YES!!

 Why YES?  Because I finished Threatening Skye, re-read it myself, and it is now in the hands of my alpha reader.  And so far he LOVES it, and believe me, he can be tough. 

While he is reading, I am tweaking some things plus adding the dedication and updating the character list, which I always place at the back of the book so as not to give anything away. This list is helpful to my readers, as the names of people in my stories are continuous from previous books and so it can get quite lengthy. It also helps me, as I have to refer to it to make sure I keep my people in the right decade and year.  Time travel is quite tricky. 

So it won't be long now.  It still has to make it through the beta reader test, and then it's on to publication.   I can't wait for you to read the newest installment of Branches of Time. 

Almost Done

 Once I am done writing this post, I will begin to write the last words on my newest book.  I am always a little nervous to write the ending.  Will it be good enough?  Will the book hold your interest?  And worst of all will I miss the people I just spent months inventing?  In this case this is a series so the next book will bring them back to me in full force, which is why I write a lot of series.  I hate to lose my people. I actually go into a mourning period after my book is done.

So if I'm successful, and I am able to write a conclusion I'm satisfied with, the editing process and proofreading will begin soon.  Crossing fingers. Here's hoping for a September publication for Threatening Skye!

Book Cover Reveal

 

I've been so excited to show you the book cover for my next book, Threatening Skye.  I love it.  Let me know what you think before it goes to publication this fall. I'd love your input.

Turning Point

 

I've been at a crossroads with my newest book, Threatening Skye, but yesterday, I came to a turning point.  What a good feeling that is.  I'm finally sure of where my story is going, and I'm excited to write it down, so here I am at 4:00 a.m. trying to get the thoughts out of my head and onto the manuscript.  I hope it's as good as I think it is!  Book Two of Branches of Time should be coming your way early this fall.  Keep up with me here, or follow my new Facebook page.  Be sure to follow the one with a profile picture of me in front of a patriotic quilt.

You can also catch me on Twitter @ twitter.com/janeobrienbooks 

Research

 

One of my favorite things to do before, and while I'm writing, is research. I can't imagine what it was like for authors before the Internet.  With a touch of a few keys, I can be in another world of fashion and design.  I can then describe my character's surroundings, clothing, and sense of style. I use what I see to project myself into another world, so when I write I feel as though I am actually there.

I often get asked, 'where can I see that house?'  'What city were you writing about?' 'Where are those little shops?'  Most of which are in my imagination, but not without help from visual aids such as clothing patterns and song lyrics.  I also love reading old letters as they give me a peek into another person's private life.  I have used several of my father's letters from WWII and some of my great-grandparents' love letters and musings about daily life.  I guess I'm a true time-traveler at heart.

Follow Me Here

If you've been following along with the saga of my hacking fiasco, I can only tell you that nothing has changed.  I tried to set up a new Facebook page, and it was disabled before I even got a start because the hacker grabbed that one, too.  I am done with Facebook.  This is when the age of computers is frustrating.  Facebook has no number where you can call and talk to a human, and I can't log in in order to voice my complaint because according to them I don;t exist anymore.

I won't let them get me down, SOOOO the only other option is to move on.  

You may continue to follow me here on my blog at www.authorjaneobrien.com. or on my Goodreads page for Jane O'Brien.  (Please note: there are two other Jane O'Brien's publishing, so be sure to follow the correct one.)  

You can also find me on Instagram.  I plan to be more active there.

I'm also on Twitter.

And soon I'll be on the brand new Threads, but I have a few things to do first before I'm ready to post.

Until I hear from you, I'll be writing Threatening Skye, Book 2 of Branches of Time.  Thanks for hanging on.  I'm so glad you're sticking around.

I've Been Hacked

 Yesterday may have been one of the worst days of my life.  My Facebook was hacked.  And when I say hacked, I mean they wiped out my personal account and my author account and took over by creating a new one.  I have lost nine years of work on my author page.  Someone out there in another country has full control of my author page.  If you are a follower of Jane O'Brien on Facebook, I recommend you block me.  Believe me, it's not me.

I recently thought I was hacked on a small scale, because my friends were getting messages to follow them when they already had.  You've all seen those.  So I quickly changed my password on both accounts and my profile picture, so I could identify which page was really mine.  My author page had a book cover of my newest book, Skye.  It's red so you can't miss it.  They only one you can see now, still has my face in the profile circle.  I had over 1100 followers and this one has 737.

They deleted both of my email names from Facebook's records and even my phone number.  Then they installed a two-step verification of their own.  I can see the name of the person who is using my account to mine followers names.  There's no way I can get in, and Facebook is unreachable.  I'm very disappointed in them and wonder if I should continue on.  

I immediately froze my banks accounts just in case they had access, but I don't think so.  I've been working on this for two days, and decided it's fruitless.  Nine years of work just went down the tubes.

I will rebuild, but it will take time.  So in a week or so, I will try to start a new Facebook page, and I will try to reach as many of you as possible.  I have a newsletter list and a list of people who have won contests and giveaways over the years, so that might help.  And I will plead with family and friends to share my new page.  In the meantime, protect yourself and block my page as it stands now.  Do not engage with them.  These are despicable people.  I don't understand why Facebook doesn't have a call number so you can speak to a human, but I suppose they would be overwhelmed, because according to my banker, she sees this many times a week.  They are far more sophisticated than they used to be.

Thank you for listening.  I pray this never happens to you.  I took many precautions, but I believe it may have happened when I downloaded a particular app on my phone, which I'm afraid to name here, because they might after me again.

Stay cyber safe.  But when they want to get in, they can and will.

Review and Award

 

What a great day!  I was awarded a Five Star review from Reader's Favorite.  I can now place this beautiful sticker on my book.  Here's what the reviewer had to say:

Review #1: Review by K.C. Finn

Reviewed by:

K.C. Finn

Review Rating:

5 Stars - Congratulations on your 5-star review! Get your free 5-star seal!

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite

Skye is a work of fiction in the time travel, adventure, romantic drama, and historical fiction subgenres. It is best suited to the general adult reading audience and was penned by author Jane O'Brien. In this conceptual work that leans more into its historical side than the science fiction aspects, we are introduced to fish-out-of-water Skye in 1907. It soon becomes obvious that Skye doesn’t really belong in her time, and it transpires that Remington Hart, a man from 2051, is looking to find Skye and return her to the future time that she has fled from. But when he meets the time-traveling beauty and sees how simple life could be in her world, Remington’s resolve begins to soften.

Author Jane O'Brien has crafted a beautiful love story with an interesting central dynamic that sets Skye and Remington at odds with each other, but it’s clear to see the burgeoning romantic chemistry the more they clash. One of the features I really enjoyed most about this work was the author’s commitment to character development, as every moment is well-defined with smooth dialogue and the kind of narration that makes you feel like you’re right on Skye’s shoulder with every decision, every heartache and every rush of emotion. The time travel concept is efficient for the plot and makes for some really interesting twists as we get closer to the novel’s exciting conclusion. The other references to futuristic living and The Red Guard are well-placed to give a more solid background to Remington’s character and mission. Overall, Skye is a well-told story with much to offer fans of historical and romantic dramas with a light sci-fi twist.

Book Signing

 

Author Jane O’Brien is doing a book signing on June 2nd from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Darley Village Café, in Muskegon, Michigan.

Come and celebrate the publishing of Jane’s 27^th book, Skye, in her new series, Branches of Time, a spin-off of the Amazon bestseller, A Slip in Time.

Enter contests to win prizes and books.  Meet fellow booklovers over coffee and cookies.  Say hello to old friends and neighbors.  Talk to Jane about your favorite titles of hers and other books you are reading.

Hope to see you at the Darley Village Cafe.  Find it by going to 2245 Darley Dr, Muskegon, MI 49444; then turn left and follow the curve to the coffee shop.

Skye is Available

 

 My exciting new novel, Skye, has been released.  It is now ready for you through paperback, Kindle, or Kindle Unlimited.  

If you have not been following previous posts, this new series is called Branches of Time, and is a spin-off of A Slip in Time.  Here is the book description to tempt you.

Skye is a twenty-year-old, dark-haired beauty who is bored to death with her life in 1907.  She has always been a free spirit and challenger of what was expected of her.  While growing up, she was difficult for her parents to control, because she tended to defy all the rules of etiquette for a young woman of her time.  It was not surprising to her brother, Cade, when Skye asked if she could live with him in the city.  She declared she would die if she had to stay another day in the country where nothing ever happened.

Once Skye was away from her parents, Daniel and Virginia Kestler, she began to question who she was and where she had come from.  It soon became clear that something was amiss.  After much probing, she discovered she was a child of time travel and she was not from the century she was living in.  She had actually been born in another year in the future, 2031, and Kestler was not even her last name.  What were her parents hiding from her?  Why had she never been told her real name and birth date?  How would this new knowledge affect her going forward?  And who was the persistent man who was pursuing her through time, from 1907 to 1957 to 1927 and back to 1907 again?

 

The handsome Remington Hart, a member of The Red Guard, lives in the twenty-first century in the year 2051.  His job is to find all of those who have fled the oppressive government and bring them back to where they belong.  When he realizes it is possible to time travel and one entire family has been living in the nineteenth century, he makes it his quest to find Skye Kent Kestler and return her to her proper place.  But will his judgement be colored when he meets the beautiful Skye?  Will his goals and views of life be changed once he sees what life can be like in a slower, more peaceful time?  Will love pull at his heart and convince him to give up everything he was taught in order to stay with Skye, or will he be pulled into the job he first began?

 

These two time-travel lovers began with determination on Rem's part to fulfill his duties, and fear on Skye's part of what this strange man in her life wants of her, but a burning desire to be together will change everything.  Only time will tell if the man who was sent to do a job will disrupt a young woman's life by forcing her to go back with him to a life she knows nothing about.