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Rodney Jones

Goodreads Author

Born

in Pontiac, MI, The United States

Website

http://rodneyjonesauthor.com/

Twitter

rodneyjonesbook

Genre

Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy

Influences

Rod Serling, Jon Gnagy, Cormac McCarthy, Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, ...more

Member Since

October 2012

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“The greatest mystery in the universe is the comma. I have devoted my life to solving it.” - Rodney Jones

Barely able to form a coherent sentence, Rodney began writing his first novel, The Other Mr. Bax, in September of 1999. Prior to that, he struggled to compose a grocery list, misspelling nearly every item on it and returning from the store with, mostly, the wrong stuff.

Years later, when The Numbwood Times asked Rodney's mother to comment on her son's writing, she proudly stated, “He's the most determined boy in the world.”

A resident of Indiana, Rodney Jones is an artist, novelist, naturalist, immoralist, and inventor of the Elastic Zukulian. He loves art, music, movies, camping, travel, all-natural Cheetos, Italian food, whisky, and choc ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

Mr.Jones, I just discovered your book Evelyn Dear Fender and am very excited to begin reading it, not only because the title happens to be my name, it also sounds like a very interesting book. I can't wait to read it and your other books as well. My question is, what gives you the inspiration to write? I too am a writer but I often get writers block and I fear it's from lack of life experience. - Evelyn Fender

Rodney Jones Wow. This is strange, having a character from my book contact me… or two of them, conjoined, like twins. Strange, but also nice. I guess, in a univers…moreWow. This is strange, having a character from my book contact me… or two of them, conjoined, like twins. Strange, but also nice. I guess, in a universe as expansive as this, it was bound to happen.
So, Evelyn dear Fender…
I find inspiration in a lot of places, from a variety of sources: art, music, writing, movies, altruism. Inspiration (to me, anyway) is the feeling one gets when one recognizes (makes an emotional connection with) another’s exceptional achievement. A feeling like you’ve just been plugged into a stream of creative energy. It is an emotional response, not an intellectual, not necessarily about ideas.
Writer’s block? I'm not sure what that is. Are we talking about a lack of inspiration or a lack of ideas, or maybe both? Could it be fear? If so, then I believe inspiration might be the cure. But if it’s a lack of ideas, then work is the cure—pain-in-the-butt determination and focus. Do something to clear the mind. I take long walks in the country. And sometimes I have to force myself to write.
Write something!
That’s not it.
Write something else.
That’s not it.
Something else.
Oh, an idea is beginning to emerge.
This, I believe, is work, not inspiration. Inspiration is that energy that pushes work into the realm of art. For that, I might watch Valentina Lisitsa play Liszt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdH1h...
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I noticed in The Sun, the Moon, and Maybe the Trains that Liz was wearing a Counting Crows shirt, is that because you're Mr. Jones?

Rodney Jones A keen observation, but actually she wore it on the day before laundry day. All her White Stripes shirts were a bit crusty in the armpits (a detail I …moreA keen observation, but actually she wore it on the day before laundry day. All her White Stripes shirts were a bit crusty in the armpits (a detail I failed to include in the story.) I don't think of myself as a Mr. Jones.(less)

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Combine Editions
Rodney Jones’s books

Average rating: 3.85 · 396 ratings · 71 reviews · 8 distinct works

	The Sun, the Moon and Maybe the Trains 3.72 avg rating — 314 ratings — published 2012 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	All the Butterflies in the World 4.32 avg rating — 66 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	ENCHANTED - Love Poems and Abstract Art by Hank Beukema (Contributor), Andrea McKenzie Raine (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), Marieta Maglas (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 4.86 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2015 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Evelyn dear Fender 4.33 avg rating — 6 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Father it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Other Mr. Bax really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Evelyn dear Fender: the other 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Dog in the Mirror 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Rodney Jones's Blog

Anatomy of a novel

What does a novel on an author’s laptop look like? A lot of readers probably picture a single MS Word file with the title of the novel for its name. But here’s some screenshots from my computer showing you the contents of folders I set up specifically for my latest book, Evelyn dear Fender. Its working title was Entwined. As it turned out, however, there were close to two dozen books on Amazon wit

Rodney is Currently Reading

Rodney Jones is currently reading

Spiderworld

by Richard Bunning (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Jun 07, 2016 08:22AM

Quotes by Rodney Jones (?)

“. . . distant as the death of grocery chickens.”
― Rodney Jones, Salvation Blues: One Hundred Poems 1985-2005

tags: poetry-quotes

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“No one showed any signs of recognizing me. I didn't know what I'd do if they did, other than lie like a devil and pray like a saint.”
― Rodney Jones, All the Butterflies in the World

tags: devil, lie, pray, recognize, saint

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“Nothing survives that hasn’t been lovingly scarred in the brain or dented by the human voice.”
― Rodney Jones

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Goodreads Sci-Fi/...: Apocalypse Now: Poems and Prose from the End of Days	2	27	Dec 26, 2012 08:52AM
A Million More Pages: Historical Route 66 ~ Important msg in post 48	63	89	May 31, 2020 04:32PM
A Million More Pages: Brittany & Sally	128	22	Jun 09, 2020 10:33AM
You'll love this ...: Sally's ultimate challenge thread!	402	72	Dec 28, 2020 06:02AM
A Million More Pages: Science Fiction	36	58	Jan 01, 2021 12:28PM

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Rodney’s Quotes

“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.”
― Groucho Marx, The Essential Groucho: Writings For By And About Groucho Marx

tags: animals, books, dogs, friends, humor

37972 likes