Minor chuckles here...was rereading a chapter of my forthcoming academic mystery to check something and, for a moment, forgot I had written it. Not bragging, but it does have a nice style! 😉
#AmWriting #AcademicMystery
WooHoo! Managed to complete 2 scenes & knit them together in a chapter I'd been struggling with...despite a flare-up in my hands of the Creaking Beast (aka, arthritis). I win! 😁 ✍️🏼
#AmWriting
#AcademicMystery
Final paragraph & last sentence of Barnard's essay reads "I wrote the book in three stages, juggling with it and a doctorate, and never quite sure until well into it who had done the dirty deed (the murder of a visiting professor, based on the visit to my university of the distinguished critic Mario Praz) or why. I sent it off, waited, and quite soon got back two closely typed pages, with at the end the magic words “I am minded to accept this.” One of the happiest days of my life, complemented when I went over to England for publication, and on a journey to see a friend in Kent, read in the Observer one of Maurice Richardson’s thumbnail reviews, extremely enthusiastic. It’s a book I think I will still like if I ever have to reread it (presumably in my dotage, when I am past creation). I didn’t bring off the end, which was to have been a surprise in the last line, but a lot of the rest hit its mark, I think. I am told that the Vice-Chancellor at U.N.E. said publicly I should be horsewhipped. I don’t think I’ve ever had a greater compliment." I've highlighted the last two sentences of the paragraph.
In marketing mode (self-publishing) & honing my target audience. Came on this amusing article, "Avoiding Academia" by Robert Barnard in the Mystery Readers Journal (Vol 12, No. 4, Winter 1996-1997). See the pull quote highlighted in image below.
mysteryreaders.org/journal-inde...
#AcademicMystery
Four black and white images of middle-aged, male faces. All are in three-quarter view as they look to their left. They look similar in that each has defined cheekbones, a narrow jawline, and a straight, prominent nose. 1) Upper left: Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1469-1536), Dutch humanist scholar. 2) Upper right: Peter Hamilton Dyer, professional actor in television, theater, and radio. (Publicity production photo). 3) Lower left: Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. 4) Lower right: Jean Luc Willocq, fashion model and actor. (Used by permission). Below the portraits is text which reads "Character Building."
When I write I need to see my characters, how they look, how they move. I've written on it here: tinyurl.com/27svkn97
So I collect images, like these for a middle-aged gent in my forthcoming #AcademicMystery: A face that is strong, angular, thoughtful, showing hidden temper.
Details in alt-text.
It won't be this typewriter, but another from my small collection.
Stay tuned for an announcement later this spring. You'll be able to sign up for my new author newsletter & a chance to win a free manual typewriter (US) or boxed vinyl LP typing lessons (INTL).
#EarlyMarketing 🙂
#AcademicMystery
A chapter epigraph reads “Innocence is always unsuspicious” & she is that. She believes the best of people. Tamara de Lempicka’s “Portrait of a Young Lady in a Blue Dress ” (in the 1st post) captures her almost perfectly. 3/3
#AcademicMystery #CollegeMystery #CollegeCrime
The two adore ballroom dancing, Argentine tango especially. Not surprisingly, the student’s ballroom dance association asked her to serve as their faculty advisor. In terms of personality, Lillie is warm & generous (in bed & out, much to Patrick’s delight!). 2/3
#AcademicMystery #CollegeMystery
Tamara De Lempicka’s 1922 “Portrait of a Young Lady in a Blue Dress ” depicts a young woman wearing a draped, rich blue dress, Her eye makeup is dramatic and dark. She looks at the viewer with an intense gaze.
Here’s some fun character description from my forthcoming #AcademicMystery.
“Lillie” is a modern history professor specializing in the middle 20th century. She is married to Patrick, a psychologist. (He is a grief and trauma therapist for the college counseling center.) 1/3
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Someone just posted about something they did "back in 2014" as if it were The Ancient Times. Maybe I'll need to shift the marketing for my forthcoming book to "historical academic mystery!"
😄
#AcademicMystery
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Woo-Hoo! My copyreader finished the final go-through of my proof pages. They'd been a long-ago beta reader & were very complimentary on the final version of the story & characters. Looking forward to announcing launch day later this Spring! Stay tuned.
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#AmWriting
#AcademicMystery
A person's shadow falls along the concrete pavement of an overlook of Lake Michigan. The shadow is elongated and shows them holding a forearm crutch. Background images show breakwater boulders, some snow, and the lake itself.
My #AcademicMystery series has some serious character development! Hobo-turned-poet-turned-professor. Non-binary alum estranged from their family. A Maps Librarian with a wicked slap shot. A campus police chief who is a military veteran.
More: www.instagram.com/p/DVDuMgADmhh/
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While a breakfast quiche bakes in the oven I am giving writerly consideration to a sex scene involving 2 persons neither of whom has made love in a while. Interesting communication cadence to work out. 🤔
#AmWriting #AcademicMystery #SexScene
Had fun writing up a scene between my college raven keeper & the campus police chief. He's a bit of a cuss & she is former military with a motherly heart.
#AmWriting #AcademicMystery
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Sepia-toned close up of a resin replica of one of the eight queen chess pieces from the famed, 12th-century Lewis chessmen. The replica is approximately 4 inches tall. She is shown sitting on a throne, wearing a crown with her right hand resting on her face.
"...grief, in spite of its paralyzing effects, is also a kind of engine. In Bk 1 (forthcoming, Spring 2026), we see that dynamic in play. Death is denied then confronted then ruthlessly pursued, all at a cost, even as the mystery is resolved."
More: tinyurl.com/434w9bjf
#AcademicMystery ⚡📚 📚💙
Working on the back-of-book synopsis for my forthcoming academic mystery. It reminds me of my days as an information organization editor (& later, professor) when I taught text abstracting. It wasn't easy then and it's still a challenge now!
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#WritingCommunity #AcademicMystery ⚡📚
Cultivating Trauma-Informed Practice in Student Affairs. By Tricia R. Shalka (Routledge, 2024). ISBN: 978-1-64267-461-3.
Techniques of Grief Therapy: Assessment and Intervention. Edited by Robert A. Neimeyer. (Routledge, 2016). ISBN: 978-1-138-90593-1.
The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves. By Stephen Grosz. (W.W. Norton, 2013). ISBN: 978-0-393-07954-8.
Entering Private Practice: A Handbook for Psychiatrists. Edited by Jeremy A. Lazarus. (American Psychiatric Publishing, 2005). ISBN: 1-58562-141-2.
Finding some solid stuff for the backstory of my fictional college's psychologist/counselor. (Doing research is as fun as writing! 😄)
Full citations in the ALT Text.
#AcademicMystery #CollegeMystery #CharacterDevelopment #WriterResearch #backstory #WritingCommunity 📚💙 ⚡📚
Hardcover book: The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves by Stephen Grosz. (W. W. Norton & Company, 2014).
A secondary character--a private practice psychiatrist, who also works in the college counseling center--turns key character in my Bk 2. THE EXAMINED LIFE by Stephen Grosz has proved to be the ideal text to capture my sense of him.
More: www.instagram.com/p/DQHIjZEgGl...
#AcademicMystery
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mage ID: Selfie of author J.A. Jablonski. A black and white closeup portrait of a white, female-presenting person with white hair pulled back, their lower face slightly covered by a shirt collar. The large eyes are deep set behind oblong glasses. They look directly at the camera with a thoughtful and direct expression.
Screenshot of text from a recent Instagram post of my author selfie. The text reads "Academic mystery author thinks academic mystery thoughts. As I work on the logistics of publishing Bk 1 of my Osley College Mystery series, I am quite deep into Bk 2 with a near-complete draft that I hope to send to beta readers soon. There is a little hitch* in the plot-making, though, that has me staring at the walls (for more time than I’d like, frankly, but that’s an occupational hazard). * i.e., Is there one murderer or two? The dilemma centers on my preference to avoid cliché solutions and to serve appropriately-matched justice on the people who kill or damage others. The one person who seems to be at fault really shouldn’t be if I am true to my principles."
Academic mystery author thinks academic mystery thoughts.
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#AmWriting #AuthorPortrait #AcademicMystery #CollegeMystery #CollegeCrime
[My IG feed fyi: www.instagram.com/judeajablons...
A bit of a collage, in harsh black and white: a 1908 pic of faculty seen at a distance, in their academic gowns as they ascend the stairs of a college building; a page showing the dramatic personae list for a play or book; and a large background showing a college graduate scene from above.
My upcoming #AcademicMystery, RESOLUTE DEATH, features an ensemble cast and, as it is a college, there are a number of people who participate in the action, not as main characters but still needed. How (or if) to introduce them then?
More Here: www.instagram.com/p/DPPCOYXCYAS/
#CollegeCrime 📚💙
Love this! I have a biracial/bisexual college maps librarian character whose mother was Canadian & so grew up with ice hockey as a key sport. Her slap shot is to die for! 🏒🥅
(Good luck with the editing!)
#AcademicMystery
#CollegeCrime
#IceHockey
A raven in profile on white against a darker blue background of ravens in a tree set against a dark blue sky. Photo Credits: Closeup of a raven in profile against a white background by Michael Jerrard via Unsplash; background pic of ravens by Andreas Papadopoulos via Unsplash.
Inspired by John Crowley's novel, KA: DAR OAKLEY IN THE RUINS OF YMR (2017), I've added a flock of crows to my academic mystery (WIP), Bk. 3.
Curiously, the college coterie of ravens doesn't fight back! 🤔
More here […]
[Original post on wandering.shop]
A raven in profile on white against a darker blue background of ravens in a tree set against a dark blue sky. Photo Credits: Closeup of a raven in profile against a white background by Michael Jerrard via Unsplash; background pic of ravens by Andreas Papadopoulos via Unsplash.
Inspired by John Crowley's novel, KA: DAR OAKLEY IN THE RUINS OF YMR (2017), I've added a flock of crows to my academic mystery (WIP), Bk. 3.
Curiously, the college coterie of ravens doesn't fight back! 🤔
More here: www.instagram.com/p/DOyDT6YDcd...
#AcademicMystery #CollegeCrime #AmWriting
Got some sweet little news just now. The artist I've been in contact with about my buying their work for my cover art has said yes. Happy dance! His images match my stories' vibe perfectly! 🤸♂️
#SelfPublishing
#AcademicMystery
#CollegeCrime
Classical marble bust of a bearded male in a darkened space set against a background of old wooden lecture hall seats. The hashtags "AmWriting" and "CharacterDesign" are posted at the top and bottom of the image. In the lower right corner, against a dark brown background, is the image of a skull wearing a mortarboard.
I’m told my characters feel like real people. Having been affiliated with 8 universities (as well as being a faculty brat), I’ve met, interacted, & worked with academics & academy personnel of all stripes. They are fun to write! 🎓
#AcademicMystery #CharacterDesign
jajablonski.com/writings-mys...
Doing up the final edits on my academic mystery novel. Reviewing various reader notes. Interesting how some want action, others details, and others just more of a certain character or notion. It's been a small adventure balancing all that with my own sense of things.
#AmWriting #AcademicMystery 💙📚
Every so often I use my weather app to see what's up in area where my fictional college is located.
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#AmWriting #LiteraryMystery #AcademicMystery #EasilyAmused #DriftlessRegion
A letter-sized printout of my college map (protected by a plastic sheet) stands in a holder to the left of my laptop.
One of the first things I did five or six years ago when organizing my academic mystery series (WIP) was determine the layout of my fictional campus. Basic worldbuilding!
More here: www.instagram.com/p/DI02ebZOY3J/
#AcademicMystery #CampusCrime #Worldbuilding #CampusMaps #WriterSky #MysterySky
Writing a scene vs seeing a scene...got a great perspective on one of my characters when I "saw" him move a certain way after killing a raven.
New IG post: www.instagram.com/p/C_NeCINpCr...
Image ID: A lone raven is seen flying high, silhouetted by storm clouds.
#AcademicMystery #WIP
