New Release - Never Trifle with Murder by Livia J. Washburn

It’s early summer in Weatherford, Texas, and retired teacher/amateur sleuth Phyllis Newsom and fellow retiree Carolyn Wilbarger are taking British cooking classes at the local senior center in this suspenseful Fresh-Baked mystery.

In the latest from Livia J. Washburn, the nationally bestselling author of the Fresh Baked Mystery Series, Phyllis Newsom learns to make a trifle that’s to die for…

While Sam Fletcher is playing dominoes with the guys, Eve Turner is busy flirting with the English chef since she has a fascination for English accents and handsome men who can cook. This puts her in competition with a couple of other ladies from the senior center, who also have their caps set for Chef Alfred Dorrington.

The third and final class features desserts, and more than the stove heats up when the trifle is poisoned! Once again Phyllis finds herself involved in a murder case filled with hidden motives and colorful characters.

Includes recipes!

Trade Paperback contains the short story, "The Coconut Bunny Butt Caper".

EXCERPT:

Phyllis Newsom watched as her friend Sam Fletcher intently studied the dominoes arrayed in front of him. He frowned in thought, put the tip of his index finger on one of them, then moved it to another. After a couple of seconds, he picked up that domino and placed it with the other two that had already been played in the center of the table.

The man to Sam’s left slid one of his dominoes out to join the others. Sam’s partner, seated across the table from him, sighed and turned all six of his dominoes face down, then began shoving them to the center. Sam and the other two players did likewise. The sound of the dominoes hitting the table and then clicking together was almost musical.

“That was the first play in that hand,” Phyllis said. “And it’s over?”

“Well, we were set,” Sam said.

His partner, former hardware store owner Ansel Hovey, shook his head and said, “I shouldn’t’a bid on sixes. I knew better.” He gave Sam a mock glare. “I figured you’d have somethin’ better than what you threw out there.”

The man to Sam’s left, who had played the decisive domino, grinned and said, “Now, don’t give Sam a hard time, Ansel. You can only play the dominoes you’re dealt.”

“Thanks, Patrick,” Sam said. He turned his head to look up at Phyllis, who stood behind his left shoulder. “You see, once Patrick took that trick, there was no way we could make what Ansel bid. There wasn’t enough count left.”

Carolyn Wilbarger, who stood behind Sam to the right, said, “You don’t have to mansplain the game of Forty-Two to us. We’re all from Texas, you know.”

“And I’ve been playing Forty-Two for as far back as I can remember,” Phyllis added. “I understand the concept of what you’re saying, Sam. My brain’s just never been able to work fast enough to see how the whole rest of the hand is going to play out based on the first one or two tricks.”

“Your brain works plenty fast,” Sam told her. “If it didn’t, you wouldn’t have been able to solve all those murders.”

     

New Release -- Heart of Hope by Tanya Hanson

 

Life in the little rustic town on California’s Central Coast had bored Brianna Bellflower to tears that summer she was sixteen. Other than the warm nights sitting next to a handsome cowboy at his granddad’s Leaning’ Tree Ranch. Returning to Rancho Lorena to sell her aunt’s old house a dozen years later, city girl developer Bree finds that the cowboy still stops her breath. But is she over her cheating fiancé?

With the Leanin’ Tree in financial trouble, Akron McCrory knows all about developers swooping into wide, wild spaces and changing things up. But he, too, remembers those sweet summer kisses a half a lifetime ago. He and Bree are all grown up now. Will their involvement at a safe house for needy moms lead them on a path together they never expected? Even as they longed for it way back when?

EXCERPT

She needed caffeine, bad. The map app’s three-hour-and-fourteen-minute drive along the coast had mutated into five long hours when her destination came into view. Her heart warmed, pittered. Rancho Lorena. The Leanin’ Tree Ranch.

A girl never forgot her first kiss. Would she see him again? He’d come back to stay, hadn’t he?

The charming little cowboy town, with buildings wearing dates from 1887, boasted a modern coffeehouse nestled on a raised boardwalk. An empty parking spot right in front of the Brew Basket embraced Bree with invisible arms. She’d get some fortification, and quick.

Across the spread of ranch land, a far-off mountain range gleamed with snow-tipped peaks. Camel-brown hills hugging the valley wore wisps of green grass from January’s brief rains. She slid from the car. The scent of horses on the wind instead of diesel up her nose started long ago memories glimmering inside her head.

Akron. Akron McCrory. How could he hitch her breath twelve years after?

    

New Release -- Pennytook and Peregrine’s Curse (Legends of Winatuke Book 4 & 5) by Sarah J. McNeal

 

PENNYTOOK

Pennytook is a war-weary Gypsy who longs for peace from the past, and wants something meaningful in his life for the future.

Esmeralda, a Gypsy trick rider, has harbored a deep affection for Pennytook, for many years. But her dark secret will never allow him into her life.

A mythological creature is about to unleash its horror and change the destinies of Esmeralda and Pennytook forever. Will forgiveness allow them the love they both search for…if they manage to survive?

PEREGRINE’S CURSE

Peregrine McKnight is a wildly successful musician who only wants to fall in love with a woman who understands him and have a loving family. But Peregrine knows that can never happen for him—he’s been cursed.

After a foray into the magical dimension of Winatuke, Peregrine suffers a curse placed on him by the evil Navasi king. Though Peregrine manages to survive, the curse prevents him from ever falling in love.

Beautiful dancer Parisa Habuba survived the war in Syria—but at a price: she has lost her hearing in the constant bombing attacks. When Parisa learns of a position for a dancer with the famous musician, Peregrine McKnight, she doesn’t hesitate to audition.  This may be her only chance to prove she can dance—in spite of her hearing loss.

Although it might take a miracle for Peregrine and Parisa to find love—anything is possible in the magical realm of Winatuke...

EXCERPT PENNYTOOK:

Esmeralda remembered how Pennytook's eyes had followed her while she rode. She did her best tricks to gain his attention. It was a stupid thing to do. He might recognize me and then what would I do? In her own defense, Esmeralda knew she could not help herself. When Pennytook was young and had a wife and baby, even then, she thought him handsome and charming. He was lean and muscular with black hair, dark eyes, and an olive complexion. The years had changed him very little. Feathers of silver now ran through his black hair, and his face was more angular, with lines around his mouth and the corners of his eyes. His hands, though worn and hardened by hard work, were still strong.

His abilities with horses and music were renowned. Everyone loved Pennytook. He led his tribe with a fair hand and kindness. His campfires were always warm and his ways generous and inviting.

Many said of him that he knew the ways of magic and held great wisdom. Esmeralda knew this to be true firsthand from that time on the Dark Isle when hell opened up and spewed horror. She knew Pennytook would eventually realize her association with his son and that night on the Dark Isle. He would learn her terrible secret. When he came to know she was the cause of him losing his son, he would hate her, and she would be shunned by his tribe for all time. Knowing that Pennytook would think ill of her if he knew the truth hurt like a dagger sticking in her chest. She had always loved him, though she held her feelings close to her heart. Still, even though he would turn away from her and curse her, she knew she had to tell him what she had done. He needed to hear her reveal her secret from her own lips, and from no other. And then, she would have to bear his hatred. 

New Release -- Her Last Man (Men of Maine Series Book 8) by Diana Tobin

 

Danielle Reigh’s reappearance after being “away” for four months is something she does not want to talk about to anyone—including handsome law officer Cooper Webster. She’s more than a little interested in him, but she has to be able to trust Cooper with the story of what happened to her before she can let herself fall for him completely. Though Cooper knows a man from her past holds a place in her heart, he’s determined to be her only man. But her story might test the limits of credibility—even with someone who loves her as much as Cooper does!

When Danielle’s sister, Charlotte, becomes the nanny for newcomer single father Wyatt Jameson, she falls head over heels in love—with Wyatt’s young daughter, Isabella! But soon, Char and Wyatt realize that Bella’s happiness isn’t the only thing they have in common. After a bad marriage, Wyatt finds it hard to trust anyone, but Char is so open and loving, how can he shut her out of his life? When Char and Bella are kidnapped, Wyatt realizes Char means more to him than he ever imagined. He’ll do whatever he must to save her.

Can Danielle and Cooper put the past behind them and forge a future together? Can Wyatt manage to save Charlotte from a madman and create a new life with her and his baby daughter?

EXCERPT

Hell couldn’t be hotter than this godforsaken land. Grit – sand, dirt, ashes of the dead – filtered into every orifice of his body. It wedged between his teeth. It lay between his skin and clothes, constantly chaffing and rubbing. Not only did he want to peel off his clothes, but his skin along with them. Anything to escape the constant irritation.

Everything here was a constant irritation: the heat, the dirt, the waiting, always being on alert, the waste of human life.

The pack he carried, along with his buddy, grew heavier with each step. Blood from Wiskowski’s wounds splattered over the front of him. His own blood oozed down his leg, despite the bandage he’d slapped around his thigh. His knees wanted to give out, but he refused to allow it. He had to get Wiskowski to the medic. The Black Hawk sat just ahead.

Almost there. A few more steps.

Bullets whizzed around him. The rotors stirred more dirt, blinding and choking him. He tried to pick up his left foot, but only managed to drag it. What the hell?

Hands reached down to take Wiskowski when a punch to his back shoved him against the side of the helicopter.

Damn, he didn’t…

     

New Release Broken Arrow (Banyon Pride Series Book 2) by Donna L. Stephens

 

When Laila Sutton’s father dies, she is left scrambling to try to figure out how to hold on to their rundown Arkansas farmhouse, her childhood home.  Baking cookies and gathering eggs to sell is not going to be much of a livelihood for her. Now that she no longer has the responsibility of caring for her ill, alcoholic father, she is going to have to go to work at MeeMaw’s Diner just to survive.

Just when it seems things can’t get any worse, her father’s attorney informs her that, in his revised will, her father has deeded half of the house and property to their wealthy neighbor, Cleve Atwell—and the only way she can gain it back is to marry him! But Laila dreams of dark-eyed Sky Banyon, a local veterinarian and childhood classmate who has returned from Wyoming recently to their hometown of Mulberry.

In turmoil, Laila knows Sky is the last man she should want to turn to—he’s hurt her before. But could things be different this time? A stolen kiss that touches her soul makes her believe they could.  Though Cleve offers her the security she needs to survive, she doesn’t love him. It rankles that she’s living in a house which is now half his—and she suspects Cleve somehow manipulated her sick father.

When Sky hires Laila to tutor his nine-year-old son, Blaze, he confides in her about his unhappy marriage and the death of his wife. Laila begins to understand him, and her own heart, better than she ever has before. With her wedding to Cleve set to take place in less than a month, Laila knows she can’t hold off forever. Is there a future for her with Sky? Though he’s never told Laila he loved her, the kiss they shared said more than mere words ever could…but is it too late?   

EXCERPT

     When he stood, his tall frame loomed over her. “Lai?” his voice growled.
     She looked up. He had a neat moustache and short beard, and his dark hair curled around his ears just below his felt fedora. His cheekbones were planed sharp, his eyes a deep brown behind his rounded tortoise shell glasses. She frowned. Could it be?
     “Sky? Sky Banyon?” Laila swallowed.
     “Yes. I came back to our Arkansas ranch. Been in Wyoming several years.” He reached out his hand to shake hers. “Laila Sutton,” he said, his voice taking on a light tone. “Will wonders never cease? I thought you’d probably left our small town by now. Good to see—”
     It was Sky, all right. She hid her hand behind her back. “Get out,” she said, her voice clipped. “Move away from my dog.”
     “Please forgive me, Lai.”
     “My name is Laila,” she said, frowning.
     He took off his hat and raked back his hair. “I’m really sorry. I came careening around the corner in my truck, my mind on getting to work, not thinking about anything running out in front of me.” He gave a long sigh. “Your hound needs stitches. But he should heal just fine.”
     “I can’t believe you’ve done it again.” Laila glared up at him, her hand caressing the beating pulse in Jag’s neck. “Wasn’t once enough? You let my other dog die ten years ago. Daisy should’ve lived.”

     

New Release — Murder on Black Mountain (A Black Mountain Mystery Series) by Ruben D. Gonzales

Forced to return to her Appalachian mountain home to bury her big brother, Police Chief Early Shaw, Emma Shaw finds the circumstances of his death a mystery that no one wants to talk about. For centuries, the Shaw family has run the small town with an iron fist—and Emma learns fast it doesn’t pay to ask too many questions—even though she is one of their own.  The facts don’t add up, and Emma will get her answers, one way or the other—even though her questions have stirred up a hornet’s nest.

There’s one thing the Shaw family doesn’t know: Emma possesses a mystical ability to read the energy auras that surround most people, and she can tell a lot about a person by the qualities of those auras. If they’re lying, she knows.  Will that gift be enough to help her solve the case of Early’s murder?

As the list of suspects grows—along with her frustration—Emma grapples with untangling her mysterious past from the dangerous present. Under the shadow of Black Mountain, Emma confronts the town’s ruling family and the secrets they keep. Can she manage to stay alive long enough to learn who killed her brother? One thing she knows for sure—Early’s death was no accident. She’s determined to prove it was MURDER ON BLACK MOUNTAIN.

EXCERPT

Growing up in Black Mountain, you could count the things for kids to do on one hand. The boys played football on the mill team and the girls got to play softball. Some boys played on the high school team, while girls could play volleyball—although being on the short side, Coach told me to stick with softball. A few of the boys from the high school team got to play in college.

Mama worried she birthed a boy. The opportunities for a boy in Black Mountain didn’t amount to much unless you counted working third shift at the mill as a career move. Year before Early went to Black Mountain High, a boy named Todd McCoy went on to college because of football. A big old boy that played center on the team, and slow as a snail, but he earned a football scholarship.

Football took on a whole new meaning for Mama after hearing that. She figured it could be Early’s ticket out of there. She thought I’d marry young, since I’m smart, pretty, and all. She thought I’d marry someone well-off, so didn’t worry about me.

      

TALES FROM THE REWRITE, by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer

Last week when I was at the beach, I worked on reading (aloud) the proof copy of Cat Winter, one of my latest WIPs and the 2^nd book of the Cat Seasons Tetralogy. The manuscript has been through several edits, a beta reader, and a trip to my editor, so I went into it thinking, with a few tweaks here and there, the book would be ready to publish. The first pages came off without a hitch; then the red lines began. The way I proof is to mark directly in the proof book with a red pen—soon there were more pages with red lines, circles, and arrows that not.

Okay, that's pretty normal—for both Cat Café and Cosmic Cat, I slogged through two full proofs before I was happy. But then I ran into a bigger conundrum: you see, Cat Winter, like all the Cat Seasons Tetralogy, is in two parts. The first part is relatively tame violence-wise, but part two, when my heroes travel back in time to antediluvian South America, things begin to get ugly. I suppose like many of us, I had been traumatized at a young age by stories of atrocities committed by people of that era. I'm not sure if it was a catharsis to write about such horrors, but none the less, I got down and dirty. That would be fine since this isn’t by any means a “cozy” story, except that part 1 of the book flows in a completely different vein. The ultra-violence doesn’t fit. I need to tone it down. This means a huge rewrite. Not what I had planned.

How much violence do you tolerate in your fiction? How much do you enjoy? Where does violence fit into your taste in books? 

With the pandemic, as well as the Black Lives Matter protests, our penchant for reading violent stories is changing. We no longer want to hear about the rogue cop who does it all his way, no matter what laws he breaks or who gets hurt. But we don’t want a tiptoe through the tulips either. 

Cat Winter, being a sci-fantasy about cats saving the world, doesn’t have any cops, but it’s not all tulips either. Rewriting is hard, sometimes harder than the original draft; still, it’s the right thing to do. Be warned, however, I won’t be throwing out all the carnage. It’s way too much fun! 

Note: Cat Summer, the first book in the Cat Seasons Tetralogy, published by Fire Star Press last year, just won the Cat Writers’ Association Muse Medallion for best sci-fi/fantasy book 2019! This prestigious award is an exciting badge of honor for my debut sci-fantasy.

CAT SUMMER WINS BIG PURRS, by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer

I have some great news! Cat Summer, (FireStar Press 2019) has won a Certificate of Excellence for Books: Sci-Fi Fantasy in the Cat Writers’ Association Annual Communications Contest.

As a longtime member of CWA, this is not my first COE, but the thrill never goes away. The association has a strict judging policy, and there is no guaranteed winner if the judges deem no work is up to their high standards. So, yay! Three separate judges consider Cat Summer to be of the highest quality!

Now the book competes with others in its category for the coveted CWA Muse Medallion which will be announced at the CWA Communications Contest Virtual Awards Ceremony in August.

Cat Summer is Book One of the Cat Seasons Sci-Fantasy Tetralogy. Here’s the blurb:

Lise has a special destiny: to help a clowder of sentient cats save the world from an evil older than history itself. It is a terrible battle, but Lise and her feline comrades prevail, putting an end to war, poverty, ignorance and want. The world is a better place. 

Or is it? 

A century later, it becomes clear that something has been lost. The new civilization produces no artists, no musicians, no scientists, no philosophers. Inertia has taken hold. Lise, now at the end of her life, must join her cat-friends once more to restore the Spark of the Human Spirit, but the goal cannot be reached without sacrifice.

To note, I also received COA’s for two of my cozy mysteries, and one for a set of cat poems, so I’m really happy right now!

The Cat Writers’ Association is a global cat-centric professional organization dedicated to excellence in written, visual and audio media.

Find out more on my blogsite: www.lecatts.wordpress.com

Facebook Author Page: www.facebook.com/MollieHuntCatWriter/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7768987.Mollie_Hunt

@MollieHuntCats

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New Release -- Dances with Werewolves (A Kudzu Korners Novel) by Isabella Norse

Sydney Hall has spent her life looking for love in all the wrong places. Her world falls apart when the man she thought was Mr. Right turns out to be Mr. Couldn’t-Be-More-Wrong. She needs to make some major lifestyle changes—if she can figure out where to start.

Kain is a werewolf afraid of the vulnerability that comes with life with a pack. Nevertheless, werewolves are made to protect, and his instincts kick into high gear when he meets a bruised and battered Sydney Hall. He is determined to help her see herself as the strong woman he believes she can be.

Friendship grows as two damaged people find hope in each other. Can Sydney and Kain maintain their promise to remain friends without benefits? Or, is love inevitable as two wounded souls learn to heal together?

EXCERPT

     Kain froze when he saw Sydney and the darkening bruises marring her skin. His nostrils flared as he scented blood and his eyes took on a familiar glimmer.

     Sydney’s attention was directed inward in her misery. She didn’t even notice the newcomer until he was next to her.

     “Who did this to you?” Kain asked, his voice soft.

     Sydney didn’t answer. She just shook her head and sobbed harder.

     Bending closer Kain placed one finger under her chin, raising her gaze to his. His eyes flashed gold as he exerted his will. He repeated, “Who did this to you?”

     Haltingly, Sydney gave him the information he sought. “Vince. Vince Thornton.”

     With an abrupt nod Kain stood, turned, and strode from the room.

     Sydney looked at Maggie through puffy eyes. “Who was that? Where is he going?”

     “That was Kain, and I suspect he’s going to make Vince wish he had never been born.”

     “Kain? Didn’t you—ouch—tell me he’s a werewolf?” Sydney believed in werewolves about as much as she believed in Santa Claus, but now was not the time for that discussion. She paused in her efforts to get back on her feet. Talking, breathing, and moving was still a bit too much to try all at once. “Why would he defend me? He doesn’t even know me.”

     “It doesn’t matter if he knows you or not—protecting people is what werewolves do. But, that said, Kain has a real problem with anyone who abuses women or children.”

     

New Release— A Menacing Brew (A Kirkwood Clues Mystery) by Kate Fellowes

With the summer off, Amy is at loose ends.  Since her husband is busy with work and her son is at college, she reluctantly agrees to accompany her mom, Barbara, on a trip to visit an old college chum, Carl, who became a journalist.  Amy knows their long drive will be filled with too many of her mom’s stories about her personal Summer of Love, but she never expects they’ll find Carl dead in his basement practically the minute they arrive.  Things go from bad to worse when Barbara becomes the prime suspect in the crime, since she’ll inherit the dead man’s estate.

To clear Barbara’s name, she and Amy delve into Carl’s most recent assignment and discover a link to Kirkwood’s biggest employer, family-owned Stutger Brewery.  More than one skeleton lurks in the Stutger closet.  But are these old secrets still worth killing over? Or was Carl’s death motivated by an incident with more recent roots?

One thing’s for sure—Barbara and Amy are making few friends among locals with all their questions. As the brewery’s centennial celebration fast approaches, it’s time for Barbara and Amy to bring things to a head and unmask killers, past and present.

EXCERPT

     A crashing and banging came from the kitchen. Mom, moving around.

     "Didja find it?" she hollered. "I’ll bet a fuse blew, or a circuit tripped or somesuch."

     "I’ll bet," I muttered.

     Squeezing the flashlight, I headed down the shadowed hallway, like a modern-day gothic heroine, to find Mom.

     She wasn’t in the kitchen anymore.

     "Out here," she called from the enclosed back porch.

     "Would you please wait for me? If you wander around in the dark, you could fall and break something else," I said, joining her.

     "This must be the basement," she said, ignoring me to point at the dark open doorway leading into even more darkness. "Fuse box’ll be down there."

     I played the flashlight over the yawning pit and shuddered.

Amazon Ebook          Amazon Paperback

     

New Release -- Murder Most Fowl–Texas Style: A Texas Ranger James C. Blawcyzk Novel by James J Griffin

Texas Ranger Jim Blawcyzk is looking forward to an easy Monday, until he gets a call from the Llano County Sheriff. A woman has been murdered, the only clue a dead chicken hanging beside her. Before Jim can complete his investigation, another body—and another dead chicken—have been discovered in an abandoned truck. As the murders begin to stack up, so do the suspects, including a mysterious British couple who keep appearing at the scene of each unique killing. Is it mere coincidence, or something else? When cryptic notes begin arriving at the Llano newspaper office, they hint at more deaths to come. As Jim’s desperate search for the killer takes him from the back roads of Llano County to the dangerous club scene in downtown Austin, he races against time to stop the killings. But can he find the murderer before he or she strikes again? Or will the killer turn the tables and come after Jim for one last MURDER MOST FOWL—TEXAS STYLE…

EXCERPT

     The door to the chicken coop swung open, bathing its interior with rays of early morning sunlight.

     “Good morning, ladies. Isn’t it a lovely day?” the person who’d opened the door said to the hens, as he tossed feed on the coop’s dirt floor. “Who wants to be the first lucky lady to begin our new project?”

     Most of the hens jumped off their perches and out of their nest boxes to peck at the feed, cackling as they ate. One or two paused, cocked their heads, and looked at their owner. One of these was a Rhode Island Red, large and plump.

     “Ah, Camilla, yes. You are the perfect choice. Thank you. Come with me, my dear.”

     Camilla was scooped up, and tucked under her owner’s left arm. She pecked at the corn he held in his right hand, while he crossed the pen and latched its gate. Whistling, he stroked her head as he walked across the yard, then placed her in a crate in the back of his truck. Once certain the hen was secured, he got in the truck, started it, and drove off.

Trade paperback coming soon!

 

New Release -- The Coconut Bunny Butt Caper by Livia J. Washburn

A Fresh Baked Mystery Short Story

Zachary “Buck” Williams asks Phyllis to help him throw a big Easter shindig with games and food and an egg hunt, inviting everybody from the whole county to join in the fun.

It’s a beautiful spring day in Weatherford, Texas, as kids are running and playing and parents are chatting and sampling wonderful home cooked foods. It was all fun and games until someone played hide and seek with the prize egg leaving Phyllis having to find the culprit.

The Coconut Bunny Butt Caper is a short story that follows DEATH BAKES A PECAN PIE the fourteenth novel in the critically acclaimed and best-selling Fresh Baked Mystery series. Phyllis and her friends tackle another complex case with all the humor, camaraderie, good-hearted warmth, and delicious recipes that have made readers around the world fall in love with this series.

Recipes included!

EXCERPT

     On a beautiful spring day under an almost cloudless blue sky, Phyllis Newsom smiled as she watched the crowd of children running and screaming across the vast green lawn. They descended on the shrubbery and flowerbeds like a swarm of locusts.

     “Dang,” Sam Fletcher said as he stood beside Phyllis. “Don’t get between a kid and an Easter egg, that’s all I’ve got to say.”

     “They’re certainly enthusiastic,” Phyllis agreed. “This reminds me of the big Easter egg hunts that went on when we were young, and even when Mike was a child. I remember taking him to several of them, sometimes put on by family, sometimes by the community or one of the local service clubs. People don’t do things like that anymore. Not much, anyway.” She shook her head. “Just another way that things have changed, I suppose.”

     “They’ve got a way of doin’ that,” Sam said. “But bringin’ back the old days was sort of the whole idea of this fandango, wasn’t it? 

Upon Learning the Splendid Craft of Writing by Jodi Lea Stewart

Beginning writers face many obstacles.

Recently, someone asked for advice in a writing group online. She wanted to write novels but said everything stays a draft because she feels too insecure to continue and doesn’t really know what she’s doing. 

Further, each time she writes something, it gets criticized, causing terrible self-doubt. She said she was afraid her dream of being a writer may remain a dream. She asked what she should do.

These are honest problems for beginners, and I would like to shed a little light from my own perspective.

Self-doubt

First of all, every writer goes through the self-doubt stage of wondering if she or he is truly qualified to call themselves a writer. I was still reluctant to do so after writing for university and local newspapers, becoming a western magazine columnist, and  after being made the managing editor/main writer for a Fortune 500 company newsletter.

Why is that?

I believe one reason for the self-doubt is that aspiring writers grow up having so much respect for writers, especially the ones who pen novels and books. We wonder if we have the talent and right to enter into their “sacred” world. Their world seems too full of fire pits and dragons for us to wander into it with our little fluffy *amateur* suits of armor.

To that, I say, be of good courage . . . if you write, you are a writer! Enjoy that fact, even if nothing you have written has ever been published. If you are working hard toward this goal, you are at least a struggling writer, which equals writer!

The best book I ever read on this subject and the one that actually gave me the personal confidence to pursue writing was Brenda Ueland’s book If You Want to Write. She was a journalist, editor, writer, and a teacher of writing and truly believed that anyone with the spark of desire to write can and will if they work at it. It’s an old book, and it’s full of wise and wonderful advice. If you don’t read it, you are missing something you won’t find anywhere else.

About criticism

When you are starting out, simply don’t cast your pearls before swine. In other words, write and then check your own writing. A really good way to do that and one that worked for me, provided you want to write fiction, is Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. If you don’t want to write fiction, there are multitudes of other books that can help you learn how to self-edit. Editing yourself is an important part of writing.

Another thing you must have in your life is someone who doesn’t mind giving sound craft advice and who is also successful at writing and editing. They most likely won’t be someone from your corral of friends, family, jealous acquaintances, general naysayers, or, unfortunately, fellow amateurs in your writing groups who usually have no idea what they are doing either. Sorry, but that’s the truth.

Don’t give others the opportunity to be your critic.

Take it away from them. They don’t get to see anything until you are way down the road and know you are turning out good copy. By then, it’s still not open for debate from other beginners because you have progressed and only work with professionals or other seasoned writers/editors.

So, now that you,

1. believe you can be, and are, a writer,
2. are going to stop letting other amateurs critique and belittle you,

How do you turn your dreams into reality?

Hint: It's not by being lazy.

• More and more, I hear online beginning writers say that becoming a writer involves all-natural talent so no need to read a bunch of books or go sit in a classroom or attend a seminar.
• Grammar rules? Pffft! Writing is art, so there are no rules.
• Some actually believe that reading books nowadays is just a waste of time.
• Others ask the craziest questions they should be researching themselves or not even asking in the first place, such as “How do you write a fiction novel?” and “What is it like to be in love? I want to write a romance novel.” (That one stupefied me).
• Also, I hear them tell one another that watching YouTube videos about writing is the same as reading a book about it or learning firsthand from experts.

Really?

Let’s pause and consider a few examples.

1.      You smell that certain smell in your home. You jump online searching for an electrician to come immediately before your house burns down, don’t you? Do you know that electrician has more than likely gone through four years of apprenticeship including approximately 8,000 hours of on-the-job training and more than 500 hours of classroom training?

That’s a huge time investment, isn’t it?

2.     The lawyer you call when your drunk neighbor crashes into your car parked in your own driveway and who refuses to take responsibility for it has finished twelve years of lower learning, four years of undergraduate study followed by three years of law school and had to pass the Bar Exam, as well.

Nineteen years of schooling for the privilege of becoming a lawyer!

Whether becoming a carpenter or an airline pilot, a mechanic or a real estate agent, an artist or a writer . . . the bottom line is effort. Every profession demands extensive work and commitment.

Ever hear of the immersion programs for learning a new language? Yeah, it’s like that, but more extended. We learn specialties in life by immersing ourselves in them. Why would anyone think they can become a writer simply because they enjoy writing?

Enjoyment is a by-product of writing, that’s for darned sure, but it isn’t the same as training, practice, trial and error, tutelage, classes, and all that goes into learning a craft.

Say you desire to be an essayist. You already know you have the aptitude because you loved the essay part on all your tests in school while the majority of your classmates found it akin to facing Stephen King’s Pennywise lurking in the gutters. 

Is liking to write essays enough, though? No. You will need to read and study hundreds of essays to finetune your own essay writing. You will need advice, feedback, and constructive criticism.

That’s just one of so many examples.

How about writing novels?

Let me be blunt about this. If you are not willing to study endlessly, challenge yourself continually, read and write almost every day, accept constructive criticism gracefully with the idea of improving in the process, attend writing seminars, know how to spell and use grammar properly, and not be bull-headed when the publisher asks for your manuscript in a certain format whether you think it looks “unartful” or not, then forget about writing novels.

Since I’m a novelist, I warm to that particular subject. Here are my personal tips for beginning novelists:

Read meaningful books, lots of them, on the craft of writing. Go to seminars. Subscribe to the magazine, Writer's Digest. Read novels continually. Write continually. Take a journalism class to learn how to hook readers with your first line, first paragraph, and first page of EVERY chapter. That has helped me more than anything. Learn how to punctuate and spell, and know what current publishers prefer. Right now, for example, Chicago Style ellipses are the proper way to go. Study, and study more. 

In a nutshell . . . 

• If you want to write, write!
• If others are pulling you down into the stinky swamp with their unhelpful or mean criticisms, escape! Take yourself and your talents into the sunshine.
• Lastly, realize that anything worth doing is worth the effort to learn and learn well. It won’t happen overnight. Nothing difficult and incredible does.

Precept upon precept, your knowledge will grow, and so will your confidence. Now, get out there and learn and study and write your head off!

***

http://jodileastewart.com/

Jodi Lea Stewart was born in Texas to an "Okie" mom and a Texan dad. Her younger years were spent in Texas and Oklahoma; hence, she knows all about biscuits and gravy, blackberry picking, chiggers, and snipe hunting. At the age of eight, she moved to a vast cattle ranch in the White Mountains of Arizona. As a teen, she left her studies at the University of Arizona in Tucson to move to San Francisco, where she learned about peace, love, and exactly what she DIDN'T want to do with her life. Since then, Jodi graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Business Management, raised three children, worked as an electro-mechanical drafter, penned humor columns for a college periodical, wrote regional western articles, and served as managing editor of a Fortune 500 corporate newsletter. 

She is the author of a contemporary trilogy set in the Navajo Nation featuring a Navajo protagonist, as well as two historical novels. Her most recent novels are Blackberry Road and The Accidental Road. She currently resides in Arizona with her husband, her delightful 90+-year-old mother, a crazy Standard poodle named Jazz, two rescue cats, and numerous gigantic, bossy houseplants.

1956 . . .

THE ACCIDENTAL ROAD

– Historical Fiction

It’s 1956, and teenager Kat and her mother escape an abusive situation only to stumble into the epicenter of crime peddlers invading Arizona and Nevada in the 1950s. Kat is a serious girl who buries herself in novels and movies and tries to be as inconspicuous as possible. Fading into the background is impossible, however, with a beautiful social butterfly of a mother who just happens to resemble Marilyn Monroe. It’s embarrassing, and the unwanted attention her mother garners could be the downfall of their plan to take Route 66 to the freedom of a new life.

Print and eBook available on Amazon.

1934 . . . 

BLACKBERRY ROAD

– Historical Fiction

Trouble sneaks in one Oklahoma afternoon in 1934 like an oily twister. A beloved neighbor is murdered, and a single piece of evidence sends the sheriff to arrest a black man that a sharecropper’s daughter knows is innocent. Hauntingly terrifying sounds seeping from the woods lead Biddy into even deeper mysteries and despair and finally into the shocking truths of that fateful summer.

Audible, Print, and eBook available on Amazon, etc.