Tag Archives: writer’s life

O Writer, Who Art Thou?

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“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” —Oscar Wilde

* * *

Who are you?

The image above is the Road ID bracelet I wear when I go outside for a run. It’s one of those “just in case” things. The little statement at the bottom of the ID says a lot about me, and not just about running. I like to think that I always finish what I start.

Of course, human beings are complicated organisms, and we can’t summarize someone by just a few words. (That would make them flat characters. 😊)

On the other hand, it is fun to find short phrases that shine a light on who we are and what our attitude toward life is, so I went looking for descriptions that might fit some of the people I know. Here are a few I found interesting:

  1. Make a difference
  2. Make somebody’s day
  3. Living the dream
  4. Grateful beyond words
  5. Child of God
  6. Party animal
  7. Dark Horse
  8. Happy Camper
  9. Hard work makes good luck
  10. Challenges make life interesting
  11. Be consistent
  12. Believe in your dreams
  13. Go the extra mile
  14. Give 100%
  15. If it wasn’t hard, why do it

* * *

Who are you as a writer?

What about our approach to writing? I know people who select a single word to focus on throughout a new year. That never appealed to me until a couple of years ago when I decided to give it a try. Now that we’re at the beginning of 2025 with all our writing goals for the year in place, maybe it’s time to select a word or phrase to post above the desk to help us stay focused all year long.

This year I decided to go for a full phrase. It’s one of my favorite pieces of advice: Festina Lente, Latin for Make haste slowly. Although it seems incongruous, the phrase makes perfect sense. Work as hard as you can, but don’t rush through the job. (I wrote a TKZ blog post about Festina Lente a few years ago that explains where the phrase originated and its relationship to writing.)

But I wanted to add a little extra something to my favorite phrase to make it perfect this year, so I used Google translate to find the Latin equivalents of my additions. I printed it out in Algerian font and hung it above my desk.

Festina Lente
Cum
Alacritate,
Gratia, et
Voluntate

Looks impressive, eh? It means Make haste slowly with enthusiasm, gratitude, and determination. If I feel myself moving toward that “things aren’t going the way I want them to” sinkhole, I look at my little sign and remember what I’m supposed to be concentrating on.

* * *

Defining ourselves in just a few words may seem like an academic exercise, but it can also focus our work and attitude on the things that we feel are most important.

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

* * *

So TKZers: What word or phrase would you use to define yourself? Your writing? Do you have a word or phrase to concentrate on during 2025?

 

 

“a spectacular tale of a decades-old murder mystery, human drama, and a hint of romance” —Prairie Book Reviews

Available at  Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play, or Apple Books.

 

Welcome to 2025

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Welcome to 2025
Terry Odell

fireworks above the numerals 2025

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Hello, and Happy New Year TKZers. I have the honor of being the first to post in 2025. I hope you’ve recovered from any celebratory events at your place.

What did I do during the annual TKZ hiatus?

Unlike Mr. Gilstrap, the holidays aren’t a big thing in our household.

I continued my weekly yoga practices. Had a hair salon appointment. Took the dog to the vet for her checkup. Had a massage. All of these are ordinary, everyday type events. Hanukkah began at sundown on December 25th, so while most of you were probably having a Christmas turkey, ham, or whatever, we gathered and had latkes, courtesy of our son. Host has the pleasure of having their house smell like grease for days afterward.

white plate with 5 potato latkes

I brought the requested rugelach, which was a little easier this year because one of my daughters was in town and helped with the assembly.

glass platter of rugelach cookies

**Those of you who are subscribed to my free Substack, “Writings and Wanderings” received the recipes for both of those dishes in my holiday post.

Tonight, we’ll light the last candles.

And I worked. Since my last post of 2024, I added about 25,000 words to the current manuscript.

stack of printed manuscript pages

I also checked with my editor, and I’m on her schedule for February 1st, which means I’ll be busy in January, finishing the draft and then getting it whipped into a shape I’m comfortable sending her.

As I write this, I still have no title or cover image selected, but I’m planning to pick an image from our trip to Copenhagen and the Faroe Islands last August.

Speaking of images, I put together a gallery of my favorite shots of 2024.
**My Substack subscribers have already received that link, too.

The Hubster and I welcomed the New Year in our own traditional fashion. An early dinner (late lunch) out, and then a bottle of bubbly at home for a quiet evening. I can’t remember the last time we managed to stay awake until midnight, and since fireworks are outlawed in our community—in fact, in the entire county with the exception of organized displays—it is a quiet night. If we were so inclined, we could go up the street a hundred yards or so and watch the annual Pikes Peak display, assuming there’s no cloud cover, and it’s not snowing. Or too cold for us. And we managed to be awake. So far, we’ve been here 14 years and have never seen the display. Not even the 9 PM test. Every year a group of climbers ascend the peak to set off fireworks. For them, it’s a two-day ordeal starting the night before when they climb to Barr Camp and spend the night. They climb to the summit the next day, and set off a fireworks display at midnight.

If you want the history and more details, you can find them here.

Note: When we lived in Orlando, we could stand in our driveway and watch the fireworks from the theme parks. It was never cold.

Okay, that’s the holiday summation. What’s next?

A thought has been niggling through my brain as I think about the year ahead. “May you live in interesting times.” I was curious about the origin and meaning of this statement, and I paid a visit to the Google Machine. I found this article at Wikipedia, and I’m blatantly copying and pasting it here. I’ve redacted the footnotes. If you want all the references, you can find the article in its entirety here.

“May you live in interesting times” is an English expression that is claimed to be a translation of a traditional Chinese curse. The expression is ironic: “interesting” times are usually times of trouble.

Despite being so common in English as to be known as the “Chinese curse”, the saying is apocryphal, and no actual Chinese source has ever been produced. The most likely connection to Chinese culture may be deduced from analysis of the late-19th-century speeches of Joseph Chamberlain, probably erroneously transmitted and revised through his son Austen Chamberlain.

Origins

Despite the phrase being widely attributed as a Chinese curse, there is no known equivalent expression in Chinese. The nearest related Chinese expression translates as “Better to be a dog in times of tranquility than a human in times of chaos.” The expression originates from Volume 3 of the 1627 short story collection by Feng Menglong, Stories to Awaken the World.

Evidence that the phrase was in use as early as 1936 is provided in a memoir written by Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen, the British Ambassador to China in 1936 and 1937, and published in 1949. He mentions that before he left England for China in 1936, a friend told him of a Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.”

Frederic René Coudert Jr. also recounted having first heard the phrase in 1936:

Some years ago, in 1936, I had to write to a very dear and honoured friend of mine, who has since died, Sir Austen Chamberlain, brother of the present Prime Minister, and I concluded my letter with a rather banal remark “that we were living in an interesting age”. Evidently he read the whole letter, because by return mail he wrote to me and concluded as follows: “Many years ago I learned from one of our diplomats in China that one of the principal Chinese curses heaped upon an enemy is, ‘May you live in an interesting age.'” “Surely”, he said, “no age has been more fraught with insecurity than our own present time.” That was three years ago.[7]

The phrase is again described as a “Chinese curse” in an article published in Child Study: A Journal of Parent Education in 1943.

“Chamberlain curse” theory

Research by philologist Garson O’Toole shows a probable origin in the mind of Austen Chamberlain’s father Joseph Chamberlain dating around the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Specifically, O’Toole cites the following statement Joseph made during a speech in 1898:

I think that you will all agree that we are living in most interesting times. (Hear, hear.) I never remember myself a time in which our history was so full, in which day by day brought us new objects of interest, and, let me say also, new objects for anxiety. (Hear, hear.)

Over time, the Chamberlain family may have come to believe that the elder Chamberlain had not used his own phrase, but had repeated a phrase from Chinese.

That’s it from me. Any thoughts, traditions, events you’d like to share. The floor is yours.

New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings

Double Intrigue
When your dream assignment turns into more than you bargained for
Cover of Double Intrigue, an International Romantic Suspense by Terry Odell Shalah Kennedy has dreams of becoming a senior travel advisor—one who actually gets to travel. Her big break comes when the agency’s “Golden Girl” is hospitalized and Shalah is sent on a Danube River cruise in her place. She’s the only advisor in the agency with a knowledge of photography, and she’s determined to get stunning images for the agency’s website.
Aleksy Jakes wants out. He’s been working for an unscrupulous taskmaster in Prague, and he’s had enough. When he spots one of his coworkers in a Prague hotel restaurant, he’s shocked to discover she’s not who he thought she was.
As Shalah and Aleksy cruise along the Danube, the simple excursion soon becomes an adventure neither of them imagined.

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.”

#WritingCommunity: Updated Terms to Meta Platforms in 2025

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Have you read Meta’s new terms of service (TOS)? Even if you don’t have an account on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Messenger, or WhatsApp, you may still be bound by its disgraceful overreach.

Many of us—me included—forfeited our right to privacy when we joined social media. What’s the alternative? If authors want to sell books, they need to have an online presence. So, when social media giants like Meta update their TOS, we barely give them a glance.

This time, it’s a mistake to accept or click the box away without reading what rights you’re granting. By using any of Meta’s sites and/or products after Jan. 1, 2025, you will be bound by its new TOS.

Thank God for the writing community’s sharp eyes and willingness to share information. A couple of weeks ago, writer friends warned me of Meta’s update to their terms of service in our “super-secret” author group on Slack.

What is Slack?

If you’re not familiar, Slack is a fantastic app for collaboration—blogmates, writing teams, authors in the same story world or collection, etc.—away from the prying eyes of social media giants. When you post within your designated group, no one but the members have access to your shared information or discussions. Many companies and corporations use Slack to stay in touch with their employees. Using Slack as an author group also saves your email inbox from replies that don’t apply to you. Highly recommend.

Meta’s Overreach

One of the authors in my group brought up the update to Meta’s terms of service. As if Zuckerberg hadn’t collected enough information on us, these new terms violate any right to privacy we had left. And not just while using a Meta platform. Now, we are always bound by their ridiculous terms, on or off Meta, because we have an account on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, or Threads.

Even if you’re not active on social media, you are still bound if you use one of Meta’s products, such as Messenger or Marketplace.

Private or Direct Messages (PMs or DMs) Are Not Private

No online messages are private. You know that, right? Be careful of what you discuss. Big Brother monitors and stores your conversations.

Meta’s new TOS reaches beyond other social media PMs. When you click “accept” to its updated terms, you will grant Meta the right to read your private messages (nothing new) and use, share, copy, or sell, in whole or in part, in any way it wants, including but not limited to, training and developing its AI models.

Content

Any and all content you post to one of its platforms or products will include an automatic license for Meta to use, distribute, share, copy, sell, in whole or in part, in any way it wants, including but not limited to, AI content that may directly compete with you. Doesn’t matter if the content is your intellectual property. By using Meta after Jan. 1, 2025, you will automatically grant them free rein once you upload.

Want to share selfies with your new puppy or a family photo with friends and family? All your photos and videos, including your voice(!) and language, Meta will have the right to copy, share, sell, distribute, or use, in whole or in part, including but not limited to, training its AI models.

AI Features

Meta categorizes AI as a separate license—perhaps to make it more palatable—but is it? Not really. The moment you use any AI feature, like to search Facebook for a friend’s profile—the only search feature available now—you will automatically grant the same license, with no way to opt out. Sure, Meta says you can ask that your content not be used to develop or train AI, but it retains the right to deny your request. The only surefire way to opt out is to delete your content and/or account.

What if You Delete Your Meta Account?

Might not matter. Even if you don’t have an active Facebook, Instagram, Threads, or WhatsApp account, you could still be consenting to Meta’s new TOS if a friend or family member sends you a funny meme or Reel. Once you click that link to view Meta content, these new terms apply to you, effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Other Concerns

Meta admits to using AI but stops short of specifying how it plans to use our content to develop future AI models. This lack of transparency leaves creators vulnerable to their work being exploited.

Do not assume the omission works in your favor. The absence of clear disclosures about AI practices sets a dangerous precedent for big tech. You may think sharing selfies or photos of your children, significant other, or your home isn’t a big deal, but it is. The new AI license allows Meta to exploit you and your family.

Though you retain ownership over your content, Meta’s broad license to “use” it creates a gray area. What prevents Meta from repurposing your photo or video in marketing campaigns? Absolutely nothing.

By continuing to use a Meta platform, you agree to future terms. On Jan. 1, 2025, you will hand Meta a blank check to rewrite the rules at any time without the need to notify you for consent.

The more data Meta collects, the stronger its stranglehold on users. Nothing prevents Meta from selling your information to data brokers that will learn almost everything about you from your content, language, behavior, and so-called private messages. They in turn, sell your data to advertising markets. Or worse, use it to train AI without compensation or your consent.

I wouldn’t dare post a novel excerpt in 2025. I used to create video excerpts of all my books, which worked great as a marketing strategy. Now, finding all that old content on Meta will be a near-impossible feat. Even though I posted the video excerpts prior to Jan. 1, 2025, the new terms will supersede the old.

What’s a writer to do? Suggestions welcome! 

Did you read Meta’s new TOS? Will you continue to use Facebook, Instagram, or Threads in 2025? Does anyone use WhatsApp? Can’t imagine it’d be helpful for authors. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

When you’ve worked for years to gain a following on one or more of Meta’s platforms, it is not an easy decision to delete your account. What alternatives do we have? Blogging, Substack, or Medium, I suppose.

Anyone use BlueSky?

I’ve heard mixed things about it. Most say, it’s comparable to X-Twitter, not Facebook. BlueSky claims “it offers a more decentralized, user-controlled experience with fewer ads and a cleaner interface, making it ideal for those who prioritize privacy and community.” However, it still lags behind X-Twitter in terms of features and user base.

The mere thought of building another audience from scratch exhausts me. How ’bout you?

 

 

When Characters Get Together

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When Characters Get Together
Terry Odell

As writers, we spend a lot of time with our characters. But what do they think of us?

Open book in a forest reading The Other Side of the Page When I finished writing FINDING SARAH, the characters, Randy and Sarah, wouldn’t leave me alone. I ended up writing a sequel, HIDDEN FIRE.

At the time, I belonged to an online writing group, and every Monday there was a writing challenge. Often, it included using specific words or putting a character in a particular situation. For fun, I decided to  incorporate some of the “behind-the-scenes” aspects of being a writer, which I recounted in THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PAGE. I hope you’ll enjoy this peek.

The Other Side of the Page

“You know, I’m getting sick of just sitting around here at the mercy of my writer,” Sarah complained. She squirmed, trying to get comfortable on a fallen log. “Look at me. Stuck out here in the woods in the middle of the night, freezing my ass off in a wedding dress while she tries to figure out how to have Randy find me and save me from that creep.”

“Hey, who are you calling a creep?” Chris popped out from behind a nearby tree and sat on the ground next to Sarah. “It’s not like any of this was my idea. And all that perverted sex stuff. What baloney. Hey, I like women. Women like me. I had no problems with women until she decided she needed a nastier villain.”

“Oh, be quiet you two.” Maggie appeared in the clearing, bundled in a heavy parka. “I’ve got some hot tea in this thermos and cookies in my backpack. And a blanket for you, Sarah, since she’s managed to have you lose yours. Maybe she won’t notice.”

“Thanks, Maggie,” Sarah said. She pulled the blanket around her shoulders, wrapped her hands around the cup of tea Maggie had poured for her and tried to keep her teeth from chattering so she could take a sip. “Mmm. What kind of tea is this?”

“How the hell should I know? I just bought some cheap tea bags and added boiling water. All those fancy teas Terry keeps writing for me—what a crock. I would have brought some booze but I was afraid you-know-who,” she glanced skyward, “might notice if you got drunk.”

“Shhh!” Chris said. “I think I hear the keyboard clattering again. God knows what she’ll have us do next.”

“I’m out of here then,” Maggie said. “I’m not in this scene and I don’t want to be, thank you very much. Finish that tea, Sarah, and hide the thermos. If she finds it, you’re in big trouble.” As quickly as she had arrived, Maggie scurried away.

Sarah gulped the rest of the tea and tossed the cup behind a tree trunk. “Get out of here too, Chris. You’re not supposed to find me yet, although I must say, I wish you would. I saw her looking up hypothermia on the Internet and I’m afraid I’m going to be in bad shape.”

“Sorry about that. But at least you’re the heroine. She can’t really harm you. I hope she doesn’t have a shootout planned for me. I don’t think she has a clue that I’m a crack shot and she’ll have my brains blown out instead.”

Sarah jerked upright. “What’s that? Did you hear something? An animal? You don’t think there are bears out here, do you?”

“Bears?” He shook his head. “No. Maybe an owl. She’s not going to put anything out here that will hurt you. Hang in there—I’m sure she’ll bring me back before that beanpole cop finds you. She’s got him stuck in Pine Hills all exhausted and frustrated.”

Sarah wrapped herself in the blanket and watched Chris disappear into the darkness. This character business wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. When she’d answered the ad, she thought it would be fun—be the heroine of a romance novel. Ha! Aside from one really great night with Randy, it had been one disaster after another. Now here she was, stuck in the woods, waiting around to see what her writer could possibly come up with next.

At least it ought to start happening soon. Chris had been right—the keyboard was clattering at a rapid pace.

Without warning, a calico kitten appeared from underneath a nearby log and climbed into Sarah’s lap.

“What the—?”

A voice from above echoed through the trees. “Hey, I can’t help it. This week’s writing class assignment is a killer. I have to use specific phrases in a story, and they’re all unrelated. They gave us six to choose from. I have to use three of them.”

“Let me guess,” Sarah said. “One choice was ‘calico kitten’, right?”

“Right. Now I need two more. Hmm. Untied sneakers won’t work—Chris already took yours away. Same goes for wool socks. Mouthwash? No, that won’t fit. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to dream about herb-roasted potatoes or feta cheese before you pass out from the cold, would you?”

Sarah sighed. “I’m at your mercy, Terry.” She closed her eyes and conjured up a vision of a five-course dinner including the requisite foodstuffs. “But how hard would it have been to use the wool socks instead of the damn cat?”

Ah, but where’s the challenge in that!

OK, TKZers. What are your characters doing when you’re not around?

New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings

Double Intrigue
When your dream assignment turns into more than you bargained for
Cover of Double Intrigue, an International Romantic Suspense by Terry Odell Shalah Kennedy has dreams of becoming a senior travel advisor—one who actually gets to travel. Her big break comes when the agency’s “Golden Girl” is hospitalized and Shalah is sent on a Danube River cruise in her place. She’s the only advisor in the agency with a knowledge of photography, and she’s determined to get stunning images for the agency’s website.
Aleksy Jakes wants out. He’s been working for an unscrupulous taskmaster in Prague, and he’s had enough. When he spots one of his coworkers in a Prague hotel restaurant, he’s shocked to discover she’s not who he thought she was.
As Shalah and Aleksy cruise along the Danube, the simple excursion soon becomes an adventure neither of them imagined.

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.”

Every Book is Different

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Every Book is Different
Terry Odell

There are no hard and fast ‘rules’ about how to write a novel. There are plotters who spend months writing detailed outlines. There are those who have a plot in mind. There are those who have to dive into the lives of their characters before they can put fingers to keyboard. There are those who write the first draft longhand. An author friend has to have a picture of her hero before she can start. Others need a title. Some write scenes on note cards. Some write them using plotting/writing software. And some write a sentence, see where it goes, then write another, and another, and another.

When I was still regarding writing as a fun thing to do, I joined a local chapter of RWA on the advice of others who said I’d learn about more than just writing a romance. My first meeting, there was a lot of talk about how to map out a story board for the typical 20 chapter category romance.

I knew I wasn’t writing a category romance, but the idea of blocking out 20 blank boxes on a foam core board or a poster board looked interesting. I went to my local craft store, bought a package of 3 foamcore boards, and marked them into 20 sections. I managed to have a rough idea of what should happen in the first 3 chapters, and then everything fizzled. Detailed plotting wasn’t going to work for me.

Since I write in a deep point of view, I need to know my characters. But interviewing them in depth before starting to write seemed like a waste of precious writing time. I didn’t need to know what they looked like until I had to describe them. Or what their favorite song, food, color, or astrological sign was. We’re not writing on stone tablets, so we can go back and make adjustments as needed.

For “Seeing Red”, I’d always wanted to use the line “He’s dead, Jim.” So, I wrote that and kept going. It didn’t end up being the first line in the book, but it gave me a start.

In another, I had an idea for my opening “gambit” in a Blackthorne novel, but when I did a little research, I discovered something that had me abandoning the original premise for the main plot of the book. I had one book where the title came first. I’d finished my first novel, and decided I kind of liked the gig, so I wanted to try another. I created a file folder called “Starting Over” which ended up being the title of the book (since changed after I got the rights back).

I’m writing my thirty-somethingth novel. Yes, someday I should go to my website’s book page and count them, but for me it’s just “Write the next book” and don’t worry about giving it a number. I’ve used numerous approaches.

What’s my method? This one’s a total jumble. I knew it would be a Blackthorne, which gave me a rough framework. I knew it would be someone from the Security and Investigations Department, not Covert Ops. Because it was a Blackthorne, it would be a romantic suspense (or, as I prefer to call it, a “mystery with a relationship”). I also knew that it would be set in Copenhagen and the Faroe Islands. Not because I couldn’t wait to set a book there, but because—and I’ve done this a few times before—I’d gone there on a photography trip and writing a book expands that photography trip into a research trip.

I opened a Word document and stared at the blank page for a while. All I knew at this point was I had an investigator who had to get to Copenhagen. I came up with this:

The vibration of Logan Bolt’s cell phone gave him a welcome excuse for a break from his run. He debated waiting until he’d finished—only two miles to go—but the ringtone said the call was from Ryan Harper. His boss at Blackthorne, Inc. Logan slowed to a jog, then a walk, then extricated the phone from the belt at his waist.

Not much, but I had a character who was interrupted by a call from his boss. Usually not a good thing.

And then the questions, the whys and what ifs began.

Often, I’d write the questions on paper, where I could draw circles and arrows and a paragraph about each one, but this time, I opened another document and jotted things down there. It looked like this:

Hero:
Investigator, Logan Bolt
Not covert ops. Security and Investigations
Boss – Ryan Harper
Limited language experience. Born in the US
Why in Copenhagen? Connection?
Lots of bicycles
Little mermaid statue
Castles/history
R&R after injury on op? Mental fatigue?
Visiting relatives/friends?
Grandmother dying? Sister? Grandmother used in Cruising Undercover.
Where are his parents?
Blackthorne mission?
Find and bring back daughter of political bigwig? Industrialist?
Father? Mother? Alive? Dead?
Siblings?

Heroine:
Madison Bright Westfield
She holds secret? Someone wants it?
Running away?
Kidnapped?
Tracked to Copenhagen or Faroes? Schengen area; passports not needed to get from one to another member country
No desire to support her father’s/family’s business(es). Diametrically opposed to what they stand for.
Changed her name to avoid connection?
Conservationist? Puffin tie-in?
Photography tie-in?
Has to get to Faroes. Why?
Mykines – puffins
Sudoroy – southernmost island. Ferry.

I started writing, answering some of these questions. I’d written five chapters before I realized I hadn’t put the heroine on the page yet, and since I write my romantic suspense books with alternating hero/heroine POV scenes, I gave myself a quick mental head slap and wrote her first scene. Where will it go? I’m not sure, but I think it might belong as Chapter 1. And I’ll need more scenes from her POV, which means I’m—gasp—writing out of order. I don’t do that. Until I do.

What about you, TKZers? Do you have a ‘tried and true’ method for writing, or does it change from book to book?

New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings

When your dream assignment turns into more than you bargained for
Cover of Double Intrigue, an International Romantic Suspense by Terry Odell Shalah Kennedy has dreams of becoming a senior travel advisor—one who actually gets to travel. Her big break comes when the agency’s “Golden Girl” is hospitalized and Shalah is sent on a Danube River cruise in her place. She’s the only advisor in the agency with a knowledge of photography, and she’s determined to get stunning images for the agency’s website.
Aleksy Jakes wants out. He’s been working for an unscrupulous taskmaster in Prague, and he’s had enough. When he spots one of his coworkers in a Prague hotel restaurant, he’s shocked to discover she’s not who he thought she was.
As Shalah and Aleksy cruise along the Danube, the simple excursion soon becomes an adventure neither of them imagined.

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.”

Redux: Can Multitasking Harm the Brain?

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When I realized Labor Day landed on my Monday, I panicked. I’m in the middle of packing, as I write this, and have nothing prepared. Hence the redux of an older post but one that still pertains to all of us. For those who celebrate, hope you’re enjoying a fun and safe holiday weekend!

Writers need to multitask. If you struggle with multitasking, don’t be too hard on yourself. The brain is not wired to complete more than one task at peak level. A recent study in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience showed when we’re concentrating on a task that involves sight, the brain will automatically decrease our hearing.

“The brain can’t cope with too many tasks: only one sense at a time can perform at its peak. This is why it’s not a good idea to talk on the phone while driving.” — Professor Jerker Rönnberg of Linköping University, who conducted the study.

The results of this study show that if we’re subjected to sound alone, the brain activity in the auditory cortex continues without any problems. But when the brain is given a visual task, such as writing, the response of the nerves in the auditory cortex decreases, and hearing becomes impaired.

As the difficulty of the task increases—like penning a novel—the nerves’ response to sound decreases even more. Which explains how some writers wear headphones while writing. The music becomes white noise.

For me, once I slide on the headphones, the world around me fades away. I can’t tell you the number of times a family member has strolled into my office, and I practically jump clean out of my skin. Don’t be surprised if someday they kill me by giving me a heart attack. But it isn’t really their fault. I’m in the zone, headphones on, music blaring, my complete attention on that screen, and apparently, my brain decreased my ability to hear.

Strangely enough, I don’t listen to music while researching. When I need to read and absorb content, I need silence. This quirk never made sense to me. Until now.

Have you ever turned down the radio while searching for a specific house number or highway exit?

Instinctively, you’re helping your brain to concentrate on the visual task.

Research shows that our brains are not nearly as good at handling multiple tasks as we like to think they are. In fact, some researchers suggest multitasking can actually reduce productivity by as much as 40% (for everyone except Rev; he’s a multitasking God). Multitaskers have more trouble tuning out distractions than people who focus on one task at a time. Doing many different things at once can also impair cognitive ability.

Shocking, right?

Multitasking certainly isn’t a new concept, but the constant streams of information from numerous different sources do represent a relatively new problem. While we know that all this “noise” is not good for productivity, is it possible that it could also injure our brains?

Multitasking in the brain is managed by executive functions that control and manage cognitive processes and determine how, when, and in what order certain tasks are performed. According to Meyer, Evans, and Rubinstein, there are two stages to the executive control process.

  • Goal shifting: Deciding to do one thing instead of another
  • Role activation: Switching from the rules for the previous task to the rules for the new task (like writing vs. reading)Moving through these steps may only add a few tenths of a second, but it can start to add up when people repeatedly switch back and forth. This might not be a big deal if you’re folding laundry and watching TV at the same time. However, where productivity is concerned, wasting even small amounts of time could be the difference between writing a novel in months vs. years.

Multitasking Isn’t Always Bad

Some research suggests that people who engage in media multitasking, like listening to music through headphones while using a computer, might be better at integrating visual and auditory information. Study participants between the ages of 19 and 28 were asked to complete questionnaires regarding their media usage.

The participants completed a visual search task both with and without a sound to indicate when the item changed color. Heavy multitaskers performed better when sound was presented, indicating they were more adept at integrating the two sources of sensory information. Conversely, heavy multitaskers performed worse than light/medium multitaskers when the tone was not present.

I can attest to that. If I don’t have my headphones on, chances are I won’t hit my writing goals that day. I’ve conditioned my brain to focus when the music starts. And I store a spare set of headphones in case mine break. Learned that little lesson the hard way.

“Although the present findings do not demonstrate any causal effect, they highlight an interesting possibility of the effect of media multitasking on certain cognitive abilities, multisensory integration in particular. Media multitasking may not always be a bad thing,” the authors noted.

How can writers multitask and still be productive?

  • Limit the numbers of things we juggle to two (*laughter erupts in the audience*)
  • Use the “20-minute rule.” Instead of constantly switching between tasks, devote your full attention to one task for 20 minutes before switching to the next task.

What do you think about these studies? How well do you multitask?

Because of my holiday plans, I may be late responding to comments, but don’t let that stop you from sharing your thoughts.

Reader Friday-Those Olden Golden Days

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“Back in the olden days . . .”

I have a relic of the past in my possession. It was given to me by my mother on the occasion of my wedding day in 1974. I don’t even know if they are made anymore, and if they are, does anyone buy them?

The funny thing is this: I’ve always hated anything to do with sewing, but I hang on to this. It still contains needles and thread lurking in its depths. And I still use it . . . but only if I absolutely have to, because I still hate everything sewing.

But when I do (have to) lift the lid, I see my mother’s beaming smile as I opened her special gift to me fifty years ago. I think that’s the real reason I keep it.   🙂

What do you have in your possession that reminds you of the Olden Golden Days? Has it ever popped up in your   writing? Tell us about it.

 

Life Lessons from Geese to Writers

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The title of this post is not a play on words. As I might’ve mentioned a time or two, we can learn a lot from animals.

This time, the life lessons come from one of our feathered friends. Or enemies, if you’re Canadian. Winking at you, Garry!

Achieving Together

Geese fly farther together than apart. When a goose flaps their wings, it creates lift for the geese that follow, making it easier for the whole flock to fly. By flying in V formation, the whole flock adds 72% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.

If a goose falls out of formation, they feel the resistance of flying alone and quickly retake their position to benefit from the lifting power of the group.

Lesson: We are all part of the same community (if you missed my post re: writing community etiquette, find it here). By working together — accepting and giving help to one another — we move closer to reaching our goals faster than if we traveled this road alone.

Collective Responsibility

Geese understand they all have a responsibility to take their turn to lead the formation. When the lead goose tires, it moves back into formation and another goose flies to the front to take its place.

Lesson: Like geese, we depend on each other’s skills, capabilities, experience, opportunities, and resources. When everyone plays their part and shares experiences, skills, and/or challenges, like we do here on TKZ, it benefits others in our community.

How many writers have honed their craft from this blog over the last 13 years? My hand’s raised. Is yours?

The Power of Positivity

When in flight, geese in the back formation honk to encourage those at the front to keep up their speed. Basically, they’re cheering them on.

Lesson: This positive reinforcement is a reminder to us all to give praise and kindness to one another. If one of us succeeds, we all should celebrate. If someone falls, we should be there to pick them up, dust them off, and encourage them to keep going — perseverance wins the race!

Support Every Individual

The instinct to care and protect is ingrained in every goose. The care of the flock is a fundamental need. When a goose is sick or wounded, two geese will drop out of formation and follow him/her to the ground to offer help and protection until they can fly again. The trio will then add their numbers to another formation or catch up to their flock.

Lesson: Though we write alone at the keyboard, we also need the care and attention of others in our community to help us get to where we want to go. So, support your fellow writers. They are your tribe, not your competition.

10 Fun Facts About Geese

(that have nothing to do with the point of this post 😉 )

  1. As goslings, geese will bond with the first suitable moving stimulus, no matter if it’s a goose, person, or object. They remain dedicated to that goose, person, or object as their surrogate parent throughout their lives.
  2. Geese are highly social animals. If they are raised around other livestock and fowl, they usually get along well with them.
  3. Goose is the term for female geese. Male geese are called ganders. A group of geese on land or in water are a gaggle, while in the air they’re called a skein.
  4. Geese eat seeds, nuts, grass, plants, and berries.
  5. They are the largest waterfowls, the other being swans. Though geese are waterfowls, they spend most of their time on land.
  6. Geese are loyal. They mate for life and are super protective of their partners and offspring.
  7. Geese grieve the loss of their partners and offspring. So, don’t shoot them for fun!

Ahem. Moving on…

  1. Geese enjoy preening their feathers, foraging for food in the grass, and collecting twigs, bark, and leaves to make home improvements to their nests.
  2. Geese form strong attachments and affection for others in their group.
  3. Because of their loyalty and love, geese make excellent guard dogs. The internet is filled with golfers who learned this the hard way. LOL

The next time you witness geese (or other birds) flying in formation, think about your fellow writers — fellow humans. Sometimes all it takes is a kind word to make someone’s day. With all the anger and hatred in the world, be the lift they need.

*I’m out of town today, and will respond to comments when I get home tomorrow.

Where Does My Book Belong?

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Where Does My Book Belong?
Terry Odell

a wall of bookshelves full of books with a big question mark

Back in the days before I even gave writing a passing thought, my reading tastes ran to mystery and science fiction. Later, when I was toying with writing an original piece, I headed for the mystery genre. My daughters, who were reading sections as I wrote them, told me it was a romance. What? I’d never read a romance. Later, I learned there were sub-genres of romance, and one, dubbed romantic suspense, was included under the romance umbrella. I’m still irked that they didn’t call it romantic mystery because suspense is a different sub-genre under the mystery umbrella. I asked, and was told that the powers that be had decided to lump all mystery sub-genres together in the romantic suspense category.

For the record, writing a Romantic Suspense, be it mystery, suspense, thriller, police procedural or any other mystery genre, means you’re effectively writing two stories, with two protagonists who are almost equals, each with their own character arc. They can be working together or in competition, but they have their own GMCs. Not easy!

Readers of any romance genre bring their own expectations, and if there’s “romance” anywhere in the book description, they want—at the very least—a promise of a Happily Ever After. Of course, you have to solve the mystery, too. Or, in the case of my Blackthorne, Inc. novels, which are “action adventure romance”, you have to catch the bad guys.

Readers in bookstores—or libraries—gravitate to the shelves that hold the genres they’re looking for. When I was shopping my first true mystery, Deadly Secrets, it was turned down because the publisher wouldn’t know how to categorize it. Yes, it was a police procedural, but it had a “cozy” feel, and I was told to pick one, rewrite, and resubmit, or submit something else that fit their cubbyholes.

I was fortunate with the timing for this one—indie publishing had just become a thing, and I could publish it myself. Which I did.

Of course, all publishers, be they indie or traditional, have to fill out categories and keywords for their books. Something to let readers know what to expect. But ebook publishers can choose more than one category, because the shelves in online bookstores are almost infinite. You no longer have to be a huge best seller to warrant shelf space in two departments (think JD Robb, whose books can be found on both the romance and mystery shelves in brick and mortar stores).

When I returned from my trip through the British Isles, I thought I’d write a simple romance. (Motivation—write off the cost of the trip.) It didn’t take me more than a few chapters to realize I had to include mystery elements. The category romance genre (think Harlequin) wasn’t working for me.

Now, I’m writing a novel, Double Intrigue, set on a Danube River cruise. (Same motivation as above). As with Heather’s Chase, the book set in the British Isles, my intention is to subtitle it “An International Mystery Romance,” thus connecting these two books.

Here’s my dilemma. My main characters are not law enforcement by any stretch of the imagination. Not even amateur sleuths. Their relationship begins simply as two people who meet on a cruise. Their goals are completely different. One, Shalah, is a travel agent who’s got her big chance to prove herself and move up in the company she works for by documenting her trip so the agency can sell the itinerary.

The other main character, Aleksy, is from Prague, and he’s involved in some shady doings in the art world.

Because I’ll be including “romance” in the metadata, their attraction must end up fulfilling a romance reader’s expectation, which, in this case, is a promise of that HEA. I don’t wrap up my books with 2 kids, a dog, and a white picket fence.

Aleksy appears to be in line to succeed the current head of the “institute,” but does he want to continue doing what he’s spent his life doing? Is the institute on the verge of being discovered for what it really is? Would he be arrested? Is his best option to get off the cruise ship and disappear?

Oh, and then there’s the “twins separated at birth” trope that shows up, too. Contrary to expectations, Shalah and her newly found sister aren’t getting along well.

What about the “mystery” angle? Can I even call it a mystery? There’s no crime being solved on the page. No cops or detectives as major players. What other shelves could it fit on?

How would you classify this book, TKZers?

One more thing. Speaking of travel, I’m leaving Sunday for a trip to the Faroe Islands. It’s a photography workshop. Maybe I can come up with an idea for another book. And another tax write off. And some more “Wanderings” posts for my new Substack. This week, it’s about my trip to Croatia.

How can he solve crimes if he’s not allowed to investigate?
Gordon Hepler, Mapleton’s Chief of Police, has his hands full. A murder, followed by several assaults. Are they related to the expansion of the community center? Or could it be the upcoming election? Gordon and mayor wannabe Nelson Manning have never seen eye to eye. Gordon’s frustrations build as the crimes cover numerous jurisdictions, effectively tying his hands. Available now in ebook, paperback, and audio.
Like bang for your buck? I have a new Mapleton Bundle. Books 4, 5, and 6 for one low price.
New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings
Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”

How Much Does Your Environment Influence Your Writing?

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You may have noticed my absence on the weekends lately. This summer, I vowed to take some “me time” and have fun away from the keyboard.

So, I’ve been spending my weekends on the seacoast of Massachusetts. I grew up two towns over from where I’m staying, so the area will forever have a special place in my heart.

When I first started writing, I focused on children’s books. Once I left the seacoast, I stopped writing for many years. Life, work, and bills got in the way. It wasn’t until I moved to New Hampshire that the writing bug bit me again. This time with a focus on thrillers. During my career, I’ve written psychological thrillers, ventured into true crime/narrative nonfiction, then combined my lifelong passion for wildlife conservation and veered into eco-thrillers, the genre I write in now.

As I stood on the seacoast that first weekend, staring at the same view of the Atlantic Ocean from my youth and young adulthood, I had an overwhelming desire to write children’s books again. With the wisdom and knowledge of life experience behind me, I decided to use the same theme as in my eco-thrillers only geared toward young, impressionable minds — Animals are guardians of ecosystems and caretakers of Mother Earth, but they can’t do their job if we keep destroying their environment (or hunting them to extinction).

*Side note: theme should organically emerge from the storyline. No one wants or needs the writer to stand on a soapbox. Let the characters actions and reactions reveal the theme.

The following weekend I outlined the story from start to finish, the salt air and melodic melody of waves powering my desire to help future generations by delivering an exciting plot with animal characters they can relate to, learn from, and love. When I drove home on Monday morning, and the seacoast vanished from my rearview, my mind reverted to action-packed eco-thrillers and vigilante justice.

A longtime friend asked how I could make the switch from kids to adults so easily. My response? Location.

The question made me wonder if other writers experience this.

How much does our environment influence the stories we write?

Would you write in the same genre if you lived in a different area?

If you’d stay in the same genre, would a different environment change the type of characters you create?

Lastly, if I hadn’t written children’s books when I lived on the seacoast, would the Atlantic Ocean propel me to write them now?

Maybe, maybe not.

After I wrote the first draft of a wild and fun adventure for kids, I researched some of these questions. And here’s what I found.

From the Ripple Foundation:

         Your environment directly affects different aspects of your writing, from your style to the topics you write about. Through experience, your surroundings, such as location, atmosphere, and culture play a significant role in your writing. 

            Writing is an artistic medium which can change based on the environment you are writing in… Writing in places where you may have emotional and cultural ties can help you easily communicate your feelings. 

That certainly held true for me.

            The ambience of your environment is a powerful characteristic that can affect your writing. Your brain constantly picks up information from your surroundings, and your senses affect your thinking. Things like air temperature, environment, weather, and odours are processed subconsciously by you.

The human brain never ceases to amaze me. Salt air and the ambiance of the Atlantic reignited my passion to write for children.

From Brainly.ph…

         The environment in which a writer lives can shape their perspective, attitudes, beliefs, and values, which can, in turn, influence the themes and messages in their literary works. For example, the Romantic poets were heavily influenced by the natural beauty of their surroundings, and their works often reflected their appreciation of nature and the importance of individual experience.

The physical environment of a region can also influence the literature that emerges from it. For instance, writers living in harsh, rural environments may draw on their experiences of hardship and survival to create stories about resilience and perseverance.

From Princeton.edu…

         Scholars of great literature often are intrigued by questions that lie outside the pages of the text. For English professor Diana Fuss, one question that consumed her was: Where did my favorite writers write?

To find the answers, Fuss wrote “The Sense of an Interior: Four Writers and the Rooms That Shaped Them,” a study of the living and writing spaces of four well-known authors.

In the book, Fuss described the smoky ambiance of Sigmund Freud’s consulting room, the view from Emily Dickinson’s bedroom window, the inhospitality of Helen Keller’s house, and the claustrophobic atmosphere of Marcel Proust’s bedroom. The purpose of the book was to understand how the writers experienced their writing spaces.

“When these figures inhabited these domestic interiors, what were they seeing, hearing, smelling and touching?” Fuss said. “What was the full sensory experience of inhabiting that space, and how did the domestic interior shape the acts of introspection that took place there?”

Fuss noted that Proust, who suffered from asthma, lived in a cork-lined room with heavy drapes to keep out natural light and air. The author of “Remembrance of Things Past,” a work suffused in sensory experience, “found it necessary to suspend the senses in order to write about them,” according to Fuss.

Her findings corrected some misconceptions. Dickinson, for example, has long been portrayed as a helpless agoraphobic trapped in a dark, coffin-like room in her father’s house. When in fact, Dickinson’s corner bedroom had the best light and views in the entire house.

“It was a room that invested her with scopic power,” Fuss said. “Far from being confined in her room, she in fact was a kind of family sentinel.”

TKZers, let me ask you the question I posed earlier.

How much does your environment influence the stories you write? If you’ve resided or spent an extended period elsewhere, did you write in the same genre? How did your stories change, if it all?