Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Do You Believe What You Write?

Before I welcome Jamie Ayres to my blog, I wanted to announce the winners to the Indies 4 Hire Event.

*Drum Rollllllll*

Mil Holmes - 25 page edit or novel formatted - from Gwen

Shelley Munro – 1 blog or FB Header - from Maria

Shelley Munro - 1 custom blog badge for tour event or bloghop - from Maria

LD Masterson - 50 page edit or novel formatted - from Gwen

Congratulations to the winners and thank you all so much for participating. The event was crazy-busy and a great success and you all helped to make it so!

*****

And now, another drum roll please!

Welcome Jamie Ayres!
Jamies new release, 18 Things, is such an original and awesome concept.
Check it out.



Writing Paranormal Novels





Do You Believe What You Write?

Writing the paranormal novel takes more than adding in a vampire or wizard . . . but whatever characters you do decide to cast, you have to make them believable!

Except, what if one of the ‘fantasy’ characters you write about actually exists?

In my YA contemporary paranormal love story, 18 Things, there’s a bit of inspiration behind the inspirational side of the novel.

When I was almost twelve years old, I was ready to commit suicide. You may find that hard to believe, but I’d already suffered many injustices by that age and was convinced that:

a) God wasn’t real –otherwise He wouldn’t let all those bad things happen to me

b) God was real, but He hated me

c) God was real, and He didn’t hate me, and He had a plan for my life

I really needed to discover the answer to my question before I made my decision, because I’d heard if you commited suicide you couldn’t go to Heaven. And of course I didn’t want to go to Hell.

So I prayed.

I didn’t even get on my knees.

I stared up at the ceiling before going to sleep that August night in 1991 and prayed in my head:

“Jesus, if you are real, I need you to show me a supernatural sign that you love me and have a plan for my life. If you do this, I promise I won’t commit suicide. I promise I will endure anything if you love me. Please show me a ghost tomorrow. If you don’t, I am commiting suicide and you can’t send me to Hell, okay? Because that means You didn’t hold up your end of the bargain.”

I went to bed honestly thinking I would end my life the next day. I’d already brainstromed a list of ways to do it and had the materials ready.

So, God knew I meant buisness.

The next morning, I opened my bedroom door to a man on his knees, his hands folded in prayer, with a smile on his face and looking up at me. He was wearing blue. But that’s not the most unusual thing about him.

I could see through him!

He was transparent!

We looked at each other for a few seconds before I shut my door, trembling in disbelief. Then I dropped to the floor, made the sign of the cross, and said another prayer.

“Dear Jesus, thank you for answering my prayer, and please don’t ever show me that again.”

When I opened my door, the “ghost” was gone. In his place was a peace in my heart I’d never known before. I didn’t speak to anyone about it for five years, and when I did, it was my now husband (who of course, teased me mercilessly). But that one ‘sign’ kept me from comitting suicide all through middle and high school.

Flash forward to another night in August of 1997 when I truly give my heart to Jesus. When I realize I survived all the atrocities in my life because God had a plan and purpose in mind. When I realized my ‘ghost’ was probably my guardian angel. When I realized that out of six billion people on earth, God cared so much about me, He heard the cries of a little girl and gave His angel the okay to answer my prayer.

The next year I married the man who mocked me for seeing my little blue man. But he still didn’t believe me. One day, while I had some free time inbetween my college classes at UCF, I browsed through Barnes & Noble (yeah, not much has changed, lol). I went to their religious section and flipped through a book on the power of angels. Immediately, I was drawn to a chapter on Guardian Angels. In it, the author quoted from the diaries of a German mystic who died in 1919. Her diaries are widely circulated because she described a visual relationship with many angels. From her writings:

“The Guardian Angels of children are exquisitely lovely.
They are dressed in blue and always are seen with their hands folded in prayer.”

So, you tell me, do you believe in what you write?

About the Author:

Jamie Ayres writes young adult paranormal love stories by night and teaches very young adults as a public school teacher by day. When not at home on her laptop or at school, she can often be found at a local book store grabbing random children and reading to them. So far, she has not been arrested for this. She lives in southwest Florida with her prince charming, two children (sometimes three based on how Mr. Ayres is acting), and a basset hound. She spent her youthful summers in Grand Haven, Michigan and this setting provided the inspiration for her debut novel, 18 Things. She really does have grandmothers named Olga and Gay but unlike her heroine, she's thankfully not named after either one of them. She loves lazy pajama days, the first page of a good book, stupid funny movies, and sharing stories with fantastic people like you. Visit her website at http://www.jamieayres.com/



18 Things is available here:




Add 18 Things to your TBR list!
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40 comments:

  1. What an inspiring story. And talk about determination to get a message from God. :)

    I write contemporary stories, so yes, I do believe in what I write. And it's not necessary that paranormal aspects that you need to believe in. It's the theme that you're conveying that I believe is important to believe in if you want to give both it and the story justice.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This story is truly amazing. I believe in my characters, regardless of what they may or may not be. There's always a hidden truth to their character.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, amazing story, thank you for sharing. I agree you have to believe in your characters to make them believable. Great guest post and congrats to the winners! (:

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  4. Whoa. Just Whoa. Jamie, that is an amazing story and I am so happy you prayed that night. God had plans for you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks all! I'm glad I prayed too, Gwen:-) Yessss to believing in our characters--thanks for letting me share this story here today!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gwen, thanks for hosting Jamie!

    Jamie, that gave me chills. And made me cry. But in a good way. I lost a friend at thirteen to suicide, so never think a young person isn't thinking it. When I was 18 I hit an emotional bottom. Never suffered a tragedy, but I have the sort of personality that never lets my spirit rest...I never felt good enough or like I was working hard enough. One night I lay in my bed with tears rolling also asking for a sign. A warmth spread over me and my radio switched to a commercial from a church...message was...God loves you just as you are.

    I think God knew my constitution would freak if He sent a spirit!! Thanks for sharing. God bless!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, it's my goal to make people cry;-) In a good way, of course!! Every day, hubs gets home and asks, "So, who did you make cry today?" HA!

      So glad you got your sign too! The Lord works in mysterious ways for sure!

      Delete
  7. What an amazing story you shared with us!

    I'm not sure I always believe what I write, but it's important to me that what I write is believable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For sure! I tried to leave a comment on your blog, but it wouldn't let me:-( Hope you catch some zzz's tonight!

      Delete
  8. Jamie - Your story gave me chills. I, too, have seen an angel, but under very different circumstances. He, or she, saved my life. Or, at the least, saved me from serious injury. Good to meet you. And yes, I do believe in what I write.

    Thanks for hosting her, Gwen :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've heard of many stories of angels saving people. Often they don't know they're angels until they turn around and POOF--they're gone!

      Delete
  9. What a cool story! Thank you for sharing something so personal, Jamie. :)

    P.S. I WISH my paranormal characters were real! (Well, some of them. LOL)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, Jamie! What a powerful story. God sent an angel to you that morning!
    That answered your question - He had something more planned for your life.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Jamie ... I must tell you that I have studied and researched angels for years. They are universal and not designated to one faith. All the major faiths believe and are guided by them. Do I truly believe in angels? You bet I do. I believe they are sent to us at moments of crisis ... it is our choice to listen and follow. I know that each time I have come to a crossroad of my life, I have been guided.


    God or the Universe has a plan for each of us and often when we think we might never find what it is ... we get a little tap on the shoulder. The world needed you to write your stories and your angel protected you until you could do what you were meant to do :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a great story! Totally awesome. I believe in angels and the people who pass over. I believe they are with us.

    Hugs and chocolate,
    Shelly

    ReplyDelete
  13. I do believe in what I write and I do believe in ghosts and I do believe in angels. What a post Jamie! I think of you as such a positive person--I commend you for telling this story, First, even though it's inspiring, not everyone would own up to wanting to commit suicide and if we talked about it more as a society maybe more kids/adults would be able to talk about it.

    Sorry, got off on a tangent. Loved your post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tangents . . . I don't know a thing about those;-) hahaha! For many years, I didn't talk about it. But then I read the story of Joseph in the Bible and understood why he said that what people intended for evel, God meant for good. Trouble=triumph. Even our enemies ultimately serve God's purpose. It would've been foolish of me to be ashamed of something that God had already blessed. People are saved by the power of our stories, our testimonies:-)

      Delete
  14. Your post totally gave me chills (in a good way!). I don't exactly believe in what I write (I totally know I made up my own supernatural beings :), but I love your story and will have to check out 18 Things!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Meradeth. Making stuff up is the most fun:-)

      Delete
  15. That's a powerful story. There have been moments in my life, not necessarily involving visions, in which I felt washed in peace.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow! Great story and awesome post. You are amazing. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. I've really enjoyed Jamie's book tour. She has great posts.
    Congrats to the winners.

    ReplyDelete
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