Merry Christmas!
/Merry Christmas from this little corner of Central Virginia. I hope you and yours have a wonderful and joyous celebration!
Me and My Post-it Notes
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I love office supplies. I get excited every summer when the school supplies come out. And besides gel pens, sticky notes are probably my favorite. I use Post-it notes for everything. I’m an 80s girl, and that’s when my addiction to these sticky notes started. I love the neon-colored ones. The ones with little sayings are fun, too.
The adhesive was invented by Spencer Silver in 1968 at 3M, and the actual notes were invented by Arthur Fry in 1974 because he needed bookmarks for his hymnal at choir practice. When he used scraps of paper, they would fall out of the book. He needed something to stick to the page, but not damage the paper. He knew of Silver’s invention and tried it on some of the scrap paper in the lab. (Legend has it that the original Post-its were yellow because that was the color of the lab’s scrap paper.)
Here are my favorite uses. What would you add to my list?
A handy bookmark
Sticky tabs for reports and documents that need review/signature
For plotting mysteries - You can move them around on a wall or white board
For jotting notes (duh!) - I have them stuck to my monitor, laptop, desk, and refrigerator - I even stick them to the dashboard of my car when I really need to remember something. (My purse is always full of balled up notes/lists.)
Keeping character traits organized when I’m writing
I like the Post-it flipcharts when I’m brainstorming or facilitating meetings
Lists (usually for shopping, but they could be honey-do lists)
I daisy chain them together when stuff is related and I need more space to write
Tally sheets to keep a running total of my WIP’s word count
I mark issues or plot holes in my writing with them. It reminds me to tie up loose ends.
Marking stopping points in editing/writing projects - It helps me pick up where I left off
Always Be Professional: Tips for Writers
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In my day gig, I work in the IT world in Richmond, VA. Even though it’s the state capital, it’s still a small community, and it’s not a good idea to burn bridges. It’s the same in the writing world. Here are a few ideas that will help along the writing journey.
If you commit to a deadline, ensure that you meet it. Someone is counting on you. (Now, if you’re sick or it’s an emergency, that’s another story, but give the person plenty of time to reschedule or come up with a plan B.)
If you’re asked to do something and you can’t, be up front and say no. You can say “I can’t do that right now” in a professional way.
Strive to be on time. Again, someone is counting on you.
If you can’t make an appointment or commitment, get in touch with the person as soon as you can. (When I book something, it’s usually by email. I always make sure I have a contact number for emergencies.)
Be prepared. Do your homework and be ready.
Be present. when you’re at a meeting or event, participate, listen, and be part of the conversation. Don’t be that person who can’t put his/her phone down.
Treat your writing as a business. If you go into partnership with someone or hire someone for a task, make sure you have a contract or formal agreement.
Pick your battles. We’ve had new writers on anthology projects who refused to be edited. If you choose not to follow the rules/guidelines, you’ll need to be prepared not to participate. And think twice before you fire off that email or text in anger. It could come back to haunt you.
Avoid social media battles. It’s okay to have a good conversation, but trolling and attacks will earn you a reputation. And even if you delete posts, there still out there somewhere. You are your brand, and you need to think of that as you build your social media platform.
Writing is a solo activity, but you do need to interact with others. It’s always best to be the professional who is easy to work with. Your reputation (good or bad) will always precede you.
Lois Winston's Holiday Cozies for #WriterWednesday
/I’d like to welcome Lois Winston to the blog for #WriterWednesday. She has a guest post on her holiday cozies. Perfect timing for this season. Check these out and add them to your collection.
Christmas with Anastasia
By Lois Winston
My amateur sleuth, Anastasia Pollack, makes no bones about her feelings toward me. I suppose her animosity is justified. After all, I write cozy murder mysteries, which means I’m constantly placing her in life-and-death situations.
Most cozy mysteries feature busybody amateur sleuths who make a habit of sticking their noses where they don’t belong. Anastasia is more a reluctant amateur sleuth, forced to investigate because I’m always writing her into situations where I don’t give her any choice.
And much to her dismay, I don’t even let up at Christmas. I tried explaining my reasoning for this to her, that readers love holiday books. Her answer? I should go back to writing romances and leave the solving of murders to the professionals. What fun would that be, though?
And speaking of fun, I had so much fun setting Drop Dead Ornaments, the seventh book in the series, days before Christmas, that I decided the eighth book in the series, Handmade Ho-Ho Homicide, should pick up where Drop Dead Ornaments left off. That means I have two holiday mysteries available this year. And better yet, the ebook version of Drop Dead Ornaments is currently on sale for only .99 cents through Christmas Eve.
Drop Dead Ornaments
An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 7
Anastasia Pollack’s son Alex is dating Sophie Lambert, the new kid in town. For their community service project, the high school seniors have chosen to raise money for the county food bank. Anastasia taps her craft industry contacts to donate materials for the students to make Christmas ornaments they’ll sell at the town’s annual Holiday Crafts Fair.
At the fair Anastasia meets Sophie’s father, Shane Lambert, who strikes her as a man with secrets. She also notices a woman eavesdropping on their conversation. Later that evening when the woman turns up dead, Sophie’s father is arrested for her murder.
Alex and Sophie beg Anastasia to find the real killer, but Anastasia has had her fill of dead bodies. She’s also not convinced of Shane’s innocence. Besides, she’s promised younger son Nick she’ll stop risking her life. But how can she say no to Alex?
Buy Links
Paperback https://amzn.to/2s1VYii
Kindle https://amzn.to/350ueJq
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/drop-dead-ornaments
Apple Books https://books.apple.com/us/book/drop-dead-ornaments/id1431548050
Nook https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/drop-dead-ornaments-lois-winston/1129345148?ean=2940161937181
Handmade Ho-Ho Homicide
An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 8
Two and a half weeks ago magazine crafts editor Anastasia Pollack arrived home to find Ira Pollack, her half-brother-in-law, had blinged out her home with enough Christmas lights to rival Rockefeller Center. Now he’s crammed her small yard with enormous cavorting inflatable characters. She and photojournalist boyfriend and possible spy Zack Barnes pack up the unwanted lawn decorations to return to Ira. They arrive to find his yard the scene of an over-the-top Christmas extravaganza. His neighbors are not happy with the animatronics, laser light show, and blaring music creating traffic jams on their normally quiet street. One of them expresses his displeasure with his fists before running off.
In the excitement, the deflated lawn ornaments are never returned to Ira. The next morning Anastasia once again heads to his house before work to drop them off. When she arrives, she discovers Ira’s attacker dead in Santa’s sleigh. Ira becomes the prime suspect in the man’s murder and begs Anastasia to help clear his name. But Anastasia has promised her sons she’ll keep her nose out of police business. What’s a reluctant amateur sleuth to do?
Buy Links
Paperback https://amzn.to/2OXfaqu
Kindle https://amzn.to/3594OJC
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/handmade-ho-ho-homicide
Nook https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/handmade-ho-ho-homicide-lois-winston/1132607263?ean=2940163093748
Apple Books https://books.apple.com/us/book/handmade-ho-ho-homicide/id1473711082
About Lois:
USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.
Let’s Be Social:
Website: www.loiswinston.com
Newsletter sign-up: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z1z1u5
Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog: www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/anasleuth
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Anasleuth
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/722763.Lois_Winston
The Animals of Writing
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Animals have a variety of qualities, and many apply to the writing life. Here’s my list of some characteristics that writers can borrow from their animal friends.
Bull Dogs - Bull dogs and other dog breeds are known for their tenacity. If you want to be published, don’t give up. Hang on, keep going, and work until you get what you want.
Jack Russell Terriers - Harness your energy and focus it on your writing and revising. Put your backside in a chair and get writing.
Turtle - Turtle have a hard outer shell, and writers need to develop a thick skin if they want to survive. You’re going to get feedback, criticism, and reviews. Learn what you can from them, but don’t take it personally.
Squirrels, Magpies, and Racoons - You need to be able to gather ideas and store them away for a future story. Keep a notebook or file. You never know when a character, description, or bit of dialogue will be useful.
Pigs or Hippos - Don’t be afraid to get dirty. Sometimes, you have to roll up your sleeves and dive in.
Elephants - Be steady, strong, and methodical in your work. Learn and improve your craft. And again, the thick skin doesn’t hurt either.
Lions or Crocodiles - Be fierce when you’re editing and revising. If something doesn’t move your story along, it has to go.
Cats - Find a sunspot or a nice cozy corner and curl up with a book once in a while. Reading is research.
Otters - Enjoy your writing journey. Be playful and creative. Have fun.
#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Jeanne Adams
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Please join me in welcoming author Jeanne Adams to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.
A few of your favorite things: I love dogs of all shapes and sizes, Constant Comment tea, and a good joke.
Things you need to throw out: OMGosh…so much. Marie Kondo would have a fit in my house. Old Southern Living magazines (I need to just pull out the recipe and throw the rest away!), duplicate photos, old electronics that no longer work (but that I need to pull the hard drives from…), stuff like that. Ha!
Things you need for your writing sessions: I need to have walked and seen people, or at least talked to the clerks at my coffee shop prior to sitting down to write because I’m an extrovert. If I can get a little “people time” first thing, then I can happily sit down to write!
Things you love about writing: I LOVE creating worlds, I love putting my characters in jeopardy then getting them out again, I love setting the clues then helping my characters figure them out. I also like a lot of BOOM! Going on, so I love writing a good explosion.
Hardest thing about being a writer: The hardest thing is that I’m an extrovert and very bouncy, so sitting still not talking to the “real humans” is kinda challenging for me!
Things you never want to run out of: Oh, the simple things in life – toilet paper, milk/cream for coffee, clean water, clean air… But for the other stuff, I never want to run out of pecans, tea or great books to read! (I don’t think I’m in too much danger of that!)
Things you wish you’d never bought: A stationary bike – I ride it occasionally, but not enough to justify it’s expense!
Words that describe you: Adaptable, energetic, goofy, blonde, driven.
Favorite foods: Pumpkin pie, Ham, Bacon, Diet Coke (That’s a food group, right?), Biscuits with honey or gravy, Steak, Fresh green beans…I could go on and on. I like food!
Things that make you want to gag: Brussel Sprouts. Beets. Frog legs.
Favorite Music or song: Oh, I love so many… The Band Perry’s Better Dig Two; Burn It To The Ground by Nickleback is a fav; Loggins and Messina Celebrate Me Home.
Music that drives you crazy: Alas, Opera. There are a few I love, but most makes me cringe. I’d LIKE to like it, but I just don’t.
Favorite beverage: Coffee for hot, iced tea or Diet Coke for cold
Favorite smell: Cooking turkey.
Something that makes you hold your nose: Cooking Brussel sprouts.
Something you wish you could do: I wish I could paint.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Pull/set chain link fence. Ugh. Never want to do that again!
Something you like to do: Sing
Last best thing you ate: An amazing gluten-free pumkin custard at Cedric’s Tavern on the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. OMGosh, heaven on a spoon!
Last thing you regret eating: A mushroom risotto that, unbeknownst to me, had bell peppers in it. (I’m allergic to peppers) Why would mushroom risotto have peppers, you ask? No idea. “For color” is the usual answer when chefs put peppers in things that shouldn’t have it…Sick as a dog.
The last thing you ordered online: A converter plug for my trip to Iceland!
The last thing you regret buying: A leather bracelet/band for my FitBit Alta. It was not “as advertised."
Things you’d walk a mile for: My family, my dogs, and coffee ice cream
Things you always put in your books: Pets!
Things you never put in your books: Pets dying, animal cruelty, and a certain c-word.
Things to say to an author: Of course we all want to hear: “I LOVED your book and recommended it to ten people!” but I also love to have people ask me why I write suspense, or what’s my favorite author to read when I’m not writing.
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book:
“I don’t ready those trashy romantic books, even the mysteries with some romance are too trashy for me.”
“I have a book idea. Hey, I know what! I’ll tell you, you can write it and we’ll split the money!”
“Can you hook me up with your editor/publisher?”
Favorite places you’ve been: Edinburgh, London, and Guethary France outside the US. Here in the US, Western NC, Chicago, San Francisco… So many places!
Places you never want to go to again: Downtown LA because I got SO lost!
Favorite books (or genre): Love so many! One of my current favs is a hot historical from Anna Campbell, The Highlander’s Defiant Captive. Also love suspense – especially Nora Roberts/JD Robb and KJ Howe. My fav genre though is probably Science Fiction/Fantasy and Nancy Northcott, Nalini Singh and Ilona Andrews are favorites there!
Books you wouldn’t buy: Authors who’ve been mean to readers. I’ve seen it happen and I won’t ever buy that author again.
People you’d like to invite to dinner (living): Omgosh! There are so many here too! President and Mrs. Obama, President and Mrs. Carter, President and Mrs. Bush, Greta Thunberg. Rachel Maddow, Chris Fischer from OCEARCH…
Favorite things to do: Predictably, my fav thing is to read and/or to write. Show dogs. Play with the dogs. Watch my eldest play baseball. Play videogames with my youngest. Go to any kind of football game from peewee to professional
Things that make you happy: My family and pets. Writing THE END. Friends. Travel…you know, the usual! Ha!
Proudest moment: Oh, there are so many because I try to celebrate victories large and small, but one of the most recent proud moments was when the book my co-author Nancy Northcott and I wrote, WELCOME TO OUTCAST STATION (a space-based mystery), was compared to the work of Robert Heinlein and Jack McDevitt.
Best thing you’ve ever done: Gone to the party where I was introduced to my beloved husband.
Biggest mistake: Getting married the first time. I knew better….Ha! Ah, well, corrected that mistake!
Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Walked on 40’ of fire at a Tony Robbins event.
The nicest thing a reader said to you: “You kept me up half the night because I couldn’t put your book down.” Swoon!
The craziest thing a reader said to you: “Have you tried all the sexy stuff out with your husband before you write it?”
About Jeanne:
Jeanne Adams writes award-winning suspense, fantasy/paranormal, Urban Fantasy and space adventure and she knows all about getting rid of the evidence. Both traditionally and indie published, Jeanne has been featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine & her books have been hailed as “Best Suspense Books of the Year!” She teaches highly sought after classes on Body Disposal for Writers, Plotting for those who hate to Plot, as well as How to Write a Fight Scene with her pal Nancy Northcott www.JeanneAdams.com Twitter: @JeanneAdams Instagram: @JPAGryphon www.Facebook.com/JeanneAdamsAuthor
An End of the Year Checklist for Writers
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It’s the end of the year again, and I’m not quite sure how that happened. I love this time of year with the holidays and activities, but I always feel I’m running 100 mph to keep up.
Here’s my end of year checklist I put together to keep up with my writing life.
Make sure you have copies of all receipts and tax documents. It’ll make tax season easier.
Go through all of your pictures from the past year and archive the old ones. I use an external hard drive for storage and to remove the clutter from my phone, PC, and tablet.
Make sure that you back up all of your important files regularly. Don’t accidentally lose your work. It will make you cry.
Most of my writing groups’ dues are due in December. I go ahead and pay them to make sure I’m current for next year. (Save all receipts.)
Look at your goals for the past year. Did you have successes? Make your list for the new year.
I go through all my TBR (To Be Read) piles. I have a book shelf in my office, a pile on my nightstand, and one in the living room. I end up with a lot of books. What I don’t plan to keep, I share with my local libraries.
Clean off your desk. It’s a magnet for clutter and things you don’t need.
Get your calendar for 2020 organized.
Clean off your computer. Archive any old files that you don’t need.
Celebrate your successes, wins, and accomplishments from the past year.
#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Colleen Shogan
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Please join me in welcoming author Colleen Shogan to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday. Happy Thanksgiving!
A few of your favorite things: I love pizza, swimming, and dogs. All dogs.
Things you need to throw out: My old t-shirts from college and graduate school. I can’t bear to part with them since they represent good memories.
Things you need for your writing sessions: My dog Conan, my trusty iPad Pro, a glass of wine or a cup of coffee, and a pleasant breeze (if I’m writing outside).
Things that hamper your writing: Constant interruptions, loud music, and television. I can’t multi-task and write well.
Things you love about writing: Creating characters! Talking to readers about them!
Things you hate about writing: Constant promotions. I feel as though it takes away from my writing time, which is scarce.
Things you never want to run out of: Wifi, coffee, and clean running shorts.
Things you wish you’d never bought: Those three chocolate bars I bought on my birthday. Sigh.
Words that describe you: Fun, hardworking, intellectually minded.
Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Political, guilt-ridden, impatient.
Favorite foods: Pizza, Indian, and Italian.
Things that make you want to gag: Korean, beets, and olives.
Favorite beverage: Gin and tonic with Bombay Sapphire and lime.
Something that gives you a sour face: Whiskey
Something you’re really good at: Talking. If you put a microphone in front of my face, I will talk.
Something you’re really bad at: Singing. I’m tone deaf!
Last best thing you ate: Palak Paneer (Indian).
Last thing you regret eating: Buffalo wings.
Things you’d walk a mile for: Good friends, good company, good food.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: Bad karma
Things you always put in your books: Happy hours!
Things you never put in your books: Gratuitous violence or sad storylines concerning animals
Favorite places you’ve been: London, Florence, and the Outer Banks
Places you never want to go to again: Iowa (sorry!)
Favorite books (or genre): Definitely traditional mystery or cozy mystery.
Books you wouldn’t buy: Westerns or explicit romance
The coolest person you’ve ever met: Stephen King
The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: RBG
The nicest thing a reader said to you: A blind reader said she really enjoyed listening to my books from the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled. That was great!
The craziest thing a reader said to you: You should put more sex in your books.
About Colleen:
Colleen J. Shogan has been reading mysteries since the age of six. She conceived of the plot of her first novel one morning while taking a walk in her suburban Washington, D.C. neighborhood. A political scientist by training, Colleen has taught American politics at numerous universities. She previously worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative staffer in the United States Senate. She’s currently the Assistant Deputy Librarian for Collections and Services at the Library of Congress. “Stabbing in the Senate” won the “Next Generation Indie Prize” for best mystery in 2016. Her subsequent books have been finalists for the RONE award and Killer Nashville. She lives in Arlington, VA with her husband and beagle mutt, Conan.
Let’s Be Social:
www.colleenshogan.com
https://twitter.com/cshogan276
https://www.facebook.com/washingtonwhodunit/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1269678.Colleen_J_Shogan?from_search=true
