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 today. 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 all 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 cursors 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.

TWISTED TAILS V : APOCALYPSES NOW AND THEN

WILL BE HERE SOON

CHECK BACK FROM TIME TO TIME. IT SHOULD APPEAR BEFORE THE MIDDLE OF FEBRUARY...!

Hello, welcome to my "literary" page where I'm supposed to do some bragging, promoting and personal horn blowing. They told me I needed a page like this one to promote my work and get those sought after "BIG" sales. I don't know anything about that and I don't think anyone else does, either. I'm one who thinks that you'll know when you've read something good and when you've read a few hundred pages of trash, whatever the blurbs might have said to gain your interest. You are aware, of course, that the authors write most, if not all, of those blurbs, right? Just how much faith can you put in vested interest?

Sadly, there's no way to know until you've paid the price and turned the pages. Good reviews may help, but they're no guarantee, either. A large number of reviews are suspect at best.

ALL THESE BOOKS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ON TO MARS 2 AND THE RACE IS ON, 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.

With the addition of TWISTED TAILS V, the entire series now contains one hundred and one tales. Enough to keep the most voracious of readers busy for quite some time. Collect them all. Read them all. Let's see if you can survive with your life intact...or your sanity unscathed....

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 AND THE RACE IS ON. I DON'T KNOW THE ORIGINS OF THOSE COVERS. THE COVER FOR THE RACE IS ON WAS DISAPPOINTING -- BUT YOU CAN'T HAVE EVERYTHING.

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 understandable.

COMING SOON

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: Fantastic Flights of Fantasy is now available and appears to be becoming a runaway success.

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 eBook 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

TWISTED TAILS V: Apocalypses Now and Then

is coming soon; watch for it.

Get in touch wit me by clickin' dis here ting...
It's supposed to be my e-mail address, maybe.

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.

FOR AMAZON.COM KINDLE EDITIONS
THAT ARE NOW READY
FOR YOUR NEW KINDLE READER...CLICK BELOW
CLICK HERE

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

I WAS ALSO CALLED 'THE MODERN DAY ISAAC ASIMOV'. ALTHOUGH I WAS INFLUENCED GREATLY BY HIS WORKS, I DON'T THINK I COULD EVER FILL HIS SHOES. FRANKLY, I DON'T BELIEVE ANYONE CAN. I AM 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 couple of years that brings us up to Winter of 2009. TWISTED TAILS: An Anthology to Surprise and Delight finishes in the Top Ten picks from the Preditors & Editors Poll for Mainstream Novel and wins 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...!

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!

None of that would have been possible if we didn't have great authors producing excellent material for these tomes. My hat is off to the whole team (including our publisher, Double Dragon Publishing and master artist, Deron Douglas).

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.

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 non-fiction book ON TO MARS 2 by Drs. Robert M. Zubrin and Frank Crossman of THE MARS SOCIETY and is available from Apogee Books and various other sources.

FOR ANYONE wanting direct access to DDP for the TWISTED TAILS series you may click on the L A R G E button below and you will be taken at near light-speed to a dedicated page where you will find information on all the books and their purchase.

MEMBERSHIPS (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

SOCIEDAD ASTRONOMICA JUARENSE

SOCIEDAD DE DIVULGACION DE ASTRONOMIA Y CIENCIA

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 personal knowledge and experience. 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 usually 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 could be called an extreme autodidactic personality.

It is the educational process 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 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's needed. They are kind (most of the time) and patient beyond the call.

That I write mainly in the SF realm then comes as no surprise. Of course, I write in most of the genre (don't like that word) and mix them in many cases because most stories demand it.

Non-fiction