Thompson On…Do One Thing Everyday That Scares You!”

 I can’t believe I waited until the autumn years of my life to take on risky business!

For the first time in my life, I stepped out with a video blog about writing confidence where I had to face the camera and express my feelings in public. That was an exhilarating experience.

Now, I’ve developed an interactive website with funky music (developed my Donald Moody II), videos and audio readings of certain chapters of Philly Style and Philly Profile.

I was nervous with the Video Blog, which you can watch on the Biography page of my new website, www.jtwrites.info , and is receiving positive recognition on YouTube.

Now, with this new 21^st Century Website, with all the flash, colorful images and sounds, it’s enough to drive a person out of middle age.

I feel this is the next step in the marketing of my books: A Brownstone in Brooklyn, Philly Style and Philly Profile, the National Award winning Ghost of Atlanta, Purple Phantoms, which will be published  by Passionate Writer Publishing in 2012 and Chasing The Wind my book that is under construction for the next two years.

I remember what Eleanor Roosevelt once said: “Do one thing every day that scares you.”

You better believe I’m scared!

However, that is what life is about: Growth and Change and Ultimate Success!

Enjoy my new website with original music by Donald Moody II in the Flash Intro: www.jtwrites.info

Julius Thompson Enrolled in the Digitial Revolution!!!!!!

When you read a novel, it is not only for entertainment, but to learn something about life.Oh, how we human beings must meet and overcome new challenges.

I love the character of Jane Marple from the Agatha Christie Mystery series.

Miss Marple said in the book Of Bertram’s Hotel, when another character pined about life changing and not staying the same: “The Essence of life is change.”

Wow, that struck me!

I applied that axiom to my life and to the marketing of my novels: A Brownstone in Brooklyn, Philly Style and Philly Profile, Ghost of Atlanta, Purple Phantoms and Chasing the Wind.

Now, I’ve gone digital and my high school students are proud!

Jump onto your computer, Ipad, Iphone, Nook Book and cell phone and enjoy my multi-media digital world!

Video: Enjoy my “Thompson On…”  Blog video Series

Thompson on Blog Series:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlVzwwkokak&feature=g-upl

Audio Book: Listen sections of my novels!

Prologue: Philly Style and Philly Profile

http://soundcloud.com/julius-thompson-3/philly-style-and-philly

Chapter 23: Philly Style and Philly Profile

http://soundcloud.com/julius-thompson-3/chpttwentythreephillypodcast

Mobile: Now you can find my websites about Julius Thompson and his books on Cell phones, Ipads, Nooks and other mobile devices!

m.purplephantoms.com

m.jtwrites.com

Marketing Videos for Purple Phantoms and my past book tours:

Purple Phantoms:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pU4wHAS_Ic&feature=g-upl

Book Marketing National Tours:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgEmGKl3pyg&feature=context-gau

How I reached the writing of my fifth novel: Chasing The Wind

   I’m writing my fifth novel: Chasing The Wind.

When I look at the word “Fifth”, it scares me. It seems like just yesterday I was working on my first novel, A Brownstone in Brooklyn. With the publication of  Brownstone, I thought my novel writing days were over.

Now, four books later and I’m going strong in crafting novels.

I’m on a roll.

However, the crafting of a novel is never easy. There is character development with character resumes, scene construction, setting or the sense of place in a book, point of view, descriptive details, pacing, etc.

The elements of a novel are daunting and must be conquered  and woven together into a cohesive book that will grab and keep readers turning the pages.

In Chasing The Wind, I want to explore how characters persevere over or destroyed by ever changing themes in their lives.

After the publication of A Brownstone in Brooklyn in 2001, the flood gates opened with Philly Style and Philly Profile in 2007, Ghost of Atlanta in 2011 and Purple Phantoms in 2012.

My fourth novel, Purple Phantoms, will be published by Passionate Writer Publishing which published the National Gold Medal Award Winning Ghost of Atlanta.

I learned something from Terry Kay, the incredible southern author, that has helped me since 2005, when I started writing Philly Style and Philly Profile, and that is when I finish a book, “don’t get up from the desk until you have written the first line of the next book.”

That has helped me stay in the process of writing a novel. The writing never stops and I LOVE it!

***

       PS: In the title of the book is it:  “the” or “The”…a little help please (smile).

Please visit my website!

Julius Thompson’s New Video Blog Series!

For the first time in my life, I’m stepping out on a limb and putting myself out there in a video. In fact, it is a video blog.

Nervous!

You bet, but I feel this is the next step in the evolution of the marketing of my books: A Brownstone in Brooklyn, Philly Style and Philly Profile, Ghost of Atlanta and Purple Phantoms.

“Thompson On…My Personal Journey to Writing Confidence”  is the first video blog in a series called, Thompson On…, where I will be tackling different writing, publishing and marketing issues.

The main idea for this first video is about achieving writing confidence. I talk about my first tentative steps that eventually to lead to me winning the 2011 Readers Favorite National Gold Medal Award for General Fiction for Ghost of Atlanta.

I reveal personal anecdotes into the genesis of my writing career and a snapshot of what I overcame to achieve writing confidence and then writing success in Journalism and novel writing.

Please watch my video blog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlVzwwkokak&feature=g-upl

And  after watching my video blog, you can visit my website and read my blogs on writing confidence and other topics: http://www.purplephantoms.com/blog.html

Enjoy and Happy Writing!

Julius Thompson on the Julia Widdop National BlogTV Show!

  I will be making my first National BlogTV Show appearance onMonday, June 18, 2012at10:30 amvia Webcam, on the Julia Widdop BlogTV show from the main studio inGrand   Junction,Colorado!

The airtime will be on Wednesday, June 20, 2012. Check back for links to watch the broadcast.

Wow, this is wonderful!

What an opportunity to be interviewed by incredible host Julia Widdop from the Julia Widdop Productions: Publishers Speak and SeekersJourney TV.Com. Please visit www.juliaWiddop.com to learn more about the Publishers Speak BlogTV programs.

Each interview is about 25-30 minutes long. The interview will be pre-recorded and I will have it uip and running on my website: www.purplephantoms.com and the host will upload to http://YouTube.com/juliawiddop

After the interview, and later that evening, I will be in the TV show chat room to answer questions from viewers. I will send out a link for the TV Show chat room closer to the interview date.

I will send links to the TV interview to Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Wordsmith Blog, Authorsden, and Blogger and also my publisher, Passionate Writer Publishing.

In the TV interview, I will be discussing my new novel Purple Phantoms, published by Passionate Writer Publishing. This novel follows on the success of the 2011 Readers Favorite Gold Medal Award Winning, Ghost of Atlanta, also published by PWP. Ghost of Atlanta is the third book in the Julius Thompson Trillogy which includes A Brownstone in Brooklyn and Philly Style and Philly Profile.

PWP did a wonderful job with my last novel, Ghost of Atlanta, which won a 2011 National Fiction Award. I will travel to the Miami Book Fair International in November 2012 to pick up the Gold Medal.

 Purple Phantoms has started garnering a ground-swell of national interest in the pre-publication stage. Purple Phantoms one-line synopsis:

     ”Five Ghosts–basketball players whose lives were cut short–return to haunt five basketball starters to help them try to win the coveted State Championship.”

Please Respond to a quote from A Brownstone in Brooklyn

  I was asked to choose a quot from my first novel, A Brownstone in Brooklyn, to reflect on the unpredictable nature of ife. How things are never the amse and human beings have to adjust to life’s changing events.

 A Brownstone in Brooklyn is about growing up in the turbulent sixties, one of the most event filled decades in Black-American history.

   A Brownstone in Brooklyn chronciles the life-altering events that shape the future of Andy Michael Pilgrim, a young man growing up in the turbulent sixties. This is a quote from Sister Love, a character sitting on the B-52 bus riding to her job at the A&S Department Store in downtown Brookyn. She’s watching some young kids playing in the  the water squirting from a fire hydrant.

    What do you think? What is your reaction to this quote?

    “The most special times in a person’s life are not meant to last forever. They’re like bubbles from a plastic ring dipped into a soapy solution. The soap bubbles rise, with the sun flashing brillant colors, then bursts into a showery memory mist.”

    —Julius Thompson, A Brownstone in Brooklyn

    Please leave a response or email your response: juliusthompson@purplephantoms.com

Thompson On…One Writer’s Journey to become a Successful Novelist!

   Sometimes when I enter my writing area, in a corner of my office, it seems that words will not come and the critic inside me attacks my creativity with a constant bombardment of negative thoughts. “

Enough!

Finally, I sit down, strike the letters on the keyboard and let the words energize each other as they create vivid word pictures that become vibrant mental images for my readers. I’m on my writing schedule and I believe in myself.

I wasn’t always ! this confident in my writing ability. I listened to the “rules police” or “peer critics” and didn’t believe enough to even look inside myself to write. I was scared at one time in my life, many years ago, in the turbulent sixties.

What developed confidence in my writing ability occurred on a faithful fall day when I was a junior atBushwickHigh SchoolinBrooklyn,New York.

I was scared to express any thoughts, any opinions, and had trouble looking people in the eye. Self-Esteem and self-confidence was lacking in my personality.

I knew I had this ability to write, but the motivation and confidence was zero. I was in my second year, at Bushwick, after moving from Statham,Georgia, population 300 and segregated, toBrooklyn, population 3,000,000 and integrated.

I got up enough nerve to ask my English teacher and student council/general organization sponsor, Miss Egan, the question. If the answer was negative, all my hopes and dreams of becoming the next great writer would be dashed.

I knocked hard on the door to her office, entered, and asked her, “Can I be a writer?”

She stared at me for a few seconds and then said, “Do it.”

I haven’t looked back.

I wrote articles for The New York Times, The Philadelphia Bulletin (National Award Winning Sports Writer), The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Associated Press, Sports Scene, Parade Magazines, Georgia Author of the Year Nominee and now with three published novels and a fourth ready for publication 2012.

Miss Egan would be proud to know that my fourth novel, Ghost of Atlanta, won a 2011 National Gold Medal for fiction!

Not bad for a scared little kid from a small town inGeorgia.

I’m telling you like my high school English teacher, Miss Egan told me, “Do it!”

New Purple Phantoms Mobile Phone Website!

  Technology is incredible!

The next time you’re doing a book search on your mobile phone, check out my New Purple Phantoms Website: m.purplephantoms.com

Purple Phantoms is the new Julius Thompson novel that will be published by Passionate Writer Publishing in 2012.

Purple Phantoms’ one-line synopsis: “Five Ghosts—basketball players whose lives were cut short—return to haunt five basketball starters to help them try to win the coveted State Championship.”

Thompson on…Choosing a Point of View in a Novel!

How am I going to tell my story?

Which Point of View?

Choices? Choices? Choices?

When I sit in front of my computer and start to pound the letters on the keyboard, I must decide on the point of view to tell the story!

I swallow hard and try to figure out a “voice” in which to write my novel…so many choices!

What is the definition of point of view? Point of view is the way the author allows you to “see” and “hear” what’s going on in the novel.

Skillful authors can fix their readers’ attention on exactly the detail, opinion or emotion the author wants to emphasize by manipulating the point of view of the story.

Literature provides a lens through which readers look at the world.

****Point of view pertains to who tells the story and how it is told.

Point of View comes in three varieties: First-Person, Second Person and Third Person.

First Person point of view is in use when a character narrates the story with I-Me-Mine-Mine in his/her speech. The advantage of this point of view is that you get to hear the thoughts of the narrator and see the world depicted in the story through his/her eyes.

First Person Example: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Second-Person point of view, in which the author uses You and Your, is rare; authors seldom speak directly to the reader.  When you encounter this point of view, pay attention. Second-person point of view is distracting and hard to sustain in longer works of fiction.

Second Person Example: Bright Lights by Jay McInerney

Third-person point of view is that of an outsider looking at the action. The writer may choose third-person omniscient, in which the thoughts of every character are open to the reader…or third-person limited, in which the reader enters only one character’s mind, either throughout the entire work or in a specific section.

Third-person limited differs from first person because the author’s voice, not the character’s voice, is what you hear in the descriptive passages.

Third Person Example:  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

When you’re reading a third-person selection, either limited or omniscient, you’re watching the story enfold an outsider. Most Writers choose this point of view.

When Choosing a point of view, the most important consideration is: “What serves   the story best.!”

 Hint To Pick Point Of View

If you are stuck in trying to pick a point f view, write a few paragraphs in  a FEW different point of views and see which works best!

I hope this helps you in your quest to find a voice for your novel.

Happy Writing!

 

Thompson On…Subplots in a Novel!

              Have you ever driven down one of those winding backwood roads in a rural area and couldn’t figure out how to get back to the main highway? Well, that is the feeling a reader gets when they read your novel and get lost in a tangling subplot.

         Your goal as an author is to create a little depth to your novel, maybe a little suspense, but not take away from your main plot and pull your reader out of the “Fictive Dream” you worked so hard to create in the reader’s mind.

      What is a subplot?

       ***A subplot is a secondary plot strant that is supporting a side story for any story or main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or in themeatic signaficance. Subplots often involve supporting characters, those besides the protagonist or antagonist.

      ***Subplots are distinguished from the main plot by taking up less of hte action, having less significant events occur, with less impact on the book. Novels comment on one thing from multiple perspectives and with side trips her eand there: This means subplots.

      In a novel, you can take a side trip to give extensive back story or other reasons. However, the subplot isn’t a side trip, it’s a set of cohesive actions with its own  main characters, goals, sebacks and resolutions.

     Subplots are a sequence of events that parallels themai plot; it can closely resemble  the main plot or it can diverge in significant ways in order to highlight themain plot.

     For example from my first novel, A Brownstone in Brooklyn, Jesse Towns and the possible horrific selling of the brownstone  without the tenants knowledge was an early subplot. This subplot lasted the first seven chapters, but it impacted the thematic development of the rest of the novel.

    The Key for all subplots!

     1. They relate to the main plot and inersect with it in some way.

     2. Don’t swamp the main plot line with subplots. They must advance the story and show complexities in your characters.

Ideas for Subplots!

      1. The main character can have more than one goal, usually relating to the main goal in some way.

      2. Romantic subplots are common.

      3. Secondary character’s concern and goal. One of the other characters is the hero of his/her own plot/?

      As you craft your novel, your objective is to pick and choose when to use subplots to add depth and possible suspense to your book.  Subplots are most effective in the middle of a novel as the reader moves toward the climatic ending.

      Keep your readers on the main Highway, but don’t be afraid to make a detour to show a little extra scenery, fight some incredible battles and meet some new and interesting characters.

      Happy Writing!!!

*****

     Any questions or comments about this blog please email, juliusthompson@purplephantoms.com or leave a message.