Month: February 2021

Happiness is OMG THE SNOW’S GONE

~ Jenny ~ 51 Comments

You never know how much doing something sucked until you don’t have to do it anymore. Ask my dogs who are small and have therefore been hip deep in snow while peeing. I’m sure there’s some satisfaction in feeling the snow melt away under you, but even better would be no snow in your private parts. Which we have now thanks to several days of melt. Well, there’s still some down in the woods and up on the hill in front of the house, but since we don’t have to walk there . . . bliss.

Also, February is over tomorrow. Really, nothing but good times ahead.

What made you happy this week?

Crusie First Lines, a Critique

~ Jenny ~ 116 Comments

I’ve been thinking about first lines, mine in particular (it’s always about me). They’re supposed to be hooks, so intriguing that the reader must keep reading, but I’m less and less likely to agree with that. Keep reading, yes, but not necessarily with the force of a hook (supply your own visuals here).. Mine tend to be too long because, I have just realized, as an author who is against long set-ups, I try to get all of mine in the first sentence. (Yes, I’ve been writing for thirty years and just noticed this.) I have a rule (for myself, not for fiction in general) that the protagonist has to show up in the first line, characterizing herself in thought, spoken word, or action. This can lead to crimes against intro paragraphs if I don’t keep a grip on my ambitions.

For example: Continue reading →

Argh Author: Deborah Blake’s Furbidden Fatality

~ Jenny ~ 33 Comments

. Our own Deb Blake has a new book out today, Furbidden Fatality, and since it has a lot of rescued animals in it, it’s right down Argh’s alley. Also, great cover!

A lottery winner uses her good fortune to save a local pet sanctuary, but when a body is discovered on the property, she just might be in the doghouse in this first book in a new, charming cozy mystery series. Continue reading →

This is a Good Book Thursday, February 18, 2021

~ Jenny ~ 96 Comments

This week I discovered that iBooks has a page of free books, each one the beginning of a series.

This week I also discovered why they’re free.

Okay, that was bitchy, but honestly, 90% of them I flip to the back at chapter three and the ending is worse. I am grateful to every author who puts “This is a stand alone novel” even though it’s part of a series because I know that means there’s no cliffhanger (that’s a crime against readers).

Bitch, moan, bitch, moan. At least I can hit the space bar without pain now, so I’m good here.

What did you read this week?

(Also, if you’re in Texas, I’m thinking of you. We get snow here, too, but we expect it. Snow in Houston? Who’s ready for that?)

Working Wednesday, February 17, 2021

~ Jenny ~ 67 Comments

This week, I slashed the top of my right thumb open, bringing symmetry to my life since I’d slashed the top of my left thumb open back when I was an art major making engravings. Dueling scars. I know they’re supposed to go on cheeks, but I’m a hands-on woman. Except not this week because my thumb hurts.

What did you do this week?

Happiness is Candy on Sale

~ Jenny ~ 56 Comments

I love those fat, juicy red candy jujube hearts that show up every February. (Valentine’s Day, not so much, but the candy hearts, yes.) And starting today or tomorrow, they will be on sale, along with all the rest of the heart-shaped sugar in the world. February is the Month of the Dead (as far as I’m concerned) and then there’s the snow problem, and it’s cold as hell here, too (except isn’t Hell hot?) but at least the candy is on sale. And delicious.

Also Happy Valentine’s Day. Or Happy Lupercalia, which had priests slapping women with bloody strips of goatskin, which is still marginally better than getting generic red roses and a sappy card with bad chocolates, not that I have bitter memories or anything. Why yes, I do write romance; why do you ask?

What made you happy this week?