Using Substack for an Author Newsletter

The cover image from my recent author newsletter on JOY.

Happy Friday, Type Ms! It's Shelley, and I'm going to share a little bit about writing and managing a Substack newsletter. 

I really think of my newsletter as a complete publication, not a blog post. That is why I have several sections in each one. These include an editorial letter, a bit about the art, the month’s long-form essay, publishing industry news, my own writing news, and sometimes a bit about Guam or, as in this month’s issue, a recipe for a perfect summer breakfast.

This month's newsletter's theme was "Joy." In the long-form essay, I share a moment of pure joy I experienced while working on the ghostwriting project that became my first published full-length book.

It took me a few hours to write and format the newsletter. Like the better part of a day "few hours." It's not a quick and easy task. 

How Do I Like Substack?

So far I've been happy with Substack. I'm able to follow other writers and people in the industry who know what's what. Publicists. Agents. Editors. These people scan the news and curate the industry happenings, and I feel more informed. (Okay, yes, maybe ignorance was a little more blissful, actually.)

I actually find the platform pretty intuitive and easy to use. I like the data analytics. I like that interacting with others on there, even casually, can lead to some connections. This is similar to other social media platforms.

It's not perfect, of course. I’ve been gaining new subscribers, but at the same time, my open percentage has been going down resulting in about the same number of opens/reads. 

However, the other day I actually had a comment on a "Note" go somewhat viral. According to the post's data, my comment reached 18K people, nearly 700 of which pressed the like button. Guess how many of the 18K checked out my profile? 25. Twelve of them became new subscribers. 

Every little bit helps, I guess. 

Go HERE to read my newsletter and consider signing up if you are interested in creativity, purpose, art, and writing.

I really do try to bring helpful and inspiring ideas to my readers, and I only send one per month. 

Meanwhile all 6000 of the Substack newsletters I follow seem to end up in my inbox every week. Obviously that’s a huge exaggeration--it's more like 60--but I may have to pare down.  

AI News

Did you hear the scuttlebutt about AI and how if you use em dashes and Oxford commas, people might accuse you of using AI. Ugh! I love both! This is, frankly, ridiculous. I'm going to keep writing in the style in which I've become accustomed, and if anyone accuses me of using AI, well, they can think what they want.

Book Cover Update

I worked on the cover again to make it pop even more, and I think it’s done.

I like it better than having the stripe across the bottom, and the font for the title is much more casual, less tight and stiff. 

Never mind the turtleneck. It’s night. On the ocean. Girl needs a sweater.

I finished another scene this afternoon, so I'm getting closer to finishing and releasing this baby. Lately I fashion each scene in my mind, contemplating turning points and conflict and overcoming obstacles and how each scene will lead to the next and move the story forward, plus character development and quirks and dialogue (to tag or not to tag, that is the question!) 

...all the usual craft stuff. 

Have a happy weekend, peeps! 

What is "Real"?

 For the past some months I've been working on two books at a time. I'm having fun going back and forth, but I've discovered it's not the most efficient way to get either book finished in a reasonable amount of time.

The two books are very different from one another. One is a contemporary mystery, the other is historical with mystery elements. But both have touches of magical realism – the contemporary one, not so much. The historical one, quite a bit. Both have to do with the way the main character sees the world. The historical character believes wholeheartedly in unseen worlds and forces. Today she would be seen as superstitious. But I believe her.

Many, many years ago I wrote a book set in Australia. It was while I was researching Aboriginal religions for the book that I first learned about "pointing the bone."

Pointing the bone is a ritual curse that Aborigine shamans perform that causes the "pointee", as it were, to die. The shaman does nothing whatsoever to the pointee other than point the bone at him. And he dies. This is not a rumor or superstition. Over many decades, British observers, including research scientists, were unable to find a single example whereby the person so cursed did not die. However, when the curse was laid upon a European, the European invariably went about his business in good health. The obvious conclusion to be gained from this example is that human beings create their own reality.

I don't intent to imply in the least that our misfortunes are our own fault. It's way more complicated than that.

Once upon a time, Don and I were having breakfast in a restaurant and being royally entertained by watching a three-year-old girl in the next booth making people and buildings out of condiments and napkins and narrating their lives and histories aloud to herself.

"She's in another world," Don said.

I wondered then, as I often have, if the world a little child inhabits in actually less real than mine. When a little guy plays with a companion we can't see, is his friend really imaginary? When a kid says she remembers when she was a cowboy before she was born, does she really?

Nobody would dispute that we shape our children's attitudes, but do we also shape the way they perceive existence? We dismiss their perceptions as unreal if they don't fit in with how we see things. They believe us when we say they didn't really see that woman in the corner of their bedroom. Eventually they fall in line and their vision adjusts itself to fit with the rest of the world they live in.

A Native American parent confirms her child's vision of a spirit helper, so the spirit helper actually helps him. We 21st century Westerners teach our children that money has power, so in our world, it does.

This niggling feeling that reality is fluid influences my writing quite a bit. I try very hard to put aside my own beliefs about the way the world works and perceive things as my characters would without judging them. It's hard!

Whether my character truly sees a ghost isn't as important to the story as is the fact that no-one in her world tries to tell her that ghosts don't exist. Because in her time and place, everyone knew that the dead walk.

Maybe because everyone knew it, the dead did walk. Who am I to say otherwise?

People Watching and Persistence

 by Sybil Johnson

People watching and persistence. I’ll call them the 2 Ps. They are both important for writers. One of them gives us ideas for stories. The other makes us keep on going through the ups and downs of the writing life. 

I enjoy people watching whether it’s at Disneyland or at the airport or anywhere else. I have a Magic Key pass so I go to Disneyland around 8 times a year. Sometimes it’s nice just to sit on a bench and watch people walk by. Most people wear comfortable clothing, but some are dressed much fancier. On my last trip not that long ago, there was a couple dressed more formally. The woman had on a dress that could serve as a wedding dress or a prom dress. Were they coming from a wedding? Or going to another event later that day? We could make up stories.

Then there’s the airport. I suspect I haven’t spent as much time in airports as Steve P. has, but when I’m there and I have time to kill I do some people watching.

I don’t take notes like Steve does, but I file interesting things away in my mind to possibly use in a story. I was in the Seattle airport, many years ago now, when I noticed a man coming from the direction of security wearing khaki pants, no shoes and no shirt (i.e. bare-chested). He was carrying a duffel bag which I assume contained the missing parts of his wardrobe. I always wondered what the story was there. The shoes I understand because they do make you take them off. But, the shirt? I haven’t come up with a story yet for this one, but if anyone does, let me know. I look forward to reading it when it’s published. 

That brings me to the idea of persistence. Charlotte noted in her post yesterday that it’s important for a writer to have resilience and patience. These traits plus persistence are important. I recently reread a post I wrote on persistence paying off for a blog tour I did for my first book, Fatal Brushstroke, in 2014. I think it still applies.I haven't been as good about writing as I should these days. I am a little discouraged, honestly. So I needed to reread this.

 Here are a few quotes from it that I think are important for a writer to remember:

“A writer’s life can be a bit of a roller coaster ride. One day the writing’s flowing and hope fills your heart. The next day you receive a story rejection and that hope is dashed. The ups and downs can be a bit gut-wrenching. So much so, you wonder why you thought you could be a writer in the first place and consider giving up. Believe me, I’ve been there. I’ve even stopped writing for months at a time because I was so discouraged, but something always made me pick it up again.”

“My own writing journey has been fraught with rejections. It’s the nature of the beast, I know, but it’s still hard to take. One thing that’s kept me going is the small successes along the way.”

“Persistence pays off. No matter how many rejections you receive, how discouraged you get, if you truly want to be a writer, keep on going. Eventually, if you’ve done your homework and worked to improve your writing, someone will publish something you’ve written.”

So, keep on with your people watching and keep on writing.You never know what will happen.

Technically Blue

by Charlotte Hinger

 Oh yeah? 

Just try spending a whole night and the rest of the next morning trying to print the right Amazon label. 

I have a single very old hardcover book that I peddle through Amazon's Vendor Central program. It's Come Spring, the first book I published. It's almost forty years old. I foolishly bought a lot of inventory when Simon & Schuster fired my editor and subsequently did not publish my second book. 

Once in a while, I still get an order. In the past, it's been easy to deliver a copy, but recently Amazon upgraded its website and I have not been able to print a shipping label that has the right bar code for the post office or UPS. 

Unfortunately I have a compulsive personality that won't let a problem go unsolved. While it's a great trait for writing books, it's wretchedly difficult to live with when it comes to technology. If I had a nickel for every computer glitch I've tackled I would be rich. 

It was the culmination of a difficult week trying to master my wonderful new combination serger/cover stitch sewing machine. I was ready to tear my hair out after tackling threading it properly. The new machine has a number of features and is infinitely superior to my old serger. Theoretically. 

When I was a child, I was an avid member of 4-H. Every year I would sign up for too many projects. I well remember the summer I planted way too many strawberries. There was no way to water my patch except by carrying bucket after bucket under a blazing sun. 

Yet this innate stubbornness has paid off when it comes to writing. The biggest make or break trait for success is resilience and the patience to learn how to write. Not only how to write, but to hang in there before becoming published. 

A friend is far more successful than I will ever be said:

"The people who have the talent, don't have the courage and the people who have the courage don't have the talent. But there's no question which one will be published."

Are those people astronauts or serial killers?

 By Steve Pease

When I was a civilian engineer for the Air Force, I traveled at least once a month, mostly to LA, Washington DC, Albuquerque and Dayton, Ohio. That means a lot of time sitting at the gate area in airports or exploring terminals because of lengthy waits between flights, and looking for the john or an available electrical plug.

I always stay awake and only sleep aboard the plane. I feared that if I fell asleep, I might wake up after my flight had departed. That would cause a Grand Mal Klong, a sudden rush of sh*t to the heart, and a whole lot of inconvenience..

The paperback I brought along helped. I made a reading list of mystery, SF and history books I always intended to read but hadn't, and I started reading seriously thru the stack. I also brainstormed story ideas. I never got into carrying one of those dedicated writing processors. I scribbled in half-used spiral notebooks piled in another tall stack in my office. 

That all worked pretty well, but I needed breaks. So, I either sat back or strolled the terminal and watched people. Who looked guilty of something? Who was a secret serial killer? Project into the future - who was boarding a shuttle to the moon? I saw people queue up to rush down the tunnel to their aircraft. What if a submarine or a spaceship was at the end of the tunnel instead of a Regional Jet shuttle? Was one of the boarders escaping to Mexico after stealing millions from their employer or hitting nasty Aunt Gertrude over the head with the candlestick?

Sometimes it was just for fun, but sometimes I think I spied genuine fugitives or aliens. In Chicago O'Hare, I saw a man in a bright red suit with a brilliantly white hat hustling to his gate. He was pulling a carry-on bag, and he was talking to himself, somewhat loudly, about a recent meeting and how he had negotiated a great financial contract with them. As he went by, I realized it was Dom Deluise, genius comedian and, like Jonathan Winters, a little vague in his contact with present reality.

Red was in for fantasy people. Also in Chicago, I saw a tall, well-muscled black man in an impeccable, firetruck red three-piece suit. His black, very shiny shoes looked expensive. He had a gold watch and gold rings. He was carrying a thin briefcase in cordovan Moroccan leather. No hat. His hair was expensively shaped and his pencil mustache was striking. He walked like he was an International First Class passenger, and they would wait for him.

He stimulated all sorts of ideas. A celebrity seemed too small. He was a black Mafia leader, the owner of Chicago's most expensive and exclusive "lounge", where the drugs and the food were gourmet, and the world-class women were "available". No, he didn't look gay. His stride was sure and powerful, purposeful. He was top class, so my character fantasy had to match. Shouldn't the president of an African country have an entourage?

I still have those notebooks. They are idea mines where I discover images for characters like gold nuggets in a stream.

When There Are No More Tomorrows

 Last January I blogged about our recently adopted dog, Dirk, and that we had brought him into the household as an emotional bulwark against the impending loss of my other dog, Scout. Now it finally happened. Scout has left us. I won't share stories about him because we all have similar memories about the departure of our beloved pets. However, I will admit that I miss Scout more than I miss most people.

I'll use this opportunity as a springboard into a discussion on grief, not in how to deal with it, but in how grief affects, or doesn't affect, our story narratives. Considering the common theme here on Type M for Murder is writing about criminal homicide, and homicide is the death of a human being, what we don't dwell much on is the grief caused by that death. Understandable since our protagonists are often the ones responsible for solving the murder and they can't afford to dilute their focus in sifting through clues by bringing grief into their process. Cops, especially, deal with grief and tragedy using gallows humor. Trauma surgeons and nurses have to distance themselves from the heartbreak if they are to remain functional. 

In World War Two, a phenomenon in the US Army was the indifference shown to replacement troops, particularly in the infantry who suffered the most casualties. The veteran soldiers figured out that those new to the outfit wouldn't last more than a few days, and the grief in dealing with those fresh losses was too painful and demoralizing to bear. "Just tell me your last name. That's all I need to know about you for now."  It wasn't until a new soldier survived for a month before the old timers closed ranks around him. 

An author friend wrote of a similar situation among spouses of soldiers who were deployed overseas during the Global War on Terror. The strain of waiting for the horrible news about the death of a loved one was too much of a burden to harbor day in and day out. So the wives shut down, numbing themselves, smothering their emotions: both happiness and sorrow. When the husbands returned home midway during their tour, randy and ready to party, to their surprise, the wives remained closed tight. It was too difficult of an emotional transition to let their defenses down, only to bring them back up in a few short days.

One police show that leans on grief as a story trope is Monk. Already since childhood, the detective Adrian Monk was burdened with phobias, and the murder of his wife Trudy drags him deep into an existence defined by obsessive-compulsive disorders and sorrow. His quest to find Trudy's killer is driven equally by the search for justice and as a means to deal with his grief.

 

Twists and Turns

 by Catherine Dilts

As my fellow Type M for Murder authors know, these books ain’t gonna sell themselves! I’m trying to push myself out there. Pitching my books to strangers is not my cup of tea, but it is a necessary part of being an author.

One who makes a profit, anyway. So far this year, I am in the red.

Thus, my participation in Mountain of Authors.

My table at Mountain of Authors

At great risk of exposing myself as a dinosaur, I make this confession. I am such a terrible salesperson, I am not even set up to take credit card sales on my phone. I went to MoA mainly to support the library (which has my books in circulation), to meet readers, and to schmooze with other local authors.

Fangirl moment with fantasy author Z. S. Diamanti

When I came home, there was a box of books on my porch. I kinda sorta knew they’d be coming some time before June, but I was still surprised. And elated. It’s always fun to see your stories in book format.

Publishing is an interesting business. You never know what twists and turns your path as an author is going to take. When I learned that Book One in my Rose Creek Mystery series has been selected as a Harlequin Mystery WWL, I didn't know what to think. Previously released by Encircle Publications, this re-release by Harlequin brings new eyes to my work.

The Harlequin Worldwide Mystery version of my novel

The Worldwide Mystery is sent to thousands of subscribers to the Harlequin monthly book club. Plus, my novel will be available for order in mass market paperback format from Harlequin in late August.

One thing involvement in the publishing industry requires is the willingness to change. I’ll be attending more events when they make financial sense. And I’m experimenting with different approaches to publishing.

I’m not in this business of writing fiction with the expectation of making oodles of money. But I don’t want to leave potential profit rotting on the vine, either.

To relieve the stress of being an artist struggling along in a business world, I walk and run. This Sunday I participated in a fundraising fun run at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Today, it’s back to work!

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo fun run

Let's Talk Tropes

by Thomas Kies

 I taught a class last week on the campus of NC State University to room of fifty mystery buffs.  The subject of the talk was Mysteries and the Importance of Settings and Tropes.  I loved the ninety-minute time I had with those people because they’re my tribe.  They love mysteries.  We talk the same language.

And in doing the research for the class, I had a chance to think about settings (which I wrote about in my last blog) and, obviously, tropes. The big question that came to my mind was, can you write a mystery, or for that fact, any novel, without using tropes?

First of all, what are tropes?  

According to Merriam Webster:

: a word or expression used in a figurative sense 

: a common or overused theme or device   

In its most basic sense, it’s something that’s used over and over again.  Let’s talk about a few examples:

-Red Herrings—a false clue meant to mislead the audience or protagonist

-The Detective with the Tragic Past—a protagonist that has a haunting backstory

-The Corrupt Cop—An officer of the law obstructs or manipulates an investigation

-The Journalist Sleuth—Okay, okay…I use that one in my Geneva Chase novels.

-The Twist Ending---Yikes, don’t we all use that one?

-The Overlooked Clue---overlooked, that is, except by our eagle-eyes sleuth

-The Hidden Passage or Tunnel—I don’t know, this one kind of feels like cheating to me.

-The Serial Killer Pattern—How else would we know it was a serial killer?

- The MacGuffin--an object, event, or character in a film or story that serves to set and keep the plot in motion despite usually lacking intrinsic importance

MacGuffins are really something we could spend a whole blog talking about.  Some famous MacGuffins are the Maltese Falcon, the briefcase in the movie Pulp Fiction, the Ark of the Covenant in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, Rosebud in the movie Citizen Kane, A secret letter in the Sherlock Holmes tale The Adventure of the Second Stain.

So, if tropes are used over and over again, are they cliches? They can be, obviously. But the skilled writer will know how to use trope and sometimes subvert them, making the story unique and fresh.

Like Gone Girl. First of all, that trope is the missing housewife, presumed dead and killed by her spouse (don’t we always suspect the husband or wife?) But the story is subverted by using another trope, the unreliable narrator.  In this case…two unreliable narrators. 

Is the Unreliable Narrator a new trope?  Of course not.  Agatha Christie used it in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. 

Are there any stories that don’t have tropes?  I thought that the novel The Maid by Nita Prose came close.  Her protagonist is a hotel maid who is neurodivergent.  Except that really isn’t new after all.  Think about the television series Monk. And possibly the Sherlock Holmes stories.  Was Holmes actually an investigative savant with Aspergers Syndrome?

So, my personal conclusion is that no, you can’t really write a story, any story, without using tropes.  That’s the nature of our beast.  But the true gift in storytelling is making those tropes your own and make them feel new or special with your own words. 

 

Cover Craft: Examining Four Online Top Sellers' Covers & My Own Attempts

A first attempt at a cover design for my upcoming long short story.

Shelley here once again and wondering how two weeks could have passed so quickly since my last bi-monthly post! 

As I've been hard at work on my Strawberry Moon Mystery story--which will be a long short story or short novella depending on my ability to edit, pare, and trim--I've pondering what I might do with it once it's complete. 

I've been giving some thought to publishing it as a One Hour Short Read on Kindle. These are stories from between 33-43 pages, which is about where I expect Strawberry Moon to end up (15-20K words). As I have a bit of interest in design and art, though untrained, I wondered if I could create a passable book cover on my own, using Canva, that would align with the covers of my two Olivia Lively Mystery books published by Encircle Publications. 

I'd worked with the cover designer of those two books, giving her drawings with my ideas, so the concept was already clear in my mind. I had designated comp books with a similar vibe: The Finlay Donovan series by Elle Cosimano and Where'd You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple. I wanted a female character in bright colors, flat design, and a kind of "chick lit" energy. 

The designer, Deirdre Wait, executed these wonderfully. 

If I'm going to self-publish, I wondered, could I do the cover myself? And is my design style choice still working in today's competitive market? I moseyed over to Amazon this afternoon to look at the Best Selling Kindle Mystery Private Detective books to see what the covers looked like. 

Okay, the #1 book in that category today is Homemaker: A Prairie Nightingale Mystery that is due out next month. Written by Ruthie Knox and Annie Mare, it is published by Thomas & Mercer which just so happens to be an imprint of Amazon Publishing. 

Does the book's #1 status  have anything to do with the fact that Amazon is publishing it? And not until next month? Ummm...

Self-serving retail tactics aside, I am very heartened to see the cover design. I like the handwriting fonts and the big eye in the magnifying glass, the flat art, the vibrant colors, the female sleuth image. Not only does the story sound like a good comp for my titles (Prairie is an amateur sleuth, at least she starts out that way, so I'm not sure why it's in the Private Detective category), but also the character is tangled up with an FBI guy--just like my Olivia Lively character. 

Actually this is GREAT news. It just means that there are readers out there who want these kinds of books, and I've written a couple of them. 

The book in the #2 spot is Murdle, Volume 1 by G.T. Karber, published by McMillon/Griffin. Again, we have the flat art and color. Interestingly, the SAME colors. Again, I'm baffled by Amazon rankings because guess what? This isn't really a Private Detective story, either. It's a collection of mystery logic puzzles. 

Moving on. 

In the #3 spot is The Beast of Littleton Woods by T.E.Kinsey. This is book 12 in the series and it's published by . . . you guessed it. Thomas & Mercer. This looks much more like a cozy mystery with the dog image and the yellow eyes peering out from the roots of the tree. The curly script is also more cozy than my preferred Women Sleuths and Private Detective categories. 

(Even though it pops up as #3 on the Private Detective click, when you look at the book's bestseller rankings, Private Detective isn't even listed. It shows up as #1 in Amateur Sleuth and #2 in Cozy and #3 in Traditional Detective.) 

But okay, Amazon. 

Last one from Amazon. This is Closer Than You Know by Debra Web, published by, yup. Thomas & Mercer. 

The cover is more realistic with the author's name and book title getting equal play. The simple sans-serif font looks clean and simple. To me this looks more like a police detective or even a thriller cover that would appeal to both men and women readers. Sure enough, two of the rankings are for Police Procedural and Serial Killer Thrillers. The protagonist is actual a crime analyst. Is that a private investigator/detective? I really don't think so. 

NONE OF THESE FOUR BOOKS RANKING IN PRIVATE DETECTIVE MYSTERY IS REALLY A P.I. MYSTERY.

Whaaaat???

Yes, I could slightly tweak my search and end up with different books on the list. This baffles me all the time on Amazon best-seller rank listings. It's almost comical. In this case I searched by choosing: Best Seller/Kindle/Mystery & Thrillers/Mystery/Private Detective. 

Isn't it interesting that 3 of the top 4 ranking on Amazon in this category are published by an imprint of Amazon? 

On to my cover. 

This is the potential cover for my Strawberry Moon Mystery that I created using Canva Pro. Originally, the colors were slightly more muted and gray, but after feedback from readers on the blog, I found a way to change the colors of the images to better reflect their suggestions. Of COURSE the moon had to be pink. Or pink-ish! Does it make any sense that Olivia's wearing sunglasses at night? Nope but it continues the trend from the two full-length books. Also, the moon woudn't be reflecting in her glasses because the moon is behind her. But it makes for a more compelling image, right?

It doesn't have the panache of that handwriting font. It seems a little stiff in comparison, not as "messy" which is what they are trying to get across, I think. I might need to add a nose and some shading. Maybe I should play with some handwriting fonts. I might need to hire a cover designer to make it really work. 

And it's NOT red and black. 

But in a pinch? Maybe I could get away with it. I think this plays in the same sandbox with my comp titles, which will now include the Prairie Nightingale book as well as Finlay Donovan. Olivia, unlike these two, is actually a licensed P.I. running her own Lively Investigations business, but I think she fits in.

Are You “by accident” or “on accident”?

 by Sybil Johnson

I find languages endlessly fascinating. I’ve taken enough linguistic classes to know that they change over time. Unless it’s a dead language, of course.

I accept that there are regional differences in American English. I even welcome them. Still, I find some changes to be unnatural. 

Case in point: 

A friend recently asked me what preposition I would use in the following sentences: 

The girl hit her brother _____ accident. 

 I threw away the book ____ accident.

I said “by”. Apparently, though, “on” is used by some people now. It seems unnatural to me, bordering on the unacceptable. I haven’t yet encountered this in my reading, but I’m sure I will one day. I’ll cringe a little, but move on.

I did a little investigating online about this on vs. by thing. 

This article says that which one you say depends on your age. Anyone born before 1970 (me!) uses “by”. Anyone born after 1995 use “on”. Those born in-between use either one.

The article has a pointer to the research paper that backs this up. Yep, a linguist noticed the on vs. by usage in “on/by accident” and did some surveys in various parts of the U.S. I found it very interesting. The change seems to be generational rather than regional. You can read the paper through a link in the article.

That got me thinking about other changes in English. Specifically, how words can drastically change their meaning over time. 

Here’s Merriam-Webster’s take on some words that have changed over time.

 https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/words-that-used-to-mean-something-different

 Here are a few of them I found interesting. Read the article to see the rest of the words they mention and get the details on how these changes came about. 

nice: old meaning is trivial, stupid; current meaning is pleasant, agreeable 

bully: old meaning is sweetheart, darling (of either sex); current meaning is a person who habitually seeks to harm or intimidate 

disappoint: old meaning is to remove from office; current meaning is fail to fulfill the hopes or expectations of someone. 

I can totally see how disappoint could have that old meaning. We do appoint people to office. Why can’t we disappoint them because they disappoint us? 

clue: old meaning is ball of thread or yarn; current meaning is a piece of evidence or information used in the detection of a crime or solving of a mystery. (Or at least the meaning I find most interesting to mystery writers.)

As a writer, I’m not going to worry about whether someone thinks I’m wrong when I use a preposition or something that seems to be wrong to them. I have my own pet peeves, but they don’t prevent me from enjoying a book. I will, however, when writing historical stories try to be hyper aware of what a word meant at the time the story is set. 

Let's go back to the on/by thing. Do you say “by accident” or “on accident”? Do you find one of them unacceptable or wrong?

WHAT'S A WRITER TO DO?

     by Steve Pease/Michael Chandos 

     A short one tonight, I'm afraid. I've been sick for a week with a chest cold and didn't do anything interesting except cough.  I didn't do new writing. I could see my head was spinning, and anything I wrote was bound to be a logical mess. So what's a writer to do?

     Any creative work is non-romantic. The flashy part, for me, happens in my head out of sight. Ideas pop up, words flow, clever writing magically falls together on the page.  Inspiration is really a fun time. That's only 10% of the time.

     For a working writer, there's Work. Editing, format checking, balancing First Reader comments, and the editor's apparent lack of understanding. Filing, paying bills, researching, hunting for coffee creamer, answering the telephone. It's office work. I add regular exercise, dog walks, and decent breaks.  

     So, this week, as I shuffled around in my bathrobe, I did lots of little things. Going thru magazines and tearing out the articles that count. Filing things, playing an old and familiar computer game, and trying to use the treadmill. The weather last week cooperated: cold, wet, even snowy, and very windy. 

     I put out Friskies for the feral cat, was glad the weather kept me inside and not in the yard picking up the dog mines.  Better today, but I can tell the train is still off the tracks.  Better next time.

Social Media self-destruction

 I read with interest Shelley's post about the baffling and frustrating world of marketing. No author I know becomes a writer because they love the marketing. Most of us hate it - perhaps not all of it but the relentless push to keep your book or your name visible. I love the human encounters. The book club talks and public presentations, the chance meetings with readers, even the conferences like Left Coast Crime, although the pressure to perform and "be seen" can be intense.

But the day to day promotion online, mostly through social media, is becoming harder and harder, and I find myself wondering whether it's even worth it. Besides this blog and my website, I use two SM platforms - Facebook and Instagram - although I am much more engaged with Facebook. I did join Twitter but quit when Musk bought it. Instagram feels like flinging mud at a wall. I have no idea whether anything sticks. There is no give and take. Facebook, on the other hand, allowed me to build a community and communicate back and forth. I did create an author page as well as a personal one but found most people joined the personal page, which became a combination of friends, family, and fans who became friends. I post about book news but also about my dogs, cottage, travels, and notable day to day stuff. Since I joined in 2009, I've reconnected with faraway cousins, old classmates, and book lovers I've met at conferences and events.

But Facebook is becoming less and less useful and enjoyable. It is increasingly filled with sponsored ads, unsolicited posts, and pointless reels, so much so that posts from my actual friends are far fewer and are lost in the clutter of junk. In Canada, Meta blocks all links and posts from news sources, which means we can't share interesting information found in magazines or websites. And as people have noted, a web search on a product results in a feed inundated with similar products. 

But even worse, in the past six months or so, the increase in AI posts, bots, and misinformation has increased exponentially, to the point that nothing on Facebook is trustworthy. During our recent election, Facebook was flooded with fake videos about the candidates, especially Mark Carney, our new Prime Minister. The veracity of ads has always been suspect but now I believe nothing. Even if the source is a recognized business or person, there's no guarantee the post actually comes from them. Hacking and scams are everywhere, and I scroll in vain through piles and piles of junk in search of meaningful posts from friends. 

In Meta's pursuit of the almighty dollar, Facebook has lost its original purpose, and in the process its soul. It had been a unique platform for staying in touch with people and building new friendships, and I mourn its passing. No other platform does this; most are shallow and self-centred "look at me" style trivia. 

It's taken me over fifteen years to build a community on Facebook, and I know I will lose most of that if I give up on Facebook, but I am near the tipping point. I  have not yet tried Blue Sky, but it seems to function as Twitter used to, sharing information but not creating a community. What do others think? Has anyone found a promising alternative?

Are Conferences Business or Pleasure?

Catherine Dilts

Why would hundreds of introverts flock together? Isn’t that contrary to their very nature? When asked, most people told me they were hugely uncomfortable in crowds. But they could endure a weekend at a conference because this was their crowd. Their people. The weirdos who “get” their weird.

Writers’ conferences are both invigorating and draining. Last week Sybil Johnson shared her experiences at Malice Domestic. I attended the multi-genre Pikes Peak Writers Conference this weekend in my hometown. Here’s a peek at my adventure.

The theme at PPWC 2025 was The Future Is Now. Even people who do not write science fiction wore their SF-based costumes to the Friday night banquet. What? You don’t have a Star Trek uniform in your closet? An Alien face-hugger in a dresser drawer? Firefly-based attire? (A very realistic Mal was in attendance.)

And now I’ve revealed too much about myself. I suppose that was the point this three-day weekend. Revealing your true self to like-minded folks: WRITERS.

PPWC wasn’t all fun and games. We were there for business, too. The workshops provided educational opportunities. Three different class tracks offered craft education, business enlightenment, and writing life advice.

There was also the chance to pitch your project to industry professionals.

My dear friend and critique partner Beth pitched to an editor. She received validation for years of study and work with a “send me pages” from an editor. For non-writers, this means the person Beth pitched to was intrigued enough to request to see more of her novel. Send me the first three chapters may lead to acquisition and publication. Exciting!

I was seeking all the info I could get about Indy publishing and marketing. I’ve survived two small presses folding, my write-for-hire gig drying up, and my agent retiring. I’m ready to try something different. I received a fire-hose level education. How-to on an epic level.

A recently added feature at PPWC is Friday late-evening classes and roundtables. Starting at 9pm, these less formal gatherings kept writers energized for just a little bit longer – or way longer. Marketing Tips & Tricks with Susan Mitchell and Jenny Kate didn’t end until people were literally falling asleep at the table. We stumbled off to our rooms, hung up our Star Trek uniforms and hoped to get enough sleep to recharge for the next day.

Which started as early as you wanted. A 7:30 morning meditation with Johnny Worthen, a newcomers’ briefing at 8am, and workshops at 8:30. Another full day of classes, workshops, and hallway meetings with new writing friends.

Bar Con is the Saturday night opportunity to rub shoulders with industry professionals, and to unwind after two days of conference intensity. Yes, I really was having a good time. We unexpectedly became the cool kids table when Johnny Worthen pulled up a chair. Soon we had a lively crowd that talked until far too late into the evening.

Sunday morning, a surprising number of folks made it to the classes starting at 9am. My crew tried to divide and conquer, attending different sessions, then sharing notes later. I was exhausted, but dragged myself through the morning. My granddaughter insisted on staying for the lunch speaker, David R. Slayton. I’m glad she insisted, because he delivered an inspiring message.

As did all the mealtime speakers. That’s the part I left out about attending a writers’ conference. Besides business and pleasure, we received Inspiration. The words to keep you going in this often brutally unforgiving path.

Now, I’m ready to retreat into my writing cave and enjoy quiet time. Until next year…

Rediscovering the Joy of Writing

 

Happy Friday! Shelley here, once again, from Guam where I'm finding inspiration in the oddest places, like this moldering, broken balustrade overlooking the ocean from high atop a cliff covered in tangled vegetation and littered with trash--beverage containers, plastic bags, tattered towels, even a computer screen coming apart at the seams. 

There must be a story here at the end of the narrow path winding through the overgrown lot. A former resort hotel? Or the vacation compound of a wealthy Japanese family destroyed in some long-ago typhoon? I could probably research and find out, but I'm not sure I want to. I'd much rather imagine. 

Often there's a strange beauty in the broken things. A piquant nostalgia for what once was and could have been. An acknowledgment of a particular failure and the world and life moving on just the same. 

JOY 

Conflict--external or internal--is the heart of story. We put our characters through the proverbial wringer, squeezing the emotions from their arcs, pinning them up to dry on the narrative clothesline where they once again take shape, billowy like sheets or white, button-down shirts. They come off the line at the end of the day smelling like sunshine and grass with a faint, clean whiff of Ivory soap.

In our own creative journeys, we writers and artists also find ourselves conflicted. We are dumped into crucibles of our own making or of someone else's. The heat's turned up. We're bashed around. At this point, we must either adapt, change, or (metaphorically) die. 

I recently went through an intense period of creative questioning, searching, and ultimately changing, fueled by reflection on the last several years which involved publication of two novels; social media engagement and marketing; disappointing royalty statements; learning how to use a graphic design app for making marketing materials like headers, social media images, and reels; an experiment with Facebook ads (these worked but I disliked the process); wrangling with an expensive website that required coddling and fixes too often for my liking; and countless hours reading and listening and studying and watching "experts" on the topics related to "selling your books" and the publishing industry in general.

My conclusions? Marketing makes me miserable. A creative life doesn't have to be this hard. A mailing list is key. The publishing industry is a hard, cold, capitalist business. A really, REALLY good book sells itself by word of mouth. Social media is a dumpster, and it's on fire every single second of every single day. A total waste of time. 

My a-ha moment? When I remembered I got into this because of my love of books and my desire to craft stories. I realized nobody can "beat" me at THIS game, the game of writing (as opposed to the game of publishing.) 

If I continue to write, I win. 

If I continue to learn my craft and improve, I succeed. 

This isn't a unique perspective. We've all heard it before, but when it hits you, really hits you, that you don't care anymore if you ever make a living from your writing, or even if you ever sell another copy of your book, you feel a particular and awesome joy. The joy of creativity, purpose, and play. 

AM I JUST A LOSER?

I know what some of you are thinking (because I've thought it myself about myself and others. Yup. Not proud). People who have failed resort to this sort of thinking to make themselves feel better. 

I nod and say in reply, Yeah. And what's wrong with that? 

Is it more noble to feel terrible every day? Is it more worthwhile to pout and rail about the unfairness of life and publishing? Does it serve creativity to concentrate on failure and despair rather than joy? Is suffering somehow a better, more elevated outcome than happiness? 

How perverted that perspective!

Given the choice, I'll take happiness in my creative life, thank you very much. Publishing's game continues on. Rules change. Someone's gonna "win" and many are gonna "lose," and I'll watch from over here on the sidelines, stoic and detached, while others fight it out. I'd rather concentrate on my craft--something within my control--and revel in this lightness I'm feeling. 

I haven't felt this good about my writing life in several years. I'm listening to podcasts and reading articles on craft not on marketing. I'm enjoying the challenges of narrative structure, of thematic choices, and progressive plot complications. I'm about to rip my current short story to pieces and start all over again, and I DON'T CARE how long it takes me to get it right.

So, if you are struggling with these same dilemmas and are feeling like all this marketing and social media and striving are sucking the joy out of your creativity, consider setting all that aside, at least for now, and focusing just on the work for awhile. 

When you've finished something, send it out and see if anyone bites. Then forget about it and get back to the page . . . where the joy lives. 

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