Monthly Archives: October 2023
Dear October: What is This Crap
Posted on October 31, 2023 34 Comments
Yes, I know, last day of the month and all, and Halloween, but that is no reason to dress up like late November. Simply unacceptable. Stop this. Now. No love, — JS
The Big Idea: Elly Swartz
Posted on October 31, 2023 1 Comment
Sometimes, a good thing takes longer than you might thing. Elly Swartz knows a little about this, and in today’s Big Idea, she explains why Hidden Truths was worth the wait. ELLY SWARTZ: There are moments in life that define us. Moments in life that imprint on our hearts. But what happens when those moments […]
New EP Out Today: “Travelogue”
Posted on October 30, 2023 3 Comments
I went on book tour last month, and along the way I was inspired to make a little music to approximate some of the experience of it, and of some of the places I went. And thus, Travelogue, a collection of five (mostly) ambient electronic pieces, recording my state of mind on the road. Let […]
The Big Idea: Annie Carl
Posted on October 30, 2023 3 Comments
Author Annie Carl is on a mission to bring the disabled writing community into the spotlight with her newest anthology, Soul Jar, written entirely by disabled authors. Come along in her Big Idea as she tells us how she came up with the idea for this anthology, and what led to her desire to make […]
Ach, Matthew Perry
Posted on October 29, 2023 11 Comments
I’m at that age where when people my age die it’s not entirely unexpected — Welcome to being No Longer Young, y’all — but it doesn’t make it less of a shock. It’s compounded in my case by the fact that of all the Friends characters, Perry’s Chandler Bing was the one closest to my […]
Catching Up With the Pixel 8 Pro: A Review, Mostly About the Camera
Posted on October 28, 2023 19 Comments
I got the Pixel 8 Pro a couple of weeks ago; it arrived at my house just before I came back from one leg of my book tour. I upgraded and updated everything the one day I was home so I could take it out with me on the last leg of the tour, and […]
The Big Idea: Greta Kelly
Posted on October 26, 2023 2 Comments
Well-worn phrases can still have life in them, as author Greta Kelly discovered in the writing of her latest, The Queen of Days. What maxim has her attention, and will it have yours? Read on to find out. GRETA KELLY: Blood is thicker than water. It’s an idiom so well worn we barely even have […]
Trying Tinned Fish
Posted on October 26, 2023 43 Comments
I have a strange new interest, and if you couldn’t tell from the title, it’s tinned fish. Trust me when I say I had zero interest in tinned fish until recently, when I somehow stumbled upon TinnedFishTok, which is just like a section of TikTok in which enthusiastic tinned fish enjoyers post about their new […]
New Music: “Bridge Over the Danube”
Posted on October 25, 2023 8 Comments
Apparently thinking on my recent book tour is giving me feelings, because I’ve made another musical composition, this one relating to my time in Budapest. At one point and I and my Hungarian publisher, with a little bit of time to kill, hiked over the Margit Bridge, just chatting about writing, publishing, the state of […]
The Big Idea: Bethany Jacobs
Posted on October 25, 2023 3 Comments
Most great stories revolve around a compelling hero. Author Bethany Jacobs has taken a different approach in her new novel, These Burning Stars. Follow along in her Big Idea to see how she ended up crafting a devious, toxic, and likeable villain. BETHANY JACOBS: The funny thing about big ideas is that you often only discover […]
Hey, Noticing Weird Ads From Me on Facebook and Instagram?
Posted on October 24, 2023 5 Comments
It’s because I was hacked last week and the hackers set up this nonsense. I have my private account back and am working on getting my public page squared away — they’re locked out now but this stuff was programmed earlier — so in the meantime, one, don’t click any of those links, and two, […]
Catching Up On The World, As Briefly As Possible
Posted on October 24, 2023 24 Comments
Lots of things happened whilst I was on tour that I didn’t address because a) I was traveling, b) I was doing events, c) I was trying to sleep a bit between a and b. But now that I’m home, let me, as briefly as possible, catch up on some major events and what I […]
Close To Home: Luca Bistro
Posted on October 24, 2023 25 Comments
After visiting the wonderful Household Books in Cincinnati, I thought I might as well grab some dinner since I had driven two hours to the big city. I wasn’t sure where to eat, so I looked up places around me and finally settled on one called Luca Bistro. It advertised itself as French cuisine, and […]
Sunset, 10/23/23
Posted on October 23, 2023 6 Comments
Our neighbors have an old TV antenna that, depending on the time of year, gets in the way of the sunset photos. I will often Photoshop it out, but today, for some reason, I kinda like what it’s giving to the photo. It’s staying in. In other news, I am now home from my book […]
The Big Idea: Michael Mammay
Posted on October 23, 2023 5 Comments
People are people and they will do what people will do — but would a change in circumstance and environment change that, for better… or worse? This is the question Michael Mammay confronts in the Big Idea for his novel Generation Ship. MICHAEL MAMMAY: I’ve had the idea for Generation Ship since 2018 when I […]
A Sunday Composition: “Lake Monona”
Posted on October 22, 2023 8 Comments
Today is the last day of my tour, and I spent it in Madison, Wisconsin, closing out the Wisconsin Book Festival. I had an excellent time. When it was done, felt the need to introvert heavily in my hotel room, and also play a bit with the iPad version of Logic Pro, which I have […]
Small Business Saturday: Household Books
Posted on October 21, 2023 14 Comments
If you read my post over an event I went to recently called Plates & Pages at Five on Vine in Cincinnati, you may recall me talking about the bookstore that was the “pages” part of the event. I enjoyed the pop-up shop at the event and conversing with the owner so much that I […]
The Big Idea: Alex Shvartsman
Posted on October 20, 2023 1 Comment
When opportunity comes knocking, author Alex Shvartsman is quick to answer the call. Follow along in his Big Idea for the second novel in his Conradverse Chronicles, Kakistocracy, to see just how he started crafting this sequel. ALEX SHVARTSMAN: Sometimes you have to work at coming up with the big idea for your next-in-series, and […]
View From A Hotel Window, 10/19/23: Nashville
Posted on October 19, 2023 14 Comments
There are some quality parking lots in Nashville. It’s also a lovely town, and in that red building that you can see here, there is the Gibson garage, which is a shop featuring lots and lots and lots of Gibson guitars. And was suitably impressed. I did not purchase any guitars. I can’t fit them […]
The Big Idea: Dan Moren
Posted on October 18, 2023 2 Comments
For some, there is magic in the ordinary. For others, magic is the ordinary. Such is the case for the main character of author Dan Moren’s newest novel, All Souls Lost. Follow along in his Big Idea as he expands a bit on the mystical world of magic and technology. DAN MOREN: Every speculative fiction […]
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