Jody Klaire

My confidence is low at the moment. (What an opening line. Feel the tension? Thought so. I’m unstoppable sometimes.)

I know all writers experience a lack of confidence and I know it’s a universal theme whoever you are which is why I wanted to hold my hands up and say that’s how I’m feeling.

So to make it clear, I’m under-confident about my writing. (Can you tell?)

In the past eight years, I’ve written 500,000 words a year, published twelve books, written three times as many which won’t get published, been in quite a few anthologies, written blogs, and all the prep work.

I’ve written 900,000 words this year, released two novels, released a novella, been featured in two short story anthologies and that’s without thinking about the planning that goes with it all.

I’m not a maths genius (or close to it) but that probably equals a lot of writing miles and so, technically, I should be pretty confident, right?

You’d think that, wouldn’t you?

If you know me, you know I’m a sunny sort of person. I defy medical science everyday so everything else is a doddle, right?

Er… no.

Writing blues hit me just like every other fellow inmate at Authors Anonymous and I needed Ferb hugs to restore my smile. (Everyone should hug Ferb.) He tells me I’m a great writer all the time or maybe I’m getting “dog speak” wrong and he’s telling me to give him a treat, who knows. I like to think he rates my stories about “lively” golden retrievers pouncing innocent people.

Anyway, I digress, where were we? Ah yes, confidence… I have none. Slight issue that needs some conflict resolution. That’s when you, the readers, become vital. Yes, you. Yep, put the chocolate down. Yes, I know you think dark chocolate is healthy but I say milk chocolate has calcium in it and that’s good for bones. Either way, you there, with that stunning complexion and those breath-taking looks, you are vital.

“…as Renee, Aeron and Zack tried to escape from those after them in one of the most death-defying escapes ever written in fiction! The intensity, the tachycardic moves written in staccato pace, every word, every expression that Klaire brilliantly described ever so vividly…”

Me? you say.

Yes. Keep up. It’s exhausting re-explaining myself all the time.

You are vital because you have the ability to remind me why I love writing.

Money?

No, that’s crazy talk. You’re confusing me with JK Rowling and I’m not married to a doctor, even if it feels like it.

Fame?

Um, not unless you count being stopped so someone can take a picture of Ferb.

Insanity?

Spot on.

But there’s also this other really big thing that’s important: I can reach people and move them.

Yes, I, Jody Klaire, am trying to be the creative equivalent of a forklift truck.

Fantastic. I feel better already.

When readers connect to something I wrote at three in the morning through bleary eyes and Ferb fur (think tumbleweed, people,) and they take the time to write down how my work made them feel (and throw in JK Rowling references,) they reach me and move me.

We are but mutual forklift trucks. (I should write poetry, I know.)

Those people, like angels, make me sit down and let out a long happy sigh that someone, somewhere, gets me. Knowing that my writing moves you and makes you smile stirs something joyful inside me.

If you’ve read the previous installments of this saga, you’d know just how brilliant Klaire’s skill is in writing action sequences. Book 5 gave me one of the most unforgettable car chase scenes ever written. This book gave me yet another whopping memorable, highly charged, adrenaline-pumping experience reading a long, non-stop, detailed action sequence that left me utterly exhausted with the ups and downs, the climbing, the bullet-dodging, the slipping, the falling, the rowing, the rolling…

And, from out of nowhere, confidence taps me on the shoulder and waves. (Interesting visual. I should go into films.)

This particular reader (see below) touched me when they expressed how they felt about Aeron. It reminds me why I chose to follow my heart with Aeron. I feel blessed that I get to tell her story in all its high concept complexity and sometimes, I get it right.

Mildly humorous blogging aside, I needed someone to reach me and move me. I needed someone to remind me that I love what I do… and I probably really need an editor for this blog but that’s beside the point.

Thank you, Bugs, for caring so much about something that comes from deep inside me. I’m not sure I have words to describe the boost you gave me writing your thoughts down and allowing me to share them.

Thank you to all the readers, beta and beyond, who email, tweet, post, message, write, yell… and let me know I am a forklift truck with Ferb fur.

And, thank you… yes you with the frown and puzzled expression… thank you for reading. (and check out Bugs’ full blog!)

May confidence tap you on the shoulder and not run off laughing.

 I felt like I was in the scene experiencing the same thing alongside Renee and Aeron. I literally felt the bullets flying all over me, hearing the whooshing sound when bullets missed us by the skin of our teeth! I felt every jolt, every fall, every scrape, every injury as Renee, Aeron and Zack struggled to get to safety.

Bugs own words