It seemed like it would never get here, but I am finally finished with rewrites on my new book, Home to My Arms! It’s one last pass for proofreading and then I start the query process. As promised, only two days late, I want to share an exerpt. The situation is that the main characters, […]
If you started your visit to my site on my homepage, you’ll see I am author JD Stephens. I used to be author Joe Stephens, but I took a long break from writing for some pretty life-altering things, such as meeting and marrying the love of my life and adopting her beloved daughter, making her […]
I don’t know about you, but growing older has not been one of my favorite things. My knees are creaky and crunchy and cranky a lot of the time. If I need to get on the floor, I have to have a plan for getting up, like a nearby couch or bed to use as […]
I saw a question on a website for writers about what advice we, as writers, would give to young people who are interested in becoming writers. I may be completely wrong about this, but I feel like I have a slightly unique perspective on this, in that I started writing at a young age (I […]
I’ve been slugging along with editing of my old books. It hasn’t been a fast process, but that’s okay. I feel like I really am making good progress and making such substantive changes and improvements that I really am creating entirely new stories. It’s going well enough that I feel ready to share some information. […]
I’m not sure if I’m unique in this, but I see autumn, along with its counterpart, spring, as less seasons themselves and more as transitions leading to the “main” seasons of summer and winter. I guess I feel this way because they are less extreme than the times they lead into. Fall ushers in the […]
“So, when the journey gets long,Just know that you are loved,There is light up above, And the joy is always enough.Bubbles up.” “Bubbles Up”, by Jimmy Buffett The deaths of celebrities don’t usually have a deep effect on me. I’ll usually say, “Aww…”, discuss some memory I have of their career, and go on about […]
My time as a full-tme teacher ended last May. It was definitely bittersweet. Sorry for the cliche, but it is one for a reason. I continue to have moments that tug at my heart, making me wonder if I quit too soon. After all, I still love being with the kids and I loved having […]
My earliest memories of being in Cincinnati involve camping somewhere on the outskirts of the city, going to a newly opened regional theme park called King’s Island, and then almost always ending up in Kentucky as my dad invariably missed the exit on the way to Riverfront Stadium for a Reds game. Remember, these were […]
Something happened on my way to having extra time on my hands when I retired. It feels like everything happened. Everything but having extra time, that is. At least until quite recently. Between giving more time to things I was already doing and picking up activities I hadn’t been doing, I feel like I’m at […]