Wrapping Up 2023

The year 2023 is drawing to a close and I'm doing what I can to wrap things up with literary flair. First up, I was contacted by Shepherd.com for the second time (here is my response on the first occasion) and asked to share my 3 favorite reads of the year. I gave it some thought (as did many other authors and readers who also contributed) and shared my Top 3 to date. Since there are nearly two full months left to go in the year, I can't guarantee that another book won't bump a title from the 3 seated throne. The one I'm currently reading is certainly off to a promising start. But as of this blog post...

Each November over the past several years, I have heard buzz in book'ish social media circles about National Novel Writing Month - aka NaNoWriMo. One of the first novels that I reviewed for my booktube channel Roy's Book Reviews was Water for Elephants, a book that began its first draft as a NaNoMoWri project. Sara Gruen ended up getting a publishing deal out of it, and later came a movie adaptation. THE DREAM - right? Usually I don't partake in online (or offline) group writing projects. Writing by its nature is a solitary pursuit, and while I am a sociable enough fellow, when it comes to crafting tales I typically operate as a lone wolf. But since I happen to be currently working on the first draft of my third novel, I figured I would join the fellowship of writers participating in NaNoWriMo 2023 as a way to keep myself motivated and my pen (yes, I still write first drafts longhand) continuously moving.

Another literary happening that I decided to participate in is the upcoming ALL BLACK BOOK AFFAIR sponsored by the Black AF Bookclub. A variety of writers from the full range of book genres/categories have chosen to make the Kindle editions of their books free or available at a discount on Amazon. The authors will all be Black and so will the primary characters of the works of fiction. It's an #AllBlackBookAffair spotlighting Black Indie Authors and I am thrilled to have one of my books be part of the event. 

Have you read many books by Black authors? If so, how many of them were indie authors? How many were male authors? Have you spread the love around across multiple genres? Here's a great opportunity to check off some of those boxes at little to no cost. Simply have your Kindle at the ready. Challenge yourselves to broaden horizons.

The Kindle ed. of Matters of Convenience will be FREE December 18th to December 22nd. Grab yourself a literary Christmas gift. Grab a whole bunch of them while you're at it. Say it loud - I read Black and I'm proud.

Any writer who has queried magazines or publishers or literary agents knows that the canned, informal responses that often come (I know, I know - they're VERY busy people who are inundated with submissions and simply don't have time for the personalized touch) can seem as if they were auto-generated by AI programs rather than human beings who actually took a few minutes to pay you any attention. But writers by necessity are resilient, and our thick skins sometimes yield hilarious results. For example...

I certainly was not going to be left out of the festivities. When life gives you lemons...it's lemonade time!

                                                                     *****

Last but not least, I managed to land a fantastic interview with an extremely dashing author that you can find featured at Roy's Book Reviews as well as below. Hope you enjoy it. Cheers, old sport (did you figure out that my Halloween costume this year was Jay Gatsby?).