FAYE IS HERE!!!

I'm very proud to announce to you my second novel, which is now available on Amazon!

BUY IT ON AMAZON HERE!

(Better yet: Get it on either Kindle or Paperback!)

Find it on Goodreads as well!! 

 I AM SO EXCITED!!!

Another side note: http://jcbuchanan.com is now live! This will be my official author website, though this blog, thehiddenamethyst.blogspot.com, will remain as my main blog.

While I'm here: check out http://beyondtheamethyst.blogspot.com This is my blog full of book reviews!!

If you read Faye, please leave a review on either Amazon or Goodreads! I would absolutely love to hear what you think! :)

You'll Be Like Faye: Book Trailer!

My next book, entitled You'll Be Like Faye, is coming out this summer! 

For a teaser, check out the new BOOK TRAILER!!!

 

Enjoy :) 

(P.S. The site jcbuchanan.com is not up yet, but it will be very soon.)

Proof Time: Number 2!

These last few months have been very busy for me, full of further editing, grammatical editing, formatting like crazy, creating a cover, creating a back cover, coming up with a book summary, and finalizing everything. This time around we have a family friend who is doing some good hard editing for us, and actually we are still waiting on the last few edits. But that’s not the point. The point is everything else in in place and we have

ORDERED THE PROOF!!!!!!!!

This is the main big step to actually getting it published.

The proof is basically a sample copy of how the book will look. Once we get it, we can approve it if we like it, or make changes. Once we’re satisfied, we click approve and then it’s only a matter of days before it releases to the public.

I am so excited right now! Our original goal was to submit it and release to the public May 1st, but unfortunately, that’s not going to quite happen because the proof probably won’t arrive for a week or two, and then there’s still the few days of finalizing everything. But hopefully sometime in May!

Overall, we are very, very, very close! I’ll keep you all posted! Thanks for your support!

— J.C. :D

2015 Updates

Happy new year everybody! Is it already 2015? Anyway, a few new things to share today.

First of all, if you haven’t already, check out the Hidden Amethyst TV Show Trailer! (The actual episode, from what I understand, is planned to release soon.) The director did a great job and I will post the second the episode releases, but until then…there’s a trailer to watch!

Secondly, I know most of you are probably wondering the status regarding my next book. I have been writing and editing this book pretty much around the clock since February 2014, and finally, we have reached the final stage. All that’s left to do is 1) me to rewrite the ending one last time and 2) do the final read-through with my parents. Then we format, clarify the cover (the cover photo is already taken) and send it off for proofs. After proofs, where we do one final lookthrough, to the public it goes! I know this sounds like a long time, but in reality, we’re hoping for that release date to be sometime next month. 

Also, make sure to check out my ‘More Like Me?’ page I’ve just added on my blog! This is the page for books that no one really knows about, the books written by young writers like me! Please take the time today to check out or even read these books. I will add to the list as I discover more writers.

Finally, if you want to hear my opinions on books, please check out beyondtheamethyst.blogspot.com, which is my blog where I review books. This 2015, I’ve challenged myself to read 200 books, and I’m going to try to review most of them and post the reviews there.

Thank you for stopping by The Hidden Amethyst! If you have any questions, you can reach me at thehiddenamethyst@gmail.com.

P.S. I’m still accepting readers’ drawings if you have a favorite character/scene drawing from Hidden Amethyst you want to send me! Via email is best. :)

Want a Teaser? Watch the HIDDEN AMETHYST TRAILER!!!!!

Attention Fans of The Hidden Amethyst!!!!!!!!

Remember how I said that there was a Hidden Amethyst TV Show releasing to YouTube?

I have been very excited to see it. There have been a few delays, but ultimately, I have seen it and the TV Show 1st Episode IS Amazing. The actual episode is to release very soon, but in the meantime, why don't you watch the trailer to get you hyped up for it? :) :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVN_FaqUlHM


Enjoy :) Tell all your friends! Keep watching my blog for more updates! You won't have to wait long...like I've said, the episode releases soon! :)

Readers' Drawing: Amethyst

12-year-old Audrey's drawing of Amethyst:

Update Directly from The Director of the Hidden Amethyst TV Show!

Wondering the details of the TV show? Read what director Eli has to say:

" Hey guys, first I would like to thank J.C for letting me do this, it has been a great experience and I hope you enjoy it. We have been filming for over 3 months and it has been a wild ride. We film almost everything outside because I want to take advantage of God's creation. We also are filming at my church, we ask kids to be extras and they always say yes ( I mean who doesn't want to be in a TV show?).We also film at another church on the other side of town. We try to film anywhere we can. My sister and I film it. My actresses are doing a great job acting. Autumn, who plays Amethyst, is very creative. She has a book about to be published, and she loves to sing and is writing a theme song for the show. She is just a amazing actress and a amazing friend.
Giorgi plays Mrs Buchanan and Miranda. She got into acting because her mom had been in plays and she wanted to be just like her mom. She is very nice and quiet, but when she acts like Mrs Buchanan she is totally a different person. Oh, I almost forgot, we will mention two names for Mrs Odelia. We mention the name in the book, "Mrs. Odelia," then the we will mention "Mrs Buchanan."
Now Emma, she is Autumn's sister, she is 4 years old and is a great actress. She is playing Emmy. When I said she would be playing tricks on her big sis, she knew she had her chance to have some fun on Autumn, so she said yes.

That is pretty much it for now, make sure to see it on YouTube. The release date is the 20th like J.C said on her last post. If you have any questions, email me at eli@cornett.com. Thanks. "

Updates, Updates, Updates!

The title says it all.

Recently I have started another blog separate from this one just for fun, one which I titled Beyond the Amethyst. While The Hidden Amethyst covers about me and book updates, Beyond the Amethyst is simply for my random endeavors at crafting, arts, and more, but it focuses on book reviews—a Goodreads page outside of Goodreads. :P  Anyway, there’s not much on there at the moment, but feel free to check it out. 

beyondtheamethyst.blogspot.com

Onto my next news: Eli (the one who is making the Hidden Amethyst TV show) contacted me recently to 1) send me the scenes he had filmed (and wow are they awesome) and 2) to tell me that his release date is next Saturday (the 20th)!!! He will post it on YouTube then and when he does I will post about it immediately. Take it from someone who’s seen parts of the film when I say it’s awesome so far!! Anyway, you’ll all have a chance to see it within a few weeks! :)

As to my next book, you’re probably all longing for an update, so here it is. I finally (finally finally finally finally) finished it! Not just writing. I finished editing, finished rewriting….All that’s left is to touch it up with my parents. Should be out within a few months! As to titles, we have quite a few leads…work in progress. I’ll keep you updated!!!

Hidden Amethyst Hits the Big Screen! (Okay, not really)

First of all I have to say I’m sorry for not posting all summertime. I was very busy writing my next book, and I figured that was a smidgen more important. But anyway I’m posting today to reveal some pretty awesome news.

A few months ago, my friend Eli contacted me to say he read and loved my book, and if I would like him to make a TV show about Amethyst’s adventures at the asylum. I said yes, of course, with much excitement.

The first episode in this series, titled Trouble Twins, follows Amethyst as she struggles through the twins’ pranks, tricks, and trouble-making. Though the episode focuses on Amethyst, Miranda, and the twins, McKenna and Courtney do make a brief appeareance as well. Also, he has decided Miss Odelia’s last name is going to be Buchanan (ha, ha, Eli).

Eli hopes to finish the first episode within a few weeks, after which it will be posted on YouTube. The actresses he has are very talented people and I am really excited not only to see this 1st epsiode but to see the future episodes as well! Additionally, he will have posters for sale eventually.

Once all of this is available I will let you all know immediately. I am so stoked about this, and I can’t wait to see the finished product! For more information, or if you have any questions, you can email me at thehiddenamethyst@gmail.com.

Step 2 Complete!

Hello everybody and yay!…My edited draft of my next book is FINISHED! As much as I love this story and writing it, I have to admit it’s nice to be done! So now all there’s to do is edit with my parents and formatting. We’re still shooting to release it by the end of summer, but that could change depending on how long editing takes. I’ll keep you all updated.

Also, new Hidden Amethyst news: I told you all I’m writing a short e-prequel to The Hidden Amethyst. Well, I finally have a title! I am calling it (drumroll) Hiding the Amethyst. This short little story will cover all the character’s backstories—their parents, where they were born, how the evil fairies came to be and (in some cases) how they turned to evil, plus so much more. I am having a ton of fun with this, so I can’t wait for you to read it!

 Also, if you’ve read The Hidden Amethyst, feel free to draw a picture of your favorite character/scene and send it to me via email: thehiddenamethyst@gmail.com   I can’t wait to see them!

Hidden Amethyst News!!

Hey everybody! I know you’re all probably super excited about my next book (I know I am), but you’re probably also wondering, what’s next for Amethyst? 

A few weeks ago I’d given up on Amethyst: I’d tried prequel ideas, sequel ideas, and spin-off ideas, but nothing was working. Plus I had a lot more ideas for books, and I didn’t really want to return to Amethyst. Still, I didn’t want to disappoint my readers, so I came up with a compromise.

As of now, I’m planning on this: I’m going to write a short, 20-50 page prequel to The Hidden Amethyst: all the characters’ backstories and so forth. Instead of publishing it, I’m going to post it here, on my blog, for free download. So you can read about Amethyst’s history, and I still have time to work on other new books.

I don’t know when this will take place, but I’m hoping to have it available by the end of the year. 

Stay tuned for more updates on Amethyst and my next book—:D

Step 1 Complete!

Yippee yay yay!! I am ecstatic right about now. You probably want to know why. Well, guess what I finished writing a few days ago?

My first draft!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know I’ve posted something like this before, about my last novel attempt, but remember I ditched that idea and started a new one. (Which, by the way, is 1,000 times better!)

243 pages and about 59,000 words (11,000 more than The Hidden Amethyst)! Plus, I wrote this in a little under 3 months, which is my record. I’ve never written that fast in my life. But like I’ve said, I’ve been super excited about this book. I love it!

So now we’re onto editing! I’m doing some editing on my own, but mostly it’s me and my parents. We’re going through, changing things, and fixing any holes in the story, etc. It should take a couple months, hopefully.

And no. We still have no title. However, I have quite a few ideas. I can promise you as soon I have one I will share it here!

And that’s mostly all, I think. Hoping for it to be out early fall! :)

Next Book Update!

I have been working like crazy on my next novel these days—it’s pretty much all I’m doing: writing. That and reading.
Anyways, I posted in September I had my first draft finished. I also said that because of that, it would come out sooner. You might be wondering where I’m at now. Editing stage? Formatting? Even better, about to publish?

Sadly, and fortunately, no.

In mid-January, my parents and I started to go over my draft I’d written about in September. My parents and I realized two things, going over it:  I realized my writing had improved. I also realized my storyline was failing. Again. I’m good at writing but I’m not so good at coming up with sturdy and intriguing plots that will work as novels. (I’m not even going to mention how much editing we needed to do on The Hidden Amethyst!) My problem, or why it was so bad, was mainly I kept it a secret until I had grown attached to it and the characters. In other words: Big mistake. Don’t do it.

Eight months away from our hoping-to-be release, I throw my previous draft in the trash (not literally) and decide to start fresh. Above, I say sadly, and fortunately, no. Sadly for the readers. Fortunately for me—My parents helped me come up with a great storyline that is destined to succeed! I know it was still a great choice because I still think that now, almost three months later. Also it’s fortunately because the other story was horrible compared to this one. So I’m glad the previous one got thrown out, otherwise I never would have discovered this one. And more good news is, I shouldn’t be ditching it anytime soon. I am LOVING this one five hundred million times more than the previous one I had. Besides, the plot is working 100%—unlike these previous drafts, I, amazingly enough, know where my story is going! No more blindly writing paragraphs and hoping they will fit in. I know where to head my story, how it’ll end, and so forth. So I can guarantee you the story I am talking about is the same story you will be reading by the end of the year!

Built-In Writing Tip: Write a story you’re extremely passionate about, like I did. You want to see the results?

When I was writing my previous draft, I liked it, but I didn’t love love it like this one. It took me 5-6 months to get to 145 pages.
When I was writing this book, which I LOVE, it took me only a month and a half to get to 145 pages. 

So, even though I started a brand-new story at the last minute, the deadline should, hopefully, stay around our original plan, which was August. We’re planning the cover already and editing along the way, which has been super essential to getting the story right, not to mention getting it done faster.

And…that’s the update. Yay!! I can’t wait for you all to read it….

A Book Review: Scenarios Series by Nicole O'Dell

Nicole O’Dell’s Scenarios series were really great books. Though it is one series, in each book there are new characters in new situations. The characters were lovable and very well described to a point where I grew to love them. They were written so realistically! Even though the majority of the books are about high schoolers I would reccommend it to anyone 12 and over. 

One thing I really loved about the whole series was the Christian theme. It takes true talent to do a Christian book—if you do it wrong it can come off cheesy—and Nicole O’Dell did it really well. It was realistic and well written. I really liked the way the main character always was (somewhat) willing to put church first, while still worrying about what their friends would think. I enjoyed the way the main character was able to (in some situations) turn her friends to Christ and how praying was a regular thing for their families. I loved how the Christian message was written into the books as part of the story, but also as an outreach as well. 

And, of course, I loved the two ending options. The scenarios the characters get themselves into are scary yet real and both endings are written naturally, as if there was no other ending. It was fun to read the two ways the character could have gone and see the results of both! Nobody can not like the ending because if a reader doesn’t like one ending there’s the other one!

My personal favorite of these books was Truth or Dare. In it, a girl named Lindsay and her friends start playing a game at their sleepovers called (you guessed it) Truth or Dare. For a while it’s fun, but then the dares get worse and worse. Then the absolute worst happens: Lindsay’s friend Kelly gives her a dare she knows she can never do, and Kelly says she’ll be kicked out of the group of friends if she doesn’t do it. Which will she pick? This one was my favorite because the book centers around friends, not boyfriends, and it’s something I can relate better to. It was so real and captivating; I loved it! 

The next few books were really well done, too, though I couldn’t quite relate as well as Truth or Dare. All that Glitters focuses more on boyfriends. I’m not a fan of those type of books, but I still found All that Glitters a great read. Making Waves was about a girl who swims on the swim team and her teammates tell her to use an illegal drug to get her through the final race. Like the previous book, I couldn’t quite relate to that sort of thing, but it was written so well I felt I could. Overall, the whole series is a definite 5-star rating and a series I’ll definitely reread again.

Lucy

Name: 

Lucy

Age: 

6

Personalities:

Sweet, caring, brave when she needs to be, spirited 

Best Moment: 

When she stood up to Mahalia by not singing “Happy Birthday” correctly. 

A Book Review: The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman

Wow! This book was amazing amazing amazing! I’ve read other books like this before—with other worlds and over governments—but this was by far the best one yet! I read it in almost one sitting. It was so captivating and interesting! Honor and her parents live on an island under the watch of Earth Mother and her many rules, but Honor’s family doesn’t follow most of those rules. They have an illegal second child, stay out past curfew, and even Honor’s name, in which the H is silent, doesn’t seem appropriate anymore. Honor and their second child—her brother—Quintilian, worry about their parents. Because in this world, if you don’t follow Earth Mother’s rules, you disappear. And don’t come back.

I love love loved this book. Great writing, great characters, and a real realistic feel! Even though Honor starts as a ten-year-old and finishes as a fourteen-year-old I’d reccommend this to all ages. I take back my five stars—it deserves at least ten!

Mahalia

Name: 

Mahalia 

Birthday: 

Who knows? And who really cares, anyway?

Personalities:

Need I really list? She’s evil, cruel, wicked, mean, bad, naughty, awful, terrible, atrocious, abysmal, horrible, horrid, terrifying, horrifying, crummy, rotten, lousy, lazy, useless, pathetic, careless, selfish, harmful, damaging, destructive, villianous, nefarious, dishonest, dishonorable, ill-behaved, unruly, uncaring, ignorant, thoughtless, greedy, menacing, inconsiderate, vile, outrageous, bitter, sick, dumb, wrong, sinful, foul, corrupt, malicious, sinister, monstrous, atrocious, mischevious, malignant, nasty, unpleasant, filthy…you get the point. 

Greatest Wish: 

For the world to all become her slaves for eternity and for Amethyst & Friends to be destroyed for EVER!!!! 

Best Moment: 

None. 

Worst Moment: 

Now we’re talking! It could be when she captured Amethyst, tried to destroy Lucy, hired Quiana to take over and fly a jet plane (that’s illegal you know) and then throw them out the window (even more illegal) it could be sending innocent orphans on trains, or…never mind.

Appearance:

She’s really…oh, never mind, you don’t wanna know.

A Book Review: Love, Aubrey by Suzanne Lafleur

Love, Aubrey is the best, most amazing, saddest book ever written. And I mean it. You will never regret reading it! The writing is so capitivating; you feel both Aubrey’s happiness and sadness. You feel so bad for her, and you can’t stop reading until the last page, when you find out the outcome. It will keep you thinking long after the last page and I’d say the only thing wrong is you’ll go crazy wanting a sequel so you can hear more of Aubrey’s future life! 

The story is about eleven-year-old Aubrey. Her dad and little sister, Savannah, have just died in a car accident, and her mom, crazed with grief, abandoned her. Left alone in her house, Aubrey lives alone for a week—until Gram comes to take her home to Vermont. 
At home, Aubrey’s friends had abandoned her, she was living by herself with nobody to watch her, and she hated school. Here in Vermont, she goes to a nice school, lives with her caring grandmother, and has a new best friend, Bridget. But the emptiness from the loss of her family is still there. They’ve been searching for her mom for a long time with no clues. Why would her mom just….leave?

Wow—it is just a beautiful book. It takes true talent to write a book so good it makes you want to cry. Read it! You will never regret it, and you will never forget Aubrey’s story. Reading her memories, you start to miss Savannah, too, even though you never knew her. 

Love, Aubrey definitely deserves five stars. It’s the most amazing book you’ll ever read. 

Writing Tip #3: The Editing Process

The editing process. It can be hard. It can be difficult. But it can also be very exciting. When you’re editing, you have power to change everything and anything.  You can change the starting point and ending point. You can change characters, add characters, delete characters. You can add and delete chapters. The point of the editing process? It’s to make the book the very best it can be.
So here’s my top secret (not really) tips on making your story the best.

1: Your first attempt will never work as a book.
That’s the hard fact. The first try, the first attempt, most likely is going to stink. (Mine always do.) What’s the point of the first draft, then? To get the story finished. Don’t worry about grammar. Don’t worry about editing-along-the-way. Don’t worry about names, chapters, or if it makes sense. When you’re writing your first draft, you have 1 goal and one goal only, and that is to get it done.
Once your first draft is finished, I highly advise starting a new draft and rewriting the story—this time, worrying about all those things I told you not to worry about. Can you still use your great sentences from the first one? Sure. But make sure they really are great sentences first.

2: Feel free to change the story around!
Once you have a second draft finished, you may have a great idea for a new plot twist. If that happens in the middle, feel absolutely free to start again on a third draft. You may think your story is working fine and you don’t need a third draft. If so, consider yourself amazingly talented, skilled, and lucky, because I can’t get a really good story until draft 4 or 5. Mostly because I keep coming up with better ideas. (LOL.)

3: Once you’re finished with it, set it aside!
This is EXTREMELY important. When you have a draft that you think works, put it aside and DO NOT LOOK at it for at least a week. Why? Because after a week, when you look at it, you will find more mistakes or things you can improve. I can pretty much guarantee it. You should just see my third draft of The Hidden Amethyst, which I thought was the final one. It’s hilarious. I had a chapter where Amethyst (called Eliza then) and her friends are almost run over with an airplane! Not only was it totally unrealistic, it was ridiculous. I also had the Mochas be good people, because I added them in afterwords to get the names in—which leads me to number 4.

4: Do Not Get Lazy!
I got lazy in my third draft of The Hidden Amethyst. How it went was: I wrote all about “Eliza” and her friends walking along having an adventure and I’m sure I had multiple descriptions of their raggedy clothes in there. So later on, I add in the Mocha family because I need to get my friend Avery’s name in there, and my story leads to the Mochas giving them all these clothes. The problem is, later on, they have ragged clothes and I knew it. I got lazy. Instead of finding all those descriptions of their clothes and changing them, which would have been the better idea, I just wrote a chapter where they get robbed. Pathetic, right? DO NOT DO THIS. Obviously, when I went back to re-edit (that’s where Eliza became Amethyst) I deleted that part out, in the process making the Mochas evil. My whole third draft, come to think of it, is just me getting lazy. So take that as a lesson: if you find an issue like the one above with an easy way to get rid of it and a hard way, generally, the hard way will get you a better story.

These are the tips I’m following myself as I work through my next book, which should release next August. Hope they were helpful to you!

Avery Mocha

                                                        Name:

                                                      Avery Mocha

Birthday: 

 July 12

Personalities: 

Cautious, reluctant, kind; a follower

Greatest wish:

For her mom (Jenny Mocha) to become good

Best Moment:

  When she came to Dr. 

Sawyer’s office to

                                                     apologize to Amethyst