What Would A Ghost Read? #OpenBook Blog Hop

 

Oct 21, 2024

Stolen from a X (twitter) post: Which genre do you think ghosts prefer: mystery, thriller, horror, fairytale, or magical realism?

How about none of the above?

So, I’m a ghost. The last thing I’d want to read is most of the genres listed. Mystery and thrillers might be acceptable, but I would avoid horror. There’d be enough of that among my fellow ghosts. You know, like the guy down the hall, poisoned by his mother-in-law. The lady across the street killed in a riot. (I never have figured out which year. She doesn’t remember. She keeps mixing up three different possibilities.) The old man, a few doors down, murdered by his brother and hacked up in little pieces to be put in various garbage bins. (He still hasn’t found some parts. He’s missing three fingers on his left hand.)

I want to read biographies and autobiographies of people who were my contemporaries. Get the dirt on them. You know, which politician was having an affair with which actress. (Or actresses.) Which police chief was on the take from which Mafia boss. Get the low-down on the guy who ran the orphanage and hired the kids out as servants and pocketed all the money.

Image by Dorothe from Pixabay

Now, you’d think I’d want to read histories.

Nope. Those things are so white-washed they’re worthless. I want the dirt. All the things we gossiped about, but could never prove.

 When I get bored or run out of my primary choices of books to read, I’ll fall back on a cozy mystery or a romance. It would be fun to compare how the books written in my time are different from the modern-day ones.

I’m haunting an old house converted into apartments, where no one messes with the small attic. There’s a large collection of books there. Heck, it even hosts a stack of National Geographic. (And a few Playboys, but we won’t talk about them.) And with the folks moving in and out, I rarely run out of fresh material to read. {I’m sorry, Suzie Q, that I kept moving the bookmark in the biography of Queen Elizabeth you were reading, but I wanted to get to the good parts.) Not like poor Mabel next door. Her house was converted into offices for an accounting firm a few years back. Boring. When she has the energy, she comes and hangs out with me, even if we do nothing but read. Those days are fewer, because the accountants are sucking the life (what’s left of it) right out of her.

I’m not stuck in my house 24/7

Sometimes, when  the atmospheric conditions are favorable and the veil is thin, I make a trip to the library a few blocks away. Of course, I can’t take any books home with me, but I found a quiet little corner where no one goes where I can sit (well, float above a chair) and read. (And hide the book there so no one checks it out.) I’m only a little sorry about confusing the librarians.

What do you think ghosts love to read? Let me know in the comments. And don’t forget to check out what the other authors on this hop think by following the links to their blog.

As always, until next time, please stay safe!

P.S. It’s not a ghost story. Edwards Investigations, The Rimer File, will be released November 2nd. Check back for more info!

Oct 21, 2024

Stolen from a X (twitter) post: Which genre do you think ghosts prefer: mystery, thriller, horror, fairytale, or magical realism?

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Favorite Muppet Character #OpenBook Blog Hop

Oct 14, 2024

Some time ago, we revealed which Muppet character we look like the most.

Now, tell us who/what is your favorite Muppet character? (From any series or movie.)

Jim Henson was a genius. He created so many great characters. Sure, some were mostly in the background (Doozers in Fraggle Rock) but others shared center stage with an entire cast. (Think Sesame Street.)

I’ve always been fond of the old men in the balcony in the Muppet Show. (Statler and Waldorf.) But they aren’t my favorites. They helped me define my sense of sarcasm. As much as I love the Count, and don’t think he got the attention he deserved, he’s not my pick for this post. (I would have loved to see him count in base 2 or base 16.) The Dark Crystal was a great production, but didn’t touch me like other Henson efforts.

But I do have a favorite.

He’s a rather odd choice for a writer, since he mainly communicates in grunts. On the drums, he’s a genius. I’m talking about Animal, of course.

By Disney.com, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40292333

His needs are simple. Sex, sleep, food, and drums. Not necessarily in that order. Even with his limitations, he became the most popular performer of the Electric Mayhem band. I suspect it is his simplicity that attracts the audience. There’s no hidden agenda, no manipulation, no stabbing  someone in the back. That’s what drew me in.

Do you have a favorite Muppet?

Tell us about it in the comments. And to find out who/what the other authors choose, follow the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

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Oct 14, 2024

Some time ago, we revealed which Muppet character we look like the most. Now, tell us Who/what is your favorite Muppet character? (From any series or movie.)


Choosing A Color Scheme #OpenBook Blog Hop

Oct 7, 2024

Do you favor certain color schemes for your book covers?

This will be a short post because I leave the design choices of my covers to my cover artist, K.M. Guth.

And I lost internet last night after a major thunderstorm blew through our area. Plus she is on vacation and overseas!

Anyway, I am always amazed at what she comes up with for my covers. There is a different scheme for each series.

The Free Wolves series features strong, bright, colors. Since the books feature action, the colors reflect that. And how she finds the perfect images for the cover models amazes me.

She went a totally different direction for the Harmony Duprie stories. Instead of repeating the background, she chose muted colors with subtle background pattens (you have to look closely.)

Then, for the Jake Hennessey books, although they are tied to the Harmony books, she designed covers that were reflective of the main character’s personality.

The cover of my new book, Edwards Investigations, The Rimer Files, hearkens back to the era in which is takes place. (1985-ish) I can’t show it here, but it’s coming soon. Let’s just say she did a marvelous job of picking elements of the story to add to the design.

I know a few of the authors on this hop design their own covers, so I am looking forward to their posts. Check them put by following the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe!

Oct 7, 2024

Do you favor certain color schemes for your book covers?

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Telling The Tales, One At A Time #OpenBook Blog Hop

Sept 30, 2024

A suggestion from Kelly:

My daughter asked: How did you decide that you finally wanted to write your stories?

I’ve told this story before.

Let me clarify before I get started. Kelly is one of the founding members of this hop, and it was her daughter who came up with this topic. Now on to the post.

I started writing poetry back in the dark ages, when music filled the air and everyone wanted to learn to play guitar. My voice wasn’t good enough to become a folk singer, but I wanted to make my words tell stories. I had some luck getting my poetry published and won a few local awards for it.

But as I got older and become involved with the computer field, the words got harder and harder to put together. I spent my spare time playing with math, and numbers took over. I was even running subnet equations (getting computers to talk to each other) in my sleep. There wasn’t room for poetry in my head, and I missed it.

Somewhere along the way, I ran into information about National Novel Writing Month.

I didn’t participate the first year after I heard about it, or the second. But one mid-October day, as I was going for my afternoon walk, and despairing for the words in my head that wouldn’t fashion themselves into a poem, it hit me. Why not write them as a story instead?

And that’s what I did. Come November 1, I grabbed a notepad and in between work duties, I started writing. I didn’t ‘win’ that year. Winning means writing 50,000 words by the end of the month, and I only wrote 49,000. I ran out of time and words.

But I didn’t give up. I rewrote that story several times, including  from different points-of-view. And I got hooked. That story will never see publication, but I learned a lot along the way. 

And I decided that maybe – just maybe – someday I would let the world read a what I’d written. 

Here I am, getting ready to release my twelfth book.

Coming soon – I’m shooting for November 2nd – Edwards Investigations, The Rimer File, will be added to my bookshelf. (My editor/formatter was in the path of the hurricane, so things may change.)  Please sign up for my newsletter to get the first peek at it. (See the link on the right.)

By the way, every now and then I will still write a poem. Maybe once a year, when inspiration strikes. I haven’t tried to publish any of the recent ones. They are more for my satisfaction  than anything else.

How about the other authors on this hop? What made them decide to write their stories? Find out by following the links below. 

And as always, until next time, please stay safe.

A suggestion from Kelly: My daughter asked: How did you decide that you finally wanted to write your stories?

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My Favorite Word #OpenBook Blog Hop

Sept 23, 2024

What’s your favorite word in the English language? Any other language?

What makes it my favorite?

I’m an author! I play with words almost every day. How can I pick only one? I fought with this for several days. Is it based on sound? How much I use it in my life? What it means?

I choose peace. 

It’s not the prettiest word in the English language, but the meaning is what counts. I’m not a big fan of confrontation, although for the right reason or cause, I will make a stand. But if there’s an option to choose peace, I will always choose peace. Well, at least I try.

It’s not always easy. But it’s always worthwhile.

I have a second choice.

No.

In my family, we were taught (by example) to do our best to help others. I’ve also worked a lot of jobs where I was expected to tell people yes, no matter how I felt about it. But at some point in my life, I discovered the joy of being able to say no. It’s a freeing feeling to turn someone down and not have the moment overshadowed by guilty.

It’s a word that must be used with caution. You know, the whole with great power comes great responsibility idea. You don’t want to overuse it, or it loses its impact.

You may think the two words-—peace and no—contradict each other, but I don’t believe so. After all, being able to choose peace means allowing yourself to enjoy it yourself. And sometimes that means saying no to demands,

In the comments, tell me about your favorite word. And then check out the other authors on this hop by following the links.

And, as always, please stay safe until next time.

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Sept 23, 2024

What’s your favorite word in the English language? Any other language?

 


The Best Part of Publicity #OpenBook Blog Hop

Sept 16, 2024

Many of us are frustrated by publicity. It’s our least favorite part of writing.

But what’s your favorite part?

Sit back and grab your favorite brew. I’m about to treat you to one of my infamous “stretching the meaning of the question” answers.

Most authors will tell you how much we hate doing publicity. It’s hard. Pick your poison. Blogs, Facebook and other social media posts. Paid ads in all shapes and sizes. Many times it feels as if it’s nothing but sheer luck whether a certain campaign works. As you can tell, none of those are my favorite.

Then what is?

This is where I stretch the meaning of publicity.

My favorite form is the festivals and other events where I sell my books. I’ve done five events this summer, lasting anywhere from 5 hours to 3 days. Overall, I sold fifty books. I have three more events scheduled before Christmas and am debating a fourth. I’m about peopled out!

 

This is a sample of my outdoor setup. It doesn’t change much from event to event. With any luck, I don’t have to use the few light tarps I bought in case of rain.

But back to the topic. Why is this my favorite form of publicity? Because of the people I get to meet. I love to watch their faces as they read the blurb on the back of a book. Even if they don’t buy one, it’s good to know they were interested enough to spend a few minutes checking it out. The instant feedback is gratifying.

This year was interesting because it was the second year at several events. Although there were many new faces, it was great to run into returning customers. I had one lady send her son to track me down at one event to buy the book she hadn’t bought previously!

Now, here’s some “hard” publicity.

The second and third rounds of critiques on my work-in-progress are almost finished. (They were happening simultaneously.) Then the manuscript is off to my editor and I’ve got a release date in mind. This story has been a decade in the making, and I’m excited to finally present it to the world. I’m fine-tuning the title, but right now it’s The Edwards Investigations, The Rimer File. To get the first announcement of the release date, and an excerpt, sign up for my newsletter. Check out the right-hand column.)

How about the other authors on this hop? What’s their favorite part of publicity? Check out the links below to find out.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Tracking The Characters #OpenBook Blog Hop

September 9, 2024

How do you keep track of your cast of characters?

You don’t want to repeat a name and confuse your readers.

And you don’t want to change their physical characteristics halfway through the story. I learned that early on, when a character started off with light brown hair and somewhere along the way it got darker. So, how do I keep track?

I know an author who covers the walls by her desk with sticky notes. Of course, she’s a plotter, and has everything mapped out before she begins telling the story. When I started writing, I wasn’t in a spot where I could do that, so I never tried. Besides, as a pantser, characters enter the scene when I least expect them.

As I worked on the fifth book in the Harmony Duprie series, I decided it was time to start a series ‘bible,’ listing every character and what they looked like, as well as their relationship to Harmony. And there were a LOT of supporting roles. I abandoned it before finishing, when I decided to end the series with the sixth book. (And set the story away from Oak Grove, where the rest of the series happened.)

I wanted to be more organized as I wrote my current work-in-progress, the Edwards Investigations.

 

Photo by Anna Shvets:

Since it’s semi-historical, it required more research. I wanted to get details right. Thankfully, I’d moved into my own office space when I started the story and could buy a large whiteboard to attach to the wall. As a character revealed themselves to me, I’d add them to the list. I ended up with a list of names on one side and interesting tidbits of information on the other.

But life happened, and I had to move my writing space. I didn’t want to put holes on the walls of the new spot to mount the whiteboard. Guess what happened?

As I edited, I discovered I had used two last names that were very close. Not the same, but too similar for my comfort. Thankfully, with the option of find and replace, it was a simple job to make the needed correction. Then, I bought a small whiteboard that can hang from a thumbtack nearby.

I’m hoping to make The Edwards Investigations a series, so I should start working on a book bible now. A simple spreadsheet will do the trick. Even a word document world work, but a spreadsheet will make it easier to compare characteristics. I don’t want everyone to have brown or blonde hair!

How do other authors keep track of their characters? Just follow the links to their posts to find out.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

September 9, 2024

How do you keep track of your cast of characters?

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Obscure Writing Tools #OpenBook Blog Hop

 

September 2, 2024

What is your most obscure and favorite work supply for writing?

I will admit, this one had me scratching my head.

The tools I use are commonplace. The basics. Pen, paper, computer. Everyday stuff. Nothing exciting there. Even opening a clean notebook isn’t thrilling to most folks.

I could talk about the landscape that inspires and supports me., the hills and back roads of Pennsylvania. I spotted a bear running across the road going to town a few days ago, and have deer wander through my yard occasionally. (Much to the detriment of whatever flowers are in bloom.) But none of those count as tools.

So, I got to thinking harder. I took a walk outside to check my hummingbird feeder and the answer hit me. I use a tool called LibreOffice for my word processing (like Microsoft Office.) It’s free and has many of the same capabilities as the Microsoft product. 

Its development was a combination of the efforts of thousands of people. The list on their web page is amazing and too long to even screen shot and post here. Historically, it branched off a previous program called OpenOffice, which was the effort of even more people. (For those who love computer stuff, it’s open source software.)

As a side note, LibreOffice is more than word processing. It has additional components that mimic the entire Microsoft Office suite. I’ve mentioned it on this blog before, so it might not be as obscure as it used to be.

I’m excited to find out what obscure tools the other authors are using. You can too, by following the links below.

And, as always, please stay safe until the next time.

 

September 2, 2024

What is your most obscure and favorite work supply for writing?

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The Color of Money #OpenBook Blog Hop


Aug 26, 2024

What is your area of the world best known for (in your opinion?)

The Native Americans recognized the usefulness of black gold for centuries.

They collected it from seeps in the ground and off the surface of creeks, and used it for many things, including medicine, ceremonial paint, and waterproofing. They even traded it for goods and services. We’re talking about crude oil.

Naturally, white settlers learned from the locals and started using oil. Which led to the desire to find  different ways to obtain it. Introducing Colonel Edwin Drake and welcome to Titusville, PA.

In case you didn’t learn about it in your history lessons, this is the area where the first commercial oil well was drilled and where the oil industry got its start. Wells drilled for other reasons had produced oil as a by-product, the well in Titusville was the first one specifically drilled to bring oil to the surface. That was back in 1859. 

Drake Well

 

The plot of land that the well was drilled on is now a museum and park which draws around 35,000  tourists a year. The oil industry has pretty much abandoned the area as oil no longer easily found, but remnants of it still remain. Money created by the oil rush has mostly followed the move to other parts of the country, but plenty of artifacts remain. Everything from magnificent, restored Victorian mansions to stately churches to crumbling factories.

St. Joseph Parish/ Rev. Johnathan Schmidt

And that’s the answer. The area is best known for the oil industry, which gained prominence here before shifting to many other places.

Oh, and Bigfoot may live here, too.

How about the other authors? It’ll be interesting to find out what their areas are known for.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

What is your area of the world best known for (in your opinion?)

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Pushing Publish Too Soon #OpenBook Blog Hop

Aug 19, 2024

Have you ever regretted ‘hitting publish’ on a work realizing you could have done more or tweak something to make it an absolute banger?

It was never an issue in the Dark Ages when I wrote poetry. Back then, publishing meant sending typewritten copies on higher-quality paper by snail mail to magazines or other paper publications. If I was lucky, they’d send the copies back along with the all-too-often rejection slip in the enclosed self-addressed stamped envelope. The advent of home computers and printers made life so much easier.

I’m always excited to get new work out to my readers.

Now, getting it out ‘too soon’ is another question. With my books, they get seen by so many eyes that I’m confident in releasing them. Sure, there are always tweaks that can be made, but once a book has made it all the way through the process, I like to leave it alone. It’s like setting a butterfly free. You wish it love as it flutters away.

I made small changes to The Marquesa’s Necklace after publishing it. A reviewer mentioned a word that was overused. They were right, and the changes were easy. It didn’t change the story at all. That’s the only time I’ve changed the contents of a book after release. (Covers don’t count.)

My blog is different. I normally write it a day before releasing it. I hit the publish button for this hop just before going to bed on Sunday evenings. Then, as I drift off to sleep, I’m thinking of all the minor changes I should have made or things I could have said. If I remember them in the morning, I can easily add them. (If I remember!)

Social Media posts are different playing field.

I often regret my infrequent comments on social media. Not because of the content, but due to the frequent typos I make, that I don’t spot until after I’ve pushed the arrow. Thank heavens for the ability to edit them. But it bothers me knowing other people have seen the errors.

I work hard to keep my actual posts on social media typo-free. I wait longer and triple-check my work before I publish them. If all else fails, I’m able to delete them and start over.

How about the other authors on this hop? Do they ever regret pushing the publish button? Find out by checking out the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

Aug 19, 2024

Have you ever regretted ‘hitting publish’ on a work realizing you could have done more or tweak something to make it an absolute banger?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter