Work-In-Progress: The Season Between

Since fall starts tomorrow here, I thought I'd celebrate by sharing some of my writing for The Season Between. This will be a short story collection set after Summon the Seasons, with each story featuring one of my four Season Avatars. This snippet features Ysabel, the Goddess of Fall's Avatar who is gifted with animal magic. Here she is investigating who's been interfering with Bittern Marsh, which is supposed to be a nature preserve:

“Ava. We are blessed to have you return to our humble home so soon.” Lady C’than’s voice was flat. However, the spread she offered was just as grand as before. Ysabel piled a couple of sandwiches and pastries on her too-small plate. She needed to give her body energy in case she needed to use her magic.

Lady C’than took only a cup of chocolate and a single cookie. “What brings you here, Ava?”

Ysabel polished off a sandwich before replying. “Bittern Marsh.”

“I beg your pardon?” The noblewoman’s dark eyebrows rose.

“I’ve discovered evidence someone has been harvesting cattails and trapping animals in the marsh, Lady C’than. That area belongs to the Four.”

“The Four do nothing with it,” Lady C’than retorted.

“That is exactly the point.” Ysabel set her cup down on the table so hard she chipped the bottom. She turned the mug so her hostess couldn’t see the damage. “The land is set aside for the wild creatures of Challen. It isn’t meant to be farmland or homes or anything else.”

“But it’s an eyesore, Ava! I’ve ridden through there several times and disliked it immensely.”

Ysabel sat up straight. “And what were you doing in the marsh, Lady C’than?”

She pressed her lips together.

“I need to know who’s been interfering in the marsh, Lady C’than,” Ysabel added. “Is it your family?”

“Of course not!” she replied a little too quickly. “It must be one of our tenants. I suggest you seek out Benjamin Maxham and his family. They’re always going where they don’t belong.”

The Allure of Anthologies

I've been posting here regularly about how slow my writing progress has been on my main projects: writing a Season Avatars short story collection, revising Restaurants and Revenge, and writing the first draft of Bubble Tea and a Body. As if I don't have enough to work on, I recently found out about a couple of anthologies that I want to submit stories too, but I don't have anything ready that I want to use. So now I'm busy drafting a new story that's due next month and thinking about two more anthologies that have December deadlines. 

Why do I do this to myself? I can think of several reasons. The themes are intriguing, and it's especially challenging to write to a specific topic under deadline. Sometimes it can be inspirational to work on a fresh topic for a while, especially when you're struggling with something else. Plus, if your work is accepted, there's a guaranteed payout and recognition from others for your achievement. (Self-publishing something is an achievement too, but not everyone sees it that way.)

If you like to write short stories, do you prefer to write for anthologies or magazines? What topics would you want to read about in an anthology. Feel free to answer in the comments. In the meantime, it's back to my current short story.

IWSG: Ill-Fitting Genres

Happy September! It feels like the rest of the year is going to fly by now that my son is back in school and busy with activities. I hope you find some time to enjoy the rest of summer and the upcoming fall.

As has become tradition, let's start the month with a post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Learn more about them on their website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed.

Our hosts for this month are Kim Lajevardi, Cathrina Constantine, Natalie Aguirre, Olga Godim (no link available), Michelle Wallace, and Louise-Fundy Blue.

Here's our question for September: What genre would be the worst one for you to tackle and why?

I used to read more widely in my youth, but these days, my fiction reading is mostly fantasy and mystery, with some science fiction and historical fiction mixed in. That means there are a lot of genres that I don't know very well. In particular, Westerns, thrillers, and horror hold no appeal for me, so they would be the worst ones for me to tackle. I know very little about the conventions and tropes in those genres. I'd probably create something featuring an eldritch cowboy pursuing a spy across the West to prevent a mass undead cow uprising or something like that.

Which genres are you least-prepared to write and why? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

August Writing Update

 After a rough July, my writing seems to be back on track. I wound up finishing the rough draft of Kay's story (no title yet) for The Season Between collection. The only story for that collection that I still need to finish my rough draft for is Jenna's. I want to cut out a lot of the events that happen at the Fip palace and focus more on the crop issue (potato blight) Jenna needs to solve. However, I also need to reference the events mentioned in her son's story (Rob's Choice), so perhaps this will be more of a novelette than a short story. I plan to do some research on the Irish potato famine before returning to this story, so I have some time to mull it over before returning to it.

I've been holding off on Restaurants and Revenge because I felt it needed some more attention to Abigail's family and her interest in learning more about her Filipino heritage. I finally figured out a small sideplot to weave into the story. The beginning of this story is off to a good start, but I need to figure out where to place the remaining scenes. I've also returned to working on the first draft of Bubble Tea and a Body, though Restaurants and Revenge is a higher priority.

I have a couple of short stories that I feel would be a good match for a magazine or anthology--if I can find the right market. One of them is a flash fiction story, but the market I had in mind for it is closed for the indefinite future. I might try it elsewhere. I may also try writing something new for a themed anthology I recently learned about, but I haven't worked out the details yet. It may also depend on how much time I have now that the school year has started. In addition to taking my son to his athletic events, I'll be helping out with other school events.

I hope your writing is going well. See you next week for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post!

RenFaire 2022

One of our favorite annual family traditions is attending the Bristol Renaissance Festival in Wisconsin. Ever since my son was tall enough, he's been dueling my husband at the faire. They receive some basic training in fencing, don protective clothing and helmets, and go at each other with swords. The first one to pop five balloons tied to the other's helmet wins. Alex scored his first victory in 2019, and my husband bought him a stage combat dagger as a reward. Although Alex lost in 2021 (the faire was cancelled in 2020), he won again this year and received a stage combat sword. Here are a few photos to commemorate the occasion:

 

 

Can You Have Too Many Villians (and How Powerful Should They Be)?: Some Thoughts on Ms. Marvel

I don't have a lot of time for TV, so it took me a while to finish watching Ms. Marvel. Be warned; spoilers abound!

 

 

My feelings about the show are mixed. I liked the parts where Kamala interacted with her family and friends more than I liked the main story arc. I felt like the writers crammed too much into the short season. In particular, the two main villain groups (The Clandestines and the Department of Damage Control) felt like they weren't developed enough. In particular, the Clandestines went from being potential allies to enemies very quickly and without sufficient justification. The DODC's response to Kamala developing her powers was stereotypical and caused far more damage than it controlled. Perhaps they could have been saved for a second season of the show.

If the villain groups had a purpose in this show, it was (again, IMO) to bring enough firepower to the conflicts to challenge a superhero. We saw the DODC provide that in the finale. However, there was another villain in that show who had more potential. I'm referring to Kamran, who obtains Clandestine power from his mother. He has a backstory and a relationship with Kamala, which made their confrontation in the final episode emotionally charged and equally matched.

While villains should be powerful enough to make the protagonists struggle, there needs to be an emotional connection between the characters to make their story resonate. Otherwise, no matter how powerful an enemy is, dealing with them feels like cannon fodder. I'm currently drafting a story for The Season Between where Kay must deal with a heretic who doesn't have magic but is disruptive in other ways. The heretic has an unexpected connection to Kay that she has to confront. She can overwhelm him with magic, but ultimately she will have to find a different way to deal with this problem.

Would you rather have a story with lots of undeveloped villains or one evenly matched with the hero? Does story genre make a difference? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Aurelio H. Almazan, Jr., DVM: 1940-2022

Just a brief note that my father-in-law, Aurelio Almazan, passed away last Friday. He will be missed. You can read his obituary here. We will be attending his wake this coming weekend and the funeral next Monday, so I may take next week off from blogging.

IWSG: Who Do You Write For?

How is it August already? It feels like July just started, but I've already started preparing for my son's return to school. (Of course, I normally start preparing for that as soon as school lets out.) Anyway, it's also time to prepare for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post. Learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Our co-hosts this month are Tara Tyler, Lisa Buie Collard, Loni Townsend, and Lee Lowery!

 

Here's our question for August: When you set out to write a story, do you try to be more original or do you try to give readers what they want?

I have to be honest: part of the reason I write is because I can't always find the stories I want to read. The tropes that appeal to many readers don't always appeal to me. (For example, I personally don't care about physically attractive romantic interests who are controlling jerks. Once they make a poor first impression on me, they have a hard time winning me over. I prefer more equal relationships where the two people engage in banter.) However, I think whenever you write in a particular genre, you do need to meet certain criteria if you want to avoid reader rejection. For example, romances require a Happily Ever After or at least a Happy For Now ending. Genres like fantasy and science fiction certainly have their share of tropes, but originality has a place there. For example, the growing interest in genres like hopepunk and solarpunk show that many people are looking for stories that offer solutions to the problem of climate change, even if these solutions require changes in our way of thinking. Cozy mysteries do seem to have a more defined set of reader expectations: it's not just the mystery aspect, but there are also certain conventions about the setting, characters, and implied lifestyle that readers expect. I am trying to adhere a bit closer to genre conventions with my cozy mystery, but there are places within those parameters that offer me a chance to tell my version of these stories.

In general, I think most readers want to read the same types of stories many times. (I'm going through a similar phase in that I want to read cozy mysteries more than anything else.) They can offer comfort and predictability in an uncomfortable and unpredictable world. However, it takes something original to deal with an unpredictable world, and we all need to shake up our routines occasionally to change up our thinking. There's a need for writing original works and also for those that meet reader desires. Whenever someone offers you a dichotomy, seek a balanced, third way instead.

Where do you stand on the spectrum? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
 

Writing Update

 I'm going to keep my blog post brief this week:

1. The main writing I'm doing is working on a short story featuring Kay for the The Season Between collection. I've had to start over a couple of times, but hopefully I'll be able to complete this draft (which is currently over 4,000 words).

2. I still have to finish editing the last several chapters of Restaurants and Revenge, but hopefully I can do that by the end of August.

3. I'm participating in an author takeover in a Facebook group this Friday. This is the first time I've done something like this. I've written several questions and planned a few giveaways, but I should probably take some pictures to include.

4. My submission to the library anthology was rejected. Apparently they had over 300 submissions, so they couldn't accept them all. I'll probably hold onto it for a while to see if I want to revise it or come across another market for it.

5. I was hoping to submit a flash fiction story this month, but the markets I originally targeted aren't open at the moment. I plan to watch another market and submit there if it opens. 

Hope all is going well with you and your writing!

Mid-Month Mysteries: Erin Johnson

It seems like July just started, but we're already heading into late July. Hopefully it's not too late for a Mid-Month Mysteries feature. Today I plan to spotlight Erin Johnson, who writes several magical cozy mystery series. I first found her work through her Spells and Caramels series. (The first book is Seashells, Spells, and Caramels.) This series features a young baker, Imogen, who discovers she's a witch from a magical kingdom. She becomes a royal baker while traveling to other magical kingdoms, having adventures with her baker friends, and developing a romance with a prince. Other series from Erin include ones featuring a pet psychic, a cursed renaissance fair, and a tea room in Bath run by a vampire. I have to admit I don't like the heroine of the pet psychic series, but I enjoy Erin's other works. They're light reads featuring things I enjoy, like renaissance fairs and afternoon teas. If that's your cup of tea too, I recommend checking out her work. I've linked to Erin's Amazon page above.
 

The Library: A Fragile History

If you like books, you're probably a fan of libraries as well. When I saw The Library: A Fragile History, by Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen, at my local library, I immediately borrowed it. Thankfully, my library grants automatic renewals, because this book took me a few weeks to finish.

The Library: A Fragile History starts with a disturbing premise: libraries aren't fixed, unchanging temples of knowledge, but are as prone to destruction and decay as any other human endeavor. (The specific example cited in the Prologue describes the ruin of a sixteenth-century Holy Roman Emperor's library as described by the newly appointed librarian.) However, libraries have adapted and changed throughout history, and it's this process the authors trace in this book. (This book is primarily focused on Western culture, with little or no mention of any libraries or their equivalent elsewhere.) They look at some ancient libraries in the first chapter, including (but not limited to) the library of Alexandria. From there, the authors discuss the evolution of libraries, from collections of religious scrolls stored in chest for easy transport to the modern library. One of the great themes of this book is how collections shift as people's interest change. For centuries, collectors focused on religious, classical, or other scholarly texts, for personal use or at a monastery or university. Librarians and collectors might acquire works from other collectors, but what one person valued might be considered waste material by someone else. (For example, some collectors kept copies of pamphlets and had them bound.) Old books aren't always seen as valuable or kept under conditions that might preserve them. As we advance toward the modern era, fiction becomes more popular, especially as libraries become more accessible to the common person. However, collections may be censored for religious or political purposes. 

Libraries have always had to adapt to their environments. Although books compete with plenty of other distractions in the twenty-first century, they will undoubtedly continue to evolve as long as readers and collectors exist.

July IWSG: Any (Book) World That I'm Welcome To

 Here we are at the beginning of another month, so it must be time to encourage other writers with an Insecure Writer's Support Group post. Learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook, or Twitter feed.

Our hosts this month are J Lenni Dorner, Janet Alcorn, PJ Colando, Jenni Enzor, and Diane Burton.

We have an interesting question this month: If you could live in any book world, which one would you choose?

If I'm allowed to pick my own work, I would choose the gaslamp country of Challen. The tech level is similar to late nineteenth century England, but the Four Gods and Goddesses of Challen have gifted Their Avatars with magic to heal people, help plants and animals, and control the weather. It's a feminist society that offers niches for people who don't want to marry or have children. I came up with this world and my "Fem Four" around 1996, and I wouldn't still be writing stories in this setting if I didn't care for it.

If I were to pick another author's world, I'd probably select Becky Chamber's A Psalm for the Wild Built. You could consider it a cozy science fiction book or part of the hopepunk genre. (I haven't had a chance to read the sequel yet.) It's set on a colonized moon, and the people are accepting of each other, know how to build cozy homes, and appreciate the calming power of a cup of tea. 

I'll end this post with Steely Dan's "Any World That I'm Welcome To."

https://youtu.be/fDWV-570oXo

June Writing Update

June was another slow month for me writing-wise. Part of that is because I still have so many household chores when I get home from work that I generally don't get to my computer until eight-thirty or nine at night. (These chores can involve preparing three different meals since everyone eats something different, washing and drying dishes, cleaning appliances as needed, making lunch for work, setting the table for breakfast, setting things out for evening smoothies, and cleaning up after the smoothies are made. That isn't a complete list.) By that point, it's hard to pants a plot into existence (since it's hard these days to pre-plot/think about stories in my head before getting to the laptop). However, I did manage to write and submit a short story (less than 3,000 words) for an anthology about librarians, so I wasn't entirely unsuccessful. We'll see how it goes. A couple of markets I'm eyeing for completed short works will open in July, so I plan to submit to them.

I've been mostly working on the Season Avatars short story collection. Currently, I've been working on a short story featuring Kay, but I find myself blocked and thinking I need to start over with a different plot.

I haven't done anything lately with revising Restaurants and Revenge. I don't feel that the ending quite works yet. Maybe I need to reread that part of the story (I should have some time for that over the holiday weekend), or maybe I should just find a couple of beta readers. I'm still looking for people who will finish the story and give me useful feedback on it. 

I hope your writing is going better than mine. Hopefully next month I'll have more to post.

Semiannual Reading Update

I usually post a semiannual reading update at the end of June, but I'll post it a little early this year so I can talk about writing next week. I track all books I finish in all formats. My challenge this year is to read 150 books, which is about what I read last year. With 82 books under my belt, I'm well ahead of schedule. (I tend to lose ground during the summer, so it's good I'm ahead for now.) How do I read so much? I make time for it, and I replace other activities (like watching TV) with reading. Cozy mysteries, my favorite genre lately, can be short and fast-paced, so some of them only take two or three hours to read. 

Here's the genre breakdown:

Fantasy: 10

Science Fiction: 4

Cozy Mysteries: 48

Other Fiction: 5

Non-Fiction: 15

Many of the mysteries I read have a paranormal element, but I count them as mystery instead of fantasy.

Here are a few of my favorites so far:

Meet Me in Another Life

The Dawn of Everything

A Spindle Splintered

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (a reread)

The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics

 What are your favorite books so far this year?

Twenty Year Anniversary!

Sunday is a special day. Not only is it Father's Day, it's also my mother's 90th birthday. (I plan to visit her this Friday with my son.) It's also the twentieth anniversary of my start date with the company I work for. I started in R&D, was transferred to QC for a few years, and wound in QA, which is where I still am. (I tell new employees I hope I don't end up in Logistics or Sales next, since I'm not suitable for either of those departments.) Hopefully I'll be able to continue working there until I'm ready to retire!

Mid-Month Mysteries: Author Nancy Warren

I decided to change the Mid-Month Mysteries blog series to focus on individual authors instead of books with specific subjects. Let's start with one of my favorite cozy mystery authors, Nancy Warren. She's a best-selling mystery and romance author who's currently writing several cozy mystery series. These series are typically set in England and feature a witch as heroine. I first discovered her work with The Vampire Knitting Club. The heroine, Lucy, runs a knitting shop that her grandmother used to own, even though Lucy is a terrible knitter. Vampires meet there weekly to knit and help her solve mysteries. Despite Lucy's struggles with knitting and witchcraft, I really liked her as a heroine and am disappointed that the series seems to have finished after thirteen books. The Vampire Book Club is set in the same fictional universe as the Vampire Knitting Club and follows the same general premise: a witch runs a shop and works with vampires to solve crimes. Quinn, the heroine of this series, is older and a more experienced witch who is banished to Ireland for misusing her magic. I admit I'm not as fond of her as I am of Lucy. Warren has two more cozy mysteries series that I've read: The Great Witches Baking Show and Village Flower Shop. The first series is set in a cozy village, which is described so well it makes me want to visit. This series is also complete. The Village Flower Shop is a new series (only one book out so far).

What I like about Warren's mysteries is her settings. She crafts inviting settings that you want to spend time in. Add in interesting mysteries and a touch of magic, and it's no wonder she's a best-selling author.
 

June IWSG: When the Writing Gets Tough...

 

Here we are again at the beginning of another month and another post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Learn more about them on their website, Facebook page, and Twitter. 

Our hosts this month are SE White, Cathrina Constantine, Natalie Aguirre, Joylene Nowell Butler, and Jacqui Murray. 

Here's our question for this month: When the going gets tough writing the story, how do you keep yourself writing to the end? If [you] have not started the writing yet, why do you think that is and what do you think could help you find your groove and start?

This is a tough question to answer because there are so many possible reasons for the writing not going well. For example, if I have a great idea for the opening of a story but don't know how it'll end, I'll soon start floundering around. Perhaps I don't know enough about a subject to know what details to include or if something is feasible. There could be personal distractions affecting my focus or simply a lack of time/energy for the story. If you can correctly identify the problem, then it's easier to figure out the solution. 

The wording of this story implies that the best solution for writing problems is to push through the writing. Sometimes, however, I feel it's better to set a story aside, at least temporarily. I admit I have a couple of half-completed works in my science fiction Catalyst Chronicles series that have been shelved for years. One of them is told by a Native American teen, and I don't feel I know enough about her background to do it justice. (Plus, I lost focus on the plot.) The other story meandered into side plots, and I felt stuck on it because I had planned to write the Native American teen's story first. It might be best for the series if I discard the first story (which was planned as a short story set between two novels) and tell the other one (the next novel and a major turning point in the series) anyway.

As far as the second question goes (not starting a story), I think that can have many causes. One thing I've noticed as I've continued to write is that there are three different series in three different genres that I want to work on, but I don't have enough time for all of them. Currently I'm trying to focus on editing my cozy mystery, Restaurants and Revenge, and finish drafting stories for a fantasy collection to be called The Season Between. These series are priorities for me because they're more marketable than the Catalyst Chronicles series and because I'm also internally driven to work on them. Inner drive or grit is part of the answer to both questions, as grit will help you overcome internal and external obstacles.

What causes your toughest writing problems, and how do you overcome them? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

May Writing Update

Due to unexpected events affecting my blogging schedule, I didn't post anything for Mid-Month Mysteries this month. I think I'm going to change the format for June so I can talk more about books/authors I'm familiar with.

I managed to finish my solarpunk story in time to submit it to a contest, and I also wrote a flash fiction fantasy story that I'm submitting to whatever markets I can find. Hopefully I won't be distracted anymore from revising Restaurants and Revenge or writing stories for The Season Between collection (stories set after Summon the Seasons.) I also hope that once we get our new dishwasher next week, it'll free up more time in the evenings to write. There's so many things I have to do every weeknight that I typically wind up with less than an hour to write and even less time to figure out what I'm doing. 

WisCon is this weekend, along with my son's birthday on Memorial Day. I still have to sign up for the virtual con, but since we're still not sure what we're doing, I've held off. Depending on what we do, I may not have much time for the online con.

Do you have any writing updates you'd like to share? Feel free to comment below.

Stories in Stories

Although the vast majority of my fiction reading these days is cozy mysteries, every now and then I like to shake it up. Earlier this month, I read Life of Pi. The first part of the book is, in my opinion, low stakes with little conflict, as Pi tells us about his early life. This is before the main action of the novel, so how does the author keep the reader engaged in this section?

There are a couple of ways the author keeps the reader interested. The first one is using a lot of solid details to bring the zoo to life. It's more than just invoking the senses; it's also the authoritative tone he uses to describe how to care for the animals. However, there's another technique to keep people reading. There are also miniature stories and anecdotes woven into this section of the book. The most dramatic of these is when Pi's father demonstrates to him and his brother exactly how dangerous the zoo animals are. Part of this involves making them watch a tiger hunting a goat. Other stories relate the kinds of things visitors feed the zoo animals (and unfortunately, how some of them are cruel to the animals). These stories add conflict and interest to prose that otherwise might be telling instead of showing.There are a few sections where the author stops the story to list things or the style becomes very simplistic; I admit I skimmed over those places. The first part of the book also contains italicized chapters written from the perspective of someone visiting Pi many years after the main events; I didn't think they added much to the story. But it's been instructive to observe how the author develops themes while providing us with background.

Have you read books that detail long passages of time where little happens story-wise? If so, what techniques kept you reading through those sections? Feel free to comment.

Patricia A. McKillip: 1948-2022

 It's always a little startling when you're mindlessly scrolling through Facebook and stumble on shocking news. That happened to me yesterday when I found out Patricia A. McKillip, one of my favorite authors, passed away last Friday. She was 74. 

I think the first McKillip book I read was The Sorceress and the Cygnet. I was drawn in by her wondrous prose, which raised every work of hers to the mythopoetic realm. The Cygnet duology remains one of my favorite works of hers, but I also particularly like The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. I met her at WisCon several years ago and have her autograph.You can see it, along with other books of hers, pictured below. 

Many authors can write fantasy, but there are few who can consistently infuse their work with a sense of wonder like McKillip did. She will be missed.

Insecure Writer's Support Group: Writer Highs and Lows

 

 

 

May the Fourth be with you! Late April to late May is my favorite time of year will all the flowers in bloom. It's also a busy time of year as I prepare to celebrate my son's birthday at the end of the month and attend WisCon (which I will probably do virtually this year). Despite all this, there's still time to talk about writing and post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Learn more about them on their website and Facebook page. 

Our hosts this month are Kim Elliott, Melissa Maygrove, Chemist Ken, Lee Lowery, and Nancy Gideon.

 

This month's post is inspired by Charles Dickens: It's the best of times; it's the worst of times. What are your writer highs (the good times)? And what are your writer lows (the crappy times)?

 

In no particular order, here are some of my writer highs:

 

1. Getting together with other writers.

2. Finishing a story.

3. Selling a story (or seeing that someone bought one of my books).

4. Hearing from a reader who enjoys my work or who gets what I was trying to do with a story.

5. Solving a problem I've been stuck on or making connections within a story.

6. Getting inspired for a new project. 

7. Getting a good review or being nominated for a reward.

And here are some of my writer lows:

1. Learning a story got rejected.

2. Bad reviews.

3. Getting stuck or having to discard hours of work.

4. Unsuccessful marketing campaigns.

Writing is the main way I strive to authentically connect with others and with something better than myself. Therefore, anything that helps me build connections is a win, while failing to make connections is a setback.

What are some of your writer highs and lows? Is writing about connection for you too? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

April Writing Update

It doesn't feel like I have much progress to report this month. I've made little or no headway on revising Restaurants and Revenge or drafting Bubble Tea and a Body. However, I have a very rough draft of a hopepunk short story tentatively titled "Invasives." It's one of those stories that was inspired by an article I read recently. Depending how the story develops in the next week, I may submit it to the Imagine 2200 Climate Fiction contest, though I doubt that's the best fit for it. If it isn't selected, I have other potential markets in mind for this story.

I have made some slight progress on Jenna's story for the Season Avatars collection The Season Between. Yesterday, I came up with an alternate version for the overarching story that would link them all. The concept works better in a couple of ways than what I'd originally planned, though my characters' motives need to be developed more for it to work. 

Although it's two months too soon for my semiannual reading report, I'm happy to say I've read 49 books so far this year, leaving me slightly ahead of goal. My reading does slow down in summer when I walk outside instead of using the treadmill, so we'll see how I fare by early July.

WisCon Woes

Those of you who've been following my blog for a long time know I love attending WisCon, the feminist science fiction/fantasy convention held every Memorial Day weekend in Madison, WisCon. Unfortunately, like many other things, the convention has run into issues during the pandemic. I attended virtually in 2020, but I don't think I did last year. This year, the convention will be held both virtually and in-person. However, two of the guests of honor won't be able to appear (I'm particularly disappointed that Zen Cho won't be able to attend, since I enjoy her work), and the convention has had difficulties filling its hotel room block and selling virtual memberships. 

There is some good news in that the con has raised nearly $67,000 for expenses (read more about the details on their blog). Hopefully they'll continue to raise money leading up to the convention. I haven't registered yet this year because I'm not sure yet if my son will be attending Scholastic Bowl Nationals that weekend. His birthday falls on Memorial Day this year, so any celebrations he wants to hold will take priority. If we can't make it up to Madison that weekend, I'll probably get a virtual membership. (If you're interested in a virtual membership, you can register here.) Hopefully this convention will be around for a long time to come.

Mid-Month Mysteries: Birthday Parties

 Since my birthday falls in April, I thought it would be fun this month to look at cozy mysteries set at birthday parties. Here are a few that I found with a quick search. I haven't read any of these yet, so it looks like my TBR pile is going to grow again.

Birthdays Can Be Deadly is the first book in Cindy Bell's Sage Gardens Cozy Mystery series. It's set in a retirement village, where the guest of honor at a birthday party falls dead. Three members of the community join forces to figure out who did it.

Another birthday party ends in tragedy in Berries and Birthdays: A Cozy Murder Mystery. This is part of Leena Clover's Pelican Cove Cozy Mystery series. (The series actually starts with Strawberries and Strangers.) The victim just turned 100, and the mystery in this book is apparently generations old.

In Birthday Party Murder: A Lucy Stone Mystery by Leslie Meier, there are actually two parties being planned: one for a ninety-year-old former librarian, and one for a fourteen-year-old girl. The death happens during the planning stage, but Lucy must solve the murder before the librarian is targeted. This book is the ninth in the series, which starts with Mistletoe Murder.

Finally, Isis Crawford offers up recipes and a mystery in A Catered Birthday Party (A Mystery with Recipes), Book 6 in the A Mystery with Recipes series. (The series starter is A Catered Murder.) In this book, the birthday party is for a dog, but it's the owner who pays the ultimate price and the caterers who have to sniff out the criminal.

Here's hoping the next birthday party you attend doesn't end with someone facedown in the cake!

April IWSG: Audio Books

Welcome to April! If you're participating in the A-Z Blogging Challenge, I hope it's going well. These days, I'm challenged enough to keep up with a weekly blog, but I still have time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed.  

Our hosts this month are Joylene Nowell Butler, Jemima Pett, Patricia Josephine, Louise-Fundy Blue, and Kim Lajevardi.

 Here's our question for April: Have any of your books been made into audio books? If so, what is the main challenge in producing an audiobook?

My science fiction books Lyon's Legacy and Twinned Universes are available as audiobooks. I produced them myself through ACX, which is no longer available. It's been several years since I made them, but I remember the main challenges (besides paying for them) were finding a suitable narrator (especially on a budget) and reviewing the audiobooks. I haven't sold many audiobooks, so I probably wouldn't bother doing it with my other books unless they become popular enough to justify the expense. If you're an indie author who wants to make audiobooks, Draft2Digital partners with Findaway Voices to create them. I would take that route if I decide to produce more books in that format. 

Have you created audiobooks of your work? If so, feel free to share the details in the comments.

 

March Writing Update

 I've worked on multiple projects this month:

Restaurants and Revenge: This one (the second book in my cozy mystery series) is still in revision. I was stuck on a particular scene, and there were some other things I wanted to change. I think I've figured out what I want to do, but it will mean going back earlier into the story to make changes.

Bubble Tea and a Body: This will be book three in my cozy mystery series. The word count is a little over 17,000 on the first draft. However, the victim died in time and manner I hadn't planned for, and I still haven't decided who the murderer is from my list of suspects. I guess no matter how hard I try to plan, I end up pantsing.

The Season Between: I've decided to link the short stories in this collection as stories being told to a journalist interested in the Season Avatars, who are telling her about events that took place after Summon the Seasons. This would be considered a composite novel or a novel-in-stories, and it's something I haven't tried before. I've already written the first scene with the journalist and Gwen. I've been stuck on Jenna's contribution for a while, as I didn't like what I've drafted. I've outlined a new plot for her story, but as I've noted earlier, planning my fiction isn't my forte. At least it's good to be writing in this world again.

How's your writing going this month? Feel free to share in the comments.

Getting Together with Writers

I'm currently reading a cozy mystery series that features a writer's retreat. The main character is an author who hosts week-long writer's retreats in her Victorian house each month. I have to admit the premise sounds idyllic, particularly when you include all the treats the main character's best friend bakes for the retreat (though I imagine the writers gain a lot of weight over the week!). I also like the idea of being able to hang out with other writers and talk about craft. 

I've attended a couple of cons virtually over the last couple of years, but it's been a while since I've hung out with other writers. That's part of the reason I plan to join Sisters in Crime this year. I'm still pretty new to the cozy mystery genre and would like to learn more about it, and networking with other authors would also be helpful. I'm not sure yet if I'll be able to attend either WisCon or ChiCon this year, though I do particularly miss WisCon. (Some of the friends I used to see there every year no longer attend, so some of the vibe is gone for me. I also don't feel the writing panels have so much to offer me any more, though there are plenty of other interesting panels there every year.) I should also check to see if there are any regular writer chats on Discord or Zoom that I could join.

I've never actually gone on a writer's retreat; sometimes, it's difficult enough just finding the time/motivation to leave the house and write at the library or coffee shop. Perhaps once my son is a little more independent (he'll be old enough to get his driver's license next year), I'll be able to go somewhere for a weekend. Even if I get a hotel or B&B for the weekend, the change of scenery might be helpful. I'd be disappointed in myself if I wasn't able to be productive on a retreat, though I suppose it would depend on how much preparation I did ahead of time. It probably would helpful to schedule a balance between writing and doing other things.

How often do you get together with other writers? Do you do so in person or online? If you've attended a writer's retreat, was it helpful? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Mid-Month Mysteries: Spring Themes

 

 

 

 

Spring officially arrives next week, although it usually takes another month or so around here for the weather to turn fully spring-like. Spring is my favorite season, so I thought this month it would be worth looking at cozy mysteries set in spring. There are already a couple of cozy mystery sites that have created lists of spring-themed mysteries, particularly Cozy Mysteries Unlimited and April Hayman's Pinterest board. I'll try to focus on books I've read.

One series I would recommend is The Great Witches Baking Show by Nancy Warren. It's a takeoff of The Great British Baking Show, but the protagonist is a novice witch competing on a baking show set in a British small town. The show is filmed over several weeks in the spring. (I think the series starts in April and ends in June, though I'm not 100% sure about that.) This means that the entire series takes place in the spring, as opposed to a series that may stretch out over a couple of years and many seasons. Nancy Warren writes likeable paranormal protagonists and weaves a mystery well, so her books are automatic buys for me.

Another writer who is an automatic buy for me is Louisa M. Locke and her Victorian San Francisco Mystery series. As advertised, this series is set in San Francisco in the late 1880s, and it explores the lives of working women (there are a surprising variety of jobs available for women in this era). The focus is Anne Fuller, who runs a boarding house; occasionally, some of the boarders and servants get their own stories in this series. Scholarly Pursuits is the sixth book in the series, but it can be read as a stand-alone (though you get more out of the story if you're already familiar with the characters). The previous books are set in the fall and winter, so I think this is the first novel set in the spring. There may be some short stories in the series that are set in spring 1880, but I haven't read all of them yet. 

I'm Facebook friends with Vicki Lemp Weavil, who writes under the pen name Victoria Gilbert. Her Blue Ridge Library series includes the book Past Due for Murder, where the inciting incident takes place at a spring bonfire. If you love books and libraries, don't miss this series.

As for my Abigail Ritter series, the first book, Murder at Magic Lake, takes place in mid-winter, and Restaurants and Revenge is set in very early spring. (Of course, since the series is set in Wisconsin, that doesn't mean the weather is that good yet.) It's not until we get to the third book, Bubble Tea and a Body, that we get to experience the full glory of late spring. I'm still editing Restaurants and Revenge, but I've written about 14,000 words for Bubble Tea and a Body. 

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

Death of a Character

In 2019, I started playing a mobile game based on a major franchise (which I won't name to avoid spoilers). A few months after I started playing, I learned through a Facebook group devoted to the game that one of the characters would die at a certain point. (The group allows spoilers, and many players experienced the character death at the same time since it had just been added as part of a new chapter. I was nowhere near that chapter at the time.) Since then, I've tried not to progress through the game too quickly. I know of some players who have stayed at that chapter for a long time, refusing to play the final scene. However, I have kept on moving through the game, and now I'm very close to the point where the character dies. I like this particular character a lot and don't want to lose her, but I don't want to be stuck at this point either. I'm not sure yet if I will rush through this point to get it over with or keep stalling for a while.

Character deaths are an important part of fiction. They may be used to motivate other characters to react (especially in murder mysteries), as punishment or a redemptive act, as a sacrifice, or as the climax of the story. The one thing they have to do is evoke emotion. The game designers have made this character close to main character, but the sacrificed character doesn't appear in the story as much as you might expect. I think the game designers may have blunted the impact of this character's death more than intended. Of course, with everything else going on in the world, a fictional character's death is trivial. On the other hand, fiction can help us make sense of reality--or escape it for a while.

I've had at least one character die in each of my series. The hardest one to write occurred in Twinned Universes. I've killed off major and minor characters, ones I've liked and ones that I was glad to let die. It's definitely easier to kill characters in mysteries than in other genres, especially since the victims are "designed to die." Most deaths happen "on stage," though some are revealed to the reader afterwards.

How do you feel about reading/writing character deaths? Have you ever had a spoiler change how you feel about a story (or whether you finish it)? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

March IWSG: Conflict about Conflict

Welcome to March! Hopefully it goes out like a lamb where you are. It's also time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post. Learn more about the group at their website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.

Our hosts for March are Janet Alcorn, Pat Garcia, Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence.

Our question for this month is Have you ever been conflicted about writing a scene or adding a scene to a story? How did you decide to write it or not?

 

This kind of concern was more common for me earlier in my writing career, particularly regarding scenes with sex or violence. I know it was emotionally hard for me to kill off a certain character in Twinned Universes, even though the event drove the rest of the story. I think the key here is to see if the scene really serves the story. It's not always easy for a panster to determine this, but ultimately I think the best approach is to write the scene. It may not work as well as you thought, requiring you to revise or delete it, but it's still good writing practice. The scene can always be saved in a separate file, though I've never returned to deleted scenes for inspiration.

What kind of scenes are you conflicted about writing? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

 

Writing Update

 Here's a quick update on my current projects: 

Restaurants and Revenge: After changing my mind a couple of times about who committed the murder and how, I think I finally figured out who, how, and why. Now it's time to revise.

Bubble Tea and a Body: This will be the third book in my cozy mystery series. I've written about 14,000 words so far. The murder happened in a way I didn't plan for, so now I have to rethink how my heroine will investigate.

The Season Between: I haven't made any progress on this short story collection.

Other Writing Projects: I started a flash fiction story, but I need to get back to it. I've also been seeing several open markets listed on a Facebook group I belong to, so I should see if I have any trunked stories that might be a good fit.

What are you working on these days? Are you drafting or revising? Feel free to share your progress in the comments.

My Wordle Way

Like many other people, I've made a habit of starting my day by playing Wordle, the game where you have six chances to guess a five-letter word. Here's a link to the game, along with a list of the rules. Briefly, you type your guess (which must be a real word) into the website. Each box represents a letter. Green boxes indicate the right letter in the right spot; yellow boxes represent letters in the word but in the wrong place; and gray boxes are letters that don't belong. This is my strategy:

1. Start with a word that will give you common vowels and consonants. I use STARE. 

2. Based on how you did with the first guess, choose a word that keeps all green letters the same and moves yellow letters to different positions. (I should note that I play on Hard mode, which requires you to reuse green and yellow letters. Some people like to start fresh with a different set of letters, but I prefer to focus on getting the right letters in the right places.) If you didn't have any luck with vowels, try a word with a different combination. I sometimes use PRION as my second word.

3. Once you have two or three letters, it then becomes a matter of moving them into the right spots and figuring out what the missing letters could be. Sometimes if I get stuck at this point, I take a break from the game and return to it later. Other times, I may try a "brute force" method, where I mentally test unused letters in unfilled spots to see if I make a word. I don't enter these guesses until I find something that clicks with me. Sometimes it takes me all six guesses, but I've had pretty good luck so far. Hopefully, this post won't break my streak.

Do you play Wordle or other word games? Feel free to share them in the comments.

Mid-Month Mysteries: Valentine Theme

 

Apologies for not posting last week. I had planned to post this on the 9th, but I scheduled it for the wrong date. I may as well post twice this week!

 Cozy mysteries often feature romance as a side plot, so it's not surprising that there are several mysteries that feature Valentine's Day. Here are a few of them.

My author friend Kelly Hashway recently published the first book in her holiday-themed cozy mystery series. I haven't had a chance to read Valentine Victim yet, but it looks interesting. It's about a psychologist whose Valentine's Day date is murdered, making her the prime suspect.

The St Valentine's Day Cookie Massacre by Elisabeth Crabtree is a novella featuring a murder in a cookie shop. It's free on Amazon, so I added it to my collection.

Another food-themed cozy mystery is A Catered Valentine's Day, by Isis Crawford. It includes chocolate, wine, recipes, and the death of the chocolate shop owner.

For a non-food related story, there's Death of a Valentine by M.C. Beaton. Two detectives find romance while solving the murder of a woman who received a mysterious Valentine's Day gift.

For a more extensive list of Valentine's Day mysteries, check out this link.

 

IWSG: Missing Mentors

Happy Groundhog Day! Here's hoping you're not seeing lots of snow where you are. I'd hate to deal with that over and over! Today is also blogging day for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Learn more about them on their website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Our hosts for this month are Joylene Nowell Butler,  Jacqui Murray, Sandra Cox, and Lee Lowery. 

Our question for this month is Is there someone who supported or influenced you that perhaps isn't around anymore? Anyone you miss?

The first person who came to mind when I read this question was Kathleen Massie-Ferch, who taught the first writing class I attended. After the writing class, I maintained contact with her at conventions like WisCon. She mostly wrote short stories and had edited two anthologies. She passed away of breast cancer about twenty years ago before she had a chance to finish the novel she was working on--and before I sold my first short story. 

This question also reminded me of some of the friends I've made through writing workshops, though I still have contact with some of them through Facebook. Hopefully this year we can have more in-person conventions. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to attend either WisCon or ChiCon this year, but it would be great to see some of those writers again.

Do you have any writing mentors who've passed on to the Eternal Convention? Feel free to discuss them in the comments or share a link to your own posts about them.