Mid-Month Mysteries: Pride

 With June being Pride Month, I thought it would be interesting to look at cozy mysteries that feature LBGTIA protagonists. I wasn't sure how many I'd find, but here are two lists on Goodreads and a cozy mystery author's blog that fit the bill. Unfortunately, I haven't read any of the books, but Posted to Death and Cosplay Killer look particularly interesting to me. 

I recently read Queer and Cozy Mysteries, a collection of three short mysteries featuring a mother and teenage daughter who are both lesbians, a transgender caregiver who investigates a case of blackmail, and a family that puts on a drag queen show every Thanksgiving. I liked the second story the best.

The protagonist of my Murder Lake Mysteries is straight, but secondary characters include the couple Allen and Ben, who run the coffeehouse/bookstore Beans and Books. A transgender couple will be moving in in the sequel. Hopefully I can do them justice.

Summer Plans?

My son has officially finished middle school and growing more independent by the day. He received his second vaccine dose last week and will be fully vaccinated by the end of next week. Since my husband and I are already fully vaccinated, we'll be able to do more this summer than we did last year. Unfortunately, I have to prepare for an unannounced audit this fall (it'll happen sometime between late August and late October, but we won't know the exact date until the auditor arrives), so I won't be able to take much time off for a vacation. It may be possible to do something in early August, but nothing is definite. At least we should be able to visit more museums, get together with friends, and attend the Renaissance Fair in Wisconsin this year. 

There are various things we need to maintain around the house. My husband and son might paint a couple of rooms, and I'd love to hold a garage sale and clean out the basement. I've been wanting to do that for years, so we'll see if we make it happen this time.

I tend not to read so much in the summer (I walk outside instead of reading on the treadmill), but I've got a very good start on my Goodreads Reading Challenge. I'll discuss it at the end of the month.  

My main writing goal for the summer is to finish the first draft of Restaurants and Revenge, which is currently over 40,000 words. I need to get feedback from my beta readers, revise Murder at Magic Lake, and acquire a cover so I can publish it this fall. I'd also like to finish Jenna's story for The Seasons Between, the next collection of Season Avatars stories.

No matter what I ultimately end up doing, it'll be a busy summer for me. Do you have summer projects or plans to relax? Feel free to share in the comments.

IWSG-Time Away From Stories

 

Can you believe summer's almost here? This is my son's last week of middle school, and he'll have his graduation ceremony next Monday evening. It must be June, time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post. Learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.

Our hosts for this month are J Lenni Dorner, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, Lee Lowery, and Rachna Chhabria.

Here's our question for June: For how long do you shelve your first draft before reading it and re-drafting it? Is this dependent on your writing experience and the number of stories/books under your belt?

 

While writing experience has helped me finish stories in fewer drafts, there are other factors that matter more when I take time away from stories between drafts. The main factors are any other projects I'm currently juggling, the length of the story, and any deadlines I'm trying to meet. For novels, I normally take four to six weeks off between drafting and revising, while short stories might be a week (maybe less if I need to meet a contest deadline). However, I'm slowly working on a collection of short stories in the Season Avatars universe, and I won't revise any of them until all the stories are done. (I've only completed one story so far out of four or five.) 

How long do you let your stories breathe? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Library Habits

Libraries are the best place to indulge without spending money or consuming lots of calories. Every so often, I end up checking out more books than I can finish in a month. Here's a photo of my latest library book stack. Most of these books were checked out three weeks ago, but a couple were holds that came in afterwards. Please note that this stack doesn't include several books I already finished and returned (A Short History of Humanity, Arsenic and Adobo, A Sprinkling of Murder, A History of the Human Brain, A Study in Scarlet Women, and Catfishing on CatNet.), and I finished reading Fugitive Telemetry before I took this picture. Currently I'm in the middle of Ageless, and I'll start The Dictionary of Lost Words soon, since a dozen people are waiting for it.Thankfully, my library will automatically renew books as long as no one else has a hold on them. As you can see, most of the books are marked "New." I tend to spend the most time browsing the new books, though I have a long list of older books to check out when I'm ready for them.

 If you use the library, how often do you go? Do you check out other items besides books? Feel free to share in the comments.

Continuing Education

 In a few weeks, my son will both turn fourteen and graduate from middle school. We met (virtually) with the assistant head of his high school last week to discuss his classes for next year. I have to admit I would have liked going to this school, since they offer a lot of advanced classes. However, the class that I was most interested in (even though I don't think my son would be) was a music appreciation course offered as part of the Fine Arts section. Even though the last thing I need is another project, I was inspired to sign for a Coursera course on Classical Music. Now all I need to do is find the time for it.

I believe learning should be a lifelong goal. Reading has always been my preferred way to learn, but sometimes it's also important to engage other senses or practice a skill. 

Are there any new skills you'd like to learn or old ones that you want to improve? Feel free to share in the comments.

Mid-Month Mysteries: Asian-American Authors

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. As the wife of a Filipino-American and mother of a biracial child, I want to be a good ally. That's part of the reason I write books with diverse characters. (Another way to be an ally is to stop AAPI hate; learn more here.) My forthcoming cozy mystery, Murder at Magic Lake, will feature a heroine with a Filipino mother and white father. However, even though I've been with my husband for over thirty years, I'm no expert on Filipino culture. So for this month's cozy mystery blog post, I'd like to feature a few cozy mysteries written by Asian Americans.

If you'd like to read a mystery that does a good job of incorporating Filipino food and culture, I recommend Mia P. Manansala's Arsenic and Adobo. Lila works in a Filipino restaurant run by her aunt and grandmother. They serve plenty of traditional dishes but also adapt their cuisine as needed (for example, the aunt creates vegetarian versions for Lila's best friend). This book just came out, and a second one, Homicide and Halo-Halo, is forthcoming. (Adobo refers to a cooking method for meat and vegetables that involves marinating them with vinegar, soy sauce, and other seasonings before browning them. Halo-halo is a Filipino dessert made of shaved ice, milk, and various fruits.)

Another cozy mystery series featuring Asian characters and written by an Asian author is the Noodle Shop Mystery series by Vivien Chien. What I particularly like about this series is that Chien has set the eponymous noodle shop in an Asian mall in Cincinnati. This gives her an intimate setting within a larger city. Seven books are currently available, from Death by Dumpling to the latest, Fatal Fried Rice, which I have on hold at my local library.

Finally, there are the Raina Sun Mysteries written by Anne R. Tan. I've only read the first book in this series, so I can't say much about it. It's set on a college campus, and the heroine, Raina Sun, has to deal with not just mysteries but her grandmother. The series is up to ten books already, so I have a lot of catching up to do.

 

Have you read any of these books? Do you know of any other mysteries featuring Asian American or Pacific Islander characters? Feel free to share them in the comments.

 

IWSG: Readers' Responses and Status Update

Welcome to the merry month of May! I hope it's a pleasant one. Today is not just the Revenge of the Fifth (Star Wars reference), but also blogging day for the Insecure Writers' Support Group. Learn more about them on their website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.

 Our hosts for this month are Erika Beebe, PJ Colando, Tonja Drecker, Sadira Stone, and Cathrina Constantine. 

Here's our question for the month: Have any of your readers ever responded to your writing in a way that you didn't expect? If so, did it surprise you?

The only thing that's coming to mind happened a long time ago in response to my novella Lyon's Legacy. The reader was a co-worker who knew me in real life and was surprised by how much my characters swore in that story, since I seldom swear. That must be a sign I can write characters who are different from me.

Since I don't have much to say regarding the IWSG question, I'll provide a brief status update on my works in progress. Murder at Magic Lake is with beta readers. The sequel, Restaurants and Revenge, is well over 30,000 words. It might turn out longer than the first book. I'm focusing on that story for now and have temporarily set aside a novellette/novella called, "Jenna's Journey," showing Jenna from my Season Avatars series traveling to another country. (Most Avatars stay in their own countries, so it's a significant step for her.) I plan to publish a collection of short stories about my Season Avatars before I work on the sequel series. 

How do readers respond to your work? Feel free to share your stories in the comments.

Blurb for Murder at Magic Lake

 I've finally started sending out my cozy mystery to beta readers. Here's the blurb for Murder at Magic Lake:

After losing her job, twenty-nine-year-old Abigail Ritter isn’t looking forward to returning to her hometown of Magic Lake, Wisconsin, for her grandmother’s birthday party. All she has to offer her family is her own special fruit juice and tea blend. But when Grandma suffers a fatal accident in her apartment building, The Grand, Abigail’s cousin is blamed. Abigail will have to step up and investigate with the help of her best friend, an intriguing detective, and a magical stuffed fox named Sherlock. Abigail’s got a plan for the Grand and its abandoned restaurant, but will she solve the case or drown in a sea of suspects?

 Please let me know if you have any suggestions for improving it. 

A Shot of Hope

 Last week, I finally got my first Covid-19 vaccine dose. Although I had some initial difficulty getting an appointment, I was able to get one at a mass vaccination site close to my house. To celebrate, I wore a "Girls in Science" mask and my t-shirt from the March for Science. Once I arrived at the site, it was a very efficient process. It took less than fifteen minutes from the time I entered the building to the moment I received the injection. While I was waiting to make sure I didn't have a reaction, the appointment for my second dose was automatically scheduled exactly three weeks from my first one.

I did have some side effects from the first dose, mostly headaches. The first day was the worst, but I had some slight headaches the next day. I was pretty much back to normal by the second day. Of course, the side effects are supposed to be worse after the second shot, but fortunately my workplace is giving us time off to get the vaccine and recover.

I'm looking forward to being fully vaccinated in a little more than a month. My husband is an essential worker, so he's already fully vaccinated. Hopefully soon at least one of the vaccines will be approved for use in my son's age group. I'll feel more secure once we're all protected, though it will still take me a while before I resume my normal activities.

 Are you planning to get vaccinated, or have you already fully or partially protected? Are you having problems finding an appointment? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Mid-Month Mysteries: Libraries

Since anyone who loves to read mysteries probably also loves libraries, it's not surprising that there are many series that feature libraries. Here are a few series that I've started along with some more that I'd like to check out (pun intended).\

 Death Overdue is the first book in Allison Brook's Haunted Library series. The main character is a librarian who solves mysteries with the aid of a ghost that haunts the library. There are currently four books in the series.

A Murder for the Books is the first book in Victoria Gilbert's Blue Ridge Library series. I think I accidentally skipped ahead and read the fourth book in this series, which is called Bound for Murder. I need to go back and read the other books in order. This series currently has five books.

The Bodies in the Library is set in England. The library here is a private one made of first editions from a noblewoman's library. I've read the first book, but there are two more in the series by Elizabeth Spann Craig.

A new series coming out this summer starts with Murder at the Lakeside Library, by Holly Danvers. The library here is an informal one that's part of a lakeside cabin in Wisconsin. I'll have to keep this one in mind.

There are a lot of other series I could list, but I'll keep this post short for now. Have you read any of these series? Are there others that you'd recommend? Feel free to share them in the comments.

 

IWSG: Taking Risks

Welcome to the month of April--and another Insecure Writer's Support Group post! You can learn more about them on their website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed.  

Our hosts this month are PK Hrezo, Pat Garcia, SE White, Lisa Buie Collard, and Diane Burton.

Our question for this month is Are you a risk-taker when writing? Do you try something radically different in style/POV/etc. or add controversial topics to your work?

I don't think it's possible to grow as an artist or as a person without taking some risks. Writing short stories can be a good way to try new writing techniques. For example, the climate fiction short story I'm revising follows one person over the course of her life, with scenes at pivotal moments. I wouldn't say it's radically different from my normal style, but it's different from the other types of short stories I've written before, which are normally focused on a single problem and take place within a short amount of time. 

Another way to take risks is to try writing in new genres, such as the cozy mystery series I'm working on. My heroine is biracial, so she'll encounter causal racism and sexism at various points in the series. I'm not sure how many incidents I can include before the "cozy" feeling readers are looking for disappears, but I think it's important to show them. We'll see what the beta readers think. 

I also think it's harder to take risks as an author once you become known for a certain genre or style. Traditionally published authors sometimes get around this by writing under a pseudonym, and I know of a couple of indie authors who do the same thing with some of their work. While I considered publishing my mysteries under a pseudonym, I plan to use my real name. These will be paranormal cozy mysteries, so hopefully some of my readers will cross over to my fantasy work.

How do you feel about risk-taking? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

 

The Catalyst Chronicles Series

 After discussing all the projects I had in various stages of writing, revising, or submitting, I couldn't help thinking of one project that's been on the back burner for a long time: the science fiction Catalyst Chronicles series. Currently published are the novella Lyon's Legacy, a short story called "The Mommy Clone," the novel Twinned Universes, and a pair of short stories published under the title "Seasonal Stories from the Sagan." 

I had planned to write another short story set after Twinned Universes. This short story is tentatively titled "The Unnumbered World" and would focus on a secondary character adapting to events. Coming after that story would be a novel I tentatively call Catalyst in the Crucible, which would be set a few years after "The Unnumbered World" and be a followup to Twinned Universes. 

Although I have partial drafts of both stories, I've been stuck on how to complete them (or how to get through the middle to reach the end). Also, although Lyon's Legacy and Twinned Universes involved time travel, Catalyst in the Crucible won't. A traditional publisher would have a fit if I switched subgenres in the middle of a series, and I'm not sure how marketing this series myself would work. I'd have to hope my readers like the characters as much as I do.

It would be a shame to abandon the Catalyst Chronicles characters completely, but it is difficult juggling multiple projects. Fortunately, I finished the rough draft of a short story last week, and I have to submit to a contest by April 12th. Once that's done, I want to focus on my Season Avatars short story collection and my new cozy mystery series for a while. However, if I get stuck on them, it might be time to revisit some older projects. Ultimately, I need to focus on spending more time on my current and past project before chasing new ones.

Do you have stories that you don't want to trunk but you don't know how to finish? Feel free to discuss them in the comments.

Project Updates

It's been a while since I discussed the projects I'm working on, so I thought I'd give a brief status update on them today. At the very least, it'll make me more accountable to myself. So here's a list of my various writing projects in no particular order:

Cli-Fi (Climate Fiction) Story: I mentioned previously that I'm working on a story for a cli-fi contest. The title is currently "The Trees of Carson Tower," but I may change it. I'm still working on the first draft, as I took a wrong turn with the plot and got stuck. I think I've figured out how to proceed and hope I can finish the draft by the end of the week--or month, at latest. The deadline for submitting the story is April 12th. If I don't make that deadline, or if the story is rejected, I may save it for a cli-fi collection of my own. This story is my top priority at the moment.

Jenna's Journey: This story is intended for a short story collection that will be set after Summon The Seasons and act as a bridge between my Season Avatars series and a spin-off series. This particular story will follow Jenna as she travels to the heart of the Fip Empire. The Season Avatars normally don't leave their country, so there will be plenty of opportunities for world-building and character development, as well as foreshadowing the short story Rob's Choice. I'm still partway through the first draft. This is the story I work on when I'm stuck with my other projects.

Murder at Magic Lake: I finally managed to finish the second draft; revising this story took longer than writing it, which isn't surprising since cozy mysteries are a new genre for me. I'm going to read through it again and decide if I'm ready for beta readers. I can draft a blurb when I pitch this story on a Facebook group for cozy mystery readers and writers. This story is my second priority.

Restaurants and Revenge: This is the second book in my cozy mystery series. I'm around halfway through the first draft, but I've already had to go back and revise it as I get new ideas. This story has been put on hold for a while, but once I finish the cli-fi story, I plan to return to it.

Silents for Swans: This is a pandemic version of a fairy tale I wrote last summer. I've submitted it to three different markets without success. There's a potential market for this story, but the submission period won't open until November. I'm holding the story for now, but if I find a market that sounds like a good fit before November, I'll send it there.

Thoth's Wager: This is a short story written for a themed anthology, but it was rejected. I revised it, but I need to send it to different markets. The subgenre is godpunk, so I need to find a place that's looking for that genre.

What are you working on? Feel free to share in the comments.

Mid-Month Mysteries: Irish Cozies

Whether or not you're Irish (I used to think I was, but DNA tests show I'm not), March is a good month to focus on mysteries set in Ireland. I've found two sites that already have lists of Irish cozies (check here and here), so today I'll discuss two Irish series that I've personally read.

Alexia Gordon has created a compelling character in Gethsemane Brown, an African-American classical musician who get stranded in an Irish village. Fortunately, she's asked to house-sit a cottage, and she soon develops a friendship with the ghost of the former owner. Gethsemane is a strong-minded woman who's more than a match for the most complicated mystery. The first book in this series, Murder in G Major, won several awards. There are five total books in this series, with the last one, Execution in E, being published last year. Hopefully we'll get another book in this series soon.

The Vampire Book Club also features an American woman, Quinn Calahan, living in a cozy Irish village. This series by best-selling author Nancy Warren has ties to her Vampire Knitting Club series (characters from the latter series appeared in the first book of the former.) Quinn is a middle-aged witch who's been banished to Ireland for misusing her magic. I enjoy her interactions with the local witches, but I can't provide too many details for fear of spoilers. There are currently three books in this series, and I'm looking forward to more.

What's your favorite book set in Ireland? Feel free to share in the comments.

Seasons and Reading/Writing

After a long, wintry, February, we're finally getting a stretch of decent weather in the Chicago suburbs. It's uplifting to be able to go for a walk in the neighborhood. Of course, by the time this blog post goes live, we'll return to more seasonable weather. Still, the equinox is coming soon, and by the end of April or early May we'll have true spring. 

I've never been much of an outdoors person, but when the weather is nice, I do enjoy spending more time outside. The tradeoff is I spend less time reading and writing. (I usually start off my annual reading challenge several books ahead, only to fall behind in summer and catch up in the fall and winter.) Here are a few things I try to do to keep indoor and outdoor activities in balance:

1. Go out early. During the summer, I get my exercise by walking in a nearby park. I usually go shortly after I get up. There are fewer people around, so it's easier to enjoy nature. It's also not hot, and I don't have to worry about sun exposure. (When the weather is bad, I normally exercise on a treadmill and read.)

2. Sit outside with a book. 

3. If we're traveling somewhere, my husband normally does most of the driving, so I use the time to read, crochet, or even write.

Are you feeling spring fever too? Do you feel that you do less reading or writing during the warm months? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

IWSG: Reading Genres

Welcome to March! Let's hope this month isn't quite as mad as last year. The first post of the month is always for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Learn more about them on their website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.

Our hosts this month are Sarah--The Faux Fountain Pen, Jacqui Murray, Chemist Ken, Victoria Marie Lees, Natalie Aguirre, and JQ Rose.

Here's our question for this month: Everyone has a favorite genre or genres to write. But what about your reading preferences? Do you read widely or only within the genre(s) you create stories for? What motivates your reading choice?

 The main genres I write are fantasy, cozy mystery, and science fiction. Those are also the genres I prefer to read. Occasionally I'll venture out of those genres into classics, an historical novel, or a popular contemporary work. About twenty to twenty-five percent of my reading is nonfiction; I tend to read science, history, research topics for writing (for example, I'm currently reading Rewilding North America for a climate-fiction short story I'm working on), or anything I want to learn more about. I read more widely when I was younger, but these days I'm more focused on the genres I enjoy. As for what draws me to these genres, I would say that science fiction and fantasy help me escape my everyday life. I still crave stories that evoke a sense of wonder, but the older and more experienced/cynical one gets, the harder it is to find wonder. Cozy mysteries not only offer a way to right a wrong and find justice, but, as the name implies, they can offer a cozy atmosphere and possibly an ensemble of characters that feel like friends.

What types of books do you like to read, and why? Feel free to share in the comments.

Selling Short Stories

Over the past few years, I've become more interested in writing short stories. However, figuring out what to do with them when they're done isn't always easy. Some of them I've written as part of the Catalyst Chronicles or Season Avatars series, so I've published them independently. Other stories have been published independently because I wanted to put them out. However, I've also been writing stories for specific anthologies. Some of them were accepted by the targeted anthology, but not all of them were. I also wrote a fairty-tale-takeoff last year because I needed to write it in response to the pandemic. I've submitted it to a few professional markets without takers so far. However, I just learned of a potential market for fairy tale stories that will open in November, so I'll hold this short story until then. Another short story I'm trying to sell has Egyptian/godpunk/urban fantasy elements. I'm still deciding if I want to submit it to pro and semipro markets now or wait until I learn of a market looking for this specific type of story.

Some short stories I'm working on have the potential for future collections whether or not I sell them elsewhere. The cli-fi story I mentioned last week is set in the same world as "A Shawl for Janice," and I have another story that could be revised to fit there as well. If I write a few more stories in that setting (I mentioned a couple of ideas last week), I would have enough for a themed collection. 

Although I've already published one collection of stories in the Season Avatars world, I'm currently working on another set of stories that would take place after Summon the Seasons. My long-term plans include a (potentially) seven-book sequel series in that world, and this collection would bridge the gap between the two series. 

Writing a short story isn't necessarily quick for me; it can take months for me to revise it to my satisfaction. Juggling multiple projects at different stages requires as much work as a full novel. However, short stories help me improve my craft and allow me to tell stories that wouldn't work at longer length. It can be difficult deciding where to market some stories, but knowing that I can always put them out as eBooks makes me feel that the effort of writing short stories won't be wasted.

Do you write or read short stories? If you write them, do you publish them yourself or submit them to markets? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Cli-Fi and Conflict

One of the short story projects I'm working on is for a contest about climate fiction, or, as it's more commonly known, cli-fi. You can learn more about cli-fi and the contest here. (Of course, having even mentioned this project publically, I've now jinxed it. I'm sure I face long odds anyway, given the number of people who will probably enter.) Cli-fi is closely related to solarpunk in that they both imagine positive futures for humanity. I actually learned about this contest from the editor of the solarpunk anthology that my short story "A Shawl for Janice" appeared in last year.

Ironically, one problem with imagining optimistic futures is that fiction thrives on conflict. If everything is good, what is there to write about? In "A Shawl for Janice," I focused on the internal conflict my heroine felt when confronting her family's history. Some of the ideas I considered for the current story involved a Native American rewilding expert moving to a new location and experiencing interpersonal conflict with one of her coworkers or two groups with different values clashing over resources. I'm currently trying a montage approach about a woman's view of trees changing over her life, as she grows from a young girl charged with planting an acorn to someone managing trees for her community. Although the story will focus on character development, there will be a parallel story of how her community uses trees to cope with environmental issues.

Have you read any cli-fi or solarpunk stories? If so, what do you think of the genre? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Mid-Month Mysteries: Chocolate

Whether you consider chocolate "the food of the gods," its own food group, a reward at the end of the day, or something else, chocolate is a favorite flavor for many people, myself included. It's not surprising that many cozy mysteries include this treat. However, so many mysteries feature baked goods that I feel they should be the subject of a separate post (or posts, if I want to break it down by cakes, scones, cupcakes, or something else.) For this post, I want to focus on cozy mysteries that feature chocolates that you might find at a specialty shop. (My favorite chocolate shop is Anna Shea Chocolates and Lounge. They make so many wonderful treats, including cupcakes, fondue, hot chocolate, and more. Their lounge is a great place to meet friends, have a date night with my husband, or even just hang out for a change of scenery.)

When I think of chocolate-themed cozy mysteries, the series I'm most familiar with is H. Y. Hanna's Bewitched by Chocolate series. It's set in a small English town, where a witch creates enchanted chocolates. The heroine is the witch's granddaughter and also has chocolate magic. Here's a link to the first book, Dark, Witch, and Creamy. There are currently seven books in the series, but it looks like I haven't finished it. Time to catch up! I also neglected to mention Hanna's Oxford Tearoom series last month in my post on tea, so here's a link to the first book in that series as well, A Scone to Die For.

 

I've found three other series featuring chocolate shops or chocolate factories, but I haven't read any of these books yet. Rest assured they'll be going on my gigantic To-Read list. Here are links to the first book in each series:

Cream of Sweet by Wendy Meadows

The Sweet Smell of Murder by Cindy Bell

The Chocolate Cat Caper by Joanna Carl

Sadly, there's no special mention of chocolate or a chocolate shop in the mystery I'm currently editing, but the heroine does live close to a bookstores that sells baked treats. 

Cozy mysteries featuring bookstores will probably be my next theme for this series. Please return in March to read more!

Insecure Writer's Support Group: Blogging Buddies

 

Welcome to another month with the Insecure Writer's Support Group, where we share our writing struggles and triumphs. Learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed.

Our "hosts with the posts" this month are Louise-Fundy Blue, Jennifer Lane, Mary Aalgaard, Patsy Collins, and Nancy Gideon.

Our question this month relates to blogging: Blogging is often more than just sharing stories. It's often the start of special friendships and relationships. Have you made any friends through the blogosphere?

I started blogging to stay in touch with my college friends, but it's helped me make more friends. I've been fortunate to be part of at least three blogging groups besides the IWSG. They include a "blog chain" of writers who would take turns discussing a subject and link to other bloggers in the chain; a "blog ring of power" (BRoP) that interviewed writers (with each blogger posting a different part of the interview); and a group of independent writers who put out a magazine on Amazon called Indie Writers Monthly. I don't think I've met any of these bloggers in person, but I still connect with some of them through Facebook. (Ironically, I just realized I haven't checked any of their blogs in ages, but I spend much less time blogging than I used to myself.) I might also attend a virtual birthday party for one of my blogging buddies from the Blog Ring of Power this week. The Atlantic posted an article this week about the importance of casual friends in our lives. Hopefully we will remember that long after the pandemic is over. (And yes, I should make more of an effort to visit other IWSG members' blogs, but between being all day in the office at work and spending time playing board games with my husband in the evenings, I tend not to have a lot of free time on Wednesday. I should still make it a goal to read more blogs, though.)

How much do you interact with other bloggers? Are you friends with any of them? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

 

The End is Always Near (Book Review)

 As a writer, I consider any non-fiction book I read potential research for stories. One book I recently borrowed from the library for research is The End Is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses. The author is Dan Carlin, who hosts a podcast called Hardcore History. I wasn't familiar with the podcast before reading this book; I prefer to take in information visibly instead of audibly. This book consists of several chapters that apparently are revised versions of some of Carlin's podcasts. (A Goodreads reviewer pointed this out.)

As I write this blog on Sunday, I'm only partway through this book. Some of the early chapters don't seem to meet the theme of this book, such as the one on parenting. While it's an interesting read, it wasn't what I expected. Another early chapter discusses how tough people are today versus those from previous areas. Carlin seems to think earlier people were tougher, ignoring the health and education benefits we have today.

Later chapters deal with historical events that fit the theme, like the fall of the Roman Empire and pandemics. These chapters not only describe what happened but also discuss the ramifications (such as the Black Death giving peasants opportunity to claim farmland). One thing I don't like about Carlin's writing style is his putting so many asides in footnotes. This disrupts the flow of the main text.

Despite its flaws, the book is worth reading. I'm not sure yet if I'll listen to the podcasts.

Do you enjoy reading about history? If so, do you have favorite eras? Feel free to share in the comments.

Bird Watching

 One thing I love to do in the winter is feed the birds. A side benefit of working more from home this year is being able to watch them at lunch. For a suburban area, we get a pretty good variety. Our visitors include cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, mourning doves, juncos, downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers, and unidentified sparrows. This year, I'm also getting some birds I haven't noticed before, like these two:

This is a junco, but not the slate-colored variety I normally see. I posted this picture in a Facebook birding group, and the consensus seems to be that it's a pink-sided junco normally found out west. I wonder if it could be a hybrid between different varieties.

The bird below is also new to me this year. I thought at first it was a pine siskin, but someone else thought it could be a song sparrow. I really need to work on identifying my sparrows!

Do you like watching or feeding birds? Do you have a favorite? If so, feel free to share it in the comments.

 

 

 

Mid-Month Mysteries: Tea

What can be cozier in the middle of winter than cradling a cup of your favorite warm beverage in your cold hands? For me, that beverage is tea, particularly green tea. My favorite type is jasmine pearl green tea, but I also enjoy other types like sencha and gyokuro. On the left is my teapot, also known as PorgPot. He's been my most valuable coworker at home.

There are several cozy mystery series out there featuring tea or tea shops, but many of the ones I've read feature not just the beverage, but the ritual of afternoon tea. I particularly enjoyed the Chintz 'n China series by Yasmine Galenorn. You can find the first book, Ghost of a Chance, here. It's been a while since I read that series, but I think the main character sells a lot of teapots in addition to tea. Another author who writes about tea shops is Laura Childs in her Tea Shop Mysteries (see link for the series list). I just finished the first book in the series, Death by Darjeeling. While her descriptions of tea are the best I've read in cozy mysteries, other parts of the book didn't work so well for me. However, I'm particularly looking forward to Erin Johnson's Spelling the Tea, which will be published later this month and is the first book in a vampire tea room mystery series. I enjoyed Johnson's Spells and Caramels series. Other tea cozy mystery books I've found on Goodreads but haven't read include Steeped in Murder and Pushing Up Daisies. 

Tea can feature in a mystery by being a vehicle for poison. The poison can either be added to the tea, or the tea can also be brewed with toxic plants. Hot water can also be used as a defensive weapon.

Abigail Ritter, the heroine of my upcoming Magic Lake Mysteries series, will be running a tea shop, but her focus will be on fruit teas and bubble teas. 

What's your favorite type of tea? Feel free to share in the comments.

IWSG: Writer Turnoffs

Welcome to the first Insecure Writer's Support Group post of 2021! We're here to share our concerns and encourage other writers. Learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook page, or Twitter.

Our hosts this month are Ronel Janse van Vuuren, J Lenni Dorner, Gwen Gardner, Sandra Cox, and Louise-Fundy Blue.

Here's our question for the month: As a writer, when you're reading someone else's work, what stops you from finishing a book/throws you out of the story/frustrates you the most about other people's books?

Writers are probably much more critical readers than pure readers. For example, last month, I read the first book in a cozy mystery series by a bestselling author. (Title and author name withheld.) The first chapter contained a mistake about the main character's profession (she had a degree that didn't exist). The second chapter was a breakup scene, but the structure of it didn't make sense to me. The unemployed boyfriend first worried about his girlfriend was going to pay the bills, then announced he had just landed a new acting job in a new city (rendering his first complaint moot), and then finally came out as gay after three years of being together. I found out later this author is supposed to be funny, so maybe what I thought were bugs were actually examples of her humor. However, I also found many of the side characters to be stereotypes, and the murderer turned out to be someone who hadn't been part of the story before then. These were elements that didn't work for me, but many of the reviewers on Goodreads seemed to enjoy the story. I think the readers were reacting to other, emotional aspects of the story that didn't work for me. I finished the book mainly for my annual Goodreads reading challenge. This year, I'm backing off on my reading goal slightly so I have more freedom to quit books I don't care for.

Perhaps this the best way to sum up my frustrations with other people's books: my personality type is INTJ, which is the rarest type among women. Many books that appeal to other people don't appeal to me, and I worry about making my works emotionally appealing to others. I'm hoping as I continue to write and try new genres to find more common ground with my readers.

What frustrates you about other people's works? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

2020 in Review: Reading

Welcome to the last post of 2021, a year that most of us probably can't wait to end. Here's hoping we'll all be doing better by this time next year. 

At the end of every year, I like to look back at the books I've read. Here's my list on Goodreads. I track only books I finish, not those I start. (This is why I don't always record the date I start a book, but I am better at recording when I finish.) Goodreads counts everything from short stories to multi-volume sets as a single book, so I do my best to track my reading accordingly. My initial goal for 2020 was 150 books, but I adjusted my goal a couple of times for a final goal of 140 books. Goodreads says I read 144 books this year, but I can only account for 143. (I think one of them may have been counted twice.) With a little push, I might add one more book before midnight tomorrow. Considering two of my books were actually three-book collections but still counted as a single item, I came pretty close to reaching my original goal. Reading Swann's Way didn't help.

My breakdown by genre is listed below:

Fantasy: 40

Science Fiction: 10

Mystery (cozy or otherwise): 52

Other Fiction: 9

Non-Fiction: 32

This might be the first time that mystery, not fantasy, has been my top category. (Many of the cozy mysteries I like have paranormal elements, but I still count them under mystery instead of fantasy.) Since I'm working on a cozy mystery series, naturally I need to learn more about this genre, though I was reading it before I decided to write it. Some of my other reading goals this year were to read ten books on writing, five physical books from my To Be Read pile, and 40 non-fiction books. I came close with the non-fiction, but I only read four books on writing and nothing from the TBR pile. I have a feeling many of those books will never be read, alas. EBooks outnumber paper books 91 to 52. Although my library was closed for a couple of months due to COVID-19, I still managed to check out quite a few paper books along with eBooks.

 

Here are a few recommendations from the year:

The Bird Way

Spellbreaker

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

The Heroine's Journey

Midnight Bargain

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

The Precipice

Dread Nation

Oona Out of Order

Bannerless

Factfulness

The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

 

I'm not sure yet what reading goals I want to set for 2021, but I'll try to make them more realistic.

What was your favorite book this year? Feel free to share it in the comments.

2020 in Review: Writing

Welcome to my penultimate post of 2020, where I discuss how my writing plans, like everything else this year, didn't go the way I thought they would. Nevertheless, I did manage to accomplish some useful things.

At the beginning of 2020, my main goal was to finish my urban fantasy series about a dryad living on the UW-Madison campus. I not only need to finish the final book of the trilogy, but I need to revise the first two books. I still continue to struggle with this series. One of my main issues is that the focus of the series has shifted from my heroine to her love interest. I need to do a better job of balancing their stories so I can complete both of them. The other issue is that I keep abandoning this series to focus on shiny new projects. Even when I set goals for myself to write a certain number of words on this series, it doesn't happen. I guess I need to ask myself some hard questions about this series to see if I still want to finish it when I have so many other stories competing for my attention.

Even though I didn't accomplish much on the dryads trilogy, I still finished or started several other projects. They include the first draft of the first book of a cozy mystery series, about half of the second cozy mystery book in that series, a fantasy short story (a pandemic version of the Seven Swans fairy tale) that I'm currently trying to sell, the first draft of a novelette in the Seasons Avatars universe, and another fantasy short story targeted for an anthology that closes next week. The final story isn't quite done as I write this blog post on Sunday, so hopefully I'll have the first draft done before this post goes live.

I didn't indie-publish anything this year, but my short story "A Shawl for Janice" was published in a solarpunk anthology in January. One of my publishing goals for this year was to sell (not just give away) 100 books. It's a modest goal, certainly not more than coffee-level money, but at least I managed to meet it. I sold about 112 books across almost all platforms (I haven't checked Google Play lately.) One publishing thing I did this year was stop relying on distributors like Draft2Digital and publish directly to Kobo, Google, Barnes and Noble, and Apple. This is supposed to give me better control of marketing and promotions, but I still have a lot to learn about working with these platforms.

Given how easily my plans go awry, is it worth setting goals for 2021? I still think so, though I probably need to focus more on my goals and try not to let new projects distract me. Before I can set goals for specific projects, I need to decide how much time I want to give to cozy mysteries and how much time I want to give to my science fiction/fantasy. I think the cozy mysteries offer more market potential, but I still want to write in the Season Avatars universe and revisit other worlds I've created. How to juggle all that along with my job, family, and other personal projects continues to be a challenge.

Happy Holidays to everyone! Next week, I'll discuss reading in 2020. For now, feel free to share how your writing went this year.

Mid-Month Mysteries: Knitting and Crochet

Since I'm spending so much time reading and writing cozy mysteries, I figured it's time I added a monthly feature about them to my blog. After umpteen years of blogging, I need to find more topics to blog about.

Cozy mysteries often feature protagonists who either knit or crochet as a hobby (such as Pamela Paterson in the Knit and Nibble series by Peggy Ehrhart) or run a yarn shop, such as Lucy Swift in the Vampire Knitting Club series by Nancy Warren. However, the majority of stories seem to feature knitters, not crocheters or "hookers." The only series I know of featuring crochet is Betty Hechtman's A Crochet Mystery series. (I started reading this series so long ago I was buying it in paperback, but it's been a while since I've bought any books in this series.) I'm not quite sure why knitting is more popular than crochet in this genre. I thought perhaps more people knit than crochet, but according to this website, that doesn't seem to be the case. (I'm not sure how this breaks down on Ravelry.) Knitting is older than crochet; according to Wikipedia, crochet as we know it developed in the nineteenth century. 

One reason knitting is featured in cozy mysteries could be the tools used. Knitting needles, which are pointed, are deadlier than blunt crochet hooks. In my opinion, yarn makes a better murder weapon. Yarn can be used to strangle someone, but it could also be used to create a tripping hazard at the top of a staircase. Yarn could also be dyed with toxic chemicals, like the Victorian-era green dye that contained arsenic. (As a side note, my fantasy Season Avatars series features characters who wear colors associated with the deity they're linked to. This includes colors like yellow and green. Fortunately, my characters have magic which helps them realize the health risk of certain dyes and create safer ones.) Both knitters and hookers might carry scissors with them, along with stitch counters, small balls of unused yarn, and other potential items that could choke a victim.

No matter whether the heroine knits or crochets, she may meet with other people who share her interest. These people can be victims, assistant investigators, or even murderers. The projects they work on can be sweaters (very appropriate for a cozy!), but they can be other types of clothing or even stuffed animals. Items can be gifted or donated to charity. I think it would be interesting to see these crafts used in other ways. For example, yarn bombing might be used to leave messages or clues. Although I know at least one person who spins and dyes yarn, I don't think I've seen a heroine do that in a series. It would be interesting to learn more about those textile arts.

Although Abigail Ritter, the heroine of my Magic Lake Mysteries series, isn't a knitter or hooker at first, she will discover as the series progresses that knitting needles, crochet hooks, and other tools for women's work have played an important role in her town's history. In particular, amigurumi will be featured in this series. I'm still editing the first book in the series, which will be called Murder in Magic Lake. Hopefully I can publish it next year.

Finally, I should discuss my own experience with crochet. My mother used to crochet when I was a teenager, but since I'm left-handed, she didn't know how to teach me. When I was in my twenties, I taught myself how to do it from books. (This was long before YouTube, and I crochet right-handed because everything was shown that way.) Among other projects, I made a ringbearer pillow for my wedding and a layette set for my son. (Here's a photo.) Of course, once my son was born, I didn't have much time for hobbies. However, I rediscovered crochet when I made a couple of pussy hats for the Women's March of 2017. When my husband gave me a kit for making Star Wars characters, I made a lot of them, sold them to friends, and donated part of the proceeds to charity. I tried some bigger projects in 2020, but they didn't work out very well. (No surprise there, I guess.) Although cozy mysteries have inspired me to try knitting, I haven't gotten the hang of it. Heck, I'm still not sure if I should do it right-handed or left-handed!

What are your favorite mystery books featuring knitting or crochet? Feel free to share in the comments.

Winning Whamageddon

 Last Christmas, I thought I might win, but on the way home, a tune did me in.... I'm talking about Whamageddon, the online game where people try to go from December 1st to midnight on December 24th without hearing George Michael's version of "Last Christmas." I like the song, but I also enjoy playing along with Whamageddon. Most years, I'm able to win, but last year I heard the song on the radio as I was driving home. Here are a few strategies I use to avoid hearing the song:

1. At home, I listen to my normal Pandora stations instead of holiday ones until a couple of days before Christmas. When I do listen to Christmas music, I select traditional carols instead of popular songs.

2. On December 8th, in memory of John Lennon, I listen to Beatles songs and his solo work. I also start my annual Beatles marathon, where I listen to all of their albums in chronological order.  This usually takes several days if I only listen to a couple of albums in the evenings.

3. I avoid going to stores as much as possible (a little easier this year since my husband does most of our shopping).

4. Instead of listening to the radio when I drive, I'll probably listen to one of my lecture series on Audible. 

5. To celebrate the winter solstice, I'll listen to Sting's If On a Winter's Night album on the 21st.

6. Assuming I do make it to Christmas without hearing "Last Christmas," I'll listen to it on YouTube.

 

How do you feel about holiday music? Do you have any favorite carols or popular songs? Here's hoping you're not sent to Whamhalla early!

IWSG: Writing Seasons

 Welcome to December, a.k.a. the Boss Level of 2020. I hope you're staying safe this season. Here's to the last Insecure Writer's Support Group post of 2020! You can learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook group, or Twitter feed.

Our hosts this month are Pat Garcia, Sylvia Ney, Liesbet at Roaming About, Cathrina Constantine, and Natalie Aguirre.

Here's our question for December: Are there months or times of the year that you are more productive with your writing than other months, and why?

 I'm not consistent with keeping a writing journal, but there are definitely times of the year when there are a lot of other activities that cut into my writing time. The period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a good example. There's buying and wrapping presents, baking (my husband and I will have six types of cookies, a fudge, and truffles done by the end of Sunday, when I'm writing this post, and I may have more done before this post goes live), decorating, card designing, social obligations, and cooking for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Once I'm past Christmas, though, I usually have some time off before New Year's Day. I tend to use that time to update my website and eBook back matter in addition to writing. In general, fall and winter feel more like prime writing time to me. When the weather is nice, it's tempting to be outside. 

What's your best writing season? Feel free to share in the comments.

 

Virtual Members' Nights (and Day)

One of the many family traditions we weren't able to perform this year was visiting the Field Museum for Member's Night. This event is normally held in May over two nights (usually Thursday and Friday) and allows members to see some of the research being done at the museum and learn how new exhibits are designed. Fortunately, the Field Museum came up with a new way to participate this year: virtually over Zoom. They set up three sessions last week, each with several short presentations on different topics. I attended all of them, though I didn't watch every presentation. (My husband had to work during the presentations. I did share the Zoom link with my son, though I don't know if he watched any of the sessions on his own.) Here are a few of the presentation topics:

Totem poles (cleaning and imaging)

Hats and headgear (ancient hats mostly from Asia)

Green River fossils (see below)

Gems (Victorian household items made from gems; we got to guess what they were used for)

Artifacts from Kish, one of the oldest urban areas

Meteorites

Fossil prep (we got to see two of staff members actually doing this at their homes)

Fish specimens (we saw some of those at Dozing with the Dinos in March)

Dinosaurs (of course!)--the oversize collection

Some of the presentations I didn't get to see involved birds, moccasins, and mummies. There were a couple of presentations from Thursday night that aren't coming to mind at the moment.

The presentation I enjoyed the most was the Green River fossil presentation, which focused on ancient bird fossils. They showed a very nice fossil of a 155-million-year-old bird with impressions of feathers visible. Dr. O'Connor, Associate Curator of Reptile Fossils, explained that contrary to what you might expect, they found evidence of soft tissue preservation in these fossils. By demineralizing and staining a sample from another ancient bird fossil, they were able to find evidence of ovarian tissue in the fossil. Most birds have only one ovary (probably an adaption for flight), so this work showed that the ovary reduction happened very early in bird evolution. I thought that was fascinating work that could change how other fossils are studied, which would allow us to learn more about prehistoric life.

We did visit the Field Museum when they reopened in July, but unfortunately, the Chicago museums had to close down again last week. It was good to reconnect with The Field again, even if it was just virtually. Hopefully next year the whole family can attend a Members' Night in person. In the meantime, please support your local museum(s)!

Pushcart Prize Nomination

 

I'm thrilled to announce that World Weaver Press has nominated my short story, "A Shawl for Janice," for the Pushcart Prize. "A Shawl for Janice" was published in Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Winters in January. (Anyone still remember January 2020? It seems so long ago....) The Pushcart Prize honors writers of poetry, short stories, and essays. Each small press can nominate up to six entries per year. I'm honored that World Weaver Press not only chose to publish my short story in their anthology but decided it was among the best stories they published this year. You can see the announcement on their blog here.

Drafts and Layers

 I thought it would be an interesting to discuss how authors might work on different parts of their story in different drafts. When I start a first draft, I generally have a sense of where I want to start and end and maybe a few bits in the middle. I still tend to discover most of my scenes and plot points as I write. (I guess no matter how much I try, I'll never be a full-on plotter.) In my first drafts, I tend to focus on story and dialogue. Description may be scant in the first draft. Since I'm a pantser, my second drafts often require a lot of work. I may change the scenes I initially wrote if I come up with something better. Often, details about the characters may change as well. I'm trying to be more mindful about the emotional aspect of my stories, both in developing character emotions and reader responses. Sometimes my work needs additional drafts before I feel it's solid. Then at that point I can focus on improving my sentences and word choices. The final pass is dedicated to removing typos and fiddling with the story until I get tired of it.

I think I write the way I do because it's easier for me to work on certain aspects of the story than others. I tend to be sparse in my descriptions because I feel more uncertain about them (in that I may make a mistake). I feel more confident about my dialogue, however, and it flows more easily for me. Hopefully as I keep writing and improving I can juggle more story elements in the first draft. I'm certainly more aware of them than I was as a beginning writer.

Do you feel that your first drafts focus more on certain story elements and others require more development? What are your story element strengths and weaknesses? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

 

IWSG: Why I Write

We made it to November 2020, everyone. By the time this post goes live, the election will be over, though we may not know yet who the next president will be or what Congress and the Senate will look like. I expect the coming winter to be tough, but hopefully next year we'll have a vaccine for Covid-19 and will be able to start rebuilding. In the meantime, best of luck to everyone participating in National Novel Writing Month! I have one novel to edit and three other projects to write, so I'm not starting anything new this month (I hope). Speaking of writing, let's talk about the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Here are links to their website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. Our hosts this month are Jemi Fraser, Kim Lajevardi, L.G. Keltner, Tyrean Martinson, and Rachna Chhabria. 

Here's our question for this month: Albert Camus once said, “The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.” Flannery O’Conner said, “I write to discover what I know.” Authors across time and distance have had many reasons to write. Why do you write what you write? 

I write for lots of reasons. I write to create the types of stories I want to read. I write to explore ideas and work out their implications. I write to make a mark on the world and hopefully nudge it in a better direction. I write to connect to other people. Yes, I would also like to supplement my income with my writing and gain recognition, but I think I would write even if no one else ever read another word I wrote. I write to give myself a sense of purpose and to escape the problems and monotony of everyday life. Writing has helped me cope with the crises of 2020, and I hope my stories have helped other people take their minds off their problems and find some enjoyment.

If you write solely for fame and fortune, you'll most likely be disappointed. You have to commit to writing for personal reasons. No matter how frustrating writing can be at times, I find it sustaining. 

Anyway, enough blogging about writing and back to actual writing/revising. If you'd like to share your reasons for writing, feel free to do so in the comments.

 

Writing By Hand

 I'm not sure if October is giving me tricks or treats when it comes to electronics. Last week, my laptop's sound suddenly stopped working. When I tried troubleshooting the computer, it died. It was nine years old (I got it the week I published Lyon's Legacy), and I'd already replaced the hard drive on it a few years ago, so it wasn't worth trying to repair it. Fortunately, I'd started saving up for a new computer last year and had enough for a mid-range computer (still a step or two up from my old one). I ended up purchasing my new computer from Costco and even got it on sale. Of course, I had to wait a couple of days for shipping, plus a couple of extra days before I received the notice I could pick up my laptop. 

What does a writer do when her main writing tool breaks? I have a netbook as a backup, but it runs on archaic software and is very unresponsive. Even if I wiped its memory and tried to restore it to factory settings, I don't think it would work with Windows 10, and I might not be able to use whatever version of Windows it originally came with. So I went old-school and satisfied my writing urges with pen and paper. Although I have a printout of the first draft of Murder at Magic Lake, I decided I didn't want to revise it manually, especially when I need to add new scenes. I ended up starting a new story in the Season Avatars world, one set after Summon the Seasons.

 Writing by hand is much slower than typing. My cursive is hard to read, and my printing isn't much better. (I'm left-handed, so that's my excuse.) I used a legal pad, and my goal was to write at least one page every night. The words came fairly easy, considering sometimes I struggle to find words when I'm typing. Each hand-written page was about 200-250 words. When I finally received my computer on Saturday and transcribed my story with a few minor edits, it was about 1,100 words. It doesn't seem like much for several day's work, especially when some writers can manage a thousand words an hour, but it's still better than not writing at all. The experience makes me wonder if I would have been a writer if I lived in a time when computer's weren't available. Of course, many other aspects of my life would be different as well.

How do you feel about writing stories by hand? Does it make a difference in your story flow? Do you find handwriting or typing easier physically on your hands? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Fall/Winter Projects

 As COVID-19 cases start climbing again in my region, I'm anticipating a fall and winter where we stay close to home. Our family hasn't trooped live since March (though I've done a couple of video and Zoom troops), we've cut way back on our normal seasonal activities (some of which were cancelled), and it's unlikely we'll spend the holidays with family. At least I have plenty to keep me busy.

Writing--Currently, I'm focusing on editing my first cozy mystery book, which I'm calling Murder at Magic Lake. The first draft was only 50,000 words, so I'm adding a new subplot to flesh it out. When I'm done, I'll see if I can get feedback from a few beta readers before getting ready to publish--probably either in January or February. I'm about halfway through Book 2 in that series (working title is Restaurants and Revenge), but I need to go back and change something before I continue. I also have one short story making the rounds of pro markets and am considering writing another for an anthology. Meanwhile, my urban fantasy trilogy and my Season Avatars series continue to simmer on the back burner. I usually end up taking a lot of vacation at the end of the year, so I will use some of that time to update my website, update my back matter in my books as necessary, and formatting my manuscripts.

Crochet--I'm planning to crochet blankets for my son, my husband, and myself. Currently, I'm working on my son's blanket, which will have red and black stripes. It's narrower than I expected it would be, but it can be as long as he wants. I'll probably make it between five and six feet. I still have to figure out patterns and colors for the other two blankets. Plus, I still have to finish making a fuzzy coat for a big Baby Yoda. I haven't made any crocheted characters for a while, so I should work on those again. I'd also like to make myself some slippers and maybe a sweater. 

Reading--I finally finished my hundredth book for the year. I changed my original goal of 150 books to 120, but I'll probably end up somewhere in the middle. I'm not sure how many books I currently have on my "For Later" shelf at the library, but it's more than enough to get me through 2021!

Other--These aren't really creative projects, but I'll probably continue to help my husband play through his extensive board game collection. It would be nice if my son was interested in joining us, but he has his own ways of staying busy. I plan to have him help cook our family dinners so he gets more experience in the kitchen. I'll also continue to experiment with nail art, bake scones and other treats, and hopefully learn more about birds over the winter. And if I really get bored, there's plenty of things in the basement to be sorted and gotten rid of.

I'm pretty good at finding things to do at home, even without the TV. In fact, about the only time I watch something is when I'm crocheting. What about you? Feel free to share your hobbies in the comments.

Book Apps

 This weekend, after over three and a half years, I finally upgraded my phone. It had very little storage, and even adding a SD card didn't help much. The screen was so badly cracked I could feel it through the screen protector. I'd also been having issues with the GPS for a while, and the phone was finally starting to have some connectivity issues as well. The main reason I held on to it for so long was the cost of upgrading, but some mid-grade phones just came out that made it more manageable. The customer service representative at the store tole me I could get six or seven years out of the new phone, but if I can manage at least four, I'll be content.

Now that my phone has more storage, I can download more apps. Of course there are a lot of entertainment apps for movies and games. However, I can also download more books for my Kindle app and can now use multiple library apps, such as Hoopla and Cloud Library. I also have an Audible account, but I personally use it for lectures more than audiobooks. Books are available in other apps too. Google Play offers them (I finally managed to list most of my books on their store this summer), as well as Apple Books and Kobo. I'm not sure if Barnes and Noble has an app, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did. There are also apps that offer free books, but I'm not sure if all of those are available legally, so I'll avoid those.

Do you read books on a device other than a dedicated ereader? If so, what apps do you use, and would you recommend them? Feel free to share in the comments.

IWSG: I Wanna Be a Working Writer

Welcome to October, everyone! The world's become a much scarier place than usual this month, but if we support each other, we'll get through it. One way to support each other is to be part of The Insecure Writer's Support Group. Learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. 

Our hosts this month are Jemima Pett, Beth Camp, Beverly Stowe McClure, and Gwen Gardner.

Here's our question for October: When you think of the term "working writer," what does that look like for you? What do you think it is supposed to look like? Do you see yourself as a working writer or aspiring or hobbyist, and if latter two, what does that look like?

I'm going to address the second part of the question first. Until recently, working writers were traditionally published writers. They would write one or two books a year, attend book signings and conventions, and spend a lot of time talking with editors and agents. These days, I picture a working writer as an indie writer. She (the ones I'm most familiar with are all female) publishes multiple books a year in popular genres and knows the tropes that readers like. She doesn't do bookstore signings or conventions but may be active on social media and promotes her work herself. She may hire editors or cover designers, but she's the boss, not them, and she doesn't need an agent. 

At this point in my writing career, I'd have to consider myself an aspiring working writer, though the IRS would probably consider me a hobbyist. I'm a parent with a full-time job, which doesn't leave me with much writing time. (Between making masks for my family and participating in Vote Forward, I've given up a lot of time this year that I could have used for writing.) I only have six full novels out, but advice I hear from other writers indicates you need at least ten books before you start seeing significant income. I'm also a slow writer, both with writing a first draft and editing, and I'm contrarian enough to push back against popular tropes in my work. I may never get to the point where writing is my main source of income, but if I can gain a few fans who appreciate my work, I'll be satisifed.

I can't resist ending this post with the Beatles' song about a Paperback Writer:

https://youtu.be/yYvkICbTZIQ

What's your definition of a working writer? Are you one? Do you want to be one? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.