It's official . . .

 cj Sez: The Library of Congress says: The year 2021 brings a treasure trove of 1925 works into the public domain. Indeed, the BBC has asked whether 1925 might have been “The Greatest Year for Books Ever? ”

Time's Up

   The term of copyright has ended for works published or registered in 1925. Which means, they are joining pre-1924 works already in the public domain and are/will be available for use by everyone without restrictions.

   The article from the Library of Congress offers a couple of highlights from the list (read them here: 

https://blogs.loc.gov/copyright/2021/01/the-lifecycle-of-copyright-1925-works-enter-the-public-domain/ ), 

but if you want to know more about copyrights and what you can and can’t do, here’s link to a search rabbit hole that will keep you occupied for hours, if not days. 

https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html#pdlist

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https://leftcoastcrime.org 

   Did you know the 2021 Left Coast Crime convention has been rescheduled for 2022, but the 2021 Lefty Awards continue? This year, the awards will be voted on virtually and presented online April 10, 2021.

   For those unfamiliar with the event, Left Coast Crime is an annual mystery convention sponsored by mystery fans, both readers and authors, and they’ve announced the 2021 Lefty nominees for books published in 2020.

 Here’s your chance to see if one of favorite authors is on their acclaimed list:

Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel

° Ellen Byron, Murder in the Bayou Boneyard (Crooked Lane Books)
° Jennifer J. Chow, Mimi Lee Gets a Clue (Berkley Prime Crime)

° Carl Hiaasen, Squeeze Me (Alfred A. Knopf)

° Cynthia Kuhn, The Study of Secrets (Henery Press)

° J. Michael Orenduff, The Pot Thief Who Studied the Woman at Otowi Crossing (Aakenbaaken & Kent)

° Sung J. Woo, Skin Deep (Agora Books)

Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel   (Bruce Alexander Memorial) for books covering events before 1970

° Susanna Calkins, The Fate of a Flapper (Minotaur Books)

° Dianne Freeman, A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Murder (Kensington Books)

° Laurie R. King, Riviera Gold (Bantam Books)

° Catriona McPherson, The Turning Tide (Quercus)

° Ann Parker, Mortal Music (Poisoned Pen Press)

° James W. Ziskin, Turn to Stone (Seventh Street Books)

Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel

° Daisy Bateman, Murder Goes to Market (Seventh Street Books)

° Mary Keliikoa, Derailed (Camel Press)

° Erica Ruth Neubauer, Murder at the Mena House (Kensington Books)

° Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club (Viking)

° Halley Sutton, The Lady Upstairs (Putnam)

° David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Winter Counts (Ecco)

Lefty for Best Mystery Novel

° Tracy Clark, What You Don’t See (Kensington Books)

° S.A. Cosby, Blacktop Wasteland (Flatiron Books)

° Matt Coyle, Blind Vigil (Oceanview Publishing)

° Rachel Howzell Hall, And Now She’s Gone (Forge)

° Louise Penny, All the Devils Are Here (Minotaur Books)

 CONGRATULATIONS to all the nominees!

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

cj

P.S.  My stand-alone novels (suspense with a touch of romance) are out of print on Amazon, but The Haunted Bookshop has signed copies in stock. The store has re-opened to limited hours, so if you’re in the Mobile area, you can stop and shop, too. 

TO ORDER my autographed books or any book of your choice on-line from a favorite, indie bookstore, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us

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Creating relationships

cj Sez: A couple of years ago, I did a post about relationships. I’d read some really good articles on the subject, and I think some of the things I learned are worth repeating today.

The dictionary defines the word “relationships” this way:

relationship

[ri-ley-shuh n-ship] 

noun

1. a connection, association, or involvement.

2. connection between persons by blood or marriage.

3. an emotional or other connection between people:  the relationship between teachers and students.

4. a sexual involvement; affair.

   Really, you don’t need another person to have a relationship. You can have a relationship with anything, animate or inanimate

   In the movie TURNER AND HOOCH, Tom Hanks’s Turner character builds a crazy relationship with a big, slobber-faced dog. You have a compulsively neat, bachelor, detective whose tidy world is invaded by Hooch who brings household destruction and chaos. . . The Odd Couple redux.

   In the 2000 movie CASTAWAY, Tom Hanks’s marooned

character creates a relationship with an inanimate object. He creates a persona for the Wilson volleyball that survived the plane crash with him. He gives it a face and a name and talks to it as if it were another person.  In the mid-1970s, it was the Pet Rock craze.

   Every day we interact with animals, objects, and people of all stripes—family, friends, coworkers, strangers, et al. Our relationship with each is different, depending on the need.

   As authors, we create relationships between characters in their stories.

   One of the most important relationships authors can have is the one they have with their readers…the relationship they build with their writing.

   If I’ve gotten you interested enough to continue reading this brief essay, then I’m beginning to build a relationship with you. How long the relationship will last will be determined by how long I can continue to entertain your interest in what I’m saying…your excitement of learning something new or discovering a statement that suddenly makes sense to you.

   One comment I read on author/reader relationships went something like… “I don't need every detail explained to me. Rather, let me see the details and discern for myself.”

   This is how stories must progress if you’re going to keep your audience interested in your work. Write the truth. Appeal to their intellect. This is especially true for fans of mysteries, suspense, and thrillers. These readers love to learn something new. They’d rather not be told but want to discover things on their own.They want to feel smart at having figured out the puzzle.  It’s about writing in Deep Point of View. It’s about positive reinforcement. We all need it.

   A writer’s skill at creating a story that draws in a reader emotionally and intellectually is what keeps the reader coming back for more. That’s when you’ve got the beginnings of a relationship.

   Caveat: It is the author’s responsibility to maintain the relationship. The reader doesn’t owe you anything and can end this promising author/reader relationship at any time, sometimes for no apparent reason.

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Tidbits to share:

   Fellow author Maris Soule recently blogged about the copyright laws, and it starts off this way: On January 1, 2020, copyright on the thousands of works created in 1924 expired, and these works began their new life in the public domain. I think you’ll find the piece very interesting:      https://bit.ly/39fJ3de

   A recent Kirkus Review post briefly discusses how proper punctuation clarifies complex sentences.

https://bit.ly/2VCNif1

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   Daylight saving time officially starts Sunday, March 8 at 2 a.m. Since I don’t plan to get up in the middle of the night to change my clocks, it’d be a good idea to “spring forward”—i.e., move the clocks ahead one hour—before going to bed next Saturday night (or just let all those smart devices change themselves).

   P.S.: The grammatically correct usage is “daylight saving time.” The expression is singular and not capitalized, according to the US Government Publishing Office style guide; i.e., daylight saving (not savings) time.

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

cj

   VALENTINE’S DAY PIECES anthology is still available on Amazon—hours of entertainment for very little money. And could you please take a couple of minutes to write a review.  

   Autographed print copies of CHOOSING CARTER, DEADLY STAR, and THE POSSE are still available at the Haunted Bookshop. TO ORDER (and support an indie bookstore) contact The Haunted Bookshop here: The Haunted Bookshop  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and an award-winning author in her own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you the book(s) of your choice. If you’re in Mobile area, do stop in at the book store; it’s a neat place to browse.

These friendly people make a point to shelve the books of local authors, and VALENTINE’S DAY PIECES anthology is also available there. If they don’t happen to have any copies of any book(s) you want, they’ll place an order for you.

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