Category: News/Misc. Page 64 of 228

A Quick Check-In and a Final Plea for Help with Author Interviews (for writers, bloggers/podcasters, and readers)

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On November 10, 2023

In Miscellany, News/Misc.

Okay, what I said the other day about over-committing is getting the best of me. I’m going to have “real” posts any day now (hopefully tomorrow, for example). I have four posts about particular books half-finished, but I need time to think about them and complete them. I have 5 Literary Local Q&As in the middle of Qing and Aing. And a couple of other things in-progress, too. But for today? I’ve got zip, zilch, and a whole lot of nada.

So, I’m going to ask one more time for some input about Interviews/Q&As. At this point, I’ve pretty much decided what I’m going to say about them, but I could use a little more fodder for examples/illustrations. So…if you’re an Author, or a Blogger/Vlogger/Podcaster, or someone who likes to read/listen to Author Interviews—would you please click one of those links and answer a few things for me? If you fit multiple categories there (and, don’t we all contain multitudes, even if it’s just a few?)—feel free to chime in repeatedly.

Thanks!

And now for something completely different:

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WWW Wednesday, November 8, 2023

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On November 8, 2023

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

So apparently, November is my month of over-committing—and boy howdy, is it catching up to me the last week or so. There’ve been 2 days since my last WWW where I’ve read for less than 20 minutes, which is not doing my psyche a lot of favors, either. But, this isn’t time for my therapy, it’s time for a WWW, so let’s move along to it.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading (and hopefully finishing tomorrow) Chaos Terminal by Mur Lafferty, which isn’t the sequel I was expecting—and is maybe better for it. I finished an audiobook this afternoon, and not starting another until tomorrow, so I’ve got nothing in this spot.

Chaos Terminal

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Seanan McGuire’s The Innocent Sleep and Grand Theft Astro by Scott Meyer, Elizabeth Evans (Narrator) on audio. I didn’t know it was legal for a Scott Meyer novel to be recorded by anyone other than Luke Daniels, but it worked.

The Innocent SleepBlank SpaceGrand Theft Astro

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be Starter Villain by John Scalzi and my next audiobook should be Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (Narrator).

Starter VillainBlank SpaceBookshops & Bonedust

Are you reading anything good?

Archie Goodwin on Voting

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On November 6, 2023

In Calendar Items, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin, News/Misc., Quotations, Rex Stout

It’s Election Day in the U.S. tomorrow, so I thought I’d share this little bit from Archie Goodwin to commemorate it.

Archie GoodwinThe most interesting incident Tuesday morning was my walking to a building on Thirty-fourth Street to enter a booth and push levers on a voting machine. I have never understood why anybody passes up that bargain. It doesn’t cost a cent, and for that couple of minutes, you’re the star of the show, with top billing. It’s the only way that really counts for you to say I’m it, I’m the one that decides what’s going to happen and who’s going to make it happen. It’s the only time I really feel important and know I have a right to. Wonderful. Sometimes the feeling lasts all the way home if somebody doesn’t bump me.

–Archie Goodwin
from A Family Affair

Saturday Miscellany—11/4/23

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On November 4, 2023

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Yeah, this is later than usual. I spent the morning at the Boise Library!’s Boise Book Faire 2023 getting to chat with several local authors about their works. I got to renew acquaintances with a few authors who have shown up here over the last 12 months or so—and met a few who I hope to feature soon.

But that’s for the future (or, I guess, the past), let’s move on to today’s Miscellany.

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet Banned books often get circulation bump, new study finds—a silver lining? Or fodder for conspiracy?
bullet Why Kids Aren’t Falling in Love With Reading: Hint: It’s not just the screens
bullet Make Humanities Fun Again
bullet How Has Big Publishing Changed American Fiction?: A new book argues that corporate publishing has transformed what it means to be an author.
bullet Does Reading Improve Health?
bullet Robert B. Parker: The Master of Crime Fiction
bullet The Story Behind the Story: “A Good Rush of Blood,” by Matt Phillips—I’m so glad I put off reading this until I’d written about the book—I’d have spent far too long working in responses to it. Secondly, I’m so glad Phillips stuck to his guns and gave us the book that he did (wouldn’t have liked it nearly as much if he’d buckled)
bullet Language and translation in Insiders – Shannon Knight—a nice little BTS about Knight’s newest book.
bullet The Science Behind Steampunk and Retrofuturistic Technology—from Jonathan Fesmire
bullet Partial Function Unboxing!—Who doesn’t like a good unboxing video? Watch JCM Berne get the first Partial Function hardcopy! (available Tuesday—order it today!)
bullet Self Published Fantasy Releases – November 2023—In case you needed to do some shopping for yourself/others. Good looking offerings here.
bullet Eternally Fascinating, the Vampire Endures—Author LindaAnn LoSchiavo stopped by Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub to talk about Blooksuckers/vamps/Fangheads/or whatever you want to call them
bullet #R3COMM3ND3D from Damppebbles is back with #R3COMM3ND3D2023. This celebration of the best new books of 2023 is guaranteed to add to your TBR.
bullet BookBlogger David of Blue Book Balloon
bullet Lisa from Owl Be Sat Reading
bullet Book Blogger Carla of Carla Loves to Read
bullet Emily Quinn of A Quintillion Words (which is just a brilliant blog name)
bullet Witty & Sarcastic also kicked-off Dragon Week 2023—Who needs “Shark Week” anyhow? I’m not going to link to every piece here, but you need to go check it out.
bullet Spells and Spaceships is yet again hosting Norsevember, where you can read fun things like The Norns and the Weaving of Fate and The Dwarves of Norse Mythology
bullet And there’s one more November-celebration—SciFiMonth! Some great-looking stuff there, too.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Hacker by Duncan MacMaster—Jake Mooney, a ghostwriter turned reluctant amateur-sleuth, gets pushed into solving another murder–this time of an old nemesis.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to cchittom and Ashleigh Mordew who followed the blog this week. I hope you enjoy the content and keep coming back.
The 15 mins I read before bed are the best 3 hours of the day

October 2023 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

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On November 3, 2023

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

In October, I finished 25 titles (3 down from last month, the same number as last October), with 6,657+ pages or the equivalent (1,000-ish down from last month), and gave them an average of 3.5 stars (.3 down from last month). Nothing to write home about—but still pretty good. I enjoyed almost everything I read, which is good enough for me.

I really didn’t write enough posts about particular titles—my To Write pile is getting even more daunting all the time. But I did get a lot of other things posted, which makes me very happy.

All in all, it was a good month, a busy month, and one that had a lot of fun things here to look at and read. I’m calling it a win. Here’s a more detailed look at what happened here in October.

Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to

The Atonement: An Introduction Spider-Man’s Bad Connection Summer Hours at the Robbers Library
4 1/2 Stars 3 Stars 2 1/2 Stars
Endangered Saint Valentine the Kindhearted The Third Eye
3 Stars 3.5 Stars 4 Stars
Evidence Pool Evil Embers The Ostler
3 Stars 3 Stars 3 Stars
Partial Function Love Stories That Old Cloak and Dagger Routine
5 Stars 3 Stars 3 Stars
Death on the Beach Winter's Gift Blood Runs Cold
3 Stars 3.5 Stars 3.5 Stars
But Have You Read the Book? The Aeronaut's Windlass Healed
2 1/2 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars
How I Won a Nobel Prize A Good Rush of Blood That Ain't Witchcraft
3 Stars 4 Stars 5 Stars
Cunk on Everything Sleep No More Sundry Notes of Music
4 Stars 4 Stars Still deciding
The Mysteries
4 1/2 Stars

Still Reading

The Existence and Attributes of God A Mystery Revealed: 31 Meditations on the Trinity The Holy Spirit: An Introduction
Black Summer The Innocent Sleep

Ratings

5 Stars 2 2 1/2 Stars 2
4 1/2 Stars 2 2 Stars 0
4 Stars 6 1 1/2 Stars 0
3.5 Stars 3 1 Star 0
3 Stars 10
Average = 3.54

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

Audio E-book Physical Goodreads
Want-to-Read
End of
2022		 5 45 42 143
1st of the
Month		 5 51 58 151
Added 3 2 7 2
Read/
Listened		 2 6 3 0
Current Total 6 47 62 153

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 15
Self-/Independent Published: 10

Genre This Month Year to Date
Children’s 1 (4%) 24 (9%)
Fantasy 5 (20%) 27 (11%)
General Fiction/ Literature 3 (12%) 20 (8%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller 7 (28%) 76 (30%)
Non-Fiction 1 (5%) 18 (7%)
Science Fiction 1 (4%) 11 (27%)
Theology/ Christian Living 1 (4%) 23 (9%)
Urban Fantasy 4 (16%) 29 (11%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western) 1 (4%) 8 (3%)

Review-ish Things Posted

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (7th, 14th (DIY Edition), 21st, and 28th), I also wrote:

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

October Calendar

WWW Wednesday, November 1, 2023

By

On November 1, 2023

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

Other than a lingering cough, I’ve somehow survived the Man Cold, much to the surprise of…well, me. If you’re reading this, it means I fought through the interruptions of candy-hungry scavengers to complete a thou

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading the second Toby Daye book of 2023, The Innocent Sleep by Seanan McGuire, and I’m listening to Black Summer by M.W. Craven, John Banks (Narrator) on audiobook (and am enjoying it just as much the second time through!).

The Innocent SleepBlank SpaceBlack Summer

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Ian Shanes’s Sundry Notes of Music–you’ll see some very complimentary words about it here soon–and That Ain’t Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire, Emily Bauer (Narrator) on audio.

Sundry Notes of MusicBlank SpaceThat Ain't Witchcraft

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be Chaos Terminal by Mur Lafferty and my next audiobook should be The Door-to-Door Bookstore by Carsten Henn, Raphael Corkhill (Narrator). I’m looking forward to seeing how Lafferty follows up Station Eternity and I have no idea what to expect out Henn’s book, but I apparently have to check out every bookstore/library-related audiobook that the library presents me with.

Chaos TerminalBlank SpaceThe Door-to-Door Bookstore

How are you starting November?

Hey, Anybody! I Have Some Questions about Interviews for You!!

By

On November 1, 2023

In Miscellany, News/Misc.

This is the last in this series of posts asking for input about Author Interviews.

I’m working on a thing about writers and interviews to present to a local author group, and I’d appreciate some help with it. I’m supposed to talk about making interviews interesting/useful—I have plenty of ideas from the Q-side of the Q&A, but I would appreciate getting input from those in the trenches with me. I’m particularly thinking about the horror stories—or those that could have qualified as such but turned out okay. The more specific you can get, the better. (obviously, I’m not asking you to name names–and if you do, I won’t use them)

I’m thinking particularly of written interviews—via email, etc. But if you have something to say to podcasters, YouTube interviewers, or what have you—chip in.

I’ll be happy to mention your participation in this when I post what I get from this–but I’ll keep particular responses anonymous. I’m asking for an email and name just so I can get clarification if I need some. (also, so I can share the results of this just in case you’re curious)

Answer one question, answer them all, or something in between. I really don’t care. Thanks for your help—and feel free to spread this to others you know who might want to opine. I could use all the input I can get!

(Some of these are phrased awkwardly, but I was fighting with the form and decided that getting it to work was better than sounding clever)


I'm Curious

Turning the Odometer

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On October 31, 2023

In Miscellany, News/Misc.

I don’t know if your parents did this–or if this is still a thing that people do–but when the odometer in one of our family cars was getting close to a big round number–like 80,000 for example–my dad would make a big deal about it, count down a little bit and we’d all have to watch the numbers scroll to the string of zeroes. This is about as close to that as I get–which says more about me than the other did my father. Yesterday, my NetGalley reviews hit a landmark of sorts.

I feel like I’ve been spending more time on NetGalley over the last year or so than I have been before–that’s just an impression, when I think about it, I know I’ve actually been showing restraint lately. Either way, last night, I hit:
200 Book Reviews

I didn’t even realize I was that close to it, but I saw that out of the corner of my eye when I checked my Feedback Ratio to make sure I’m near my target. I’m at 97% currently, not to brag, but I actually think that’s more impressive than the 200.

Driven by curiosity, I checked and it took me 3 years, 3 months, and 29 days from posting my first NetGalley book to my 100th, and 4 years, 1 month, and 5 days after that to get to my 200th. Yeah, I am slowing down. Guess I’ll hit 300 in late 2028/early 2029.

I can’t believe I made jokes using those two dates.
Where are the flying Cars? I was promised flying cars! I don't see any Flying Cars!! Why? Why?! Why?!?!

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Hey, Bloggers/Podcasters/Vloggers! I Have Some Questions about Interviews for You!!

By

On October 31, 2023

In Miscellany, News/Misc.

This is a companion to yesterday’s post asking for input from authors, for the up to ten of you who wondered.

I’m working on a thing about writers and interviews to present to a local author group, and I’d appreciate some help with it. I’m supposed to talk about making interviews interesting/useful—I have plenty of ideas from the Q-side of the Q&A, but I would appreciate getting input from those in the trenches with me. I’m particularly thinking about the horror stories—or those that could have qualified as such but turned out okay. The more specific you can get, the better. (obviously, I’m not asking you to name names–and if you do, I won’t use them)

I’m thinking particularly of written interviews—via email, etc. But podcasters, YouTube interviewers, or what have you—chip in.

I’ll be happy to mention your participation in this when I post what I get from this–but I’ll keep particular responses anonymous. I’m asking for an email and name just so I can get clarification if I need some. (also, so I can share the results of this just in case you’re curious)

Answer one question, answer them all, or something in between. I really don’t care. Thanks for your help—and feel free to spread this to others you know who might want to opine. I could use all the input I can get!

(Some of these are phrased awkwardly, but I was fighting with the form and decided that getting it to work was better than sounding clever)


I'm Curious

Hey, Authors! I Have Some Questions about Interviews for You!!

By

On October 30, 2023

In Miscellany, News/Misc.

Hi authors—I’m working on a thing about writers and interviews to present to a local author group, and I’d appreciate some help with it. I’m supposed to talk about making interviews interesting/useful—now I have plenty of ideas from the Q-side of the Q&A, but I could use some insight from those on the A-side. I’m particularly thinking about the horror stories—or those that could have qualified as such but turned out okay. The more specific you can get, the better. (obviously, I’m not asking you to name names–and if you do, I won’t use them)

If your horror stories, or at least your “well that was blah” stories happen to involve me. That’s fine. I’ll learn something.

I’m thinking particularly of written interviews—via email, etc. But if you have something to say to podcasters, Vloggers/BookTubers, or what have you—chip in.

I’ll be happy to mention your participation in this when I post what I get from this–but I’ll keep particular responses anonymous. I’m asking for an email and name just so I can get clarification if I need some. (also, so I can share the results of this just in case you’re curious)

Answer one question, answer them all, or something in between. I really don’t care. Thanks for your help—and feel free to spread this to authors you know who might want to opine. I could use all the input I can get!

(Some of these are phrased awkwardly, but I was fighting with the form and decided that getting it to work was better than sounding clever)


I'm Curious

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