF THEM IS EXCELLENT. WHITE, WHITE PAGES AND BLACK, BLACK PRINT. THE COVERS ARE STUNNING; BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLES OF DERON DOUGLAS'S COVER ARTISTRY, NOT INCLUDING ON TO MARS 2, THE RACE IS ON AND THE COFFEE SHOP CHRONICLES. SILVER MOON, A FREE READ, ONLY ON THIS SITE.

To find out a little more about me on a personal level you can click on my ugly mug above, if you're even slightly interested. If not, well, I suppose that's okay.

COMING SOON: TWISTED TAILS VI: The Alien Connection

A major WOO HOO! I just found that I've been listed along with other authors considered to be worth a hoot on a selected list at MIDWESTERN BOOK REVIEWS. I couldn't believe it. This is NOT one of those typical Internet write-your-name-in-and-get-put-on-our-list deals and it is a significant honor. I am blown away. Jeez! Sharing a list with Faulkner, Poe and Shakespeare...! Me?

The TWISTED TAILS series of books reached new heights in 2008 with the release of TWISTED TAILS III: Pure Fear. Why so long? Well, to put it simply, they are difficult books to produce. The level of quality of story with the required twist at the end is a high hurdle to jump for any author and the editing is...difficult. Just ask any of the contributors to the series. TWISTED TAILS IV hit in 2009 and now, in 2010, TWISTED TAILS V: Apocalypses Now and Then is available.

Ah! Blessed relief. Once again I have settled into my Hard SF writer's chair and am pecking away. Life is good. I have contracted a trilogy with DDP and the first book of THE RAIN TRILOGY, STORM CLOUD RISING is now available.

I have put together a rather eclectic and electric collection of short stories in a book titled EAT MY SHORTS that is now available in e-Book and paperback.

Just released is a rather strange tale of first contact with an artifact that will strain your imagination and cause a bad case of the spine tingles. What's the title of this work? ANCIENT WHISPERS FROM TOMORROW. Sound interesting?

J. Richard Jacobs Writes

BOOK 2 OF THE RAIN TRILOGY - MAELSTROM is here! Magnificent cover by Deron Douglas.

Get in touch with me by clicking this sentence
It's supposed to be my e-mail address, maybe.

John Klawitter is another old dude I know and I'm sure you'll want to know him, too. He's an excellent writer with an imagination that is unbounded. His prose flows and is understandable -- if you can wrap your brain around that. Click pic....

And survived all three!

And what delightful and rewarding experiences they were. My thanks go to Lea Schizas, who is the driving force, but also to all those who presented and participated. Wonderful experiences indeed!

Will I do it again? Sure, and I hope I'm feeling well enough to make it all the way through next year.

Oh, btw, anyone who had questions or comments for me that I missed, please feel free to contact me directly by e-mail and we'll take care of it.

Non-fiction

SCIENCE FICTION - HARD & SOFT at its finest. Also excursions into FANTASY, HORROR, HUMOR plus mind-bending MAINSTREAMISH for the not too squeamish.

HEY, HOW ABOUT THIS? I WAS REFERRED TO AS THE 'O. HENRY' OF SCIENCE FICTION. I'M GOING TO TAKE THAT AS A COMPLIMENT AND LEAVE IT ALONE. I THINK I'LL FEEL BETTER ABOUT IT IF I DON'T LOOK FOR THE MEANING HIDING THERE SOMEWHERE....

I WAS ALSO CALLED 'THE MODERN DAY ISAAC ASIMOV'. ALTHOUGH INFLUENCED GREATLY BY HIS WORKS, I DON'T THINK I COULD EVER FILL HIS SHOES. FRANKLY, I DON'T BELIEVE ANYONE CAN. I'M HUMBLED BY THE THOUGHT, BUT I'LL SKIRT AROUND THAT ONE, TOO.

Okay, let's take a look at what has happened over the last few years that brings us up to the Spring of 2011. In a short fiction anthology competition titled THE RACE IS ON that was sponsored by ebooksonthe.net my short fiction piece, WINNING IS FOR THE LOSER, nabbed a first place spot in the book. This is a mainstream collection and, though my piece is admittedly weird, it fit the genre.

TWISTED TAILS: An Anthology to Surprise and Delight finished in the Top Ten picks from the Preditors & Editors Poll for Mainstream Novel and won the coveted Dream Realm Award for the Anthologies Category.

TWISTED TAILS II: Time on Our Hands - Volume 1 takes First Place position as Winner of the EPPIE Awards Science Fiction Category. TWISTED TAILS II - Time on Our Hands - Volume 1 also snags Finalist positions in ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Awards. Not once, but twice. One for Anthologies and again for Science Fiction -- a rare occurrence, to be sure.

TWISTED TAILS II: Out of Time - Volume 2 takes a Finalist spot in the EPPIE Awards of 2008 for Science Fiction. My word...!

TWISTED TAILS III: Pure Fear grabs an Honorable Mention in the 2008 ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Awards...!

TWISTED TAILS IV: Fantastic Flights of Fantasy nabs yet another Finalist spot in the 2009 ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Awards...!

TWISTED TAILS V: Apocalypses Now and Then secures a Finalist position in the 2010 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards...!

TWISTED TAILS VI: The Alien Connection is here and it is everything we had hoped for. It sports a wonderful Deron Douglas cover and a batch of incredible, magnificent stories from a group of highly imaginative authors.

Marylin Peake's fine book FROM HOLLYWOOD EXPERTS AND PUBLISHED AUTHORS takes a Silver medal in ForeWord Magazine's BOOK OF THE YEAR Awards. From a newsletter? Yep. Her other newsletter book, INSIDE SCOOP, scoops up two more Finalist spots and gets an Honorable Mention, too. Wow! Add to that the 2009 EPPIE Award and that's quite a collection I'm in...!

ANCIENT WHISPERS FROM TOMORROW was selected as a Finalist in the 2008 Dream Realm Awards. A good show but it didn't <sob and whimper> win. Oh, well, next time.

I took FIRST PRIZE in the PIONEERS DIVISION for an essay on why we should colonize Mars and, by default, the moon ASAP. The essay appears in the book ON TO MARS 2 by Dr. Robert M. Zubrin and Frank Crossman of THE MARS SOCIETY. This book is available from Apogee Books and various other sources.

A short-short of mine, TAP ROOT, found its way into a collection titled THE COFFEE SHOP CHRONICLES offered up by A Word With You Press. 100 super short stories of the mainstream type....

MEMBERSHIP (PAST AND/OR PRESENT) IN A FEW SOCIETIES:......................

THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC

THE LOS ANGELES AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS SOCIETY

MARSDRIVE

THE MARS SOCIETY

MENSA SOCIETY

THE NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY

THE PLANETARY SOCIETY

THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA

SETI

SOCIEDAD ASTRONOMICA JUARENSE: SAJ

SOCIEDAD DE DIVULGACION DE ASTRONOMIA Y CIENCIA: SODIAC

SOCIEDAD DE LOUIS PASTEUR

THE SOCIETY OF NAVAL ARCHITECTS AND MARINE ENGINEERS

THE SOCIETY OF SMALL CRAFT DESIGNERS

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What has all that to do with my writing? A lot. Authors who take their craft seriously tend to write from their personal knowledge, experience and the passion that pushes them to write. They write from a personal database, if you will, and what they scribble on those napkins in restaurants late at night and into the wee hours of the morn is based in their life's lessons and what they know, or think they know.

We don't need to belabor that what they think they know outweighs what they know substantially. It is in keeping with the adage, "The more I know, the more I know I don't know."

I have been on this planet quite a few years and in those years I've been paying close attention to the things that happen around me and to me. I've also been watching other people and their behavior, good and bad, with considerable interest. I have learned much -- indeed, it's a continuing process with no end in sight. Not a day goes by without my learning something. I have what is known as an extreme autodidactic personality and learn quickly. It has been both boon and bane, but we won't elaborate on that.

It is this educational process, however it comes, that provides the author with his/her knowledge base and center. As you can see from the above, my files are filled mainly with tech stuff, most of it in the areas of astronomy and astrophysics (math is assumed to play a huge role in all that) as well as engineering and applied physics -- and a smidge of psychology, microbiology, nanotechnology, and other esoteric stuff.

I've also had the opportunity to build a sound foundation of friends in the sciences upon whom I lean for help and guidance when it is needed. They have been kind to me (most of the time) and patient beyond the call. I am indebted to them.

That I write mainly in the SF realm then comes as no surprise. Of course, I write in most of the genre (I don't like that word since it tends to denote things written to a limited formula) and mix them in many cases because the majority of stories demand it.

JUST BOOKS, no hype, tripe, bells or whistles. Not even irritating music.

Non-fiction