D. J. Runnels — author

Posted 13 hours ago, Credit @makegoodchange.bsky.social

makegoodchange: To all the radical women who have made the world better, especially those women who radicalized me, thank you. Happy International Women’s Day. #women

#InternationalWomensDay #Moms #RadicalWomen

Sphinx and pyramid in Giza, near Cairo, Egypt. I took the photo, framed it, then took a photo of the photo using camera filters. No Gen AI. I put my name on my artwork twice because people tend to steal my work. Not you, though. And I’ve always liked that about you.

Photo of a photo I took in Giza, near Cairo, Egypt. Camera filters used.

When I write fiction, the dead characters continue to affect the live characters and move the story forward. Some would call this a "ghost story." I call this litfic character arcs that propel a layered narrative.— D. J. Runnels

This is why I shouldn’t do my own marketing. #skywriters

You’re not an imposter. Most of what you need to know comes from writing.
The more you write, the more you understand. The better you can articulate. The more confident you become.

Some people will actually try to return a book that they read in its entirety and demand a refund. That’s entitlement on a large scale.

I think it would be very easy to use 2nd person in a short story. But an entire book would be a marvelous achievement.

You’re walking down a hallway and feel you’re being watched. You want to look behind you to confirm this, but you’re afraid of what you’ll find. A serial killer? A deranged schoolteacher holding a syringe?

You turn and see a mob from social media, chastising you for writing in 2nd person POV.

Trying to choose my words carefully here, but there is no delicate way to say it. I think people who haven’t read a lot tend to be more entrenched in what a book “should” be.

Fascinating discourse on 1st person v. 3rd person POV narrative.

Not sure why this issue is so polarizing. I read both. I write both. I love both. Depends on what works for the story.

One day I’ll write something in 2nd person and everyone will be shocked by how much they love it.

#skywriters

Crocuses blooming in my yard, one of the earliest signs of spring in Chicago.

I’m calling it. It’s officially spring in Chicago when the crocuses bloom.

Picture of a typewriter keyboard with the words: My cat and I were awake this morning at both 2 AM and 3 AM simultaneously. —Schrödinger d.j.runnels

So is it Daylight Saving Time?
Or Daylight Savings Time?
I asked Schrödinger and he said it was both.
#skywriters

It had to be. I agree. But I love stories of the Roman Empire and the archaeological ruins that remain.
A fire ruined the sets after season 1, so they had to change their plans to get thru a slightly shortened season 2.

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep..”
OTD, Robert Frost publishes Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” in 1923.

Name a tv show with 2 or less seasons.

One of my favorite series of all time: Rome (2005-2007)

It was posted by someone using the user ID urbanmodernism and it’s marked as having been created on Instagram.

I touch on crucial issues like this in my book Dead Mona. #skywriters
#booksky 📚

When you're besties with Virginia Woolf. (Photo of Virginia Woolf.) I love how Virginia does her hair! omg @d.j.runnels

When you spend enough time reading an author, you start to think of them as your friend. I have soooo many author friends who bring colorful insights into my world, despite being deceased. I miss them. Yet they never argue with me or ignore my texts. #skywriters

I have over 111,000 views in 24 hours from a single post on another platform. So naturally I expect this post will do just as well. Unless... maybe those people didn't realize I was talking about a murder mystery instead of an actual event? I should have made that more clear, I suppose. —d.j.runnels BREAKING NEWS D. J. Runnels goes unhinged 8:14 Supernatural Mvsterv Satire

Oops.
#skywriters

Amazon.com/author/d.j.runnels

Review for Dead Edna by D. J. Runnels It was as though the writer had twisted a kaleidoscope, turning shimmer and glitz into shadow and portent. Suddenly, Dead Edna was much less about Edna and much more about death, and it wasn't funny at all but it was extremely clever and completely compelling because the writer had performed that special alchemy. She had made me care.

Dead Edna by D. J. Runnels Edna knows she's dead, but just can't let it go. She welcomes the new residents of her ghostly home with glee, especially Maggie Pall, who wants to impress her friends by moving into a trendy Chicago neighborhood. But Edna's childish antics clash with Maggie's self-proclaimed social status. Tensions arise as Maggie's husband finds the house creepy. And her surly baseball-obsessed son would rather live in a tent. To make matters worse, Edna begins to fill Maggie's head with longings for a handsome podiatrist. Their Thanksgiving housewarming weekend goes awry when (oops!) someone ends up dead. Now a fumbling police force, a charming ex-husband ad writer and a brash novice lawyer pivot the story into a legal drama. Going home for Thanksgiving reaches a whole new level in this darkly humorous satire of American upper-middle-class greed and lust in pre-social-media 1996.

Summary:

When a married woman has an affair, a million questions race through her mind. My ex-wife told me this. And the questions run something like: Should she leave her husband or tough it out? Is she making more out of the affair than it really is? Or is this new guy the man of her dreams? What if she gets divorced, marries the new guy and-oops!-he turns out to be a wife beater? And what about her ex-husband? Will he be reasonably cool about the whole thing? Or kidnap their children across the Mexican border? And then Maggie said something about murder. Really chilled me… Police car and woman’s red shoe on left. Book cover of Dead Edna by D. J. Runnels on the right. Author photo turned into artwork in upper right corner. No gen AI in the writing, plotting or artwork.

An 18-second opening has convinced many readers to try this book.

#booksky 📚💙
Mystery
Supernatural
Satire
Amazon.com/author/d.j.runnels

Good cake, too!

Drop something RED

Oh, daffodils. Nevertheless…Squeeee!!

Wait, don’t tell me. …Crocuses?! Squeee!!

How I arrived on Bluesky:

How I arrived on Bluesky

How I arrived on Bluesky.

Did you know that famed author John Steinbeck spent over a year in Vietnam during the war? In 1966, the author met a new working class: Hueys, Hercs, and Spooky. His wit is evident in some of the posts. Here are a few excerpts from his book: bit.ly/4ce5gf3

"This is a beautifully written, highly literate, intelligent, entertaining, open-minded, heart-warming book. I recommend it without reservation and would like to see it taught in schools."
✨ mybook.to/moojielitt... 
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@tweety_robin #mustread #booklovers