Can Writers Convey Interesting, Simple Work-a-Day Worlds?

Every writer creates a fantasy world...even those writing contemporary fiction. It all happens by how the author picks which details to illustrate the protagonist's world. Characters can't move in a vaccum. They need a stage where the action needed to move the plot forwards has to happen.

The problem? In too many books I've tried to read lately, the characters act out in front of a green screen. They aren't anchored. They motivations aren't complex and contradictary. Chute opens; characters gallop towards a resolution without any internal sweat. Or, they dither, not doing much of anything interesting while the author lathers details upon similar details. So what if the "bad guys" or society is out to get the good guys.

Yeah. Interactions take place but there is no realistic setting, no grounding in a physical place. Nothing coming out of left field to upset the assumptions made by the reader. Oh, there are generic sops thrown at the reader, but nothing that anchors the characters in a unique place that is their's and no others'.

The pattern mirrors much of the political discussion in the US where broad slogans are thrown out without any indication on how they interact with the complexities of people's lives. Or, maybe it's just that the media write from data gleaned from simplistic polls that concentrate on two factors when most problems contain fifty.

The result too many writers limit the reader to primary-colored worlds, no shades to create a sense of wonder.

The writers I enjoy most work in four-dimensional worlds. The best are spare with words. One example Lee Child. His iconic character, Reacher, now travels with only his toothbrush and, I assume, a mysterious credit card which never runs out of money as constant companions. Yet, Child evokes the semi-deserted byways of the US like few writers I've read.

Granted this abstract rant describes my own biases. But, I demand a sense of people living in realistic places when I read a book. I want enough details that I can construct a world chugging along with or without the novel's characters.

How do you do that? I don't know. I'm a pantser when I write. Yet many of my reviews mention the amount of detail in my stories, details that most don't think slow down the action.

When you have your reading cap on, what do you want the world in the background to feel like?

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My Writing Run

Christmas, eye problems. and a staph infection have been cluttering my life the last few months...and may still be chasing me. Still, I play at writing. I'm still working on Rendezvous with Demons. Added several thousand words to the existing draft. Still, haven't gotten my characters over the hump, north out of Pacifica [aka California]. They confront the new demon invasion in Cascadia [Washington/Oregon].

Big note to myself, at this point in this perhaps first half of the novel: increase Gillen's role. Yeah. He reappears when he flees Beatifica. Talk about adding texture to a novel without getting off track.

None of this make sense? You can check out the first book in the Andor Demon Wars, There Be Demons, on kindle or at other vendors. Yeah. My whole crew reappears in Rendezvous: Britt, Cahal, and Gillen plus Pillar and Nate. The demons are represented by Vetis and Grylerrrque along with their new set of minions. It all setting up to be the demons last stand. I'm still writing notes about how Pillar reacts to Britt.

Gee, that description almost has me wanting to get back to the manuscript.

Rendezvous won't be published in 2019, though. I 've decided to go ahead and polish Dark Solstice Turning Point, a book about shifting political allianaces in a world of humans, hybrid elves, and scattered full elves to intensify the mischief. Yeah. I'm going to play with my Half-Elven for a while.

Ahhh, the unreliable narrator. Paula Hawkins gives you plenty of point of views to puzzle over in her new book Into the Water. Her multiple narrators almost give you too many characters to keep track of. But then, instead of a who-dun-it, this book is a why-dun-it.

While I felt the book got tedious at times, it wasn't for the usual reasons. I thought her character development tended to be shallow. Lots of good stuff was hinted at, but all too often, interesting developments and/or insights were glossed over. This is especially true of the perp who moved from the periphery to front and center in a lackadaisical manner. Oh, the motivation was there, but I didn't feel like the potential conflict was well developed.

The troubled sort-of primary character returns to her childhood home when her sister commits suicide by jumping off a cliff. Like some villages have Saxon churches as their claim to fame, Beckford has deaths by drowning. The book describes a troubled village's attempts to confront two interrelated drownings, the most recent of many deaths haunting the village. While I appreciate the exercise in viewpoint, I think Hawkins spread her writing too thin.

More confusing, the "death pool" is also a teen hang-out. The book is filled with factoids rather than an insights into human nature. Comments are thrown on the table but I thought were never fleshed out. Did enjoy the book, though. You can check it out on

Amazon     Barnes & Noble     kobo/Rakuten

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My Writing Rut

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Which do you like? 

?????

Email: kkaytheod at yahoo com

Am getting ready to start the new year on a slightly different tack than the old one. I decided
to switch to my Far Isles Half-Elven for my next published book: Dark Stoltice Turning Point. Have my slot reserved with my content editor. Still working on Rendezvous with Demons, mostly adding character complications to the chapters I've drafted.

Soon I will be publishing an updated free short story, Cavern Between Worlds. Haven't decided on a cover yet. Do you have a preference?

There Be Demons was on a 99c special last month. Even sold some though didn't make much money at the discount. The fun promo was the one I did for Recognizing Jamilla, a free Andor story. It reached #1 in its category for a couple days. The story is probably the first, chronologically, in The Demon Wars series. The others are Showdown at Crossings, There Be Demons, and Running from Demons. 

Goof-ups and Murderous Mayhem Create Reading Magic

Humor plus huge doses of magic, mayhem, and murder create a ripping story in R. S. Belcher's Nightwise The Night Dahlia. Laytham Ballard, the wizard protagonist, is hired by a powerfyl fae lord to find his missing daughter. Unfortunately, Ballard creates chaos wherever he goes, in spite of his good intentions.

In the opening chapters, it soon becomes clear that Ballard is powerful in his own right and may be the perfect man to solve the cold case. At the same time, it becomes clearer that if something can go wrong, it will.

The Night Dahlia has Ballard returning to his old stomping grounds in Los Angeles, CA where he once was a member of the wizardry cops, aka the Nightwise. Ballard's flip commentary as he digs into the porn film scene for clues keeps readers on their toes, and sometimes, holding their breath. Belcher adds depth to the plotline by tieing the current missing person case to a cold seriel murder case the kicked him out of Nightwise.

So much for the mystery part of the book. Belcher's paranormal creatures are both pertinent and creative, even giving an explanation for serial murderer Charles Manson's powers of persuation. More important, Belcher makes clear why Ballard's abandoned friends still accept him.

The book's a stand-alone, even thougn it takes place late in Ballard's life. His banter about his past goof-ups explain necessary backstory and keeps everything in perspective. You can learn more about Nightwise on

Kindle           Nook           kobo/Rakuten

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My Writing Rut

I'm still in my rut.....if I consider all the stuff I'm not getting done. On the other hand, Running from Demons is up and staggering. Still no reviews yet, and it's too soon for any sales to show up. That's partly my fault. I used "the pre-order" time to chase the formatting of the book rather than the sales.

The short blurb:

Pillar Beccon can't remember belonging anywhere, especially not in the Freemage commune where she grew up. After she graduates from high school, she jumps at the chance to learn why her mother ran away from her family home far to the East. But danger haunts her journey as a demon seeks to destroy her.

Running from Demons tells the story of Pillar's search to find a place to call her own. The book continues the chronicles of Andor, a land where the mundane world clashes with one of magic and demons. If you love paranormal stories of discovery and mayhem, this is the story for you.

If you review books from Net Galley, you can get an ARC copy      here      for free. If you'd like to read the longer blurb and/or a sample you can click      here.

A Very Unambitious Man: A True Anti-Hero

For about the first 20 pages, I always wonder why I buy M. C. Beaton's "Death of ???" mysteries. Death of a Ghost was no different. I find her declarative, staccato style annoying, not only because it's the antithesis of most of the advice I read about writing. Yet, the series continues on the "best selling" charts as it approaches the 40th book.

There is no mystery to the success of Beaton's hapless Highland sleuth, Hamish MacBeth. The books are as funny as all get out. A walk down the high street of Lochdubh, as Hamish ponders some murder or other problem, presents a series of chuckles as he meets the residents of the small town. In Death of a Ghost, the reader gets a funny subplot when a minister's wife tries to hook Hamish up with her neice.

Don't look for any indepth characterization here. The characters of the McBeth books walk their ordained path with a minimum of description and deviation. The chuckles are of prime importance. Even McBeth's constabulary opponents play the part of foils.

Oh, there's a mystery to be solved about who murdered whom and why. It even sports some nice twists and turns. All in all Beaton's books are more complicated than it first seems. Still, Hamish keeps to his set patterns of avoiding credit for the crimes he solves.

Care to take a look at a sample and other reviews? You can find print and epub versions of Death of a Ghost at

Amazon      B&N/Nook       kobo/Rakuten

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Other Interesting Reading

For once, I found a news feed useful...one about the Queen of Great Britain and Megan Markle doing a royal tour together. Not a royalist. [I'm sort of stuck in a Pantagenant mind-set.] But, this article on body language gave me a tick for one of my characters--Pillar.

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Then, an issue book buyers of all sorts should be interested in: anti-trust law. You know that 20th century idea that no one business should control sales of a particular product, aka no monopolies. The US has a particular problem with the idea. Can anyone say Amazon? -- Anyway, seems there has been some stirrings lately, and The Passive Guy wrote a blog about it.

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My Writing Rut

is depressing. Oh, I'm making some progress. Finally got Cahal and Britt together again--in Chapter 12 rather than Chapter 4. Now I have to go back because I forgot to include a bit about Britt's Granny Nan's rings. [I think it's going to be an important part of the last battle at the end of the book so it was necessary.] Ugh.

Am making more little banners for There Be Demons. Won't getting them on Twitter yet. I'm waiting for the publisher to get the book blurb changed. [You can also download the ebook on kobo/Rakuten.]

5***** Review: "a great adventure through a fantasy land that captures your imagination and keeps you turning the pages to find out what happens next. Characters are well developed and the journey we are taken on is fast paced and filled with twists and treachery throughout."

Feisty Britt Kelly's life is a disaster. When her divorces her mother, her family moves into her half-sister's apartment in the projects. Britt must adjust to a new school and a step-mother who hates her and her younger brothers

.

But poverty and coping with a new school aren't Britt's worst problems. In the long standing Demon Wars, the minions of Prince Vetis build a secret base in Trebridge behind the Kingscourt's battle lines. When she is drafted to fight the demons with three new friends, Britt didn't know demons existed. She's not even sure she wants to fight them.

The race is on. As the demon forces grow, the Gargoyle Guardians of the city must teach the four teens to use enough "Grace" as a weapon to survive. Britt's new problem: learning to control her magical powers...in spite of Gillen, the gargoyle leader, pissing her off with his fussy rules.

Getting The Demons Under Control? The Unending To-Read Pile

A tale of this week's reading. My to-do piles got smaller this week...by four. I forced myself to read the first books on top of two piles. After several attempts to get interested, they got dumped on the trade pile. I'm now reading M. C. Beaton's Death of a Ghost but haven't finished.

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Excerpt of 

Running from Demons

Still doing copy edits of Running From Demons. Biggest change so far? I've decided to change the title. Anyway, here's an excerpt from the first chapter where Pillar comes on Grylerrque, a demon hiding from the authorities in human guise. The novel is set some seven/eight years after There Be Demons.

     

Scanning the area, Pillar tested her developing talent for reading auras. The slow dance of different shimmering colors popping through the light bluish-green glow of their life pulse fascinated her, but she concentrated on possible threats. Everyone in the lobby felt like nulls to Pillar. But her eavesdropping on the mage elders talking to her guardian told her they worried about magical attacks from demon-kind. While no adult talked much about them, Pillar assumed demons could camouflage themselves behind shields, too.

           Otherwise, they wouldn’t be so hard to find. She shuddered, not wanting to think of demons possessing people. Doubt if any demons would dare to hunt here, anyway.

           The thought comforted Pillar, and she relaxed. The waitress arrived and picked a plate off her ladened arm to plunk it on the counter with a sigh.

           Pillar smiled as the waitress scooted around the counter to the tables against the wall. “Thanks. It looks delicious.” The waitress bustled away without looking back, and Pillar shrugged.

Not wanting to dribble cheese on the new tee she’d bought in the museum shop, Pillar leaned forward to take a bite of her toasted ham and cheese sandwich. The gooey cheese oozed out the sides, over her fingers. She licked her fingers and lips. The cost of adding extra cheese was worth it, making a perfect ending to her first solo venture into Taddledon. The ride home would be dull in comparison to the carefree day she had enjoyed. At least her stomach wouldn't be growling.          

The PA system belched news of another arriving bus, adding to the racket bouncing off the station walls. The garbled words made no sense. Pillar ignored the announcement as she licked her fingers clean. The tenor of the air shifted. The hair on her nape rose. Pillar glanced back towards the benches in the lobby.

Taking another bite of her gooey sandwich, Pillar licked her lips as she searched for the disturbance in the station’s energy. The power became so intense even Pillar’s weak talent felt the rising pulse. A chill crawled across her shoulders and down her back. Pillar turned around. Her eyes locked on a tangled-haired girl, clutching a backpack in her hands and using the wall by the platform doors to protect her back. The girl's eyes grew wider as she scanned the station.

Pillar's frizzy hair stood at attention. A strange odor, the like of which she'd never smelled in Osseran, wafted from the outside doors. Her stomach churned, and Pillar dropped her no longer appetizing sandwich.

What's going on? That girl just doesn't feel like a normal, but she shouldn't  make my stomach want to heave.

What Everyone Needs: Someone to Care

Had fun reading Mary Balogh's Someone to Care. No I'm not going to write a review. Actually, I shouldn't even have to say it's good. Her stuff is...mostly because she masterful in setting up her characters to find someone who who will care for them as people not as a means to another goal.

I simply marvel at how Balogh manages to keep her plotlines engaging [not boring], especially since they are romance [one of the most unrealistic forms of fantasy]. I think she and Laurel K. Hamilton [Anita Blake] are the only romance writers I still read from those I was reading religiously five years ago. [Balogh was an outlier since I read mostly paranormal romances.] If anything, Balogh is a leftover from my Georgette Heyer reading of the 1970s.

Writers who want to write romances or include a romantic thread in their books should study how Balogh does it. Readers can just enjoy. Me? I think I'm going to dig into my Georgette Heyers for one of her less well known Regencies instead of the few I still reread regularly.

[Any other Heyer fans out there? What's your favorite book? Frederica immediately comes to my mind, but there are a couple others I can't quite remember the titles of I reread off and on.]

You can check out what other people say about Someone to Care plus read a blurb and reviews. Find both epub and print versions at

Amazon       B&N/Nook       kobo/Rakuten

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Other Interesting Reading

Caught a blog by Janet Reid, agent extraordinaire, on white writers writing black characters when someone pushed the politically correct button. No wonder the alt-right calls fuming liberals "snowflakes". In this case, I think they're either fuming about the right thing in the wrong way or just wanted some media time. Whatever, here's the link to Janet Reid's answer to a pertinent question.  --  Granted I'm influenced by the fact I included black kids in classes in There Be Demons. 

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My Writing Rut

Wasted almost a full week trying to write a battle scene for the first third of Rendezvous with Demons. Have two chapters of character and world development roughed in, have the wall of the nest broached by explosives, have Britt and Gillen secretly shadowing the Crosssings mages, but... the stupid chapter won't get written.  Result, one more week without any real progress on the novel.

Actually it was for a good reason. Britt and Gillen don't go in and save the day ala the calvary. I'm setting her up to be royally put down... I think. This is written on Wednesday. I'll add something more before I post this. I'm wondering myself what answer I'm going to come up with. Didn't get any more written. Good thing the blog got done on Wednessday when I finished the book. -- Yeah, have been distracted by other things.

Think I feel a little envious of corporate authors who get their publicity done by the company. While trying to write, I've been also juggling promotion. Came up with an ad from my artwork of Vetis. Also think I may have found a new artist to create line drawings of my characters. -- Not that I really expect it to increase my sales. You can check out the ebook of There Be Demons on Amazon, B&N Nook, and kobo/Rakuten.

                                     Artwork                                       ad

Magical Adventure Sparks Up the Heat on a Summer's Day

It's Summer Time

and the Living is Lazy

At least that's the way I'm feeling. So, I'm not always going to have a book review each week. In stead of taking a vacation, I'm just going to review when I finish a book...that isn't a reread.

Yeah, I'm itching to reread some books again, and there's a good chance I've already reviewed them once. The fact that my eyes prefer print to screen has a fair amount to do with this.

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Then, there's Naomi Novik's book Uprooted, which had me staying up late again. Really, liked the stolid, earthy [like soil and growing things] peasantness of the book. The story worked on so many different levels, including the enthralling adventure to defeat a devouing evil presence. Though I really enjoyed the depiction of the fumbling elite the most.

The Grimm-like tale traces hostage story much like Beauty and the Beast, only with Slavic overtones. All sorts of evil dangers lurk and emerge from the Woods. Agnieszka, the protagonist, is unexpectedly chosen as tribute to the wizard keeping the evil at bay from the peasants. The girl, then, becomes a witch in her own right. Together, the two take on the evil at the heart of the forest when a prince of the court stirs up an ant's nest of trouble. I loved out Angeieszka had no use for the pomposity of the court.

No, this isn't a political diatribe. Novik is too masterful a rival for that. Her descriptions are deep and involved. There's enough adventure and magic to satisfy even the most supeficial action reader. 

Best is the depth she gives to her characters. Many of the figures in the book are first presented as stereotypes, but Novik soon gives them a twist that make them three-dimensional. The twists and turns in the action keep the reader reading past the time they should be yawning as Agnieszka is forced to leave her beloved forest home, then to go to the court, and return again for the final showdown.

You can check things out for yourself on Amazon, B&N Nook, and kobo/Rakuten.

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Other Interesting Reading

Am I right in thinking there's a bias for reading among the readers of this blog? Whatever, I'm biased towards reading, especially to young children. Science even supports my bias. The Passive Guy posted a blog on what goes on in a kid's brain when they're told a story in different media. You can check it out here. 

Do you have problems getting pertinent answers to your research questions. I've been getting complaints from writer friends that their search results have too many ads. Know this is a big topic to argue about over a cup of coffee. Still, you might want to look at Kristine Pope's blog: Do Your Homework: How to Research Your Writing Topics.

An interesting take on the similarities of storylines. The BBC did a piece of the basic story plotlines. Take a look here. Writers will find some interesting takes on story arcs.

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My Writing Rut

The business stuff of writing is sticking in my craw at the moment. Sometimes it seems like I do nothing but support work, but I'm getting in 500 to 750 new words a day on Rendevous, even though some of that is addition/revision. Then, there are the few days when I get over a 1000 written. Think only a slow writer can appreciate the sweat that goes onto that grindstone. Still, it keeps me out of mischief.

Did get a new cover ordered for an old free short story: Cavern Between Worlds. 

It's a Far Isles Half-Elven story. The politics is at a minimum here as two Half-Elven warriors investigate why all the animal life is disappearing on an isolated island. Can't wait to see what the artist does with the concept. I'm wondering if I dare call it a romance. Anyone have an opinion? -- Think I have to rewrite the story too but you can check it out at Smashwords and Nook. I'm also working on gifs for my free stories.

Copyedits of On the Run are happenin, sort of.

The fun part? I'm exploring what Fivver artists can do with some illustrations of the characters. Maybe I'll have something to share for my next blog. Vetis for There Be Demons is my first trial.

Conflict Among Allies, When do the Ends Justify the Means

Louise Penny's recent Superintendent Gamache novel, Glass Houses, is a tale ripped from the opiod headlines. More important, Penny gives writers a wonderful example of how to mine the backstory of an enduring series to create depth in her latest book.

Penny has already characterized the small hamlet of Three Pines as an idyllic hideaway from the bustle of the wider world, in this case Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I even think I remembered that bootleggers in the 1920s used Three Pines to smuggle booze into the Prohibition US. Or, maybe I'm just reading info into a previous crime. The deep woods on both sides of the Vermont/Quebec border are the perfect place to hide all sorts of nefarious activities.

In Glass Houses, opiods are the cargo most terrible, and the hidie-hole in the church has been resurected. But illegal drugs aren't the only problem the book contends with. Penny is an adept at spinning several plotlines at once and makes head-hopping among various characters seem the best way to share plot points and feelings. No movie/tv paradigms here. Just a thick juicy mystery novel set inside a courtroom procedural--with a touch of creepiesness.

Penny is a masterful weaver of plot points and emotions. More intriguing for a writer, she works with several communities who touch each other much like a Venn diagram--the Surety, the villagers, and occassional outsiders. Penny creates characters with so many dimensions, readers seem to return to Three Pines to find out what the secondary characters are doing as well as trying to solve the crime before the big reaveal. Am thinking that many readers wonder why more communities aren't as caring as Three Pines.

If you like to read a sample and/or other reviews, you can check

Amazon       B&N/Nook       kobo/Rakuten

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Other Interesting Reading

The Passive Guy published an interesting take on why Barnes & Noble and other brick & mortar book stores are losing out to Amazon, the main reason. 

I slowly duck my head. We go to Barnes and Noble for coffee about once a month. They really have some good desserts even if they serve Starbucks coffee....But, we usually spend between $50 and $100 between the two of us. [Yes, it's nice to be truely middle class.]

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My Writing Rut

I really admire mystery/suspense writers who manage to write an enthralling book like Glass Houses. I feel envious. I have some short stories that I once hoped would be the start of mystery short story series, sort of like Isaac Asimov's sleuth club where the waiter mostly solved the puzzle: 

      --- Dumdie Swartz [The Ghostcrow and The Ghost in the Closet]

     --- the Highgrim/Allsdipp duo [Doom Comes for a Sold Soul] whose meeting with Britt's [There Be Demons] Granny Nan has grown mold in my computer. 

     --- I could also include Trapper Tremaine who's stuck after getting captured because I couldn't figure out how he could prove his worth and be accepted by the village. Nothing published here yet... or, maybe, ever.

That's not all. I think if I double checked, I'd find starts of Half-Elven stories that lack an executed mystery. Yeah, I think books should not only solve a characters' problems but provide a puzzle too.

Rendezvous continues to progress, though slowly. My outline's first skirmish is turning out to be the turning point battle with Britt feeling terribly alone and isolated, similar feelings but very different. But...I'm sort of a third of the way through [pushing halfway through, depending on how useful my notes are], and the first big battle is coming up, and Cahal hasn't even joined Britt yet...

Shine On, Gibbous Moon Until the Monsters Rise

Took a creepy ride on the paranormal side with Lincoln Child's Full Wolf Moon, If you take one, you'll get a bit of a science fiction explanation for werewolfism.

Never read a Jeremy Logan book that I can remember, though I've read several Pendergasts. Logan, the protagonist in this book, felt flat, not quite unidimensional, but almost. 

Too many other suspense and thriller writers do a much better job of giving their main characters or sleuths more depth for Child to get top marks for this book. Not that Logan is unlikable. But all the descriptions of him feel like rehash. Example: as many times as I have read about Heather Graham's Krewe of Hunter characters, there always some little twist in their backgrounds that is new in most of the books.

What annoyed me the most? Child's secondary characters were often more interesting than Logan. Still am wondering what the heck worries the guy at the core.

At the same time, the book has enough hooks to keep the reader reading even though this book is easy to put down for another task, like going to sleep. There is a true puzzle wrapped in the plot, complete with a couple of red herrings. Problem: I prefer more twists and turns in the plots of the mystery suspense I read.

The descriptions of the Adirondacks' deep woods pleased me most. Never visited them though I've driven through the Catskills. [If they're part of the same mountain system, that last statement needs to be adjusted. I'm not an easterner, so I don't know.] I loved the descriptions of small isolated dwellings surrounded by dark forests. The location adds a scary dimension to the vacation ambiance usually associated with the place. If you enjoy well written atmospheres with adequate craftsmanship, Child's descriptions are worth the price of admission.

In the end, I found this an okay, entertaining read but found it very easy to find a bookmark when it was time to go to bed. If you want to read more reviews and/or a sample the book, you can look on

Amazon      Barnes&Noble/Nook      Rakuten/kobo

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Other Interesting Reading

Everyone can use tips on improving their writing. Came across one one by Mark Nichol about making lists that had me reading the whole thing. You might want to take a look at:
A Guide to In-Line Lists. This should be especially useful for those who write business or school reports.

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My Writing Rut

Have been worrying about what my climatic human vs demon fight would be for Rendezvous. How was I ever going to squeeze out enough words for a full length novel. I think the problem will solve itself. My chapter 4 just became five chapters by the time all the action was mapped out. It may be shorter than the first two, but it only has to be over 100 pages and I'm almost there already. 

I find it interesting at how my chapters grow. What I thought would be the middle of my book is now seeming to be the final confrontation. At first, I thought Rendezvous with Demons was going to by equally from Britt and Pillar's point of view. The first scene I thought of for the book was their meeting in Taddledon. Have a good 10 chapters written and/or mapped out before the first major demon fight--still in Pacifica. 

Guess the book's Britt's again. There Be Demons started out a mainly from Gillen's point of view because his problem training of the teen draftees is what motivated me to write the book i the first place.

The 99c special for There Be Demons went well in spite of glitches. I broke well into the top-100 in all three of my sub-categories. My author rank had never been higher either. Now everything is sinking. One odd result: had lots of downloads of the free Andor short stories. 

Got my Noticing Jamilla, a free Andor short story, cover photoshoped to make the cover image more demonic. It's subtle but I'm hoping it makes a difference. 

True Hauntings and Fictional: Getting Your Mystery Fix with a Spook

The books in Heather Graham Krewe of Hunters series read two ways--as stand alones or as a strong series where a shifting, but continuing cast of characters solve interesting ghostly mysteries. She even adds more value for the reader by using interesting places for her settings.

{In fact, she teased me into buying this book by setting The Hidden in Estes Park, Colorado, a retirement-central extraordinaire if you like a high altitude and cold. [I prefer the flats along I25.]}

Seems like I've read a few books set in my local area, lately. Sometimes, the descriptions have been right on [Lee Child's Midnight Line]. Other times, I had a hard time recognizing the places. Graham got the mountains surrounding the bowl/park right. But, Estes Park is infested by unavoidable elk. Two days after finishing the book, I can't remember one mention of elk. They're one of the prime tourist Estes Park's attractions in addition to the Stanley Hotel.

Copycat murders provides the core mystery for The Hidden. Former Reb soldier, Nathan Kendall, is murdered, shortly after the US Civil War. The crime was never solved. Today, his ranch has become a guest ranch and museum.

When modern descendants [thank the various DNA sites for this] are killed in much the same way as Kendal, the museum director, Scalett Barlow, comes under suspicion for their murders. With a plot hop--a Krewe of Hunters member is her former husband who rushes to prove her innocent. Everyone gathers for the crime-solving fun. 

Of course, there is a romance. Actually, a couple of them, including the runaway marriage of Nathan Kendall and his wife, who lend their ghostly fingers to solving the muders.

The Hidden isn't one of Graham's better books. I thought it lack suspense, the m/c was rather sappy, and the plot predictable. Maybe I have read too many of them, and the well-constructed plot elements have become tedious for me. [Must admit the moose was a surprise.] Or, is it just the romance and bed scenes I find overly similar? 

On the other hand, I always get a good relaxing read from Graham's books, reads that tempt me to read one more chapter, even though it's midnight or after. Bottom line: when you craft a book as well as she does, even your less than stellar books are worth reading. It's not her fault I've usually guessed the perps 2/3rds into the storyline.

Want to read other peoples' reviews? You can also check out some samples on

Amazon/Kindle          Barnes & Noble/Nook         kobo/Rakuten 

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Other Interesting Reading

Stephanie Laurens has it made with her Cynster series. Her characters and backgrounds come ready made. She's now working on the grandkids of the first book m/cs, an English duke finding his true love during the French Revolution. The series has reached the Victorian era as she writes the stories of how the varioious members of the Cynster clan find true love. She gets a little explicit on the love scenes, but she really doesn't go overboard. Of course, an evangelical Christian whould probably disagree with me.

What's notable--her female Cynsters are just as strong and dangerous as the males. If you like your romance in period settings you might take a look at A Match for Marcus Cynster. -- Yeah, Laurens has strong non-Cynster ladies in her world--though they aren't as menacing as her masterful males.

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Have you ever though about writing a blog? Jane Friedman, one of the best bloggers, is holding a webinair [12 April 2018], sponsored by Writer's Digest, on how to do the blogging bit effectively. [Yes, there are ways to write better blogs than I do since I'm a confirmed dillettente.]

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My  Writing Rut

Don't think of my blog as a rut, but I do write it. Imagine my surprise when I noticed I've written 500 blogs. 

Actually more. I used to write a separate blog about my Far Isles Half-Elven. But I got in a rut when after writing Night for the Gargoyles. I couldn't get out of Andor. Seems publishers think demons are more interesting than elves. You can download ebook free, for sure, on Amazon , iBooks, and kobo/Rakuten. Don't know if it shows up as free in other countries besides the US, but you might take a look.

Night for the Gargoyles was the inspiration for There Be Demons, the first of a possible Demon War trilogy, which is available at the same places. Had to write a book to find out what happened when Gillen tried to teach for head-strong teens from the projects how to fight demons...and survive. I like to joke that the book has more reviews [good] than sales [bad, though it's approaching the average sales for an indie].

When Refugee Colonizers Go Astray, What Must They Do to Survive

Polymath by John Brunner is one of those hidden ScFi classics from back in the day when there was much controversy about calling Science Fiction ScFi. The book, written in 1974,  also illustrates the optimistic viewpoint about democracy: people could rule themselves when guided by wise men. [Of course, the wise men still needed sharp, with-it women as mates.] 

We won't ever talk about how space exploration has been retarded by political decisions. 

But yeah, the social aspects of the book seem dated--almost fifty years later--but Polymath still gives the reader a quick moving, engrossing tale where one cheers for the good guys.

As a writer, I couldn't help feeling envious. Today, Polymath would be considered a novella.  [Both my books are twice that long.] Today, it ends at where the false conclusion starts.  Yeah, there's no hint that the human vermin are destroying the ecology of the planet. The reader is left to assume that things will be done wisely, according to the Americal Way. [The reader must remember that the AW was not so explotive and predatory back then.]

Settling an alien planet is a common theme in Science Fiction.  The problem in Polymath happens when the colonizers land in the wrong place, far off the established space lanes. Two different space ship landings offer two possible solutions to the dilemma. Granted the AW wins, but Brunner gives the reader a suspenseful ride. I would have liked to have read Brunner's take  on what happened after the  steering rules were set up.

The characters made the book for me. All were multi-dimensional, especially the main character, Lex, a polymath being trainned to organize newly settled planets. But, the villians have more than one trait, too, as well as providing some comic relief.

You can read a sample and more reviews on

Amazon        Nook        kobo/Rakuten

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Other Interesting Reading

Writer, Writer, how does your garden grow? Oh. You write. Here's an interesting take on editing your manuscripts by Kristen Lamb: The Dangers of Premature Editing.Pruning Our Stories vs Pillaging Them. You might want to take a look.

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My Writing Rut

Still doing content edits of On the Run. Here's Pillar's reaction to the demon battle at the end:

"A scattering of drips splashed against Pillar’s face from the trees overhead. Without knowing it, she had stepped back into their shelter after the explosion of light. Ears ringing and muscles trembling, Pillar blinked, but the world was slow to come in focus. Everything had gone silent. Pillar coughed to clear her lungs as she fought to return to the world. Lefferson’s books had hinted that power could explode rather than just light fires, but she hadn’t taken the notebooks seriously."

Reading Historical Fiction for Truth or Fairy Tale

Most weeks I start browsing to see which book on my to-read pile holds my interest. This week's winner: Phillpa Gregory's The Last Tudor. Yes, she has finally come to the end of her Plantagenet and Tudor novels. The Plantagenets are favorites, the Tudors not so much. Still, I've read many of her novels set in the period. They' ve all been fascinating reads.

The Last Tudors tells the story of Lady Jane Grey who became Queen of England for nine days as her father plotted to rule England. [They were Protestants and Princess Mary Tudor was Catholic, which was rapidly important then.] Most people know how that turned out, but they don't know much about her two sisters who were among the possible heirs to Queen Elisabeth I. The book's about being jerked about and imprisoned by someone who has the power to remove your head from your shoulders.

Phillipa Gregory's lack of admiration for Elisabeth is obvious. Very little nice is said about her. Of course, she was dealing a bankrupted kingdom back on its financial feet at the beginning of her reign. But she could have been nicer.

Must say though, I rather agree with Gregory's interpretation. I've always thought that all three Tudors were autocratic despots. In fact, I can remember reading this glowing book about Elisabeth I in eighth grade and suddenly realizing: Hey, this woman's a dictator. Having a difficult childhood wasn't any excuse, in my opinion, to take her anger out on other people. Queen Elisabeth I was lucky to have Cecil as her right-hand man.

Okay, Gregory is a master at writing historical Fiction, but she does it differently than most. Her books aren't dense, weighed down with tons of factoids. She concentrates on her character's thoughts with sparse, judicious descriptions to anchor the reader in the time period. In The Last Tudor, Gregory gives one of the best descriptions of what a lady in waiting actually did in court taking care of the queen.

Other people think she's better than sliced bread; others not. Read a sample of the book and other reviews on:

Amazon       Nook       kobo/Rakuten

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Other Interesting Reading

Romance appears in all genres as well as being a popular genre of its own. I'm not a big romance reader...though I like to think I tolerate it. Anyway, I encountered this discussion of romance novels curtesy of Books Go Social. Darcel Rocket explores Where Are Romance Novels Headed Given Given the Current State of Women's Issues? In the Chicago Tribune. Yeah, it's complicated, a lot more complicated than the news bites lead one to believe. Think the ideas can apply to other genres too. 

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My Writing Rut

Still revising/editing. My editor was right. The ending seems a little rushled. Am think whether I really want to write a new chapter and drag it out. The middle of the book was important because that's where Pillar's assumptions are destroyed.

But I have got my taxes done and in. Think a lot of people are going to be surprised when they do next year's taxes.

Interested in adding some short stories to your ereader for when you want a quick fantasy read? Check out my Andor stories about the problems demons cause. Available at

Amazon   Nook   kobo/Rakuten

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