Bernard Jan's Blog
June 4, 2025
My new landing page!
After moving my mailing list from Mailchimp to MailerLite, I created a new Bernard Jan Landing Page on MailerLite, instead of the one I had on my website.
Design is almost the same, except a little nicer on this new one. 😉
Why don't you check it our here and also join my mailing list while you do it?
Everyone who likes literary fiction, YA, coming of age, friendship and animal fiction is welcome to enter my world and befriend me. 💜
New Bernard Jan Landing Page
Design is almost the same, except a little nicer on this new one. 😉
Why don't you check it our here and also join my mailing list while you do it?
Everyone who likes literary fiction, YA, coming of age, friendship and animal fiction is welcome to enter my world and befriend me. 💜
New Bernard Jan Landing Page
May 9, 2025
Bye Bye, bernardjan.com
Bye bye, bernardjan.com.
With regrets and sadness, I must say that this is the last post on my Wix Premium website. How appropriate, since after today, May 8, 2025, bernardjan.com is no more.
Because of an enormous increase in my Wix Premium plan price from $342.5 to $600.00 USD for two years, Wix has forced me to give up on my paid site and go for a free one. 300 USD for a year is too much for the website, which brings me no profit but merely serves as my diary or the catalogue of all the things my books and my author life related.
I will lose many advantages, and I can only guess what will happen to some (or all) of my posts because of the smaller storage space. We will see soon. It just makes little sense paying so much for something that is not profitable.
It feels like giving up on my baby, and all the work and love I have invested in it in the past nine years. At one point, my first thought was killing it and deleting it from online life. When emotions calmed down and disappointment and fury ceased, I decided on a free website with the possibility of deleting it anytime later if it becomes too much of a burden and a sad reminder of the better days we had in the past.
Long story short, in the coming days I will have to update my free website new URL everywhere on my social media and also in all my eBooks and paperbacks published on Amazon. I will also have to adjust my privacy and cookie policy for the new/old URL of my website.
This means that bernardjan.com will be replaced with bernardjanofficial.wixsite.com/bernardjan.
And my subscribe link bernardjan.com/mailinglist will be replaced with bernardjanofficial.wixsite.com/bernardjan/mailinglist.
As I said, bye bye, bernardjan.com.
With regrets and sadness, I must say that this is the last post on my Wix Premium website. How appropriate, since after today, May 8, 2025, bernardjan.com is no more.
Because of an enormous increase in my Wix Premium plan price from $342.5 to $600.00 USD for two years, Wix has forced me to give up on my paid site and go for a free one. 300 USD for a year is too much for the website, which brings me no profit but merely serves as my diary or the catalogue of all the things my books and my author life related.
I will lose many advantages, and I can only guess what will happen to some (or all) of my posts because of the smaller storage space. We will see soon. It just makes little sense paying so much for something that is not profitable.
It feels like giving up on my baby, and all the work and love I have invested in it in the past nine years. At one point, my first thought was killing it and deleting it from online life. When emotions calmed down and disappointment and fury ceased, I decided on a free website with the possibility of deleting it anytime later if it becomes too much of a burden and a sad reminder of the better days we had in the past.
Long story short, in the coming days I will have to update my free website new URL everywhere on my social media and also in all my eBooks and paperbacks published on Amazon. I will also have to adjust my privacy and cookie policy for the new/old URL of my website.
This means that bernardjan.com will be replaced with bernardjanofficial.wixsite.com/bernardjan.
And my subscribe link bernardjan.com/mailinglist will be replaced with bernardjanofficial.wixsite.com/bernardjan/mailinglist.
As I said, bye bye, bernardjan.com.
April 19, 2025
Marcel: 19 Years Without You
Tonight, I am watching over you. I leave the desk lamp on, wishing to better guard over the timid work of your lungs from which the rattles and squeals of suffocation no longer emerge after Saša has given you the injections. One could see how you livened up and hurried to the bowl to satisfy your thirst with the very diluted milk. You wanted to boast to Saša that you were doing better and let him know how much his visits mean to you and how much you appreciate what he does for you. If only you knew how proud I am of you!
Your regular breathing lulls me to sleep, from which I awake unaccustomed to the neon light transforming the night in our room into a polar day. I fall to sleep again and twitch, awakened by the beeping of the electric doors of the late-night trams, the roaring engines of occasional cars that chase the empty street, and even rarer passers-by, to whom the nightlife is nothing more alien than that illuminated by daylight. They are both the children of the moon and the children of the sun; unlike me, who always favors the heat of the sun over the beauty of the night sky dotted with myriads of distant stars.
In Memoriam
Marcel
April 19, 2006–April 19, 2025
Please continue reading our true story, A World Without Color, as an eBook or a paperback.
Thank you.
BJ
Your regular breathing lulls me to sleep, from which I awake unaccustomed to the neon light transforming the night in our room into a polar day. I fall to sleep again and twitch, awakened by the beeping of the electric doors of the late-night trams, the roaring engines of occasional cars that chase the empty street, and even rarer passers-by, to whom the nightlife is nothing more alien than that illuminated by daylight. They are both the children of the moon and the children of the sun; unlike me, who always favors the heat of the sun over the beauty of the night sky dotted with myriads of distant stars.
In Memoriam
Marcel
April 19, 2006–April 19, 2025
Please continue reading our true story, A World Without Color, as an eBook or a paperback.
Thank you.
BJ
April 19, 2024
Marcel: Another Year Without You
Another challenging year, another months, days, hours, and minutes and you were not here with me, and you never will be. And I needed you. Because these past twelve months were hard. Sometimes very hard. And I couldn’t hold you in my arms to find comfort in you.
It is selfish thinking, but everything about you is painted selfish. You were my world, nothing less than that.
***
Yesterday we had a serious talk with Saša about the possibility of putting you down. We have not talked to you about that, but somehow I feel you foresee it, that you have exposed us and that nothing remains hidden from you. You read all around you like X-rays, and stoically, calmly, and gracefully handle what is coming. I wish I could be brave like you and look death in the face with equal force and dignity. The hopelessness of your nonexistence, which covers me like a magician’s cloak, prevents me from that. Stealing me, stealing you. I do not agree to such a deal! As long as there is a fire in you for one more battle, as long as you do not say it’s over.
***
In Memoriam
Marcel
April 19, 2006–April 19, 2024
Please continue reading our true story, A World Without Color, as an eBook or a paperback.
Thank you.
BJ
bernardjan.com
Subscribe to my mailing list.
A World Without Color: A True Story of the Last Three Days with my Cat
It is selfish thinking, but everything about you is painted selfish. You were my world, nothing less than that.
***
Yesterday we had a serious talk with Saša about the possibility of putting you down. We have not talked to you about that, but somehow I feel you foresee it, that you have exposed us and that nothing remains hidden from you. You read all around you like X-rays, and stoically, calmly, and gracefully handle what is coming. I wish I could be brave like you and look death in the face with equal force and dignity. The hopelessness of your nonexistence, which covers me like a magician’s cloak, prevents me from that. Stealing me, stealing you. I do not agree to such a deal! As long as there is a fire in you for one more battle, as long as you do not say it’s over.
***
In Memoriam
Marcel
April 19, 2006–April 19, 2024
Please continue reading our true story, A World Without Color, as an eBook or a paperback.
Thank you.
BJ
bernardjan.com
Subscribe to my mailing list.
A World Without Color: A True Story of the Last Three Days with my Cat
February 20, 2024
A World Without Color Is the Finalist in the 2023 Wishing Shelf Book Awards
My memoir,
A World Without Color
, is a finalist in the 2023 Wishing Shelf Book Awards Category 6: Books for Adults (non-fiction)!
The winners in all categories will be announced on April 1st, 2024.
Children’s author, Billy Bob Buttons, set up the UK based The Wishing Shelf Book Awards twelve years ago. The Wishing Shelf Book Awards is different from most other book awards as it is run by authors and the books are judged by reading groups, not professionals in the publishing industry.
I thank the readers who chose A World Without Color: A True Story of the Last Three Days with my Cat to be among the forty-one finalists in the Books for Adults (non-fiction) category and Billy Bob Buttons for the lovely certificate and medal!
Congratulations to all the finalists of the 2023 Wishing Shelf Book Awards.
Click here for the list of all finalists.
BJ
bernardjan.com
Subscribe to my mailing list.
The winners in all categories will be announced on April 1st, 2024.
Children’s author, Billy Bob Buttons, set up the UK based The Wishing Shelf Book Awards twelve years ago. The Wishing Shelf Book Awards is different from most other book awards as it is run by authors and the books are judged by reading groups, not professionals in the publishing industry.
I thank the readers who chose A World Without Color: A True Story of the Last Three Days with my Cat to be among the forty-one finalists in the Books for Adults (non-fiction) category and Billy Bob Buttons for the lovely certificate and medal!
Congratulations to all the finalists of the 2023 Wishing Shelf Book Awards.
Click here for the list of all finalists.
BJ
bernardjan.com
Subscribe to my mailing list.
February 18, 2024
Subscribe to Enter My World
Invitation to my friends and followers who want to keep in touch on a more regular and individual basis.
If you like multi-genre, friendship-themed, emotional and passionate stories and lyrical, poetic and cinematic writing, or if you are animal lovers, then this is the place for you!
Please SUBSCRIBE to my mailing list and enter my world 👉 here.
Thank you and looking forward to seeing you in my world!
Welcome! 💓😃🤗📚🎉
If you like multi-genre, friendship-themed, emotional and passionate stories and lyrical, poetic and cinematic writing, or if you are animal lovers, then this is the place for you!
Please SUBSCRIBE to my mailing list and enter my world 👉 here.
Thank you and looking forward to seeing you in my world!
Welcome! 💓😃🤗📚🎉
April 19, 2023
Marcel: 17 Years Without You
It’s been all said already, many times, through the rivers of tears and one story that keeps living even 17 years after your departure.
I wish I could have gone with you that day, but I am still here, remembering and trying to keep the memory of you alive—your monument—while I still breathe the air we used to breathe together.
I love you and I miss you. I always will. You were my best friend ever.
***
I stand on the balcony, and three floors below me, with noise and shudders of the building, the traffic glides down the street. Carried by light drifts, the clouds float on the sky, promising rain. I watch Saša and you leaving, pushing your way through the illegally parked cars and bulky waste carried out by tenants because they no longer need it.
It is April 19.
I follow you as you are getting more distant and smaller, shaking from crying, with the body tired of life. Saša has to step on the street to bypass the waste and the cars parked on the sidewalk, and then I lose sight of you. Of the blue bag with yellow handles in which your still warm and curled up body slept. When after a few steps he returns to the sidewalk, I lose him, too.
I gather strength and make the final decision. I strain my thoughts and force my body to move.
I’m on the balcony. I move along its length, not stopping until the end, until I come to the railing. On the table I have left a will with clear instructions, so that animals are not deprived of their rights in case something goes wrong and my plan fails. On top of it I put your favorite photo and the syringes I won’t need anymore.
Now I am free.
Now I live at last.
And I look the enemy in the eyes.
I challenge death to the last duel. Defying it with the strength, I wish to believe, of not-wasted life. My actions will speak for or against me. And one monument I built. Now completed, it will beautify life for someone. Some will grieve and cry, others may be enraged. Many won’t understand. That’s the way with people. Always.
***
In Memoriam
Marcel
April 19, 2006–April 19, 2023
Please continue reading our true story, A World Without Color, as an eBook or a paperback.
Thank you.
BJ
bernardjan.com
Subscribe to my mailing list.
Follow me on Twitter.
I wish I could have gone with you that day, but I am still here, remembering and trying to keep the memory of you alive—your monument—while I still breathe the air we used to breathe together.
I love you and I miss you. I always will. You were my best friend ever.
***
I stand on the balcony, and three floors below me, with noise and shudders of the building, the traffic glides down the street. Carried by light drifts, the clouds float on the sky, promising rain. I watch Saša and you leaving, pushing your way through the illegally parked cars and bulky waste carried out by tenants because they no longer need it.
It is April 19.
I follow you as you are getting more distant and smaller, shaking from crying, with the body tired of life. Saša has to step on the street to bypass the waste and the cars parked on the sidewalk, and then I lose sight of you. Of the blue bag with yellow handles in which your still warm and curled up body slept. When after a few steps he returns to the sidewalk, I lose him, too.
I gather strength and make the final decision. I strain my thoughts and force my body to move.
I’m on the balcony. I move along its length, not stopping until the end, until I come to the railing. On the table I have left a will with clear instructions, so that animals are not deprived of their rights in case something goes wrong and my plan fails. On top of it I put your favorite photo and the syringes I won’t need anymore.
Now I am free.
Now I live at last.
And I look the enemy in the eyes.
I challenge death to the last duel. Defying it with the strength, I wish to believe, of not-wasted life. My actions will speak for or against me. And one monument I built. Now completed, it will beautify life for someone. Some will grieve and cry, others may be enraged. Many won’t understand. That’s the way with people. Always.
***
In Memoriam
Marcel
April 19, 2006–April 19, 2023
Please continue reading our true story, A World Without Color, as an eBook or a paperback.
Thank you.
BJ
bernardjan.com
Subscribe to my mailing list.
Follow me on Twitter.
February 26, 2023
My Poetry Book Is the Finalist in the 2022 Wishing Shelf Book Awards
My poetry book,
Postcards From Beyond Reality: The Selected Poems of Michael Daniels
, is 2022 finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards Category 4: Books for Teenagers!
The winners will be announced on April 1st, 2023.
The Wishing Shelf Book Awards was set up eleven years ago by children’s author, Billy Bob Buttons. Based in the UK, it is different from most other book awards as it is run by authors and the books are judged by reading groups, not professionals in the publishing industry.
I thank the readers who chose Postcards From Beyond Reality: The Selected Poems of Michael Daniels to be among the twenty-two finalists in the Books for Teenagers category and Billy Bob Buttons for the lovely certificate and medal!
Congratulations to all the finalists of the 2022 Wishing Shelf Book Awards.
Click here for the list of all finalists.
BJ
bernardjan.com
Subscribe to my mailing list.
Follow me on Twitter.
The winners will be announced on April 1st, 2023.
The Wishing Shelf Book Awards was set up eleven years ago by children’s author, Billy Bob Buttons. Based in the UK, it is different from most other book awards as it is run by authors and the books are judged by reading groups, not professionals in the publishing industry.
I thank the readers who chose Postcards From Beyond Reality: The Selected Poems of Michael Daniels to be among the twenty-two finalists in the Books for Teenagers category and Billy Bob Buttons for the lovely certificate and medal!
Congratulations to all the finalists of the 2022 Wishing Shelf Book Awards.
Click here for the list of all finalists.
BJ
bernardjan.com
Subscribe to my mailing list.
Follow me on Twitter.
January 4, 2023
All-Books Sale for a Happier New Year
With all my books at the discounted price of ONLY $0.99, I wish everyone all the best for the happier, kinder, healthier, more successful, and promising 2023!
This discount is a gift to all my subscribers, readers, reviewers, and supporters, to all of you who loved one or more of my books, and to their future fans.
DISCOUNT DATES
Wednesday, January 4, 2023, 8:00 AM PST through Wednesday, January 11, 2023, 8:00 AM PST
Postcards From Beyond Reality: The Selected Poems of Michael Daniels
Cruel Summer
January River
Look for Me Under the Rainbow
Wednesday, January 4, 2023, 8:00 AM PST through Tuesday, January 10, 2023, 12:00 AM PST
A World Without Color
Please share the news about my discounts with your friends and on your social media. You can either copy and paste the sample posts I wrote for each of my books below or write something on your own. Everything counts!
SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS
Postcards From Beyond Reality: The Selected Poems of Michael Daniels
Sample 1
In this #poetry book, you’ll discover the cries of a heart longing to be understood. Get your $0.99 discounted #eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/3G23yNB
Sample 2
When a #skateboarder dips his pen into #poetry, what will his passion create? Get your $0.99 discounted #eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/3G23yNB
Cruel Summer
Sample 1
A young skater craving independence. A brutal stepfather bent on controlling him. Is friendship enough to help him when tragedy strikes? Get your $0.99 discounted #eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/3uZbWHf
Sample 2
He is a teenage boy with dreams. But someone he knows has monstrous plans for him. Can true friendship save him when his life is in peril? Get your $0.99 discounted #eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/3uZbWHf
January River
Sample 1
Five friends. One dog. One river carrying a secret that will upheave their world. Get your $0.99 discounted eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/3jcanTL
Sample 2
A boyhood tragedy. A man haunted by a secret. Will a quest for forgiveness release him from the ghosts of his past? Get your $0.99 discounted eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/3jcanTL
Look for Me Under the Rainbow
Sample 1
A curious seal pup exploring the blinding whiteness of icebergs. A young activist on a mission to save animals. Will Helen save Danny before the hunt begins? Get your $0.99 discounted eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/2F0NQzD
Sample 2
An adorable seal pup exploring life on icebergs. A young activist on a mission to help animals. Will she save him before the hunt begins? Get your $0.99 discounted eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/2F0NQzD
A World Without Color
Sample 1
He was much more than just a cat. He was his everything. His brother, his friend, his universe. And then he was gone. Get your $0.99 discounted eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/3j63JOF
Sample 2
Heart wrenching cat story. Memories of love, loss, and pain. And the incredible struggle to survive when survival seems impossible. Get your $0.99 discounted eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/3j63JOF
Thank you for your love and support! May the new year 2023 be the happiest for you!
BJ
bernardjan.com
Subscribe to my mailing list.
Follow me on Twitter.
This discount is a gift to all my subscribers, readers, reviewers, and supporters, to all of you who loved one or more of my books, and to their future fans.
DISCOUNT DATES
Wednesday, January 4, 2023, 8:00 AM PST through Wednesday, January 11, 2023, 8:00 AM PST
Postcards From Beyond Reality: The Selected Poems of Michael Daniels
Cruel Summer
January River
Look for Me Under the Rainbow
Wednesday, January 4, 2023, 8:00 AM PST through Tuesday, January 10, 2023, 12:00 AM PST
A World Without Color
Please share the news about my discounts with your friends and on your social media. You can either copy and paste the sample posts I wrote for each of my books below or write something on your own. Everything counts!
SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS
Postcards From Beyond Reality: The Selected Poems of Michael Daniels
Sample 1
In this #poetry book, you’ll discover the cries of a heart longing to be understood. Get your $0.99 discounted #eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/3G23yNB
Sample 2
When a #skateboarder dips his pen into #poetry, what will his passion create? Get your $0.99 discounted #eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/3G23yNB
Cruel Summer
Sample 1
A young skater craving independence. A brutal stepfather bent on controlling him. Is friendship enough to help him when tragedy strikes? Get your $0.99 discounted #eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/3uZbWHf
Sample 2
He is a teenage boy with dreams. But someone he knows has monstrous plans for him. Can true friendship save him when his life is in peril? Get your $0.99 discounted #eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/3uZbWHf
January River
Sample 1
Five friends. One dog. One river carrying a secret that will upheave their world. Get your $0.99 discounted eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/3jcanTL
Sample 2
A boyhood tragedy. A man haunted by a secret. Will a quest for forgiveness release him from the ghosts of his past? Get your $0.99 discounted eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/3jcanTL
Look for Me Under the Rainbow
Sample 1
A curious seal pup exploring the blinding whiteness of icebergs. A young activist on a mission to save animals. Will Helen save Danny before the hunt begins? Get your $0.99 discounted eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/2F0NQzD
Sample 2
An adorable seal pup exploring life on icebergs. A young activist on a mission to help animals. Will she save him before the hunt begins? Get your $0.99 discounted eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/2F0NQzD
A World Without Color
Sample 1
He was much more than just a cat. He was his everything. His brother, his friend, his universe. And then he was gone. Get your $0.99 discounted eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/3j63JOF
Sample 2
Heart wrenching cat story. Memories of love, loss, and pain. And the incredible struggle to survive when survival seems impossible. Get your $0.99 discounted eBook here 👉 https://amzn.to/3j63JOF
Thank you for your love and support! May the new year 2023 be the happiest for you!
BJ
bernardjan.com
Subscribe to my mailing list.
Follow me on Twitter.
September 1, 2022
My New Landing Page
Do you like multi-genre, friendship-themed, emotional, and passionate stories?
Are you captured by lyrical, poetic, and cinematic writing?
Is love for animals and all colors something you deeply care about, too?
Then look no further!
YA and mature readers, this is the place for you!
SUBSCRIBE TO MY MAILING LIST
This is from my new landing page. Check it out and, if you are not on my mailing list, please subscribe now!
By subscribing to my newsletter and mailing list, you will receive free (e)books, updates, book release details, book reviews and other promotional material and related valuable information like interviews with other authors and artists, invitations to free webinars and much more.
I never send spam and will never pass on your details. Don’t forget, you can unsubscribe at any time.
Thank you and welcome!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Subscribe to my mailing list.
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
Are you captured by lyrical, poetic, and cinematic writing?
Is love for animals and all colors something you deeply care about, too?
Then look no further!
YA and mature readers, this is the place for you!
SUBSCRIBE TO MY MAILING LIST
This is from my new landing page. Check it out and, if you are not on my mailing list, please subscribe now!
By subscribing to my newsletter and mailing list, you will receive free (e)books, updates, book release details, book reviews and other promotional material and related valuable information like interviews with other authors and artists, invitations to free webinars and much more.
I never send spam and will never pass on your details. Don’t forget, you can unsubscribe at any time.
Thank you and welcome!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Subscribe to my mailing list.
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
