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!

Juror No. 1

 by Sybil Johnson

Juror No. 1. Sounds like the title of a legal thriller, doesn’t it?

In this case, though, that was my number when I was on jury duty for two weeks in December. 

I live in Los Angeles County. As you might expect, there are lots of courthouses and cases and, consequently, a need for lots of jurors. The last few times I’ve been summoned, I was assigned to downtown Los Angeles. Downtown L.A. is interesting, but it’s such a pain to get to from where I live, my usual reaction is “Do they want me to be in a bad mood?” This time, though, I was assigned to the Torrance courthouse, a much easier and closer place for me to get to.

The last time I was on jury duty was pre-Covid. Things have changed. Jurors no longer sit around in the jury assembly room waiting to be called for a panel. Instead, if you’re told to report in, you’ve already been assigned to a courtroom and case. There were forty of us in the jury pool. We started in the jury assembly room where we took care of the required paperwork, received our badges and waited to be called to the courtroom.

Here I met my fellow potential jurors for the first time. This was also when we discovered there was a creature (probably a squirrel) running around in the ceiling of the assembly room. Animal control had been called 2 weeks before, but hadn’t arrived yet. Apparently, this was not an uncommon occurrence. Once there was a raccoon in the ceiling that fell through and landed in the room when people were there. Not sure if it landed on anyone. Whatever happened, I’m sure it caused a great to do.

Anyway, we were soon sent to the courtroom for voir dire. I’ve got into the habit of mentally noting what I see as soon as I enter a room. I read somewhere years ago that, when describing a scene in a story, to ask yourself what are the first five things your character would notice.

In this case the character was me. Here are the things I noticed:

• As we walked into the courtroom, the lawyers stood facing us. So many lawyers. So many blue suits. I’m assuming this standing facing us thing was meant as a sign of respect for us, but it was a bit intimidating. 
• The courtroom was cold. So cold. The courthouse was built in the late 1960s. They don’t seem to be able to regulate the temperature throughout the building very well. The judge told us they’ve tried and advised us to wear warm clothing. 
• The courtroom was small. Smaller than most of the ones you see on TV. Smaller than any of the real-life courtrooms I’ve been in in the past. 
• There was no bailiff. I learned later that, since this was a courtroom where civil cases were heard, there’s a court attendant instead. They take care of the jury instead of a bailiff. 

During voir dire, I noticed the lawyers used an excessive number of Post-it notes, a sea of yellow. Makes sense to me, actually. Once a potential juror has been dismissed, they can just rip one off and replace it with another. 

Another thing I noticed was the plaintiff wore Snoopy socks with his very nice suit. They went well together. It sort of endeared him to me. Not that it made any difference in how I viewed the case. But it did get me thinking how a plaintiff or defendant decides what to wear to court and if it made a difference to most jurors.

We were questioned by three different lawyers, one representing the plaintiff and one for each of the defendants. During questioning, one of the lawyers asked all of us if anyone thought they wouldn’t want themselves to be a juror on a case they were involved with. I wanted to jump up and shout “me!” But, dang it, I would be exactly the kind of person I’d want on a jury. So I kept my mouth shut. 

One thing that surprised me was how many people had never been on jury duty before. I’ve been summoned many times over the years and been on 3 trials, all criminal.

I was ultimately picked as one of the jurors (Juror No. 1). They questioned all or almost all of the 40 potential jurors before finding 12 and 2 alternates. The jury was an interesting bunch. Quite diverse. Lots of interesting people. Lots of interesting stories. We all got along very well. One of the jurors, a lovely woman, became my JDB (jury duty buddy). Someone on the jury came up with that phrase and we all started using it. 

My JDB and I had lunch together every day at a Mexican restaurant near the courthouse called Mezontle. (The courthouse no longer has a cafeteria.) Good food, fast and friendly service. The lawyers also ended up there most days. We studiously ignored each other. We had many pleasant lunches together joined, at times, by other jurors. 

The courtroom was casual. The judge professional, but kind. He kept us amused with statistics and anecdotes about the LA County Superior court system during the occasional short break as we waited for something. It was interesting.

As I noted before, the courtroom was incredibly cold, the jury room even colder. We all came wearing sweaters and warm coats. I even wore some gloves one day. They had cat faces on them, which I’m pretty sure amused one of the six lawyers.

It was a civil case so we heard testimony from the plaintiff, defendants, a witness, a police officer, accident reconstructionists, some doctors (one of them the doctor from “Botched”)... The case went to the jury the day before I was set to leave for Seattle for Christmas. The judge kindly let me off at the end of the day. I had mentioned my plans during questioning and he assured me, that if the case didn’t finish before then, he’d excuse me. He kept his word. I left and Alt No. 1 subbed in. She was quite happy to do so. It’s hard being an alternate. 

I’m sad that I didn’t get to participate in the deliberations, but also a tiny bit happy I didn’t have to decide anything. My JDB, who also ended up as the foreperson, let me know later how things went. They ended up only needing another half day to come to a decision.

My takeaways:

• I’m more comfortable as a juror on a criminal case rather than a civil one. Not that I’m entirely comfortable deciding someone’s fate, but I feel I understand criminal law better than civil law. 
  
• I’d forgotten what it was like to go to work every day and come home at night. It’s been a long time since I had to do that.
• I’d also forgotten how tiring jury duty could be. I went home every day exhausted. It reminds me a bit of when I’m writing. You’re very focused, concentrating on everything, trying to wrap your head around the story or, in this case, the testimony. That can be very tiring.
• I also left jury duty with a new friend. My JDB and I plan on keeping in touch and, at some point, having a reunion lunch at Mezontle. Who knows, maybe we’ll see the same lawyers there. 
• And, finally, I wonder if they ever got the squirrel out of the jury assembly room ceiling or if it’s still there, scrambling around and making noise.

Off Copyright - fiction heaven or hell?

 by Michael Chandos

   When actors get old and are no longer being cast in new projects, they either retire to Malibu and Palm Springs, or they disappear into some small town in Idaho. They go to fan conventions to sell photos and signatures, do commercials for rejuvenating drugs, or get a degree in nursing and end up changing sheets in a small hospital where no one knows their previous identity. Veronica Lake was the Number One actress in the late Forties and early Fifties. She lost all her money in independent movie schemes and ended up a server in the bar of a rundown hotel in downtown Philadelphia. Only a few end up playing golf in Palm Springs.

   Where do written mysteries go?  Before 1978, published work copyrights lasted 28 years, with an additional renewal term of another 28 years. The law changed in 1978 to something like the date of the author's death plus 50 years. Thanks to Congressman Sonny Bono, the current law reads: 

• Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (1998)
  Life of the author, plus 70 years (generally)
  95 years from date of publication or 120 years from date of creation (anonymous works, pseudonymous works, and works made for hire)

   Many works from earlier in the Century, like ACD's Sherlock Holmes, were renewed under the current law, but, since Sir Arthur died in 1930, the copyright protection for all the Sherlock works expired into the public domain in 2000. Who else?  Mickey Mouse, Popeye, Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz. As of 1 January 2026, Betty Boop, originally a singing dog in the comics, joined this distinguished crowd.  So did three iconic mystery titles and authors.

   

   I think Agatha Christie is the Number One best-selling mystery author in the world. Over two BILLION copies sold. Her many works are classics, often filmed, always in print.  And now, available to publishers without necessitating permission from her estate.

   The first four Nancy Drew mysteries are now out of copyright. Mildred Whit Benson wrote 23 of the novels. Her pseudonym soon became a House pen-name for dozens of further Nancy Drew books, and for several spin-off series. Did you start your mystery reading with "The Secret of the Old Clock"? In the next few years, the novels were written by men and women under hire to the publisher, 78 in total. They all will slowly be released from copyright as the years move on. They all are also still in print.

   Samuel Dashiell Hammett is a foundational author of the American mystery story, often realistic hard-boiled stories based on his years as a Pinkerton detective himself. His novels are high on multiple Best Of lists, including those accepted by the Library of Congress. The (third) movie of the "Maltese Falcon" is equally enshrined in cinematic Best Of lists.

   Copyrights are complicated, but the "70 years after the author's death" provision rules strongly. Some people claim copyright to images and derived works, but those will eventually fall out of copyright too and into the public domain.

Even a Nobel Prize can't disturb the process.

Every End is A New Beginning.

    

 I wish you all a wonderful upcoming year. May you attain your heart's desire. 

    How did you fare during 2025? As for me, I shall quote my niece, Abby. “There’s only one 

thing I can say about 2025 – oy!” 

    It’s been tough but we got out alive. Now I’m girding my loins for 2026.

Yesterday I finally finished reading Mark Nepo’s The Book of Awakening, which is written in the form of a day book, one spiritual reading for each day of the year. I thought the entry for December 29 was particularly to the point, especially since that day was my birthday. It’s entitled “Sing, Then”.

“…it has become very clear that giving voice to what is inner is essential to surviving what is outer,” he says. “When everything in life presses from outside of us, we have no choice but to sing like scared children relying on their song to stop the pain…This is the secret of all spirit, why it cannot stay inside, but must be brought from within us into the world.”

I thought that was a very good description of why I write.