Bookcast Episode 63: New York and Back...

DL White [00:00:01]:

What, and I cannot stress this enough, the heck is up with y'all? It's been just a short minute since I was here. I only took 1 weekend off. Y'all act like I have been gone forever, but I am here. I am back on the mic. The podcast is up and running. Here we go. Welcome back to the BookCast. This is episode 63, and The Bookcast is my platform for sharing short fiction and updates on what I'm reading and writing.

DL White [00:00:35]:

I am Dale White. I'm the author of 12 contemporary southern and romantic fiction novels featuring black men and women. I'm also a big fan of books, so we usually begin with a book report. And then we talk about writing. I have finished my dessert project. Can you hear the smile in my voice? I'm done. That is a project I'm doing just for fun for the love of writing and, we'll talk about it more in the writing update, but it it gave what it was supposed to gave. So for me, that's fan fiction, the story of Kate, a thriller ish piece for the poptober writing challenge at the fan fiction archive that I run is complete.

DL White [00:01:14]:

I'm working on a little post Thanksgiving, pre Christmas short because the streets said they wanted something, and I'll be darned if I'm going to disappoint the Streets. So I'll talk about that also in the writing update, but first, thank you for your support of this podcast, whether it's a message in my inbox, a tweet, a comment on my YouTube channel, harassment on Instagram live, Nikki Reads, Ty, Kaye, Raymond, everyone else. Y'all know who y'all is Michelle. Mhmm. I'm here. Y'all better listen and comment it does not go unnoticed. If you would like to offer more support, I beg of you. I don't beg, but honestly please.

DL White [00:01:59]:

If you would like head to buymeacoffee.com/booksbydlwhite. There you can offer a one time or recurring monthly gift. I would be most grateful if you choose to do so. The other way you can support besides retweeting, reposting, talking about the books that you have enjoyed is to buy my books. Booksbyd lwhite.com/books has all of my titles available in whatever platform. I I have them available in ebook, print, audio. It's all there. Purchasing directly from my store puts the monies directly into my pocket, like, the next day instead of 60 days from now, and, we like that a lot.

DL White [00:02:39]:

If you prefer to buy them retail though, all of my sites are avail all of my titles are available wherever ebooks are sold. They're also available via subscription sites like Everand, which is the new name for Scribd and Kobo Plus, they're also available to request at your local library through Libby or Hoopla. You can order print through bookshop.org or, request them at resist booksellers. I believe that is, resistbooks.com or resist booksellers.com. Resist I don't know. Google, resist booksellers, and Demetrius's lovely face will pop up, and you can request them there. I don't really have any books on sale. I think Girl and Die is still on sale in audio for 99¢.

DL White [00:03:20]:

It's like a quarterly thing. Find a ways like, hey. What do you wanna put on sale? And I'm like, this one. And they just leave it there for, like, the quarter. So, if you still have not heard Leslie's Pearl and Die and you don't own it and you don't wanna get it from the library and you don't want to listen to it on Evergrand and you don't want to listen to it on Kobo and you didn't get it from me at my website where it is full price, you can still go to select retail sites and get it for 99¢. I mean, if you want to just buy it to buy it, you can get it. I believe it's Chirp, Barnes and Noble, and Google Books, Google audio, yeah, Google Play is where it's on sale for 99¢, I said, so snatch it up. I also, in my last newsletter, talked about a nice benefit for Spotify premium members who like audiobooks.

DL White [00:04:07]:

You get 15 free hours a month to, listen to audiobooks. That's like 2 short books, 2 or 3 short books, half of a long book. I tested it out during the hashtag 7 to 7 readathon that we did last weekend that was so enjoyable. I just loved the whole weekend just to, like, sack out and read books. That was awesome. And then, like, to have a community to check-in with, what are y'all reading? I'm reading this, and next is this, without feeling like I was a total slacker all weekend. Not that I ever care about being a slacker. I like to relax.

DL White [00:04:46]:

I've actually already used up my hours for the month because I am audiobook hound. If I am if if I've got a book going, it's probably in audio because I could do Other things while I listen, so I've already used up my hours for the month during the readathon. It was a good time. It was a really good time. I think I got in, like, one and a half books, which is nice. I'm already paying for Spotify, so I'll take it. Free audiobook? Gimme. So there's that.

DL White [00:05:16]:

Last weekend or not last week, week before, I headed back to New York for the day job, but I also got in a little bit of play. It was such a blast. Had a really good time. It wasn't all that cold. The 1st part of the week, we stayed at the New York Athletic Club, which is right on Central Park. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful views. Absolutely lovely building. Not a huge fan of the meeting facilities, but that's a whole other podcast.

DL White [00:05:45]:

Beautiful building. It's old. It's historic. It's got a lot of, culture and tradition. It's very fancy. You cannot wear Sneakers, gym wear, t shirts, short dresses. You have to be dressed like a business professional if you walk in that front door. So I was actually very nervous, and I actually bought clothes to wear because typically When I go to these events, I'm support staff, so I can wear, you know like, I can wear business casual, but I got my sneaks on because I'm running from 1 room to the other than upstairs and downstairs.

DL White [00:06:21]:

And can you get this person and tell them we're well, lunch is running 15 minutes early. And I'm I'm a runner. I'm a running person. So I almost always have on comfortable shoes, but you can't wear sneakers in this facility, and The men must wear jackets in the dining area, in the main, main dining lounge. So it was very fancy, very fancy. Really enjoyed that, and then I did just I decided to stay an extra night in New York, so I moved hotels because I didn't wanna pay $400 a night to stay at the athletic club, so I moved a few, blocks away to West 35th Street with, I asked for a view of the Empire State Building, and, I mean, I could see the tip of it, and so that that counts that counts. If I, like, lean out the window and craned my neck. I could see the Empire State Building, so that's good.

DL White [00:07:15]:

That's good. Again, had a agree I just wanted to chill. I wanted to chill. I was also so Monday night, I met up with my good, good friend, Terita, who I have known since probably 2004. I don't know when I met her, but we've been friends a long time. And, we had an excellent time at Pazzanote in, in the city. It's really just a few blocks away from the New York Athletic Club. I had a giant serving of chicken Parmesan.

DL White [00:07:49]:

Like, I don't why are serving sizes so huge? I just it's so enormous. I could not I couldn't finish it. So, Had such a good time meeting up with her. I haven't seen her in years. And then on Thursday night, I got a chance to meet my fan beta. I have a beta specifically for fan fiction. I met her in 2008 when I first started writing, and she sent me a message. She was the person that sent me the message that said, If you don't put that story back up, we are going to have problems.

DL White [00:08:18]:

So I put it back up and, she's like, hey. If you want somebody to, like, you know, read through it and just make sure you don't sound creepy or uninformed, I'm happy to do that. And so we have been friends at like, we have gone from AOL Instant Messenger to email, to, man, what other platform were we chatting on? I feel like we went to something before we moved to we're now we do Facebook Messenger, and we do, Instagram Messenger and text. Like, we could literally have 4 different conversations going on. It just depends on, you know, what medium we're on and what do you know, do we find Pictures or something funny or, you know, whatever. Whatever is easiest. So, sometimes we have several conversations going, oh, I sent you it. I sent it on Instagram.

DL White [00:09:09]:

Wait. Where? Is it is it on Messenger? Is it on Instagram? Is it on Twitter? So, Had such a good time meeting her for the 1st time. It was so weird, like, having conversations that we would normally have in chat in person. We did not have a whole lot of time to hang out. I really I can't wait to go back to the northeast to, like, really have more time to chill and, like, just talk about stuff. Of course, we had to talk about fandom and all of the cool things going on for us as, fans of NSYNC. It was such a great time. Really, really great time.

DL White [00:09:46]:

Glad that I stayed the extra day. I just decided to chill in the house, not in the house, but in the room. I ordered some Indian, so I had butter chicken and, naan, garlic naan, and I watched Law and Order. It was just so relaxing. And then I flew out on Friday, and then I got home and jumped right into the readathon. So what a good week. What a really good week. So Let's

DL White [00:10:13]:

roll on

DL White [00:10:13]:

to today's show. Sorry to ramble for so long about personal things, but Today, we will start with our book report as always, and then I'm gonna talk about my dessert project and my little holiday short. Today is Saturday, November 18th. Where has the year gone? Why why why is the why is the calendar in a hurry? What's what's happening? It is 9:0:1 AM. I'm running early today, folks. It is sunny and 60 degrees in Atlanta. I have a microphone, and I am ready to dig in. But first and I actually do drink coffee during this break.

DL White [00:10:50]:

Let's have some coffee. I made the coffee hot today, it's not very slamable, but I got some in, and my tummy is nice and warm. Alright we begin as always with the book report, because I am a book head if I'm a do anything I'm a read a book. I have read 154 books of my challenge to read 175 books this year, doctor Raymond. He always like, you better not hop on your podcast and talk about how you behind on your reading challenge. Doctor. Raymond, I am on track with a Goodreads challenge. So, yay.

DL White [00:11:40]:

Let's talk about the books that I've read in the last couple of weeks. I don't remember where I left off, so some of these might be duplicates. I don't know. I read A book called What I've Done. This is Morgan Dein number 4 by Melinda Lee. I think I've talked about all of these before, but I'm just Gonna talk about them again. Melinda Lee and Kendra Elliott are just they're, like, thriller writers that just they just pump out books. They're they're easy to read.

DL White [00:12:10]:

This the they're series, so it's like, you know, following the career of, a county sheriff or a private investigator or whatnot. So I am I believe I'm all caught up on the Morgan Dane series, and I'm all caught up on the sheriff Bree Taggart series. So, Melinda Lee, whenever you're ready to publish the next book, I'm ready for you. I read An Unexpected Turn by Mica James. This was a surprise drop, she did a little Beyonce drop, and I'm not mad at it. It was such a good read. Really, really enjoyed that one. Secrets Never Die, which is Morgan Day number 5 by Will in the Lee.

DL White [00:12:46]:

All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers. So this is a debut novel by the cohost of a crime fiction podcast, I think Crime Junkie. Don't quote me on that. I haven't listened to Crime Junkie in years because it just is not it just wasn't my jam. But this is a debut novel by, A crime fiction aficionado, and a lot of the reviews said this sounded like JonBenet Ramsey fan fiction, and I tend to agree. It wasn't awful for a debut. It was not bad. I would read another novel by this author, but I would Expect, a little bit more depth and, I don't know, skill with the story line, like, something a little bit more original, as someone who just wrote her 1st thriller ish kind of piece, I have so much grace for This book for the story for the skill of this author, she did it, it's finished, it's out, and at least she can sell hers.

DL White [00:13:48]:

So, Not bad. I would read another book by Ashley Flowers, so come with it. I read A Perfect Stuffing, which is a hot Holiday hookup by Danielle Allen, and there's a book on here that is not on my list, but it's called Free Eats, which is a Veterans day hot holiday hookup. A perfect stuffing is a Thanksgiving day hot holiday hookup. Both are good. Danielle knows how to talk to me nice. Yes. I mean, I always look forward to a holiday, especially if it's not a traditional holiday because we always get a hot holiday hookup.

DL White [00:14:24]:

Danielle Danielle be knowing what she's doing. I also read Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena. I think that's how you say her name. This book I'm having such a good time dishing with author Shelley Ellis Ellis Stratton, about this book because we're you know, she is a domestic thriller writer, and, her next book I think is coming out in June. I've read it. Yes. I mean to brag. It's darn good.

DL White [00:15:00]:

You should, as soon as it comes out put it on your, TBR or whatever, try to get an ARC, what have you. So, This book was I so rarely down rate books, like, I'm pretty easy when I judge a book, but I just this book Just got on my nerves. It was so nonsensical in the execution. Just it is a book about, literally, everyone in this book is lying. Literally, everyone in this book is not telling a single bit of truth, and it doesn't help them at all. A child disappears. There's a father who's having an affair. There's a neighbor who who's having An affair with the neighbor's son is somehow implicated in the disappearance of this child, and the father is blamed because he was supposed to have been taking care of the child and, you know, like, mom is just kind of There, there's like a neighbor another neighbor that's also involved that works with the father and doesn't like him because he's having an affair and, like, everybody is lying.

DL White [00:16:11]:

Literally everyone here is lying. The issue I have with this book is, like, I was really really really nervous at the beginning of this book because it looked like the book was gonna go this way, and then it quickly slurbs to another way, which I don't mind. I love a good twist. But then, like, once I figured out the twist, I was like, so What's happening here? There's a 9 year old in this book that reads much older than 9. There's, like, a young adult in this book that reads much younger like, much younger than his years. There's an adult in this book that is just literally, like I'm trying to talk about this book without spoiling it, but it's it's hard It's it's hard because this this adult the deal that they struck is nonsensical because of the person that they struck the deal with, and I'm like, this doesn't make sense. And then once they figure out what's really going on, the detective that Quote unquote solves the case. Like, it's like flipping through some pictures and, like, 1 weird odd thing stands out, and they're like, All of a sudden they're like, I know who did it, and, like, what? What? Just The ending was like not it wasn't a completely satisfying ending because you don't get You don't get your monologue of what happened and why, and like it was It was emotionally unsatisfying to me.

DL White [00:17:51]:

I rated this one 2 stars, but I would read another Shari Lapena book. I'm just saying. A book I really, really super enjoyed and have to stand on the roof and shout about is Glory Be. It's a Glory Broussard Mystery by Danielle Arsenault. This was so good. I listened to it in audio. It is voiced by the incomparable Audiobook bae Bonnie Turpin it is so so good it is probably the the closest you can get The closest a cozy mystery gets to a suspense thriller novel or like a crime fiction novel because it's it's it's technically a cozy because you don't see murder on the page and there's an amateur detective trying to solve the case. But there's so much like drama and and and and character arc and Story.

DL White [00:18:50]:

There's so much story in this book. She just did a fabulous job with it. I really really enjoyed it. It's very good. The next book doesn't come out till 2024, and I'm very sad about it, but I am gonna keep an eye out for it on NetGalley because you know how I like my arcs. I like to get an early copy, an early audio copy if I can get it. So, Glory Be by Danielle Arsenault, fantastic novel. I am currently reading Double Mocha Blues by Toya Tayorah Moody.

DL White [00:19:22]:

If that name sounds familiar, it's because as you really enjoy the Eugenia Patterson, cozy mysteries. They're, like, bright yellow, illustrated covers. So good. I love the Eugenia Patterson, novels. This is a new series, that Tayora is starting. It's very good so far. I'm, like, about halfway through, so I'm gonna try to finish that today or tonight, maybe tomorrow, I don't know, And pick up something new. I am thoroughly enjoying my cozy thriller suspense bend right now, but I'm getting ready to go to writing a romance, so I feel like I should pick up a couple of romances.

DL White [00:20:02]:

I don't like to read thrillers while I'm writing romance, but, I will, if I have read some romance before I start writing a romance, then I will like a like a little thriller, something with a with bite to it, something with, like teeth to it can be my dessert. I'm worried I'm worried that way. I treat myself for writing with reading. So writing update, moving on, I finished The Story of Kate. This is It's my thriller ish fan fiction, piece that I was writing for the NSYNC fiction archive. That is fan fiction archive that I own and operate. Our October slash November challenge is called Poptober. It is celebrating One Christopher Allen Kirkpatrick with stories that pop.

DL White [00:20:54]:

We have, I believe, 12 stories, 12 completed stories in the challenge, so I am super proud because we have gone from 1 to 2 stories a month to, like, a glut of New stories and updates. So, I'm very happy. I'm very excited about that. I feel like So much movement in the fandom has brought people back. I've seen a lot of people coming back to the fandom, updating stories they had started and sort of lost the juice for. Seeing, the guys active again really has revved up the engines, and, I'm excited about it. So I finished story of Kate. It ended up being 18 chapters.

DL White [00:21:38]:

It's a prologue, 18 chapters, and an epilogue. I think it turned out really well. Like, is it is it is it something I could publish? No. It's not that good. It's it's worse than the JonBenet Ramsey fan fiction. It's it's worse than everyone here is lying, but, I am proud of myself because I did it. I stepped way out of my comfort zone. Well, not way out of my comfort zone because there are 2 love scenes in this book.

DL White [00:22:04]:

And, but, like, fan fiction is is typically where I go to spread my wings or I can spread out because it's a safe space and there is no way that I can sell it, so I feel the freedom to write the way that I want to write

DL White [00:22:21]:

in a way that I know people are

DL White [00:22:22]:

looking for. Really, really enjoyed writing it. It's very scary how much I enjoyed being in Kate's, mind. So, I have pulled this I have pulled the a copy of this document down and edited it and formatted it into ebook. You can pick up a copy of that at booksbydlwhite.com/ Freebies where I have extended samples of my books in audio. I also have anything that I have listed for free, which is, a couple of free books like anonymous, which is my interracial New Year's Eve, Novella, that's up. And, and then some of the fan fiction novels that are, like, novel or novella length that I'm really proud of. They are not really edited, so, you know, read with your heart and not your grammar brain, but they're up and they're in ebook format to make them a little bit easier to read, more bingeable.

DL White [00:23:26]:

A few that I'm really proud of are, A Misadventure in Cloudcroft, celebrity. All I wanna do is, like, my magnum opus that's, like, my first really long novel length thick, and all I wanna do is the precursor to story of Kate. I took the characters from all I wanna do and just planted them into the story of Kate, so I didn't have to build a whole new universe for these characters. So that's now linked at booksbydlwhite.com/freebies, and, if you're reading it I hope you enjoy. So up next is a little holiday short. I was gonna try to do a Thanksgiving short, but I finished Story of Kate kind of late. I wanna let my brain rest a little bit, and then I I actually forgot Thanksgiving was next week and not, like, 2 weeks from now. So, I do have some time off next week, so I'm gonna try to hammer out a lot and, You know, we'll see what I can get done before Christmas.

DL White [00:24:30]:

It's gonna be like a post Thanksgiving, pre Christmas joint. It's going to be set in Potter Lake, so I don't have to invent a whole new world for this book. And what I wanna kinda do is Set the scene for the next book in the series. I wanna sorta set the scene for Still I Rise instead of jumping direct into that. Sorta what I've done with Beach Thing, where Elysium sets the scene for, the next book in the Black Diamond romance series. I wanna let this next short set the scene for Still I Rise, which is going to be Potter Lake book 4. So I think, like, little by little, I am learning how to do series. I wish, like, like, I read a lot of books and listen to a lot of podcasts on how to write a series, but none of it really sinks in until I do it out of my hands on it.

DL White [00:25:23]:

I have to get lost and find my way out and do it my own way. So, I will give updates as this story goes. Expect it to be short and steamy. I think, 2nd time around is about 8 chapters, and I feel like you're probably gonna get about 8 to 10 chapters out of this, like, maybe 12 chapters. My plan is 12 chapters, so we'll see how that works. I have names. I have, a general storyline that I'm not really gonna share quite yet, but I hope it'll be good, and I'm planning to enjoy myself writing it. I will of course update next week, I will be back next week, I work Monday Tuesday and then I'm off Wednesday through Friday, so I have no excuse to not be reading and writing.

DL White [00:26:17]:

So that's what I'm going to be doing this weekend this week reading, writing, enjoying myself, relaxing. I honestly still need to unpack from New York. I need to do laundry and wash my hair, so I need to pick out a good audiobook to go along with all of that activity. That brings us to the end of today's episode. Thank you so much for joining me for another episode of the book cast. I was so happy to have you here. I will be back next week with a reading update and a writing update. Please enjoy this weekend.

DL White [00:26:46]:

Have a superlative week, and we'll chat again next weekend. Bye bye.