Jan. 21, 2025

A Bit of Insight

Traci Dowe/Kenworth

Christmas and New Year’s are still just slightly past the weeks at the moment but I hope to bring some of that joy into the new year. Yes, I’m anxious about what lies ahead. I don’t know anyone who isn’t. But I also know: there’s a lot of good people in the world. Some otherwise as well but I like to concentrate on the good.

Helping each other should be something we inspire to do. If you see someone in trouble, reach out. If someone seems confused, helpless, lend a hand. By doing so, you’ll also help yourself. That positivity, that gift, gives back. I don’t know about you, but I can use some of that.

Winter oftentimes emphasizes the bleak points. We need to combat those away. Jesus taught that we need to be kind and compassionate towards others. Like I said, I know there are naysayers to that but I have faith in him. I may not always in my fellow man but I have faith in him. Together, we can bridge the distance.

Life is growing short for us all. It has since the moment we’re born. The days don’t slow or take a break at sweeping past. They always turn, always sprint for what’s just ahead. Let’s make the most of it. Treasuring each day for what it’s worth.

Happy New Year, everyone! May it bring blessings upon you all!

The Seven:

1. Writer Unboxed: Reaquainting Ourselves with Our Characters – Writer Unboxed While I have earned nothing beyond a BA in English, I’ve never let that stop me from pretending I have a vast array of training and advanced degrees at my fingertips. Need a marriage therapist who’s willing to work for free? I’m your gal. Looking for a pro bono private investigator? You’ve come to the right place! Hoping to stumble upon a psychiatrist who specializes in diagnosing those who don’t know they need a diagnosis? Yep, I can do that too.

On December 24th, I found myself at Safeway, picking up the items I had forgotten to purchase on the grocery runs I had made on the 22nd and 23rd. Safeway is my go-to because I grew up shopping at Safeway. And I am a cheapskate. It’s also a little gritty, which I appreciate, because at the chichi grocery store that’s a little closer to my house, the apples are too beautiful, the specialty items too special, the shoppers too coiffed. At Safeway? I feel perfectly at home log-rolling myself from bed to car to Safeway. No coiffing required. 

It was in the produce section that I found myself picking green beans from a heap and standing about fifteen feet from a couple near the potatoes. I noticed them because they appeared both too coiffed to be shopping at Safeway and too calm to be shopping on Christmas Eve. But there was something else about them that piqued my interest. 

Sometimes it takes looking at a character a new way to get an aspect of them that you didn’t see in the first place.

• Writer Unboxed: The Mirror and the Arrow – Writer Unboxed Have you made your New Year’s resolutions? Good for you! And good luck! May your resolutions prove easy to enact and the year ahead be a year of fulfillment.

Resolutions and goals are good, but today I have a different New Year’s challenge to bring to you. It’s a list of questions, the point of which is to help you refine your moral inventory as a storyteller. “Moral inventory”? What is that, a step in some writing addiction recovery program?

No, it’s a way to clarify your view of our human experience. And why is that important? We’ll get to that. But first, the questions. For each of the following questions, choose and write down the option which you feel best represents your own outlook and your overall view of the human experience. Make a list.

Here’s the catch: the answer “both” is not allowed. For each question, choose one option only. Don’t think too hard. Go with your gut. The option that weights strongest for you is the right option. There’s no judgment. Results are private.

Ready?

My answers worked out to be a mirror or victim of the fates. That makes sense to me given the circumstances of my character and story.

• Sadie Hartmann (Mother Horror): Six Books in 2025 I Have Already Read & Reviewed The Undoing of Violet Claybourne by Emily Critchley (March 4th, 2025) from Sourcebooks. I read the UK edition. I recommend this to readers who enjoy toxic female friendships and family relationships. A strong sense of dread, a cozy, Gothic setting, and unexpected twists and turns. This story goes so much harder than the cover suggests. Reminds me of a sinister Anne of Green Gables. I enjoyed it so much
  FULL REVIEW

The Ghost Woods by C. J. Cooke (April 29th, 2025) from Berkley. I read the UK edition. You need a hot cup of strong tea, a cozy blanket, and a few hours to lose yourself at Lichen Hall. See the ghosts lurking in the shadows. Light a candle to walk down a long hallway. Hear a child laughing in the woods. Hear a woman

I wrote all these except one—Victorian Psycho—down on my TBR list. That one she said not to read if you’re squeamish and I am. Plus with my mental issues, it wouldn’t chime too well.

• Agents and Books: (3) How to Get an Agent – by Kate McKean – Agents and Books Hey friends!

It’s the 6th anniversary of Agents & Books and all week we’re sharing guides to help you on your publishing journey. Today’s covers the hows, whats, and whys of getting and having an agent! I sincerely wish this post was on single link to the Official and Comprehensive Database of Everything You Need to Get an Agent, but alas, that does not exist. Instead, we have all this stuff!

This might help if you’re going traditional.

• Jane Friedman: When It Lights Up–and When It Doesn’t | Jane Friedman An artist friend agreed to make the visuals for a video game under development. The brief was to produce tiny, colorful, woodland animals with expressive faces and body language. But super tiny. On a short deadline.

The struggle was real. She only had a few weeks’ time, and the medium, tools, and minuscule scale were all new to her. When we spoke during that period, I could hear the added tension in her voice. She has high standards and wanted to live up to them. Also, as a member of a small team, she felt a lot of pressure to excel, not to let anyone down.

To begin, it was essential that she learn some new game developer software. She applied herself. Frustration and anxiety ensued.

Then one day, her brain and her being pulled all the new information and experiences together. As she explained, “It all lit up for me.” From then on, she could work fast and well. Time flew, and she immersed. She delivered her work for the project on time, and the team got the job done.

I think it’s hard to realize our processes. What works for one story can jinx another. Somehow, someway, we had to find the light in each of our works. And then follow it through the dark.

• Steve Laube Agency: Fun Fridays – January 17, 2025 – Collecting autographs can be fun but often a daunting challenge if you are a bit shy about asking.

Even more fun as an author to be asked!

Today’s video is an incredible story of a man who traveled the world and collected 50,000 signatures … in one large book. Wow!

Wow. 50k signatures. Crazy!

• Books and Such: #BlogTour Tale of the Seasons’ Weaver by D. Wallace Peach #fantasy #magic – Books and Such I’m so excited to be included on this blog tour! If you’re a fantasy fan and aren’t familiar with this author’s novels, take this opportunity to acquaint yourself. I guarantee you’ll become fully immersed in the worlds she creates and enchanted by her characters. Here’s Diana!

Thanks so much for offering to host me on Day 5 of my tour, Teri.  It’s great to visit with you on this chilly January day, a perfect time of year for a wintery tale. I have one folklore character from the Tale of the Seasons’ Weaver to share on your blog today, this one from the Arctic!

For this magical story, I drew from Celtic, Germanic, Scandinavian, and Slavic folklore, as well as the rich lore of the Arctic, Japan, Greece, and Native American cultures to create my own similar, but different, characters. Today I’m going to focus on the original lore behind North Bearfrost, a Skaarman. At the same time, you’ll get a first glimpse of the Winter King, Eyri Fardrifter.

I bought this just on the description!

        Bonus Seven:

1. Rosie Amber: 📚Adventure Action #Thriller. Rosie’s #BookReview of Black Ops by Stephen Leather. #BookTwitter #booktwt #FridayReads | Rosie Amber Black Ops is book twelve of the Dan (Spider) Shepherd action adventure thriller series.

This story has three main threads. Firstly a possession of drugs incident for Dan’s teenage son, secondly an ‘off the books’ case to stop a terrorist group from buying arms, and thirdly the infiltration of a group planning to assassinate the Russian leader when he visits Britain.

• Fiction Favorites: Guest Post – Jacqui Murry – Savage Land Series – Endangered Species and Badlands | Fiction Favorites Jacqui Murry writes wonderful books about life before modern history. I am so pleased to be a stop on her blog tour. She is here to discuss two of her books and give us some information on the life of Neanderthals. So, Jacqui, the blog is yours.

Thank you, John. It is a pleasure to be here. When you originally agreed to host a stop, you expressed interest in what Neanderthals ate. So, let’s go to that subject first.

What Did Neanderthals Eat

–John Howell

• Writers in the storm: A Complete Guide to Revising Your Novel: Part One So you’ve written a first (or 100th) draft of your novel. Your emotions range from “Look how good I write” to “It’s rough, but I can fix it,” to “It’s broken beyond repair.” Maybe you’ve done this revision thing dozens of times before, but this novel is turning into a nightmare. Join me in a deep dive into revision tips, tricks, and techniques.

This isn’t a journey for the faint of heart nor for the authors who believe their books are “good enough.” This is for those who want to create the best book they can. Writing out the process in detail makes it large and ungainly. How quickly you can get through this process depends on the condition of your first draft, the level of your skills, your ability to analyze your own work, and the time you have available to work these steps. With repetition it gets faster and smoother.

Start with the big stuff then move to the smallest.

• Jane Friedman: Fiction University: Nope, Not Buying It: How Do We Maintain Believability in Our Writing? You don’t want your readers to think, “Yeah, right, that’ll never happen.”
  
  My brother-in-law is a nurse, and he can’t watch medical TV shows. It annoys the snot of out him how wrong so many of the details are. My husband is the same way with anything computer related, and I notice the screw-ups in publishing and graphic design. Odds are you have your own area of expertise, and you notice when a show, movie, or book gets it wrong.

The number of authors who goofed by putting a safety on a Glock is pretty high. And readers catch those goofs. 

All stories in all genres get bonked on the head when they lack credibility. Readers don’t believe a character would act a certain way, or they doubt a situation would ever happen, they find details that are flat-out wrong, or they call BS about how something is handled. 

Deep thoughts for worldbuilding.

• Writers in the Storm: Marketing quotes and why you need them. | Today we are going to talk a little about the dreaded “M” word…marketing. 

Every author needs it, but not every author is good at it. I’m one of those authors who is horrible at it. Every year I say I am going to be a better marketer, and every year, I fail.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t understand what I am supposed to do.

Let’s spend some time today talking about one of my favorite parts of marketing, and something I am actually good at. 

Marketing quotes.

As a self-published author it is never too early to start thinking about marketing your book. In fact, you can start thinking about marketing while you are writing and editing, and I suggest you do.

I’m learning to do this in class right now as we promote our stories for the first crit readers we have.

• Writer’s Routine: Grady Hendrix – Why asking questions makes HORROR even SCARIER – Writer’s Routine On this week’s episode of ‘Writer’s Routine’, the show that takes a look inside an author’s working day, we’re chatting to horror writer, Grady Hendrix. Grady is the bestselling author of “The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires”, “Horrorstör”, and “My Best Friend’s Exorcism”. He blends horror and humour with incredibly inventive plots and creative ways of creating terror.
•  A Crime Writer’s Blog: Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Lose* – Crime Writer Margot Kinberg One of the realities of life is that the ‘bad guys’ aren’t always caught, and don’t always face justice. Sometimes it’s because the guilty party is rich enough to hide behind excellent attorneys and sometimes bribery. Sometimes it’s because of mistakes made during an investigation. Sometimes, sadly, it’s because the victim isn’t important enough to warrant a careful investigation, and the case is left to go cold. Crime fiction that reflects this can be realistic and can lend itself to a new case where someone goes back over the older case. But even when that doesn’t happen, it’s interesting when a crime story doesn’t feature the sleuth catching the ‘bad guy’ and justice being served.