Thanks and Rest

2019 has been one heck of a year. It's certainly been my busiest year, and for these past few weeks, I've been taking a much-needed rest by hardly writing, painting the walls at the bookstore where I work, hardly writing, washing out paint rollers, hardly writing, wishing the paint specks washed off of my hands easier, and hardly writing.

But don't worry! I may not be writing much at the moment, and my event schedule has been a bit empty, but for everything there is a season. I'll be writing more again someday soon, but I'm a firm believer that self-care is an important thing, and I'll get back into the swing of things soon enough.

I do want to thank each and every one of you for your support this year! I met many of you at comic cons and book signings, and your kind words have been so encouraging. May we meet again soon!

Some people have asked how they can support my writing without attending one of my events. For those who live in the Cincinnati area, my books are available at The Book Rack, and for those who live in the Columbus, Ohio area, my books are available at The Book Loft of German Village. It's important to support local indie bookstores, which are centers of literacy and culture in our communities.

Of course, my books are also available from Barnes and Noble and Amazon, as well as at BHC Press, my publisher.

Speaking of which...

My publisher is currently running a holiday sale on all print titles, exclusively in their online store! Click here to take advantage of these deals through December 31.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Reading!

--J. S. Bailey

Preorder Solemnity Today!

You may have noticed it has been a long time since I've released a novel.

Being an author involves an extraordinary amount of patience. We wait weeks to see what our editors say. We wait months--or longer!--for our publishers to package up our books in nice little bows and send them out into the world to be enjoyed. (Okay, maybe there aren't any bows involved. I *am* an author; and we tend to make things up by our very natures.)

Luckily, fans of The Chronicles of Servitude will only have to wait a bit longer for Solemnity, the fourth (and penultimate!) volume of socially-awkward psychic Bobby Roland's adventures. It is available to preorder in ebook, softcover, and hardcover formats, from the following booksellers:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

Apple Books

Waterstones

Bobby Roland has stumbled onto a new crisis.

Violent criminals are rising from the dead throughout Oregon—not just in Portland, but in Bobby’s adopted hometown of Autumn Ridge. He teams up with Joanna Halsey, an old acquaintance who knows a few things about the occult, to get to the bottom of the mystery. Together they surmise that these criminals have been brought back to life to complete some terrible task.

Their search for answers takes them to an occultist’s doorstep, where Bobby learns that raising the dead is no difficult feat for those devoted to black magic.

But who would resort to necromancy, and why? Bobby and Joanna must stop them before the dead kill again.

Harry Potter, Good Omens, and The Power of Allegory

I was ten years old when I first heard of Harry Potter.

Prisoner of Azkaban had just come out, and there was an article about the books' success in our Weekly Reader at school. It seemed like their popularity exploded outward from that moment, and soon it seemed that nearly everyone at my private Catholic school was reading them.

I received all three novels for Christmas that year and quickly gobbled them up. Soon after, I began to hear some concerns from parents about the "witchcraft" involved in them. My mother read the books after I did and decided they were safe enough for me, and the school library kept them in stock, and all was well.

Looking back, the Catholic community in which I was raised was somewhat laid-back. We loved God and Jesus and were still able to enjoy popular culture without fear of the devil flying out at us at every turn. To us, stories were just stories, and it didn't matter if there were witches and wizards and house elves in them. (I can't speak for all Catholics; this is just what I saw from the ones I was acquainted with.)

Of course, I still heard stories of parents refusing to allow their children to read Harry Potter because of its "Satanic" nature. Even as a child, I knew that those parents hadn't read a page of Harry Potter themselves, because there was absolutely nothing Satanic whatsoever in them. After all, Voldemort was a bad guy everyone wanted to defeat! Those parents had simply heard rumors of the devil and panicked without taking a look at the truth for themselves.

Now let's fast forward twenty years.

It's 2019. A month ago, the screen adaptation of Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett was released upon the world. For those not in the know, Good Omens is the comedic tale of an angel, Aziraphale, and a demon, Crowley, who team up to stop the Apocalypse because they both happen to really love the Earth and don't want it to be destroyed.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, some religious groups took offense.

"Good Omens misrepresents God!" I saw one person worry online. This person had neither read the book nor watched the show, but was referencing the fact that God, the narrator, is portrayed by actress Frances McDormand.

"An angel and a demon could never be friends," another person complained. And, "A demon could never be a good guy. Demons are evil."

Since this is a free country, people of course have the right to object to whatever they want to. However, I prefer taking a more nuanced approach to analyzing fiction. 

Having a woman narrating God's voice doesn't bother me because God is a celestial being, and celestial beings have no gender. I don't mind the fact that an angel and a demon are friends, because Good Omens is a work of fiction. Not once does it ever proclaim itself to be Truth. It's simply a laugh-out-loud story with enough tender moments that made me wish it was much longer than six episodes.

The thing about good stories is that they go so much deeper than surface level. I consider both Harry Potter and Good Omens to be allegories, which Dictionary.com defines as "a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another."

Harry Potter isn't about witches and wizards; it's about courage and bravery and self-sacrifice. It is a hero's tale that shows us that evil, no matter how powerful, can be defeated.

Good Omens isn't about angels, demons, and the end of the world. It's the story of people who love and care about each other despite their differences. It's the perfect example of unconditional love, and it makes me yearn for a world where people sitting on opposite sides of the fence can unite under a common cause, whether they're a witch and a witchfinder, a prostitute and a witchfinder, or a demon and an angel.

Some of Jesus's most effective teachings came in the form of allegories, like the story of the prodigal son, or the story of the good Samaritan, both of which demonstrated spiritual truths without ever coming across as instructional or preachy. And if it worked for Jesus, why can't it work for the rest of us?

On Social Awkwardness

Some years ago, I was in the presence of a group of small children, all of whom looked at me suddenly and chorused, "Awkward!!!"

I was a grown adult at this point in time. I was amazed at their perceptiveness, and unsure of exactly what I'd done that warranted their comment. They were right, though.

I am socially awkward.

And I always have been.

(Yours Truly, circa 2003. My posture is making my eyes twitch.)

Different people probably have differing definitions of what it means to be socially awkward. In my case, I define it as failing to understand certain social cues, not knowing the proper responses to make in certain situations, and doing generally embarrassing things in public and feeling helpless while committing them.

My social awkwardness used to cause me some anxiety because I feared the ridicule of others. I tend to flub my speech when I get nervous--what if they thought I was stupid for bungling up everything I said? What if they tease me for not understanding something was supposed to be a joke? What if they talk behind my back about what a silly, foolish person I am?

What if nobody takes me seriously ever again?


via GIPHY

Does this sound familiar to any of you? Maybe you struggle with social awkwardness, too, and the anxiety that comes with it. Maybe you fear talking on the telephone because you can never figure out the "right" way to interact with people you can't see. Maybe you fear speaking with people face to face because you struggle with body language and misinterpret what people mean.

I understand. I've been there.

And you know what?

Things can get better.

At some point, I decided to own my awkwardness. I engage with dozens of people at my in-person events, and once I admitted to others that I am a Socially Awkward Person, things didn't start to seem so bad. I make lighthearted jokes about it: "Bobby Roland is shy and socially awkward, just like his author!" I'll say, which always generates a few chuckles.


via GIPHY

Being socially awkward is just going to be a part of who I am. I don't have much anxiety anymore. If someone has an issue with my lack of savvy social skills, who cares? That's their problem, and I really am trying my best, just like everyone else.

If you are socially awkward too, fear not. I personally believe that any socially awkward person can be Awesomely Awkward. Wear your awkwardness like a crown and make it yours! Plus, the more you get to practice social interaction, the more the wrinkles in your social skills will get ironed out. We may never be perfect--who isn't?--but we can sure as heck do the best with what we've got.

Do you have tips about dealing with social awkwardness? Share them in the comments!

Thirty: A Reflection

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Boy, has it been a looong time since I posted anything here. Over a year! Oh, my poor, neglected blog!

But hey, I've been busy. Like, really, REALLY busy. I've written oodles of short stories, had one accepted into an anthology, finished writing one novel, started writing another one, sent that second one off to my editor, and had roughly five bajillion author events so new readers can enjoy my books.

It's been fun!

Want to know what else is fun? On Thursday, March 28, I turn 30 years old. Actually, it's a bit terrifying, as time has been flying by way too quickly, and I'd just like it to slow down for a while. (Is that too much to ask for?)

Looking back at my twenties, I can see they were all about change. Slow change, but change nevertheless. In some ways, I feel like a butterfly unfurling its new wings as it emerges from its cocoon, feeling the sunlight it hasn't seen since it was a wee caterpillar.

That may sound cheesy, but it's true. When I turned 20, ten years ago now, I was on antidepressants and not all that happy about life due to crippling anxiety that left me completely useless. When a painful, personal tragedy struck me at the age of 21, I sank into a deep melancholy that produced some awfully dark writing on my part.

They say that time heals all wounds, but I'm not entirely sure I believe that. It just makes the wounds farther away than they used to be, enabling me to look at them more objectively. Instead of moping about things I can't change because they already happened, I can look back and say, "That was a very sad thing that happened, but it's done now, and I need to focus on other, more pertinent things before my entire life passes me by."

I don't know if that's a healthy coping mechanism or not. I just make things up as I go.

I feel a lot happier now. I've started writing more comedy and fewer bloodbaths, but I haven't published any of that yet. It's such an enjoyable change of pace, making flat-Earthers get abducted by aliens and distant human outposts get invaded by sentient Canadian geese in spacesuits. (You will read about these things eventually. Have patience, young padawan.)

What else has happened or changed over the past ten years?

I finally got a smartphone.

I stopped being an asshole, mostly.

I adopted a bunch of cats.

I no longer seize up with terror when I pick up the phone. Yay phone calls!

I feel confident and ready to take over the world.

I've improved my eating habits, ditching the chips and alcohol for food that contains actual nutrients. You have no idea what a difference this has made.

In all, I have to say my 20s ended up being mostly good.

And now, onward to my 30s!