Book Sale!

As a thank you to all of my readers for your continued support, I am decreasing the price of my poetry book, Things I Should Have Said. For all of December, you will be able to grab the kindle version for only $0.99!

Plus, if you have already bought the paperback version off of Amazon, you will be able to get the kindle version for free using Amazon's Kindle Matchbook.

Click the link to get yours now.

Happy Holidays!

Veteran's Day

Today in the United States, we celebrate Veteran's Day...a day where we honor our fellow citizens who have served in our military, past and present. As with most holidays, Facebook and other social media has been flooded with memes, copy/paste statuses and articles about Veteran's Day. I read a shocking statistic yesterday (and I confirmed it with the US Department of Veteran Affairs) that approximately 22 veterans commit suicide every day. Every Day. I was blown away.

It is unacceptable to me that anyone in my country should be homeless. It is unacceptable to me that anyone in my country should go without proper physical and mental health care. It in unacceptable to me that anyone in my country should have trouble finding work when they are willing and able. But when I think of veterans facing these problems, it is especially upsetting. These are people who risked everything because they believed they were protecting and preserving our country. Don't we owe it to them to give them the support they need when they return? While there are many resources available to veterans, these aforementioned statistics show that we are clearly dropping the ball somewhere.

I wrote this poem for my book Things I Should Have Said. It describes the life of a soldier who goes to war and comes home with PTSD, but does not have the proper resources to deal with it. It also speaks of his friends and family who didn't know how to deal with his struggles when he came home. I hope by sharing this, it will encourage you to reach out to a veteran you know. Let them know that you are here for them, and that you are listening.

If you are veteran who needs assistance, or if you want to do something to help, I will list some phone numbers and websites that are good resources:

Veteran's Crisis Line:
1-800-273-8255 Press 1
Text 838255
https://www.veteranscrisisline.net


US Department of Veteran Affairs (has many resources: health, housing, job, etc.)
https://www.va.gov

Resources for friends and Family:
https://www.oefoif.va.gov/FamilySupport.asp

In peace,
-J. M. Degamo

NaNoWriMo 2017

Well, it's that time of the year again....the time when writers (established and aspiring) come together to try to write a book in 30 days!

November is National Novel Writing Month, and this will be my 10th year participating. My first time was in 2007. I was a freshman in college, living in Seattle for the first time and still figuring out where I fit in my new community. A roommate of a friend heard that I like to write, and she asked if I had heard about NaNoWriMo (I hadn't).

She excitedly told me all about how in November, people try to write a book in 30 days. To "win", the book must be at least 50,000 words. The 30 day time constraint was supposed to encourage people to just write, because there would not be enough time to edit, or have much self-doubt. She made it seem like so much fun, and so incredibly possible that I just had to try it for myself.

I jumped right in. Between my homework assignments and social engagements, I would write. That first year, I only got to around 25,000 words before I gave up. But that was more than I had ever written before. I was proud of myself, and I was hooked.

I have participated in NaNoWriMo every year since. Some years I “won”, others I only got out a few thousand words before I gave up...But I always had fun! Participating helped me find my writing style, and like working out at the gym makes you stronger, the more I write, the better I become.

So if you have ever thought you could write a book, or you want to be a writer, or even if you want to try something new...sign up for free at www.nanowrimo.org. You can even add me as a friend so we can cheer each other on! (Username: JMDegamo)

Good luck, and happy writing!

-J. M. Degamo

Happy Halloween!

Be safe and have fun tonight!

Returning to my High School

A few weeks ago my first book, Things I Should Have Said was finally published. I knew I wanted to donate some copies to local libraries, and the first that came to my mind was my old High School, Henry Foss in Tacoma. I emailed the Principal and asked if I could send her a few copies.

She was so happy to hear about my book, and it just so happened that the IB Seniors (from the same classes I had taken 10 years before) were currently studying poetry. She asked if I would like to come in and speak with them.

Yesterday was that day! I put on my old Falcons sweatshirt and headed down to Tacoma. It was a bit surreal walking through the halls again. I swear to you, it even smelled exactly the same. It was so good to see some of my old teachers and to see all of the students and their HFHS pride!

I was lucky enough to be able to talk to two of the English classes, as well as an hour seminar for any students who wished to attend. My goal was not to make all the students love poetry- I knew that would be a very hard sell. Instead, I told them a little bit about what got me into writing, how important self-expression is, especially for teens, and how they should find what they are passionate about and go for it full-force.

We wrote haikus and tankas, and some of the students were even brave enough to get up on stage and share their poems. We even created a hashtag for social media so they could share their writing with each other on websites like Facebook and Twitter.

It was such an honor to return to my alma matter and get to speak with the students. I hope that I made a difference in some way, and I can not wait to see where these talented kids are headed next.

Thank you so much to Foss for having me. I look forward to our continued partnership!

-J.M. Degamo

The Office Characters: Where Are They Now? Part 1

I've been lying here, trying not to think of how nervous I am that my book is coming out this Friday (insert shameless self-promotion here) so I decided to turn on some tv and get my mind off things. There's always one show that I can turn on a random episode for and zone out: The Office (US version). I think most of us have that one television show or movie that no matter how many times we've seen it, if it is on, we will happily watch it.

For me, there's just something about Michael Scott's crazy antics and Dunder Mifflin's charming collection of rapscallions that tugs on my heartstrings. I've seen every episode many times and once a year I usually spend a few weeks re-watching every season. So of course I feel connected to the characters and I often wonder what they ended up doing "after the show". So, I'm going to share with you my ideas of what happened to the characters of The Office. Of course, these are not my characters and this is not official information, just a little fan-fiction. There are SO many characters I want to talk about, so I will split this up into 2-3 posts....let me know what you think in the comments!

 

Michael Scott: Shortly after moving to Colorado, Michael married Holly in a small ceremony. He wanted to have it at a local skating rink, but Holly wasn't able to skate down the aisle due to being 3 months pregnant! Little MJ was born happy and healthy 6 months later. They both wanted a big family and after 2 heart-breaking miscarriages, they decided to adopt. They now have 4 children: Michael Junior, Chevy, Martin and little Catherine Zeta. Michael calls himself the Colorado Brangelina (Holly wants no part in the nickname). Michael and Holly love being parents so much that they couldn't bear to be away from their kids all day at work. So they turned their home into a Day Care and now Scott's Tots Childcare is a thriving business. They are planning a vacation to Disney World this spring.

New Book Available 09/22/2017