JWTroemner.com

jwtroemner

Home of JW Troemner and Urban Dragon

I’m a freelance writer and sometimes getaway driver who spends my free time haunting the shelves of the local used book store.

  • Pardon the mess…

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    (My website and social media pages are still under construction while I get my act together. In the meantime, enjoy some photos)

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    Don’t worry, this isn’t my house.

    It was a doctor’s office once upon a time, then an auto shop, then an unofficial dumping ground for the local area. The spot of light on the right is the scar left over from when a car skidded on the ice, went through the wall, and wound up in the building’s basement.
    Yes, it has a basement. It’s that massive thing that is even now being excavated so the building can be cleaned up, renovated, and given new life.

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    Buildings like these are a testament to the whims of time. Prosperous places can fall into ruin– but with enough hard work and determination, they can become new sources of pride and prosperity in their communities. And that’s something that should be celebrated.

  • Happy Valentine’s Day

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    I hope your holiday is a sweet one!

  • So what’s with all the abandoned buildings?

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    Urban Dragon takes place in what’s known as the Rust Belt, where abandoned buildings, derelict factories, and unused railroad tracks are part of the everyday scenery.

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    An electrical room from a now-demolished factory that was less than an hour’s walk from downtown Indianapois. Photo taken 2015.

    (more…)

  • A Change of Plans

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    For the last year, I’ve been pretty much silent.

    I was picked up by Cliffhanger Press, and I was pushing my limits to get the nine novellas of my series written before my publisher’s patience dried up and I outstayed my welcome. As it turns out, the people of CP are incredibly supportive, but outside circumstances struck. Now Cliffhanger Press is no more,  but I’ll be self-publishing the serial with their blessing.

    You’ll be seeing more of my progress in these blog posts, but I’ll be largely restructuring my blog and my general online presence to match my new goal. Pardon the mess, but there’ll be some trial and error as I figure out the best way to move forward.

  • When rules can be broken

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    Let’s start with an old grammar joke.

    Two women are sitting next to each other on a train. The first turns to the second and asks “So where are you from?”

    The second sniffs. “I’m from a place where we do not end a sentence with a preposition.”

    Ever the courteous conversationalist, the first corrects herself: “So where are you from, asshole?” 

    Grammar’s funny like that.

    Almost nobody adheres to the joke’s preposition rule, because bending over backwards to avoid a preposition can make sentences ridiculously convoluted. Seriously, how could you possibly rephrase the opening question? “From whence do you hail?”

    There’s nothing casual or friendly about that, unless you’re at a renfaire. So the first woman did the sensible thing and sacrificed the grammatical rule for the sake of her message.

    Meaning can be more than clarity

    When you understand a rule, you can break it in a way that leaves an impression on the reader.

    If you spend much time on Tumblr, you’ll notice that text will randomly go into all caps and jumbled letters whEN THE WRITERS GET SUPER EXCITED AFKLSDJLKFDSL. The point is that the writer is so incredibly excited and/or angry that their emotion becomes more important than the subject they’re talking about, conveying that the thing they’re talking about is either too amazing or too awful for words.

    It works just as well in fiction.

    Sentence fragments can indicate fragmented thought. Run-on sentences can convey anxiety. Particular errors can become hallmarks of a character’s voice. For example, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes famously begins with so many spelling and grammatical errors that it can seem nigh unintelligible, because throughout the story, the way Charly writes signals as much (if not more) to the audience as the content of his words. During the entire book, you can map his mental state by his writing style. The same can be said about Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn, in which individual letters are systematically excised from the text throughout the novel. The more draconian the town’s laws become, the more convoluted the prose becomes.

    If you’re tempted to use style in this way, though, keep three things in mind:

    • These flourishes are all deliberately placed by the writer
    • The reader’s attention is drawn to the dramatic flourishes and away from the text itself
    • The dramatic flourishes actively reinforce the most important part of the text

    It’s important to beware, though. Get too bold with your style, and you may sacrifice the content of your words altogether.

    Do you have any flourishes you favor? Know any good grammar jokes? Are there styles that drive you batty? Tell us in the comments!

  • Why writing rules are so hard

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    Depending on who you ask, there are six rules for proper use of a comma or sixteen. Depending on who you ask, numbers should be written out or typed as numerals, or written out and then typed as numerals inside of parentheses.

    Why? What’s up with these rules? What’s the point, and why all the changes? (more…)

  • Dark Embrace Cover Reveal!

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    If you think this sounds familiar, you’re not wrong. Angie Sandro is a friend of mine and an all-around amazing writer, and I am honored to help her reveal the gorgeous new cover for the new edition of Dark Paradise, plus the newest addition to the series, Dark Embrace.

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    Dark Embrace

    Reader favorite Angie Sandro returns to the bayou with a bewitching paranormal romance perfect for fans of Beautiful Creatures . . .

    Rescued from the brink of death by her cousin Mala, Dena Acker returns to the land of the living with a terrifying gift. Still connected to the darkness that almost claimed her, she can tell when someone’s about to die—but there’s nothing she can do to save them. Desperate to rid herself of this cursed ability, Dena has only one chance at peace . . . and it comes from an otherworldly stranger. For centuries, Ashmael has seen more souls than he can count but he’s never been drawn to anyone the way he is to fragile, beautiful Dena. She fills the dark void of his days with light, and he would do anything to ease her suffering. Even if it means sacrificing his only chance at a flesh-and-blood existence to truly be with her.

    Where to find it
    B&N: http://bit.ly/1FVYxmf
    Kobo: http://bit.ly/1AszJzS
    Amazon: http://amzn.to/1SB0PKV

    Sandro Dark Paradise revised cover_edited

    Dark Paradise

    Is this love affair their destiny? Or is it doomed?

    Paradise, Louisiana, is far from idyllic for Mala LaCroix and Landry Prince. Haunted by strange visions, the pair are drawn together by a mystery concealed beneath the polite facades and the murky swamps of the Deep South.  Landry had a crush on Mala all through high school and was her greatest defender, but now-up close and personal-he is starting to suspect that the rumors of witchcraft and voodoo are true. But he can’t let his doubts tear them apart because a day of reckoning is coming. As Mala struggles to conceal her powers and avoid the curse that has struck generations of LaCroix women, Landry will have no choice but to face his own demons. Both of them will soon be caught up in a web of deceit that reveals the dark side of Paradise.

    Where to find it
    B&N: http://bit.ly/1rImn9K
    Kobo: http://bit.ly/1jWBWFM
    iTunes: http://bit.ly/1lVTNkk
    Amazon: http://amzn.to/1rImtOy

    Angie Sandro Author Photo

    About Angie Sandro

    Angie Sandro was born at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. Within six weeks, she began the first of eleven relocations throughout the United States, Spain, and Guam before the age of eighteen.  Friends were left behind. The only constants in her life were her family and the books she shipped wherever she went. Traveling the world inspired her imagination and allowed her to create her own imaginary friends. Visits to her father’s family in Louisiana inspired this story. Angie now lives in Northern California with her husband, two children, and an overweight Labrador.

    Connect with Angie online:
    Goodreads
    Facebook
    Blogspot
    Newsletter
    Pinterest
    Twitter

  • How to talk about your novel

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    Writers have entire worlds swimming around in our heads, and we often have a hard time condensing something so huge into less than 100,000 words. This is why one of the hardest parts of trying to get published is often said to be writing a query letter or a synopsis. Often, we see the grand scale, twisting plot, and intense worldbuilding as a major part of the charm of our stories, but these lose a lot of their effect when they’re presented in conversation.

    Some writers respond to this by staying quiet and not talking about their stories at all. Others go to the opposite end of the spectrum and try to tell the entire thing in one sitting.

    Now, don’t get me wrong– telling people about your story can be a great way to get other people excited to read it. However, presenting too much all at once can be overwhelming and off-putting.

    Based on my experiences interacting with other writers, here are some common problems we have when talking about our stories, and tips on how to fix them.  (more…)

  • Major Announcement

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    Let me tell you a story:

    I got engaged to my husband Boxy when I was in my senior year of high school. We’d been discussing the idea for a while before then– as mild hypotheticals at first, which slowly crystallized into certainty. We went to the jewelry store together to pick out an engagement ring before he officially proposed to me.

    After I got home, I called my best friend to tell her about it, because she had more or less promised to defenestrate me if she heard that kind of news second-hand.

    I got engaged on a Friday. I wore my ring to church that Sunday, and to school every day that week.

    The following Friday, while I was eating breakfast with my seminary class, somebody finally noticed that there was a very large, very sparkly ring on the third finger of my left hand.

    “HOLY CRAP, JENNY, ARE YOU ENGAGED?!?!?”

    “Hm?” I put down my bagel. “Oh. Yeah.”

    “SINCE WHEN?”

    “About a week now, actually.”

    I now leave you to imagine a room full of twenty or so teenage boys and girls freaking out while decidedly not swearing, because this was a church function, after all.

    This is how announcements happen for me. I call the people closest to me on the day of, and after that the news percolates to the rest of the world while I get used to the idea.

    So if by now you’ve noticed several posts talking about suspicious activity, now you know why. This is me calm, because I’ve already paced myself dizzy and danced in circles and laughed like a hyena at the dentist’s office. I have dedicated the last ten years of my life to this moment, and it’s actually happening.

    So. Ahem.

    At the beginning of February, I signed on with Cliffhanger Press to publish Urban Dragon, an eight-piece series of urban fantasy novellas.

    The final release date has not yet been announced, but expect to see the series launch later this year on the Kindle Unlimited, and shortly after that for various digital distributors. I’ll be posting updates on developments as they happen. From this point on, you’ll also be seeing snippets of my writing and research, character profiles, and so forth. Because now that the word’s out, I can’t help but to gush.

    Thank you all so much for sticking with me for so long. Now it’s time to buckle up and hold on tight, because it’s gonna be one hell of a ride.

  • What’s wrong with the Super Bowl?

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    Full disclosure: Tonight I’m writing my blog post from the Phoenix, AZ, International Airport. I’m writing here instead of in an airplane heading home because Super Bowl-induced air traffic caused some delays in my flight here, and I wound up missing the transfer to Indianapolis.

    There was also rain involved, but mostly I blame the event, because I’m petty like that.

    I make it no secret that I’ve got a chip on my shoulder about football in general, and the Super bowl in particular. It’s not the game in general I take issue with, but the amount of focus it gets in American minds, often at a significant human cost.

    Misplaced priorities 

    Don’t get me wrong– I fully support programs (including sports programs) in schools that help students build self-worth and develop themselves and their interests. However, in the USA, it’s not unusual for sports programs to get a generous budget while other programs (not only the arts, but things as basic as mathematics) wither and starve for want of funding.

    The local impact

    When the Super Bowl came to my home town a few years back, it brought some good things to Indy (though not money– in fact, Indy lost $1 million in revenue hosting the Super Bowl in 2012). But as while my husband and I were enjoying the newly renovated Georgia Street walkway, we ran into a homeless man who’d been forcibly evicted from the homeless camp at which he’d been living. Turns out the city’s efforts to “clean up” the city involved removing the local homeless population and putting them…

    …

    …

    Actually, that part was never made clear. There wasn’t enough room in shelters to house the city’s homeless, and even if the Super Bowl Committee had planned to put each displaced person up in a motel room for the duration of the event, there weren’t any open rooms within an hour’s drive of the city. They were simply told to go somewhere else.

    A history of violence

    I can’t remember a time when professional athletes weren’t coming under fire for scandals. I’m not talking about relatively harmless offenses like cheating at the game, either– I’m talking about crimes like dog fighting, domestic assault, child abuse, and rape.

    And worst of all, those who commit these crimes are often protected and defended in the name of their “promising careers”.

    Is this really where you want to spend your money?

    This year, a “cheap” ticket to attend the 2015 Phoenix, AZ, Super Bowl cost between $3,000 and $9,000, depending on when you bought your seat.

    Let me point out that with the price of a single ticket (we’re going to be conservative here and go with the cheapest possible ticket), you could:

    • Pay for a semester’s tuition for one full-time student
    • Rent a one-bedroom apartment in Phoenix, AZ, for six months
    • Buy a $5 meal for 600 people (or, conversely, three square meals for one person for six months)
    • Pay for 300 visits to a low-cost Minute Clinic.

    And those are the cheap seats.

    What’s the point of all this?

    I’m not saying you should stop enjoying football, the Super Bowl, or any sport that you enjoy. I don’t think you should be apologetic or ashamed. But I do implore you to think critically about the media that you are consuming (which you may already be doing, if you’ve gotten this far without closing the tab in an infuriated huff).

    If a child you know is into sports, remind them of the importance of sportsmanship and integrity and respect, especially off the field. When an athlete is accused of criminal behavior, don’t downplay the suffering of the victim in the name of your team’s winning streak. When you consider splurging on expensive tickets, consider also donating resources to those in need.