blogs – Mystery Deb

Health Update and A New Scam Scaring Authors

After my Jan. 7 blog, the rest of the month passed without any major health incidents. Except for scheduled medical appointments, it’s been a quiet, self-isolating month. My bald head has made the cold feel even colder these days, so I keep a toque on most days now. I always long for sunnier climates at this time of year. Maybe next January we’ll finally get back to Mexico after what will have been eight long years. We’re certainly thinking about it. Meanwhile, my sister was on a walk through the west end of Vancouver last week, and found these daffodils. What!?

Cancer Update

After my chemo/immunotherapy treatment on January 13, my energy again plummeted while the nausea rose, which was to be expected. After some training from the nurse, I learned to inject myself with a drug that boosts my white blood cell count. I’ll be doing this for one week after each of the remaining treatments. It’s cringeworthy, I know, but it’s turned out to be quick and painless. Happily, I have only two treatments left.

I also met with the surgeon and learned that my surgery date is March 24. On another high note, I’ll be able to go home on the same day. Once recovery is underway, physiotherapy will be required to restore arm movement, but that’s not a big deal. The really interesting news came from a meeting with the radiation oncologist. She advised that breast cancer treatment was usually a package deal: chemo, surgery, and radiation. However, new studies have shown that there is no greater risk of returning cancer for many patients after they’ve completed chemo and surgery. In other words, radiation therapy might not be necessary at all. This will depend, however, on the pathology report after surgery. I’ll be meeting again with the radiation oncologist the third week of April to decide if the treatment is necessary. I sure hope it isn’t, but you do what you have to do.

My Writing Life (Helpful Info and a Question For You)

I read about a new disturbing scam that writers, especially new authors, should be aware of. This came from Anne R. Allen’s terrific blog, where she reports that scammers are using Amazon to scare the heck out of authors. They pretend to be Amazon and inform authors that because they have fewer than ten reviews, they will need to hire a ‘Certified Visibility Specialist’ to keep the book from being thrown into obscurity. Anne provides many more details with links to other blogs with further information. You can find Anne’s blog HERE

I follow a number of writers on Substack, including Orna Ross, who is the founder of ALLi, The Alliance of Independent Authors. Orna recently moved her email list to Substack because she felt it would attract more subscribers and allow her to engage with them in different ways. She wrote that she could do many more things that weren’t available on her previous email list provider.

So, I have a question for those of you who use Substack. Does it gain you more subscribers or expand your presence? Would you recommend Substack? I’m not considering leaving WordPress at this point, but the reality is that change is frequent and sometimes sudden. So, it’s not a bad idea to consider other options. You can find Orna’s Substack blog HERE

Promotional stuff

My $.99 sale for Casey Holland mystery #1, The Opposite of Dark, ends on January 31^st. Here’s a quick blurb:

When the cops tell Casey her father was murdered the previous night, Casey doesn’t believe them. After all, she buried her dad three years earlier…or did she? The quest for answers takes her to England, Paris, and Amsterdam, where an increasingly dangerous game endangers the people she loves.—”A fast-moving action-packed thriller with many twists, secrets & lies.”—Nightreader.

Platform links: Amazon, Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Google Play

I’ve also been running a $.99 sale on the 4^th book, The Deep End, which also ends on Jan. 31^st. Here’s the blurb:

Transit officer Casey Holland’s first volunteer shift at a youth detention center turns deadly when its director dies from heart failure. But all is not as it seems. There are rumors that his death was no accident. As more people die, the center is about to implode, but who is an ally and who is an enemy? Casey must find the answers before the killer stops her from learning the truth.

Platform links: Amazon, Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Google Play

Until next time, take care, everyone.

Are You Tiring of Social Media?

Like many of you, I’ve been on social media nearly every day of my life for over a dozen years. I’m not an avid participant on most platforms, although I do try to post daily on Bluesky, which is currently my favourite option. It’s quick, relatively positive, and doesn’t expect me to come up with a photo or video. Mainly, I visit social media sites to see what friends and colleagues are up to, or to read their thoughts on a variety of important issues.

I’m also on LinkedIn, Goodreads, X (although perhaps not much longer), Instagram (the animal videos are adorable), Facebook and subsequently Meta, although I still don’t know why I’m there. I must have let myself be dragged in through FB.

I maintain this blog, of course, and a newsletter. I post here once every two weeks, and the newsletter once a month. There is some overlap between the two posts, but generally my newsletter is more about freebies and discounts, and to share a little about the origins of my stories. I’m considering merging the two so I just have one to maintain, but that decision won’t be made until the new year. If I do this, there’ll be a little more promo work here, although it won’t be nearly as much as the newsletter. I’ll probably offer snippets of works in progress and/or published work, and more discussion of books I’m reading.

A few writing colleagues have left Facebook, finding no value in it anymore. Some have joined Substack, finding it better for visibility than WordPress. For those of you who use Substack, is it worthwhile compared to your previous platforms?

Personally, I’d like to streamline and simplify my social media life, promoting less often, but am taking my time to decide on the best course of action. I’d love to hear how you plan to use, or not use, social media platforms going forward. Generally speaking, are you tiring of social media? If you had just one go-to site, which would you choose as an author, or which would you choose just for fun?

To take my mind off social media conundrums, here’s the latest from our garden. This lovely species of lavender is flourishing in our front yard. Another species died after the extreme cold snap of January 2024, but not this one. Each year, I never quite know which plants will pop up and flourish and which ones will struggle. Come to think of it, it’s kind of like book publishing.

The Writing Life: Good and Bad

I’ve been settling into a writing routine these past couple of weeks. It’s been a creative, peaceful, and fulfilling time while I work on two different books. I’m pleased with the candid, detailed comments I received from beta readers for the urban fantasy. They’ve helped me put issues into perspective, but it’s also requiring major editing on my part. On Monday, for example, I spent three hours rewriting chapter eight, thinking and pondering comments. It was grueling, but the chapter is better for it.

I’ve also been catching up on blogs from other writers and learned that things have become more challenging lately. Aside from the ongoing scams and pirated books, writers now have to contend with the dubious use of AI.

A horrific example is provided by well-known writer and blogger, Jane Friedman, who some of you might be familiar with. Jane’s an author who not only gives many workshops but offers useful tips in her blogs. Recently, she discovered that someone(s) has been writing what she calls garbage books, possibly AI generated, and attaching her name to them for sale on Amazon. The books have also appeared on her Goodreads page. Needless to say, people have complained about the quality of the books, thereby harming her reputation. It turns out that this has happened to other popular authors. It’s only because of Jane’s clout that she was able to have the books taken down, which was a struggle in itself. I won’t go into more detail as she tells the story more clearly in her account HERE.

Two years ago, I bought a terrific book called Newsletter Ninja by Tammi Labrecque. I joined her Facebook group, and on Monday she posted that a book promotion company has been using the Newsletter Ninja name to sell their services. Since Tammi has nothing to do with this company, she’s fighting to have the Newsletter Ninja name removed, but so far has been unsuccessful.

Those of us who’ve been writing for a long time do it because we’re passionate about stories and happy to share them with others. Writing, editing, publishing, marketing, and selling is hard work, but when we have to deal with the crap mentioned above it feels overwhelming at times. Outside of my physical and blogging community, I’m an unknown author and unlikely to be targeted right now, but what happens if I grow beyond that? Will I be targeted, attacked, and maligned for my work? Will my name and reputation be trashed for profit, or just for fun? For the writers out there, how do you cope with this new reality? I’ve love to hear your thoughts.

I want to leave this on a happier note, so here are more flowers from our backyard, all taken earlier this year, to brighten your day.

Clearing Out Information Overload

The other night, I was browsing through one of my bookmarked file folders on publishing and marketing. It was a shock to find nearly 200 articles going back to 2013 and I wound up deleting plenty. Some links no longer worked. Some of the information had been saved more than once at different time periods, and some was simply irrelevant now.

A number of how-to articles bragged about how easy it is to self-publish. Hmm. While writing and producing a book might not be rocket science for some, it’s incredibly challenging for others. For me, production is a months-long process that requires a lot of attention to detail.

I was also struck by the contradiction in marketing strategies. Again, many of the articles and blogs made their ‘5 steps to successful marketing’ sound simple. Some articles recommended getting on as many platforms as possible. Others said don’t bother with social media at all, just create a website and a mail list. As I write this, I’m still trying to sort through the articles which resonate with my current needs.

One thing is clear. The number of how-to articles on self-publishing and marketing articles is mind boggling. If authors are confused and overwhelmed, I get it. Because I have a clear understanding of my objectives, my budget, and the time it takes me to write, produce and market a book, I’ve also become more realistic and less patient with the ‘5 easy steps to self-publishing’ guides.

I imagine many of you are inundated with information on social media or blogs popping into your inbox. I’d love to know if you find any publishing or marketing articles that have been especially useful for you. Or are you paring down like I am?

Thank You

It’s been a remarkably busy pre-Christmas week, but not for the usual reasons. My shopping, wrapping, and charitable donations are all done (about two weeks earlier than usual), which is just as well. My daughter’s been suffering from back pain, which reached an excruciating level on Monday, so I’ve been looking after baby Ellie this week while she recovers. Physiotherapy seems to be helping, but we’ll see how she does over the coming days.

This week, I simply want to say thank you to followers of this blog for sticking with me these past couple of years, and give a special welcome to those who have joined this fall. I’m especially grateful for those who’ve taken the time to comment or respond to my questions. I love the interaction I’ve received since joining WordPress and hope it will continue to grow.

Meanwhile, are you on a countdown to 2021 yet? Something tells me that many of us aren’t waiting for December 31^st to get the countdown started.

The Fun and Challenges of Guest Blogging

KEEP-CALM-BLOG-ON[1] After releasing a new novel, one of my ongoing promotion tasks is to write guest blogs and find bloggers who are willing to host me. I remember asking you all for advice about whether to try a blog tour and the majority of responses advised against it. The reasoning was that the amount of time it takes to write twenty to thirty blogs doesn’t pay off in subsequent sales, especially when you factor in the cost of hiring someone to arrange a tour. Sure, you could organize a big tour yourself, but it takes a great deal of effort to find willing hosts, keep track of posting deadlines, and stay engaged in the process.

So, I’m preparing just a few blogs, at my own pace. I thought it would be challenging, but once I started thinking about topics, ideas began to flow. Some of the blogs are specific to The Blade Man and others are about writing in general. It’s actually been fun to reflect back on my career, the things I’ve learned, and acknowledging the people who inspired me.

To date I have three lined up for June, which I’ll repost when the time comes, and I’ll be searching for more opportunities as we move into July. I’m not planning to appear more than once a week, which is plenty for me.

All in all, I’m off to a good start, but I’m looking for more hosts, so if you’re interesting in hosting me, please let me know at debra_kong@telus.net.

And I’m always open to hosting authors in all genres, as we can all learn something from one another.

Great Blogs to Follow This Year

love blogging Late last year, I began promoting my blog on new platforms and following the blogs of others. It’s been great fun, but also time consuming, I have to admit. Still, just when I think I’ve followed as many people as I can, along comes a terrific Facebook post about the top 100 Canadian book bloggers.

I’m Canadian, so this is exciting stuff for me, but as I scrolled down the list it became clear that many of these blogs will appeal to bloggers everywhere. The list includes publishers, magazines, book reviewers, and writers that includes a wide array of angles and viewpoints.

Go ahead, give it a try. I know I’m going to follow a few, although I’m quite sure I won’t be able to manage all 100. You can find the list HERE

Happy blogging and reading!

#amblogging: Too Much Info in Your Life? Probably

About three years ago, I came across a number of blogs and FB posts from people who were feeling increasingly overwhelmed with the numerous newsletters, emails, and blogs bombarding them. Some of those people were unsubscribing while others were simply deleting whatever appeared in their inbox. Based on a recent article in MEDIUM, there was a good reason for this. It’s called information fatigue.

The piece says that humans aren’t equipped to handle the huge amount of information coming at them from all directions. It’s one of the reasons I’ve never started a newsletter. Between my weekly blogs, daily Tweets, and intermittent FB announcements, I figure I’m saying enough. Marketing experts will likely disagree, but that’s how it is right now.

The blog also says that all this information is adding to our stress, exhausting us, and even making us dumber. I have no idea if that’s true, but the blog serves as a great reminder that we can control how much information we tune into and where we choose to seek it, whether for entertainment, research, or just staying aware of world events. mainstream-media[1] The piece offers some commonsense tips like taking breaks from technology, going for walks, and shutting off the news. As a news junkie, I’m not sure I can do that especially in these exciting times, but I’ll try. It might just keep my blood pressure low.