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Settings As A Character #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

April 27, 2026

Do your settings become characters in your stories?

Easy Answer: All the time

I caught a flicker of movement in a second-story window as I pulled up to the Aldridge house. The last rays of the setting sun lit the exterior, making the fading and peeling white paint look pale pink. Once the weather warmed up, I would start the job of returning the wooden siding to its original deep blue color.
from Her Ladyship’s Ring

I introduced readers to the Aldridge house in book one of the Harmony series, the Marquesa’s Necklace. The old Victorian home soon became a pivotal setting throughout the entire series as Harmony’s attachment to the house grew. In its own way, it revealed Harmony’s mood and became her friend.

All along, the plan had been to sell the house after the renovations, but in the process of fixing it, I’d grown attached to it. I’d even toyed with the idea of living in it myself, but it really needed a happy family to bring it to life. I couldn’t provide that. And Eli, my boyfriend, and I hadn’t gotten to the stage of discussing long-term prospects for our relationship let alone children.
from The Baron’s Cufflinks

*****

“You didn’t remodel this room at all. Run out of cash?” Drew asked.

Behind us, Eli chuckled. He knew money wasn’t an issue in my life.

“It’s the ghost’s room. I didn’t want to touch anything.”

Drew swiveled on one foot. “Ghost?”

“It’s an old house. Of course, there’s a ghost. I’ve never seen it, but I hear it. If you watch, you can see these curtains move when no one is here. The windows are sealed, there isn’t a draft, there’s no logical way to explain it.”

Drew grinned. “You ever see this ghost, Eli?”

“It only shows up when Harmony is alone. She’s dared me to stay here by myself some night, but that’s never happened.” He wrapped an arm around me. “And I’m okay with that.”

“Well, a ghost isn’t responsible for what’s been going on, so I hope it doesn’t mind sharing the room for a day or two.”

I hoped the ghost would show itself and wipe that smile off Drew’s face. “It likes company. Just talk to it and it’ll settle down.”
from The Samurai’s Inro

But perhaps the setting that took on most of a life of its own was her car, Dolores.

That’s what she named herself. (The car) Not because she made Harmony sad, but because she would make anyone who tried to pass her sorrowful. Dolores and Harmony had their own method of communication. Harmony would pat the car before she got in and after she got out. Dolores would chirp and rumble and purr and hum or whatever other sounds she made. With her speed and fine handling, she saved Harmony’s life in almost every book.

There came a time when Dolores wasn’t enough of a shield to protect Harmony. I won’t reveal it here, but the scene made me cry when I wrote it. You’ll have to read The Ranger’s Dog Tags to find out what happened.

 How about our other authors? Do their settings become characters in their stories? Find out my checking out the links below.

As always, please stay safe until next time.

Goal update: I broke 50,000 words! It’s near the end, and I’ve thrown in another red herring! It’s small, so I don’t think it’ll surprise anyone. Except me.

April 27, 2026

Do your settings become characters in your stories?

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Changes In Draft2Digital #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

April 20, 2026

How many of you use Draft2Digital?

How will the new pricing structure affect you?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the company, Draft2Digital provides tools and distribution methods to independent authors. It started business a little over a decade ago and has been expanding the services it offers since then. It is one of the companies I chose to go with when I began my journey as an author. At that time, it cost nothing to join. The only fee was the cut the company took out of each sale.

This past week, Draft2Digital announced major changes. First, there is an activation fee. (Previously, joining was free.) The changes also include a yearly fee if an author’s proceeds fall under $12 in the past year. If an author brings in over $100, that fee doesn’t apply.

How does it affect me?

Well, since I’ve been with them since the beginning of my publication efforts, I don’t have to worry about the activation fee. Without using that terminology, I believe they use it as a way to keep out the manuscripts produced by AI bots. It’s a goal I support. The announced activation fee is $20 and hopefully isn’t enough to discourage beginning writers. (In contrast, it used to cost $45 to upload a single manuscript to Ingram Spark for printing.)

The annual fee will make a minor difference to my budget. I don’t make enough money to meet the $100 target for free servicing of my account. My sales reach is tiny, but Draft2Digital gets me into various systems that offer digital access to libraries, as well as Apple. I’d hate to lose those channels of sales and access to readers.

I’ll have to give it time to see if the new policy works. There is so much competition in today’s book market that I’ll likely never know if it works to fight AI garbage. But it’s a start.

What do other authors think? Hear from a few by following the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

Goal update: I’m at 49,600 words. That’s after stripping several hundred from edits of early chapters. The tipping point is still eluding me. There’s four paths I can see, and I don’t know which to pick.

April 20, 2026

How many of you use Draft2Digital? How will the new pricing structure affect you?

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Is This The End? #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

April 13, 2026

From your story’s point of view, how does it feel when you, the author, writes “The End?”

It’s been a long time coming.

She started out with high hopes, ready to discover where the story idea would take her. When she started, I knew better than to believe she’d found the right beginning. The other stories on the computer warned me she had a habit of starting and restarting her writing. They were right. She started this one three times, then set it aside to work on another story. I despaired that I’d ever get written.

But she got back to me – eventually. And she restarted from the beginning. It was better, in my opinion,  but it wasn’t easier for her. She struggled. If she got two hundred words in a day, she celebrated. Once in a rare while, she’d break 500 words. Then there were days she wouldn’t even open me up.

I didn’t like being ignored. So, every time she sat at the computer, I’d nag her. It was her fault, really. She put a shortcut on her desktop, after all.

Well, she got to the end – eventually. Or almost. The other stories warned me. She hates ending a story. She’ll hold off as long as she can. Starting the editing before ever finishing is her favorite way to delay. Still, she’ll get there.

And when she does, when she writes “The End,” she’ll push her chair back and take the clichéd deep breath. I will cheer for her – for us. It’ll take a while until she’s done with me. Rumors mentioned five rounds of editing. That’s alright with me. She’s brought me to life.

How do the stories of our other authors feel when she writes “the End?” Find out by checking out their posts by following the links below.

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

Goal update. I’m at about 49,000 words. I’m inching closer to the end, but there’s a lot of loose ends to tie up. I wrote a bunch of red herrings.

April 13, 2026

From your story’s point of view, how does it feel when you, the author writes “The End?”

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The Art Of Graphics #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

April 6, 2026

How many of your own graphics do you do?

Does anyone help you with them?

Those of you who have hung out here may remember that my sister is my cover artist. (And I love your work, K.M. Guth!) But she’s a busy woman, and she doesn’t have time for all the minor graphics needs I have. I’ve watched her work, and the amount of detail and care she puts into even a meme is amazing.

So, I’ve learned to do a few things on my own. Nothing as detailed as a cover—I’ve seen my sister combine five pictures into one design—but I can create a simple one-picture meme with text. Not with shadows and special effects, but enough to get the point across.

       Ethical debate side note here: I use free photo sites regularly. You may know that I am against the use of AI in writing. More often, I find AI artwork on those sites. Now, I pay nothing for those pictures. I’m not taking away payment from an artist if I use one of those submissions. Is it unethical to use AI in that situation? See an example below.

I need to do more.

I’m behind. My FB page needs updating. It’s several books behind. Even the graphics on my webpage are lagging. The gallery of my books is missing two of my covers. And I should post on social media more often, but I don’t have the energy to come up with new graphics daily or even weekly.

Here’s my confession — I’m jealous of her skill. And know my work will never live up to her standards. I don’t like to do things halfway, and I feel as if my work is just that — halfway.

So, I’m thankful that I have a great cover artist. It’s up to me to carry my own weight. How about the other authors on this hop? Let’s find out what they do about graphics by following the links below.

As always, please stay safe until next time. 

Goal Update: I’ve written some, but done more editing, so I only have a net gain of 500 words. Sigh. But I wrote one scene that took a lot of writing and rewriting.

April 6, 2026

How many of your own graphics do you do? Does anyone help you with them?

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All In The Family #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

March 30, 2026

Do you include your character’s family in your stories?

How much do they affect the storyline?

In the Harmony Duprie stories, I wrote Harmony as having lost her parents as a young adult. Their absence had a lasting impression on her life, shaping many aspects of her daily activities. Here’s the reader’s introduction to them:

My mother was a hippie—I learned from her you don’t need to spend money to be happy, but my father was an investment banker, and made a lot of it. I inherited a goodly sum when they died in a freak mountain climbing accident. I also inherited Dad’s financial adviser, and Keith knows what he is doing.
                                                                                                               The Marquesa’s Necklace

They show up throughout the series. It became a game for me to include a reference to John Denver songs and African violets in every book. (Both a legacy from her mother.) From her father, she learned how to read people.

But readers also discover how the trauma of their deaths comes back to haunt Harmony in unexpected ways. Her fear of flying. The loss of the woman who helped anchor Harmony through the grief process.

Family becomes the background for many of my stories.

The relationship between Jake Hennessey and Eli Hennessey — they are cousins — and one is the good guy while the other is the bad boy was fun to explore, but it went further. (Although sometimes I think it worked the other way around — that Jake protected Eli in hidden ways. Perhaps those are stories I didn’t explore and need to remain unwritten.)

But I can’t leave out the Free Wolves books. Because, after all, a pack is a form of an extended family, with the alpha in a patriarchal role. But the stories deal with those bonds being tested, broken, and reformed in new ways. And what is lost and what is gained in the process?

     “It is time for you to retire. You can either pass leadership of the pack and the business to me now, or I will call challenge in front of the pack and we can fight for it. The decision is yours.” Gavin had practiced the speech many times in his head, and thought it came out well.
  Henry laughed and said, “This is foolishness on your part.” Still, he detected a note of desperation in the sound. “You really think you can pull this off?”
  “For the good of the pack, I have to.” Gavin examined his father closely, and realized how old he was. “I’ve not been in a hurry to take over your position, but perhaps I’ve waited too long.” He stared at his father, and hoped the coldness of his heart would chill his father’s spirit. Henry blinked first.
  “The Elders will never back you up. The pack will never accept you.”
  “Empty threats. As always, the Elders will do what is best for the pack as a whole, even if they are your friends. That is their responsibility. A growing faction of the pack has urged me to do this for several years.   No, your time is past. It’s my time now.”
  “And what happens if I decide to fight?”
  “Do you think you can beat me in a one-on-one battle? It’s not going to happen. I’m too strong, and have fought many battles recently. You haven’t fought one for years.” Gavin tensed so the muscles in his arms and chest rippled in a subtle threat. “You still hold a good reputation with most packs. If you fight, you damage the pack and I’ll be forced to hurt you more than I already have. Retire now, keep your reputation, and let me keep my love for you.”
  Henry slumped into the nearest chair and glanced up at his son. “You don’t give me much of a choice, do you?”
                                                                                                              Wolves’ Pawn

I didn’t plan it that way, but families have become an important part of my writing.

Find out how other authors include families in their writing by following the links below.

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

Goal Update: I made it to 47000 words, adding over 2000. But I did more revisions on earlier chapters, so I lost words too. I’m headed towards the big finish.

March 30, 2026

Do you include your character’s family in your stories?

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To Start The Day #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

March 23, 2026

Are you a breakfast eater?

What is your favorite breakfast food?

I didn’t eat breakfast for many years. A simple large glass of orange juice (fortified with calcium and vitamin D) served as my daily opener. I don’t drink coffee, so I’d sip at my juice while going about my morning routine — and get my supplements at the same time.

During the Covid era, it became hard to find the “right” orange juice, and I never made a replacement habit (I’m guessing it was supply chain issues) and I found other ways to get my calcium. I can’t believe how large calcium pills are, and found a chewable form instead.

Back to breakfast:

Now that the grandkids have moved in, things have changed again. I don’t even think about food until I get them to school. When they’re gone, food isn’t the first thing that comes to mind, and I certainly don’t feel like cooking. By midmorning, I might get the munchies and go in search of something to eat. The easiest thing is a bowl of cereal. We keep a variety of cereals for the boys, but my go-to remains oatmeal.

What’s your favorite breakfast? Tell us in the comments. And find out what our other authors eat by following the links below.

In the meantime, please stay safe until the next time.

Goal update: I spent the week editing my early chapters and editing for a fellow author. I may have lost words, but I’m getting clarity on my ending. How do I explain computer networking to a 1985s audience?

March 23, 2026

Are you a breakfast eater? What is your favorite breakfast food?

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Three Or More Is A Crowd #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

March 16, 2026

When you are writing scenes with more than two characters, how do you help the readers keep track of who is speaking?

I avoid it when I can.

Especially at the beginning of a story. Call me a coward. Or skilled at manipulating my stories until the readers (and me) are more comfortable with the cast of characters.

See, it’s hard to write a conversation between more than two people. When we talk to each other, we rarely take turns. Two people do most of the talking, with others trying to find opportunities to get a word in. The speakers may shift to another pair over the pair, but it’s rarely an equilibrium when there are over two.

Even with only three participants, the problem becomes how to keep one of them from being a silent observer, not a speaker with a distinct point of view. Identification is also a sticky point. The standard pronouns – he, she, they – can become useless for identification, and using names, repetitive.

We have adapted in our everyday speech.

Many of us attempt to draw others into our discussions. It can be done with simple body language: making eye contact can be the encouragement needed to draw someone in, or asking a simple question – “What do you think?” While these tactics work in real life, they can be difficult to translate into the written word.

I’ve gotten better at multi-person chats, but I still find it a challenge. In my current WIP, I have a scene with five people. Trying to make sure they all had a speaking role was nearly impossible. Two of them faded into the background most of the scene. (In fact, I am considering deleting one of them. He doesn’t add much to the story.)

How do I help readers keep track? I give each character a distinct role and personality. For example, one is the protagonist, the other the love interest, a third the antagonist. Using physical attributes is another way to distinguish each. The combination is the most effective way for me.

Oh, I should mention Harmony Duprie’s method. Throughout the series, she names everything. When she doesn’t know someone’s name, she’ll number them.

Outside, Oak Grove enjoyed a pre-Thanksgiving cold snap, but inside, the room was stifling from the warmth of all the bodies. The Chief of Police sat at one end of the table, with Officer—excuse me—Agent Felton seated right beside him. I don’t know how we all missed the signs that he was a Fed. Freddie came next and then Officer Smith. I sat on the other end, with Mr. Stangel beside me. Other men, including a couple more FBI guys up from Pittsburgh, stood around, leaning against the walls. I wondered if anyone was left to chase down the reports of backfires and kids skateboarding in front of the stores downtown. I started calling them by numbers in my head, because I hadn’t caught all the names.

How do other authors solve the issue?

I’m sure there are other methods that have been developed. What do our other authors use? To find out, follow the links below.

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

Goal update: I’m at 45,200. I thought I was close to the end, but the story threw a curve at me. Now I have to rethink my ending.

When you are writing scenes with more than two characters, how do you help the readers keep track of who is speaking?

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Am I For Real? #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

March 9, 2026

How much of yourself do you share with your readers? How much do you hide?

It’s a balance.

Like deciding whether to work in introvert mode or the occasional extrovert presentation, how do I figure out how much of me I share?

Because these blog posts aren’t necessarily the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. I am protective of my and my family’s privacy. I may write partial truths and add details that are not true at all. Or, I may just not mention a moment at all.

In a way, I am fiction

With a public image that may be playacting. When I put on my “signing hat,” I slip into my author personality. Real life takes a backseat to the fiction I want my readers to see. At the same time, I try to be open to my readers and yet hide parts of me at the same time. It’s the fine balance I mentioned in the beginning.

Is there anything new I’d like to share? Not about me. How about a snippet from from the book I’m working on. By the way, its current name is Edwards Investigations: The Donovan File. I’ve “only” changed it twice. This one stuck.

Here’s the clip. It’s unedited, so please forgive any errors.

The two block walk in the frigid February rain left Annie wishing for an umbrella or a rain coat, but both would get in her way. She stopped at the end of an alley and tugged her heavy black sweater closed before pulling on the cuff of her white blouse, the prearranged signal. As far as she could tell, everything and everyone was in place. She prayed that Mike had found a hiding spot.

She clutched a hollowed-out Bible wrapped in plastic. It held ten old-fashioned floppy discs—the big ones that were actually floppy. The trade was classified information in exchange for the life of the ten-year old girl.

“The Lord is my shepherd,” she muttered, then, exaggerating her limp, strode into the circle of brightness under the lone streetlight at the end of the alley. Her nose was assaulted by the odor of rotting meat and other days-old trash.

How much do our other authors share?  You know the drill. Check out the links below to read their blog posts.

As always, please stay safe until next time.

Goal update: I made it to 43500 words. I feel good about it.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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March 9, 2026

 

It’s All In A Name #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

 

March 2, 2026

There is an unwritten rule in fiction about not using characters’ names that begin with the same letter.

Do you have rules for naming yours?

When I started writing, I didn’t realize the power of names. My characters were named haphazardly, with whatever popped into my mind. Boring, white American names, because that’s what I knew. But the more I wrote, the deeper my understanding of what a simple name can do.

Then I transitioned to worrying about using “real” names. I’d spend hours scouring the internet, trying to discover if a name I had in mind belonged to a person I might meet on the street. If I was attached to it, I might change a few letters to avoid the duplication.

It wasn’t enough. I felt like I was missing something.

My research switched. I started playing with names based on various sources. Native American names. The Bible. The US census. That worked for a couple of books. (The Free Wolves series is a prime example.) For a while, I had access to the names of a medium-sized company, and I’d often come across unique names. Those made it into a notebook for later use.

By the time I reached The Ranger’s Dog tags from the Harmony Duprie books, I made another switch in my naming convention. The book had characters from a variety of backgrounds, and I tried to create names that would fit into their histories. As a bonus, the names worked to lead me to discover traits of their personality. (Always just the first name or the last, never both.)

As they will, my characters played games with me. For the Edwards Investigations, I used characters based on an over-decade old manuscript. There was no changing the names. Annie and Mike.

Now, I use a combination of all the above. I’ve also learned when it’s okay to break the rules. In the Edwards Investigations stories,  I have both an Annie and an Andreas. Annie because that was her original name from back in the day. Andreas because it pays homage to a founder of an early computer club, the perfect name for the character.

So what’s in a name?

A name can be an entire story in itself. Do our other authors have rules for naming their characters? Check it out by following the links below.

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

Goal update: I reached 40,500. But I wrote more and deleted 500 because I wasn’t happy with them.

March 2, 2026

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There is an unwritten rule in fiction about not using characters’ names that begin with the same letter.

Do you have rules for naming yours?

Writing After Covid #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

Feb 23, 2026

Looking back at the Covid years, did that time impact your current writing?

It’s only been a few years, but it feels like ancient history.

Like many writers, I am an introvert. (Well, mostly, depending on the circumstances.) The year and a half of working from home deepened my appreciation of that personality trait. In contrast, many of the extroverts from our office returned to work much sooner. It came as a shock to my system the first time we went out to a restaurant to eat after the quarantine was lifted.

How did that affect my writing?

I want to say it increased my speed, but that’s not true. Instead, I became more deliberate in my choice of words, which slowed me down. Editing became a fixation. I’m more concerned with writing the best words I can rather than as many as possible.

But I don’t know how much of that is because of Covid or all the changes in my life after the restrictions were lifted. Retiring, moving halfway across the country, my mother dying. Everything happened way to close together. The older I get, the more of a perfectionist I become when it comes to my writing.

Is the change in my writing style good or bad? It depends on what my current goal is. Right now, it’s bad. I’m trying to get the first draft of this book finished. Last week was a good week; this week not so much. (Too few words, and I’m not happy with the pace of the story. But I keep plugging away.) I’m debating whether I need the last 500 words at all. I thought I’d get it done by the end of this month, but don’t see it happening. Not if I keep getting rid of words!

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

How is everyone else doing?

Did Covid effect your writing? I’m looking forward to your answers. As regular readers know, you can join me by following the links below

As always, please stay safe until next time.

Goal update: I only made it to 39,000 words. I have several good excuses, but I haven’t forgiven myself yet.

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