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.

~~~

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.

Witches, Crows and Murder Most Cozy

Witches and Salem are almost synomyns in the US.  Carol J. Perry makes good use of the convention in her cozy mystery series starring Lee Barrett, sometime TV personality. It Takes a Coven is an enjoyable example, so enjoyable that I decided to write a book review even though I'm on vacation.

Barrett's Witch City series is bubbly without being fluffy. She doesn't juggle as many characters as say Louis Penny does, but each of her secondary characters have ongoing subplots that progress from book to book. That for me is masterful writing. [Maybe because I have problems with it.] 

The best thing? I think you can read the book as a stand alone. I haven't read all the books [6] in the series, but I followed the mystery action well integrated with the daily stuff...though I thought the wedding sequences missed an opportunity to be sarcatistic about US wedding preps. The "compromise on the cake" was a throw-away when common sense ruled.

Integrating plot elements so there are no loose, dangling bits can be difficult. Barrett takes her crows, modern witches, and historical witches and weaves an interesting tale of cause and effect. Some plot elements from previous books have been "put to bed" in It Takes a Coven--which leaves me wondering what direction the next book will be taking. Guess I'll have to wait a year to find out.

Check it out for yourself on Amazon, B&N Nook, or kobo/lRakuten. For the record, these links include ebooks.

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Interesting Reading

Writer R. Mac Wheeler takes wonderful photos. Here recently posted some wonderful close-ups of flowers. You can check them out here. He also writes some fun fantasies.

An older Write Unboxed blog had a short, to the point blog on writing a synopsis. Anyone needing to write a short report can benefit from its tips. Take a look.

Ever wonder about what's actually in the food and care products you use? I found this interesting because so many heath articles blame inflamation for tons of bad health conditions. This one has links to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Click here is you want to know what is lurking in your toothpaste, maybe.

Yeah, some of this weren't posted yesterday. Maybe it's another point we should all take...about how long items last on the web. You never know when a search engine might spit out one of your posts. You can't count on the ads taking up enough space to conceal things. I'm still bouncing around the web seeing what there is to see. Am really disappointed in how low search engine results have sunk in the last three-five years.

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My Writing Rut

Have been playing on Fivver, looking for something interesting to promote my books. Found an artist who might be able to create pictures of my characters in my demon books. Here's the one of Vetis, my arch villen, who proclaims in There Be Demons: "The Angeli have lost the war. They just don't know it yet." Now have to figure out how to use the picture.

Next illustration? Britt or maybe a group of demons?

Writing is going slow. Have been working for a week on my first demon fight in Rendezvous. Today I just got to the Freemages blowing a hole in the wall around the demon compound...in Docket's Diggings from Noticing Jamilla. Still, haven't gotten to the big fight.

A *chuckle*. When I "drafted" the book, Britt linking up with Cahal in Pacifica happened in the fourth chapter. I'm working on Chapter 10 on a demon fight I didn't contemplate until Britt got off the bus in the mountains. That fourth chapter was from Pillar's [Running from Demons ?, thinking of title change...] pov. Still have a major fight with a demon biker gang before they even get to Cascadia.

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.]

~~~~~~~~~~
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...

It's All Blowing on the Wind, for Good or Ill

Happened to grab Nevada Barr's Ill Wind, an

older Anne Pigeon mystery, off my to-read pile. Who knows how long it'd been buried there?. But it's about another Colorado localle, Mesa Verde National Park.The book really coveyed the wind-swept atmosphere of the Southwest plateaus I remember from my visits there. I most remember Mesa Verde for its isolation, in spite of all the other tourists running around the place.

[No. I am not on an intentional Colorado reading kick.]

In this third book in the series, Pigeon has just been transferred to Mesa Verde, so recent an addition to the staff that she must live in a "dorm situation" with uncomfotable roommates until permanent, private housing is available. As she gets to know the people around her, Barr uses the time to plant a number of red herrings among the clues. The result is an intricate mystery with several interesting subplots. Perhaps the most interesting--a fellow rangers dwarf step-daughter who provides one of the up-beat notes in the book.

Was surprised to find myself labeling Ill Wind a cozy even though it doesn't have cutzie stuff connected to it. It's all in the development of the characters. Barr takes her time to describe them and their inter-relationships before she gets down to the serious stuff--solving the murders. The reader gets a real feel for living in an isolated spot, over an hour from towns, and how people can grate on others perople's nerves. Barr makes these characters so real that readers root for them.

Then, there are the settings. You can almost feel the cool night winds as you read. If you're looking for loads of background about the Anazazi, the old ones who built the abandoned southwestern US towns, you'll have to go elsewhere.

Read a sample and more reviews on

Amazon        Barnes & Nobel/Nook        kobo/Rakuten

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Interesting Reading

This blog, When a Pantser Revises, by Chris Marra made me pause. As a writer, I'm a panster trying to reform into an outliner. Marrs's an unapoligic panster, a writer who writes without an outline. Writers can find the blog useful for its revising tips. Readers can get an idea about how the "sausage" is made.

While fictional mysteries like Ill Wind tend to be neat and tidy, the real stuff is often the opposite. The New York Times has been running longer pieces on different topics for some time now. On 15 April 2018, it published an article by N. R. Kleinfield on "Never Solved, a  College Dorm Fire Becomes One Man's Obssession". I think the article demonstrates an interesting, reality-based counterpoint to the standard mystery novel is constructed.

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My Writing Rut

It's happened. I finally turned On the Run over to my copy editor to play with. I went through the manuscript one more time and didn't find many corrections. But I know that she's going to find all sorts of places there should be commas and other places where my commas should be deleted. We won't talk about all the other stuff.

Anyone want to guess how marked up my manuscript is going to be when she returns it?

Here's a short excerpt from Pillar's first day visiting at a school for mages run by unknown relatives:

Gracie [Pillar's mother's great-aunt] smiled broadly at her. “I see someone taught you how to keep your eyes to yerself. But, you really must learn how to stop leaking power.”
"Don't have any power to leak. Didn't you hear Principal Tankin."
"Oh, it's there if you know how to look."

Thinking Gracie felt as comfortable as the bus lady [a host containing a demon pursuing Pillar] should've been, Pillar relaxed, wishing she knew how to ask the questions buzzing around her head. She didn't want another academy person spitting nails at her. Knowing Delia [Pillar's foster mother] would want her to keep a low profile made her more hesitant.

"So, tell me about yerself."

"I'm Maisie's daughter. I come from the Osseran Commune, and I just graduated from high school."

"I know all that. But, who are you?"

Pillar gave her a sharp look but didn’t know how to phrase the thoughts buzzing in her mind. The question blurted out on its own. "Why didn’t you guys come looking for me when Ma died?”

“I thought it best you were where you was.” Gracie shrugged, her gaze flicking to the hall door. “Going to be fun to have a true Beccon living here again.”

“I thought my father’s last name was Beccon?”

“Goodness gracious no, child. Your parents weren’t married. In fact, Maisie never did name your father.”

I’m nameless? The fact hit Pillar like a fist in the gut. No wonder no one came looking for Ma. Her brain throbbed as she tried to absorb the information. Why didn’t Delia say something before?

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].

Was the Pirate King Intentionally So Funny?

Oh, for the days of yesteryear, when meglomaniacs made movies with scant crews. Such is the setting of Pirate King by Lauire R. King, a Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes novel. Not much space is devoted to Holmes in this book, which is fine with me. I consider Sherlock Holms a meglomaniac. [Nice to have him on our side, though.] The play on a Gilbert and Sullivan play adds seasoning for Mary Russell's sardonic commentary.

In short, all bets are off when Mary Russell agrees to go undercover, solo, on the set of a new British movie [ala 1920's] filmed in Portugal and Morocco. Goal: to find out why the film company is connected to crimes similar to those featured in their movies. Oh, there was some other doggerel about a missing person which appeared briefly at the beginning and end.

Though King uses first person narrative well, the last couple of books I've read in the series came across as ponderous, without the enjoyable, sacastic wit. The Pirates of Penzance gave King a broad canvas to work with, especially when combined with Valentino imagery. Nothing like a little abuse to make the heart grow fonder. But it does give some plot twists a target as well as pratfalls.

Okay, not the best of the series. But I enjoyed it as light reading after working on all the writerly things that have nothing do with creating a readable story. Sometimes this story became just plain boring. Granted there were lots of opportunities wasted, like one of the thirteen blond bells containing an adolescent male with a stage mommy. Guess I have an appetite for pratfalls.

Other episodes rose high on the just plain silly stage, like Russell dangling by a rope outside Holmes' cell. Still, if you're not a mystery fanatic, you can find a decent amount of entertainment in the book.

Granted, this may seem like damming with faint praise. You can read a sample and read other reviews on:

Amazon          Barnes & Noble [Nook]         kobo/Rakuten

~~~~~~~~~

More Reading

Did get my three Tortall, women warriors quartets read and enjoyed to the fullest. Then, with all the hype surrounding the release of the Wrinkle in Time movie, I read the first three books in L'Engle's Meg series. Surprising how the Dell glue doesn't stand up to time like the Ace paperback glue. Hard to read when pages are coming loose.

The stories don't stand the test of a novel quite as well as I remembered. The three [including A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet] read more like novellas than novels. But by the time an aspiring world dictator got his comeupance, I felt like I'd finished a novel. Many of Madeleine L'Engle's ideas in the books still felt fresh, though. Who says fantasy is pure entertainment?

One of the interesting things was I found out how much my copies are worth...at least the one where the glue held.

~~~~~~~~~

My Writing Rut

Still in the middle of revising/editing on On The Run. My editior didn't have too many changes to recommend, but I find I must reread every page word for word. The worse part is

thinking about it.

Here's a sample of my "false resolution" in editor speak:

...Swirling yellowish darts swarmed towards Gracie’s wall of light. Next to Pillar, Gracie’s body waxed into a pillar of warmth. The darts stuck into the wall of power like arrows in a target until they evaporated with soft pops. The bright wall grew thicker, longer until it arced back around to protect the house. Pillar’s ears fill with Gracie’s chanting voice.

“You’re doing fine, girl. Keep it up. Keep it up. Keep feeding the energy to me.”

“Huh?”

Pillar hadn’t realized she was treating Gracie like her pinkie ring. She rested both hands, glowing with blue light, on Gracie’s shoulders as the old lady crouched to the ground.

“Good, girl. Keep it up.”

Trembling, Pillar concentrated harder. A flurry of blue spears flew from Gracie’s hands, passing through the expanse of putrid light to hit the demons’ personal shields. The sparks flew higher than the barn.

The next round of spears Gracie sent rolled into flaming balls that exploded above the demons, knocking them to the ground.

The demons staggered back to their knees.  ...

Character Growth Keeps the Books Running

You gotta admire writers who keep a series going, but one that's 47 books long and still popular? J. D. Robb [aka Nora Roberts] does just that with her Eve Dallas novels. I'm late to the game, but I've just read Secrets in Death. Granted murder mysteries get a kick in the action from the unending ways and reasons to killing someone. The personal development of the sleuth doesn't have to carry the novel, just give it some momentum. A personal crisis can take a couple of books to resolve, but the crime is always solved in one...unless the villain escapes. I doubt many villains get away from Dallas.

Secrets in Death is the first Eve Dallas book I've read. I've read other Nora Roberts novels from time to time, mostly her paranormal ones. Don't know why I bought this one so late in the series, but I did along with another super popular writer of many, many books and series. Started both books at the same time, a couple chapters each. Dallas is the one I kept reading, to the point I stayed up late to "read one more chapter"...and the chapters are on the long side. Sometimes, I read two more chapters.

The mystery was intriguing. An obnoxious gossip columnist is killed in a bar under unusal circumstances. [Yeah, a cliche, but Robb/Roberts adds some interesting twists.] Who the murder victim was was as convoluted as who the killer turned out to be. Watching Dallas march through the procedural caught my interest and kept it. The mystery part provided enough entertainment to make the book worth while.

What makes the book, though, are the characters. As each clue is discovered, Dallas interacts with the suspects and the investigators. Each one is rounded out, some with more detail than others, but none of them are cardboard cut-outs. I'm almost tempted to go back to see how the major characters were developed, but I won't. I'm too lazy.

I've seen many mentions of "Robert's futuristic detective" series. On that note, I think Robb/Roberts falls flat. Serious science fiction readers wouldn't give her world building much of a pass. Everything is too generic, too vague to make the world feel different from our own time. "Airboots" and other "mod" terms just don't cut it.

Many of the reviews of the book complain that Secrets in Death isn't Robb/Robert's best book in the series. But it was more than good enough to amuse me at the end of the day. You can read a sample and other opinions at

Amazon       Barnes & Nobel       kobo/Rakuten

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Other Interesting Reading

Writer? Reader? Both? Found an interesting blog at The Swivet about writers shouldn't write in alone: Writing in a Vacuum: Why Community is Essential to Writers. Basically, it says writers should build networks. It got me thinking that readers should too. Only they're called book groups, meeting once a month to discuss a book over coffee. The blog is old, but the ideas are still good.

Interested in good writing? This list of the best writing blogs is making the rounds. I've seen several links to it, so I thought I'd share it. I really enjoy the Absolute Write blog, and if your're serious about writing, you should check their forums.

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 My Writing Rut

Editing. Editing. And, Editing Some More.

[On the Run]

Maybe Someday I'll Get Around to Writing Something New.

In the meantime, I'm working on the blurb for On the Run:

Orphaned teen travels across the country to discover her mother's secrets, unaware she's pursued by a demon seeking to destroy her.

Pillar Beccon can't remember ever belonging anywhere, especially not in the Freemage commune where she grew up. She's a null, a person without magic, the lowest of the low in Andor. When she gets the chance to learn more about her mother's family, she jumps at the chance.

The teen draws the attention of Grylerrque, a commander from The Demon Wars secretly surviving in Andor, who recognizes what Pillar is and seeks to feed her life force to her clutch. She sends her minions to capture her. Pillar escapes when Thelma Tankin, her mother's cousin rescues her, but the teen soon learns she was pulled out of the frying pan into the fire.

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

Surviving the Layers of a Mystery Until the Puzzle Disappears

The Prairie Grass Murders by Patricia Stoltey starts as a straight forward mystery, simplistic even. Nam vet discovers corpse at his family's old farm while on vacation. When he runs afoul a corrupt cop, his little sister, who happens to be a judge in another jurisdiction, comes to the rescue. Stoltey piles the clues as the perps do their best to silence the sister/brother sleuths. But as in the best mysteries, nothing is as it first seems. There're plenty of red herrings to chase, but the best parts come after the reader learns who-done-it.

What makes this book so engrossing is the well-rounded characters. Sure some of the bad guys are telegraphed from the git-go, but Stolety is deft at adding motivational twists to the action that keep the reader guessing. When you think the story line has settled onto a well-trod path, Stoltey lurches off in another direction that adds a new interpretation of the facts.

The above isn't a criticism. Most mysteries are linear: A influences B, B influences C, etc. The Prairie Grass Murders' storyline twists and turns like any good mystery, but Stoltey takes it one step further. Reading her plotline is more like peeling an onion or opening a set of nesting dolls. You never quite know what you're going to find even though you have a fair idea about where the story is going.

Read sample and other reviews at

Amazon       Barnes & Noble 

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More Interesting Reading

Against some writing advice, I always have a thesarus behind the manuscript as I write/revise. There always seems to be a page link to the origins of "bad words". When I finally looked at the page, I was amazed at the staying power of curse words. You might be too. 

Were you as amused as I was when I saw most were related to bodily functions rather than actual curses?

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Life is another subject that present layers and layers of experience. Author Kristine Kathryn Rusch wrote a blog about the important writing influences in her life, including Ursula K. LeGuin--Business Musings. It's a long blog, but thought-provoking. Think everyone has similar experiences between mentors and hinderers.

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My Writing Rut

Am feeling old. Have been trying to write new stuff for a third book in my trilogy while editing/revising On the Run, the second book. It was supposedly ready to copy edit, but I sent it back to the content editor. Result? More suggested changes. Worse, she said my chapter hooks were too weak.

Here's a look at a revision:

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. 

Marketing is still my biggest pain in the behind. Below is one of my more recent tweets. I keep trying to come up with something that'd encourage people to sample my short stories, novellas, and book. So far, I'm falling on my face.

A land

Where mages rule in the name of a king 

Where people without magic are scum

Where demons prowl

Visit Andor where There Be Demons

#kindle  myBook.to/ThereBeDemons

#kobo  http://ow.ly/79nz30fmm9e   

#iTunes  http://ow.ly/KeZk30glC3x