Registration is now open for January Jumpstart, which kicks off on January 5! There will be daily write-ins to help you reach your goals!
January Jumpstart is open to the entire writing community. Free for SinC Members, $15 for non-members.
Register here: www.sistersincrime.org/events/Event...
Continuing to work on outlining the third book in my Audrey Lake series. I don't usually outline to this extent, but it seems to be going well. I've expanded on the secondary story and discovered that Audrey's father is keeping secrets. Using Plottr app to keep track of it all.
Plotting the next installment of Audrey Lake Investigations series, with the help of some pistachios and a cup of Earl Grey while outside the snow is falling.
Looking for a gift for the mystery reader on your list? My first novel, A Memory of Murder, is on sale through December 1. Both ebook and paperback prices have been reduced. (Kobo version goes on sale 11/28.) www.amazon.com/Memory-Murde...
This week only, I’m offering a Special Strategy Session for mystery/suspense writers!
Give yourself the gift of professional feedback! Check out the details here: plotandpen.com/black-friday/
Retired architect here. I second this. There's no way any of this was done.
If tariffs are the huge income generator like the GOP/Trump claims, that are going to solve all our money problems, then why is the national debt increasing? Where are the fiscal hawks?
govfacts.org/explainer/us...
www.usatoday.com/story/graphi...
I'm a guest on J.H. Jones' blog today, writing about how to bring a skeptical reader into the world of the paranormal. Check it out and leave a comment!
www.jhjones-author.com/post/enginee...
Huh. The leaves are blowing, as is the tree in the background, but the rickety bridge is absolutely still. AI is no substitute for reality.
A hand holding a big hardcover edition of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. A big picture of Dumas is on the cover, a heavyset mixed-race man with bushy curly hair and a mustache, dressed in a coat and waistcoat over a white shirt and black necktie with a watch chain across his belly.
There’s something so satisfying about digging into a big ass book like The Count of Monte Cristo! Three pounds and 1462 pages will last me quite a while. I hope I don't drop it on my foot. #AmReadingClassics #Books
Night Sky on Mars
#nasadailyupdates
Why should I write better when a machine can do it for me? Because actually no one can do it for you, because your voice is unique among all the people on earth. Siri never petted a horse's neck. Alexa has never been ghosted by the captain of the football team. But you have lived, your heart is beating, you have suffered, and you have something important to say. It's a human's job, to use words, and whatever job you give to a machine, that part of your brain goes dark. Maybe it's worth it when it comes to remembering phone numbers and directions, but when that part of your brain that uses words goes dark, that's a vast area that's very close to your soul. Don't let some internet platform convince you that what you have to say and create isn't worthwhile. Words are the echo of your soul. Honing that echo matters.
this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like
Image: Backdrop is a restless ocean, with a transparent blue overlay that blurs the waves. Superimposed on the image are the three versions of my novel, A Vision of Violence. A paperback, an ereader, and a phone all display the cover, which features the silhouette of a woman standing next to the skeleton of an old shipwreck with the ocean in the background.
Ready for your next suspenseful read?
Image: open books, pencils, wadded up pieces of paper, scattered sticky notes, and a blank sheet of paper in the middle. Text: Are you struggling to revise your messy first draft? Is your novel a hot mess of dangling plot threads? Have you read your story so many times you don't know what it's about any more? A coach can help!
A coach can help pull all those loose threads into shape!
Yes there are! 😵💫My books are private eye fiction, leaning toward noir. But I write all the things! I have an epic fantasy novel that I'll revise and release some day, a travel memoir, and I'm currently working on a super hero story.
Image: Scrabble tiles spelling out CRAFT YOUR WORDS. Text: Every artist must master their tools and learn their craft. As writers, our primary tool is language. With this, we build worlds. We stir emotions. We distract from present pain, or we enable someone to feel the pain of another. We inspire the mind. We engage the heart. We paint with all the colors of the imagination, and we do it all in black and white. -- Nichelle Seely, author and book coach
Be proud of yourselves, writers!
Look closely at my picture, you will see Frank's Dune books stacked up in the lower right hand corner! Those are great books. I didn't like the ones written after he died. In SF, I'm currently reading Deceiver (#12 (I think) in C.J. Cherryh's "Foreigner" series) and Red Rising by Pierce Brown.
Do you like crime fiction? I've written a couple of those!😊
A glimpse of three bookcases, double-stacked and totally stuffed with crime fiction, fantasy, and science fiction. Text: And I go la la la la la la I've got the books! (I've got the books!) I've got the books (I've got the books) la la la la la la I'VE GOT THE BOOKS! footnote: sung to the tune of "She's Got the Look" (preferably in the shower because we don't want to scare the children).
Reading is my drug of choice! All the genres, all the authors, all the books. What are you reading now?
#Books #Reading #BookSky #BookShelf
An image of cascading code and colored pixels in shades of blue. Overlaid on the cascade is the ghostly image of a face, also in shades of blue.
No matter how sophisticated the program, an LLM isn't alive. It cannot replace the insight of an actual human. Your story deserves the attention of a real person who is as passionate about your work as you are. Go to plotandpen.com to learn how I can help you write the book you are dreaming off!
eight or so basil plants growing in a plastic container. They are lush and green and smell fantastic.
The basil oasis is going strong! Just about ready for a caprese salad.
Today I'm writing about a topic that I'm passionate about: the author voice. open.substack.com/pub/plotandp...
Text: Today, I'm working on a developmental edit for a romantic suspense novel. Image: a typewritten manuscript page with a red pen lying across the page and various handwritten edits correcting the text.
I'm helping a client with a developmental edit. There’s work to do (there’s always work to do!), but the prose is good, the pacing is solid, and the characters are finely drawn. I see no reason why this novel shouldn’t find its place in the world.
A sales graphic with the cover of A Memory of Murder, which shows the silhouette of a woman standing by the Columbia River at sunset, looking at a building in the distance (the Cannery Pier Hotel) which is constructed on a pier that juts out into the water. In the foreground is a beach studded with wooden pilings. Overhead, the trusswork of a bridge can be seen.
Last day to get A Memory of Murder ebook at 50% off!
As part of the Kobo August Weekend 2025 Sale, the first book in my Audrey Lake Investigations series, A Memory of Murder, is priced at $2.99 for the next five days. If you're looking for a dose of psychic noir, the purchase link is here: books2read.com/u/bw95jY
Check out this post on Karen Doctor's Killer Book Bench blog, featuring my new novel, A Vision of Violence! She features new crime and suspense novels every week, and today she picked me! www.karendocter.com/karens-kille...
By book is featured by Colorado Sisters in Crime! sistersincrimecolorado.org/2025/07/04/a...
Book cover showing the silhouette of a woman standing on the beach at sunset in front of the skeleton of an old shipwreck. Title: A Vision of Violence. Author: Nichelle Seely. Series: Audrey Lake Investigations.
Ready for your next suspenseful read? My new book is available in ebook and paperback. Private investigator Audrey Lake is now working for the public defenders' office, struggling to solve two seemingly unrelated cases. Who is guilty, and who is taking the fall? books2read.com/u/4NJLlG
To follow my Mastodon account, which is more active, go here: fed.brid.gy/bsky/plotand...
If you want me (or anyone else) to follow you from Mastodon, follow this special BlueSky account profile: bsky.app/profile/ap.b...
