Jennifer Crusie's Blog, page 10

This is a Good Book Thursday, #?

Do not try to start a new book, promote your last book, and redesign your website, all at the same time. It will make you too cranky to read. I think this is GBT 419, but I am not sure. I am also not sure that I care. ARGH!

What did you read this week?

Working Wednesday 290 (Maybe)

Trying out this new numbering thing, not sure about it. Not sure that’s the right number, either. Work is hard. Argh.

What did you work on this week?

Happiness is Finishing a Book People Like

I really did worry about The Honey Pot Plot. Like Bob says, we worked on it too long and couldn’t see it anymore. But the reviews are great (and thank you for leaving a review! Those really help), so I am happily out of dachshund mode now.

What made you happy this week?

Exploiting You Again

Hey, remember all those good times we had brainstorming stuff in here, like how to get rid of a dead body? Yeah, I’m back again. We’re thinking of using the word “frame” in the titles for the new series. We think, maybe, the first one is called Breaking the Frame (which is a very cool art technique) but we need two more. Maybe a play on Frame of Mind, changing Mind to something else. Another one we’re thinking of is Frame Up. The first book is about faking provenances, the second is about forging paintings, and the third is about art theft. The entire series MAY be called the Joan of Art series, but we’re still not sure. So, any suggestions?

(Note: My favorite example of breaking the frame is Banksy’s Love is in the Bin, but the stuff that Andrew Scott does is fun, too.)

Admin Help Please

Okay, this is one of those nitpicky things that has to be done, and I can’t think of a good way to do it. So I’m asking you.

When I put up the Working Wednesday and Good Book Thursday posts, I add the dates. Because of the website re-design (yes, that is happening still), the dates have to go. But if I just take the dates off, I’ll have 418 posts labeled “This is a Good Book Thursday.” So that doesn’t work.

Mollie suggested I add something to them to indicate what I’m talking about in that post but since the posts are basically “Hey, whatcha doin’?” and “Hey, whatcha reading?” that won’t work. The dates never did anything but differentiate the titles, nobody was ever going to search by date, so losing the dates is not a problem. Replacing them is the problem. We could just number them so (if I’ve counted right) the last one would be This is a Good Book Thursday 418, but that seems cold. I could try to use a theme on each one, but that would just be limiting and annoying. “So what books about carrots did you read this week, Argh People?” “This week we’re reading Hentai. Whatcha got?” “Books about dogs: what have you read?” (Okay, that last one would probably go over here.)

So I’m stumped. Working Wednesday and GBT are not going anywhere and they’re not changing, we’re just talking about the labels we put on them. I suppose I could do a post for each one every week, but I think I’m better off writing books.

Any suggestions?

This is a Good Book Thursday, March 20, 2025

I haven’t read (or at least finished) any fiction but the stuff I was working on for so long, but now I’m FREE because of this:

I will, however, be in Dachshund Mode, head under the covers, but I still can read under there with a flashlight. Learned that as a kid.

What did you read this week?

Working Wednesday, March 19, 2025

I had a hellacious to-do list this week and did nothing except talk to my dog. It’s been a very nice week.

What did you work on?

Happiness is Great Ears

This is what I woke up to today. Nothing like starting the day with a giggle.

What made you happy this week?

Oh, also, THE HONEY POT PLOT IS DONE. Excuse me, I have to go dance in the street now.

This is a Good Book Thursday, March 13, 2025

I’m dying to read anything except the books I’m working on, but that’s a writer’s life for you.

What did you read this week?

Working Wednesday, March 12, 2025

I am still rereading the Rocky Start series because the final book is about to be published and I wanted to make sure all our ducks were in a row throughout the series. I’m also finding some things I kind of wish we’d had time to write about, like whoever ran Buns & Guns, the gym plus gun shop on State Street. That would have been a fascinating and possibly appalling character. Oh, well.

What did you work on this week?

(Also, apologies to anyone who asked for an Argh Author and to the author I owe a vastly overdue critique to: I’ve been up to my ass in alligators here and concentrating on getting The Honey Pot Plot done and out of my life. Will get back to you soon.)