Fighting the Good Fight

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Fighting the Good Fight—For the Arts

by Saralyn Richard

My first foray into the world of teaching was as an English instructor, and I learned a lot about working with students in a required academic subject.  Several years into that career, I earned a graduate degree in administration, and I switched out of the English department and into Fine Arts. The Fine Arts department consisted of visual arts, speech and theater, music, and foreign language (still a mystery how that fits, except that foreign language does involve some performance skills).

As the Fine Arts chairperson, and later the Assistant Principal in charge of Fine Arts (and other departments), I learned a few things immediately:

  1. As elective subjects, the students were more motivated to learn, attended more frequently, and earned better grades than in the required subjects.
  2. The arts provided extensive opportunities for extra-curricular activities that enhanced and enriched the school community as a whole. In essence, Fine Arts was the heart of the school.
  3. Every year when it was time for students to choose electives, the Fine Arts had to fight for its existence.

One might wonder why classes that were so successful and valuable would have to justify their worth continually. The reasons run deep, and they extend beyond the school system and into society as a whole. There are mandates—required subjects take precedence, so resources of time, space, and personnel must be assigned to them first. There are budget restrictions. Performing arts may require expensive equipment, uniforms, and supplies. The extra-curricular activities associated with the classes add another layer of expense with travel to competitions and coaching costs.

The annual effort to promote the department and recruit students to take the classes was monumental, and it included some extraordinary teachers and events, like a Fine Arts Festival, to make a difference.

Fortunately, our board members, administrators, teachers, and parents embraced the value of the arts and pushed to keep the department viable.

Fast forward to the present, and I find myself still in the fray. As an author, I face increasing challenges in the literary arts—publishing and marketing woes, intense competition for reach into audiences, threats of AI, and more. I also serve as the President of the Board of our local historic theater, and I find the same challenges there, a scarcity of resources, a need to fill the seats for the shows, a competition for entertainment dollars.

The arts are still considered frills—nice if you can have them, but easy to cut if you need to trim the budget. Yet I can’t imagine life in a society where there are no books, plays, concerts, ballets, symphonies, or art galleries to provoke thought and discourse and to touch people’s hearts. We can’t have culture without arts, and we can’t have a full life without culture.

I dislike politics in all its forms, but I always stand up for the arts wherever and whenever I can. Do you?

Saralyn Richard writes award-winning humor- and romance-tinged mysteries that pull back the curtain on people in settings as diverse as elite country manor houses and disadvantaged urban high schools. An active member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America, Saralyn teaches creative writing and literature, and continues to write mysteries. Her favorite thing about being an author is interacting with readers like you. Visit Saralyn here, on her Amazon page here, or on Facebook here.

 

What I Learned from King Charles’ Coronation

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by Paula Gail Benson

Last weekend, I was able to spend a little time watching and listening to the King’s coronation while preparing for and driving to attend a young friend’s college graduation. I wish that I had tuned into the broadcast earlier to see the pageantry of the carriages processing to Westminster Abbey. I very much enjoyed the King’s entrance into the Abbey attended by his honorary pages, including his grandson, Prince George. I also found it very endearing to hear Prince William pledge allegiance as the King’s “liege man” followed by a kiss on the King’s cheek.

I found two websites that were particularly helpful in describing the coronation weekend. First, the Coronation of Their Majesties The King and Queen Camilla, provided information about the schedule (the coronation to take place on Saturday, May 6; a concert to be held on Sunday, May 7; and a bank holiday on Monday, May 8, to be known as the Big Help Out, when people were encouraged to volunteer with charities and local organizations). Throughout the long weekend, Coronation Big Lunches were to take place in communities throughout the United Kingdom. The website offered suggested recipes along with short films, coloring books, and activities provided for children.

Second, the Royal Family’s website contained the Coronation Service, the official Coronation portraits, and photos of members of the Royal Family participating in the Big Lunches and Big Help Out. The website also contained detailed information about the music, vestments, flowers, and regalia at the event.

My attention was drawn to the headpieces worn by Princess Catherine and Princess Charlotte. One article called them “diadems.” To me, they looked like jeweled laurel wreaths. In “The Deeper Meaning Behind Princess Charlotte and Princess Kate’s Matching Silver Flower Crowns,” Elise Taylor, a writer for Vogue, described Princess Charlotte’s as a “delicate silver bullion and crystal flower crown by Jess Collet and Alexander McQueen,” and saying it matched that of her mother. According to Taylor, “The jewelry design is seemingly a nod to a motif used throughout Charles’s coronation of the Green Man. An ancient figure from British folklore, the Green Man symbolizes spring and rebirth. He wears a crown of oak, ivy, and hawthorn, and the emblematic flowers.”

Alexander McQueen designed the white dresses worn by Princess Catherine and Princess Charlotte to the Coronation. The gowns featured embroidered roses, thistles, shamrocks, and daffodils, representing the four nations of the United Kingdom.

Previously, I had heard of England being associated with the rose (the Tudor rose combining the red Lancashire rose with the white York rose signaling peace following the War of the Roses); of Scotland’s connection with the thistle (commonly found in the highlands); and of Ireland’s symbol being the shamrock (due to Saint Patrick using it to teach about the trinity). However, I did not know the daffodil was the national flower of Wales. Seeking more information, I found an article on the Internet that indicated: “The leek was the traditional emblem of Wales until the 19th-century. The Welsh name for daffodil Cenninen Pedr translates literally as ‘Saint Peter’s Leek’, which may have led to the confusion. It may also be because it blooms in early spring, coinciding with St David’s Day on March 1, when the flower is traditionally worn.”

Through renewal in the one-thousand-year-old tradition of the Coronation, Great Britain’s customs, folklore, and heritage are celebrated and given new life. I look forward to learning more about the Green Man and the national flowers.

When One Thing Leads to Another by Judy Penz Sheluk

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I’m delighted to welcome Judy Penz Sheluk as my guest to talk about her new release: Finding Your Path to Publication: A Step-by-Step Guide. Because I’ve loved her two fiction series: The Glass Dolphin mysteries and the Marketville mysteries, I know this will be a valuable non-fiction tool for writers. See you next month!  —Debra H. Goldstein

When One Thing Leads to Another by Judy Penz Sheluk

I’m new at this. Oh, I don’t mean I’m new to blogging. I’ve been writing a blog for my own website for years, and I was a Stiletto Gang member for a time until life got in the way (thankfully, they invite me back every now and again, for which I am grateful).

I don’t even mean that I’m new to shameless self-promotion, though it never seems to get any easier (I can always hear my mother saying, “never forget where you came from,” “where” in our world being a very humble place).

What I do mean is that I’m not used to blogging about a how-to book. It’s not like I can be cutesy and write this from a character’s point of view or get all authorly and talk about the narrative arc. Hmmm…maybe I can talk about how one thing led to another.

Okay, that’s settled. It all started when I led a NaNoWriMo debriefing in November 2021 at my then-local library. I’ve attempted NaNoWriMo a few times but have never yet completed the 50,000-words-in-a-month challenge. The librarian thought that made me more accessible. I’d tried and “failed,” and yet I was a published author.

What I learned from that event was that the attendees were more interested in how-to get published and publishing options than whether I (or anyone else) had succeeded at NaNoWriMo. That led to the librarian asking if I might be willing to prepare a presentation on the topic. I remembered how much I’d learned since signing my first book contract in 2014, and not all those lessons came easy. In fact, some of them were downright painful.

The presentation—Paving Your Path to Publication—had record attendance, with more questions than time to respond. It also gave me an idea. What if I wrote a book based on it? I’m a total pantser when it comes to writing mystery fiction, but here, at least, I’d have an outline.

After months of research (I knew virtually nothing about social publishing platforms like Wattpad or Hybrid/Assisted publishers, and was surprised at how much I still had to learn about traditional and self-publishing platforms) and vetting every chapter with my front-line editor (also an aspiring author from a very different generation than mine), the result is Finding Your Path to Publication: A Step-by-Step Guide, which released on May 2 in trade paperback, large print, hardcover, and e-book. It’s the sort of book I wish I’d had back when I was starting out, but then again, I wouldn’t be where I am today without experiencing the highs and low of my journey as an author.

After all, one thing almost always leads to another. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Readers: Have you experienced “one thing leading to another” in your life? If so, how’d that work out for you?

 

About Finding Your Path to Publication: The road to publishing is paved with good intentions…and horror stories of authors who had to learn the hard way.

For the emerging author, the publishing world can be overwhelming. You’ve written the book, and you’re ready to share it with the world, but don’t know where to start. Traditional, independent press, hybrid, self-publishing, and online social platforms—all are valid publishing paths. The question is, which one is right for you?

Finding Your Path to Publication is an introduction to an industry that remains a mystery to those on the outside. Learn how each publishing option works, what to expect from the process start to finish, how to identify red flags, and avoid common pitfalls. With statistics, examples, and helpful resources compiled by an industry insider who’s been down a few of these paths, this is your roadmap to decide which path you’d like to explore, and where to begin your author journey.

Available in trade paperback, large print, hardcover, and e-book. Universal buy link: https://books2read.com/FindingYourPathtoPublication

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A former journalist and magazine editor, Judy Penz Sheluk is the bestselling author of two mystery series: The Glass Dolphin Mysteries and Marketville Mysteries, both of which have been published in multiple languages. Her short crime fiction appears in several collections, including the Superior Shores Anthologies, which she also edited. Judy is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and Crime Writers of Canada, where she served on the Board of Directors for five years, the final two as Chair. She lives in Northern Ontario. Find her at www.judypenzsheluk.com.

 

Hudson!

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Hudson is Released into the Wild!

It’s release day for Hudson, book 1 of the Rejects Pack.  This archaeological thriller / paranormal romance melds all the booby trapped tomb adventures of Indiana Jones with some shifter wolves, flirtatious banter and tosses in some evil warlocks and a mysterious mummy for good measure.  So in some ways today is the day that I find out if everyone else finds that as fun as I do.

What Readers Are Saying

Part of book marketing is to send “Advance Reader Copies” or ARCs to individuals who will read and review a book–hopefully early, and hopefully with something quotable.  When I first got into publishing I had no idea what an ARC was and spent weeks scratching my head until someone actually used the entire phrase. Fortunately, for Hudson, the advance reviews are looking quite positive. I can only hope that they continue on the same trend. All of the Rejects Pack boys have been fun to write and I’m even thinking about keeping the series going, so I hope that it’s well-received.

The Inspiration for Hudson

In case you haven’t guessed, I like action-movies and sparky couples who serve up quips and flirt their way through dangerous escapes. And for the Rejects Pack series I definitely set out to write a series with those kind of main characters.  So, if you like action-packed romances, angry Egyptologists, shifter wolves, and ancient booby-trapped tombs, then you will also love Hudson, book 1 of the Rejects Pack.

Learn More or Buy Now:

Hudson on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3l32CAL

Enter to Win a Print Edition of Hudson: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/365402

Watch the Promo Video: https://youtu.be/S7u4J8J9WWE

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Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of action-adventure and fantasy tales that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind end. She participates in many activities including swearing, karate, art, and yelling at the news. She can usually be found chasing after her daughter, or glued to the computer working on her next novel (or screenplay). You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

Whose Words Are These?

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Does the rise of artificial intelligence make you want to scream, “AI, caramba!”? *

While there’s speculation that AI may cost some people their jobs, writers worry that AI will lead to rampant plagiarism. All of which reminds me of a time in the pre-digital era when an entire work of mine was plagiarized by a living, breathing human being. It happened in a manner so blatant, it was almost comical.

Fair Use

20th Century Fox Corp.

I was the editor of a national tennis magazine (my first full-time job in publishing). One day, a freelancer who was looking for an assignment stopped by my office to drop off some samples of his past articles.

We had a brief chat about his experience, which seemed fairly extensive, and we planned to talk more after I’d read his work.

Later that day, I looked through the material he’d left and noticed that one item was an interview he’d conducted with the manager of Jimmy Connors, who was a world-class champion at the time.

I had interviewed the same man some months before. So out of curiosity, I chose the freelancer’s interview with him to read first. Its format was a simple Q. & A.

I read the first question and the manager’s response. I read the next question and answer. It wasn’t until the third Q. & A. that something began to feel familiar.

I went to my back files, found the issue I was looking for, and flipped to the page with my interview on it. Everything was identical, down to the last comma and period, except for the photos and the freelancer’s name instead of mine in the byline.

At first, I was amazed at the audacity. It occurred to me that the thief might have stolen so many works from other writers that he never bothered to keep track of whose article he was submitting to whom.

The pilfered interview.

And then I got mad.

The magazine with the pilfered interview was based in Australia, a big tennis mecca back then, with its own national stars like Laver and Goolagong. I sat down and wrote to the publisher, informing them that they had published a stolen article. I included a copy of my original piece, along with my suspicion that there may be more of the same from that individual.

Two days later, the plagiarizer showed up again and asked me what I thought of his work. I let my fury fly while he sat there stone-faced. After I was through, this is what he said: “So, you won’t be hiring me?”

I kid you not.

I never heard from his publisher, and I never saw or heard from the pilferer again. But I’ll always think of him as a lazy, cheating son-of-a-gun, like a grownup and ever-unrepentant Bart Simpson.

Gay Yellen is the award-winning author of the Samantha Newman Mystery Series, including The Body Business, The Body Next Door, and the upcoming Body in the News.

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*a nod to Bart Simpson, The Simpsons, Twentieth Century Fox Corp. Free use.

 

 

 

An Expert Disagreement

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By Donnell Ann Bell

In December 2022, on The Stiletto Gang, I blogged about the importance of accurate research when creating our fictional stories. I also pointed out that the Internet is a great place to obtain plot information, but to rely exclusively on search engines is risky. I also mentioned in this blog that to double check my research, I consult experts.

Book three of my cold case series is a spinoff of book one, Black Pearl a Cold Case Suspense. In book one I read nonfiction books and consulted numerous psychological experts. The same is necessary for book three. In addition to reading everything I can about mental health and hospitals, I’m consulting with psychologists, psychotherapists, and psychiatrists.

SPOILER ALERT: In book one, my antagonist suffers from a particular disorder. Too late in the story, I learned the mental ailment is not an acceptable legal defense and, in most cases, doesn’t hold up in court. This caused a problem as I planned to use this character again in book three.

What to do? During the antagonist’s competency hearing, I wrote a scene whereby the judge, lawyers, doctors, and spectators witness an episode firsthand. No doubt about it, the antagonist belongs in prison. However, with doctors for both the prosecution and the defense present, the judge follows their recommendations and commits the antagonist to a mental hospital until he is deemed competent to stand trial.

After that plot fix, I thought I was ready to get to work on book three.  However, another problem arose. One of the experts I consulted claimed not to believe in the disorder, while the other experts I consulted emphatically do.

Recognizing that the courts don’t accept the disorder and a psychiatrist doesn’t as well presented a major conundrum for me. I couldn’t just gloss over her viewpoint. I may write fiction, but it has to be honest; moreover fiction has to make sense.

Like any profession, there seems to be a disconnect among these learned professionals. One therapist I talked to said that psychiatrists treat the patient with the prescription pad while psychotherapists try to get to the root of the patients’ dysfunction. I’m sure psychiatrists would argue the point. In fact, one book I read explained the years of analysis a psychiatrist went into in helping his DID patient.

Knowing this feeling exists, however, allowed my muse to take over. I realized a way I could present both opinions and still hopefully make my story work!

I went to work writing a psychotherapist’s backstory. He’s newly retired and recently widowed. For years, he was in practice with his psychiatrist wife who adamantly rejected the idea of the mental illness, so much so she published articles in medical and psychiatric journals in support of her argument.

The widower, who still consults on occasion, is called to meet my antagonist. He is fascinated and later becomes convinced that my antagonist is a valid case. Retirement allows the character to devote longer therapy hours and his goal becomes not only to help but to publish papers on his findings later.

Incorporating these differing opinions helped me cement my plot. It’s now outlined and in draft form. Now the hurdle becomes–can I bring this story to life? Fellow authors, is my story at all familiar to you? Do you encounter roadblocks when writing. My roadblock was huge. How about you? Ever had one and do you work to go around them?

About the Author: Donnell Ann Bell is an award-winning author, her latest work, a series, includes Until Dead: a Cold Case Suspense, released in 2022, Black Pearl, a Cold Case Suspense  2020 Colorado Book Award finalist. Donnell’s single title books include, Buried Agendas, Betrayed, Deadly Recall and the Past Came Hunting, all of which have been Amazon bestsellers. Currently she’s writing book three of her cold case series.  www.donnellannbell.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CINCO DE MAYO – More Than Mexican for a Day

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CINCO DE MAYO – More Than Mexican for a Day by Linda Rodriguez

It’s time for the drunks to fill the bars and overflow into the streets again, time for posters and commercials of sultry señoritas sucking down cervezas while their whirling skirts of many colors reveal slim brown thighs, time for The-Holiday-That-Coors-Built in its neverending need to sell beer. For the umpteenth time I answer someone, “No, Mexican Independence Day is September 16.” Like St. Patrick’s Day and the Irish, Cinco de Mayo’s become the day everyone becomes “Mexican,” shouts “¡Olé!” while chugging drinks, and dances to “La Bamba.”

The sad thing is that Latino kids born or raised here think it’s the major Mexican holiday, too. In Mexico, no one celebrates it, except one town, Pueblo, and its surrounding area. Like the Irish saint’s day, it’s been usurped by the U. S. liquor industry and transformed into commercial America’s version of another country, always reduced to the lowest common denominators—booze and loud drunks and big bucks for big companies. The country of writers like Sor Juana, Octavio Paz, and Carlos Fuentes, artists such as Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Orozco and Siqueiros, and composers Hilda Paredes and Silvestre Revueltas has been reduced to Get-Drunk-With-The-Frito-Bandito.

There is an upside, however. Latino communities across the United States have hitched a ride on the commercial juggernaut and organized fiestas and cultural programs around Cinco de Mayo. If you leave the borrachos in the bars to their pretense and head for community-sponsored events, you can see traditional dances performed in the beautiful costumes of various parts of Mexico and richly dressed caballeros showing their skills on brightly caparisoned horses, you can hear mariachi music—and ranchero and norteña and the many other varieties of popular Mexican music—you can visit colorfully creative exhibits by Latino artists, and you can sample the mouthwatering foods and tempting craftwork of local individuals and organizations.

“If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” is working for these communities as they try to channel all that commercial marketing energy into inspirational, creative events to educate the whole community and their own young people about the cultural riches and diversity that Mexico and the other countries in Latin America have brought to the United States over the many centuries that these Indigenous and mestizo cultures have mixed into the American melting pot.

So this Cinco de Mayo, if you want to be “Mexican-for-a-Day,” don’t head for your local watering hole. They’ll just give you the same old stuff with a little sombrero stuck on it. Instead, check out the events listings for places and organizations with names like Guadalupe Center, El Centro, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the amazing El Grupo Folklorico Atotonilco, Trio Aztlán, Gran Desfile de Caballos, and many others. Then, dance to La Bamba and shout “¡Olé!” and other gritos not from commercially produced drunkenness but from sheer joy and exuberance. Now, that’s Mexican.

 

Linda Rodriguez’s 13th book, Unpapered: Writers Consider Native American Identity and Cultural Belonging, will publish in May 2023. She also edited Woven Voices: 3 Generations of Puertorriqueña Poets Look at Their American Lives, The World Is One Place: Native American Poets Visit the Middle East, The Fish That Got Away: The Sixth Guppy Anthology, Fishy Business: The Fifth Guppy Anthology, and other anthologies.

Dark Sister: Poems was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award. Her three earlier Skeet  Bannion mystery novels—Every Hidden Fear, Every Broken Trust, Every Last Secret—and earlier books of poetry—Skin Hunger and Heart’s Migration—received critical recognition and awards, such as St. Martin’s Press/Malice Domestic Best First Novel, International Latino Book Award, Latina Book Club Best Book of 2014, Midwest Voices & Visions, Elvira Cordero Cisneros Award, Thorpe Menn Award, and Ragdale and Macondo fellowships. She also published Plotting the Character-Driven Novel, based on her popular workshop.  Her short story, “The Good Neighbor,” published in Kansas City Noir, was optioned for film.

Rodriguez is past chair of the AWP Indigenous Writer’s Caucus, past president of Border Crimes chapter of Sisters in Crime, founding board member of Latino Writers Collective and The Writers Place, and a member of International Thriller Writers, Native Writers Circle of the Americas, Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers, and Kansas City Cherokee Community. Learn more about her at http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com or follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/rodriguez_linda or on Mastodon at https://mastodon.social/rodriguez_linda.

Missing Malice – A Love Letter

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by Sparkle Abbey

Awards Banquet Table

Malice Domestic is the annual convention that celebrates the traditional mystery and frankly it’s one of our favorites.  This year we were unable to attend and we were so bummed. From our very first Malice Domestic and multiple ones since that first one, the mystery community welcomed us. We’re so grateful for the opportunity to meet readers who have become friends. And thankful for all the wisdom shared, advice offered,  and great tips from other mystery authors. Sometimes tips about things we were too new to the business to even know we were going to need to know. We listened, we took notes, and we soaked it all in.

It was necessary but so very difficult to not be there this year. We were sad to miss getting to meet new people, see old friends, and share in the celebrations. To everyone who posted photos on social media, thank-you so much. It was wonderful to get to live a little bit of that Malice magic vicariously.  To all of the Agatha Award nominees and winners that we didn’t get to congratulate in person – congratulations! If you missed the list of Agatha winners you can find it here: Announcing the Agatha Award Winners

And if you have not yet read these books, you should. All of them.

And by the way, registration is open for Malice Domestic 2024. And we’re not missing out again. We hope to see you there!

sparkle and abbeySparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.)

They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website

Clicking Our Heels – Spring Cleaning

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It’s time to think about spring cleaning and what we might consider getting rid of. Anything you put at the top of your list for spring cleaning?

Dru Ann Love –  I do year-round cleaning, but with spring I do a thorough purging of items.

Donnell Ann Bell – Yes! Please! I welcome anyone who wants to come and help me.:)

Robin Hillyer-Miles – I spring clean after the biggest dump of pollen has fallen. I start with the back patio since outside is my favorite.

Saralyn Richard – I believe in “spring” cleaning all year long. The change of seasons isn’t as important as the act of getting rid of unused things. I start with cleaning out old emails, spam folders, and computer files.

Gay Yellen – Non-perishable food that has been neglected in the pantry either gets donated or eaten (at last).

Kathryn Lane – Spring cleaning? Never heard of it!

Lois Winston – Since we moved 800+ miles not quite two years ago, I took care of all my spring cleaning for the next decade when we got our NJ house ready to go on the market. The only items that made the move with us to TN were ones we routinely use. Everything else was donated.

Lynn McPherson – I love de-cluttering. The first thing to go is always clothing. I like to think donating things I no longer wear will make someone happy and give the clothes another run.

Linda Rodriguez – Winter’s clutter. I can’t clean if there’s too much stuff in the way.

Barbara Eikmeier –  I don’t keep most books I read so in the spring I donate a box of books to the Friends of the Library annual sale. Then I go to the sale and buy more books. Sigh.

Mary Lee Ashford – I love spring cleaning and generally approach it with great enthusiasm. Now, whether that momentum lasts or not is another thing. But in any case, the first thing that I start with is the master bedroom closet. Are there items that I thought I’d wear but as it turns out I just keep ignoring? If so, maybe someone else would love them and they go straight into the donation box. (Once the donation box is relatively full it goes to the car and I drive around with it in my car for a month or two, but eventually it gets to one of my favorite thrift shops.) From the closet, I move onto the bedroom and cleaning out drawers, washing and storing heavy blankets, etc.

Shari Randall/Meri Allen – I generally clean BCCO –  before company comes over. The first thing to go has to be the inevitable stack of mail order catalogs.

Anita Carter – I love spring cleaning! I tackle all the closets and end up making a few trips to the local donation drop-offs.

Bethany Maines – I do believe in Spring cleaning but usually that’s because I can’t take it anymore.  The first thing that has to go is all of my family’s accumulated crap. My crap is fine, but why are there so many bits of their things EVERYWHERE???

T.K. Thorne – I don’t believe in cleaning; I just do it when I have to.

Debra H. Goldstein – I’ve always been a sporadic rather than seasonal cleaner. I things seem like utter chaos or I’m in need of a distraction and can’t think of anything else to do, I clean my desk, drawers, and closets. Luckily, it doesn’t take much for me to things are straightened or to find another distraction.

So Many Novels to Read!

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The novel – so abundant today was not always so readily available. In ancient times, novels were handwritten on papyrus paper, and they were super expensive.

Before I continue though, I should share the definition most scholars use for a novel:

  • It must be fiction.
  • It must be prose.
  • It must be a narrative.
  • It must be at least 50,000 words.

For more technically oriented folks, the definition might also include:

  • It must have been written by a single author or a group of authors working in collaboration.
  • It must have been written with the intent of publication in some form.

Early publications in the Western world often include:

  • Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Mallory, originally published 1485.

  • Don Quixote by Miquel de Cervantes, originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1616.

  • Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, originally published in 1719.

When it comes to early books, The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, written in the early eleventh century, is an extraordinary work yet it is Japanese, not Western. Then there are Greek novels written in the first and second centuries BCE. One is a historical romance about King Ninos, the legendary king of Assyria, who was in love with his cousin, Semiramis. The Ninos Romance exists in fragments, but apparently in sufficient fragments that experts qualify it as a novel. Then there are other ones, such as The Milesian Tale, that have completely disappeared but are referenced in other writings.

The likely reason it was referenced by early scholars is that a traveler arrived in the city of Miletos (located on the west coast of what is now Turkey), known in antiquity for the luxurious and debauched lifestyle of its inhabitants! Nothing like licentiousness to entice creation of a story!

Back to the present. With approximately 1,000,000 new titles being published every year in the US alone, it translates to 2,700 books per day or more than 100 books per hour. Readers must be choosy! Yet fans of the romance genre expect their favorite authors to produce a book every four weeks. Can writers have a life when their readers want twelve books a year from them? It that realistic?

Keep reading – there’s lots to read!

Have you read any of the older novels I’ve mentioned?

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About Kathryn

Kathryn Lane is the award-winning author of the Nikki Garcia Mystery Series.

In her writing, she draws deeply from her experiences growing up in a small town in northern Mexico as well as her work and travel in over ninety countries around the globe during her career in international finance with Johnson & Johnson.

Kathryn and her husband, Bob Hurt, split their time between Texas and the mountains of northern New Mexico where she finds it inspiring to write.

Kathryn’s Latest novel:

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSHFRD11

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Diary-Kathryn-Lane/dp/1735463833/

 

Photo Credits:

All book covers from public domain. All photos are used for educational or editorial purposes.