Jennifer Crusie's Blog, page 56

So Let’s Talk About Social Media and Books . . .

So I just realized that Veronica is sixteen years old this year. You know what the life span of a dachshund is? Twelve to sixteen years. She’s still eating and drinking and sleeping like a champ, but she’s moving slow. And I’m seeing another death in my future at which point I’m going to be a mess. This is your warning. So let’s talk about something else.

I need to learn about social media.

You guys are my social media. That’s it. Every now and then I dip my toe into Instagram or Twitter but it’s just for some particular short term thing. This blog is an everyday thing (even though I’ve been neglecting you horribly and I apologize, 2023 has not been good for me).

But I’m thinking I might have to up my short game if I’m going to start publishing again. Twitter is meltdown and TikTok makes me nervous plus who knows what the government is going to do there, but instagram is just short text and pictures. I like photography. I was actually a photography minor as an undergrad (art major, I was all about the pictures).

I could see posting a picture of whatever was going on in my life and tying it to the novel we’re working on now, Rocky Start. Plus I have to get back to Nita, and I’ll start collaging soon, plus there’s the ever-present dumpster. I like the idea of short, drive-by posts on the progress of the writing, and I might do that just for me (and any of you who wanted to discuss along), but otherwise, I don’t see me doing much with social media aside from sticking with all of you.

So what I want to know, Arghers, aka people who read everything, what do you think works on social media for talking about books? What doesn’t? Is it worth it? (Clearly, yes. I just don’t know if I’m any good at it.). Basically, if it’s not fun, I won’t do it, but I think Instagram might be fun. I’m fun, right? ARGH.

Please talk to me about books and social media.

This is a Good Book Thursday, April 20, 2023

I’ve been doing a mystery binge, and this week it’s Dick Francis. The thing that always gets me about his work is the clear delineation between good and evil. His protagonists are always basically good people, not showy about it, not saintly, but firmly doing the right thing. And his antagonist are selfish, violent, powerful sadists. I just read the scene in 10 LB Penalty where the antagonist tries to shoot the protagonist’s father but misses because the father slips on the ice and falls just as the shot rings out. The father tells the son to run, but he doesn’t, he falls to his knees and covers his father’s head with his body because, as he explains later, the shot sounded like a 22, and that wouldn’t kill him unless it hit his head. So he protects his father’s head: competence porn matched with moral certitude. I really love Francis’s work.

How did you competently choose good books this week?

Working Wednesday, April 19, 2023

I am filling my third dumpster. It haunts my dreams but it will haul away my trash, so I’m coping with it.

How are you coping with work this week?

Mona Smith, 2009-2023

Mona Smith was a gift-with-purchase: We fostered her because she was the only other puppy Dachshund Rescue had when we got Lyle and then we couldn’t give her back, we loved her too much.

She was at Dachshund Rescue because some breeder had left her in a grocery bag at the gate to the rescue because she was the runt of the litter and had been born with no kneecaps in her back legs. That didn’t bother Mona much, she still ran wild with the other dogs and cuddled up at night, the sweetest dog that ever lived, and every time she looked at you she was smiling. She died in my arms Sunday night, and while I knew little poodles had a life span of thirteen to sixteen years, I did not see this coming. She looked at me, did this cute little howl twice, and went limp in my arms. It was devastating, but Mona was the best, and I’ll have her memory forever, and that’s some comfort.

Mona was a darling.

Argh Author: Lian Tanner’s Spellhound

Our own Lian Tanner has a new book out with an amazing cover, Spellhound. She says it’s for readers 7-11 years old, but c’mon, it’s called Spellhound. Readers from 7-111 years old.

There are Three Great Secrets in Hallow, a country that loves secrets almost as much as it loves green jellybabies. No, I’m not going to tell you anything more about them. I am a loyal citizen of Hallow, and would never betray—

Oh, you have jellybabies? Green ones?

Well, I suppose I could tell you a little more.

Come closer. Open your ears and your heart, and pass the green jellybabies. I will tell you the story of an enormous magical pup, a child queen and a very small minch-wiggin with the unfortunate title of Destroyer-of-Dragons.

A fascinating tale filled with falsehoods, fortitude and friendship, and just the right number of green jellybabies, from the award-winning author of A Clue for Clara and Museum of Thieves.

It’s not available on Amazon US yet, but you can get it here.

Happiness is Finland, Maybe

Finland has once again been named the happiest place in the world, which is somewhat surprising to the Finnish. Some Finns said they’d describe it more as contentment or security (they have a great social platform to protect them), and another said it was more along the lines of reasonable expectations. In a place that’s mostly dark most of the year, the fact that surveys keep putting Finland on top says there’s something good going on there.

How were you feeling particularly Finnish this week?

Argh Author: Deb Blake’s Veiled Series

Our own Deb Blake just reissued her Veiled Series:

“Just tell everyone I got the rights back to the series and have reissued it for those who missed it the first time around. It’s urban fantasy. Veiled Magic is the first book, then Veiled Menace, Veiled Enchantments. It’s available in ebook everywhere and print on Amazon.”

And Veiled Magic is now on sale for $2.99!

Since Witches came out of the broom-closet in the early 21st century, they have worked alongside humans as police officers, healers, stock traders, and more. But they aren’t the only paranormal entities in our world…

Police officer and Witch Donata Santori spends her days interrogating dead witnesses by summoning their spectral forms. Normally the job is little more than taking statements and filing reports.

But when she’s called in on the case of a murdered art restorer, she finds herself suddenly in possession of a mystical portrait that both the human and paranormal communities would kill to get their hands on.

Unable to take on the forces hunting her alone, Donata seeks help from two unlikely and attractive allies: a reluctant shape-changer and a half-dragon art forger. But as the three of them hurry to uncover the truth about the powerful painting, Donata realizes that she’s caught in the middle of not one but two wars—one for possession of the painting’s secrets and one for possession of her heart…



PRAISE FOR THE BOOKS OF DEBORAH BLAKE
“Paranormal romance at its best.”—Alex Bledsoe, author of Long Black Curl



“Wonderfully imaginative.”—Harlequin Junkie



“Fast-paced and addicting.”—Fresh Fiction



“An engaging world full of thoughtful, clever details and a charmingly dangerous heroine.”— Dear Author

“Witchy and wild, this book has everything I’m looking for.”—Tanya Huff, author of Peacemaker



“An addicting plot…kept me glued to the page. I never had so much fun losing sleep!” —Maria V. Snyder, bestselling author of Shadow Study

Buy Links
Kobo
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

Author Links:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deborahblake
Newsletter: http://dld.bz/dWEQs
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/deborahblake
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deborah.blake
Blog: http://deborahblake.blogspot.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deborahblak...
Website: http://deborahblakeauthor.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/debor...

Argh Author: Brenda Margriet’s Strictly by the Book

Brenda Margriet’s STRICTLY BY THE BOOK is out now, Book Four in the Silverberry Seduction Seasoned Romance Series (although it can be read as a standalone).

An adventurous, go-with-the-flow historian…a scrupulous, stick-to-the-rules scientist…an attraction so wrong it’s absolutely right.

Natalie Minton’s cheerful exterior hides desperation. She’s been out of work for months when her estranged sister appears on her doorstep pleading for help. An offer to write the biography of a local political legend couldn’t come at a better time.

Rafe Talbot rejected family tradition and chose medicine over politics. When he stumbles upon evidence of a hidden scandal, his only recourse is to work alongside—and stay one step ahead of—the vivacious scholar hired to chronicle his mother’s career.

Natalie’s exuberance strikes sparks off Rafe’s steely severity, luring them to ignore the secrets shadowing their pasts…until the glare of the present exposes intolerable truths.

Get Natalie and Rafe’s story here.

For more info see www.brendamargriet.com.

This is a Good Book Thursday, April 13, 2023

This week I read Naomi Novik’s Uprooted and Spinning Silver, and was entranced. I should have known; after all she wrote the Scholomance novels.

What book entranced you this week?

Working Wednesday, April 12, 2023

This week Bob and I argued about antagonists and motive (he likes vengeance, I hate it) and tried to figure out what our antagonist in Rocky Start is doing, and why there are all those Russians running around North Carolina. The discussion got heated but we got through it.

What heated you up about work this week?