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Dec 5

3 Comments

You asked

Well, someone did.

Yes, that means more kitty-pics. Which, I might add, are not easy to acquire. The boys rarely stay still long enough these days.

They have recovered from the trauma of the Vet, and now rampage cheerfully through the house when not demanding attention and head scritches. Thus far staying still for long enough to be cuddled isn’t happening, but curling up on the bed with us is becoming a nightly event.

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Dec 4

19 Comments

Nefarious Plots

Mysteries are, by definition about nefarious plots: creating them, writing them, and yeah, your characters both creating them and solving them.

How much importance you give to the puzzle itself varies, according to the type of cozy mystery you’re writing.

Even given that most cozy mysteries aren’t terribly realistic as to the details of the crime (usually but not always a death) there are still degrees of hardness. Read more

Dec 3

28 Comments

When I’m 640

Goodness, me. We survived the annual Giving of Thanks. I, myself, performed the ritual roasting-in-effigy of Lord Gobble the Tyrant, and even managed to get the sides all done together, and still warm. And the pie (the pie was really good), too. An extra-long weekend was survived by all, with some small planning and purchasing done. No writing, though, which galls. I’m glad I wasn’t doing NaNoWriMo this year (not really, at least). I just can’t manage that level of output right now, which is also galling. I don’t even have a chapter for you, this week. I’ll be back at that next week, though.
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Dec 3

57 Comments

There will always be naysayers

Yesterday was one of those days every writer hopes for. That day when someone mentioned your book on social media and the result was a nice bump in sales. (Thanks, Sarah!) But along with that nice bump came the naysayers, reminding me why I should never read the comments. It also brought home something we need to remember as readers–remember and try to correct. Those who have something to bitch about seem to be more willing to write about the perceived issue than those who have enjoyed the book and who may have verbally recommended it to someone. It is time we turn that equation upside down. Read more

Dec 2

21 Comments

Rabbit-holes

I am sure Alice found Wonderland down one of these. I sometimes find rabbit droppings, or, more occasionally, rabbits.  Fortunately, not here on Flinders Island, as we don’t have rabbits… but I daresay if went down enough holes here you might encounter a wombat’s bottom… (they have a very tough thick skin pad on their derrieres  – which they use block their holes to unwelcome visitors, like dingoes, or possibly Alice.) They also produce very odd rectangular droppings, so while you’re down there you could investigate the shaping of these. It must require an odd orifice!

Maybe the wombat’s world domination plan was to convert vegetation into small building bricks? Read more

Dec 1

32 Comments

Nine and Sixty Ways of Constructing Tribal Lays

“The other day” I was talking to a person, and when they were complaining about End Of The World for ebooks, I said, “Eh, it can’t be that bad, and we’ll survive it fine. Don’t you remember the KDPapocalyse and the huge shakeup from KU1 to KU2, and the Kobo-pornopocalypse? This, too, will pass.”

They made noises of pure confusion, and I realized… Indie is over 10 years old, and Peter and I have been there since pretty much the beginning. (Don’t ask me about working the Christmas rush inside Amazon when the world suddenly decided it wanted kindles, and e-readers went from a weird niche geek beta-test market to The Hot Christmas Gift. Because you are on the other side of a screen, and can’t hand me brandy enough for that story…) The person I was speaking to hadn’t been indie for 3 years, yet. They didn’t know The History Of Our Tribe.
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Nov 30

15 Comments

Writing To Your Audience

oh, hai! I sort of forgot this was Saturday… I’ve had first weekend, you see, and now I’m working on second weekend. It’s blissful, and I was all focused on family and not thinking about writing at all. Well, except for Thanksgiving morning where a friend inadvertently gave me a story prompt and I had to sit down and write a little flash fiction before I could get on with making the feast from scratch. I really love to cook. Oddly, more than I love eating it. Don’t get me wrong, that was a lovely meal. But it was more about seeing my family sitting here at the table enjoying the food, laughing, and talking than it was about my own plate. Read more

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