Five Reasons to Write About Friendship by Miss Jack Lewis Baillot and Brothers-In-Arms

Please welcome Miss Jack Lewis Baillot! (Comments in italics are mine.)





Five Reasons to Write about Friendship!
By Miss Jack Lewis Baillot




I have to be honest, this post took me a long time to write. I couldn't seem to come up with the right ideas for it, (writing about five reasons why it is a good idea to write about friendships.) I tried and tried but kept getting stuck on only one point. Therefore, since I couldn't move past it I decided to write about my one reason. So here I am, guest posting on Tyrean's blog, with a post which took me about a month to figure out.


It's awesome, Jack!!! I believe you have five reasons inside your one reason, so I just put them in bold. I hope that's okay. :) (comment by Tyrean)

Friendships are important

The more I read or watch things the more I realize how often friendships are overlooked, or how often friendships in stories are forced to be made into something else.

A lot of stories now tend to be romantic ones. I've even noticed this with series which start out with good friendship stories, but because of how some of the mindset is now, by the end it is turned into something else. (Example, I know of quite a few newer series were good friendships were ruined because the author threw in gay references.)


I feel as if we live in a time when friendships and the importance of them are overlooked and undermined. There is a lot going on in our world right now, especially in America. I'm sure I don't have to go into details. Basically, a lot of the youth are being forced to question their friendships and if they might be something more. Because of issues happening the different kinds of love we can have for each other are blended together and now there is little difference between the love of friends and romantic love. If two friends love each other it is made to be something more.

I have best friends, friends I rely on and who help me through the hard times in my life. Friends I love dearly. I feel no romantic love for either friend, but another special love. They are like sisters and we share a close bond.

I believe friendships are important to not only youth but also adults. If someone is blessed with the love of a spouse or boyfriend/ girlfriend I don't mean to sound as if I undermine that love. It is special and wonderful. But through my own struggles and life I have come to realize just how invaluable true friends are. And I feel as if it is now made to be viewed as more important if one has romance in their lives. It seems as if fewer and fewer even understand what a friendship is. It is assumed now that if two people are close and share any kind of special bond they must share romantic feelings for each other.

The more I read, the more TV shows or movies I watch, the more I want to show everyone just what it means to have a friend and to be a friend. I know without my best friends I would not be where I am at right now, which is a good place. And maybe if everyone looks hard enough in their lives they can find the same kind of blessing as I have.

Never ever overlook or forget the importance of a friend.    
     

   
    
Can a Jew and a Nazi survive Hitler's Germany?

Franz Kappel and Japhet Buchanan never expected their friendship to be tested by the Third Reich. Friends from early childhood, the boys form an inseparable, brotherly bond. Growing up in a little German village, they escape most of the struggles of war until the day Japhet is banished from school for being a Jew, and later has a rib broken when other village boys beat him up. Franz learns he is putting himself in danger for spending so much time with Japhet but continues to stand up for his Jewish friend even at the risk to himself. Then one day their lives are shattered when they see first-hand that the price of being a Jew is dangerously high. 

With the war now on their doorsteps, Franz and Japhet come up with a desperate plan to save their families and get them out of Germany alive. Leaving behind the lives they've always known, they move into Berlin with nothing to protect them but forged papers and each other. Convinced their friendship can keep them going, the boys try and make a new life for themselves while trying to keep their true identities and Japhet's heritage a secret. Taking his best friend's safety upon himself, Franz joins the Nazis in an attempt to get valuable information. At the same time, Japhet joins the Jewish Resistance, neither friend telling the other of their new occupations.

With everyone in their world telling them a Nazi and a Jew can't be friends, it is only a matter of time before they believe all the lies themselves, until neither is certain if they are fighting against a race of people or fighting for their homeland. Somehow they have to survive the horrors of World War II, even when all of Germany seems to be against them.







Author Bio
Jack is one of those strange people who calls herself an Author. She spends a lot of her time writing and even less time editing. She likes to write about friendships which is partly how Brothers-in-Arms came to be. More than ten years in the making, this is the book she dreaded the most writing, but which also has the most meaning for her.
When Jack isn't writing, which doesn't happen too often, she keeps busy with various other hobbies – such as reading, playing the bagpipes to the dread of her neighbors, and drinking tea – which might not be considered a hobby by most but which should be.
She lives in a cabin in the woods with her dog and a library which isn't quite equal to Prince Adam's but will be given enough time and a secret doorway.


Contact Info
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/JackLBaillot
Twitter – https://twitter.com/JackLBaillot
Goodreads -  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5862775.Jack_Lewis_Baillot
Blog – http://www.jacklewisbaillot.com/  


Goodreads link -  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24703965-brothers-in-arms
Brothers-in-Arms Pintrest Page - https://www.pinterest.com/jackbaillot/brothers-in-arms/
And, although I do want this post to be mainly all about Jack and friendship, I just wanted to mention that there's been some great canoe and kayak regattas this week with the ParaCanoe World Championships in Germany and the PanAmerican Regatta in Gainesville, GA (still going on through Saturday). Three athletes from my hometown are representing Team USA at those events. 
Here's a pic of Ziggy Norberg (Danzig Norberg) racing into the lead in his semi-final in Germany:



    
The PanAmerican Regatta doesn't appear to have a video system working, but I know that one athlete from our team took 5th place in the Junior C1 1000m final with a 4:09 time. 
One more of my daughters' teammates will race on Saturday. 
So, it's been an exciting week to cheer on friends!

A Test of Loyalty Cover Reveal!!!

Jack Lewis Baillot is a clever, quirky, wonderful blogger and novelist at However Improbable. Her latest book is being revealed today:

Upon learning he is one of the sons of the now dead king, Prince Lachlan is forced to leave the only home he has ever known. Fleeing for his life, his step-brothers a step behind, Lachlan finds safety and friendship with a young seamstress named Magda, a hermit, an Elf, and two Dwarf brothers. Determined to keep the young prince alive, Magda and the others seek out help in the surrounding Nations.

 

 Everywhere they go, the fugitives are constantly turned away. They are followed by Lachlan's half- brothers who are determined to kill him so that one of them might take their father's crown and become the next king. With every place Lachlan is taken, his brothers close in and when the finally catch up Lachlan is forced to face the question that has been haunting him since he left home.

 

 Lachlan was saved in the hopes he would become a better king then his father and his brothers. But the last thing he wants is to sit on the throne. If he refuses the crown, will there be anyone willing to fight to keep him alive?

 

 

 

Jack Lewis Baillot has the ability to wear a red shirt because she is convinced she is Scottish and therefore immune to expendable dying. It also helps that she has a last name.

 

 Jack claims the title of Author, which makes her feel like a Time Lord when she capitalizes it. She has a sonic pen which deepens her Time Lord claims. She enjoys a good Science Fiction story though spends most of her time writing Fantasy and Steampunk, or a mixture of both.

 

 She believes cliff hangers are terrible and feels the need to apologize over and over when one of her books ends on one.

 

 When Jack isn't writing, which doesn't happen often, she goes on long hikes through the ice lands she calls home. She believes she will one day meet the Abominable Snowman and share a cup of hot chocolate with him.

 

 You can learn more about Jack's other published work and upcoming books at her website, jacklewisbaillot.com

 

I'm super excited about Jack's latest book!!!

Interview with Miss Jack Lewis Baillot

Introducing the not impossibly, but just a bit unlikely, Miss Jack Lewis Baillot for the 1 Word Interview Challenge:


1. What's your current favorite word?

            Discombobulated  

 2. In one word, what inspires you?

 

            Stories 

3. What's one word that describes your writing habits?

                          

            Chaotic  

4. What's one word that you wish you could get rid of in your writing?

               

            Seemed

5. What's one word that describes your writing desk?

             

             Inspiring  

6. Share the best writing advice/tool/quote that helps you. (please limit to one sentence)

 

           "Cure for writer's block? Blow something up(in the story.)" Scott Westerfeld 

7. What's your current project? (this is the one where you can write a bit more)

 

                 Currently I am nearing the end of the second book in The Legend of the Blade series. This has always been an exciting writing project - I've been planning the series for about five years - but getting to finally write it down has been even more exciting than I ever thought it would be.

 

Miss Jack Lewis Baillot is one of the most fun and inspiring bloggers I know. I love the words she's chosen, and I'm tempted to go blow something up in my current project . . . but I'm formatting, so that might not be wise. :)

 

Miss Jack has written and published Haphazardly Implausible, Abolished Impracticality, The Story Collection and a Stretch of Loyalty. Soon, she'll be releasing A Test of Loyalty! In addition to her talents in writing, Miss Jack has a talent for finding excellent quotes, and has a love of Sherlock, Psych, Captain America, fantasy, steampunk, and unlikely heroes! Check out her blog, However Improbable!

 

 

An Interview with Miss Jack and Celebrate the Small Things

I'm excited to be interviewing the one and only, However Improbable, Miss Jack Lewis Baillot:

Miss Jack Lewis Baillot is the author of the Steampunk adventure book, Haphazardly Implausible as well as the other three in this series. She has also written many other books which she hopes to publish someday.

She's also a fellow Sherlock and Psych fan, as well as a well-read fantasy reader, and usually has awesome quotes in every post at her blog. (Oh, and once in a comment section she gave a nod to my crazy idea that Psych is a very Americanized type of Sherlock (Shawn=Sherlock, Gus=Watson, Lassiter=Donovan or Lestrade, Julia=romantic Lestrade?) Anyway, on with the real interview:

Tyrean: What part of writing do you love the best - the daydream/prewrite stage, the first draft, the revision, the final publishing stage?

Jack: All of it. I have ups and downs with the editing but even it has enjoyable aspects to it.

I guess though, out of the all, I like writing the first draft the best. Sitting about, thinking up the new plot, and then writing it down in a mad dash. First drafts are wild and reckless and anything can happen in them – and some of those things cause me to cringe later – but it is still fun.

 

Tyrean: How much has the original Jack Lewis inspired your writing?

 

Jack: Considering the fact I didn't even know of him until the new The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe movie came out...a lot.

He has inspired me not only by his writing but his life. For one, he would answer every letter he got from his readers. He understood children and the need for them to use their imaginations. And he kept writing even when one of his closest friends told him his books were going to flop. He is an Author I greatly admire.

 

Tyrean: Do you have a favorite book by him?

 

Jack: Well...the only thing I've ever read by him is the Narnia series. I would read his space series but I cannot find the first one anywhere. So...the Narnia series. And out of that series I think...well, it is a tie between The Silver Chair and The Horse and His Boy. Those are wonderful stories and I adore Puddleglum.(Me too)

 

Tyrean: What's your favorite quote from C.S. Lewis?

 

Jack: Friendship is born from that moment when you say, “What? You too? I thought I was the only one.” (And I've found this to be a very true quote.)

 

Tyrean: What's your favorite part of Haphazardly Implausible?

 

Jack: The characters, though I have also become very fond of the airship.

I've written many books, but these characters have become some of my favourites. They surprised me every chance they got, they pulled me along on some wild adventure I never dreamed I would go on, and they showed me that by the end of the series I didn't know them as well as an Author should know her characters. (In fact, very often they would do exactly what I would tell them NOT to do, just to keep me guessing.)

 

Tyrean:  And do you have a favorite quote from your book?

 

Jack: As odd as this sounds, aye, I do. This quote wasn't planned, it just kind of happened, and I think it captures one of the characters, Darcy, very well.

“I guess you're going to stay with us for awhile. Something about my stupid brother promising to keep you alive. Personally, I would have just fed you to the dogs.”

 

Tyrean: What's your next book planned?

Jack: A Stretch of Loyalty, because things got a little behind with book two.

The Loyalty book is one I wrote during NaNo a couple of years ago and was written before I discovered Steampunk so it will have none of those elements in it. It is more of a fantasy book, filled with somewhat evil princes, an elf with a sense of humor, grumpy dwarves, a one handed hermit, and a lot of running. And snow...

 

Thank you Jack, for visiting with me, and sharing some of your favorite quotes, and your writing! Check out Miss Jack at her blog However Improbable and learn more about her book Haphazardly Implausible while there.

 

 

Celebrate the Small Things is an awesome exercise in positivity from Viklit. We're encouraged to celebrate anything, whether it's getting the laundry done, or getting a sentence on the page.

 

1. I had only one day of feeling miserably (pickaxe pain in the head and throat) sick. I made myself rest. (Actually my kids said I stumbled around barely speaking and grading their math homework before falling back into bed) And thanks to that rest, I started getting better (no more pickaxe pain, just sniffly, achy, manageable stuff).

 

2. Somehow I made my best onion beef soup ever while sick. My kids said I leaned against the stove and stirred for 40 minutes and they weren't sure I was awake. Maybe that's the trick to good cooking . . . dozing half-asleep while stirring.

 

3. Homeschool lessons actually got done this week, and a creativity issue in writing was resolved. (It was a formal, reality based, descriptive writing assignment that took an unexpected creative twist. I finally said, fine, take that starter paragraph and write a full story. And I want it on my desk in 5-7 days - yes, I'm a tough mommy sometimes)

 

4. Before I felt seriously sick, I got the courage up to do three things: I asked the local library if they would stock my book, I asked my homeschool co-op if I could do a book signing there, and I asked a local bookstore if they would stock my book. They all said . . .wait for it . . .as I did, with my blood pounding in my ears feeling slightly light-headed . . .yes! The librarian and the independent bookstore owner then proceeded to give me a huge amount of advice and information that I'm still taking in, and feeling a bit foolish for not knowing already (although they were totally nice about it and very positive - it's me feeling like I should have known all that already).

 

5. I got a tiny amount of outlining/creative brainstorming/craziness done for my second draft of Champion in Flight. (the first draft is filled with pen marks and notations)

 

6. Two loads of laundry got done, and some of the dishes are clean. (otherwise the house is seriously messy - because I've been sick, I think)

 

 

What are you celebrating this week? And do you know Jack? If you haven't, go meet her - she rocks! (Also, have you ever wondered about a deep, undercover connection between Sherlock Holmes and Psych?)