Bookish Fun

 by Sybil Johnson

I think we could all use some fun right now. I know I could. So here are some interesting/fun things I’ve found recently relating to books and/or writing.

If Books Had a Party. A friend sent me the link to this one. It’s about 3 minutes long. I feel very sorry for Audiobook. 

Molly Burns Her Crappy Writing. I didn’t really watch Mike and Molly, but I found this clip a few years ago. It still makes me laugh now. I’m sure a lot of writers can relate.

I Want a Sleuthing Skeleton For Christmas. Two and a half minutes long, this is a fun video from 6 years ago advertising one of the Family Skeleton books by Toni Kelner. The song is stuck in my head now. This is a great series and an interesting way to advertise it.

Youtube audiobooks. This is something I only recently learned about. Apparently, there are a lot of free audiobooks on Youtube. Some are in the public domain. Some are AI narrated. Some are uploaded by authors themselves. I listened to an AI generated audiobook through Youtube last year. It was decent. Assuming you have the audio rights to your book, you’ll have to join the Youtube Partner Program (YPP) and meet certain requirements. I found this guide that explains what you have to do and how you can get paid. Some authors are earning quite a bit from this.

Seattle Public Library Domino Chain. This is from 2013, three minutes long. Book domino chain world record. 

Surprised Kitty Original (formerly known as Tickle Kitty). Seventeen seconds of cuteness. Nothing to do with books, but it makes me smile every time.

I hope you enjoyed all of these.

Con or Legitimate?

by Charlotte Hinger

Steve's post yesterday was about notable quotes from writers. He keeps a booklet full of these. 

Words of wisdom from my family have lodged in my heart. Their advice surfaces from time to time. This has been a strange week in that I've gotten three invitations to speak at book events. One of mother's sayings popped up in my mind. "Never trust anyone who tries to impress you with their honesty."

Huh? Yes, it's true. I've also learned that the more someone tries to convince you they're legitimate the more wary I become. So here's how I sorted these "opportunities."

Above all else--here's my ironclad rule for everything related to publishing. DO NOT GIVE ANYONE ANY MONEY.

The first invitation was an online book club which appears to be legitimate. It boasted of a huge international readership. There was a Facebook and LinkedIn presence. I expressed interest and everything proceeded at good clip until the organizer said the club required a fee to distribute materials to their members. 

Not a chance lady. In fact the discussions cooled immediately when I mentioned that, au contraire, I charged a fee for participating, and sent my agent's contact information. There is a great post about on-line book clubs by Kevin G. Chapman: https://kevingchapman.com/2025/10/03/authors-beware-look-out-for-book-club-scams/

Kevin's post is outstanding. He goes into detail about his back and forth emails from a scammer. Boy, are these people ever clever.

When checking out people, places, or information, always remember to Google deep. Read all the pages listed. It's easy to manipulate search engines for the first and second pages. Another red flag was the lack of any gossip or reviews on sites such as Goodreads. 

So on to the second invitation. It was to speak at brick and mortar store, Inkberry Books, in Niwot, a town here in Colorado. It sounded like a good opportunity. The owners wanted me to discuss Mary's Place--a book dear to my heart. We had to work out an issue about sales. Mary's Place is traditionally published through the University of Nebraska Press. I can't bring in books on consignment without losing money. We both happily agreed that customers would order directly through the store. I'm looking forward to the event. I really admire their aggressive marketing during a time when independent booksellers are struggling. 

The third event is in Colorado Springs. The group is the American Association of University Women. I enthusiastically accepted this invitation to speak at their annual fundraising event. I gave a similar presentation several years ago here in Fort Collins. Talk about readers! This group is shrewd, organized, and very discerning. AAUW works hard to advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research.

I'm honored by the number of members who have already read Mary's Place.

My mother is not your mother, but believe me taking her advice is a good idea for everyone. "Do not trust anyone who tries to impress you with their honesty" And always remember my overriding advice to new authors, old authors, and everyone in between. "DO NOT GIVE ANYONE ANY MONEY. 

Revel in other people's words

 Michael Chandos

I love quotations. I have several books of quotes, many of them too dry to live, and computer files of quotes stolen from readings. I also have an old ledger book to jot them down in. Sometimes, thought-provoking quotes are better handwritten. They provoke images and concepts, which is where I start many of my stories. I have built story starters from them, a page or two to capture the image in my head generated by the "famous words", sometimes just a paragraph. Those are collected in a folder and I spend coffee cups of time wandering through them from time to time to see who volunteers to be expanded. 

I like crime, detection, suspense, colorful characters, betrayal, cheating, and stressful story lines. Mysteries and SF, too, for that matter. I'm not often a Category-writer. I like colorful scenes told with just the right amount of words. Grinding plots that force characters to live and struggle in the story. My quote choices reflect that.

Hemingway: "Everyman has two deaths, when he is buried in the ground, and the last time someone says his name."  I sensed that in Poet's Corner at Westminster Cathedral. Five hundred years after his death and Shakespeare's name is known worldwide. Willy Shakespeare will live forever (apologies to Oxfordians).

William Gibson: "The US one-hundred-dollar bill is the world currency for bad shit." Very true. As an intelligence officer and later as a PI, news stories about world crime almost always involve the hundred-dollar bill. No matter where you are in the world, if you get in a tight situation, a hundred-dollar bill will generate action. No, not a 20 or a 50. A crisp 100 can open doors and help you find new friends. Just don't wave more than one around within the view of many bad guys.

"What's good for the bad is bad for the good." The baseline for criminal doings.

"Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are."  My sacred promise to my readers."

"TAKE OUT can mean dating, food, or murder." "People hate their enemies, but they kill their families and friends." "Halloween is a perfect time to cover up a murder." "Hell is a Heaven to bad guys." "Beware the fat man in a skinny land." "Can't use a saint to catch a sinner." Crime novel, anyone?

"The hurt and evil people do to each other are an injury and a disease. That's why I act. I'm a medic and a nurse. I heal injuries and treat diseases." This quote is from an early American NOIR PI story, but, damn me, I can't remember the source. John Carrol Daly, William Gault, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas perhaps.

Lee Child: "My books aren't about the detectives working on the crime, but the crime working on the detectives." The POV I try to follow.

"Beware of the older man in a profession where most men die young." A hitman, perhaps?

"He came in last place in the human race."

From the First 48, the best true crime show on TV: "The first thing you learn in homicide is that the only thing that will cover the smell of a homicide is a cigar."

Dennis Lehane: "In high fiction, the hero falls from the sky. In noir, he falls from the curb."

From Pat Novak For Hire: "You live in the shadowlands between good and evil without a preference for either end." 

Contrast Novak: "She said she was 40. She had to be older because you can't get that ugly in 40 years." with Chandler: “From 30 feet away she looked like a lot of class. From 10 feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from 30 feet away.”

Did you get any images, a brief flash? Sometimes the words from other writers flash an entire scene in my head. I've written short stories around a flashed image. The typing seems so inadequate. Maybe later when all we have to do is wire the image from the author to the reader.

Exhausted

 This is a rerun, Dear Readers, of an entry I wrote on this blog in 2020. I am sorry to say that five years later, I am more exhausted and more fearful and less careful about offering my ever-more-left-leaning opinions than I was then. 

I (Donis) don't know about you, Dear Reader, but I am exhausted. I have generally kept my mouth shut about the state of the world, mainly because what do I know? But now that it's all over (but the shouting, of which there is still a depressing amount to come) I do have an observation or two which I'd like to share.

I grew up in one of the most conservative states in the nation and came of age during the roiling era of the 1960s. I graduated college the first time in 1970. I was deeply involved in liberal causes, especially the push for the ERA, and did my share of marching and sitting-in. Lots of young people in Oklahoma did. My immediate family was and still is very tolerant. However, since I don't want to damage my relationship with any of my other relatives I have spent much of my considerably long life keeping my thoughts to myself, especially when I'm back in my home state and around people I don't know well. In some parts of the world, being seen as an "elitist snob" (i.e. an intellectual) could actually be dangerous in the wrong circumstance, so I'm very careful about offering my opinions, quoting Shakespeare, saying I like classical music, using Latin phrases. I'm not kidding. Even though I admit I'm probably paranoid, I have either been made fun of or been angrily railed at for doing all those things. I'm a little bit afraid of dyed-in-the-wool right-wingers. How sad. 

HOWEVER, HAVING SAID THAT: some of the people I grew up around may be conservative, but the great majority of them are kind, generous, loving, self-sufficient, competent people who would do anything for their neighbors. Many are also a little bit afraid of died-in-the-wool left-wingers. Don't think left-wingers are blameless, either. 

So here is what I've observed about both wings:

It's frightening when others treat you like you're either an idiot or evil. That attitude is likely to make you dig in.

The cancel culture is annoying. I learned years ago that in this country you can never be forgiven for anything you ever did, no matter how much you regret it now, or what you've done since. 

Here's a story I've told a million times, but it seems to fit - when I was a young woman, I flew out of NYC bound for Ireland. As we were over the ocean I got into a pleasant conversation with the older woman next to me, who was so intrigued with my accent that she suddenly asks, "Where are you from?"

"Tulsa, Oklahoma," says I, and she burst out laughing.

"What a place to be from!" she said.

I was surprised and a bit insulted by her tone, but I have to tell you, Dear Reader, that was no fluke. Whenever I visit the East Coast, I'm often teased about my accent. Some East-coasters have made assumptions about my political leanings , and I suspect some have made assumptions about my educational level and even I.Q. based on where I'm from and on my accent, as well.

I don't like to be pigeonholed. Nobody does, so it's best not to go around making snap judgements about people you've just met. You're probably wrong, anyway.

p.s. After she laughed, I responded to the airplane woman by asking where she was from, and she replied, "Teaneck New Jersey." What a place to be from!

p.p.s. My sincere apologies to all my Canadian friends.

 

Writing for the joy of it

Barbara here. I know, it’s been a while. More than a while. This fall and winter have been so full of distractions and world craziness that weeks go by without my even thinking about Type M. For this I apologize to both our loyal readers and my fellow bloggers for my neglect. What little focus I have is devoted to my WIP, which is limping along at a snail’s pace, and to all the day to day responsibilities like walking my dogs, keeping them and me fed and my house vaguely clean, etc., etc.

But I do love Type M and all the authors who contribute their thoughts, struggles, triumphs, and expertise every week. I was particularly struck this week by Shelley Burbank’s last post about her liberating change of focus from trying to write books that sell to writing to create the best story she wants to tell.

Most Canadian authors have been dealing with this dilemma for years. The Canadian book market is very small and overpowered by the much larger UK and US markets. Canadian publishers struggle to compete with the larger UK and US promotional budgets and Canadian authors are generally buried in the back of the store, whether online or physical. The "big five" publishers control the market and are interested in big sales figures. Essentially, you can write the kind of books that sell big, or you can write the stories you want to tell and get a "real" job, marry rich, or have a decent pension. Since 2000 I have been published by a successful Canadian publisher, which was created specifically to tell Canadian stories by Canadian writers. Like other authors, I was told early on by several agents that if I wanted to go bigger, I had to set my books in the United States because Americans weren't interested in Canadian settings. One of my writer friends was asked to move his medical thriller series from Montreal to Buffalo. He did, and had a successful run, but seriously? 

Obviously there are exceptions, Louise Penny being an obvious one, but I guess from the big publishers' perspective, not enough readers would pick up something about Canada.

I believe to make a book truly sparkle, a writer has to love the story they are trying to tell. It has to come from the heart, not the business brain. I made the choice early on to tell Canadian stories and to tell the kind of stories I was passionate about. My country, my people, our issues and our perspective. We are not the US or the UK, and the one time I did try to tell an American story, I found I couldn't get inside the characters' heads. And as a writer as well as a psychologist, I always start my stories inside my characters' heads.

Here I am, twenty-five years later, still writing about Ottawa in all its hidden layers, but glad I have a pension that lets me do what I love.

Brick and Mortar

by Catherine Dilts

So much commerce is taking place online via the faceless ether that there is a special phrase for businesses with a physical presence: Brick-and-Mortar. These folks employ your neighbors. They benefit your community.

A brick-and-mortar bookstore in Colorado Springs

People like to rail against the ubiquitous Big A. Then purchase from that company everything from pet food to toilet paper to birthday gifts to tools, receiving the telltale packages on their doorsteps. And yes, books. I will confess I read a lot of e-books on my Kindle.

I’m trying to change my ways. If I can purchase an item from a local business, I need to support my neighbors with my dollars.

As a new author, my daughter Merida Bass craved seeing her books in an actual shop. I’d been down that road years ago, and hadn’t gotten much traction. Enter an ambitious Millennial, and voila, her books are in a brick-and-mortar bookstore.

The Apple of My Eye by Merida Bass

Since we co-author two series (The Ninja Grandparent Placement Mysteries and the YA Tapestry Tales series), I feel no shame riding on her swift-moving coattails. After she secured shelf space in Basecamp Books and Adventure, I contacted the owner about bringing in my Rose Creek Mystery series.

Image by Basecamp Books and Adventure

Here’s good news: savvy bookstores support local authors. Chances are good that they'll carry the work of writers in their area. Basecamp Books and Adventure took our novels on consignment.

The flip side? These shops need our support in return. I ordered my book club’s monthly selections from this friendly bookstore.

What's in a Name?

 by Thomas Kies

How important is it to get the right name for your characters?

Think about some memorable literary characters: Ebenezer Scrooge, Huckleberry Finn, Voldemort, Forrest Gump, Long John Silver, Atticus Finch, Hannibal Lecter, Nurse Ratched, Boo Radley, Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde.  

All of them are unforgettable characters.  Is it simply because the writer blessed them with the perfect moniker?  No, the writer also made them fascinating and interesting to read.

But let’s face it.  The names fit. 

The protagonist of my series of mysteries is named Geneva Chase.  She’s tall, somewhere around forty, an investigative reporter, a struggling alcoholic, and she makes bad life decisions.  But she’s whip smart, fearless, and an intransigent smartass.  When I was looking for a name for her, I immediately chose her first name, Geneva.  I’m from the Finger Lakes region of New York State and Geneva is a lovely town on the north tip of Seneca Lake. 

Her last name was more difficult.  I wanted something short and preferred something that denoted action.  Geneva Run, Geneva Dash, Geneva Leap, Geneva Jump….nope, nope, nope. 

Some character names take on their own life.  When Ian Fleming wanted a name for his protagonist, an English spy, he searched for the most boring name he could come up with.  Spies aren’t supposed to be memorable.  Fleming was an avid birdwatcher and one of books on his shelf was written by an ornithologist by the name of James Bond.  Fleming thought that was perfect.  He wanted his character to be masculine, but more of a blunt instrument.  He wanted the action around him to stand out.

Fat chance.  The name James Bond is synonymous with action, excitement, romance, and exotic locations. 

Speaking of names, Bond’s nemesis is Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Say it out loud.  It feels and sounds evil. Fleming was excellent at naming villains as well. Dr. No, Auric Goldfinger, Emilio Largo, Rosa Klebb. 

And let’s not forget Fleming’s flair for naming female characters.  Honeychile Ryder, Tiffany Case, Vesper Lynd, Miss Moneypenny, and of course, Pussy Galore, 

Charles Dickens was especially adept at character names.  Oliver Twist, Uriah Heep, Madam Defarge, Miss Havisham, Tiny Tim, Fagin. 

In mysteries and thrillers, names do even more heavy lifting. Names that a easy to recall--Harry Bosch, Alex Cross, Lisbeth Salander, Sherlock Holmes. Jack Reacher, Joe Pickett, Kinsey Millhone, Kay Scarpetta, Sam Spade. Nero Wolfe.  

So, when you’re naming a character in your novel, what should you think about?  It’s going to be that first impression you’re giving to your reader, so it’s actually pretty important. 

Genre: Names signal the kind of story you’re telling. A hard-boiled crime novel feels different with a protagonist named Jack Reacher than one named Bridgerton. Also, if you’re writing a fantasy, names like Tyrion and Daenerys sound better than a character called Bernie.

How does it sound when you read it? Say it out loud. Does it flow in dialogue? Does it have punch, softness, or menace where needed? Short, sharp names often suit fast-paced fiction; longer or lyrical names can slow things down in a deliberate way.  They might work better in a romance novel than a thriller. 

A name should make sense for a character’s background, age, and setting. A 70-year-old man from coastal North Carolina probably isn’t named Chad Love, and a medieval nun isn’t named Tiffany. Even the smallest inconsistency can pull readers out of the story.

Avoid names that look or sound too similar, especially for major characters (no Matt, Mark, and Mike in the same chapter). Readers shouldn’t have to stop and decode who’s who. Clear differentiation keeps the story moving.

So, a name isn’t the only thing that makes a character memorable for a reader, but it certainly goes a long way. 

I'll Drink to That...Not Any More.

An inseparable component of writer lore is drinking. Ernest Hemingway and his daiquiris. Charles Bukowski and his boilermakers. Dorothy Parker and her scotch. To celebrate the drafting of the Constitution, the Founding Fathers consumed legendary quantities of wine. 

When we think of nostalgic writer tropes, there's the typewriter, a wooden desk, wads of discarded manuscript paper, smoke curling from a cigarette parked in an ashtray, and a bottle of hooch nearby. The typewriter and paper have been replaced by a laptop, the wooden desk exists in one form or another, few of us smoke, but a bottle of some adult beverage remains at hand. I remember fondly the opening and closing parties of Lighthouse Litfest, with dozens of us writers crammed on the porch, drinks at the ready. Seems like the best conversations at writer conventions happen at bar con, us scribes nursing cocktails, either bellyaching about the publishing industry or trading gossip. Good times. 

Which for me have come to an end, sadly. About a year ago I began to get a headache after consuming even small amounts of spirits, followed by a mild hangover. I tried different alcohols and mixes but the results were the same. I laid off drinking for several weeks, hoping it might be a passing reaction. Unfortunately, no. The evening after I buried Dirk, if there was ever an occasion for a drink, this was the time, so I sipped a half-glass of red wine. The headache made its dreadful appearance, and the next day I suffered a double whammy from the hangover plus the guilt of losing my sweet, handsome dog.

Teetotalers relentlessly preach the evils of King Alcohol. The ethyl alcohol in liquor is toxic to your liver. A hangover is symptomatic of the poisoning. The long and heavy consumption of alcohol can cause cirrhosis. Also consider the effects on your brain not to mention impaired decision-making and lives ruined by alcoholism.

On the other hand, before the first bread was ever made, people were already imbibing beer or mead. The early cavemen looked forward to their daily cups to celebrate surviving the prehistoric wilderness. Every culture in the world has some form of fermented beverage. Few things smooth the rough edges of putting up with our fellow human beings like a little sauce.

Despite the screeching by modern-day Temperance scolds, people who drink light to moderate amounts of booze tend to enjoy longer and happier lives. Why? Because alcohol is a social lubricant. Those types of drinkers are better adjusted, more emotionally grounded, and more fun to be around. And frankly, I miss wine tastings and happy hour cocktails.

If you're not drinking and are in the Denver area, mark these events on your calendar.

The Scorned Lovers Anti-Valentine's Show at Prismajic. 

Erotic readings from the works of Kim Kennedy and Helen Hardt with interpretive burlesque. Romance advice from the Love Sultan. Fire dance. The bashing of the Scorned Lovers Piñata, filled with naughty gifts. Fashion. Music. Cocktails. An Immersive Art Experience.

Friday the 13th, February, 2026. 7-10pm  Tickets online $20. Get them here.

Check out the Jefferson County Library's In Conversation with Lisa Gardner, emceed by Carter Wilson, along with a panel of local authors, including me.

Saturday, February 21. Noon to 4pm. Mile Hi Church, Lakewood, CO. Register here.   

 

 

 

 

This Is Not That Age

Dear Loyal Type M Reader. Shelley Burbank here on this lovely Friday afternoon, writing from Guam. 

I hope your January has gone okay. I know that doesn't sound very optimistic/enthusiastic, but the way things are going lately, it feels like the best we can hope for is "I'm okay. Are you okay? Do you need any support? Hugs? A giant glass of Chardonnay?" 

I'm okay. 

I was able to successfully upload my novella files to Amazon KDP. I've been wishy-washy about the idea of self-publishing, but I figured this 100-page mystery would be a good test of my ability to assimilate to the publishing landscape circa 2026. Dear Reader, I managed, and I'm happy to report that Strawberry Moon Mystery is officially visible on Amazon, available to pre-order, and the publication date is set for January 28! 

This is a mock-up of a Facebook ad that may end up as a post because . . . Facebook.

This entire Strawberry Moon operation is an experiment in self-publishing AND seeing if offering a shorter story at a lower price will tempt new readers to give Olivia Lively a chance to delight them. I'll keep you all posted on how it plays out for me as I do some but not a ton of marketing. My Facebook ad account is a whole 'nother topic. I made the graphic above using Canva. Facebook is giving me a bit of trouble because of my living in Guam. I just can't go into it right now. I don't have the fortitude. I'm tired of talking [whining] about Big Tech.

But I Have Something Good to Share Here

Sometimes I feel as if I'm being a "Debbie Downer" about the writing life, even though my motivation is to offer clarity, honesty, and realism about the state of publishing right now. I realize that my writer friends out there are all-too aware of the literary landscape, so I'm realizing maybe no one needs to hear me yammer on about it. 

Happily, there's something good that I'd like to share. With all this craziness going on in the industry right now and with me wondering, like SO MANY writers, if there is even a point of pursuing publication, I came to a realization: Even if nothing big ever comes of my writing and publishing life, I am GLAD, at nearly 60 years old, that I spent my life writing. It has been my passion for as long as I can remember. It's given me a focus to my life and so many hours of pleasurable work/practice that I can't be sorry I spent all the hours I did. I've also enjoyed meeting other writers, being part of the community. We learn with and from each other, and I'd like to take that to the next level in my remaining years. 

The biggest takeaway from all this is that I have no intention of stopping, even if there's nothing more in it for me than putting my work up on Amazon and ordering some Print On Demand copies for my own bookshelves. 

In other words, I'm once again approaching writing as an art and a craft, not a paying career. I'm giving up that dream. Artists create, even if no one "buys" it or admires it. Artisans create and strive for perfection, even if there's no real market for the pieces offered. 

For a long, long time I thought this was a cop-out attitude. "It's okay to write for pleasure" seemed like a phrase someone who wasn't serious about the writing craft or didn't have enough talent to succeed would throw out there. Now, I'm embracing this idea again, the writing for pleasure idea, only with one  important (I believe) caveat--storytellers need listeners, and listeners deserve the respect of our best efforts. 

It's not enough to write simply for our own pleasure. We should write with the reader in mind, even if that means one reader. Or two. Or a few hundred. In other words, we should still take our work seriously, the way any serious artist approaches their work, the blank paper, the mound of unformed clay, the musical notes dotting the staff lines, the wool in its raw and unspun state. 

Understanding I am part of a story-telling tradition stretching back thousands of years gives me pride and meaning and hope. It also adds a bit of pressure. Knowing I'm not working to SELL but rather to CREATE, I want to bring beautiful, meaningful books and stories into the world. Not just another throwaway, skim it and toss it, same old-same old book. Not some AI slop. I'm not saying my two novels are throwaways. These books did challenge me in the writing, they do have some thematic elements of which I'm happy, and they are written in a style that doesn't embarrass me. They are solid, decent genre fare. 

But is that the best I can do?

I don't think so. I think the books and the novella are the best I could do at the time, but now I'm excited to stretch even further, and with my new resolve, I can move forward now without having to worry about "writing to market" and current trends and all that jazz we are forced to consider when we actually think we can make money on this gig. 

In other words, I'm free. 

I've given up the stupid capitalist dream of making money from my writing. Yes, I said it. I've always believed in capitalism, but I'm beginning to feel the love of money IS the root of all evil. Some people DO succeed in having a paying career, but it's getting so much harder that honestly? I'd rather go back to worrying about craft and art and a solid style and having something to say...instead of marketing and PR and everything that goes along with trying to exchange story for dollar bills. 

Is This Failure Talking?

Have I simply failed? Maybe. Maybe I should care what everyone else (including you) thinks, but sorry. I don't. 

What I've learned--and what so many publishing insiders and professionals are talking about lately--is that I grew up smack at the apex of the "Golden Age of Publishing," a time when publishing houses gave out decent advances, nourished their authors' careers, and readers gobbled up books like candy. 

This is not that age.

The world has moved on, as Stephen King says in his Dark Tower series. The publishing world has moved on, the wheel has turned, and that is okay. 

I hope that by sharing my new resolve and outlook, others who may be feeling the same about the writing life and their chances of "making it" in this industry will be heartened or even inspired to continue the pursuit of the craft of creative writing, not for money or fame, but for joy of the craft and respect of the reader. Let's focus on crafting the most excellent books and stories and forget about sales and popularity.

My Year in Books 2025

 by Sybil Johnson

It’s time for my annual reading wrap-up. January to December, just to make it clear. I say this because I once again participated in shepherd.com’s My 3 Favorite Reads. Their year runs from end of September 2024 to October 2025. 

Let’s start with Shepherd’s. Those books were: 

• All Systems Red by Martha Wells
• Bell, Book and Corpses by T.C. LoTempio 
• A Murder Most French by Colleen Cambridge 

I won’t go into details here. You can read my comments at https://shepherd.com/bboy/2025/f/sybil-johnson (BTW, shepherd.com is in the process of changing over to BookDNA.com. The old shepherd.com links are still supposed to work afterwards.)

Number of books I “consumed” (audio plus print/ebook) in 2025: 85. Last year it was 105. I blame cataract surgeries and jury duty for the decline. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 

Around 30% non-fiction (same as last year), 54% crime (middle-grade books, cozies, audiobooks, historicals, thrillers and traditional.) The other 16% were science fiction/fantasy and horror. I listened to 3 audiobooks this past year. One was an AI generated voice. Not bad listening, but I definitely prefer human narrators. The others were multi-actor Audible originals. See below. 

I didn’t set a reading goal for last year. I’ve decided to try for 100 books in 2026. Got to get it back up there! 

I continued reading the old Nancy Drew books from the 60s/70s. I’m getting pretty close to the end. I could have finished this long ago, but I like to stretch it out.

Cozy/traditional highlights: 

• Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood (I started reading this after watching the PBS series of the first book. Enjoyed the book a lot.) 
• MacDeath by Cindy Brown. This is the first book in the Ivy Meadows series. I’ve had a lot of the series on my Kindle for quite awhile now. Finally, started to read it. Glad I did.
• Mistletoe Murders Audible originals: This is an audiobook series that isn’t available in book form. Really enjoyed these stories. Similar to the Hallmark “Mistletoe Murders” series, which is based on the audiobooks, but not exactly the same.Highly recommend it.
  

Non-fiction highlights:

• The Alaskan Blonde by James T. Bartlett. A true crime story that I was unfamiliar with before I picked up this book. Well-written, well-researched and an interesting read.
  
• Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials by Marion Gibson.
• The Kerry Girls: Emigration and the Earl Grey Scheme by Kay Moloney Caball. I had no idea about this scheme until I read this book. It was a program of the British government from 1848-1850 where over 4,000 young, orphaned Irish workhouse girls were sent to Australia to address workhouse overcrowding and a severe shortage of women in the colonies. The aim was for them to become domestic servants and wives. 

Historical Mystery highlights

• The Gilded Newport Mysteries by Alyssa Maxwell. I continue to enjoy this series.
• The American in Paris series by Colleen Cambridge. I continue to enjoy this series. 

Science Fiction and Horror highlights:

• I discovered the Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells this year. I loved it so much I read them all, one right after the other. I also watched the Apple TV series based on the books. I thought it was good as well. Highly, highly recommend these.
• Dracula by Bram Stoker. Okay, I’d read this one a long, long time ago. I decided to reread it after watching the new Nosferatu film and rewatching the old silent Nosferatu film (this one’s much better in my opinion.) I’d forgotten that it is written as a series of letters, diary entries, etc. If it were written now it would probably include texts and emails.

That’s my reading summary. There were a lot of other good books I read over the year. These are just the highlights.

How was your reading year? Anything you particularly liked that you want to give a shout out to? 

#

Words of the year for 2025. I wrote a post on these at the end of November. Not all of the woty were in then. Here are the ones that were selected after that post: 

Merriam-Webster and American Dialect Society both chose slop which is defined as “content (posts, videos, articles) deliberately provocative or offensive to generate anger, clicks and traffic.” May or may not be generated by AI.

Oxford English Dictionary chose rage bait, which is online content designed to provoke anger.

Hooray for Audiobooks

 By Charlotte Hinger

Santa dumped books by the sleigh load on our family. We all love to read. I like books in any format. I love my hardcovers, of course. But I bless the advent of library ebooks even though sometimes the waitlist is excruciating. I keep downloadable apps smoking. 

I also love audiobooks! I trace that back to when I was a girl and people ironed everything. Yes, everything! My favorite day was ironing day after I was old enough to be trusted with that task. Physically, it was tiring and tedious. But I had a virtuous excuse for listening to the radio all day long. 

Bliss, pure bliss. I listened to Pepper Young's Family, Stella Dallas, Fibber McGee's closet, Amos and Andy. I confess I had to draw the line at The Shadow, and the Twilight Zone. They were simply too terrifying. 

These ironing days instilled my habit of listening. It transferred very easily to audiobooks. The habit of ironing was snuffed out in no time with the invention of dryers and no-iron fabrics. I didn't look back.

But go figure! Talk about ancient conditioning. When I start an audiobook, I immediately start working on something. I don't think my house would ever get cleaned if it weren't for the availability of audiobooks. When I tidy and fold clothes, there's a book playing. Ditto for cleaning bathrooms. Only vacuuming interferes with the sound. I get my audiobooks exclusively from the library through Libby and Hoopla. 

Libby provides excellent sample reads and I appreciate that. I don't like some narrators. I never continue with voices I find irritating or difficult to follow. Some readers are too fast, or too affected. Some have a weird intonation. 

Listening to audiobooks has improved my writing. I'm aware of middle sections that are too boring and slow down the plot, and dialogue that is nearly intolerable. 

Audiobooks make long drives bearable. 

Curiously, an excellent audiobook sometimes leads to increased print sales. So happy listening and reading during 2026

Garbage cans are like Cracker Jack boxes

 By Steve Pease/Michael Chandos

I'm 79 (as of last Saturday - one more year 'til Hell freezes over). I've been involved in part-time PI work since my Junior year in college, and I ran my own single-proprietor LLC biz (Glass Key Investigations) for 8 years. I was licensed in Colorado and New Mexico, and did tasks all over the world and in three countries. The work was fun and fulfilling. Running a business was Less fun.

I'm currently judging an annual contest for PI/Detective stories. It's always a learning experience, reading several dozen published stories, sometimes with widely varying story structures, sometimes with very ordinary plots. Writers have a broad understanding of the PI profession. Most are hugely influenced by Hollywood and have a cliché understanding. A few seem to have studied the craft. A few. Sometimes that's ok. Hollywood and fiction writers aren't in the documentary business. They are producing entertainment. They don't necessarily have to reflect absolute reality. But, I think they should at least reflect an understanding of "truth" as far as their story is concerned. They often have the title character doing things that would violate the law and Remove their license. Like planting, altering or picking up evidence. Shooting people. Solving crimes.

Really.  I never solved crimes. There's a police force for that. Crimes are solved by Law Enforcement and a civil prosecutor.  I investigate privately and work for the defense. A Private Investigator. Detectives work for the Police Department.

A PI may never comb a crime scene for clues. The Police won't let anyone near a crime scene until they "release" it, and by then it's messed up, dirty, with little evidence remaining. The PI may never be hired to investigate the crime scene. They might be asked to look into the entire event to see if evidence was collected correctly, properly, and the PI will search for additional witnesses, do preliminary interviews, look for what's missing, in concert with the client or, more probably, the defense attorney. Usually, the PI works under the protection of the defense council.

Writers can learn more about PIs by doing two things: consult the State on their PI licensing standards and processes, and by spending time with PIs. By 'em lunch. Look for the State's licensing material under the Secretary of State, Professional Licensing, or a similar office. Makes notes about everything, gather context, terms for things and war-stories. Let me close with one about trash dumps.

In most States and municipalities (but not all), once you put property on the curb for the trash collector, it is available to anyone. We were supporting a child support case, often nasty emotions involved. The mother was going out at night and leaving the kids with aging Grandpa on Friday afternoon, and not picking them up until Saturday. We photographed G'Pa sitting in his car port on a lawn chair, drinking beer all afternoon. The kids ran wild, got filthy, pee'd on the bushes, sipped his beers when he fell asleep. He rolled out the trash can that night, evidence for our taking.  We came by at 2 AM in an older, nondescript pickup, dumped the cans quietly into the truck bed and sped off. The trash was pizza boxes, beer bottles, internet gambling receipts, cigarettes. Evidence for the ex-husband to prove the kids were better off with him. He won that decision.

There are boox, but the best info is on the internet. Rules and laws are State-specific, especially when it comes to stalking, surveillance, privacy and records retention. Drop me a comment if you are curious.

Going Deep

 I (Donis) didn’t sleep very well last night. I couldn’t go deep. This is a problem I’ve been having off and on lately, one with which I’m sure everyone who has ever been a caretaker or watches the news is familiar. I’ve become hyper-vigilant. I’m always right on the surface, aware even in sleep of everything that is going on. My mind won’t shut off. It’s exhausting.

As I lay awake, thinking about the concept of ‘going deep’ did cause me to spend some time pondering the mysteries of the universe. Physicists are on the hunt for the basic building block of reality, the smallest thing there is. The elementary particle. The Higgs boson. But for years I have had an intimation that creation is not just imponderably huge, without limit, out there, it is also imponderably ‘in there’, deep without limit. Just as there is no top, there is no bottom.

I recently read a  book by Jonah Lehrer called Imagine. Lehrer propounds that daydreaming and otherwise allowing the mind to wander is the most effective way to tap your true creativity. If this is so, then I am the most effectively creative creature alive.

Lately I spend my time working on my writing, yard and house upkeep, and nursing a husband who has an injured knee and can't ambulate very well. My husband's knee will heal, and starting next month I will be conducting a 10-week writing seminar for a bunch of retired university professors, which will get me out of the house. At the moment, I seldom go out. Which means that I spend a lot of time going in. Fortunately, ‘in’ is a very big place.  

Gearing Up for the Outside World

by Catherine Dilts

This isn’t about outfitting for winter sports. The topic is the much more treacherous and risky activity of introverted authors making public appearances. Authors who regularly speak in public might find my experience amusing. To those of us suffering social awkwardness, the anxiety is real. I offer a few suggestions at the end.

Just last month, I participated in the Pikes Peak Writers Winter Bash. A couple dozen authors gathered for a combination party and book signing. Being among friends and acquaintances was fairly low stress. Other than the being in public part.

I shared a table with my critique group

How did I gear up for the event? Gathering books, deciding what to wear, fixing a treat to share, finding a novel for the book exchange. Simple tasks. It was the mental prep that was daunting. I had only attended as a non-author, years ago. I didn’t know what to expect as far as attendance. As the venue filled, I made myself move around instead of hiding behind our table loaded with books. I spoke to strangers.

It's part of my effort to engage in marketing and publicity. For years, I used having a full-time day job and family responsibilities as my excuse. I didn’t have time. In the spirit of “these books aren’t going to sell themselves,” I have committed to stretch myself. For a set period. Not for the rest of my life. Let’s see how it goes. Is it worth the time I could spend writing?

I joined the Sisters in Crime Colorado chapter’s book club. This pushes me to interact with other authors in a non-threatening way. I get to read books I wouldn’t otherwise pick up. The monthly meetings are via Zoom. And in April, my daughter and I will be in the spotlight with Grandpa’s New Year’s Relocation. Again, it’s a sympathetic crowd, and I know most of the folks already. Here’s the January novel up for discussion:

April is also when the Pikes Peak Writers Conference takes place. I’ve attended off and on for many years. It’s like a family reunion in a way. Once a year might be the only time I see some of these folks. They are my kind of nerds.

Pikes Peak Writers Conference 2025

Big breath. The final planned event for 2026 is Malice Domestic. I attended over ten years ago. The conference is wonderful, and the people are great. I was, nevertheless, very stressed out. This time, I’m going with my co-author daughter. I’m gearing up by reminding myself that readers want to meet authors, authors want to network, and everyone wants to have a good time.

Methods for coping with social anxiety:

Pick low-pressure, friendly activities to ease yourself into public events. Check out a local writing group’s meetings, attend a small conference with friends, or have a book-signing in a familiar venue.

Lower the pressure on yourself by having realistic expectations. The event won’t make or break your career. Rare few people have sold their novel to a big publisher their first time out at a conference. Only already famous authors sell hundreds of books at book signings.

Give yourself the option to escape. At a conference, hiding in your room for a bit is acceptable. In a meeting, leaving to catch your breath shouldn’t require explanation.

These are your people. If you’re an author, people should expect a certain amount of artistic oddness. Don’t be self-conscious about your brand of creative madness.

If it makes you miserable, Don’t Do It. If I derived no pleasure from attending conferences or being involved in writing groups, I would save myself the time and money and stay home.

My final bit of advice is to recharge your creative batteries. I plan to do that in 2026 by going on more camping trips. Getting outside, touching grass, and connecting to nature.

 

 

Deep Inner Workings of a Story

Hi Type M's, it's Shelley here. 

I'm back in Guam and ready to get back to work writing after a kind of whirlwind of travel and so much reading. You'd think my TBR pile would be low, but no. And now I'm back here staring at my shelves and the books I left behind back in August, and they are staring back at me with accusing faces. 

Contemporary Fiction Ahead

While I continue to put the finishing touches on my Strawberry Moon Mystery files so I can upload them to KDP, I'm reworking the outline for a contemporary fiction novel that isn't in any way a mystery or thriller. This is one was written around 2019, which is hard to believe. I wrote it, as I did my Olivia Lively mystery, on Wattpad, serializing it chapter by chapter on a weekly time schedule. I did have an outline after awhile, but as usual I started out by winging it and only getting around to an outline when it was necessary to move forward. 

(Actually, it's hard to remember exactly the year or my process. That pesky pandemic happened around then and darn if it isn't something of a hard-drive glitch up in my noggin. I can see from Wattpad that I did something with the chapter files in 2021, and I have chapter files of the book from 2019 in my computer drive.)

Anyway, what I hadn't yet worked on back then was the nitty-gritty internal story structure, the inner scaffolding of a novel that wasn't a particular "genre" like mystery or romance or horror. (I've called in Women's Fiction in the past, but that genre title is sort of verboten now.) For the past several years I've taken Rosalie "out of the box" and messed around with it. I've probably made five outlines. I've written and deleted several opening scenes, trying to find the true beginning of the story. 

This year, I'm determined to get the whole thing rewritten and sent out on submission to agents. I've never tried to get an agent up until now. It seems like the absolute WORST time to do so as we can see the old trad model crumbling, but maybe that's a good reason to try it before it's gone. 

So, with that in mind, I'm delving into deep internal genre story structure, trying to determine what kind of story this really is, at heart. It's a story about making a big mistake and paying a huge price for that mistake. It's about losing your reputation and striving to regain a sense of normalcy and self-respect and fighting against societal norms that seek to bring you down. It's about remaking your life in a new community. Beneath all that runs a thread of personal growth, right? And here is where I'm having trouble.

Internal Subgenres 

Is this a coming-of-age story? Is it morality story? Is it a story about status? 

"Yes! Yes, it's all three!" I shout.

"Yeah, but you have to pick one," my internal editor replies.  

"Okay, fine." I pout and take a harder look. I'm using Shawn Coyne's Story Grid system to analyze my narrative structure. [See The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know by Shawn Coyne]

There are elements of each internal subgenre there in my book, but I need to choose one to make sure the structure is super solid. Right now I'm wavering between coming-of-age and status, so I'm going to have to examine the usual beats for those kinds of stories and decide which fit best with my current outline. This may require some more work on the outline, but in the end I'm convinced I'll have a more satisfying story for the reader. 

I'm sorry this post hasn't been so much about mystery, but keep in mind that a mystery "external" genre story probably also has an "internal" character-focused story line, too. Does your protagonist have a moral failing that he/she must overcome? Is your cozy sleuth in need of some maturation in a certain area? Does your law enforcement MC desire a move up to a higher rank or is he/she in danger of being demoted? 

Are you a reader of mysteries or thrillers with some deeper themes? Do you recognize these structures in the book you are reading this week/month? How does the author weave the internal story thread throughout the action? 

I hope you've found something of value in my ramblings about the inner workings of story. If you are interested in learning more, check out The Story Grid. Happy January and have a wonderful weekend!