Jeff Ayers - Author
  • Home
  • Books
  • About
  • Press
  • Contact
  • Store
  • Home
  • Books
  • About
  • Press
  • Contact
  • Store
Picture
Beware of spilling ink!
Skate is a thief, trained and owned by the local crime syndicate, the Ink. When she tries to burgle a shut-in’s home, she gets caught by the owner—a powerful undead wizard. He makes a deal with her: “borrow” books from other wizards in return for a place to stay.

Caught between her growing fondness for the wizard and her past with the crime syndicate, Skate doesn’t know where her loyalties lie. But she’d better figure it out, because there’s a new player in town, one whose magical hypnotism puts them all at risk.
Read a sample
Buy now

Picture
On the run!
Her mentor is dead, but he doesn’t have to stay that way. He’s left Skate a clue to bringing him back, and she and her friends are determined to follow it.

No sooner do they set out for unknown lands, however, than things get dangerous. Hot on their tail is the wizard Ossertine, furious over Skate’s part in her friend’s death and thirsty for revenge. Worse still are the attacks that come at night: dark, mysterious, and palpably evil.
​

In this race against time, magic, and implacable foes, Skate must rely on her wits and her friends to save not just her mentor’s life, but also her own.
Read a sample
Buy now

Witnesses

10/6/2018

0 Comments

 
Up to thirty rejections now. Starting to think that I’m either really bad at writing a solid query, or there are some serious problems with my first few pages that I’ve missed. I’ll probably take a look at the manuscript before next month. I think there has been enough time since my edits that I’ll be able to look at it with a fresh perspective.

There are writers in my past who I remember with fondness, their stories floating around at the edges of my consciousness whenever I’m writing. I carry them with me whenever I write anything, like the cloud of witnesses from the book of Hebrews, their words and phrases and stories and characters bouncing and touching the corners of my mind as I try to tease a narrative out of thin air. Tolkien, Salvatore, Rowling, Modesitt, L’Engle, Martin, Abraham, McCaffrey, King, Asimov, and many more – the authors who have written the stories that I’ve devoured eagerly over the years and whose styles, whether intentionally or unintentionally on my part, have seeped into how I do what I do – they stay with me. Their stories have stuck in my head for one reason or another. Their characters mattered, and the struggles they faced felt real, no matter how unreal or improbable or fantastical their individual stories were.

When a character, author, or story sticks with you, it is a constant struggle to prevent yourself from mere imitation. As much as I like R. A. Salvatore and admire his craft, for example, I don’t want to write as him. I have to work to make sure my efforts create something that is truly mine, even if I’m building on the work of those that I’ve read. To create something utterly original would be truly impossible, but simple mimicry falls short. That’s what all writers have to deal with, I suppose. Let me know if you have helpful hints to threading that needle.
​
Write your story!
-J. E. Ayers
0 Comments

    Author

    Jeff Ayers writes books that are pretty good.

    Buy me a coffee!

      Subscribe!

    Subscribe to Newsletter

    Archives

    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.