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Photo Credit: Fiction Writing 101 by Bellever Books
Writing a Standalone Novel is Entirely Different from Writing a Trilogy
With the closing week, you have one task left on your to-do list – a birthday present for your bestie. You could just shop online, bypassing the hassle of congested travel, a sharky parking lot, and shuffling about the store. But you decide to put forth effort. The next option is to pick a store. You may choose Macy’s, where you will enter one door, grab the first thing you see, then leave to get on with your day. Or you can opt for a fully enriched experience at the mall, letting your mind run wild at all the possibilities that lie in wait.
So, it is with writing! An online purchase is akin to a blog post. Short, sweet, and usually something you know well. The single store is a standalone book. There is plenty to find in a standalone; all bases covered and the job gets done. But when you throw a mall into the mix, there choices are endless, and what one store is lacking, you will find another. Just like writing a trilogy, what you do not get written in one book, you can broach in another. Further, your friend may not be the only one who ends up with a rewarding gift.
As an author, I have written all the above. My blog posts are numerous, with items ranging from the animals on my ranch to my favorite horror reads to this very entry on types of writing. Currently, I am awaiting a publishing date for my standalone novel, which has been called women’s lit, thriller, and coming-of-age … basically, a subjective plethora of genres blended for thrills. This stand-alone fulfilled my desire of the based-on-my-true-story to be told and provided me with plenty of opportunities for creative spins and twisty gotchas!
Then you have the trilogy. When you read a trilogy – I think of my favorite, Lord of the Rings – a plethora of mystical elements lie in wait. While J.R.R. Tolkien was known for fantasy, could you have ever guessed that *SPOILER ALERT* the Balrog would pull Gandalf into the black chasm to his death … in the first book?! No! Similar, as a trilogy writer, I did not know how far I would spin my characters or the major revelations they would endure. I took the journey as an author like that of a reader and flowed with what came to mind. Some days I felt contentedness, and the writing reflected my whimsy in quirky, magickal sequences or in the delight of Arista conversing with Royal. Other days, I missed my recently deceased father, and I would write a grief scene, expressing the sadness. At times, I reveled in the minds of the killers – at least one in each book. Nothing quite processes an angry snit like writing out a delightfully wicked scene of a killer toying with his … or her! … prey. Stephen King was right!
Authors differ in taste, but for me, I really enjoy my trilogy streams like my mall excursions. A browsing autumn stroll into Williams Sonoma for their bourbon pecan pie filling and a replacement piece for my Botanical Pumpkin dinnerware. On to See’s for a half-pound of hand-picked chocolates, followed by an updated outfit from Beyond Yoga. I indulge in a quick lunch at Bazille (third floor of our Nordstrom), then descend to the Apple Store for yet another charger. I window shop Cartier’s leopard figurines and Lego’s replica of Minis Tirith on my way back to Macy’s (where I parked) and pick out a lovely gift for my bestie. Such an enjoyable endeavor. Just like the flow of writing my trilogy! Into Murder, Tea, and Crystals, I instilled a foundation of modern-day white witchcraft with a flourishing enrichment of plentiful natural elements, herbs, and crystals, a hearty dash of murder mystery, a generous sprinkle of new adult love, and a pinch of horror-lite. Truly, I found myself at the whim of my psyche, expressing the most magickal blend of delight, turmoil, trial, and resolution that you have not yet read.
As published on Chapter Break / 09/26:
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The Aging Body and Fitness
There is a saying that only two things are certain – death and taxes. While Benjamin Franklin aimed his phrase toward his cautious optimism of a newly created U.S. Constitution, the human aspect of the first topic only scratches the surface of its impact. Before death comes aging.
In 2022, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) analyzed questionnaires from twelve-hundred-plus young adults, ages eighteen through thirty, on the topic of aging. Just over four percent of the negative perspectives focused on “decline and death.” Decline meaning anything from dementia to disease to an achy body. For the purpose of this write-up, and because I have specialized in physical wellness for the past twenty-plus years and must now put my knowledge to test, I think of the declining body.
When a person subscribes to a lifestyle of fitness in young adulthood, that knowledge and experience can last a lifetime. Many get their footing as part of a sports team. Sometimes, it is more individual-based. My first step into exercise was a racquetball trainer set at age fifteen. A bouncy blue ball secured to a leaden base by an elastic string provided me with hours of fun after school. I was not doing this for good health; I engaged in the activity because it was fun smacking that ball and hearing the echo of impact throughout my townhome complex. When I turned eighteen, I took my novice status to the 24 Hour Nautilus competition courts. While the court was the draw, I soon found myself in step aerobics followed by kickboxing. By the age of twenty, the habit had stuck, and my mind and body fed off exercise. I felt the loss if I went over three days without activity. By 2000, my adulthood led to altruistic measures of sharing how great regular exercise made a mind and body feel, and I certified in personal training to guide others.
The years went by, and my body looked and felt great. I would try the latest and greatest of all the new fitness fads – ThighMaster, TaeBo, BowFlex, and slide board fitness, to name a few. I even signed up for Taekwondo at forty as a bucket list endeavor! To this day, I participate in UJAM, yoga, kickboxing, and the everlasting routine of free weights.
I admit it; my body is tired. My joints and vertebrae have overuse injuries, as do a few of my tendons. But the interesting thing is a body is better off with the taxing exertion than it is without. The resulting aches I treat with R-I-C-E (Google it), occasional ibuprofen or CBD, and/or a trusted masseuse.
Sure, young adults may see my un-Botoxed face and think “that poor lady is kinda old,” but they do not know the strength my arms and legs can generate, the flexibility my joints can extend, nor the mental acuity that permeates throughout my exercise-fed brain. This is not paranoia talking. Recently, I found a survey on Edubirdie entitled How Gen Z and Millennials Feel About Aging. Bottom line is that most think it is pretty miserable, with one in eleven Zoomers also believing that sex stops at forty! Millennials are not much more optimistic, with one in thirty-three quadragenarians pessimistic about that pleasure and aging.
While wrinkleless beauty and ache-free days are fleeting, I could not be happier with the health of my aging body. Sure, concessions have been made. Instead of a kick to the jaw, I can still deliver a helluva smash to the groin area – safety, check. Instead of my former twenty-pound dumbbells, my usually achy back allows me twelve-pounders – strength, check. Instead of foot-high jumping during my cardio classes (like I did on cement during COVID), I have taken the height of my plyometrics down a few inches – heart health and burning calories, check. And sex, check!
There is nothing to fear in the aging body. If you take care of yourself, the effects are not so drastic as the young mind would imagine. In fact, the result is rewarding. Yes, you will need to modify, but I have seen eighty-year-old men and women jogging Bay Area streets.
Anyway, another group stat from the 2022 NIH survey had it right. Twenty to twenty-four percent of participants believed there was no use worrying about the inevitability of aging, and I think ol’ Ben would agree.
As published on Knotty Needle Creative Blog :
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When Writers Become Mentally Involved in Their Stories
Writing is an artistic expression, whether fiction or fact, bringing a sense of achievement to the author. Specific to fact, many reputable organizations have released articles claiming that journaling can help with mental health. Medical News Today examined the benefits of journaling in a 2022 review of twenty randomized controlled trials. Researchers analyzed the efficacy of journaling for depression and found that those subjects who journaled had lower scores on mental health measures, such as standardized screen tools (PHQ-9, GAD-7, PCL-5, etc.), clinical interviews, mental status examinations, and self-reporting, meaning that the subject had lower stress, depression, and/or anxiety.
Taking the measure beyond autobiographical, writers express themselves through other forms of the written word. In fiction, they take us into enchanted forests, away to exotic lands, toward the infinite space above us, or even deep beneath the vast sea – Thank you, Jules Verne. They give us fictional characters who we fall in love with, root for, or who break our hearts with their endurance of poignant woes. In fact, often these characters are all emotions expressed from the author’s own psyche. I know this well. Through my characters, I can convey everything from my naivete to rational positivity to misogynistic guff to the sickness of a bloodthirsty serial killer. All, a composition of my own emotions. As Janet Finch, author of White Oleander, wrote, “A novel is like a dream in which everyone is you. They’re all parts of yourself.” It is rewarding when writers constructively write to express themselves or free their demons.
But what happens when authors become so involved in their characters that it affects their mental health to the negative?
Sylvia Plath sank into a depression while writing her semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar. Friedrich Nietzsche fell into mental collapse upon completing Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Virginia Woolf, already prone to depression, triggered debilitating depressive episodes and auditory hallucinations while writing such books as To the Lighthouse and Mrs. Dalloway. I will add that all the above chose to leap into the ether shortly after finishing their novel(s).
While his thousand-plus-word and best-known novel, Infinite Jest, did not lead to an immediate suicide, David Foster Wallace suffered an immense amount of pressure while writing the novel. Within it, he relived the harsh parental habits of his mother that could have contributed to his lifelong poor mental health. In doing so, it only exacerbated its grip on him. Upon finishing the book, he felt severe anxiety that his mother would know the unfavorable character within it was her. The popularity that came with its publication brought even greater anxiety. Within ten years of this project, he too succumbed to suicide.
Coming full circle, Stephen King praised Wallace’s classic to Entertainment Weekly, calling it one of two greatest American novels. While the mutual respect between the authors had been apparent before Wallace’s death, King found his own writing put him on the positive side of the mental health spectrum. In fact, in his book, On Writing, King wrote he can, “… write myself sane …” and, “All the rage and hate and frustration, all that’s dangerous and sick and foul within me, I’m able to spew into my work.” He also credits writing with helping him survive and recover from his near-fatal accident in 1999.
I am no PhD, but I have a theory. Those who explore the deep abyss of their psyche may find that immersing themselves in their darkest memories and most depraved thoughts can lead to a poorer psychological state, sinking them further into depression or anxiety. They see that distant light back to sanity, but it lies too far out of reach. While others such as King can delve into the dark spaces that haunt them and find resolution, leading to the release of mental toxicity and creating a healthier mindset well into their golden years.
08/2026 WOW Book Tour – Featured on the Blog of Caitrin C King
https://www.caitrincking.com/post/stephen-king-was-right-guest-post
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Yoga and Stretching for Writers
You have been staring at your screen since breakfast. Noon-time looms as tension rips up your forearms while you key with fervent haste. Your shoulders contract forward, lurched and locking your neck into place. As you near the completion of your work, your body leans slightly forward as if propelled by a spinning wheel of intent beneath your waist like the roadrunner fleeing Wile E. Coyote.
Finished! Once this document, school paper or, maybe even, book chapter is finished, you let your shoulders sag in relief and lean back. Now, fully aware of your body again, you feel awful. You neck is stiff, shoulders are achy, and you possibly have the start of a headache. The first thing that will help is to get up and go to the restroom, grab a snack, or take your local lunch-hour yoga class. If the latter is not possible, return to your desk and ready yourself for a bit of seated yoga for writer’s recovery.
Meow. A modified Cat/Cow (Marjaryasana-Bitilasana) is a great start. Settle into your sitz bones and mimic your usual movement on the mat. This is best done toward the edge of the chair to allow for a more pronounced Cow Pose. For guidance in alignment, you can slide your palms up and down your thighs. Start in an upright posture, sitting high with shoulders back, chin tucked, and chest out. Then, roll your glutes toward the seat while pulling the tummy inward to emphasize the curved flexion of your back. Breathe.
Next, sit up tall. While keeping your neck muscles relaxed, roll your shoulders forward and backward a few times, then relax them, hands down by your sides for a few shoulder lifts with sudden drops. Now, sweep your arms up and over your head. Hold. Bring one arm down behind your back, bend at the elbow, and flow into Bound Hands Pose (Baddha Hastasna). Gently clasp your hands behind your back while your chest stretches outward, fully opened from all your previous forward flexion. Breathe.
When you walked, you moved your lower body. Now, you have worked your spine, chest, and arms. Time for transverse plane movement, if able. A modified twist, Half Lord of the Fishes (Ardha Matsyendrasana) starts with sitting tall and shoulders back. On sitz bones as a solid base, keep your shoulders aligned with your chest and rotate to the right. Clasp the arm of your chair and hold the twist with a cleansing breath. Don’t force the movement, as you can return to start and repeat, reaching a bit farther each time. When finished, duplicate on your left.
Finally, make sure to take keying breaks every 20-30 minutes and alleviate achy wrists by stretching your fingers wide, rolling your wrists, and opening, then closing into fists. Finish with palms pressed flat together in prayer hands.
Taking regular screen breaks while writing is important, but writing isn’t the only screen-based activity that can leave you feeling stiff. If you find yourself endlessly scrolling Instagram, pausing to move through the poses and stretches above can help ease the tension that comes with our sometimes-unavoidable spiral into modern-day digital madness.
08/2026 WOW Book Tour – Featured on the Blog of Kaecey McCormick / Writer.Artist.Creative.
https://www.kaeceymccormick.com/post/guest-post-yoga-stretching-for-writers-by-sherri-l-dodd
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Animals on the Ranch
The above title takes me back to twenty years ago. I picture my kids sitting in front of a Baby Einstein video awaiting the melodic tunes and playful narration that followed about the pig, cow, and goat, amongst others. But if I were to make a video of the animals on my ranch, I think a trigger warning for things other than standard and cute might be in order. In addition to our residential beasts, the surrounding nature plays a huge part in the animals on our ranch.
Living at the base of a California redwood forest, we do get the cute critters. There are squirrels, hares and a vast array of birds. As an anecdote, the hummingbirds outside of my office window partaking of the “Hot Lips” salvia shrubs were an inspiration for my trilogy. These are the animals that charm you and bring out sweet oohs-and-aahs. However, we also get the predators who would love nothing more than to chomp down on one of our cats or square up with our dogs. Coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lion attacks are not uncommon. The coyotes are so bold, they amble through our backyard, and while they run if we open the door and start hollering at them, once they get a hundred feet away, they stop, look back at us, and gauge how much of a threat we truly are. Nice of the bobcats to stay in the neighbor’s upper pasture, but the mountain lion attack on another neighbor’s foal (yes, it survived) a few years back served as a warning they, too, are present.
Not so much a predator, but lethal nevertheless, we also get rattlesnakes. A drop in the bucket as far as the poisonous vipers I grew up with in Texas, but still a bother. On more than one occasion, my husband has beckoned me to the rescue when our Doberman has found one. One summer night last year, the pavement was still warm from the day, and a juvenile snake had been greatly offended by Anna’s high strung, barking approach. I will fast forward through the wrangling details, one, because it was tedious, and two because no need to gloat over my seasoned handling technique, but after a careful transition to the far end of our property, all returned to normal. For those wondering why my husband did not kill it, one you don’t know my husband very well, and two, the state discourages killing of rattlers unless you fear for your life. In fact, the Southern California red diamondback is protected and carries a hefty fine for such an act.
Other rare sightings include a horny toad, an adorable, long tailed weasel romping through my lavender, and even an occasional skunk. The latter of which had my husband driving the lawn destroying nuisance off the property with sky aimed gunshots. This clamor brought forth a beautiful barn owl that patiently waited on the fence for a quick meal, surely disappointed from my husband’s true intention.
But I said animals on the ranch! In addition to the crazy wildlife and nature’s usual cast that intrude upon our civilized space, we also have egg laying chickens and a herd of prancing Arabian horses who will suddenly strike out full gallop across the property. Breeding season has its own explicit love scenes, but the resulting foal carries a superbly warm place in my heart. This, and all the above remind us that we are merely one of many that inhabit this idyllic space.
08/2026 WOW Book Tour – Featured on This Cozy Chaos Blog
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Oh No – I’m a Football Mom!
When my son pleaded to switch martial arts for football in sixth grade, I agreed but dreaded the injuries. The fret grew when he hit high school and stayed the course. But the worry over a broken leg or concussion was quickly replaced with a different unpleasantry that did not involve him at all. As with high school cliques, they follow you into adulthood. For example, even as an adult, you ready for school with an optimistic view, but once amongst the crowd, a façade of friendliness or side-eyed glares catch your attention. And if you do happen to pry your way into ‘the crowd’ at the first introduction, be prepared to witness the inevitable struggle of all the contestants vying for the role of Team Mom. Then, as she emerges over the next few weeks, hold on to your dignity if she becomes the type I experienced. Welcome to the life of a football mom!
Sometimes mean girls don’t grow up. They are alive and well and just as nasty as adults. Or maybe, quite the contrary—a paradigm shift along the way—the old mean girls become nice, thoughtful socializers, while the formerly picked-on, wallflower nerds now lead the charge in dirty looks and ostracization.
During my son’s stint of high school football, I had the privilege of testing my endurance with a Mean Team Mom. Now, I can be a bit on the shy side. Even in high school when all my friends graduated, I spent the next year a total loner. (My GPA soared!) So, the gift of gab has always escaped me, making me appear aloof or disinterested in friendship. Unfortunately, this can irk a Mean Team Mom by bringing your non-schmoozing presence front and center. Sometimes this quietness comes across as meekness, and harassment may follow.
As some of my readers know, at that time, I was still very active in martial arts training. My inside-out kick could nail the blushed cheekbone of someone taller than me. My thrust kick delivered a strong blow to a sternum or gut, and my palm strike … Bam! … super effective to a snotty jutting chin. Unfortunately, these are inappropriate tactics to use at your teen’s school. So, I chose composure, inner strength, and a kill-‘em-with-kindness attitude. Sure, the insidious insults came at me. For instance, at one party, I ended up placed behind Mean Team Mom for a group photo. After watching her hobble around in her recovery boot for weeks, she clomped it backward, smashing down on my sandaled foot. No apology. Just acted like nothing happened. You know what I did? The exact same thing. If she thought that ounce of pain would produce a reaction, she sorely misjudged me. As Galadriel told Sauron, “You have no power here!” For four years, I endured the woman, mostly ignoring me or throwing me insincere smiles. Fine by me. I went to watch my son play football and contributed when asked. I considered my continual participation and not making waves as a gift to my son. Meeting other mothers with this same opinion helped even more.
So, there may come a day when your beloved son takes up a great American sport. During this time, like me, you may choose to send him to school an hour away to up his chance of a better college. You may even trudge through a commute that involves rush-hour traffic twice a day during the school year and four times a day during summer. And yes, you will run your budget through the roof with fees, equipment, fund raisers and travel. Much is involved. Just know, years later, those moments may become your and your son’s fondest memories from high school. So, go! Cheer him on! And blow the insignificance of a Mean Team Mom to the wind.
12/2025 WOW Book Tour
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My Favorite Crime Reads
I have read that people watch horror movies to make their own lives feel more manageable. For instance, your boss may belittle you, but the guy on the screen is getting chased by an ax-wielding maniac, making him much worse off than you. Likewise, your co-worker may have just under minded your promotion, but doubtful they served you up as sacrifice to a Satanist cult. If horror draws this kind of viewer, I am willing to believe that True Crime is not far off the mark. True crime has long been a genre that interests me. While I have watched far more documentaries and movies than read books on the topic, there are three reads that left a lasting impression on my psyche.
The first True Crime book I read was Helter Skelter. My dad had a copy sitting on his nightstand and, ever the snoop, I started reading it. At that time, the extent of violence on page for me was Roger murdering Piggy in Lord of the Flies. So, when Vincent Bugliosi delved into the gruesome, unheard-of details of the Tate and LaBianca murders, my immature and impressionable mind was mortified and repulsed, yet immediately hooked. Of course, I knew murder existed, but the specified brutal slayings of those living on the prestigious border of Beverly Hills, especially a beautiful, pregnant movie star, showed that vigilance is always necessary regardless of money or celebrity.
Having a new taste for gory details, my second book in True Crime followed another California atrocity that journeyed into South America. In Tim Reiterman’s Raven, Jim Jones’s, the charismatic cult leader, descends into madness. Unfortunately, his followers did not foresee this. In fact, once he established himself in California, his flock mightily grew. With that growth came legal scrutiny of fraud, abuse, etc., leading Jones and his most loyal followers to hightail it to the Jonestown compound in Guyana. A few years later, a congressman and investigative reporters arrived on scene prompting Jones to have them killed and initiate mass suicide. When devotees saw other members enduring the “Kool-Aid” death, they tried to escape but were shot or stabbed. This horrific account of the nine hundred people killed that fall of ’77 became my sophomore book report. I still wonder what my teacher thought of the topic, despite the ‘A.’
My third choice is a combination of True Crime and Paranormal. Before I watched the Amityville Horror, I read Jay Anson’s paperback about Ronald DeFeo’s murder of his family in Long Island, New York and the aftermath when the Lutz Family purchased DeFeo’s home. The bulk of the book pertains to the Lutz family’s twenty-eight-day experience which somewhat validated DeFeo’s story of a haunting. The paranormal elements in this book kept me electrified. At bedtime, I was terrified to bear the dark. Even more eerie was when I woke up just past 3AM a couple of nights. DeFeo killed his family at 3:15AM, and George Lutz started waking up at 3:15AM during their time at the home. The power of persuasion!
While I still watch serial killer movies, my reading on the topic greatly slowed. It is more unsettling for me to read about True Crime than to watch a canned version of it. While a few more reads trickled in—Women Who Kill and even Gavin DeBecker’s The Gift of Fear (recommended by my Quanjinim)—my Top Three made a lasting impression that fully satisfied my literary interest in the subject.
Published on Chapter Break Book Blog – 12/2025 WOW Book Tour
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What is Magick Realism?
Google makes defining magick realism on paper quite easy. You take the first part – magick – and realize that adding a ‘k’ to the word known for black silk hats containing plush white bunnies converts it into a reference toward occult or spiritual practice. The second word – realism – is accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it.
“Did you say occult?” you may ask in a recoil, with either your heartrate picking up or your mind shutting down further discussion. I do not blame you. The occult has long been associated with demons and black magick. But it also consists of fun pastimes like astrology or tarot readings when you feel that random urge to meet with a mystical woman to find out about the promotion you applied for. Come Monday, all is confirmed by your generous manager. These readings are even more fun when they involve your love life, as a friend of mine found out when she visited a reputable seer. Feeling unwanted after her recent breakup, she was pleased to discover that she would soon meet her future husband and was given his profession and initials. About three months later, her and I are enjoying the late-eighties downtown dance scene when she totally hits it off with a random guy. By the end of the night, she realized that while it was not quite the profession as she had envisioned it, his career matched, as did one initial. By the next week, she found their astrology signs paired well, too. While the details were intriguing it was the actual chemistry that led to their engagement the following year. Only then did she realize his surname before adoption matched the missing initial. The seer’s premonition, complete.
Magick realism is also rooted in contact with deceased loved ones. My favorite magickal moment happened on what would have been my revered grandmother’s hundredth birthday. Late-afternoon, I ‘told’ her how much I missed her and asked for a sign that she heard me. Not expecting the ‘response’ anytime soon, I donned a swimsuit and soaked in the hot tub with my husband. With no rain in the forecast, due to it being out of season and a drought, within thirty minutes of my request, a small shower trickled down upon us from a passing cloud, complete with that fresh natural scent. My grandmother loved rain as much as I, so it was easy for me to see the magick realism of the moment. Further, we watched the small cloud slowly dissipate as it drifted from our vicinity, giving no one else the experience.
For me, magick realism is seeing the world beyond the mundane. Sure, we can explain away most things with dry, grounded, and scientific reasoning. But why? When there is happenstance, so flukey, that you scratch your head with a scrutinizing suspicion, why lose out on a chance for a novel experience? Yes, keep one foot on the ground, as you do not want to end up being a regular in the evaluation ward, but to work on rekindling that fantastical perspective you had as a child can bring a richness to your life that makes it just a little bit brighter.
Published on Fiona Ingram’s Word Magic Blog – 12/2025 WOW Book Tour
https://fionaingramauthor.blogspot.com/2025/12/what-is-magick-realism-by-author-sherri.html
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Navigating Book Promotion as an Introvert
I review it three times, but only after changing the picture twice. I take a breath, hold, then press Post. Upon confirmation, I exhale and end the ritual with self-assurance. So, the routine goes when I post on Instagram. Surely, few Instagrammers go through this anxiety. But, for me, it’s no wonder. I’m a high-functioning introvert. The interaction may be online, but I’m still showing up. It’s worse in public. I smile and carry a conversation but also take frequent bathroom breaks to catch my breath, adjust my expression of exhaustion, and ready for the next session of socializing. Even at my own parties, complete with jolly, warm friends, a drudging of chaos rumbles in my stomach prior to the boisterous festivities. To me, Instagram is no different than barging through a packed room. Each time, in both places, you subject yourself to a barrage of feedback. I prefer one on one, and most often on a hiking trail. Quiet. Peaceful. Few people.
You could imagine my surprise, after a year of rarely mingling and happily working with my partner-in-writing Siamese to pen the first book in the Murder, Tea, and Crystals Trilogy, when I realized an online presence was necessary for an author. Dang! I had already dodged that bullet once. Trying Facebook in 2005, I ceased all activity when strangers started Friend-ing me. Questions swirled in my head – Who is this person? Why is someone from Hawaii wanting to Friend me? Is it appropriate for my professional account to have my sister’s friends following me with their posts of raucous drinking? I decided social media was not for me.
Aside from my jitters of posting, it turns out social media is a good fit for introverts. According to LinkedIn, 60-70% of engineers – the ones who created Frankenstein’s monster of communication – are introverts. As my introvert best friend has said, people think because I’m quiet, I have no opinion. Social media has enabled the quiet ones to tell us exactly what they think. Maybe we liked some of them better quiet. (Oops, digression.) Plus, there is an easy fix to curb overwhelming activity. When society’s nitpicking becomes too much, simply turn off notifications and refrain from logging on … ever again.
Book signings are another story. Turns out book signings are important too, and since they are usually time-limited, a quick break to look into the depths of reflective glass is not efficient. Luckily, the participants are mostly encouraging and not combative show-stealers out to topple your moment. Still, to ease the angst of your public performance, I find a quick reading from the book, usually the opening chapter, passes the time. Thereafter, you can take questions about your story and provide proficient answers. More time passes as your audience shares accolades of their love of your book. Finally, ask a preference question. Since tea-drinking is prevalent in Murder, Tea, and Crystals, I ask my audience if they like tea. With many in favor, I invite all interested to share their delightful herbal blends. The guests like it, too, as we are inundated with descriptions of scents and flavors. The oohs-and-aahs hum in appreciation representing pleasant feelings. All, thanks to the book event!
The point is to get your audience talking. This not only relieves you of enduring the full spotlight, but now your audience feels heard and has a good time sharing a little something they enjoy. A true win-win!
Published on the blog of Author, Caitrin C King (CC King) – 11/2025 WOW Book Tour
https://www.caitrincking.com/post/navigating-book-promotion-as-an-introvert-guest-post
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A Word from the Author … About Barbies!
I remember the first Barbie I ever found in a daycare toy box. If you’ve seen Kate McKinnon in the Barbie Movie, you’ll have the perfect image of the doll’s hair. She donned a pink-and-white checkered dress that had a brown stain on the chest area. No shoes. But I loved her! Quick Curl Barbie had vibrant blue eye shadow—the trend of the 70s—and a rather dim-witted expression compared to other eras. After I found this buxom plastic goddess, I had no more love for baby dolls. For me it became all about a snazzy wardrobe, an hourglass figure, and poise that could make a debutante nervous.
That is why when I found out an acquaintance had a Barbie collection in 2006, it reignited my passion for the toy from my youth. My first step into collecting was the 2006 Christmas Barbie. Her black dress had been designed by Bob Mackie and she had a long, blonde braid as thick as licorice rope. Obsession Chocolate and Lounge Kitties Leopard came next. Since that time, I have bought about four new Barbies a year.
My recent summer inventory counted one hundred Barbies, all in boxed and impeccable condition. Many times, I am asked which is my favorite. An impossible choice. But I do offer my three favorites with number one being a doll from the Haunted Beauties line. Ghost is a gorgeous rendition of the spirits that haunt those willing to receive them. She has long white hair, ice-blue eyes, and a flowing white dress, complete with a draping chain. When I purchased her, I had a white Betta and placed her box next to the fishtank. Her dress and the betta’s elegant white fins filled me with a pleasant inner peace. I kid you not!
When choosing my second Barbie, I go retro. Halloween Haunt has a satiny orange dress with black velvet stars and cats on its skirt. Her red hair is a silky flipped bob, her eyebrows sharp, and her lips pursed tight in dark burgundy. With this purchase, it was not so much the fact that I liked Halloween nor that I collected witches. This was all about setting a goal for a Barbie no longer available by Mattel, which had risen in value, and could only be bought if you spent hundreds of dollars. So, with favored Barbie #2, not only did her style appeal to me, but she proved a challenge.
Now, we get to that final line. Ninety-eight Barbies left in my collector closet, and I must narrow it down to one. That means the dolls I adore such as my more recent Crystal Collection, Empress of Emeralds or La Llorona may dazzle me, but none make the coveted Top 3. I have Barbie couples, such as Merlin and Morgan LeFay and Aragorn and Arwen, but they do not quite reach that height either. I would say the final doll boils down to the representation of her character. Bella Donna just released in October. It is the second Stevie Nicks Barbie from Mattel. For me, this Barbie not only represents my favorite recording artist, but it embodies my youth. In fact, the many years Stevie has inundated the airways since that time is similar to my appreciation for the doll of many faces. It’s been the same fifty years since I first picked up a Barbie that Stevie first sang her hit Sara. An appropriate fit for the final selection!
Published on the Cozy Home Delight blog – 12/2025 WOW Book Tour
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Bedtime Stories – June 2025
Witches have always fascinated me. Perhaps it roots from a childhood of unchaperoned walks to our neighborhood creek in southeast Texas. The cool splash of water on a sweltering humid day served a refreshing sensation. First sign of a witch’s repertoire—communing with nature. Then, after harassing crawdads and holding the wriggly creatures up to my squeamish friend (yes, I was that kid), I wound down with MacDonald’s Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. The latter of witch … pun intended … perpetuated the allure of magick and was an appropriate progression from a preschool era of Mother Goose donning a witch’s hat in 1902, becoming a goose in the 70s, attaining a full Pilgram make-over in the 80s (thanks, Satanic Panic), and regaining her witchy ensemble by the 90s.
Aptly, in the 90s, my attraction to witches married to my appreciation of Stevie Nicks spinning in mesmerizing, black-fringed circles on MTV evolved into the study of modern-day witchcraft—Scott Cunningham’s first edition of Wicca. Shortly thereafter, I met my soul mate and sought Catholic confirmation.
Fast forward to two years ago, I sat in front of my keyboard typing a short essay that would become a nine-hundred-page trilogy, brainstorming how I could work Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic in with serial killer true crime—lovely, bohemian ladies meet ruthless, homicidal maniacs. Further, how could I capture the essence of mystical redwoods as striking as Delia Owens’ stunning marshlands in Where the Crawdads Sing. Finally, what witch is complete without a cat? For this, I read David Michie’s The Dalai Lama’s Cat to learn more about how the lucky feline landed in HHDL’s care and added it to experiences with my own Siamese.
I also wanted meaning in my lightweight, easy reads, even if some find my trilogy akin to Netflix in paperback form. Arista is the epitome of joy and goodwill … think Thich Nhat Hanh’s Peace in Every Step. As the trilogy progresses, she must deal with tragedy. Enter Marc Manson’s The Subtle of Art of Not Giving a F*ck. I’ll add that book came at a perfect time as walking meditations fell anemic to my escalating familial issues. Kudos, Disappointment Panda! Finally, there had to be authenticity, so, among many, I read Thorn Mooney’s The Witch’s Path and the full volume of Llewellyn’s Sabbat Essentials.
As it goes for many authors! Though not always evident, a book’s characters, its environment, and its overarching message carries a taste of the creator’s literary journey. For what they read is an integral part of their perspective, transferred onto paper for your enjoyment.
https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/bedtime-stories-june-2025
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