Bookcast Episode 59: A Shortie but Goodie!

DL White [00:00:01]:

Good morning! Or afternoon or evening depending on whatever time you may be listening to this podcast, but it's morning here, so I'm saying good morning like a polite individual. Welcome. Welcome. Shout out to all the people who now need a shout out at the beginning of every episode. My good friend Kaye, I forgot she listens to the podcast. The Jason Graham, the great Jason Graham, Who he said he's a tease. You know, he's a tease. Like, he might have something pop up like a like a short or like a, you know, like a A snip and he, like, you won't just post, hey, there's a short.

DL White [00:00:46]:

He's just he's real sneaky about it, so you kinda Gotta have your eyes open around Jason Graham. But, I've been so impressed with the growth in his writing. He is doing the damn thing, so just wanted to give him a quick shout out and say hey. Also, I wanna dedicate this entire episode to Ty, who we know as Built by Creatives. Last week he said he was upset that he did not get a shout out on the podcast that he has never listened to in his life until last week, so I just podcast. I am deeply sorry, all of the apologies. Yeah. Just know I may never mention you again, Ty, pod, but, this entire podcast is dedicated to you.

DL White [00:01:29]:

I create it for you even though you didn't know about it and had never listened to it before. We we joke that Ty is my co author, on all of my books. Yeah, he's co author. He's not credited at all, But I don't credit him because he threatens to write my books with ChatGPT. And, like, I don't know if you guys ever used ChatGPT, but it's not good. Like, pod. I'm kind of not I don't understand what people are afraid of because if you write your books with any kind of flare or bend or, like, the slightest bit not happy go lucky, up sappy, random, bland pod flavor, it won't it just it won't it will just refuse to write it. So, I don't know, I just, there's there's There's nothing about ChatGPT that makes me wanna write a book with Ty, but, hello, Ty.

DL White [00:02:27]:

Welcome to the podcast. Happy to have you here. I am DL White. I am author of contemporary southern and romantic fiction novels featuring black men and women. I'm also I'm a big fan of books, so we usually begin with a book report and then we talk about writing. I'm currently working on a little dessert project that is making me very happy and that's a tall order for me these days. That's a project that I'm doing just for fun, For the love of writing, I can't sell it legally, I cannot sell it and so, it's just all about the joy of writing and hoping that people love it. For me that is fan fiction and I'm working on a piece for our writing challenge that begins Tuesday at the fan fiction archive that I run.

DL White [00:03:12]:

I'm very nervous about it. It's been a minute since I wrote, a longish serial story, And this is in a different genre than I usually write, so it is a challenge. But, you know, I'm I'm enjoying it. We'll talk more about that in the writing update. Pod. I'd love your support of this podcast. If you would like to, please head to my support site at buymeacoffee.com/ Books by d l White, there you can offer a one time or recurring monthly gift. I am already most grateful for your support.

DL White [00:03:44]:

Books on sale this month payhip.com/booksbydlwhite has a blog post with links to books that are on sale this month. I I Told my writing pals I've had a book on sale or free every month since, like, June, and, it's unusual for me, but I kind of I like to participate in things, I wanna get my name out there, I want, like, you know, to put my books in more hands and more eyes on my work and that involves, like, being a part of giveaways and blitzes and events. So this month I'm participating in the cavalcade of authors. That event is running the 13th through 15th, so yes, right now. Lots of good books to download in lots So different genres, a lot of them black authors. I'll pop up a link on where to find all of the books if you're on your new on my newsletter. I sent out a link to that yesterday, so dig that out of your spam box and click on the link. There's also, Leslie's Curl and Die in audiobook is also on sale for 99¢.

DL White [00:04:47]:

It's normally like 11.99, something like that. I like it to be cheaper than an audible credit, so I keep it I keep it relatively cheap, but it's never 99¢ box, usual price. So, it's on sale for 99¢ at select retail sites and those links are available either on the Payhip site or at my website booksbydlwhite.com/audiosale. The other way you can support me and this podcast is to buy my books. Booksbydlwhite.com/books has all of the good stuff. Select titles are available in ebook, print, and audio directly from me, and that puts the money directly into my pocket, like, right away, almost right away, with virtually no middleman taking a percentage of the retail price. However, if you prefer to buy them retail, And no shame in your game, that's why. I put the books up there.

DL White [00:05:42]:

After all, all my titles are available in ebook wherever they're sold, Amazon, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple Books, Kobo Books, Google Play, they're also available in print from bookshop.org or resist booksellers, And, ebook or audio are also available on subscription sites like Scribd and Kobo Plus, namely Kobo Plus has all of the books in ebook, all of the books in audio for one low price I think it's $11.99 for ebook and audio like, y'all need to hop right on that and Tell your friends, tell your faves Kobo Plus is the way to go, like I know Kindle Unlimited is your gal, but they don't include audio unless those authors are signed to an Amazon imprint. So you get a little bit of a better deal. I actually have both. I have Kindle Unlimited, because they do a lot of audio for my, for, like, my mystery thriller faves. A lot of them are signed to Amazon imprints and so For Kindle Unlimited, I can read or listen for the cost of the subscription. Well worth it because I'd be putting some books into my face and my ears. Lastly, the books are all available to request at your local library. If they're not in your library, you can request them.

DL White [00:06:58]:

They'll send you a message that says, hey, we bought this book, so check it out and read it and then return it, and that gives me some circulation history with your library. So when I, release my next book, they don't have to hem and haw about whether they're going to buy it because I have circulation circulation history. I did recently see that all of my audiobooks have been added to Hoopla, so search there by book title if you are looking. I only have 5 audiobooks out. Is it 5? I believe it's 5. Is it 4? I think it's only 4. Brunch at Ruby's, dinner at Sam's, beach thing, Leslie's curl and die is 5, and the guy next door are all in audio, they're all great, Sheryl Palmer's voice is like butter. If you're an audiobook girly, snatch them up.

DL White [00:07:47]:

If you're an ebook girly, they're also good in ebook, and if you're a print girly, get them! I just refreshed my book covers so you should snatch them up. Today we will start with the book report as always and then I'm talking about writing and a little watching. I'm actually hoping to keep this one a little bit short, we'll see how that goes because I do like to talk. I woke up to a plumbing issue this morning, my roommate and her husband are out of town, every time they leave town something in this house breaks and, I just I just knew something was going to happen so I'm I'm gonna probably be dealing with a plumber today. I need to be, like, presentable so I can let them into the house and, my bedroom. And, there's all, like there's just So much going on in the world today, I feel a little silly prattling on about books and movies. We are just gonna try to move on and find comfort in art and, the things that bring us joy and pray for peace. So today is Saturday, October 14th.

DL White [00:08:57]:

Where why why why is the year in such a hurry? It's already October. I feel like it was June Yesterday, it's already October, I just need to know why is the year in such a hurry. It is 9:12 a m. I think it's going to be a sunny day in Atlanta but it's a little overcast right now at a 64 degrees. We have a high of 75. It's gonna be mostly cloudy. Do you all love getting the weather for report for Atlanta even though you don't live here? I don't know why I feel it's important to share the weather, but I do. I have a mic and I am ready to dig in, but first, Let's have some coffee.

DL White [00:09:49]:

Alright, alright, here we go. We begin, as Always with the book report because I am a book head. If I'm gonna do anything, I'm gonna read a book. I have read 132 of my challenge to read 175 books this year. I am 5 books behind on my Goodreads challenge, I really got to get it together. Let me tell you this week This week whipped my entire the entirety of my caramel behind all of it. It was a rough one, but I made it. This week, I read 3 books.

DL White [00:10:25]:

I read, did I I talked about Motive by Pamela Kelly last week. I actually read that. That should be on my report for last week. So I really only read 2 books this week. I read My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon. She Is like a suspense writer. This was this one was okay. It it was it was a Jennifer McMahon book.

DL White [00:10:47]:

The ending was A bit lackluster. I find endings to be difficult as a writer, so it was it was okay. I think I I think I gave this one 4 stars. I give it 3 3 or I make I I don't know. I'll look it up. I think I gave it 3 stars. The story line was pretty good, a little slow To begin, it's a woman has had to bring her mother home on hospice care because she is ill, but She and her mom have never gotten along. It's always been like a, like a real emotional struggle.

DL White [00:11:19]:

Sometimes her mom is really nice and then sometimes her mom is a little evil. So My Darling Girl is pretty good. I'm kind of hoping that I think the what is the podcast that classy Guest hosts on it's not is it shelf love? Shelf shelf something? Shelf something. Classy is a guest host on that, and they often will listen to Thrillers, on their podcast and review them, and I'm excited to see or hear what Classy and Her co hosts have to say about this book. We often, match in opinions. So it was pretty good. It wasn't it wasn't it didn't knock my socks off like a Jennifer McMahon book usually would, but I want to see what Classy has to say about this book. I also read Homeward by Angela Jackson Brown, this one was okay.

DL White [00:12:12]:

It was also okay. It was, it's set during the civil rights era, a woman loses A whole lot to gain, a whole lot. It is set in a it's a historical fiction and it's set in a town where people are fighting to be able to register to vote, around the death of Medgar Evers, or, like, around that time, a young girl is really kind of just battling her parents to get caught up in the movement for voting rights. The writing is very good. It I just was not in the mood. The beginning of the book, nah. Like, I want I I wanted to see that character have a motivation or working toward a greater good and fighting for rights and whatnot, it just didn't seem like it was all tied together. It was It was some some scenes in a book that all seem related.

DL White [00:13:10]:

The writing is good, the execution is not my favorite. I think I gave this one 3 stars? I don't remember. I should really look these things up but I didn't. This week I am reading a book that I previously DNF'd. I Think it's supposed to be a thriller, but it's not very thrilling so far. It is One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner. Now I've read all of Lisa Gardner's book. This one just isn't doing much for me, so I might DNF it again.

DL White [00:13:37]:

I really thought I was a different person, I had grown and changed, and I could pick this book back up, but it just there's nothing thrilling about this novel, it's about a woman that looks for missing persons, and, they're looking for a man that disappeared while looking for a grizzly bear or something. I don't know. I, it's It's Gloctober and I have yet to read anything really exciting in the crime fiction, era, by the way. I, I I I I put away, Laws of Depravity by Eric LaSalle. Listen, it was his debut, it was his 1st book, I'm willing to forgive. I'm gonna probably pick up his latest book, the one that comes out on the 24th, maybe give that a shot. I the first few minutes of Laws of Wrath, which is his 2nd book, did not turn me on at all. I immediately just dipped all the way back to his 1st book.

DL White [00:14:35]:

It's not my jam. The writing is fine. The story is just not interesting. I'm trying to listen to it, and he reads his own audiobook, and his voice doesn't really do much to grab me and pull me into the story, so I was gonna try to, read it, but I just didn't have time to sit with the ebook. I like, I got it on Hoopla, and, it doesn't have the functionality where Siri can just read it out loud to you, like, while I do stuff. It just was it just wasn't working for me. I just I didn't have the time or the brainpower to just sit down with the book and read it. I feel like I would enjoy it if I could sight read it, I just I just didn't have the time, so I went ahead and put it down.

DL White [00:15:19]:

I am gonna get the 3rd book in the series. I did preorder it because he was asking for, help with the preorders. I did pre order it just so I have it. I like just I just like to own the book. I'm gonna look to see if he reads the audio. If he doesn't, I may try it. If he does, we are just gonna be page reading that baby because his voice doesn't do anything for me. So I'm gonna find, like, something really gripping and and thrilling to read for Gloctober.

DL White [00:15:48]:

I am not much for urban novels, but there's gotta be something out there, that I can grab on to some crime fiction that I can read, so I'm on the hunt. This week I'm actually gonna be, watching a couple of documentaries or I guess some YouTube I guess they call them documentaries on obsessive fans, and that is relating to my dessert project. I've got 4 little documentary things I'm gonna watch on YouTube. I just need some background information On obsessive fans, that's what my dessert project is going to be about. And I'm quite excited to dig into it, but I getting into The head of my fan that is obsessed with one of the members of the band that I'm writing about, it's difficult because, like, I don't my brain doesn't go there, and so I kinda have to make my brain go there. I'm hoping to really sort of dig into the other side into the psyche. I do have some written already slipping into the writing update. I do have some written already, having good conversations with, the beta reader that I have.

DL White [00:17:04]:

I have a beta that's specifically for fan fiction, And then I have the writing group that, I write with on the Discord, for the archive, Tossing around ideas and really building her backstory and her personal, reasoning, like, what's going on inside her brain, what's her history, what caused this imbalance in her like, what's the inciting incident for her and then how does that play out over time to where she has escalated to the point of fixating on this famous person and feeling like she hears messages from him in the lyrics of his songs. So there's kind of there's a lot wrapped up in in this. I do In order for it to be a part of the challenge, it has to be complete by November 17th. And I'm super nervous about that because I have two Travel events that are coming up between now and then, so I I wanna get some written upfront before I have to travel for work, the 23rd through 25th and then again November 7th through 9th so that while I'm away, I'm not losing time like last year was it last year? I was doing NaNoWriMo, but I had a work trip and not just, pod. Right in the middle of that, it just messed everything up and I fell way behind on NaNoWriMo and, I came back and then I had to, like, Write 2 to 3 times as many words per day to catch up, hence I'm never doing NaNoWriMo again. I just, I can't do it, I can't hang. I just, I can't hang it, like, even if I tell myself I don't have to write 50,000 words, I feel like a failure if I don't. So I do want to write in November, but I'm not doing NaNoWriMo.

DL White [00:18:58]:

I am a 100% supportive of people that are doing it, so, I'm gonna I think I'm gonna just hang out and maybe wait for the I think we are doing 20 ks in 5 days again in December, and so thinking about doing a little holiday short. I don't have a story line, I don't have characters, I don't know what I'm writing, and, I am actually quite honestly a little bit bored at the thought of writing a romance, but we'll we'll see what a few weeks of writing, A little romantic thriller will do for me. The fact that I don't yet have a story should tell you something, but, You know, I always I always think I can do something until I start doing it, and then I'm like, nope. No, I can't, so We'll see what I what I come up with for 20 k in 5 days. If I can do, like, a Little 20 k short story, I could have a little holiday short to round out the year, 2 when possible is usually my goal for the year, so, I did I have a full length release in August that was Elysium Black Diamond Vacation Romance, still super proud of that book. I haven't looked up sales for that book because we are just done fixating on it. It's very good though. You should pick it up if you are interested in a vacation romance, and then, if I do a little short for the holidays, That would be my 2, the possible is usually the holiday short, but 2 might be all I got, 1 might be all I got, so we'll see where I end up.

DL White [00:20:38]:

Trying to think of anything else I want to add to this, but I think that's pretty much it. I am I'm gonna read and I'm gonna write And Poptober, which is our challenge, begins Tuesday. It runs for the next 30 days, so hopefully we have some people come back to the archive and offer up something short, something long, something good, the theme is stories that pop, so, we don't do, like, sad stories, we don't do what we call death fic, where it's just characters talking about somebody who died. We don't do we don't do any any sad stories, so, stories essentially have to have a satisfying A happy ending, so we we do stories that pop for Poptober, and then we have a little bit of a break until Like, the middle of January, Justin and Joey, both members of NSYNC, have birthdays one day apart in January, So we'll do something for their birthdays in January that will probably encompass Valentine's Day, and then we have another break through March, and there are some very important NSYNC fandom holidays in March, so already Sort of thinking forward about what we want to do there, and those all involve writing challenges, so lots of opportunities to write for fun, put yourself in Some little dessert projects and kinda put your pen to paper and not worry about what's selling, how to make it, you know, compelling, how to reach people you haven't already reached because people who come to the archive to read know exactly what they're looking for, so those are the people that you that you want to reach. So that is all I have for today. I need to, Call a plumber and, get my my bathroom ready for someone else to be in it. It's, it is not dirty, it's just messy. I have, like, you know, towels folded in a stack that need to go in the cabinet and, move stuff away from the toilet and all that kind of stuff, so I also, you know, I'm just gonna find a good book to read or write not read not write podcast.

DL White [00:22:54]:

Find a good book to read while I straighten my bathroom and kinda get my room in order. I am, just looking forward to a super chill day and I hope You are too. That brings us to the end of today's episode, thank you for joining me for today's Bookcast, I will be back next week with a reading update and a writing update. Please enjoy your weekend more than I will enjoy mine, I'm sure, and have a superlative week and we'll chat again next weekend.