The Hollow Tree at Dead Mule Swamp Moves Up in Smashwords Ranking

The Hollow Tree at Dead Mule Swamp is now in first place for short, free downloads of mysteries featuring women sleuths, at Smashwords. OK, so it's a rather narrow category. I'm still happy. It's been sitting at #2 for over a year, but it has finally taken a step upwards! Hooray for steady downloads from new fans.

The book is really a short story, and second in the Anastasia Raven series. Its overall rating at Smashwords is 4.5 out of 5 stars with six reviews. Here's one from someone I don't know at all, so there's no "review for a friend" going on with it. "I don't normally like shorter books/short stories but this one was so well developed that there was nothing short about it. Excellent story. Love the people of Cherry Hill. Can't wait for more"

See The Hollow Tree at Dead Mule Swamp.

Chapter 18 - Bury the Hatchet in Dead Mule Swamp

This book is proceeding at the pace of a greased snail. I realize that. I'm hoping at some point my ideas, time, and enthusiasm will reach a critical mass and I'll be able to take off and write more than one agonized chapter at a time.

Tonight I didn't finish in time to go to the West Side Gang writers' group. Since I had some modest momentum going I decided I really had to stay home and actually write. The chapter struggled along, sentence by sentence, but at last it reached a satisfactory ending, revealing one more piece of the puzzle.

Almost at 30,000 words for the MS now.

Here's an excerpt from Chapter 18:

    She glanced sideways at me, and set the cup down on the table. Her blunt, work-worn fingers tapped impatiently on the edge of the saucer. “I know that Jerry was not the only potential buyer for the old school. This sudden interest in that dump, and then learning it’s the location of the Jared Canfield murder is quite peculiar, don’t you think?”
    I jumped on the opportunity to change the subject. “Do you know who else wanted to buy it? I do think that’s strange.”

You can find the first three Anastasia Raven Stories at Smashwords or Amazon

"Salmon Sea" Selected for a Broadside

Ludington Art Fair (photo by JHY)

Have you ever heard of a broadside? Neither had I, except in the obsolete sense of a newspaper-like poster used to disseminate news or advertising in pre-Civil War times. However, I guess they have really caught on some places as a way to get art and writing out to the general public.

One of the West Side Gang leaders thought they would be a good offering to have at the Ludington Art Fair. We had to submit poems for inclusion, and I had one make the cut. They had art work added, and were printed on good quality paper.

The poem of mine that was chosen is named "Salmon Sea." I'll be sending it to everyone on my Mail Chimp List for free, when I reach 50 subscribers. Have you signed up?

Chapter 16 - Bury the Hatchet in Dead Mule Swamp

This book is looking like it will certainly be the longest in the series so far. The story seems to still be growing in complexity, and I'm at 27,000 words.

I like the current twist it's taking. Don't want to give too much away, but I think I'm succeeding at developing multiple suspects to keep the reader guessing.

Here's an excerpt from Chapter 16:

    Lying at an odd angle on top of the carton was a plain piece of computer paper with printing on it. I grabbed a tissue from the packet I kept clipped to the visor and picked it up.
    The note wasn’t hand written, but was printed in a plain font in large capital letters.
    “YOU AND YOUR RICH BOYFRIEND BETTER STAY AWAY FROM THAT OLD SCHOOL IF YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR YOU. LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER GUY. A FRIEND.”

You can find the first three Anastasia Raven Stories at Smashwords or Amazon

Chapter 15 - Bury the Hatchet in Dead Mule Swamp

I haven't made much progress on the newest Anastasia Raven mystery for quite a while. But today I got back on track. Re-read everything I have to date, and wrote the next chapter.

Took it to West Side Gang this evening, and for the most part they liked it. Some thought there was too much description in one place and others liked that section particularly well. Some didn't like how much I have to use dialogue to give the reader information. Another said "O.K. as dialogue."

These differences of opinion don't bother me at all. What they do is further convince me that a book will never sink or float on just one paragraph. In the end, when the book is an entity, not broken into chapters that a group hears one at a time, weeks apart, the balance between description and dialogue will sort itself out, and if it needs major editing (slashing) I can do it.

Meanwhile, here's a sample of Chapter 15:

    “Why are you so jittery, Ana?” Adele continued. “I’ll tell you what I think. You’re dating him!”
    “Not really.”
    “’Not really!’ What does that mean? I saw the way he was looking at you in the car. There’s certainly something going on between you.”
    I couldn’t tell Adele the whole truth. She’d blab it all over. “We did go out for dinner. He wants me to help him plan a community event.”
    “Hell’s bells. You don’t expect me to believe that do you?”

You can find the first three Anastasia Raven Stories at Smashwords or Amazon

New Writing Site- Bubblews

I've started writing at the site called Bubblews. The basic idea is a social-based platform to make connections. The site shares advertising revenue with the writers. It's based on views and interactions and number of posts.

The good parts are: There are no grammar police. You won't be docked if you don't get a comma in the right place. You can write and connect as much or little as you want. You can write about what you want to.

The bad parts are: With those loose rules, there is a lot of really bad writing. But it can be ignored. If you want to do well monetarily you will need to connect with others and follow their posts- read "spend time."

Some people are using it sort of like a blog platform. Others are writing product reviews, news items, or general articles.

You can cash out at $25. Some people are making $25 a day. That would be a living wage for me. I'm not there (yet?), and I don't think I could manage being that social. But I am making a dollar a day by posting one article a day.

If you'd like to try it out, sign up through me at my Bubblews referral link. It earns me a few cents and doesn't obligate you for anything.

One can never be sure how stable these online writing sites are, but some people have cashed out over $1000 dollars. I'm liking that!

Disappointing

 
A month or so ago I entered a short story in the first-ever venue for writers at the Grand Rapids Art Prize. I entered a story I like a lot, and it's about as close as I'm going to get to literary fiction, which I call the "life is a sad enigma" genre. Anyway.

It cost money to enter, and I thought hard about spending it. But I decided that the potential payoff would be high. So, I sent in my story, "Two Minutes of Water."

Just heard today- I didn't even make the first cut. "After careful consideration we have decided that your story does not meet our qualifications."

Phooey. But it's not the end of the world.