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literary fiction

Back Story

October 11, 2017 by Jim Potter Leave a Comment

·  Going Backward in Order to Go Forward  · "422 to 409." "409, go ahead." "If you want to stop by, you can take some more photographs for us." "No thanks, I've got other plans. Do you have enough help without me?" "10-4." I should have been thankful for the offer, instead it only reinforced my unwillingness to be a part of one more grisly scene of death. My shift was over. I had paid my dues. I just didn't have it in me to look at one more dead body. As I pulled into my driveway, only … [Read more...] about Back Story

Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: back story, creative writing, fiction, flashbacks, literary fiction, writing

Mix Things Up

October 4, 2017 by Jim Potter 2 Comments

·  Braiding  · Braiding means weaving information into the story, especially characters, like a hairdresser weaving strands of hair into one strong braid. In my novel, Taking Back the Bullet, I focus on three main characters and their families. Out of thirty-four chapters in the book, I use the first nine chapters introducing the fictional characters. The first two chapters are set in Prairie Grove, Kansas, where the reader meets jailer Tom Jennings and artist Jesse Thomas. In the … [Read more...] about Mix Things Up

Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: back story, braiding, characters, creative writing, fiction, literary fiction, literature, weaving, writing

Getting to Know Your Characters

September 27, 2017 by Jim Potter 2 Comments

·  Who Are These People and What Are They Doing In My Head?  · I'm having so much fun thinking about the fictional characters coming alive since the last blog!  In the blog titled "More Seeds to Sow," I introduced you to a veteran with PTSD who relied on a flock of ducks to help keep him calm; a woman who was nearly evicted from her home but was able to adopt out her two dozen beardless dragons in time; and a criminal duo who landed in jail after their third armed robbery in which the woman … [Read more...] about Getting to Know Your Characters

Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: character development, characters, creative writing, fiction, imagination, literary fiction, writing

More Seeds to Sow

September 20, 2017 by Jim Potter 2 Comments

·  Fourteen Therapeutic Pet Ducks, 24 Bearded Dragons, and a Masked Batman Caper  · "You can't make this stuff up!" I tell other writers. We're all in agreement. If you want any ideas for your writing, you don't need to read fake news online. Just take a few "real" headlines and start writing. Free-writing is one form used by writers to get started. You just take a topic, start writing, and see where it leads you.  Today I'm using three brief AP news stories as examples of how topics … [Read more...] about More Seeds to Sow

Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: Batman, bearded dragons, brainstorming, creative writing, fiction, free-writing, literary fiction, pet ducks, writing

Seeds to Sow

September 13, 2017 by Jim Potter Leave a Comment

·  Questions to Ask  · Recently, in a Hutchinson News article, there was a story about a long-time bar being forced to close due to dwindling customer support. The owner was sharing a lot of memories with the reporter, but there was one that I knew immediately would fit into many a novel, maybe one of mine. Surprise! It's not a drunken fight scene. The owner recalled how when she and all her female employees took the night off to attend an event, they left a few male employees in charge at … [Read more...] about Seeds to Sow

Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: creative writing, fiction, literary fiction, literature, questions to ask, story, writing

Seeds to a Story

September 6, 2017 by Jim Potter Leave a Comment

 ·  Listen, Read, Write, Repeat  · If you're a writer, or want to be a writer, do you save story-starters?   Do you file newspaper clippings, save Pinterest images, or write down bits of overheard conversations, certain you'll use the comments or pictures in future dialogue? Maybe your file is labeled, "Save - to Use Later." I'm reading the Hutchinson News, and I glance at the obituaries and see the name, "Billy Goodenough." I don't know him, but his name just sticks in my … [Read more...] about Seeds to a Story

Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: Billy Goodenough, Colville Confederated Tribes, creative writing, fiction, literary fiction, story starters, writing

Cultural Exposure

August 30, 2017 by Jim Potter Leave a Comment

 ·  Albinism and Africa  · I've never been to Tanzania, but I've researched the country, especially the PWA community. The acronym stands for People With Albinism. If you want to learn more about the genetic condition called albinism, I recommend the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation (NOAH). If you want information on the fight against attacks on people with albinism, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, then Under the Same Sun (UTSS), operated out of Canada, is the … [Read more...] about Cultural Exposure

Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: albinism, creative writing, literary fiction, NOAH, Tanzania, Under the Same Sun, writing

Creative Writing

August 23, 2017 by Jim Potter Leave a Comment

·  Fake News  · Today the media talks about the alarming impact of "fake news." No doubt that in our instant, mass communication world, one fraudulent or deceptive story can cause massive confusion with grave consequences. Check out this "exaggeration" post card from 1937 showing a rather large grasshopper that died of lead poisoning. Similar manipulated, tall-tale images had been in circulation since the early 1900's, the Golden Age of Postcards. The popularity of early cards was due … [Read more...] about Creative Writing

Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: creative writing, exaggeration postcards, fake news, fiction, literary fiction, postcards, tall tales, writing

Best Character Descriptions

August 16, 2017 by Jim Potter 2 Comments

·  WANTED FOR MURDER  · I've been collecting "Reward" postcards since I was first hired by the Reno County Sheriff's Office (KS). I find the descriptors fascinating. Most of these penny postcards were quickly printed and mailed once a criminal offense was reported to local law enforcement. Of course, this was in the day long, long before instant communication. The sheriff told the receivers of the card (other law enforcement agencies) that he could be contacted by wire, meaning via … [Read more...] about Best Character Descriptions

Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: character descriptions, crime, historical fiction, literary fiction, novel, writers, writing

A Writer’s Rabbit Hole

July 26, 2017 by Jim Potter 2 Comments

·  Down the Rabbit Hole  · I've traveled down many rabbit holes before completing a first draft of a book. The trip down the black hole always begins innocently enough, with nothing but good intentions: I believe I need to get enough useful background on a topic before I can start the story. But there are inherent risks in entering a rabbit hole. Once you start on the path, it can become disorienting, deranging, and difficult to turn around. In my research on the Guna tribe of Panama, … [Read more...] about A Writer’s Rabbit Hole

Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: down the rabbit hole, literary fiction, rabbit hole, writing, writing for research

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Indie Book Publishing - Q & A  Message sent by Michael: “Hi Jim, I was wondering if I could chat with you over the phone sometime in the next few … Read More about Indie Book Publishing – Q & A

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What People Are Saying

Denise Low, author of Jackalope (Red Mountain Press)

Jim Potter is a cop, retired, but he brings deep understanding of this job to his novel Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery. This layered novel has literary dimensions as characters explore crisis situations. Congratulations to this fine writer for his debut novel.

Rebecca from Proud Police Wife

Taking Back the Bullet is an emotional, yet captivating novel. Jim Potter does a superb job of intertwining each character and putting their individual identities on display. All law enforcement storylines are a true reflection of Potter’s years as a police officer because they are realistic and relatable. This is a book I highly recommend.

Dennis Perrin, educator

Masterful storytelling, exquisite character development, so real as to HURT and HOPE, a real page turner. Begs for stage, screenwriters, and visual episodic development a.k.a. TV series . . . Thanks Jim Potter for telling it like it is AND providing us visions of how it could be. Well done!

Rebecca Schillaci

As a former law enforcement officer, I found the story very relatable as it details the life of a law enforcement officer and the struggles some face throughout their careers. . . Taking Back the Bullet is a journey of understanding, respect, and forgiveness . . .

Sheryl Remar

I enjoyed the different stories of this book because Tom, James, and Suanna, the three main characters, represent in their own way the different struggles with themselves and society’s idea of what is normal.

John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement

I enjoyed your book. When I am looking for a new read, I always read the first page, last page and choose a random page somewhere in the middle before I decide to buy it. You had me on all three pages. I also like reading a book where you can relate to the characters and the settings in which they live and work. It makes a story more realistic if you can say, I am familiar with the area; I know where that town is or I have traveled that street. It was easy to relate to the characters. In one way or another, I have met them all somewhere in my journeys.

Judy Hawk

. . . I was impressed with the Native American information as well as the depth of character development . . . .

Wynona Winn, PhD, retired school superintendent

Three main characters walk different paths but with the same destination – each coping with his or her self-discovery, self-identity, and self-realization. Much like their earlier counterparts – Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield – their journeys are often joyous, often tedious and often tragic.

Diana Dester

Good story line, building the characters along the way. Great job!

Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist

Jim Potter has done it again! After his book, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told, Jim has written another great work. In Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, Jim Potter takes us on an insightful journey into the lives and relationships of numerous characters. Jim is such a talented storyteller that the reader quickly becomes immersed and has a ‘bonding experience’ with each of the characters, feeling their joy, fear, passion and pain. Jim’s novel speaks to the empowerment of persistence with the characters as they work through their trials. As a therapist, I appreciated the heartfelt struggles from each of the characters and their diversity. I also found value in the novel’s understanding of society’s misunderstanding of both mental health and other conditions in which people struggle. The novel contains rich exposure to various realities that many of us do not know about . . . but should. When I finished this captivating novel, I was wanting to read the sequel! It was an honor and a wonderful, mesmerizing experience reading this book. Congratulations, Jim!

Jane Holzrichter

I finished it last night around midnight. What a great piece of work. It kept me intrigued all the way to the end.

Sean McArdle, Winchester, England

Retired police officer Potter’s novel centres on very disparate characters and through the tried and tested means of gradually introducing each one, builds a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen to them. This often used methodology is not easy to do well but is superbly handled by Potter who knows how to give enough detail to bring the characters to life, yet not too much so as to slow down the pace of the developing story. A climactic event affects the main characters and it is at this point Potter’s deep knowledge of people and police procedures really hits home; page by page we read how a seemingly simple, though terrible occurrence, can have huge consequences. To Potter’s credit the story does not have a completely conclusive or simplistic ending. Instead it leaves the reader thinking about how the events of a single minute can affect lives forever. I would whole heartedly recommend this book not as a crime novel or even as a novel about crime but as a beautiful and positive affirmation about what it is to be human and how ultimately it is relationships which matter more than events.

Morgan Penner

Taking Back the Bullet is a novel that provides the reader with a window into the world of law enforcement. As the novel unfolds, the reader is able to see how split-second decisions alter the lives of the main characters in the story. Taking Back the Bullet also explores how humanity is impacted by mental illness. One of my favorite quotes from Taking Back the Bullet is “We’re all just a critical moment from being disabled or mentally ill, and we don’t want to think about it.” The novel also provides the reader an opportunity to gain a better understanding of how mental illness impacts the individuals, their family, friends, and society. Taking Back the Bullet is a story of forgiveness and overcoming life’s struggles and tragedies.

Steve Becker

I’m impressed. It was an excellent read. . . . I hope you continue with more projects in the future.

Larry Kruckman, anthropologist

Jim Potter displays ethnographic skills in Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, creating vivid scenes and fascinating characters. The Greeks had a word for subcultures and people’s behavior: ‘ethos,’ or ‘ways of being.’ In colorful, sometimes marvelous detail, this novel captures various people and settings . . . the ethos of rural Kansas: a jail, art fair, powwow, rehab center, courtroom, albinos, and even someone in the throes of postpartum depression. So detailed are the descriptions that they must be drawn from the author’s personal experience. Besides the artfully created characters such as the struggling jailer and husband Tom Jennings, local artist Jesse Thomas, and Native American Joe Morningcloud, there is a tight story line that grabs your attention and won’t let go. Human tensions, love, conflict, joys and sorrows are all there. Magically, all the many pieces come together in a final crescendo, giving hope that even when we find ourselves in big trouble we can survive. This is a novel I highly recommend!

Larry Kruckman
Anthropologist
Karleen Wilson-Moon

Terrific story relevant to today’s social issues . . . well written . . . likable characters . . . insightful perspective from an insider in law enforcement.

Karleen Wilson-Moon

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