BREAKING NEWS

cj Sez: Coming soon! After a five-year novel writing dearth, I have a new book coming out. (I’ve been writing short stories for anthologies in the interim.)

 

 A TIME TO DIE is a Southern, mystery/romance novella with a Stephanie Plum-style protagonist.

  I’m still putting the finishing touches on the publication requirements and waiting for a proof copy. Watch this space and my Facebook page for news about the launch date. I love this story and hope you will, too.

  Next on my to-do list are the promotions and setting up an author landing page. The landing page website is a maybe, however. I am not particularly techno inclined. If you have any suggestions about an easy way to accomplish that, please let me know.

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Writers:

  It’s officially tax season, so I thought this information from Kaye George (National Best-Selling & Agatha-Nominated mystery author) might be of interest for our fellow authors.

Kaye George says:

  “I HOPE you all know that you should ALL be deducting your writing expenses on a Schedule C, no matter whether or not you're published, no matter whether or not you're making or losing money! There are MANY CPAs who do not know that writing is NEVER considered a hobby, as long as you are seriously trying to get published. The hobby rule does NOT apply to authors.

You can refer to my last yearly tax related blog post, from ‘Travels with Kaye,’ that I used to do. https://travelswithkaye.blogspot.com/2022/01/

Show this is your CPA or tax preparer if they need to see it.”

Plotting assist

  From the archives: Back in 2020, Lyrical Pens quoted the following David Mamet thoughts on plotting. Since then, the wise words have made their way into and out of a lot of other mouths, including YouTubers. Still good info, whomever you choose to cite.

  “When you’re plotting . . . if you replace the W in what, when, and where with T, you have the answer to all those questions.”

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Readers:

  Mardi Gras is celebrated on February 17 this year. Otherwise known as Fat Tuesday, it’s the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. 

  While some people celebrate Mardi Gras on only that Tuesday, along the Gulf Coast—from Florida to Louisiana—Mardi Gras is a Season, and the parades and festivities have already started.

Put the following books on your buy/to-be-read list to help you join in Mobile, Alabama’s festivities.

MARDI GRAS PIECES 

  Tis Mardi Gras Season, so grab this book while the grabbing’s good and learn more about Mobile, Alabama’s authentic connection to Mardi Gras.

  Everyone from Mobile, Alabama, has a Mardi Gras story. In this second installment of the Mobile Writers Guild PIECES anthology series, the guild members share their stories—some true and some fictional, some funny, some touching, and some downright chilling.

 

  The anthology is still available (the Kindle version is only $1.99).      BUY MARDI GRAS PIECES NOW

 MASKED FLAWS and Other Stories

by prolific Mobile author Carrie Dalby

  Click on the Books2Read universal book link below to find your favorite ebook seller.

https://books2read.com/u/318enM

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  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

  My fast-paced novels, The Dawgstar (books2read.com/u/3LRRG5 ) and Death on the Yampa (books2read.com/u/bxe1AP ), are available through your favorite e-Tailer and bookstore. Amazon has paperback copies as well.

  Nota bene: Angela Trigg, the RITA Award-winning author and owner of The Haunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my paperback books in stock. TO ORDER, contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us

Just a reminder: Lyrical Pens blogs for readers and writers is now a monthly blog. I’ll be aiming for the first of the month, whatever day that turns out to be, so watch for it please. That said, thank you for stopping by Lyrical Pens today. I really do appreciate you . . . and you . . . and especially, you.

➜ Follow me on        

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Protag interview and some upcoming events

cj Sez: Today, I’m interviewing Dr. Mirabel Campbell, the protagonist in the novel, THE DAWGSTAR.

Lyrical Pens: Dr. Campbell, tell us a little bit about yourself. What do you do for a living? Any hobbies?
 
Mirabel Campbell, PhD.: Call me Mirabel, please. I’m a botanist, and I’ve just finished working on the international genome project. Before you ask, I was studying the genomes of plants, not people. Finishing the project allowed me to spend more time with my new hobby, astronomy. The skies around Mendocito, California, where I live are super dark and perfect for star-gazing.
 

LP: So, you traded a microscope for a telescope. 

MC: When you say it that way, my life sounds pretty boring. Neither activity by itself is exciting by any stretch of the imagination, but let me tell you, the two of them together? You know how people say, ‘What you don’t know can’t hurt you?’ I found out what I didn’t know could kill me.
 
LP: Oh wow. What happened?
 
MC: One night I was out with my brand-new telescope and spotted what I thought was a new comet. That chance sighting was nearly the death of me. I became the target of a sociopathic assassin and got dragged into the middle of an international crisis—we’re talking foreign intrigue, DARPA, and the CIA. Obviously I survived. but two people close to me didn’t. That’s all I can tell you because of national security issues. The things that can be made public are revealed in cj petterson’s tell-all book, THE DAWGSTAR.
 
Lyrical Pens says: THE DAWGSTAR is a suspenseful thriller with a touch of rekindled romance when Mirabel’s ex-husband is the CIA agent assigned to keep what she saw from going public and to provide 24/7 protection.

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More Author and Reader Notes

  Congratulations to P.M. Raymond, the winner of the Sisters in Crime 2024 Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for Crime Writers of Color! 

  From the SinC announcement: “Raymond’s winning submission, ‘A Nasty Business’ is set on a Louisiana farm where a family tradition forces the heirs to compete in a series of grueling tasks.”

///

  This year’s annual Alabama Writers Cooperative (AWC) conference for writers, readers, and literary community.is happening September 6-8, 2024, in Orange Beach, AL.

 For more info, click on the following link:  2024 Conference — Alabama Writers Cooperative

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  CALLAHAN IN ACTION, Book 6 in the Cat Callahan Mystery Series, is scheduled to launch August 8, and it's available for preorder. Click on the link below so you can put your name on a copy now:  https://books2read.com/CatCallahan6  I got mine ordered.

///

  LOYALTY, book 3 in author Carrie Dalby’s Washington Square Secrets series, releases August 27, 2024. And it’s available for pre-order now!

“In the autumn of 1920, a murder-suicide shakes the residents of Washington Square. Officer Jim Abbott doesn’t realize the return of his shellshock is only the beginning of his concerns.”

  Original watercolor featured on the cover is by Mobile Bay area artist Amanda Manley. 

§§

  Okay, that’s it for today. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy and safe you and yours. (P.S.A.: Counting August, there are five monthly paydays until Christmas.)

cj

Now some words from my sponsors:
  Summer is winding down, but having a book to read is the perfect entertainment for summer vacation downtime moments. THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA are available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore. Got a library card? You can read the ebooks free from Hoopla.

  Nota bene: Angela Trigg, the RITA Award-winning author and owner of The Haunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my paperback books in stock. TO ORDER, contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us 

➜ Follow me on        

➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page
➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor
➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson
➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

It's a cover reveal !

 
cj Sez: I am beyond thrilled to share the gorgeous cover of the Mobile Writers Guild upcoming anthology, CLASSIC PIECES RETOLD, in which I have retold two Agatha Christie closed-door mysteries.
 

Another beautiful cover design by MWG member, Steven Moore

  Stay tuned for contributor spotlights and a release date
 

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  If you’re in the Mobile, AL, area, you’re in great luck. The (FREE) Mobile Literary Festival returns after its pandemic hiatus. WRITE NOW comes  to the Ben May Main Library on Saturday, March 11, 2023.
 

Great topics, excellent faculty, shopping and networking breaks, longer lunch break.
 
Which workshop piques your interest? I’ll be part of the work crew, but hope to break out a bit of time to listen to the pros and cons of “Pantster v. Plotter: The Great Debate."
 
The plot vs. pants session will be an in-depth look at the strengths and weaknesses in the process of heavily outlining the work (plotting, story boarding, etc.) versus writing the first words of a project without any idea of what the outcome will be (writing by the seat of your pants.) Of course there are a ton of ways to approach a writing project, so the Festival invited three different authors—Carrie Dalby (Possession Chronicles series), Amy Delcambre (Secret Mobile, A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure), and Amanda Gibson (In the Absence of Serpents)—to share their insights on the pros and cons of their preferred process. Ought to be a very interesting workshop, since I consider myself a “pathfinder.”

§§

 
For your reading enjoyment

Carrie Dalby's Possession Chronicles

 

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  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for your health and safety.
 
cj

No inflation here: THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA, my fast-paced, exciting suspense/thriller ebooks, are low-, low-priced at $2.99.

P.S.  The Haunted Book Shop has signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us 
 
➜ Follow me on . . .  
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➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor
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➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6
 

A good time to pay it forward

cj Sez:  Half a year (minus a few days) has come and gone, and I still haven’t planted the basil I need for all those wonderful tomatoey dishes. My excuse is that at 92° in the shade, it’s already too hellaciously hot and humid to be working in the yard.

Summer Tanager

   Instead I think I’ll plant some ideas in your heads for summer vacation reads . . . by authors who have a new book release or one that will soon be launched.

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  Carrie Dalby’s Malevolent Hearts, Book 1 in “The Malevolent Trilogy” scheduled for release on July 19 is available for preorder now

“ ... nineteen-year-old Merritt Hall arrives in Mobile, Alabama, at the end of summer in 1897. Straight-laced Merritt and fifteen-year-old Winifred clash with most of what's important to the elder cousin—decorum, responsibility, and education.”

  Five Belles Too Many by Debra H.
Goldstein has a launch date of June 28, and is available for pre-order now

“When Sarah Blair’s mother participates in a reality show competition for brides in Wheaton, Alabama, things get a little too real as a murderer crashes the wedding party . . .”

  Death in a New Land (A People of the Wind Mystery Book 3) by Kaye George has a Kindle launch date of July 19 and is available for pre-order now

“Enga Dancing Flower and her tribe have reached a place they can stay in safety. Or have they?  ...this is made even more evident when a male of Enga’s tribe is murdered, and a baby is kidnapped.”

And, of course, my two novels: 

  Fast-paced, exciting thrillers with a smidgen of romance (ala Jane Bond).

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  By the by, as the masthead of Lyrical Pens says, if you have a book (new or old) you want to promote with a blog post, drop me a note. We can arrange a blog date…the only caveat is that this site is PG 13.

§§

  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Prayers going up for your health and safety.

cj

P.S.  The Haunted Bookshop has signed paperback copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER my author-graphed books or any book of your choice on-line from an indie bookstore, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us   

P.P.S. Pre-signed copies of THE BIG FANG are not available at The Haunted Bookshop, but when you order a book from them and want it author-graphed, let them know, and I'll pop down there and sign it for you. Thanks!

➜ Follow me on . . .           

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The Year in flux

 cj Sez:  Here I am, headed into the beginning of fall (the autumn equinox occurs Sept. 22) and the end of Daylight Saving Time (if you’re on it, it ends Nov. 1), without the benefit of having celebrated the usual annual milestones up to this date.

   Where did they go? I’m talking about the beginning of spring, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day. All were under quarantine. Now as I skid toward the end of 2020 (a year with the world-wide mantra of “stay home"), also in jeopardy of not being experienced, in a familiar way, are Labor Day, pro sports playoffs, Halloween, Thanksgiving, maybe even Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Granted I feel a little lost and put-upon, but not panicked. Creating new traditions is good, and I’m still writing, so that’s good. How about you? You doing okay? 

cj Sez: Old adage: Truth is stranger than fiction. Why? Because truth is harder to write and make it believable. As a writer, fiction is my choice because I can lie and be applauded for it. Now if I could only remember which lie I told.

New releases from a couple of friends of mine and available now . . .

A WHISPER OF TROUBLE, book 12 of the Trouble Cat Mysteries by Susan Y. Tanner  (Author), releases September 7, Kindle Edition

   "Acclaimed horse whisperer Liz O’Neil heals confused, frightened, or angry horses but she never expected to work in Italy.

   Her skills are vital to help the horses, especially when bullets start flying."

                       ///HOSTILE CHARMS, book 5 of the Possession Chronicles by Carrie Dalby releases September 8 and the publisher is having a digital book sale . . .

Seeing his ex-wife, Lucy Melling, happily remarried, Frederick Davenport longs to move on from his failed first love. 

   In celebration of the release of “Hostile Charms,” Bienvenue Press is running a sale on several of the other titles in this Southern Gothic family saga series. Now is a great time to dive into the drama of the early 1900s and catch up with the Melling, Easton, and Davenport families.

///

  The Mobile Public Library has invited the authors of Mobile Writers Guild HALLOWEEN PIECES anthology to submit an excerpt and/or describe the inspiration for their stories via video for the library’s YouTube channel. I’m going to be on video, though my personal videographer won’t be available until sometime next week. (My grandson is a busy man.) I’ll be sure to post the info when it’s scheduled to run.

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  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same, (Raising prayers for your health and safety.)

cj

   FYI gentle reader: Part of the proceeds from the sales of HOMETOWN HEROS benefits The Cajun Navy…you remember those hometown heroes who, right now, have trailered their boats to Lake Charles, LA, to help the victims of Hurricane Laura. The anthology theme might be Christmas, but the stories are timeless.

  TO ORDER my autographed books or any book of your choice on-line from my favorite indie bookstore, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: The Haunted Bookshop  The store has re-opened to limited hours, so you can stop and shop, too.

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