And Into Libra…

 

Anyone acquainted with the Zodiac? No, not the killer. I’m talking about Astrology, the study of the stars. Yes, I study astrology in my spare time. I like to think that the positioning of the stars do play a role in how we are, but only to a certain point. Who we are is up to us, not our genes or parents, but us. The reason why this week’s blog is called “Into Libra” is because starting September 23rd, we will be entering the house of Libra, the seventh zodiac sign.

I have a couple of announcements relating to the paranormal society, I urge you to join, the Saints of Fenix Paranormal Society. I’m currently editing the content in the handbook for the group, and soon it will be distributed to its current members; after that, it’ll just be a short time before you may be able to join! Wouldn’t that be great? Working in your favorite author’s paranormal group?

The website has been finished, and it is 98% complete. There will be a couple of announcements some time this week, and that would be about it. When it comes to the applications to the public, they will not be released until the handbook has been approved by the senior members.

What about Feather Spade?

Still nothing, I am sending some more letters as October kicks into the calendar. I am doing everything I can with the little spare time I have, to promote the book and try to sell it to editors and agents. You have to remember that publishing is not something that happens overnight. It’s a process that takes a long time. How long? I don’t know, might be month, days, years… trust me, I’m not thrilled about it either.

As I wait for an agent to contact me, I’m starting an unforeseen project! Yes, I’m just as surprised as you are. I’ll keep you posted on that one as well.

I would like to hear from you all more often, please don’t be shy about sending in messages, whether they are comments here or just comments you paste on to the Official James Fenix Fan Page on facebook. I would like to hear from YOU and what you want me to discuss, later in this blog. Remember that this is where you come to get my perspective on things, well I want to give you my perspective on things you are interested in.

Until next week, I’m James Fenix, your author, remember to tell your friends about this blog and also click “Like” on the Official James Fenix Fan Page! (Yes, I’m still working on the website ;D).

Until next week!

Three Steps to Write an Essay

 

Don’t you just hate when a teacher asks you for a “five paragraph” essay? Or an essay with so many “words.” Limitations do not help your essay, so what makes a good essay? First, you have to think about how you relate to the essay prompt – stop thinking about what your teacher is asking for. No self respecting teacher will limit you to a certain amount of words, sentences, or paragraphs, but also remember that an essay can NOT be one long~ paragraph.

Remember to plan, always plan. Always. There are three stages to writing. And no, writing is not the most important one of them. The stages are:

• Pre-writing: planning is pivotal for the essay. You must first come up with a thesis statement, that is, in your own words, summarizing what you will be talking about throughout the essay, in other words, explaining your argument in one sentence. From the thesis statement you will start to gather ideas, you will list all the ideas, the things that you think relate to the prompt of the essay. You don’t have time to waste so just list all those ideas in a separate sheet of paper.
  
  After you are done listing those ideas, you will group them. Get the ones that may relate to each other; now with a cluster of ideas forming a group, which you will now proceed to organize logically. Once you are done organizing your group in the order in which you will discuss them in your essay, you will come up with a topic sentence which summarizes the paragraph; from that topic sentence you will have to find details which support that topic sentence (which in turn supports the thesis statement).
  
  The introduction of the essay must include the thesis statement; it must also sustain the attention of the audience. Your teacher might say that the thesis statement must grab the reader’s attention, but… if they’re reading your essay —even if it is the first sentence — that means you already have their attention, you just have to keep it.
  
  The conclusion of an essay must be clear, if the essay was very long you might want to point out the things that were discussed throughout the essay, but in essence, the conclusion must have a sense of closure. What does that mean? It means your audience should know that this is the end of your argument without you having to spell T-H-E E-N-D at the end of the paper.
  
  
• Writing: Ironically enough, this is the least important of all. Now that you have the structure of the essay planned out – remember that you don’t have time to be sitting around doing nothing, you might be timed to write this essay! – just write! Write as fast as you can, forget about errors for now, just write the body of the essay as fast as you can! Hurry before time’s up and you fail because you couldn’t finish!
  
  
• Revising: This is just as important as the pre-writing stage. I told you to write as fast as you could, to forget about errors along your ruthless path to finish this essay as quickly as possible. Now then, it’s time to go back and correct those mistakes. Yes, you still have to proof read your essay, and no it wouldn’t be easier to proof read as you write, you are being timed, you don’t have time. Leave revising for last.

 

So there you have it, three simple steps that will help you organize your ideas, help you make your essays more “anatomically” correct. And next time your teacher sets forth a limitation of words, lines, or paragraphs, just remember, they’re only human.

Until next week, this is your writer, James Fenix, reminding you to tell your friends about this blog! Remember to “like” the official James Fenix fan page! Also remember, if there’s a topic you want me to discuss, please comment in this space or leave your comments in the Facebook page, I will get all the messages you send there, trust me.

Until next week!

Saints of Fenix Paranormal Society

 

Hello everybody, just updating the blog with a quick announcement.

I know I’ve gone on and on about Paranormal Activity, and I know I have mentioned that I have a Paranormal Group. I have news regarding them, see I have finally constructed a website for the Saints of Fenix Paranormal Society, so if you wish to see some of my work, please register at the site and spread the word. I want you to know that I am also working on a website for this space.

I have not finished updating the content of the Saints of Fenix website, but I will let you know as soon as I do.  If you would like to take a look at the site simply click on “Saints of Fenix Paranormal Society” in the paragraph above. Next week we will discuss what makes a passable essay. Remember to tell your friends about your favorite author’s blog!

This is your writer,

James Fenix

The Paranormal

 

Ever since I was little, I was taught that there was a place where souls went after departing from the world of the living. I am sure that you have heard of a place, too; whether you have been told that the dead go to heaven or they go to hell, does not matter -- they simply “go”. Have you ever heard someone talking about ghost stories? Maybe in Halloween or when you go camping with your friends, when you sit around a camp fire to share incredibly terrifying stories about the girl that died in your house and you sometimes see through the corner of your eye when there is no one in the house? Yes, those stories. Have you heard of any in particular that has made you think that perhaps there is life after death?

I have seen my share of specters. I was born in a South-American country, Colombia. In third-world countries like those, faith is the most powerful element. I am not a religious or superstitious person, however I do like to fool myself into being a tad gullible, just to make the day seem more interesting – make that movie that is our lives, be a little more exciting. Faith is very respectful of the recently deceased, so it is only normal that there be many ceremonies for commemorating the dead.

In rural areas such as the one where I lived, there were many myths and legends, each had its own story and moral, but along with myths and legends, came speculation. Speculation of what, you ask? There were rumors about ghosts haunting house, or trying to send a message to their loved ones from the other side.

I previously mentioned that I am in charge of the Saints of Phoenix Paranormal Society. I founded the group in 2005, and during the past five years, I’ve had to disband and reform the group several times to renew the system we use, and to better organize ourselves. My experiences are limited to my home country and Florida, but I really wish that one day I may be able to travel around the world and visit famous haunted places.

While I am currently waiting for editors and literary agents to reply to my queries on Feather Spade I began to develop a story that is made up of many paranormal traits, maybe some day that story, which I have not finished writing yet, will stand next to Feather Spade in a bookshelf of a Barnes & Noble. Who knows what the future may hold for us, maybe your book will stand next to mine.

Have you ever had any paranormal experiences? Or have you heard any experiences your friends or relatives may have had? I am interested in reading about those, please share with us, either through the Official James Fenix Fan Page on facebook or by commenting here! Remember to tell your friends about this blog, whether they are aspiring authors or they just want something to entertain them. Also, you can follow my blog if you have a yahoo email account, or you can just follow the Fan Page by clicking the “Like” tab.

That is all for this week,

Your writer,

James Fenix

 

P.S. Check soon for the James Fenix webpage.

Visions of the Future

 

When someone asks you about your plans for the future, how do you respond? More importantly, what goes through your mind as the word future just hits you without a warning? What is your drive to achieve the goals you have set up for the future?

Whenever someone asks me about my future, I say, “I’ve seen it, not clearly, but I have, seems like the only thing I have to worry about is how I get there.” Cryptic answer, isn’t it? That’s exactly what I thought when I asked a tarot reading about my future. A lot of times we are under pressure to think about our future, whether it is from parents, or friends; teachers or…you (yes, there is no bigger pressure than that you put over your own shoulders).

Believe it or not, those questions can be quite stressful. You’ll start feeling frustrated because you think that you are letting a lot of people down “I said I would do” this and that “to” whoever. Other times you will feel disappointed that you have not done enough to reach the goal you have set for yourself. But the bottom line is, the only person you have to answer to is yourself, who cares what others want you to be. What do you want to be? Don’t think about the future for others, think about the future for you and when you feel disappointed with yourself, just remember that you are only human and there is only so much you can do before you start hearing a siren going off in your head warning you that there is a nervous breakdown coming up ahead. If you know you can do better, then push yourself to do better, continue walking that path and don’t be influenced by people that have given up on their lives.

Why am I sharing all this with you? Because I built this space to speak to you, tell you not just about my book, but to open my mind to you.

Once again, I beg of you not to feel bad about tripping while you walk towards those wonderful goals you all have set up. You just have to get up and keep on walking, and if you feel you can’t walk anymore, tell yourself that’s a lie and keep going; continue walking even if your body is screaming, begging you to stop. We all have to make sacrifices to reach our dreams, to get where we want to go.

To those of us that are just starting to feel tired from all that walking, remember to put more effort into it, don’t give up, crawl if you must, but continue! Let’s pursue those dreams, let’s seize the day and march down our paths with the assurance that all this work we have put into reaching those dreams, will be worth it once we get there.

About Feather Spade, I have not heard from agents in a couple of weeks, I still have some queries out and I’m waiting for September to mail out some more. There might be a new project in the works, but I will not go into anymore details. I’m only one man, can’t keep track of all the things that are in my mind. Reminds me that I need an organizer.

All right everyone, that’s it for today, I will continue to keep you posted on anything Feather Spade related. Tell your friends that if they need some advice, or they just want to venture into another’s mind, to pull up those browsers and check out my blog.

If you wish me to address a certain topic, or simply have any questions, please be kind enough to visit the Official James Fenix Fan Page in facebook. Until next week,

I’m your writer,

James Fenix

An August Return!

 

Welcome to August my loyal readers, please accept my apologies for the long absences. I would like to update that Feather Spade remains without an agent, the rejection letters have stopped landing in my mailbox and E-mail  inbox, which means that the rest of the queries will more than likely, take months to be replied or will never be replied. I keep hoping that the story grabs the attention of an agent. I would like to restate that I will not give up on this book as it is a priceless treasure, which I hold dear.

At this time I cannot make up my mind what topic for discussion, but a promise that later this week I will have something that will entertain, surprise, and delight you all.

Your Writer,

James Fenix

Another Absence

 

Hello my loyal readers,

I am very sorry I have not updated this space in two weeks, I’ve been busy, working and tending to my academic duties.

Feather Spade remains without an agent, I have a few replies (all of which are rejections ranging from a tiny note to two sentences). I keep hoping that I will soon find my agent, my guide, my partner throughout this journey.

I am sorry to inform that yours truly is in for another long absence starting this week. As I’ve previously mentioned, my economic status is not the best and therefore I’m lucky to be updating you guys once every two weeks. I continue to do my hardest to keep you engaged in this journey to publish Feather Spade.

I will do my best to keep you updated in the next few weeks as I believe I will have more queries answered during that time.

Thank you for being so patient with me,

Your Writer,

James Fenix

Words of a Phoenix