The minute I woke up I could tell. Something was off in the garden of Eden, but I couldn't say what. The emerald trees still glittered brightly, with technicolor apples and pomegranates dangling enticingly from their branches. Vivid butterflies still alighted onto the flowers that spotted the ground around the cool rivers. I slowly got up from where Adam and I had been resting under a leafy overhang, careful not to wake him.

I began to walk to one of the many streams, when a huge gust of wind blew my hair back. Startled, I looked up to the sky, where grey clouds were beginning to form. My heart clenched in my chest. Was He angry with us? God had never sent bad weather before, but what would prompt him to now? Quickly, I whirled around to tell Adam, but stopped when I saw her.

A pale woman was sitting against a tree in the middle of the garden. Her lanky blonde hair whipped around in the wind, obscuring her face from my view. She was wearing a tattered grey tunic, that appeared as if it had once been white. Intrigued, I approached her, intending to ask where she had come from. Once I was close enough, I could finally see her face. In contrast to her clothes and hair, her face was luminescent. Huge, red-rimmed blue eyes bored into the ground, as if trying to read something. An innocent mouth curved gently into a frown. In the stormy atmosphere, she appeared to glow.

"Excuse me", I started, "are you alright?"

It was as if I hadn't spoken. The radiant girl continued to stare at the tulips sprouting under her feet. Maybe she just hadn't heard me. I tried again.

"Who are you?"

Finally, she looked up at me, grimacing with the slight movement. She shifted slightly, and my breath caught. Magnificent white wings spread behind her, but they looked as if someone had tried to hack them off. Her back was covered in blood, some spilling onto the grass. Where the blood dropped onto the ground, the grass withered into grey stalks.

"I am the morning star."

Overhead, a clap of thunder sounded. For a morning star, she looked incredibly dismal.

"Do you have a name? Mine is Eve."

Her crystal eyes locked onto mine, and my head started to spin. She was beautiful.

"You can call me Dawn."

What a fitting name for someone so bright. It looked like the sun was caught inside her skin. The feeling of something being wrong left me immediately as I was enveloped by her warmth. For a moment, I couldn't speak, my awe was so great.

"How did you get here?"

Dawn didn't break eye contact with me.

"I'll tell you, but you must heed my warning: your God is dangerous."

How could God be dangerous? My feelings of doubt crept up again, but I forced them down. I was curious as to what she had to say.

"I was once an angel who served your God. My service was my life, and I became His closest friend. Together, we ruled a paradise even greater than the one you have here. He began to become distant, though, and cruel. His jealousy of the power I was gaining grew until I was no longer bright in his eyes."

I find it hard to believe that Dawn could have been dull at any point in her life. Her eyes filled with tears as she continued.

"Today he cast me out. He cut my wings and threw me down here. If you think your God is great, then think again. He is violent. He brought suffering upon me, and now I can never see paradise again. Eat of this tree, and you'll know the truth."

Dawn took a shuddering breath, then slumped against the tree. Slowly, I glanced up. The fruit glittered temptingly. I reached up to pick a pomegranate, when the garden was suddenly lit by a strike of lightning. Realization quickly flooded my mind. This was the Forbidden Tree.

"I can't eat this fruit. God told me it was forbidden!"

Dawn's face became ripped with fury.

"After everything I've told you, you still trust the word of God? He doesn't care about you! He is lying! Everything that he says harms others! He hurts innocent people like me!"

At this point, Dawn was screaming. Rain began to pour down, and she looked at me. I felt like I was being torn open and lain out for her to see my soul. The dizzy feeling overcame me again, and my hesitations disappeared. Dawn wouldn't lie to me. She was bright, and pure. I could trust Dawn. Besides, what was the harm in knowledge?

I turned to the wet branches of the tree and enclosed my hand around a piece of fruit. With Dawn's icy eyes fixed on me, I took a bite.

All the trees in the garden fell down, shattering the earth. Wet tornadoes of leaves, fruit, flowers, dirt, and rocks tore over the ground. Thunder and lighting cracked through the clouds, and I screamed. I turned to Dawn, but in her place was an amber serpent. Terror seized me, and I stood frozen to the dying earth.

God screamed overhead as the serpent lunged for my throat. A flash as bright as a morning star burned my eyes, and then all was dark. 

Shed your snakeskin

’neath your feet

spur of moment

       Just walk on down the road!

lone wolf howls forlorn

as sublime is savored

in willful nights

       Just walk on down the road!

sense and sup

the sinful skin

unlock handcuffs

of tight restraint

       Just walk on down the road!

grab the radiance

of smiling sun

ignite the sky

in pain and fury

       Just walk on down the road!

seconds lost

if you pause

your breath

find the place

where yesterday

absconds

       Just walk on down the road!

endless horizons

feel every sensation

of ecstasy

immerse waist deep

in fervent oceans

       Just walk on down the road!

This article discusses the pros and cons of traditional publishing. Abandon your biases, study the business of publishing, and choose the publishing method that best suits you and your book.

Perhaps the biggest myth in publishing is that as a writer, you simply choose a path: self-publish or find an agent. You can certainly choose to self-publish, but traditional publishing is a bit more like running for public office—you have to get yourself elected. Don’t plan on writing a manuscript, sending it off to a few publishing agents, and finding yourself comparing offers a few weeks later—even if your book is fantastic.

Traditional publishing houses are remarkable businesses. Understand the demanding world they succeed in and you’ll have no choice but to admire what they do. Here’s a short list:

• Identify emerging and fading target markets and reader trends on an ongoing basis.

• Expertly choose 90–120 promising books every quarter from a nearly infinite supply of submissions (this number will vary widely from publisher to publisher).

• Keep experts on payroll who know how to design, display, and promote books to appeal to identified reader communities.

• Pay non-refundable advances against (hoped for) future royalties to authors.

• Produce books, print them, and ship them to downstream retailers at a rate that allows profit to be made while offering wholesale prices of 50% off cover price to booksellers and 62.5% off cover price to distributors. That means after the publisher assumes all that up-front risk, the bookseller gets half the pie (or more). The publisher must sell thousands of books before breaking even.

• Arrange bookstore tours, PR campaigns, and other promotions for books and authors (not all publishers offer these services, but some do).

• Have sufficient expertise and capital on-hand to compete for and negotiate license deals for books involving movie characters and celebrities.

• Accept returns and issue refunds for unsold books. (Often, it’s cheaper to get the torn off covers back as proof that the books were destroyed than it is to ship unsold inventory back and warehouse it.)

• Cull out and backlist weak sellers on a quarterly basis to make room for new offerings.

• Warehouse and inventory backlisted titles for special and online order.

• Publishers have access to professional review sources.

• Many writers and professionals see a traditional publishing contract as a badge of prestige that can help you in your professional endeavors.

• Traditional publishers can assist with licensing deals, film rights, merchandising (toys and lunchboxes), foreign translations, large print versions, audio books, and more.

Think of big publishers as mutual fund investors who own bundles of stocks. Many of those stocks will fail, but if some earn good returns and a few of them grow explosively, there’s a chance to make real profits. And they don’t make money buying a few shares. It’s not uncommon for a publisher to print thousands of copies of a new title. Even with efficient production and management, a new book release can require an investment of tens of thousands of dollars by the time it’s acquired, edited, designed, printed, and shipped. Big publishers are models of the notion that big returns come from big risk.

How do you get a financier to invest in your intellectual property business? Essentially, that’s what authors are asking publishers to do, but how many of us are aware of the enormity of the investment or what commonsense qualities a financier is looking for? Here are some guidelines to getting traditionally published:

Find an Agent

Most traditional publishers would rather deal with a community of trusted agents who know the publishing industry than wade through mountains of submissions, themselves. Sending query letters to Penguin or Simon and Schuster is not likely to produce gratifying results.

Follow Directions

Publishing agents are not interested in sorting through stacks of unsolicited packages stuffed with manuscripts. Literary agents have submission requirements, and the number one requirement is that you demonstrate an ability to follow directions. Steve Hutson of Wordwise media offers the following instructions to writers on his submission page at http://www.wordwisemedia.com/submit .

- - - - - - -

Let us explain a brutal reality of the publishing biz in the 21st century: Like almost every other agent or publisher out there, we don’t want to see your manuscript. So please don’t send it to us, because we won’t read it. We get hundreds of submissions from eager writers every month, and we just don’t have the time. There aren’t enough hours in a day. Surprised?

Instead (again, like almost everyone else) we start the process with a query, a simple one-page summary with the pertinent information that helps us evaluate your project.

The page provides sample submissions, query forms, etc. Read the excellent articles on Steven’s page about the submission process, and then follow the guidelines:

EVERYONE: Download our query form, fill it out completely, and return as an email attachment.

Keep it to one page, single-spaced, no matter what.

Do not copy the text into the body of your email.

Do not alter the form in any way.

Specify the agent’s name in the subject line, if you have a preference.

- - - - - - - -

As simple as these directions are, Steven Hutson says at least half the submissions he receives fail the “can you follow directions?” test.

Know Your Subject and Your Reader

Aside from contact information and the expected technical information (word count, title, genre, etc.), the query form offers some simple but important blanks to fill in. The descriptions and explanations provided below by me are not included in the form. Agents want to see if you already understand this stuff.

Synopsis (2 paragraphs max): This is your “elevator pitch.” If your book is fiction, explain the characters and the arc of the story. If your book is non-fiction, explain the arc of your reader’s Quickly make the agent interested in receiving a book proposal. If your book offers a new approach or fills an information void that hasn’t been written about yet, mention that, too. Summarize your story and make it interesting.

Fiction Synopsis Example: In a country where civics education has been absent from schools for decades, two wildly unpopular candidates battle each other and the skeletons in their closets to assume the highest office in the land. The contest will be decided largely by voters who understand no more about democratic politics than the candidates do. In this twisted parable, the machinations of two flawed politicians distract the populace from the larger problems of a democracy engaged in a desperate struggle to rediscover its founding principles.

Non-fiction Synopsis Example: The World’s Greatest Book offers a guide for authors who wish to produce quality books through traditional or independent channels. Rather than advocating for a particular type of publishing, the author explains the pros and cons of various approaches. Readers are empowered to make intelligent publishing decisions and form realistic expectations about costs, expected returns, and what they’ll be required to do to support their publishing endeavors.

Target Audience

Imagine that a publisher will print and distribute 30,000 copies of your book if you can convince them that at least that many people will surely buy it. Readers won’t buy your book “because it’s good.” It’s called the “best seller list,” not the “best writer list.” Why will they buy your book? Who is “they?” If you can’t identify and substantiate the existence of a community of readers who will definitely buy it, why would you expect a publisher to invest in it? Like all savvy businesses, publishers take calculated risks. If you have a million Twitter followers or a column in the New York Times or a record deal with Sony, it should be easier to convince a publisher that a large audience is interested in your material. If your audience is “general readers” or “Herman Melville fans,” you’re probably going to have a difficult time getting your book represented.

Take-away (if any)

This applies mostly to non-fiction books, but think of your book as a problem offered to a community of readers who need a solution. If someone needs to learn to write code in the C programming language, that skill carries a market value far in excess of the book’s price. If someone values their attachment to a particular ethnicity or geographic location, your book might offer them new and deeper perspectives on their own history. A book on real estate might offer information that helps readers attain the appropriate certifications and then open and operate a successful realty. How will your reader benefit? Somewhere down the road, your book will have to convince readers that what they’ll get in exchange for their $20 and 8 hours of reading time is worth that investment. Agents and publishers want to know that you understand your book’s value proposition. If you’re unable to declare that clearly and succinctly, they’re not going to wade through your manuscript hoping to discover it.

About the Author

Publishing agents don’t care what hospital you were born in. They want to know you’ll be a suitable business partner. Are you a thought leader in your field? Do you have life or professional experience that will make your book a compelling read? Maybe you’ve produced excellent results for others as a coach or consultant and you want to package your wisdom as a book. Is your book based on a personal or professional transformation? Is this your first book or the most recent of many?A publisher won’t be signing a contract with your book; they’ll be signing a contract with “About the Author” means “About the person who is asking for financial support for a risky venture.” What can you share about yourself that makes you worthy of that vote of confidence?

Can you follow directions? Have you thought past the art of writing to create a product that’s positioned to sell in a competitive marketplace? Do you know who your readers are, what they like, what they need, and how to reach them? Are you able to explain why someone should read your book without finding a place for the two of you to sit down? Can you convince a financier that you and your intellectual property are worth investing in?

Major houses do publish fiction—even first novels by unknown writers—but consider the risk involved and the competition for those contracts. Fiction is fundamentally an art product, and as such, its value or degree of public acceptance is difficult to predict. Endorsements, writing awards, academic, and other qualifications can help your case, but a true literary craftsperson might get rejected for being too esoteric as quickly as an amateur will get rejected for being a self-edited hack. Great books are not necessarily great products, and great products are not necessarily great books. If you’re a fiction writer, you’ll be even more challenged to provide compelling business evidence in your query letter. Think like a publisher and you’ll understand why.

Indie writers rail against big publishers all the time, but publishers are in business to make money. Allegations that big publishers hate self-publishers are nonsense. Ask anyone in their employ why they’re there. You’ll find they all love books and writers, but their jobs require them to make tough decisions that look good on a spreadsheet. Sometimes that means not investing in your excellent book. Writing is an art; publishing is a business. As soon as you start down the path to selling your writing, you have entered into a new business—a publishing business you can fail at if you don’t understand it or the role of the partners you choose.

As you consider the traditional publishing route, understand that publishers exist to make money by selling books in volume. Compared to the major record labels (who are analogous to big publishers) who push junk to top 40 radio stations (analogous to bookstores), big publishers do a remarkable job at introducing high quality products to the market. However, books by celebrities, licensed movie character stories, perennial favorites, reissues of old classics, and books about the latest fad fashions and diets will always be the natural bread and butter of the industry. Your novel may be high art, but if you had money to invest in a book, would you choose your own book or a new, “unauthorized” celebrity biography as the best way to turn a profit? Publishers ask that question every day. Their survival depends on it.

What are the downsides of traditional publishing? A publishing contract may offer you some prestige, but it’s no guarantee that your book will survive past its 90-day tenure in bookstores (if it makes it to stores at all)—and that’s after the typical 18–24 month delay between the day your contract is signed and the time your book is released. After the long wait and a season in the limelight, you may be one of the lucky successes, but prepare to be backlisted. Your book will remain available to order, but sales will eventually fall off and bookstore table space will be allocated to a new rising star. You can continue to promote your book, but unless your royalties from sales have already exceeded the amount paid to you as an advance, your work will mostly help the publisher recover their investment. In fact, some authors negotiate buy-out terms so that once book sales drop below a certain level, they can recover ownership of their work.

Publishers employ editors and artists who have particular notions (based on professional experience with what sells and what doesn’t) about how your book should sound and look to appeal to specific reader tastes. The cover design, for example, is not created to please the author; it’s created to appeal to the reader. You may not like it. Too bad.

If your submission is rejected, don’t think of yourself or your book as a failure. Your book’s suitability as a retail product is not necessarily a reflection on its artistic merit or practical value.

Your work may appeal to a niche that’s too small for big publishers to profit from. A self-publisher who can sell 5,000 books to a community of 100,000 readers can earn a nice profit. A big publishing house would starve at that scale.

Some writers sell virtually nothing through standard retail channels, but they bundle thousands of books with training programs or sell them in the back of the room after speeches (One of my clients sold 1000 books after a single keynote address. He sold only 12 books on Amazon that same year.). If you have direct access to audiences, you may not need a publisher to help you sell books, especially if book revenues are auxiliary to speaking fees.

Some authors prefer creative autonomy that supports their artistic directions over having a publisher design a cover or edit the prose to appeal to a particular reader demographic.

Self-publishing, when done right by informed authors can produce excellent results and lucrative opportunities—and if you’re not a traditional publisher, success can arguably be defined in terms of artistic satisfaction. Print on Demand (POD) bypasses a number of design compromises that big publishers make to save ink, paper, and shipping costs on huge press runs. Though (sadly) few authors make the investment, self-publishing offers opportunities to produce books that are designed to higher standards than those produced by the trade.

Some authors write books to establish professional credibility. They may sell very few books or even give books away, but if having “written the book on the subject” wins them contract work, they may see their publishing venture as a winning strategy.

If you do seek a publishing agent, you are seeking a partner who will help you introduce a retail product into a marketplace. Go to a bookstore and you’ll see thousands of titles by authors who followed directions, defined their audiences, understood the value proposition of their books, and found a way to convince a traditi9onal publisher that their work was worthy of investment. You can be one of them, but adjust your expectations and business directions accordingly. If you’re ready to take the risk that your book won’t be a big performer in the publisher’s catalog, you won’t find a more interesting or exciting business. Become a publishing-savvy author and keep sending in query letters until you get a positive response. Some author will be next to make it to the top of the bestseller list. Why not you?

Whatever path you choose, abandon your prejudices and do your homework. Base your decision to publish traditionally (or not) on smart business strategy. Understand the risks and the odds of success. Form realistic expectations about what you’ll put in and get out of the publishing business. Decide whether your objectives are primarily artistic or commercial. Determine whether a traditional publishing house will be better equipped to reach your readers than you are. Assess your audience and your access to them. Be able to state the value proposition of your book. Know how to assert yourself as a subject matter expert or literary force to be reckoned with. And if you’re first prompted to make those judgments by an agent’s query form template, let that serve as an important reminder of the risk you take by publishing through any means without having answered them ahead of time for yourself.

Every move that you make mere mystery

fission's on my head a mystery

I wouldn't call us history

because we both know we miss this tree

where we wrote our promises and lies 

you I dont despise

but me, surely I hope not

you see we sat under this tree once

talked about how much we cared for one another

now were stranger because you asked me why I didnt

I didnt? I didnt?

yes I didnt

because before I met you I wasnt the type to reach the finish

I didnt, never did moved from one girl to another thinking

this is it

this is it

this is not the one

I lied to my self thinking that maybe the next one would lead me home

this is it

I kept to myself and hid under vices

this is it

not the end of lies but the end of promise

till I met you I said "this is it" why because I knew

I knew how this was it.

the final straw

the little moment that would lead me home

this is it

I shouted to myself

I'll stay for you

I'll stay I promise

I'll stay Im honest

I'll stay 

why?

because this is it

this is where it ends

all the lies and promises

under the tree where we used to sing

and I write our names again saying

"This is it"

please come back

because maybe one day you'll see my lifeless body and then you'll see

This is it 

I would say

I will stay

I'll stay.

Fever

37 degrees

Overachiever

down into my knees

They cant see what I mean

just plain ignorance

because they haven't seen what I've seen

heat burning negligence

yet I see no remorse

no consolidation

if I feel any force

there is no narration

A story not meant to be told

a mere mystery

I dont mean to be bold

being bold was history

now Im sick

out of it

feel like a brick

just not fit

not fit to stand

to walk on my two feet

not fit to be grand

to death I greet.

Because Im sick

not tired

give me a kick

im retired.

The filtered ray seeped past the curtain and fell upon my crusted eyelids. I couldn’t open them fully. My chest constricted. Head throbbing, I groaned.

Had I been crying?

Spiked balls of luminescence doubled, bloomed and scattered slowly across the gray expanse within my shuttered lids, growing momentarily larger, yet fading as I drove the side of my index finger against my eye. I rubbed with a grimace, scrubbing, until only the red glow, shining and empty, remained. Echoing the raw swell of emotions flooding over me.

I cracked my lids and tested the view. I should not have expected anything different. I knew what was about to happen. I knew everything. I could predict every outcome of every eventuality. How this happened, I do not know. It came on as a delirium which soon gave way to a brightness within my mind. A cold, empty, clarity.

I was thrilled, at first. Toying with my guesswork, playing with the possibilities of wealth and acclaim. My mind mapped out the potential fame that this unexpected gift might bestow. But the delight of precise prognostication soon gave way to a deadening weight.

Truth, unmitigated and absolute truth, it turns out, comes with a piercing, frigid, knowledge. An understanding of all things, a disassociation from empathy, leaving only the dry expanse of hardened reality. And that is a terrible gift, indeed.

As I predicted, they came again, as they had through the night.

The faces.

I clamped a hand over my dry lips to stifle the moan rising out of me. My opposite covered my eyes. But it was too late. I had spied them and upon seeing, I had given notice of their existence.

Worse than the incessant words murmuring across the plane of my mind, all night long, piling and compressing, tessellating and rearranging into monstrously built, yet fragile, fortresses. Commanding attention, yet they tumbled if scrutinized too closely; crumbling, like decaying Legos.

I blinked rapidly, trying and failing to separate myself from the flock of images assaulting my imagination. The faces all -sorrowful, old, young, menacing, joyful, aching with yearning- were strangers. And yet. I knew them. Somehow, I knew them all. Their grievances and their questions. Those innumerable questions.

I owned the answers, just as I had miraculously gained knowledge of who they were; their names, residences, workplaces; their loved ones, friends, associates, and each and every limitless, trailing genealogical road which traveled back and further back in time.

Impossible. But true.

I held the answer to everything. This I was sure. How, I could not begin to suppose. I had the explanations, without exception, to everything ever wondered, and for everyone who yearned for closure of every shape, size and type.

I could help them.

But my stinging eyes welled again, my heart thrummed, and the pain in my skull spiked.

“It’s no use,” I spat to the faces, each turning away, blurring into shadow, back to the dark echoes in the far corners of my mind. Chasing them away with my refusal.

My heart clenched.

“There’s no point,” I explained to the whispering pleas of the answers longing to be known. I spoke aloud what my heart knew too well. 

The creeping cynicism which had taken root in my soul soon after the gift had been bestowed to me had grown strong, knotted vines throughout the night. Tendrils of bitterness crowded out the spaces where hope once resided within me.

“Christ. They would never be satisfied. There’s not enough knowledge in all the world to appease their hunger or their doubt.”

With a weak cry, I gripped the edge of my quilt, and turned with a rough motion to cast the blanket over my head, burrowing deep into the cocoon of my sweat-soaked bedding, blocking out the offending light; jabbing the pillow against my exposed ear, muffling as best I could the pleas.

Trying, and failing, to silence the need, the ache to share all the truth in the world with a world – I knew all too well - unready to receive it.

Well, another entirely uneventful week in the world has flown by and brought us blinking blearily at this fresh Friday. That means just one thing. We focus upon a Proser and find out what we can about them. This week we head to Illinois to meet up and question (without torture) a Proser that goes by the name of @JessicaJohnson

P: What is your given name and your Proser username?

JJ: My given name and my Proser username are one and the same: @JessicaJohnson. Rather boring, I suppose.

P: Where do you live?

JJ: I live in rural southern Illinois in a small town surrounded by farming fields, mostly of the corn and bean variety.

P: What is your occupation?

JJ: My occupational title is Medical Laboratory Technician. I work in a hospital lab running various tests on blood and other bodily fluids as ordered by doctors and nurse practitioners.

P: What is your relationship with writing and how has it evolved?

JJ: My love for writing arose from my middle school days and an English teacher who introduced me to poetry. One of the first poems she had our class read was The Arrow and the Song by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and I remember wanting to write something as beautiful and flowing as I found that poem. This teacher encouraged me to write and experiment with different forms of poetry, and I have been writing on and off ever since. As I moved on to high school and college, writing became a form of catharsis, and my writing moved to darker subject matter. Writing became a coping mechanism and a release. Today, my writing doesn't stay stagnant in one genre, but rather drifts between the darkness and the light.

P: What value does reading add to both your personal and professional life?

JJ: Oh, how I love books. And reading itself is invaluable. Professionally, reading is essential. The medical laboratory field is a constant flux of change with new diagnostic tests and testing methods to keep up to date on. Personally, I have always loved to read. There is nothing quite like getting lost in an authors words and being transported to their world. To quote George R. R. Martin, "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies...The man who never reads lives only one."

P: Can you describe your current literary ventures and what we can look forward to in future posts?

JJ: I have always been a recreational writer, writing about whatever inspires me. Mostly, my writes were for my eyes only until I found Prose. I have, however, been working slowly on a project or two with the idea to publish in the future.

P: What do you love about Prose? Prose is great!

JJ: The community here is exceptional. Everyone is so supportive, offering encouraging words and helpful criticism. I've never stumbled upon a writing community as encouraging and as kind as Prose. I also love the massive amounts of talent here. I believe my writing has improved with my time spent here, largely due to the incredible talent that is so free flowing on these pages.

P: Is there one book that you would recommend everybody should read before they die?

JJ: I could never recommend ONLY ONE book. Of the classics, I would recommend Bram Stoker's Dracula, Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. I would also recommend everything I have ever read by Edgar Allen Poe. There are many other classics I have read that I enjoy, but these are my favorites. Of the more modern books, I would highly recommend Easy by Tammara Weber (I have read it multiple times) for the strength and message of the story. I would also highly recommend The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini, a group of 4 epic fantasy novels that weave a captivating tale of elves, dragons, magic, and all kinds of other awesomeness.

P: Do you have an unsung hero who got you into reading and/or writing?

JJ: My grandma helped instill my love for reading. I remember as a kid sitting on her lap and having her read my favorite stories to me over and over again on a very regular basis. 

Also, the above mentioned middle school English teacher would fit this response for her inspiration and encouragement.

P: Describe yourself in three words!

JJ: Contemplative. Quiet. Curious.

P: Is there one quote, from a writer or otherwise, that sums you up?

JJ: I can't think of a quote that sums me up, but this is one of my favorite quotes: "We've all been sorry. We've all been hurt. But how we survive is what makes us who we are." -Rise Against

P: What is your favourite music to listen to, and do you write to it?

JJ: I enjoy just about anything in the rock n' roll genre of music, but I love hard rock, alternative rock, and metal. Recently, I have been listening to a lot of Butcher Babies, Bullet For My Valentine, Halestorm, and In This Moment. But I must also mention my longtime love for these excellent bands: System of a Down, Disturbed, Tool, Breaking Benjamin, Slipknot, Audioslave, Rise Against, Marylin Manson, Chevelle, etc. I do have the occasional softer side that enjoys classical music, or perhaps some Taylor Swift or Katy Perry. But, mostly, in the words of Halestorm, "I like it heavy." As for the second part of this question, I don't generally write to music. However, music has many times inspired me to write.

P: You climb out of a time machine into a dystopian future with no books. What do you tell them?

JJ: Tell me how this happened! I have a time machine, and we are going to amend this atrocity!

P: Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you/your work/social media accounts?

JJ: The only other social media account I currently have is a facebook page under my name. I don't promote much of my writing there, but you are welcome to friend me if you can find me.

Thanks SOOO much to Jessica for her time. Follow her, engage with her and read her words.

Meanwhile, c’mon guys. We’re running out of Prosers, so if you like this feature then please suggest people, even volunteer yourselves. Plus, if I (@PaulDChambers) has sent you some questions, then please answer them and send ’em back! If you have and have yet to see the fruits of your labour, then chase me on paul@theprose.com

Prose wants you to feature in future Friday Features. Get busy.

Oceans tumble through visions of you,

light follows the chambers of your heart

when you glide softly across the room.

We gather in the sun to feel cool breezes

as you touch my name with your lips.

I watch you unveil the sky and etch

silver linings in the radiance of clouds.

You brush echoes from the rain that falls

as you breathe tenderness into the night.

Naked of all sorrow, we open wide our eyes

and move our fingers on strings of our soul.

I have a dream, as all men bleed-

This nation will embrace its creed:

"Equality for one and all,

Let freedom ring and racists fall."

I have a dream, in Georgia's wood-

A peaceful feast of brotherhood

As former sons of slaves unite

With sons of owners, bite for bite.

I have a dream, and it is sweet-

That even Mississippi's heat-

That heat of vile oppression's snare-

Will disappear and clear the air!

I have a dream, let me begin-

No one will judge for shade of skin,

And my four children will delight ...

Regardless black, regardless white.

I have a dream, a dream today!

And no, it will not go away.

That color does not make a man-

The content of the person can!

I have a dream, a rising noise-

That little girls and little boys

Of colors black and white will stand

Together, walking hand in hand!

I have a dream, a dream today!

In Alabama, what I say

Will vex the governor until

Those racists words must simply still ...

I have a dream, the valleys, high,

And mountains brought below the sky

Along the rough now smooth and plain-

The crooked, straight, will all remain.

As I move South, this faith and hope

Is carried with me as I grope

The hammer to beat down the stone

Of tyranny from off his throne!

In this faith, we will lift the Lord,

In brotherhood; in one accord-

In this faith, we will all prevail-

In struggles, joys, or even jail!

And this will be the greatest day-

The day when all God's children say:

"My country, 'tis of only thee-

Arise, oh land of liberty!"

And if America will be

The nation that we long to see-

Then freedom must upon each shore

Arise and travel door to door!

From New York, we let freedom ring!

From Pennsylvania, freedom ring!

From Colorado, freedom ring!

From California, freedom ring!

From Georgia, we let freedom ring!

From Tennessee, let freedom ring!

From Mississippi, freedom ring!

From every corner, freedom ring!

And when this happens, we will sing-

The majesty this day shall bring

As all God's children, black and white,

Go singing into that good night ...

"Oh, free at last, oh, free at last!

We overcome our father's past!

Remember we must make it last-

Oh, God Almighty, free at last!"

*This is a rhyming paraphrase of an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous speech.

One day, 

maybe tomorrow, maybe in a hundred years,

they will judge us for this.

It will be cruel and it will be harsh

but it will be justified.