By Jan S. Gephardt One schedule-change. That’s all it technically boils down to. One simple scratch-out on a calendar. I’d planned on going, but now I’m not. Except, it’s not a simple thing at all. Not simply one schedule-change. No, it’s actually a whole end-of-summer tipped upside-down in a cascade of if-this-then-that change, after change, after change. Deciding not to go to FenCon, it turned out (as I knew it would), led to way more than one schedule-change. I Love…
By G. S. Norwood For a while there, it looked like we might be out of the woods. The rate of coronavirus infections had begun to fall as the vaccination rate was on the rise. The CDC said it was okay for us to go out again, hit the Farmers Market and maybe even take in a movie. But then came the Delta variant. Now we’re all headed back to the bunker again. And what do we crave? Comfort food!…
By G. S. Norwood With the number of new COVID-19 cases dropping, and Memorial Day in the rearview mirror, what’s it gonna take to get you out of the house and back into large entertainment venues this summer? I’m thinking specifically of movie theaters and concert halls, but that’s just me. What about sports arenas and churches? County fairs, rodeos, and festivals? Are you prepared to dive back into public pools and farmers’ markets? Just how comfortable are you going…
By G. S. Norwood Last Thursday was National Rescue Dog Day. Technically, it’s Jan’s week to write the blog, but she is busy rescuing dogs in the nail-biter finale of her upcoming novel, A Bone to Pick. So I thought I’d mark the occasion with another story about one of the dogs I’ve helped rescue. I’m calling this one, “How I Met the Hillbilly Girl.” Rescue Required Rescue groups coordinate their efforts all the time. So it wasn’t really a…
By G. S. Norwood Do you have trusted favorites? Movies you always turn to when you’re sad? Music that somehow never grows old? Maybe it’s a series of books that feature such a beloved setting and characters you can slip away into them whenever the world makes you weary, and find yourself at home amongst friends. Do you long to pull on your favorite sweater, and settle down in your favorite chair, with your favorite tea in your favorite mug?…
By G. S. Norwood I Always Wanted One of Those Life is good, yeah? You’ve mastered working from home. You’ve successfully kept your social distance, and, so far, haven’t strangled your partner or any of your kids. You have behaved yourself. So you deserve a little treat, right? A small but oh-so-necessary indulgence, as a reward for making it this far through the pandemic. But what kind of indulgence? Temptation is all around. You flip through a catalog and spot…
By Jan S. Gephardt Every Veterans Day, as a nation we’re supposed to pause. We’re supposed remember the many ways that veterans have never failed to serve our nation, when we called on them. But, especially on this Veterans Day, I worry: have we failed them? Personal connections I’ve never served in the armed forces, but service members and veterans have had a place in my heart for a long time. G.’s and my father is a World War II…
By Jan S. Gephardt “We can’t market this” is a reason for rejection that I’ve heard for decades. It says “your book/story doesn’t fit into our pre-made boxes.” Innovation is sometimes the stuff of new bestsellers, although I’d argue that a book’s worth isn’t always or only revealed by its sales figures. But it admittedly is much harder to sell square pegs when your marketing is solely designed to appeal to round holes. Gatekeepers The literary world is famously full…
Deborah Crombie interviews G. S. Norwood Bestselling mystery writer Deborah Crombie loves to get to the root of an intriguing puzzle. A long-time friend and critique partner of G. S. Norwood, she watched Norwood’s new novelette, Deep Ellum Blues, take shape over many weeks. Now she has some questions. G.’s Writing Roots Debs: Have you always wanted to write? Your late husband (Warren C. Norwood) was a wonderful writer. Were you drawn to him because you wanted to write, or…
By Jan S. Gephardt Science fiction writers with long careers may be forced to decide about knocking off the zeerust from some of their older works. What is “zeerust”? We’ve all seen it–it’s what you might call “retro futuristic” ideas, looks, or concepts. It’s “zeerusty” if at some point in the past it seemed futuristic, but now it just looks quaint or dated. We can thank Douglas Adams of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (and so much more!), for this word. Another description might be “Raygun Gothic,” which…