Category Archives: News & Contests

News, announcements and contests from Jordan McCollum

#TackleYourTBR Read-a-thon: Spy challenge!

Who doesn’t love a good spy novel? (Put your hands down!) I love to read them and write them. What’s not to love about fun, love, lies, secrets and spies? The main characters in my next spy novel, coming out next month, love spy fiction and movies, too, so I’ve had to read (and watch) even more spy fiction.

Today as part of the #TackleYourTBR Read-a-thon, we’ve got a fun spy challenge. Can you match up these literary spies with their authors in the form below?

Character Author
Jason Bourne Robert Ludlum
Cammie Morgan Dorothy Gilman
Talia Reynolds John Le Carré
James Bond Ally Carter
George Smiley Jordan McCollum (yes, me!)
Jack Ryan Ian Fleming
Mrs. Pollifax Tom Clancy

Deadline: Wednesday, September 23, 2015, 11:59 PM PDT

Prize
SpyAnotherPrequel_BoxSet_LRGSpyAnotherDay_BoxSet_LRG
The complete Spy Another Day series in Kindle, nook or PDF format!

Winner will be chosen at random from correct entries received through the form by the deadline! If no correct entries are received, I’ll be super sad. And the prize will go to the person with the most correct answers. Entrants do not have to be part of the #TackleYourTBR Read-a-thon. The winner will be contacted via email.

CONTEST IS CLOSED

Coming July 7: Gesture Crutches Webinar

Do you want to make your characters unique and avoid empty repetition and clichés? Sign up for my Gesture Crutches webinar, coming up JULY 7 at 8 PM MDT/5 PM PDT. The presentation will be followed by a live chat Q&A. The cost is $10.

gesture crutchesSmiling, nodding, laughing, sighing, frowning–they’re all the little gestures we use every day to convey meaning, and they can creep into every page of our writing. These overused actions quickly become flat clichés, sapping your story’s power. Come learn how to find these common “gesture crutches,” discover new strategies to fix them, and use the smallest gestures to personalize your characters.

To sign up, visit my online courses page!

Character Depth is here!

If you’ve joined my mailing list, you already know this is coming, but now it’s here! Book 3 in the Writing Craft series: Character Depth!

cover

Buy it now!

The print version is coming to Amazon as soon as it gets processed, but you can order it directly from CreateSpace now!

For the first 90 days, the Character Depth ebook will be available exclusively through Amazon.

About the book

IS YOUR CHARACTER REAL TO YOUR READER?

CHARACTER DEPTH brings your character to life, making her real for your reader.

Does your character come to life, bounding off the page and into your readers’ hearts and minds? Or is he flatter than a paper pancake? A well-rounded character is more than a puppet to the whims of the plot. She moves her story forward through her actions and motivations. For a character to truly come to life for your readers, first she must come to life for you as the writer.

Even a well-rounded character can fall flat if we fail to convey her well. Deep point-of-view plays a vital role in showing our character’s depth to readers. Both well-rounded character development and effective writing are necessary to make our character truly come to life for readers.

CHARACTER DEPTH will help you:

  • Create a three-dimensional character from the ground up.
  • Dig into your character to find what makes him tick, and use that to make him come to life.
  • Discover your character’s vital backstory and convey it effectively.
  • Effectively portray your character’s emotions to keep your readers invested in her and her story.
  • Take advantage of deep point-of-view, the most popular POV mode.

Character depth is a fundamental feature of engaging fiction to keep your readers riveted to this book and eagerly anticipating your next.

Make your characters really come to life!

More about Character Depth

Celebrate!

My friend Julie Coulter Bellon is celebrating her fourth blogoversary this month with a massive party and giveaways! And guess what you can win!

SpyAnotherPrequel_BoxSet_LRG

(Did you know that was a thing? It’s a thing!)

You can get an entry for joining my newsletter and another for following me on Twitter.

Julie is offering a ton of other great prizes including ebooks, print books, box sets and an Amazon gift card—but it all ends on May 10th! Go enter the giveaway now!

A brand new edition–er, addition

Aside from running my Deepen Your Characters, Deepen Your Fiction course, I’ve been pretty quiet online this year. There’s a reason for this.

His name is Benjamin.

SAMSUNG

Benjamin joined our family on March 8. He’s pretty cute, so I think we’ll keep him.
image

Today: pinch proofed!

(More St Patrick’s fun!)

As I just had a baby (#5!), communication, posts & publication will be on a delayed schedule.

Valentine’s Day Flash Sale: Clean romances!

You know you want to fall in love this Valentine’s Day . . . with a great read! That’s why we’re having a FLASH SALE through February 15 of 99¢ and FREE clean romances!

Featured books

Eternal Echoes by Angela Corbett (Emblem of Eternity Trilogy)
Regularly $2.99 Sale Price: 99¢!

YA Paranormal Romance

Almost four months have passed since Evie Starling learned she was a Tracker and helped defeat a Daevos Clan that was taking others like her—but that wasn’t the end of the abductions. As an unknown evil emerges, Evie vows to help solve the mystery of the missing Trackers, regardless of the risk.

Buy it now!

Sweet ‘n’ Sour Kisses by Cindy Hogan (A Brooklyn Novel)
Regularly $2.99 Sale price: 99¢!

YA contemporary

Brooklyn Hamlin likes the rules. They’re safe and smart. And for Brooklyn, the rules are simple—no dating until she turns sixteen and no kissing. But her sixteenth birthday is just a few days away, and that means all the rules are about to change. Brooklyn’s still determined to avoid the drama of kissing, but she wouldn’t mind holding someone’s hand, especially if that someone is Luke Graham. Charming and handsome, with just a hint of danger, Luke has been the subject of her daydreams since the school year began. So when he asks to take her on her very first date, Brooklyn can’t believe her luck.

But things aren’t exactly what they seem, and some boys really are too good to be true. Sweet sixteen and never been kissed, Brooklyn is about to find herself in the middle of all the drama and heartache she was hoping to avoid.

Buy it now!

Spy by Night by Jordan McCollum (Prequel to the Spy Another Day series)
Regularly $2.99 Sale price: 99¢!

Romantic suspense 2014 Whitney Award Finalist in Romance

CIA operative Talia Reynolds doesn’t believe in “happily ever after.” Besides, with her demanding job, she hardly has time for romantic entanglements, even if she could let her guard down enough to get close to anyone. But all the rules she lives by could be broken when she meets aerospace engineer Danny Fluker.

After his last breakup, dating definitely isn’t in Danny’s plans . . . until beautiful and enigmatic Talia throws a perfect storm right in his flight path. If Talia fails to keep her two lives separate, it could mean the death of more than just her budding relationship. But if they can both break through the barriers keeping them apart (and avoid a major international catastrophe), they just might have a chance at being happy together.

Buy it now!

The Trouble with Flying by Rachel Morgan (The Trouble Series)
Regularly $0.99 Sale price: FREE!

YA/Sweet NA Romance

When nineteen-year-old introvert Sarah boards a plane to fly home after an overseas holiday, the last thing she expects is Aiden, the guy sitting next to her who’s never flown anywhere before and refuses to shut up. Hours of random conversation later, they part ways. Sarah can’t stop thinking about Aiden, though, and wondering if she made a terrible mistake letting him go. Should she abandon her safe, predictable life and go in search of him, or would she be chasing a happily ever after that could never exist in real life?

Buy it now!

Asha’s Kisses by RaShelle Workman (Ever After Series)
Regularly $1.99 Sale price: 99¢!

YA fairy tale romance

Seventeen-year-old Asha has always preferred to stay out of the spotlight, but during a rehearsal for her high school’s rendition of Romeo and Juliet she realizes that starring in the right kind of role might be better than she thought.

First in a new series from the world of the best-selling series BLOOD AND SNOW; coming February 14; pre-order now

Buy it now!


Pick up your Valentines today!

Good news!

whitneyLast year, I was floored to find out both I, Spy and Spy for a Spy were finalists for a Whitney Award. To be considered, a book must be nominated by five people. Then it goes before a committee of five (I think?) judges who read all the nominees in that category (authors select the category for their books). The judges select their top choices and the five top books become finalists. The winner is announced at a gala following the LDStorymakers conference in April/May.

Today, the 2014 finalists were announced, and I’m thrilled to say that Tomorrow We Spy is a finalist in the Mystery/Suspense category!

TomorrowSpy_CVR_MED

AND, even more surprisingly, Spy by Night is a finalist in the Romance category!

SpyNight_CVR_MED

Thank you very much to everyone who nominated my books, and to the Whitney committee and judges who work reeeeally hard to coordinate all this!

NEW online writing course

Want to take your story and your writing to the next level in 2015? Kick-start your writing with my very first online writing course beginning January 12!

DEEPEN YOUR CHARACTERS, DEEPEN YOUR FICTION

How many books have you read with a solid plot and passable characters, but you never really got sucked in? How can you keep your story from falling into that trap? By creating deep characters and deep fiction.

Topics covered include:

  • Character creation
  • Deep POV
  • Raising the stakes
  • Structure & line editing for immersion

COST: Because this is my first class and my first time teaching this course, it’s only $30 for a month of hands-on instruction and feedback.

Registration is open now, but only five slots are left!

For more information about the course and to sign up, visit the online courses page of my site.

Want to be the first to hear about (and register for!) future courses? Be sure to join my mailing list!

Nab one of the last five spots today!