The Heart's Journey Home

by Nikki Jackson

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Where’s The Heart’s Journey Home…?

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Nikki Jackson

I’m sure most of you know about – Where’s George?’ this is the fun tracking of dollar bills let loose and tracked across the U.S. Each released dollar bill’s unique series number is entered on the Where’s George website, and the bill’s location is updated every time someone acquires the bill and updates its new whereabouts. Well, I’d like to introduce a book version of Where’s George and it’s called – Where’s the Heart’s Journey Home.

Wheres George Bill

I have a few copies of my first novel in a box and I want to get them into places where I don’t think any (or many) copies of my book is already. The brunt of my book sales have been here in my home State of Michigan and I’ve heard from folks in places like Ohio, Florida, California, Oregon, but I’m not sure about other places.

Below is a list of places I want to target as release destinations for my book. Like Where’s George you’re expected to get the book, read it and then release it after you’re done. You can pass the book off to a friend or you can just leave it someplace; bus, train, plane, park bench, coffee shop (you get the drift). There’s a sticker inside the book with the website the book’s registered on (bookcrossings.com) along with a special tracking number. Like Where’s George you simply log on, put in the tracking number and leave a journey entry – something like where you’re located and how you got the book. Once you’ve released it you can check back periodically to see where it’s travelled to (exactly what I’ll be doing!).

I’m looking to get a copy of my book to any one the following States so if you live in one of the States listed below shoot me an email with your address and I’ll put a copy of the book in the mail to you, free of charge.

I’ve only got six copies left, first come first served.

Alaska

Hawaii

New Mexico

Maine

Tennessee

Iowa

Utah

Washington

Louisiana

Maryland

Wyoming

South Carolina

North Dakota

Oklahoma

West Virginia

Filed Under: Uncategorized

My Ten Favorite Movies

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Nikki Jackson

My ten favorite movies aren’t in any particular order except for To Kill a Mockingbird which is my all-time favorite. The others are more listed than ranked.

  1. To Kill A Mockingbird
  2. The Sting
  3. Aliens (2nd movie of the series)
  4. West Side Story
  5. Apollo 13
  6. Divergent
  7. The Storm of the Century
  8. Dispersible Me
  9. Psycho
  10. The Terminator

I have rather eclectic tastes in movies. My tastes range as far back as such Turner Classic black & white greats as – The Adventures of Robin, Hondo, The Yearling, Sunset Boulevard, The Great Escape and Fail Safe. I love such musicals as West Side Story, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Cinderella (the Brandy one), Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables and Beauty and the Beast.  Those minions cracked me up in Despicable Me, I’ve seen How to Train Your Dragon, The Incredibles and Brave more times than I’m probably willing to admit and if the Disney movie Tangled is on tonight, I’m there.  As for the holidays the must see multiple times for me are – Alf, and all the versions of A Christmas Carol.  I love movies.  Next to my dream of becoming a successful published author is the dream of writing a screenplay that actually shows up on TV, a Broadway stage or in a theater (preferably all three).

Personally, I feel my being an avid movie-goer helps me to be a better writer. As a fiction writer everything is about the worlds I imagine in my head – the characters, the stories with their intricate plot lines and the scenes that are so descriptively conveyed in bold and living colors.  All that and more is inside my head and movies helped to put it there.

Writing is an art. Sure, it’s a talent or a gift, it’s a wonder when it’s being done well but at the end of the day I honestly feel it’s an art form.  It conveys a story and evokes emotion.  It snatches you up and engages you.  It makes you shake your head and marvel in quite the same way a painting or photograph, a statue, blown glass or intricately sculpted metalwork stops you in your tracks and captures that part of you that’s entranced by beauty.  Unlike movies that are so visually present for the viewer, the writer has to create all of that visualness in the reader’s mind.  We have to make you see the aqua-clear ocean, smell the field of bright blazing wildflowers, feel the solitary tear rolling down the face of the main character – experience her anguish, feel her peace and joy.  We writers know we have to engage all your senses or you won’t stay.

Writing is an art so long as it’s done well. Well and true with the reader in mind and at heart. Writing has to be more than just a journey the writer wants to take you on, it must be an adventure they want you, the reader, to experience.

I love movies. I love books.  I love the pure art of both.

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The Author’s View: Inside/Outside

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Nikki Jackson

The View Inside My Writing SpaceOffice View1

This is the view inside my writing space – the desk at my office. I get a significant amount of writing done here. I come into the office an hour early each morning just so I can spend that quiet time writing. I’m here during my lunch hour, writing. My writing muse are my three imaginary friends; Tori, AJ and Kalea. They’re also the main characters of my first novel – The Heart’s Journey Home. I keep their photo in a frame on my desk to remind me that there’s more to me and my life than my regular nine to five job. I keep a copy of my book here at the office to remind me that my dreams can come true. They are each an encouragement and continued inspiration.

The View Outside My Window

The immediate view outside my window is the street outside my house and the Detroit River outside the window where I work. If I were so inclined that could easily be all the view I would ever see in my lifetime. But I was never so inclined. The real view outside my window is the view of me in the world. I wanted to see the Grand Canyon from the ground up so I went. I wanted to do Missions with my church in China, Thailand, Pakistan and Peru so I went there too. And because I went the view outside my window grew exponentially! And guess what I discovered? How I viewed me and my world grew also.

I believe the sum total of everything a writer will ever write is there inside of him or her simply waiting to be tapped. I also believe that the reason so many writers talk about writing instead of actually writing is because there’s so little there. You see, the view inside the writing space was never meant to be the whole entire writing universe, it was always meant to be the space where the work of writing got done. It’s the view outside the widow that inspires and equips a writer to pen great things. It’s going to brick and mortar libraries and sitting there reading great works among the stacks, in the midst of a community of people doing the same. It’s rafting through the Grand Canyon and climbing the great mountainous rocks, standing there and just taking in a panoramic view that will stay with you, inside you, the rest of your life. It’s getting out of your comfort zone and going to China so you can sneak Bibles to the underground churches there (we got 8000 Bibles total across the border in the one week we were there). It’s going from village to village and little church to little church in places like Thailand and Pakistan, sometimes walking for miles in the company of armed soldiers because the cease fire just might cease and war break out again. It’s about sleeping on a villager’s floor or on the ground and going to the bathroom outside. It’s eating rice three times a day four days straight and waking up to see the sun rise brilliant and new and you’re a million miles from home and in no hurry to get back, because you can write anywhere.

We writers write what we see and know and hope. We write what we dream and experience. We write to tell the stories that we’ve lived, in real life or in our imagined dreams. We write what’s outside the window.

I don’t know where I’ll be going next. Pakistan will be a tough trip to top, but I know this – I’m outta here. Passport in hand I’m leaving the view inside my writing space and joining the world outside my window. I want to see Mt. Everest up close. I want to touch an Egyptian pyramid with my bare hand. I want to go to the Sahara Desert, stand there in the midst and turn seeing nothing but sand around me. I want to see and touch and experience it all. And I want to write. Like I said – I can write anywhere.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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Nikki Jackson: Indie Writer, Journeyman & Traveler

Nikki Jackson Profile

I’m a first time indie published writer & blogger. I love writing, talking about writing and exchanging ideas and encouragement with other indie writers or wannabes. I love the journey of life with all its textures and shades. Let’s share the trail.

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Sage Quote:

“Every writer is a frustrated actor who recites his lines in the hidden auditorium of his skull.”
- Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone

About Guest Posting

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In The Works…

Book 3 of the series -

The Heart's Journey Home Book 3 Cover

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