The Edgar Nominee Covers:
Bold, Bright And On Trend

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By PJ Parrish

Good morning, crime dogs. I am probably somewhere over Lake Erie as you read this. Or maybe catching the bus from lovely Newark airport into Manhattan. It’s Edgar Awards time, and as banquet chair, I am going to be out of touch today through Thursday night.

So, as I usually do, I thought I give you a look at some of the nominees this year. I focus on cover design because — obviously! — I have not read all the books under consideration. I like following trends in book design and it’s important to talk about it here because many of you, being self-published, design your own covers or have a lot of input into whomever you chose to design your book.

Your cover design is one of the most important decisions you have to make. It’s your mini-billboard to get readers’ attention, whether in a thumbnail-size on Amazon, on an iPhone, or, if you’re lucky, on an actual book shelf somewhere.

A cover creates the first impression, and encourages readers to buy your story. That’s why it’s essential to invest in it. Please, please, I beg of you, don’t hand this important task over to your nephew Jerome who just aced his sophomore art class. Hire a pro.

Two quick things to always keep in mind: Pay close attention to genre standards to signal to potential readers that your book is what they seek. If you’re writing dark, hardboiled stuff, you need all your cover elements — color, fonts, graphics — to convey the MOOD of your book. And if you’re writing in the grand tradition of Mary Higgins Clark, you’re going to want to go for something less gruesome or gritty. Something like this year’s nominees for the MHC Award:

Second, pay attention to what’s hot in the market these days. Yeah, there’s room for you to be yourself, but it doesn’t hurt to know what’s catching the eye these days.

That said, predicting what will be effective is not easy. Last year, the trend was toward bold typography (mainly sans-serif), nostalgic revival, and very abstract graphics. I see this in many of the Edgar covers this year and experts predict this will continue.

In cozies and juvenile mysteries, large serif or cursive sans serif fonts depicted in bright hues are popular. In fantasy and thrillers, animated GIF covers are hot — images like drifting clouds or flickering flames.

Eye-popping color is a big thing across every genre. As one designer put it:

The era of muted tones and grayscale snooze-fests is officially over. Bright, bold colors are everywhere, and it all started with contemporary romance covers that looked like they were designed in a candy shop. But now, these vibrant palettes are invading every genre—fantasy, thrillers, even horror (the horror!).

That gritty crime novel? It might have a shocking pink accent. Your post-apocalyptic sci-fi epic? Say hello to vivid oranges and electric blues. Why? Because readers want their bookshelves (and eReaders) to feel like an art gallery—not a funeral procession. And let’s be honest, a pop of color is way more inviting than 50 shades of beige.

Other mini-trends: BIG TYPE that takes up the whole cover space, like this:

I Will Find You by Harlan Coben (2023, Hardcover) - Picture 1 of 3

Collages are big right now. Oddly enough in young adult — botanicals! Also, stock photography is yesterday’s news; the fresh look is illustrations.

Now let’s look at some of the Edgar covers to see if what I just said holds water.

BIG BOLD SPACE-HOGGING TYPE

ILLUSTRATIONS INSTEAD OF PHOTOS

COLLAGES!

BOLD TYPOGRAPHY

AND A FEW COVERS I JUST LIKE

I find this nominee for Best First Novel just haunting. No screaming colors, almost black and white. (only trendy thing is sans serif font). Yet the cloud image around the woman’s profile amplifies the title and makes me want to read the story.

Another winner, I think. This Best Young Adult nominee could have done the usual stock photo of an amorous Asian couple in a clinch. But the illustration conveys a modern mood (look at their expressions — is that love or hate?) with a nod to traditional Asian art.  Did you notice the half-hidden crane?

An interesting example of illustration rather than photograph. Not sure this one works, however, because the creamy background and water-color illustration might read too vague on anything other than a large format.

I’m conflicted on this Best Novel nominee. The setting is right there in the title but the combo of the green type and the murky street scene reads a bit muddy. BUT…then you see that one lighted window at the top of the building. Not bad.

Well, that’s all I have room for this year. If you’d like to see all the nominees and their covers, click here. Congratulations to all the Edgar nominees. This year marks Mystery Writers of America’s 80th anniversary. By the way, the 80th anniversary is designated as OAK. Which isn’t very interesting. Unless you’re thinking in terms of coffins or maybe Poe’s Cask of Amontillado.

 

How Well Do You Sleep, Writers?

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Every morning for two solid weeks I woke at 3 a.m. Not 3:05 or 3:10, exactly 3:00 a.m. sharp. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why.

One or two mornings could be a fluke. Fourteen? No way was that a coincidence.

Like any good writer when faced with a mystery, I researched possible reasons why. More importantly, I needed a solution so I didn’t join the walking dead.

What I learned fascinated me.

Because self-care is vital for writers, I thought I’d share my discovery in case one of you may be experiencing the same thing. This, of course, applies to everyone, not just writers, but I like to make us feel special.

While searching for a cause, I stumbled across an interesting discussion on Quora. An older gentleman mentioned his body had acclimated to waking at the end of each sleep cycle for a bathroom break. After which, he immediately fell back asleep.

Men tend to have an easier time falling asleep after waking due to higher levels of testosterone, which greatly enhances sleep. Hence why so many older women have difficulty sleeping through the night. Testosterone levels and prostrates start to wane as men age, hence the bathroom breaks, but it plummets in women, as we only start with a fraction of what they have.

Could decreasing hormones cause my 3 a.m. wake-up call? And if so, how can I fix it?

When I read the Quora discussion, more questions arose:

  • How long is a normal sleep cycle?
  • How many sleep cycles do we have per night?
  • How can I cancel the 3 a.m. wake-up call without pharmaceuticals?

Whenever possible, I prefer natural remedies. Not only is it healthier but all pharmaceuticals in their infancy stem from nature. Why not skip the middleman?

My.ClevelandClinic.org describes sleep basics as:

“Sleeping doesn’t mean your brain is totally inactive. While you’re less aware of the world around you, you still have plenty of detectable brain activity. That brain activity has predictable patterns. Experts organized those patterns into stages. The stages fall broadly into two categories: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM (NREM) sleep.”

During a normal sleep cycle, the brain enters four stages.

When we first fall asleep, we enter stage 1 NREM (non-REM). The lightest stage of sleep, this stage only lasts a few minutes, about 5% of our sleep time. After that, we fall deeper asleep and move into stage 2 NREM, where brain waves slow and have noticeable pauses between short, powerful bursts of electrical activity. Experts think those bursts are the brain organizing memories and information from the time we spent awake.

We then enter stage 3 NREM, the deepest sleep. Brain waves are slow but strong. Our bodies take advantage of deep sleep to repair injuries and reinforce the immune system. We desperately need stage 3 NREM to feel rested upon waking. Without enough of stage 3, we’d feel tired and drained even if we stayed in bed for eight hours.

After the most beneficial stage of sleep, we return to stage 2 NREM, the gatekeeper of REM sleep. REM (rapid eye movement) cycle is where we dream; it makes up about 25% of total sleep time. The first REM cycle is the shortest, around 10 minutes. Each one that follows is longer than the last, up to an hour.

After REM, we start a new sleep cycle and go back into stage 1 or 2 NREM. One full cycle lasts 90 – 120 minutes. If we get a full eight hours of sleep, we should go through four or five cycles per night.

Though fascinating, it still didn’t explain why I kept waking at 3 a.m.

I dug deeper into sleep cycles and possible reasons for an abrupt disruption. Again, I leaned toward a possible decrease in testosterone. He wasn’t the culprit. Only one hormone is released at 3 a.m.—serotonin. But I thought serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins were our friends. They’re our feel-good hormones. How could serotonin be responsible for such an evil act?

Evidently, our bodies release small amounts of serotonin at that ungodly hour to prepare us to wake in a few hours.

Here’s the rub…

Stress can switch the trickle of serotonin, which keeps us from feeling sluggish and groggy during the day, into a massive flood. This surge wakes us immediately rather than acting like a gentle nudge toward wakefulness.

I didn’t think I was stressed. Upon reflection, my endless to-do list had been weighing on me. I’d lost so much writing time (packing, moving, unpacking, acclimating) that I let that negative voice whisper horrible things about me. A writer’s inner critic is a feral beast worthy of a firing squad. Or a public hanging. I usually have an easier time silencing her, but the lack of sleep weakened my fighting spirit.

Regardless, I refused to accept my fate. I don’t mind waking at 4:30ish but 3 a.m. wrecked me.

How did I combat the influx of serotonin?

The answer is so simple. We do it every day, all day. Anyone? Anyone? We’ve talked about this before.

Deep breathing exercises. Specifically, what’s known as box breathing, commonly used by Navy SEALs and other Special Forces.

As soon as I crawl into bed, I take a moment to inhale through my nostrils for a four-count, hold for four, exhale out my mouth for four, and hold again. Four or five rounds works for me. You may be different. Try it. You’ll know when to stop.

The box breathing technique helps to regulate breathing, reduce stress and anxiety, and improve focus and concentration.

By reducing stress at bedtime, my body doesn’t trigger serotonin to flood my system at 3 a.m. Ever since I implemented this nightly routine, I’ve slept till 5:30 – 6 a.m.

Sometimes, the easiest solution is the right one.

So, TKZers, how well do you sleep? Have you tried deep breathing exercises to combat stress and/or improve focus?

Mass Market Paperbacks, RIP

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by James Scott Bell
@jamesscottbell

My favorite era of publishing is the post-war mass market paperback boom of the 1950s. Here was a galaxy of genre fiction, from hardboiled detectives like Mike Hammer and Shell Scott, to standalone crime fiction from the “red-hot typewriter” of John D. MacDonald and a slew of others. And the covers! Oh, those glorious covers, with just enough salaciousness to catch the eye, but not enough to get the book placed in brown paper at the far end of the newsstand (what they used to call “smut”).

I have a story about that. When I was a kid I read many of the classics well ahead of my classmates. I mean, I read Moby-Dick, The Count of Monte Cristo, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities,  Les Misérables, The Last of the Mohicans,The Hunchback of Notre Dame and other such like. Full disclosure: these were in the form of Classics Illustrated comic books. Those gems were written with great care to be true to the source material.

I made regular trips on my bike to Sipe’s Market and Green’s Drugstore to buy these comics, along with Archie, Superman, and Batman. And then I’d spend a little time at the spinner racks of paperbacks. At the time, the early to mid-60s, secret agents were hot. Not only James Bond, but also the hit TV show The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (I still remember what that stood for: United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.)

So one day I was spinning a rack and came upon a series I didn’t know. The title was The Man From O.R.G.Y.

Cool, thought I. A new secret agent! I brought it to the cash register. But the man took one look and said, “This is not for you, son.”

“But I have the money,” I said.

“I’m not going to sell it to you,” he said, then added, “You can ask your parents why.”

Which I did. My mom delicately, oh so delicately, informed me that this was inappropriate for kids, and that the abbreviation stood for something “bad” that adults did. Later, in the schoolyard, I found out from a classmate what that bad thing was. Sheesh! Adults did that? Gross!

But my love of paperbacks was firmly established. Much later, when pursuing a writing career, I would scour used bookstores for titles from the classic era of Fawcett Gold Medal, Bantam, Dell and others. I eventually acquired a full set of all the 1950s stand-alones by the great John D., and bunches from other writers of the time. They are on my shelves now.

My own early books came out in trade paperback size, then hardcover. But I always wanted to be in MM. I realized my dream when I got a three-book contract with Kensington for the first (and only?) zombie legal thriller series, written under the nom de plume K. Bennett. I have the rights back and publish them under my own name, with new covers…though I wish I had rights to the old ones!)

That’s why it is sad to hear about the imminent death of the format. In the Substack Inside Agenting by the noted literary agent Richard Curtis, he writes:

[Mass market paperbacks] are scheduled to die at the end of this year.

Their death notice was recently announced in Publishers Weekly: “Sales of mass market paperbacks have steadily declined in recent years, to the point where they accounted for only about 3% of units sold at retailers that report to Circana BookScan in 2024. The format will take another big blow at the end of 2025, when Readerlink will stop distributing mass market paperbacks to its accounts.” ReaderLink describes itself as “the largest full-service distributor in North America” with six U.S. distribution centers supplying over 100,000 stores. All major publishers are shifting their focus to trade paperback as the format of choice both for originals and reprints. Even paperback publishers that prospered with genre literature like romance and science fiction are pushing their chips onto the larger trim size.

The reasons for this demise are:

  • Tissue-thin profit margins. Publication and distribution has become exceedingly cost-ineffective compared to other (and higher priced) print formats like hardcover and trade paperback.
  • The gradual disappearance of paperback racks and other displays in drugstores and supermarkets, and the explosive growth of chain bookstores whose bookshelves do not display MMPBs as effectively as trade paperbacks.
  • The decline of book departments at big-box stores like Walmart, where paperbacks failed to meet the test of profitability per square foot of display space compared to other consumer goods like deodorant and panty hose.
  • The rise of e-books as a preferred reprint format. Because e-books are released simultaneously with hardcover editions, as opposed to mass market paperbacks which are traditionally issued a year or longer after a book’s first edition, e-books have a huge advantage over MMPBs. Plus e-books are cheaper.

The one thing that never changes is change, right? But we writers are corks on the surface of the roiling sea of publishing upheavals, surviving, because no matter the format we have what the world needs—stories. And good stories, with actual human voice, will find their place. Always.

What has been your relationship with mass market paperbacks?

Personal Correspondence Made Public

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An email came in the other day. “Where do you get your ideas for books and columns?”

Dear Reader,

Thanks for reading my work, and I’m honored that you took the time to reach out. My work oftentimes comes from Reality.

For example, I’m sure I speak for us all when I tell you that a bite from turtles, tortoises, and maybe terrapins will lock that moment in our memories forever. It’s much like we remember where we were when some life-changing event occurred in our lives.

Here I’m talking about those women who were shot into the air in a tin can a few days ago to squeal and float around for a moment while they looked at the moon that I can clearly see several times a month from my own backyard, and with less capital outlay. Really, I don’t care that they went up and came down, because I really want to talk about dinosaurs and reptiles. The idea for today’s discussion came to mind when I saw a Reel the other day concerning an emergency room visit by a man with a live and apparently contented snapping turtle attached to his face.

We all know turtles are distant relatives of the dinosaur infestation that occurred 66 to 245 million years ago, as determined by dust-covered men covered who pause in sweeping rocks with small brushes to explain the past.

Personally, I like terrapins and tortoises, especially when they’re not attached to someone’s body parts. Case in point, we recently took the grand-critters to a miserably hot and windy event often called a Renaissance Festival, where fully grown adults dress up in period clothing (or mythical clothing they wish those people wore, including spiked shoulders, fairy wings, and elf ears) and walk around talking to each other in horribly bad medieval accents.

In the midst of all this wishful history that also involved the sale of modern pretzels on a stick, magic wands, padded swords people used to whack at each other in pretend stables, and stir-fry bowls, we came across a traditional Renaissance petting zoo.

But before that, there were several signs posted outside warning that no “weapons” were allowed. This included knives, and the pocket variety as well. However, once inside, if you carried in enough money, you could purchase a ten inch, razor sharp handmake knife in more than one location.

Anyway, once inside, we came to a petting zoo. After paying a small ransom for five kids to pet the kinfolk of animals they could have rubbed on when we had the Oklahoma ranch, they took up paper cups full of sliced apples (for an extra ducat, of course) and rushed around the artificial medieval pens made from T-posts zip-tied with cedar fence planks, feeding potbellied pigs, lambs, colts, calves, one miniature horse a couple of inches higher than said potbellied pig, and a tortoise the size of a number 5 washtub.

Having little experience with tortoises, their parents (my own offspring) neglected to explain how to the feed those reptiles and grandcritter Number 4 yelped. “It bit me!!!”

Sure enough, the black-eyed reptile’s beak (made of keratin) cracked Number 4’s fingernail (also made of keratin), resulting in some minor blood loss equivalent to one drop. But this kid has a rigor when he gets a splinter, and the sight of a mere speck of blood sends him into a full half hour of crying and terrified shrieking.

As we stanched the medieval wound, I told him about seeing the aforementioned Reel. For those who don’t have Facebook accounts, a Reel is a few seconds of video crack to which people have become addicted and spend hours watching one piece of idiocy after another, even though some of these little videos end before the “story” or “event” is completed, leaving the addict craving more.

In the one I related to my tearful grandson, there was a clip of an emergency room and a man seated in a wheelchair, who in turn clutched the body of an extremely large snapping turtle that had chomped down on his face and apparently wouldn’t let go.

Remembering the best advice I ever got from the Old Folks, “Snapping turtles latch on and won’t turn loose until it thunders,” I’ve always distanced myself from those things.

So these guys in the Reel, who took their friend to the ER, didn’t think of any way to remove the large reptile from said victim’s face before loading him into their vehicle and making the drive to get help.

I’m confident any relative or mine, or the Hunting Club members, would have known how to remove a turtle waiting for thunder.

However, these folks who enjoyed hugging, petting, or kissing them, likely had no experience with wild animals

I’ve seen people kiss snakes, too.

No.

What they also didn’t know, apparently, is that snapping turtles have extremely long and flexible necks. I have it on good authority, Wikipedia, that a snapper’s neck can be up to two-thirds the length of its shell and it has the jaw power to clip off a stray finger or two.

According to intense research which took up nearly 90 seconds of my life, I found that a study done in 2023 used some specific but undisclosed device that registered numbers showing the bite of a common, and not especially gifted snapper, registers between 62 and 564 Newtons of force in jaw strength. I don’t know who this Newton guy is, but he apparently has a strong bite.

As a public service, I did more research and learned the way to pick up a snapping turtle is to grasp the back end of its shell, as we now know two-thirds of the way back from its biting part, thereby ensuring your digits are beyond its reach.

Better yet, don’t pick it up.

So let’s review. Inexperienced people shouldn’t feed a dinosaur’s distant kin, don’t kiss, hug, or snuggle them, because they are reptiles and don’t get the same fuzzies from cuddling, and avoid Renaissance Festivals at all costs.

Oh, and if a turtle latches on to you and there’s no possibility of thunder in the near future, call me. I can tell you how to get it off before you head to the ER.

So thanks for your correspondence, and I hope you enjoy the snakes and reptiles in my upcoming novel, Comancheria. But they’re not based on any real truth or family lore, and I have to admit, I don’t know if horny toads (Texan for horned lizards) stutter or not.

And as one more public service, reptiles, to my knowledge, don’t communicate with bad medieval accents, either. I hope this helps those writers to seek assurance, inspiration, and advice from this blog post as well. You’re welcome.

Rev.

 

 

Reader Friday: TV Mystery Series

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The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery. —Francis Bacon

* * *

Some of my favorite TV shows to watch while I’m running on the treadmill are old mystery series. I like Murder, She Wrote, Columbo, Midsomer Murders, and a few others. My favorite is Endeavour starring Shaun Evans as the young Detective Endeavour Morse.

Recently, I decided it was time to watch newer mystery series (ones that aired starting in the year 2020 or later.) I found a lot of them. Here are a few I thought sounded interesting:

Adolescence – When a 13-year-old is accused of the murder of a classmate, his family, therapist and the detective in charge are all left asking what really happened.

Severance – Mark leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs.

High Potential – A single mom with three kids helps solve an unsolvable crime when she rearranges some evidence during her shift as a police department cleaner.

Grace – Brighton set crime drama following Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, a hard-working police officer who has given his life to the job.

Dark Winds – Follows Leaphorn and Chee, two Navajo police officers in the 1970s Southwest that are forced to challenge their own spiritual beliefs when they search for clues in a double murder case.

Ludwig – While seeking to unravel the mystery of his twin brother’s disappearance, reclusive puzzle-designer John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor takes on his twin brother James’s identity as DCI on Cambridge’s major crimes squad.

Grosse Pointe Garden Society – Follows four members of a suburban garden club, as they get caught up in murder and mischief, as they strive to flourish.

Only Murders in the Building – Three strangers – who live in the same New York City apartment building and share an obsession with true crime – suddenly find themselves embroiled in a murder.

I don’t have any data on the series beyond the taglines above.

So TKZers: Help me find a new series. What Mystery Series are your favorites? Have you watched any of the newer series? Which would you recommend?

True Crime Thursday – Cybercrime Then and Now

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Public domain

by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

Cybercrime continues to expand globally with costs estimated to reach more than $10 trillion. That’s trillion with a T.

At the turn of this century, cyberattacks affected relatively few individuals. From 2001 to 2017, statistical charts showed a gradual increase. Between 2018 and 2020, cybercrime numbers shot up like a rocket. Since then, the rise maintains a nearly vertical trajectory.

Take a look at this chart by Statistica.com.

According to Keepnetlabs.com, cyberattacks occur every 39 seconds, with ransomware incidents happening every 11 seconds.

I first wrote about cybercrime, hackers, and deepfakes back in 2019, imagining how AI could be misused in the future. Early on, attacks were often pranks, like that naked guy who crashes a Zoom meeting.

During Covid, people were stuck home with nothing to do. Idle hands are the devil’s workshop. Cybercrime blossomed into a major industry. Since then, with AI advances, it’s exploded beyond all imagination. I’ve written about various forms here, here, and here.  

Here are four updates on cyberscams:

  1. Social media cloning continues to be a growing problem, according to attorney Steve Weisman who writes the great informational site, Scamicide.

Almost a decade ago, cloning happened to me on Facebook. I’d developed a small but loyal following on FB, including readers from all over the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and Japan. Then someone cloned my identity. At the time I didn’t even know what the term “cloning” meant.

Cloning is a process by which a bad actor takes over your social media handle, creates a new account using your same name, information, photo, etc. and pretends to be you. They usually send out new friend “requests” to your contacts. Anyone who accepts the request is now caught in the bad actor’s web.

My FB friends received strange messages supposedly from me. I learned about it after several emailed me, asking if I was in Spain and needed bail money. Uh, no. When I tried to access my account, it was blocked. Nor could I contact FB for help. A brilliant astrophysicist friend figured out what happened and contacted them on my behalf.

Many hours of work later, things were back to normal, with newly adjusted stringent privacy settings. But why did fixing the problem require help from a friend with a Harvard PhD?

Some months later, my account was cloned again. At that point, I decided if FB’s security was that lax, and reporting a problem was so difficult, I didn’t need the headaches. I closed my account, unfortunately losing contact with valued readers.

Back then, FB was reluctant to acknowledge the problem and made it nearly impossible to report. I figured maybe my case was an unusual occurrence.

Wrong.

Now, according to Steve, FB/Meta admits to “as many as 60 million phony cloned Facebook accounts including hundreds of its founder Mark Zuckerberg.”

Cloning happens across all social media platforms, and is especially pervasive when they’re interconnected with each other, like FB and Instagram. Criminals are happy to exploit any opportunity to reach thousands, if not millions, of people with a few clicks. Cloning is only one of many ways they victimize users of social media. That topic could fill up a whole ‘nother post.

2. Smishing scams – According to Steve Weisman’s new post, smishing is defined as:

…Text messages that lure you into clicking on links or providing personal information in response to a text message from what appears to be a trusted source, such as a company with which you do business.

Steve’s post says the FTC warns of a huge uptick in smishing that cost $470 million in the past year. Text messages often appear to come from Amazon, FedEx, USPS, Cash App, Netflix, banks, etc.

A new twist is: 

Making matters worse, scammers are able to use bots to send thousands of smishing text messages in a matter of seconds and while many phones have anti-spam filters to recognize repetitive text patterns used by scammers, scammers are able to use AI to create slight variations of their smishing text messages to avoid detection.

 

Every week, I receive smishing messages supposedly from my bank, warning of suspicious activity in my account. 

Phony messages from Fedex and the post office claim there’s a problem with a delivery and tell you to click on this link. Don’t do it!

And speaking of the post office…

3. Account hacking – Here’s a weird crime twist that recently happened to me.

For years, I’ve used usps.com to preprint and prepay postage for priority mail labels. During extended absences from home, I preprint labels for the friend who forwards first class mail to us once a week at a Florida address.

Around the 2024 holidays, our forwarded mail didn’t arrive in Florida. Tracking showed a circuitous route that ended with the vague message “in transit.” We visited the local Florida post office. The clerk said a bin of mail had gone missing. “It happens all the time. It’ll eventually turn up.”

How reassuring since our envelope contained bills that needed to be paid now.

After more trips to the post office, we learned the envelope had been “returned to sender” to our address in Montana.

What???

The mailing label was totally correct since it had been officially printed by the post office. So why wasn’t it delivered?

Meanwhile, our friend sent another batch of mail to Florida using another preprinted label. But when I checked tracking, it showed that envelope had been delivered to an address in Maryland.

What???

Back to the Florida post office. The same helpful clerk ran the tracking number through his computer. Yup, his also showed delivery to Maryland. Then he disappeared in the back processing room. Fifteen minutes later, he came out with our envelope. Even though tracking showed delivery to Maryland, here it was in Florida where it was supposed to be.

Something smelled fishy.

Since our friend in Montana still had several preprinted labels that had not been used, I checked the tracking numbers for those. Incredibly, all showed as already delivered to addresses around the country—New York, Georgia, California, etc.

What???

Back to the post office to show this evidence to the same long-suffering clerk (who was now our new best pal). He called fraud/security and dug deeper. After nearly an hour of research, he suspected someone had hacked into our usps.com account. He recommended changing the password, which I did.

Fortunately, no one had accessed the VISA card I used to pay for the postage.

The plot thickens.

Turns out this is a regular racket. Clever thieves hack into usps.com user accounts, and steal labels that have already been paid for but not yet used. They reprint the labels with the same tracking bar code but a different address. They then use those fraudulent labels to ship merchandise (usually stolen) to customers of their own shady businesses.

Selling stolen merchandise and shipping it with stolen postage equals zero expenses and 100% profit for crooked operators. Our post office pal gave the thieves a grudging compliment: “These guys are very good.”

A clear case of postal fraud, likely an inside job. Most of the bogus labels had been routed through the post office’s Bethesda, MD distribution center. If I were a detective, I’d start my investigation in Bethesda. Hint, hint.

Did fraud/security ever follow up? Dunno. Our PO pal never heard another word. Will anyone ever get caught or prosecuted? Unlikely.The advantage for cybercriminals is they are nearly impossible to track. 

4. Impersonation scams – For years, scammers have posed as government agencies and law enforcement. They contact victims by phone, email, text, or social media with bogus claims you owe fines and/or back taxes that must be paid immediately or else you’ll be arrested. But because they are such generous, caring folks, they’ll make your problem go away if you pay them with cryptocurrency, gift cards, wire transfers, or other untraceable funds. 

This morning, I received a public service announcement from the FBI warning of scammers who pose as representatives of the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) who claim they recovered money you’d been previously scammed out of. They will return that lost money to you…you guessed it…for a fee, payable by cryptocurrency, gift cards, wire transfers, or other untraceable funds. 

Yup, the cybercrime situation has gotten so out of control that the FBI’s IC3 division has to issue PSAs about their own department being impersonated. Talk about irony.

Back in 2000, we wondered IF we might ever be victims of this mysterious new method of crime.

Now it’s a certainty and the only question is WHEN? 

A sad fact of life in the 21st century.

~~~

Now that I’ve spoiled your day, it’s your turn, TKZers.

Share your personal experience with cybercrime. Any brilliant suggestions to block criminals? Do you have favorite security software?

~~~

Coming July 2025! Debbie Burke’s new writing craft guide:

The Villian’s Journey ~ How to Create Villains Readers Love to Hate

For more details, please click here. No, this link won’t ask for cryptocurrency, gift crads, or wire transfers!

What About Structure?

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What About Structure?
Terry Odell

Image by wwwqwerty from Pixabay

Recently, I was looking at a Facebook post mentioning a podcast about voice, and Dr. Doug Lyle was the presenter. Since I know and like him, I was interested in tuning in. This is what he said in his introductory remarks:

“So the one thing that I always tell writers is to forget all the rules, to forget all the three act structure, forget all the first turning point, second turning point, all that stuff because all it’s going to do is, you’re going to start figuring out how am I structuring this rather than telling the damn story. And the single most important thing that sells a book is voice.”

Interesting. I know an author’s voice is a main factor in my continuing to read more of their work. That, and characters, but that’s another discussion for another time.

As someone who never studied writing of any kind beyond writing the compulsory essays in English classes, I’ve never given a lot of thought to how things play out as I’m writing.

A lot of time here at TKZ is spent discussing structure. I’m starting to write my 34th novel. Have I given a thought to pinch points, turning points, signposts, mirror moments, calls to action, point of no return?

Nope. Not a single one.

The book will be another Mapleton Mystery. I’ve written about 15,000 words, and I haven’t even finalized the primary crime yet. There’s the B plot, too, with a secondary crime, and I wonder if I should have some kind of structure for that one, too. Since I’m an “organic” writer (fancy term for pantser), I don’t know how long my book will be, so I don’t have a clue where all these structural pieces would have to go as I write. Plus, I’ve found that when I have any kind of a roadmap, I’m in too much of a hurry to get from point A to point B that I leave out the parts that make up my voice.

At about the same time that I heard Dr. Lyle’s advice, I saw a post from another author acquaintance, Neil Plakcy, which piqued my interest. He was willing to share, and I’m quoting him here.

I was the chief judge for the Lilian Jackson Braun award given out by Mystery Writers of America, which led me to read 80 mystery novels, mostly in the cozy range. It was a great education in structure because most of the books followed a particular path.

A young woman suffers a loss in the big city. Maybe she loses her job or is dumped by her boyfriend. Or maybe she’s just generally unhappy and unfulfilled.

She often inherits a house or a store in her hometown, or a small town where she spent summers with a beloved aunt or grandmother.

By the end of the first chapter she’s picked up and moved to that small town. By the end of the first third, someone is murdered. Maybe an old friend is the victim, or the suspect. Maybe she’s even suspected herself. She becomes an amateur sleuth to clear her name or her friend’s, or to bring justice to her lost friend/family member. Along the way she is attracted to the hunky police detective. (Who knew small-town cops were so handsome?)

Maybe he welcomes her help, or maybe he pushes her away. But by the end of the second chunk of the book, she’s put herself in danger.

Eventually she uses her specific knowledge (of books, baking, candles, etc.) to figure out whodunnit.

Where I cared about the characters, I began dreading that second plot point, when she gets in danger. I just wanted the happy ending without the trauma.

That’s what led me to write The Smiling Dog Cafe, because in Japanese-style healing fiction the stakes are low and the sense of community is high. There can be pain and angst, but it’s threaded through the book rather than in a big plot point.

**My note: Based on reviews, I’m thinking there are a lot of readers who agree.

I will say this. In all of my novels and novellas, I’ve yet to have a reader complain or compliment me on the structure of the book. For me, like for Dr. Lyle, I want to tell a story.

I’m curious as to how much readers pay attention to structure when they’re reading. Are you aware of when things are supposed to happen? Do you anticipate them? Does that enhance or hamper the read?

Writers. Do you follow any given structure as you write, or do you go back and deal with it in edits? Or do you just “tell the damn story?”

New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings

Danger Abroad

When breaking family ties is the only option.

Madison Westfield has information that could short-circuit her politician father’s campaign for governor. But he’s family. Although he was a father more in word than deed, she changes her identity and leaves the country rather than blow the whistle.

Blackthorne, Inc. taps Security and Investigations staffer, Logan Bolt, to track down Madison Westfield. When he finds her in the Faroe Islands, her story doesn’t match the one her father told Blackthorne. The investigation assignment quickly switches to personal protection for Madison.

Soon, they’re involved with a drug ring and a kidnapping attempt. Will working together put them in more danger? Can a budding relationship survive the dangers they encounter?

Available now

Like bang for your buck? I have a new Mapleton Bundle. Books 4, 5, and 6 for one low price.

Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”

Villains vs. Antagonists

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by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

 (This post is excerpted from my upcoming craft book, The Villain’s Journey ~ How to Create Villains Readers Love to Hate)

What is the difference between a villain and an antagonist? This question confuses many writers.

In the simplest terms: Villains are antagonists, but antagonists are not necessarily villains.

Antagonists don’t have to be bad guys with evil or malicious intent. They simply stand between the hero and the hero’s quest. They are obstacles the hero must overcome to achieve a goal.

Every genre needs antagonists. Without them, a story falls flat for lack of conflict.

Photo credit: public domain

The antagonist can be:

  • A rival (two suitors vying for the same lover)
  • An opponent (two sports teams fighting for a championship)
  • A competitor (Microsoft vs. Apple)
  • A situation or event (earthquake, volcanic eruption, hurricane, flood, wildfire, pandemic, war)
  • Self-doubt inside the hero.

Here are a few examples of antagonists that don’t have malicious intent.

  • In Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, sharks strip the meat from Santiago’s magnificent marlin. They are hungry, not evil.
  • In Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, Fern’s father isn’t being mean when he picks up an axe to dispatch a runt piglet. He’s a farmer trying to provide for his family.
  • In Sylvester Stallone’s film Rocky, Apollo Creed isn’t wicked. He’s a boxing champ protecting his title against underdog Rocky Balboa. In fact, the two opponents later become friends.

Various Genre Examples of Antagonists:

Romance needs someone or something that keeps the lovers apart.

  • In Romeo and Juliet, parents forbid the lovers from seeing each other.
  • In Casablanca, Rick, Ilsa, and Victor grapple with conflicts of love, loyalty, and duty during war.

Fiction for young readers often teaches life lessons like how to recover from failure, survive family breakups, or develop self-confidence.

  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney spans 19 books about middle-schooler Greg Heffley who suffers bullying, struggles with adolescence, and endures the trials of growing up.
  • Harry Potter begins as a powerless, downtrodden orphan. Through seven books, he discovers and develops his powers as a wizard, using his growing knowledge and strength to vanquish foes and come to terms with death.

Charles Dickens – public domain

Historical fiction captures the conflicts of a particular era.

  • Charles Dickens’s novels address social/political issues like children’s rights (Oliver Twist), revolution (Tale of Two Cities), and judicial reform (Bleak House).
  • John Steinbeck’s novels like Grapes of Wrath and Cannery Row spotlight the effects of the Great Depression.
  • In Winds of War and War and Remembrance, Herman Wouk shows families caught in peril during World War II.

Mainstream fiction is an umbrella term for stories that explore the struggles of the human condition:

  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  • Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
  • The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (features rape and murder therefore could also be considered crime fiction)

Photo credit: NASA

Science Fiction and Fantasy showcase imaginary worlds with unfamiliar, antagonistic  landscapes characters must navigate.

  • J.R.R. Tolkien explores Middle Earth.
  • Harry Potter studies at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
  • Star Trek and Star Wars “go where no man [or woman] has gone before.”

A major challenge for writers is how to characterize a villain without resorting to two-dimensional stereotypes. Snidely Whiplash is fun in cartoons but not all that interesting to crime fiction readers.

Snidely Whiplash

Try reframing the way you look at your villains. Instead of seeing them as evil, think of them first as antagonists. Climb into their skin and see the situation from their point of view.

Most villains feel their behavior, however horrible, is justified. Their reasoning may not make sense to you or me but, to them, it does. They view the hero as a rival, opponent, or competitor who threatens them or stands in the way of what they want or need.

Numerous authors have said, “The villain is the hero of their own story.”

Author Chris Colfer says, “The villain is a victim whose story hasn’t been told.”

Summing up:

Stories require conflict.

Antagonists provide that conflict.

All stories need an antagonist. Not all stories need a villain.

Villains are antagonists, but antagonists are not necessarily villains.

~~~

TKZers: Does your current work in progress have an antagonist or a villain?

As a reader, what do you prefer? Stories with a clearcut villain to boo? Or stories with antagonists who are more difficult to pin down? Or another variation?

~~~

Want to learn more about Debbie Burke’s upcoming book? Click the title for details about The Villain’s Journey ~ How to Create Villains Readers Love to Hate.

What’s A Writer to Do NOW With Social Media?

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Photo by Panos Sakalakis on Unsplash

“Social media is not just an activity; it is an investment of valuable time and resources” —Sean Gardner

***

Every year there are more social media platforms, more opportunities to reach readers, and more confusion. So today I invited Edie Melson, an acknowledged social media expert, to help us cut through the noise surrounding SM so we can use our platforms efficiently and effectively.

***

 

Edie Melson is an award-winning author—and photographer—with numerous books to her credit. She’s a top-tier industry blogger, and sought-after speaker. Her blog, The Write Conversation has been part of the Writer’s Digest Top 101 Sites for Writers since 2017 and has over 6 million unique visitors. She’s also the director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference and is known as a leading professional within the publishing industry. Visit her at EdieMelson.com and through social media.

 

Take it away, Edie!

***

Social media has always been tough—challenging in so many ways. But in the beginning the process at least a little made sense. Updates came out in an orderly fashion, the rules and guidelines were minimal and we were all extremely naïve.

Now it almost seems takes an advanced college degree to understand the inner workings, algorithms, and guidelines necessary to reach the audience. But what if there was a way social media didn’t have to be that confusing and difficult?

I truly believe we’ve been looking at social media upside down—even when it was simpler. Social media was created to be SOCIAL, not sales. Yes, we used it in marketing and found ways to reach thousands. But once the new wore off, the story was the same. Nobody likes a commercial in the middle of their social time.

Beyond that, each platform has had time to grow and develop into unique communities. Because of that, what works on Facebook, may not work on Instagram or X. Once we could create updates and share them everywhere and now they each need to be—at the very least—tweaked to reflect the culture and the etiquette of each platform.

What’s a Writer to Do?

First, we do NOT give up. Although publishers are often more focused on email lists, most still require authors to have vibrant social media communities.

I truly believe there is still a process that works with social media. This answer can help us grow our reach and maintain the interest and loyalty of those who already follow us. This answer is the one thing that has always works, and truthfully I believe it always will. What’s the magic bullet?

Serve your audience.

It’s that simple and that complex. When we provide value for those who read our updates they will continue to share, comment, and read what we put out there. Don’t be put off by the idea of serving and think it’s some time-suck endeavor.

When we provide service—value—to those who follow us, we build loyalty. Even more than that, we prove we truly want to connect—not just sell them something. This builds trust and that opens the door to connections.

What does serving our audience have to do with building readership?

Trust.

Our readers follow us initially for several reasons—from interest in a writer who’s just beginning, to curiosity about author they like, to recommendations from others. They KEEP following us because they get something from us they enjoy—entertainment, information, and interaction. Beyond that, they feel a sense of authenticity from us.

Never forget, the world is full of lonely—skeptical—people.

What Does Serving Our Audience Entail

Serving our audience is as varied and unique as every writer out there. Included in service could be:

  • Links to valuable articles and blog posts
  • Videos and things that bring laughter
  • Insight on daily living
  • Encouragement in the challenges and everyday moments of life

When we serve our audience and give them value, we are also filling up their trust tanks. We give and give and give—and then their trust tanks are full enough for them to give back.

After serving and giving, then we ask. We share about a new project and ask for them to share. We offer a new book and ask for them to consider purchasing. They now trust us and what would have initially felt like a commercial, now feels more like an opportunity.

Looking at social media as a way to serve others definitely helps us as writers. We’re all incredibly weary of the rat race of chasing numbers. By focusing on service we can stop that treadmill and begin a journey leading to more value for everyone.

I truly believe we’ve been looking at social media upside down—even when it was simpler. Social media was created to be SOCIAL, not sales. Yes, we used it in marketing and found ways to reach thousands. But once the new wore off the story was the same. NOBODY likes a commercial in the middle of their social time.

Consider how our goals—and the measurement for reaching those goals—would change if our focus was on simply serving our audience.

  • We would find joy as we see how our words can help and encourage others
  • We would find contentment as we walk in our calling as writers
  • We would find peace as we let go of the things that are not our responsibility

Putting A New Social Media Approach Into Practice

Truthfully, because successful social media is all about relationship building, it works best when we treat it organically. However, because a project is easier to manage with a set of guidelines, here are two:

  • Be consistent.
  • Avoid self promotion.

It’s easy to get caught up in the to do list and forget the point.

They’re not numbers, they’re people.

We even begin to judge the worth of what we have to say by those numbers. Let me remind you why you’re doing what you’re doing. Why you sweat over a keyboard, struggling to find the right word. Why you risk rejection by submitting those carefully crafted words to editors, agents and contest judges.

We’re doing it because we want to make a difference in the world around us—a world made up of people. If all we’re looking for is higher numbers, we’ve missed the point. We’ve set a course that follows certain frustration and ultimate failure. So, if it’s not for the numbers, then what’s the point? Why even bother with social media?

The point is what the numbers represent…the point is the individuals who can be impacted by what we write…challenged by what we say…changed by what we share.

When I get caught up chasing the numbers, the significance of what I’m doing diminishes. But when I step away from the race and concentrate on who I’m writing for and who I’m writing to, things fall back into place.

I’m first and foremost a writer. For me, social media is a tool. It’s the means to an end. It helps me find my audience, serve them, and prove I want what’s best for them. But when I begin to measure my worth as a writer through the numbers of social media, I’ve gotten off course.

Soul Care for Writers

By Edie Melson

The isolation, fear and doubt often associated with writing can bring weariness and discouragement. Soul Care for Writers provides short, practical, creative activities—specifically tailored to writers—to care for your fatigued soul when you are weary, discouraged, and have little time for rest and peace. Although this book is particularly applicable to writers, it can also be effectively used by anyone who finds themselves weary and discouraged.

* * *

So TKZers: What Social Media platforms are you on? How do you use SM to connect with readers and friends?

What is Your Writer’s Mind Like?

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by James Scott Bell
@jamesscottbell

Happy Easter! As the minister once said, “This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Lewis to come forward and lay an egg on the altar.” Not exactly the true meaning, but there you are.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled post.

Hugh Howey, the breakout indie author of Wool (and the Silo series) once described his writer’s mind as “a pack of caffeinated Jack Russell terriers.” Fabulous! I totally get that.

The lyrical hippie satirist Tom Robbins said his mind was “like a pinball machine on acid.” When you read his work, you know that fits perfectly.

My favorite comedian, Steven Wright, said in an interview that he sees the world as a French impressionist painting in the pointillist style of George Seurat. He doesn’t see the big picture; he sees the dots, and finds one here and one over there, different colors, but somehow makes a connection. These he turns into one liners:  “I went to a restaurant that serves breakfast at any time, so I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance.”

I began to wonder how I’d describe my own writer’s mind. It’s not as rowdy as frenzied Jack Russells, nor is it a ring-dinging arcade game fueled by a variety of hallucinogens. It might have a little pointillism from time to time, but mostly it’s like Marty McFly skateboarding in Back to the Future.

One imagines Marty having fun freestyling, but when he has a location to get to he rides with purpose. Sometimes he catches the back of a passing vehicle to pull him along for a while. When he gets to where he’s going, he does a pop-up pickup of the skateboard, and he’s done.

When I develop a project, I like to freestyle, have fun, try things. Soon enough I have a location to shoot for—a plot for a novel, novella or short story. When my idea is sufficiently developed, I latch onto it and it pulls me along as I write. When I’m finished, I pick up the skateboard until such time as I start freestyling again.

I thought it might be fun, in lieu of my Sunday tutorial, to throw this question out to all of you: what metaphor would you use to describe your writer’s mind?

Have at it!