Category: Books

If you build it, will they come?

This week’s admin focus was on author websites, which I already have. But it made for an excellent reason to do some maintenance. Most importantly, I needed to update my WordPress template.

As I mentioned in my housekeeping note, the old template had been retired. While it still received security updates, the old template didn’t support new features.

But I’m also considering what else I might do with my blog. One of the things I loved about blogging in the early aughts was the blogging and book community. One of my favorite blog memes was Booking Through Thursday (which started on Blogspot and migrated to WordPress).

Real life being what it is, BTT has been inactive for several years. So, I asked myself: what if I restarted it?

With permission, of course. Deb graciously gave her blessing. So here I am, wondering: if I relaunch BTT, will anyone show up?

The book blogging community is still very active, with plenty of weekly book memes. Do we need another? Maybe not. But I have the online real estate—no ads, nothing distracting.

According to WordPress, I can add a selected category to my blog subscription so people can sign up to receive the Booking Through Thursday posts via email, and not any of the others if they don’t want them. (This may take a few tries to iron out, but it’s possible.)

All this to say, I’m going to give the book meme thing a try. If people enjoy it? Hooray! If it falls flat, then it falls flat.

So, look for the relaunch of Booking Through Thursday on January 1, 2026.

Seasonal sales!

It’s that time of year again!

First up is the Smashwords End-of-Year Sale.

All my titles are 50% off. Except for the free ones. Because 50% off of free is still … free. (I make this joke every year; every year, no one laughs.)

Over at Kobo, The Pansy Paradox is part of the Best Indie Books of 2025 sale. It’s buy one, get one, and available in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.

New Release: Our Best War Stories, Vol 2

I’ve been remiss in mentioning that I have a new release out. My story “Rules of Engagement” is part of Our Best War Stories: Prize-winning Poetry & Prose from the Col. Darron L. Wright Memorial Awards, Vol. 2.

My story placed second in the veterans’ division of the 2023 awards.

The book is available on Amazon. If you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you can read for free.

Meet my nephew, the children’s author!

My nephew, Ryan Bani Tahmaseb, has a new book out today:

Persian Mythology: Epic Stories of Gods, Heroes, and Monsters is a middle-grade nonfiction book all about Persian mythology. It also has some gorgeous illustrations. I can’t wait to see my copies—one for me, one for the Little Free Library—when they arrive today.

Ryan was also featured in Publishers Weekly: Four Questions for Ryan Bani Tahmaseb.

He also has a picture book that was published last year:

Rostam’s Picture-Day Pusteen is adorable (and the copy I added to the Little Free Library vanished within days, or possibly hours).

Congratulations to Ryan! We are all so proud of you!

Of Halloween and cats

This morning’s observation: Cats do not care about the end of daylight-saving time. Cats want their breakfast. They want it NOW. So, get up, lazy human, and feed them.

This week was, of course, Halloween. And this year, I’m excited to report that we had many, many trick-or-treaters! I always put out a table by the Little Free Library since the dogs lose their minds over the doorbell and people coming up the walk. This setup makes it easier for everyone, even if I don’t get to see all the costumes.

It was raining, so the candy bowl had a lid.

When I went out later in the evening to check on the candy, this is what I found.

No one could bring themselves to take that last piece of candy.

Halloween achievement unlocked!

We also had the city’s book and pie sale this week, where they sell … books and pie (and sloppy joes). I donate books every year, but I’ve never actually been. The sale always ends before I was done with work, but not this year. So I headed on over and bought some books (not that I needed any) and a piece of pie. Not a bad way to round out October. (Well, minus the cat.)

The Pansy Paradox in the wild!

It’s release day for The Pansy Paradox!

You can buy the novel almost anywhere. You can read for free with a Kobo Plus subscription. Or request it from your local library (in eBook or print).

It’s also release day for The Capstone Conundrum, also known as that time when Henry almost met Pansy.

It’s free for my newsletter subscribers as well. But it’s also on sale everywhere, since I know a lot of people don’t want another newsletter in their lives.

If you’re on the fence about The Pansy Paradox, you can always download the extended preview.

If you decide to read, I so hope you enjoy Pansy, Henry, and their adventures.

Getting ready to switch gears

The moon keeping an eye on me during my morning walk

Did a few marketing things this week for The Pansy Paradox (out on Tuesday!), but I’m also looking ahead to what’s next. Namely, The Marigold Miracle. Because the best marketing is the next book.

Also, I’m excited to head back into the writing cave.

In other news, my daughter and I have committed to clearing out the basement. We are determined to turn it back into the cozy oasis it is meant to be. Still, we have a carpet tear-out this week. Wish us luck. But today I’m putting my feet up and catching up on the slow read of Possession.

Two Giveaways for The Pansy Paradox

Quick news! The Pansy Paradox has not one, but two giveaways happening right now:

And if you haven’t grabbed it yet, don’t miss the extended novella-length preview. You can download it here.

Things that go bump in the morning

So, the other morning, I was working upstairs when I heard a solid thump come from the basement. At first, I thought it was the cat knocking something over.

But kitty is a feline of a certain age (seventeen!). While she still gets the zoomies on occasion, she spends most of her time napping on my bed.

Another thump.

I got up and peered into the bedroom where kitty was, predictably, napping.

THUMP.

This was not the sort of noise you can ignore. It was almost humanlike.

Cautiously, I made my way downstairs. I arrived just in time to see what was causing all that racket.

In the raised flowerbeds, weaving among the phlox, were two turkeys—a couple. And Tom Turkey was trying to make an impression by unfurling his tail feathers. Every time he did, the tail fan went THUMP against the window.

Let’s just say Henrietta Turkey was not impressed.

In actual writing news, I’ve been working on the print covers all week. As an experiment, I decided to try the Barnes & Noble print option in addition to Amazon KDP and Ingram. I know many people would prefer not to buy on Amazon, so this gives me an option to offer economical print versions at a different retailer (while still making a decent royalty).  

Y’all, it’s a lot. Because not only am I creating print versions for The Pansy Paradox, but I’m also doing so for the bonus novella, The Capstone Conundrum (which, oh look, has a cover).

Each retailer has slightly different cover templates (because, of course, they do). And really, you need to order physical copies to ensure everything looks like it should.

But I’m hoping to wrap that up this week, upload the final versions of everything, and heave a huge sigh of relief.

Diving into Possession

So I read on Anno’s blog that author Caroline Donahue is running a slow-read of A.S. Byatt’s Possession on her Book (& Craft) Alchemy site. Considering that I had just been musing in morning pages that I wanted to do a deep dive into something more challenging, this felt like the universe offering that up—especially since I found my copy of Possession almost immediately.

I’m trying very hard to ignore the fact that my little Post-it flags are completely uneven.

I’ve already listened to the behind-the-scenes podcast, and I love the fact that Caroline and Simon dubbed Possession the original Dark Academia book. (So the OG of Dark Academia, if you will.)

Also, if you’re a writer, it might be worth subscribing for three months—her site is cozy, informative, and very well organized.

I also love that now that it’s September, it means I can pull out my Dark Academia playlists, which I think will nicely complement Possession.

The ones I currently listen to:

Dark Academia Classical (a Spotify-generated list)

Witch Faerie Academia (instrumental) by BrittanyWarman

Witch Faerie Academia (with lyrics) by BrittanyWarman

To be clear, that’s Dr. BrittanyWarman of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic. They did a Dark Academia course last year (I think). I didn’t take it since, at the time, I didn’t have the bandwidth. (At the time, I barely had the bandwidth for showering.) So, I’m excited about this new challenge, and with any luck, I can report back in on Sunday that I’ve read my first fifty pages.