Tag Archives: Joe Pranaitis

The Writing Process Blog Tour Continues

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Writing Process5_ Copyright 2014 Virginia WrightThe Writing Process Blog Tour

Diana R. Jenkins invited me to participate in the Writing Process Blog Tour, her bio is impressive, and definitely a writer’s inspiration. Thank you Diana, for that! Be sure to check out her responses to the writing process questions on her blog.

Diana R. Jenkins is the author of more than four hundred stories, articles, and comic strips for kids’ magazines as well as a number of books. Her newest book is Tackling Tough Topics with Faith and Fiction, (www.pauline.org), a resource book for parents and teachers who want to help middle school and junior high students deal with moral challenges using faith. Her other books include Goodness Graces! Ten Short Stories about the Sacraments, Saints of Note – The Comic Collection, The Stepping Stones Journals, and Spotlight on Saints! A Year of Funny Readers Theatre for Today’s Catholic Kids.

Diana  lives in Montgomery, Ohio with her husband, a medical physicist. Visit her on the web at www.dianarjenkins.bravehost.com, read her blog at http://djsthoughts-dj.blogspot.com, and find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dianajenkins.

And here are mine:

What am I currently working on? 

My current WIP is a children’s book for toddlers titled: Wild Animal Sounds. The story has simple, repetitive text, that gets the child and the person reading it to them involved with the various sounds that wild animals make.  Wild Animal Sounds is colorfully illustrated with bold, vibrant colors. 

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

This story differs in that,  it is something that the child hearing it will like and enjoy trying to make a similar wild animal sound, as well as the person reading it with them. 

Why do I write what I write?

I write what I write, to put a smile on the face of a child, or on the face of the person reading my work to the child. I write what I write, to give the person reading my text something to think about, and maybe to teach something to someone they didn’t know or hadn’t thought of. I write what I write, because it is what I love to do!

How does my individual writing process work?

My writing process–hmm, I do not have a specific process other than brainstorming to come up with a story idea. Often, it will start with the title, from the title, I come up with the story–and then illustrate it.  On occasion, I have started the story from an illustration.  I truly enjoy writing, and illustrating–and I hope you have enjoyed my answers in the blog tour. 

To continue the Writing Process Blog Tour, I’m tagging writer and movie producer, Joe Pranaitis. (He is an interesting fellow. Read about him below!) Joe’s answers to the writing process questions will appear on his Facebook page on June 16.

The current WIP for Joe Pranaitis is the 4th book in his Infinite Possibilities Chronicles series.  Besides writing, Joe is a movie producer. When questioned about what is next for him, he replied, “This is only the beginning of what’s to come next!”

Excited, Joe! This writer and movie producer is definitely one to keep our eyes on in the future!

You can connect with Joe on his Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/joe.pranaitis

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoePranaitis

And Joe Pranaitis’s Author page on Amazon.  http://www.amazon.com/Joe-Pranaitis/e/B002R4MPUU/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

 

Blog Hop Interview – Tag! You’re It!

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July 15, 2013

Hi everyone! I was invited by my author friend, Diana Jenkins, to participate in a “blog hop interview.” In order to participate, I answer interview questions, and I tag three other authors. They post-interview questions on their blog pages 7/22. The folks they tag, will post their interview questions and answers on their blogs 7/29, and so forth. A lot of hopping!

You can find Diana’s interview questions and answers here: http://djsthoughts-dj.blogspot.com/ . Diana posted, July 8, 2013.

Here are my answers to the interview questions and answers:

1. What are you working on right now?

My WIP…hmm, it is quite different than the last five books that I have written–worlds apart from each other actually. I was born and raised in Maine. One of my works in progress is a cookbook titled, “Ayuh, Another Downeast Cookbook!” I’m so excited, as I love cooking, food photography, and food blogging. Ayuh, has been in the works for many years now with the cooperation of members from the Maine Guides Association, a forester, an outdoor editor, Fishermen, and housewives helping me bring great recipes from Maine to my cookbook. My hope is, that this interesting cookbook will be released in early 2014. Maybe sooner?

2. How does it differ from other works in its genre?

Ayuh, Another Downeast Cookbook is different in its genre in that ‘some’ of the recipes are different–not your usual recipes. :-) Ayuh, is a bit unique not only because of the recipes but because of a few of the people who gave me recipes for my book. One of which was a well-known outdoor editor in Maine, now deceased.  I have some real treasures in my possession, and that will be in my cookbook!

3. Why do you write what you do?

My poem says it all…

Writers Write

Writers Write

4. How does your writing process work?

My writing process is not scientific by any means like my poem says…I write from my heart.

For ideas, I don’t brainstorm–I guess you could say, they just happen. It may be that I am washing the dishes, yes, some people still wash the dishes by hand and not with a dishwasher! Or, I might be driving in the car, or standing in line at the grocery store, and the ideas just pop in my head! Voila! Idea now ingrained in my brain–I grab a pen and paper from my purse and I write the basic idea down.

So, no, not a real process…

Thank you for the tag, Diana!

In addition, I am tagging the following authors. Make sure to check out their blog posts on the following date: July 22, 2013

Jodi Desautels – Children’s Author: http://authorjodidesautels.weebly.com/what-is-new-with-jodi-desautels.html

Dennis Higgins – YA Author: http://www.timepilgrims.com/blog.html

Joe Pranaitis – Author: https://www.facebook.com/joe.pranaitis

Tag! You’re It! I can’t wait to see who’s next!

Have a wonderful literary summer!

-Virginia Wright

Winners Announced | Joe Pranaitis Book Giveaway

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It is always so exciting to announce the winners of a giveaway…today is no exception. I want to thank Joe Pranaitis for stopping by my blog and letting us learn a little more about him as a writer. Thanks also goes out to all those who visited my blog for the interview!

Last week I mentioned that I will be interviewed by Author & Illustrator Tracy Campbell,  Saturday, February 23, 2013. I am going to let that be my weekly post and will refer you all over to her blog on February 24th with a link to the exact post.  Yes! I’m having a giveaway…In honor of spring heading our way, I’m going to be giving away my non-fiction, educational book “Buzzzzzzzz What Honeybees Do,”  to (one) commenter that gets me buzzing with their comment!

And without further ado…
The winners of Joe Pranaitis’s book giveaway are:

1) Ginger Porter

2) Sherry Ellis

3) Dennis Higgins

Grand-prize winner of Infinite Possibilities & a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate:

4) Kathy Wright

Winners–please allow 7-14 days for delivery of your prize.

The other two commenters, Karen P. and Karen S., I’m sorry that you didn’t win one of Joe’s books. However, there will be another giveaway, as mentioned on Tracy Campbell’s Blog on February 23, 2013.

Congratulations everyone!

-Virginia Wright

Please invite your friends and family to sign up for my blog updates by email. All they have to do is go to the homepage of my blog and on the sidebar they will see where to sign up via email. I do not bombard your inbox with lots of emails. I generally post one maybe two times a week. That’s it. Unless…I have something really exciting to share. :-)

February 17, 2013 – Author Interview With Joe Pranaitis

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Today my guest author is Joe Pranaitis. Please give Joe a big round of applause (clap – clap, woo hoo !)  Thanks everyone for stopping by my blog. As you know, now and again I have been hosting guest authors, as I wanted to bring various authors and genres to my followers. With every interview – I ask authors to do a giveaway.  Joe has graciously said he will be giving away four of his books and (1) $25 Amazon gift card to commenters. I’m thrilled with his generous offer. Please enjoy the interview, and stop by Joe’s social media sites now and again to give him a shout-out.  Don’t forget to comment at the end of this interview for your chance of winning one of Joe’s gifts he is giving away.
On with the interview…

-Virginia Wright


Joe Pranaitis

I was born in East Chicago Indiana, I graduated from Calumet College of St. Joseph with a degree in business management, which helps since I am a co-founder of Shareef Entertainment LLC a company which will produce movies and TV shows. And all of this is because I began writing the concepts for my first book in 1996 when my art teacher at EC Central gave me the assignment to create a comic book but during the summer between the time that I graduated high school and started college I adapted those stories into a trilogy and now that first story is the first chapter of my first book.

How long have you been writing? I’ve been writing since I was a kid but everything did’t come together until my junior and senior years in high school when my art teacher assigned me to create my own comic book, I ended up writing and drawing two comic books the first was a sequel to a story that I had yet to write and the second was the last in a trilogy that when I adapted both stories into a full blown short story trilogy in summer of 1996 everything began to spark brighter than it had with the other stories that had I written.
Probably your art teacher saw the potential in you…and gave you that assignment on purpose!
Where does the inspiration come from for your stories? My inspiration for most of my stories come from ideas that I would like to try or settings that I can’t stop thinking about.
I love the ideas that come from waking up at night after dreaming!
Are you a fiction or non-fiction writer? I am a fiction writer, and now I can include screenwriter into that as well since I just co-wrote my first screenplay.
That is wonderful to hear that you just co-wrote your first screenplay–I wish you all the best with it!
Could you tell us about your latest writing project? My latest writing project was a screenplay that I co-wrote but I can’t give out any details yet because a couple of studio’s are currently looking at it.
I won’t pry. However, when it is okay for you talk about it, I’d love to have you come back with an update!
When writing do you prefer silence or do you like listening to music? I like listening to music because it keeps me focused on the project whether it’s a short story or a chapter or a screenplay I have to have music to focus my thoughts.
I definitely like to listen to music when I am working on illustrations, however, sometimes music is not my best friend when I try to concentrate on a particular thought for my stories. :-)
Where online can viewers find you e.g., web, blog, social media sites?
Viewers can find me on facebook, twitter,  goodreads, and I am posting new short stories on figment.com. To purchase books go to Amazon.com.
Thank you for stopping by Joe, I wish you all the best with your screenplay, as well as Infinite Possibilities!

 

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