PATRICK'S PEOPLE: Veda Boyd Jones is adept at adaptation

Joplin author Veda Boyd Jones has an impressive career that includes writing 42 books, ranging from five children’s historical novels and 21 biographies for children to three picture books, nine romance novels  and a coloring book.

All of them were published on paper, the traditional book material for centuries. Now Jones is trying something new. She has just released an e-book, “Joe’s Ghost.” It can be read on Kindle, Nook and other e-readers such as iPads, other tablets, computers and smart phones.

This wasn’t a change she looked forward to, but felt it was necessary to give it a try, since more and more people are turning to e-books rather than picking up paper.

“I hope this isn’t a permanent transition, but what are you going to do?” Jones said in a telephone interview. “What did the stable owners do when cars came out? You’ll be left behind if you don’t jump out there.”

She noted that publishing is a mysterious business to begin with.

“When a publisher puts out a book, it has to pay the publisher’s salary, pay the electric bill, pay for the cost of printing it,” Jones said. “With an e-book, you just put it out there. You do have to format it correctly, but that’s it.”

Traditional publishers pay writers an advance, and the author will also receive a royalty on each copy sold.

“With e-books, there is no advance,” Jones said. “I was used to getting paid up front.”

Nevertheless, she is releasing two more of her books, “Mountain Love Song” and “Summer Breezes,” electronically. These are books that she wrote years ago.

“I got the rights to them back and they were out of print,” Jones said. “Because they were written 20 years ago, I did have to update them to add cell phones and Facebook. Overall, I’m pleased with the results. I’m a better writer now than I was 20 years ago.”

Each of her e-books can be downloaded for 99 cents.

Jones was born in Sulphur Springs, Ark., and lived there until her family moved to Neosho, Mo., when she was in third grade. She graduated from high school there and from Crowder College, then earned a bachelor’s degree in history with a minor in English from Pittsburg State University in 1970. After that, she went to the University of Arkansas and got a master’s degree in history with emphasis on colonial history, Civil War and the history of England. She lived in Pittsburg for three years in the late 1970s.

“I never did teach history, but the research skills I learned at Pittsburg State have really helped with the research for the children’s books I’ve written,” Jones said.

She has taught writing at Crowder College and currently teaches for the Institute of Children’s Literature.

Jones won a “Writer’s Digest Writing Competition” in the articles division for a children’s profile of Rachel Carson, and has won numerous honors from the Missouri Writer’s Guild.

“Joe’s Ghost” took second place in the best book category in the Missouri Writer’s Guild annual competition.

In this book, Joe Murray had a solid career as a character actor in Hollywood before suffering a stroke at the age of 52. As a result, he was no longer able to memorize lines and so moves to Joplin, where he had inherited his aunt’s old home. He decides to open a bed and breakfast there with an older friend, Scott, and hires Buster, a contractor, to remodel the house, which has a reputation for being haunted. The third main character is Claire, a single mother and former school teacher who operates a bar on South Main.

Jones said that she drew some of her research from her own life experience. “My husband, Jimmie, had a stroke, and I used my knowledge of how he got through it to give a ring of authenticity to Joe,” she said. “He’s an architect, so I knew a lot about contractors.”

For Claire’s character, Jones went to a local bar, interviewed the owner and a bar maid.

“I watched how they washed beer mugs,” she  said. “I used some actual Joplin locations people might recognize, like Oak Ridge Drive, which is on my morning walk. ‘Joe’s Ghost’ was a fun book to write.”

Jones said she has not abandoned paper, and still has manuscripts out that she’s trying to sell to traditional publishers.

“I love to see my name in print,” she said. “There’s nothing like going in a book store and smelling the paper.”

Jones regrets the recent closing of the Joplin Hastings book store.

“I was a mystery shopper at that store for a while,” she said. “I’d go in once a month, look at the cleanliness of the store and check the shelves to see that the books were in alphabetical order. It was an interesting little gig.”

Jones noted that Joplin still has Books-A-Million and several used book stores.

“I went into a used book store and saw several of my books there,” she said. “I thought, ‘I’ve really arrived now’. I’ve got to say that I’m blessed.”