The Blog Thingy:

Where Emotion and Information
​are Dispersed Inconsistently...
​Sometimes.

Every so often, Drake and I will post little tidbits about the things we think, books and short stories we've read and listened to, and tips and tricks about our writing process and other informational and emotional stuff.

Posts are organized chronologically, with the most recent posts appearing at the opening page of each category.  You can click on the "previous" or "forward" links to jump forward and back within a category.

You will also find social media buttons to share our blog posts on Facebook and Twitter, should you feel so moved.  We would greatly appreciate your sharing of anything you deem worthy.

Feel free to leave a comment or question about each post, if you feel so inclined.  Just click the "comments" link at the bottom of the post to leave a note.  We will reply to each comment within three business days.

This is our blog post directory.  Bookmark this page and return frequently - we add new stuff all the time! 

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Interview Thingies
CanvaRebel Interviews Diana Kathryn Penn
A Conversation with Nicky Burr (with Mark Love)
​S.W. Raine
Caroline Topperman
Jennifer Willcock
Ken MacGregor
​Kristoffer Gair
​Elizabeth Wehman
Chelsea Gouin
​Cyrus Keith
Jean Davis
​Ian Tadashi Moore
Jared Morningstar
A.Kidd
Syntell Smith
Elizabeth Thomas
Andrew Allen Smith
Luba Lesychyn

​D.A. Reed
Angelique Clemens
Lisa Jacovsky
Scott Rutherford
​Mark M. Bello
Andy Lockwood
Patti Rae Fletcher
Marie Michaela
Xander Cross
J.Q. Rose
Troy D. Wymer
Amy Klco
Erik Bean
​M.T. Falgoust
Emma Palova
Michael Beardslee
​Kelly S. Bolton

Chapter Previews:
​Samples of Books Written by Diana Kathryn Penn

• A Duck Echoes
• Emmett Elephant's Love
• A Duck Quacks
• Ideate Avail
• Free Will
• A Tryst of Fate
• Wolfe Cub
• Marketing Matters for Indie Authors
• The Passionate Plotter Kids

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Writing Craft Thingies

• No Holes Without Flashlights
• The Support Group by Diana Kathryn Penn
• Writing Field Trip: The Detroit Institute of Arts
• Writing In The Wild - The John Ball Zoo
• The Writing Research Carousel
• My Six-Step Approach To A Writing Hermitage
• Five Ways To Build Reciprocity Into Your Indie Author Marketing Plan
• The Bicycle Seat
• "Marketing Matters" and Other Fun News
• Don't Insult Your Reader
• Brand or Reputation?  Independent Authors Need Both.
• The Wedding Quilt 
• Book Reviews, Indie Authors, and Bilateral Breathing
• Writing Tools... Plottr, My Most Recent Love
• So Many Stories and My Gemini Brain
• ​When It Comes To Contracts, Don't Be A Raccoon!
• So Many Genres... So Little Time!
• NaNoWriMo and The Wooden Spoon
• Writing Craft Books... The Addiction is Real!
• The Road Not Nearly Traveled Enough: Report from a Writing Hermitage
• Writing Prompt Wednesday Flash Fiction Contest March 2021 Winners!

• Writing Prompt Wednesday Flash Fiction February 2021 Winners!
• Book Scavenger Hunts are...Literary Fun!
• Simple Things: A Call For Submissions
• Copyright & Public Domain
• Causality... Writing Software
• Before You Publish... Ask...
• Ratings For Books? Yes!
• The Pseudonym Discussion
• Power Structure For Writers
• Twenty Master Plots
• The Writer's Research Rolodex
• How Much Can I Make As A Writer?
• By The Numbers... Average Genre Word Counts
• Rochester Writers' Spring Conference

Emotional Thingies
​2024 Muskegon, Michigan Part Two: Big Water, What I Forgot, and The Cat Who Cried
The Why Of My Book Obsession
​Ten Sacred Words
A Tribute To Kate McNeil
Editors Protect The Rush
​Theatre and Book Festivals; Kissing Cousins
​Validate Reading... No Matter How You Choose To Do It!
An Author's Flight Plan
​The Sphere of Story
​The Power of The Pen!  Community Service and The Written Word
​Tears In The Reader...and A Moment of Wow
​Indie Publishing: Is There Too Much To Lose?
The State of Returns... We Should Be Sharing The Risk
​Who Is In Your Tribe?
What If They Erased Pooh?
A Ship In A Harbor Is Safe, But...
An Open Letter To The Publishing Biogts* of The World
Three Wishes: My Encounter with a Book Genie
Memorable Books From Childhood
A New Year... A New Planner
Birthday Reflections 2019
Indie Reads TV Begins
Reflections On My Time In A Bookshop
Be Prepared... Scar Wasn't Kidding
Finding The Right Key... A Perspective On Rejection
I Love The English Language... But...

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Indie Authors & Their Books and Thingies: ​

• Snow Angels In The Dust by Kristoffer Gair
• A Tale of a School-Dazed Duck by Diane Eurich Tracey
• Plucked by Vera West
• Church Da Surfin' Staffy by Melinda Falgoust
• For The Love of Dirt by Jill Dukek
• Sinful Father by Andrew Allen Smith
• The Theft by Andrew Allen Smith
• Another Slice of Fear by Andrew Allen Smith
• Be A Duck: 8 Lessons From Our Feathered Friends by Wendy Jarvis
• Fireworks, Forensics, and Felonies by Colleen Mooney
  ​The Accused Architect by Christian Belz
• Shifting Sands by Emma Palova
• The Exile by Donald Levin
• Menopause Ain't No Joke by Angela Verges
• That Risen Snow by Rob E. Boley
• Puppet by Murtaza Ali
• Writing with Hemingway at City Park Grill by Stewert James
• Fleeing Beauty by Mark Love
• Wiccan Romances: Amelia's Story by Nicola Hebron
• Night Warrior by Jordan J. Scavone
• Social Suicide by Angela K. Crandall
• Crystal and Flint by Holly Ash
• Give Place To Wrath by Steven C. Harms
• Mystekos Summer by Amy Klco
• The Reckoning by D.M. Taylor
• Whole Book Marketing by Victorine E. Lieske
• The Eye of The Storm by M.T. Falgoust
• Gangster In Our Midst by Betty Brandt Passick
• Excerpts From An Unknown Guidebook: Book 1 Phases of The Moon by Josef Bastian
• Mudflap The Gloves Come Off by Jay Alden Bailey
• Witness Testimony and Other Tales by P.A. O'Neil
• A Girl Named Adam by Jordan J. Scavone
• Guilt In Hiding by Donald Levin
• Better Boxed And Forgotten by Andrew Charles Lark
• The Proof Is In The Pudding by Clay Boura
• Juxtaposition Paradox by Charles R. Stern
• Sadie Sees Trouble by Linda Jarkey
• Crane by Stacey Rourke
• Raven by Stacey Rourke

• ​Adam by Andrew Allen Smith
• Mighty Mila by Katie Petruzziello
• All The Things We Didn't See by D.A. Reed
• An Aberrant Mind by Ken MacGregor
• Chicken Butthair by D.A. Reed
• The Origin of The White Wind by Xander Cross
• A Slice of Fear by Andrew Allen Smith
• Theft By Chocolate by Luba Lesychyn
• Vengeful Son by Andrew Allen Smith
• Sub Rosa by Kate McNeil
• In His Own Words by Kenneth L. Powers, Jr.
• American Fries by Jared Morningstar
• List Your Life by Angela K. Berent
• Ethan's Healthy Mind Express by Erik Bean
• Three Distinctive Works by Chavonne D. Stewart
• A Fistful of Dead Folks by Peggy Christie & David C. Hayes
• Treasures From Afar by Troy D. Wymer
• Where All The Little Things Live by Ian Tadashi Moore
• Falling Awake II: Revenant by Kristoffer Gair
• The Healing Star by A. Kidd
• Unbound by J.A. Bullen
• The Way To Be from A to Z by R.B. Schimmel
• House of Thirteen by Andy Lockwood
• Dark Doorways by Peggy Christie
• Dragon Box: The Key to Magic by Nancy B. Kemler-Oakley
• Accidentally Yours by Joan H. Young
• The Midnight Man by Chelsea Gouin
• The Adventures of Buddy The Cat by Ravyn Hicks-Badger
• Postcards From The Future by Andrew Charles Lark, Donald Levin, and Wendy Sura Thomson
• The Secret Hat by Peggy Losey
• Zebulon by R.L. Herron
• Dig It Out by Katie Spina
• Empty Hallways by Andy Lockwood
• One Man's Opus by Boyd Craven
• An Uncertain Accomplice by Donald Levin
• The Troubling Adventures of Jesse and Owen by Ted Lemon

​Traditional Author Book Review Thingies

• The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells
• ​Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook by Christina Henry​
• The Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne
• The Bookshop From Hell by David Haynes
• Hell House by Richard Matheson
• The Ghostwriter by Alessandra Torre
• The Admirer's Secret by Pamela Crane
• The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer
• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
• Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
• Origin by J.A. Konrath
• Inspection by Josh Malerman
• The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel by Jasper Fforde
• The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent by Larry Correia
• Only You by Benjamin Daniels
• Dangerous Women by George R.R. Martin
• Wool (Silo #1) by Hugh Howey
• The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
• I Know Who You Are by Alice Feeney
• European Travel For The Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss
• Bird Box by Josh Malerman
• The Retreat by Mark Edwards
• A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
• The Tale of Halcyon Crane by Wendy Webb
• The Shore of Women by Pamela Sargent
• The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian
• The One And Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
• 14 by Peter Clines
• The Magician's Lie by Greer Macallister
• The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
• ​Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Book Festival Thingies
2024 Muskegon, Michigan: Part One... Authors, Books, and a Chicken!
​Ah, Spring... A New Year of Festivals
The Ice Cream Party... Or, How Not To Organize A Writer's Retreat
Back In The Saddle... Literally.
Three Virtual Book Festivals: A Retrospective
Three Very Different Indie Bookshops
Women Who Write Book Festival 2019
Sterling Fest Author Signing 2019
The Pasta Dinner (2019 Indie Book Fest)
Greater Rochester Heritage Days
Penguicon 2019
Carpathia Club Easter Festival
Shipshewana On The Road: Birch Run
​Leon & Lulu Spring 2019

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Things That Make Life Worth Living​
The Book Club Play at The Inspired Acting Co.
#12 Jim Henson and Kermit The Frog
#11: Hot Cocoa
#10: Kenny Loggins' Music
​#9: A Tiny House In The Forest
#8: Ausie Cheese Fries
​#7 Giving Gifts Just Because
#6: Cheese Fondue
#5 Carmina Burana
#4: Bacon Stuffed Waffles
​#3 Writing and Books
#2 Snuggly Puppies
​#1 Josh White Jr.