All about the books we love

I was thinking about writing communities and how I feel like I'm missing one at this point. I don't like this feeling. Other than that twice a month zoom meet up I feel like I have no community (and even there I feel like an interloper but if not for me, there would be almost no one there) My friend and I tried to restart the local group on Nov. It was a miserable failure (other than us enjoying each other's company so it wasn't a complete waste of time)

So I was curious, do you feel like you have a good writing community? I'm not talking about the writing every day sort of thing. I shared plenty of them. I think the closest I come to on DW is ushobwri and getyourwordsout. Both are good communities.

And there is every chance the emptiness is in ME and nothing I put into it will fill that hole. And I'm not even sure I have words to articulate what I'd like to see in a group (and it could be that I'm looking for a street team of alpha/beta readers but I'm not even sure that's it either)

So do you have a good one? Is it open? I'm curious.



Open Calls

Gramarye: Now Seeking Submissions

Verify You’re Not Human The main character of the story must be therian (identify as a non-human animal) with a strong focus on what that means

Obsidian: The Dark Space Novelette Anthology Darker 9000-25000 word stories about exploration, isolation, and the harsh conditions of space

Sapphic Spec Fic Anthology of Identity and Purpose Stories that explore sapphic identity and purpose through the lens of fantasy and speculative fiction

Black Horror, Then & Next Stories that recognize the legacy of Black horror, its literary milestones, cultural roots, and innovative voices, while pushing the genre into new, daring territory. (for Black authors only)


Newsela Original Fiction For Elementary-High School 1,500–5,000 word genre works that are targeting Upper Elementary, Middle School, and High School readers

Sci-Fi Ireland Science Fiction where if the science/technology element was removed the plot would not function
Note: To submit, you must be living on, or were born on, the Island of Ireland

23 Publishers Accepting Memoir Submissions

The Knight Before Christmas Christmas romances


From Around the Web


Notes from the Editor’s Desk: December 2025

An Argument for Writing Short Stories

When We Believe

Five Common Motivation Issues and How to Address Them

160 Christmas Writing Prompts

My Open Letter To That Open Letter About AI In Writing And Publishing by Chuck Wendig (in case you missed it last week the Nebula awards decided to allow AI writing and Publisher Weekly wrote how to use Ai and the authors went nuts (as they should have)


15 Rules for Negotiating a Large Book Sale

How to Make an Author Website in 8 Steps


Rules for Capitalizing Titles and Chapters.

Amazon Metadata Mistakes Every Indie Author Must Avoid

Self-Publishing Your Book: Quick Guide (Updated 2025)

Why Selling Direct Beats KDP for Long-Term Author Profits

17 Exciting Fantasy Novel Ideas for Authors


From Betty

How to Avoid Melodrama in Your Writing

Avoiding the Planet of Hats

Five Common Ways Fights Get Contrived

How to Write Scenes With Lots of New People

The Value of Writing Shock and Avoiding Valueless Trauma

Is Your Novel Ready for a Film Adaption? How to Begin the Process of Adapting My Story for Film


The Complete Guide to Self-editing for Writers Part 2: Practical Tools and Techniques to Strengthen Your Manuscript Before Outside Feedback

Okay so it's not really a thing in America and mostly all we did today was lie about watching British mysteries and being thankful no one else was in the house!

I also wrote a lot and washed clothes. Put my Christmas photos in a file. Probably will share them with you tomorrow.

Here's the story I wrote

Title: There'll Be a Hot Time in Old Town Tonight

Summary: Angel is hosting his first Sinsmas party as an overlord. He wants to ease his nerves about it with a dinner for friends but with rival overlords and scrapping turf war wannabes, will his party be a success or a dismal failure?

Rating: teen and up

Author Note - Written for spikesgirl58’s six words challenge. The words were Form, Illness, Session, Government, Lunch,& Relief and for lyrical bingo for the prompt of Pre-1900 song. I chose There'll Be a Hot Time in Old Town Tonight by Bessie Smith.

I also wrote this a holiday gift for my friend JK. It was meant to be Pentious centric. Angel was having none of it. It’s part of my Angel overlord AU. It’s a stand alone (but feel free to read the rest of the series if you want) All you need to know is Valentino is dead (Angel killed him) and Angel’s taken over Val’s empire with the help of his brother. The couple’s outfit Angel and Husker are wearing at the party (not to mention their dance moves) were inspired by Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin from BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, especially this dance

( Story at the above link on AO3 or under here )

After a rough start to the day (Dad naturally) the rest of the day went well. My brother and Sister in Law always come here for Christmas Eve dinner (and we used to do midnight mass but they only do mass here like around noon any more so...)

It was the feast of seven fishes...or in this case the four fishes (ah well) I made a salted anchovy bruschetta

( my recipe under here )

Yesterday was Federico's Italian store, Aldi's and Kroger's. Today was the liquor store and it was supposed to be CVS but shockingly THIS CVS also doesn't stock my insulin. Fan-tast-tic. The only other thing I've done is edit fandomtrees stories (and found I forgot to post one)

OMG I'm doing bad with the advent tea review so let me catch up....again

Day 17 Gingerbread Black Tea - Organic China black tippy tea, organic cinnamon, organic cloves, organic ginger and gingerbread flavoring. It wasn't bad but it was mostly cinnamon forward

Day 18 Tulsi Orange Cranberry Ginger Organic Herbal Tisane - Organic tulsi, organic orange peel, organic rosehips, organic hibiscus, organic ginger, natural blood orange flavor and natural cranberry flavor. Now this was very tasty. I'd recommend it but sadly I can't drink it often because hibiscus and rose hips mess with blood thinners

Day 19 Cozy Comfort Tea black teas, organic cinnamon pieces, orange blossoms and Black Walnut flavor. I found it to be rather weak and unimpressive

Day 20 Holiday Blend Tea Black teas, rooibos, peppermint leaves, organic alfalfa leaves, vanilla flavoring, malva blossoms, erica flowers, and vanilla beans. - Very mint forward

Day 21 - Goldenberry Herbal Tisane Apple pieces, candied papaya pieces (papayas and sugar), strawberry leaf, hibiscus, lemongrass and natural Goldenberry flavor. Also tasty also not good for me

Day 22 Sugar Plum Fairy - Rooibos Herbal Tisane Organic green rooibos, organic whole cloves, rosehips, hibiscus, sweet blackberry leaf, plum flavor, mallow blossoms, raspberry pieces, natural strawberry flavor, and vanilla beans. I bought this one last year (not seeing that it had hibiscus and rose hips) It's actually dull in spite of all the flavoring


It's music monday and let's make it some of your favorite holiday songs

For solstice


I know I share this one every year


Because Dino

(since I skipped the work party) My brother and his wife had all our parents over their house plus one of my brother's BFFs since first grade for noshes and playing with kitties. That was the whole of my evening and my morning was putting decorations on the Star Trek Christmas tree (it's our secondary tree upstairs and always left for me) I did a weird job of it. I think I'll need to redo it again.

My brother's new kitten is a little shit. He's exactly like a cat I had in the 90s. He was evil too. He's going to give me trouble when I'm house sitting. I can just see it.


Shockingly my vascular surgeon did NOT send in the script. If he doesn't do it I'm calling my PCP and she will.

I finished another fandomtrees story, the last of the Hazbin Hotel ones. I have about 3 others I would like to write from my original once over of the list. I might not tackle them until post holiday because there are a crap ton of zero gifts and only 1 gifts so I know this isn't going to reveal any time soon. I have a story I'd like to write for someone not part of a challenge.

Thought this might interest you Free Online Book Talk · Haunted Histories for Yuletide · Tales from America's Most Gothic with Authors Andrea Janes and Leanna Renee Hieber Leanna is the one I mention at Steampunk conventions. It's part history part paranormal. You do have to 'buy' a ticket but it's free (tips encouraged)


Have a little science saturday



Something Just Crashed Into The Moon – And Astronomers Captured The Whole Event

These Are The Best Fictional Spaceships, According To Astronauts – What Are Yours?

Brie, cheddar, and other high-fat cheeses linked to lower dementia risk they admit there are problems with the study. However, since the nervous system does have high levels of fat (in the myelin) this doesn't seem too implausible (or maybe I just want to eat more cheese)


Diarrhea and stomachaches plagued Roman soldiers stationed at Hadrian's Wall, discovery of microscopic parasites finds

here.Strange, 7-hour explosion from deep space is unlike anything scientists have seen — Space photo of the week

Because seriously how damn bright do we need to make headlights these days? Coming into Steubenville on 7's tight and narrow lanes (in the rain) with my stretched retinas and astigmatism, my god, I was literally blinded to the point I wasn't sure where on the road I was.

But after a late start, I made it here. The neighbors are watching Rocket. The little shit bit me last night after grooming my arm, broke skin, left bruises. I'm going to really have to keep that clean.

I wish that I could have concentrated on one story as I drove. It was more like 12 hamsters going in different directions. Ah well

At least the rain held off for most of the trip.


Tired now and I want to write a little before bed. Finally getting time to sit down with the Mighty Nein and the season of Vox Machina I haven't seen yet.

That's how my day is moving. Even working with timers I got so very little done and it was suddenly it was time to go to the endocrinologist. I could use another day down here but I'm afraid to go home friday. Thursday is meant to be nearly 60 and raining but then down to freezing again. I'd rather be home to avoid that.

I'm getting to that overwhelmed, gonna cry state. But at least I finally got the damn holiday lights out there (boy that little solar panel battery is something. They turned on immediately after being in a closet for a year. I put the garland on the other side of my porch, the one that's collapsing. I think at this point the garland is gonna be what's holding up the side rail if it get another heavy snow.


It looks like maybe, just maybe I can keep most of my meds and/or qualify for coupons. I make like 200$ too much a month to qualify for medical assistance. Let that sink in for a little while. We're doctors. We're college professors. Our pay is SO low we almost qualify for medicaid. And If I had kids I WOULD qualify. And oh, I signed up for the new insurance with the 9K deductible. It's costing 1100$ a month. Let that one soak in too. FFS. No wonder they won't hire help for my department.

My blood work is not great. My kidneys are working great but with my HGA1C sneaking ever higher. That's not great. I'm unhappy which is only going to make my sugar higher thanks to the stress. At least my hemoglobin is coming up. I still have too many tiny pale red blood cells but they're functioning better than last time. She did agree I'll probably have to start B12 shots. Cries. But at least the evolutionary bullshit adaptation for malaria is behaving itself for now.

From there I went to Gallipolis for dinner and the Christmas lights. I knew the Mexican place (since it's owned by the same brothers as the one in Jackson) would be giving out those envelopes for free stuff in January. I was laughing at the new offerings. One of them is punny. Juan Huge Burrito.

the lights were beautiful. They always are. I didn't upload the pictures yet. I will. but I haven't even showed you anything for months.


I forgot my tea advent again

Day 12 - Rocky Mountains - National Park Tea Black teas, raspberry leaf, raspberry flavor, sage leaf, and raspberry pieces. How did I miss this one? I had a sample box of these ones. either I had gotten a bad sample then because this was phenomenal very raspberry

Day 13 - Rooibos Sweet Sizzlin Cinnamon Herbal Tisane Rooibos, organic cinnamon pieces, sweet sizzlin cinnamon flavor and safflower petals. At least the cinnamon overpowers the rooibos funk.

Day 14 Apple Sage Black Tea black teas, apple pieces, natural apple sage flavoring and blackberry leaf. oddly weak sauce and boring. At least it didn't taste like sage

Day 15 Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Black Tea Blend Black teas from India, Sri Lanka, China and Taiwan and bergamot oil. They have a whole collection of literature inspired teas (Poe is my favorite) What says Dostoyevsky about this? Nothing but it is a nice complex earl grey

day 16 Snickerdoodle Rooibos Herbal Tisane Organic Green Rooibos, organic cinnamon pieces, sweet blackberry leaf and snickerdoodle flavoring. Needs more snickerdoodle/cinnamon


Fannish 50 ( Spoilers for The Amazing Digital Circus episode 7 )