Monday, February 24, 2014

Goals: 2014-2015



As a productive person who aims for continuous growth in every area of my life, I find "listing goals" to be important. I've had this running list of hopes in my mind but I decided to write them down on here. List them! Let you guys hold me accountable for them. You will, right?! Now, this list is pretty short in size but it's huge in element. I'm homeschooling both of my children, caring for my family pretty much alone since my husband is in the Air Force and constantly busy, traveling back and forth from Oklahoma to Alaska a lot, and trying to reach these goals while writing. So, hang with me, but these are the things I would absolutely love to make happen in 2014/2015 with my career.

  • Attend my first signing event... and then a few more 
  • Write enough/Sell enough/Earn enough that writing can be considered my lifetime "career" with no threat of having to return to my day job
  • Publish at least four novels per year until I can no longer type
  • Make Amazon Top 100... and every other bestseller's list known to mankind. 
  • Earn enough money to pay my husband's truck off and then buy a stylin' new ride of my own
  • Find a literary agent who understands my goals, dreams and hopes who can actively help me pursue those aforementioned desires. The sky is the limit, but I can't keep jumping and hoping to eventually reach it. I need an airplane. Er, well, a really hardcore, awesome, killer,  literary agent.
  • Have the previously mentioned amazing literary agent hook me up with a traditional publisher who makes me feel like I'm Rose from Titanic where she's on the front of the boat with Jack holding her up as the wind blows through her hair and the ocean roars underneath her. She feels like she's on the top of the world in that moment and that she's capable of rising above the expectations being placed on her. Yeah. That sounds nice...
Side Note: I know, I know... A lot of writers don't particularly want to go the traditional publishing route anymore but for as long as I've been writing, I've dreamed of this amazing Big 5 contract with movie deals and the whole nine yards. Perhaps that's not for me, but I'll never know unless I at least try it. I love self-publishing, so it's certainly no problem if that doesn't ever happen for me, but I don't think I'll ever feel satisfied until I've made it happen. If it doesn't work out as well as I hope for it to, then I can keep self-publishing. No harm done. 

Now, I want to hear your goals. If you're reading this, I'm talking to you! So, tell me... Tell me what makes you happy. I want to know what your "dream" is. If you could choose any career in the whole world with nothing stopping you (money, education, location...) what would it be? Tell me! Then, tell me what you're doing to work toward it this year. Let's hold each other accountable. Let's help each other reach our goals and see results. My dream is to be a successful author. I want a career in writing. The goals listed above are stepping stones to making my dreams a reality and I'm determined to make it happen but I don't want to be the only one. Walk this path with me. Let me know what you're dreaming for and working toward. <3

--Brittany Jo James

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The Rebels: Synopsis!

Hey loves!

I finished writing my first commercial fiction thriller last week and I love it more than anything else I've ever written. I've had a lot of people ask me, "When will The Rebels be published?" and the truth is... I have no idea! If I decide to self-publish it (as I've done with my other three novels) then probably sometime during the summer of 2014. Why so long from now? Well, because my dream to be an author has always pulled me toward the traditional publishing route. I've truly enjoyed self-publishing and there are so many benefits to just doing it all on my own, but I can't stop dreaming about traditional publishing. I just want to see if The Rebels has any potential to be represented by a literary agent and taken the traditional publishing route. So, before I go ahead and self-publish it, I want to at least try to find a literary agent who will represent me on my trade-pub goal. Regardless, I can't wait to share the synopsis with everyone! Let me know what you think! Here it is:

Nobody ever said it would be fair or easy- but when life as we know it is ripped away, the people must choose between a life of injustice or become rebels of the nation we love.

Laws are strict, money is tight, jobs are scarce, and happiness is only reserved for the upper class in the United States of America. Temper Jensen can attest to that. As an Air Force wife who spends most of her time working for hardly more than minimum wage and never finding time to spend with her husband, Temper doesn’t see how her young life can become more unfortunate.

Everyone is so busy working to make ends meet that no one realizes what’s happening in the White House until it’s too late. When Temper wakes up to find that the president of the country is nothing more than a domestic terrorist bent on total domination, she has to make a decision. Should she obey the laws compliantly, or should she stand up for the principles that our beloved nation was founded upon?

Temper knows what she must do, even though it means being separated from her husband, Voss. Risking everything, she runs back to her moonshine-brewing anarchist daddy’s home in southwest Arkansas to be with her religious mama and womanizing brother to collect a congregation of rebels to fight in the revolution. No one can be trusted, especially Temper’s devious ex-boyfriend who won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Killing and stealing to survive is second nature, and Temper must somehow find the power to reclaim the United States of America.


Can Temper reunite with her husband, keep her wayward family out of trouble, and restore the USA to the nation under God that it was intended to be with the help of the rebels?