And a new book idea!

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Hello!

The weather is cool and the leaves are falling. It’s my favorite time of year. I hope you’re enjoying it too.

This time out, we’ve got a few appearance links!

All Things Girl, Incorrupted

Spotted in the Wild!

The HWA Seattle chapter has added Girl, Incorrupted to their publications page. You can check it out here and also here (at the bottom). I’ve also been included on their membership page, here (scroll down).

Good thing I took some overexposed black-and-white headshots, am I right? They’re like… me but not me. As in I don’t think anyone would recognize me on the street from just that headshot. Which makes me feel a little better about them showing up in more and more places. Maybe I should look into a Sia wig or a Marshmello helmet. Or who’s that author guy who wears double-layered sunglasses to his events… Pseudonymous Bosch! Glasses and a pen name. He’s way ahead of me.1

As a bonus, if I had a disguise I wouldn’t have to do my hair or face—which I’m not great at doing anyway—which would be great and would save a lot of time. For, um, writing. 🥸

Thank you!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH to those of you who have left Girl, Incorrupted a review! I appreciate it more than you know. I attended this marketing seminar the other day, and the presenter said that the Amazon algorithm kicks in at 15 reviews.2 If that’s true, Girl, Inc has a few more reviews to go before the ‘Zon will give her a boost. So, please, whether you loved it or hated it3, please consider leaving a review.

Here are the links again. The first one will take you directly to the Amazon page where you click the stars and write a sentence or two. Easy peasy.

What Else I’ve been Up to

Halloween Haunts Post

My post for the HWA’s Halloween Haunts series posted on Friday the 13th, which I thought was pretty cool. If you haven’t checked it out yet,4 you can do so here:

Horror Realm Interview

Well, it’s official: I’m a dork. But I have fun! You can check me out in all my dorkdom here, if you must:

I really enjoyed the opportunity to talk to Travis for his channel. Some of you saw it already5 and said that I did well. Thank you for that. I really appreciate the feedback and the encouragement.

If some constructive feedback pops into your head while you’re watching, please feel free to leave a comment or reply to this email, so that I can do an even better job next time. So far I’ve heard: prepare stock answers to stock questions, like fave movie/books; tell more about the book; and wear eyeliner (I usually do for photos, not sure why I opted not to here). Thanks and thanks for watching!

TikTok Challenge

I’m doing a TikTok challenge, where I post a video every day for the rest of the year to see what happens. Click the button below to follow me, and gimme some likes, yeah?

All Things Current Project

Still plugging along on Alec’s project, and I feel like I’m making progress. Gotta love that.

AND! I got a new idea last week! Not sure when I’ll be able to start working on it, but it’s sparked and it’s percolating! Super excited about it. Little bits and pieces about the storyline and the character6 and his goal are popping up here and there, and I’m writing them all down… and trying to get all the snippets contained in the same place. That’s key. =D

Anyway, it’s taking shape while I continue to make progress on other projects, which is very cool. Can’t say much else about it yet—I like to keep things in the crucible, under lock and key, until I’ve got a solid draft—but I’m very intrigued.

So many ideas…

LAST MINUTE ADDITION: I just got another new idea while I was out walking the pug! It’s so good. That’s all I’m gonna say, because it’s just so good. But you’re in the right place when I’m ready to share more! SO EXCITING!

What I’ve Been Reading

So back when I was doing the Great Book Purge of 2023, I made myself a TBR pile of all the novels on my shelves that I had yet to read. For a while, I was just pulling Lee Child books from the pile, because they’re easy and my brain was tired, but I’ve since moved on to Dan Brown’s Origin. I tried reading it back when it first came out, but I couldn’t get into it. For some reason, it’s been a lot more interesting this time around. The reveal’s not as earthshattering as The Da Vinci Code, but I still enjoyed it.

Anyway, I notice I do this quite a bit, come back to a book after a period of time, when I’m in a totally new place, and have a much better reading experience. The book is still the same; it’s just me that’s different. Do you ever do this? What books have played out this way for you? I’m curious.

Links to books are affiliate links.7

ICYMI

Give Me a Hand?

The Secret Page

The Look Book

Winnie Pug Update

Winnie has a tendency to act out when she’s bored, so the SO and I had to come up with a plan to encourage good behavior during my interview. As we devised this plan, she appeared to know that we were talking about her, because she gave us this face:

Notice the big shiny pouty lip and those angsty teenager eyes.

So the plan we came up with was to Wear. Her. Out. So I walked her in the morning and again at lunch and a third time in the afternoon, about an hour each time. And then, when interview time came around, we turned off all the lights. One super cool thing about Winnie is that when you turn off all the lights, she lays down and goes to bed. It’s very cool. So that was the plan, wear her out and turn off all the lights.

It mostly worked. She got a couple barks in. First it was just one solitary bark, and I hoped that might be it, but then she went all out, like she had to have her share of the conversation.8 I think she must’ve heard barking outside. She considers herself an integral part of the neighborhood watch, the ambassador of her block.

Since you’ve made it this far…

Comment “Beetlejuice” so I know you’re with me!

Good To Knows

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Thank you for reading! Talk to you again soon!