A is for A to Z Challenge Co-host: An Interview with OA Blogger J Lenni Dorner #AtoZChallenge

Operation Awesome's #AtoZChallenge theme for 2018 is... 

OA to Z! We'll be correlating our usual posts with the challenge letters, plus, each weekend, you'll get a chance to get to know one of our bloggers better.

Thanks for interviewing me, Jaime!

Hello, readers. I'm speculative fiction and reference author, J Lenni Dorner. Here at Operation Awesome, I'm the Debut Author Interviewer. I'm also a co-host and the team captain over at the Blogging from A to Z Challenge - which is how I tie myself to the letter A.



1- What's your passion in life?

Writing is my biggest passion in life. That's how I connect with the world. I'm also passionate about the environment, especially the forests. As a Native American, I was raised to have love and respect for nature, to be at one with it. That's harder, but not impossible, in today's modern world. (It is also how I got the nickname, "Daryl Dixon.") The Lenni-Lenape tribe I grew up with taught me about gender equality, which is why the #HeForShe movement is another passion of mine. (Where people of every gender identity and expression acknowledge the ways that we all benefit from equality.) I also support We Need Diverse Books.

2- Would you share a picture with us of your latest book?

There's my book, Fractions of Existence, outside in a tree. In honor of the A to Z Challenge, the Kindle version is on sale right now for a limited time. (Amazon link)

3- What are three of your short-term goals?

• Leave comments on 300 of the blogs taking part in the A to Z Challenge 2018.
• Vote in every round over at WRiTECLUB. #WRiTECLUBDFW 
• Find more Debut Authors to interview.

4- What tip can you share to improve someone's writing craft?

Did you know that you can often cut that from a sentence without changing the meaning of that sentence?
You can cut a sentence without changing the meaning.

Other words to seek out are begin and began (meaning start). Watch the progression in this example:

• I begin to eat an apple.  
• I eat an apple. 
• I bite through the vibrant green flesh of a Granny Smith apple. The tart juice sprays over my lips and into my nose. I can't even eat a piece of fruit without needing a napkin! Joel was right, I am hopeless as a human being.

• I began to eat an apple.
• As I lifted the Honeycrisp apple to my lips, Godzilla busted through my kitchen wall, knocking the apple to the floor.

When we talk about editing word by word and line by line, this is what we mean. The Grammarly extension is fantastic for finding errors, but the job of strengthening sentences with valuable descriptions still belongs to the writer. Beginning or starting to do an action offers nothing to the reader. As the Nike slogan says, "Just Do It." Or, if your character is beginning an action that isn't going to be completed, quickly segway into why.

5- What is one question or discussion topic which you would like the readers of this interview to answer or remark on in the comments?

Stephen Hawking's final paper is on the theory of the multiverse. (A theory which suggests different versions of our universe existing in parallel with each other, yet each one different in some way. A version of Earth without environmental trouble, for example.)

Do you believe it's possible that parallel universes, the multiverse (or Omniverse), exists? And why or why not?

( 😉 By the way: According to the theory, there's a multiverse version of you with an opposing point of view. 😄 )

While embracing the ancient tribal traditions, J Lenni Dorner learned a legend originated by The Grandfathers. (The Existence book series is based on it.) In May 2016, J became a member of the Operation Awesome Team, running the Debut Author Spotlight on Wednesdays. Blogging from A to Z #AtoZchallenge co-host as of 2017. J weaves fantasy with lore to unhinge your mind. This speculative fiction and reference author is happily married and living in Pennsylvania (USA) on the original lands of the Lenni-Lenape people. When not reading or writing, J enjoys video games, funny cat videos, finding drawings of dragons on Pinterest, and watching movies.

Website: what-are-they.com
Blog: jlennidornerblog.what-are-they.com
Twitter: @JLenniDorner
Facebook: facebook.com/WhatAreThey
Pinterest: pinterest.com/jlennidorner
Instagram: instagram.com/jlennidorner
BookBub: bookbub.com/authors/j-lenni-dorner
Goodreads: goodreads.com/J_Lenni_Dorner

Adoption and Fundraising....or a 20k Advance.

Ok, so this post has little to do with writing. But I thought I'd take a few minutes out of your day to discuss my REAL life and what's going on.

For the past year, we've been working toward adopting a son from Bulgaria. We already have 3 kids, but we feel as if we have more room and more love to give to an orphan. Bulgaria is a country in Eastern Europe. Here is a picture so you know where it is.

So in the last year, we've been in paperwork pregnancy. And, let me tell you this: Being REAL pregnant is a lot easier. We've finished our homestudy and our papers are in the process of being translated to Bulgarian. And after that is all done, we get to wait for a referral.

A referral could take from 1-3 years. Which is a LOT longer than the 9 months I waited for each of my other 3 kids. But this is important. Our son is out there somewhere waiting for us. And, as we wait, I ran a few numbers and realized that we still have to pay around 20 thousand dollars toward our adoption.

Yep... You heard me. Twenty THOUSAND dollars. That is after spending over 8,000 this year.

Adoption is expensive.

Maybe I should finish my Middle Grade Book and sell it for some big bucks (cough....any agent out there...cough). Not sure they would do an adoption pity sale though? Probably not.

And we might have 3 years to make that money...or we might have one. (gulp). I figured it would be best to start trying to get the money now. So, I hope you don't mind, but I thought I'd do some fundraising promotions here on OA

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Firstly, we signed up to sell coffee. Just Love Coffee offers fundraisers for people in the process of adoption. It's a good organization, as it doesn't only help people like us, but it also helps those in Africa earn a living.


Check it out HERE.  You can also see a picture of our family (and notice how tall my husband is).

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I've also started an etsy store where I've been working on some handmade jewelry and things.  If you'd like to check it out, and pass the word along--and maybe even buy something so I don't look like such a geek-- that would be really awesome.

Linkage is HERE

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And don't forget, I have a fantasy short story that I self-published a while back to help with our adoption. It's only .99 on kindle and all the profits go toward our adoption. It's a other world fantasy with a native american flavor. 

Link on Amazon is HERE:

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And lastly, our daughter had these bracelets made up. We're selling the green and purple ones for $1.00 and the tricolored ones for $2.00.  Throw in a couple of dollars shipping for those of you who are not near me. If you're interested in them, just drop me an email and we can arrange something. ask.miss.java (at) gmail.com.

Anyhow! Thanks for letting me share and pimp our fundraisers. If you'd like to help by sharing this post, that would be much appreciated!

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And if some publisher/agent wants a great MG boy fantasy novel set in the world of Native American Mythology, that would want to give us a 20k advance....let me know as well. LOL.