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2023: My Year in Books
In this third and final of my 2023 lookback posts (read the first 2 here and here), I’ll take a quick look at my year in books (because nothing is more popular on the internet than a middle-aged librarian’s navel-gazing about her reading list). But first: this post is part of the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer, and What’s on Your Bookshelf, hosted by Sue, Donna, Jo and Deb. Have a seat, grab a treat, and let’s get to it. My year in books As with writing, I struggled a bit with reading in 2023. Basically, I struggled to be productive in 2023 outside of my day job. I don’t know if…
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An interview with author C. Lee McKenzie
I’m excited to feature my first-ever author interview on this blog! Read on for an interview with C. Lee McKenzie, a multi-published author of young adult, middle grade, and adult fiction and a fellow member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. And speaking of the IWSG: The first Wednesday of every month is Insecure Writers Support Group day, on which we insecure writers share our doubts, fears, struggles, and triumphs. Our awesome co-hosts this month are C. Lee McKenzie, JQ Rose, Jennifer Lane, and Jacqui Murray. Stop by their blogs and leave them some comment love! Each month, the IWSG provides an optional question for us to answer in our posts. This month’s optional question:…
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Let’s talk books!
Before I started this post, I browsed a few other entries in the What’s on Your Bookshelf link party. Everyone is talking about cozy holiday reads with titles like Christmas by Candlelight and The Christmas Spirit and covers featuring festively-lit buildings nestled into blankets of snow. And what am I reading? Obsession, a book by former FBI profiler John Douglas on the psyches of killers, rapists, and stalkers. Oh, and the memoir of a former New York medical examiner. Ho, ho, homicide, baby. My reading list for the last month also suffers from a distinct absence of holiday cheer. But before we get to that: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee…
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Books to Help You Write Better: A Writer’s Reading List
Want to learn to write fiction? Want to learn to write better fiction? You’re in the right place. The Writer’s Reading List: Books to Help You Write Better will point you to the very best books about the craft of writing (well, the best in my not-so-humble opinion). The books on this list focus on practical skills so you can make the most of your limited learning time. And speaking of learning: Writing is a talent, yes, but also a craft, and crafts can be learned (I wrote a whole blog post about that once). You wouldn’t expect to build a perfect cabinet the first time you picked up a…
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Pics of the Las Vegas Sphere – and books
I bailed on blogging again last week, and it wasn’t even for a boring reason like work or a writing deadline. I went to Vegas! And you know what that means: I’m so broke I have to sell my plasma to survive. I have new photos to fill space on my blog! This week we’ll visit Sphere, the newest Las Vegas attraction and my latest obsession. But first: it’s the 3rd Friday of the month, which means it’s time for the What’s On Your Bookshelf Challenge, hosted by Sue, Donna, Jo and Deb. I’ve been getting back into a regular reading groove and finished a nice mix of books since my last book post…
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The monthly book roundup
We’re talkin’ books this week, because it’s time for the monthly What’s On Your Bookshelf Challenge (hosted by Sue, Donna, Jo and Deb). A light reading month Not an exciting reading month here at Camp WTF. I finished re-listening to Charlaine Harris’ Lily Bard series for the umpty-gazillionth time. A couple of them got me through the General Unpleasantness known as colonoscopy prep. I should probably create a Goodreads list of the best books for this particular occasion, because, trust me, distraction is necessary. Colonoscopy prep pro tip: drink Mountain Dew on fasting day. All that sugar and caffeine really helps with suppressing appetite. And you thought you wouldn’t learn anything useful on this…
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In which I am ambushed by the embodiment of pure evil (and there are books)
The summer doldrums continue here at Camp WTF. I used up most of my vacation time roaming around Michigan in May, and it’s too hot to do much of anything here in Tucson except migrate between my air-conditioned house and air-conditioned office, whine about the heat, and count the days till October (72 according to Google. I’m too lazy to count them myself). Fortunately, it’s time for the monthly What’s On Your Bookshelf Challenge (hosted by Sue, Donna, Jo and Deb), so I have some content for this week’s update besides whining about the weather. This post is also part of the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. Grab a (cold) treat,…
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Podcast appearance, Michigan trip, and books
This post is a hodgepodge–my podcast appearance, the last of the pictures from my trip to Michigan, and what I’ve been reading lately. But before we get to all that: This post is part of the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer, and What’s On Your Bookshelf, hosted by Sue, Donna, Jo and Deb. Grab a treat, have a seat, and let’s get to it. I’m on the Big Blend Radio podcast! Last month I appeared on the Big Blend Radio podcast, along with other authors whose stories appeared in the Trouble in Tucson anthology. More details in this post. Last batch of pix from the Michigan trip In my last two…
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Desert flowers and the monthly book roundup
I’ve been neglecting my blogging lately. I’ve now missed two weekly posts in the last month, though I have an excuse other than working: I’ve been having fun! My friend Laurel visited last week, and we hiked and explored and went to a concert, and now I’m collapsed in an exhausted heap, struggling to make my hands move enough to type. Well, OK, I’m not quite that tired. And I have enough pictures for at least a month of posts. I still need to sort through them all, so this week I’ll just share a few featuring one of my favorite photographic subjects: desert flowers. But before I get to…
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Author Envy, or Damn, I Wish I’d Written That
Do you ever read a novel, a story, or even a sentence that wows you so much, you wish you’d written it? That’s author envy, and it’s what we’re going to talk about in this month’s post for the Insecure Writers Support Group blog hop. In case you’re new here, the first Wednesday of every month is Insecure Writers Support Group day, on which we insecure writers share our doubts, fears, struggles, and triumphs. Our awesome March co-hosts are Diedre Knight, Tonya Drecker, Bish Denham, Olga Godim, and JQ Rose. We’re also given an optional question we can answer in our posts; this month’s question is: Have you ever read a line in novel or…
Suspense | Horror | Romance
