Wayward Cat Publishing
Dianna Dann   Dana Trantham   D.D. Charles

Fiction-wise

House of Salt and Sorrow by Erin A. Craig
"As one by one her beautiful sisters mysteriously die on their isolated island estate, Annaleigh must unravel the curse that haunts her family. Be careful who you dance with..." This one's like a fairy tale. Wonderful! 

Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah
"Having retreated to her...hometown after a scandal left her career in ruins, child psychiatrist Dr. Julia Cates is determined to free the extraordinary little girl she calls Alice from a prison of unimaginable fear and isolation. The shocking facts of Alice’s life test the limits of Julia’s faith and strength, even as she struggles to make a home for Alice—and for herself." Sounds tragic.

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow
"Forced to move to a new city, with her strict African American grandmother as her guardian, Rachel is thrust for the first time into a mostly black community, where her light brown skin, blue eyes, and beauty bring a constant stream of attention her way. It’s there, as she grows up and tries to swallow her grief, that she comes to understand how the mystery and tragedy of her mother might be connected to her own uncertain identity. " Sounds like a difficult but impactful read. 

The Things We Cannot Say by Tonya Bolden
"Since she was nine years old, Alina Dziak knew she would marry her best friend, Tomasz. Now fifteen and engaged, Alina is unconcerned by reports of Nazi soldiers at the Polish border, believing...that they pose no real threat...Then, as the fabric of their lives is slowly picked apart, Tomasz disappears. Where Alina used to measure time between visits from her beloved, now she measures the spaces between hope and despair, waiting for word from Tomasz and avoiding the attentions of the soldiers who patrol her parents’ farm. But for now, even deafening silence is preferable to grief." Fabulous historical fiction!

Less by Andrew Sean Greer
"Arthur Less will almost fall in love in Paris, almost fall to his death in Berlin, barely escape to a Moroccan ski chalet from a Saharan sandstorm, accidentally book himself as the (only) writer-in-residence at a Christian Retreat Center in Southern India, and encounter, on a desert island in the Arabian Sea, the last person on Earth he wants to face. Somewhere in there: he will turn fifty. Through it all, there is his first love. And there is his last." A lighthearted, fun read! Just what I need.

New mysteries to investigate...

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole
"Rear Window meets Get Out in this gripping thriller from a critically acclaimed and New York Times Notable author, in which the gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood takes on a sinister new meaning…" Well, I'm scared!

Deadly Waters by Dot Hutchison
"Ellie has previously threatened to kill men who don’t take no for an answer. Rebecca and her friends thought Ellie was kidding. But now a vigilante killer is roaming campus—someone who knows how to dispose of rapists. Someone determined to save female students from horrible crimes." I can usually handle some gore when there's vengeance involved.

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all—a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night, when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately lands on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story. Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they've kept for years." This one sounds fabulous!

One by One by Ruth Ware
"When the cofounder of Snoop, a trendy London-based tech startup, organizes a weeklong trip for the team in the French Alps, it starts out as a corporate retreat like any other...But as soon as one shareholder upends the agenda by pushing a lucrative but contentious buyout offer, tensions simmer and loyalties are tested. [A] devastating avalanche leaves the group cut off from all access to the outside world...As each hour passes without any sign of rescue, panic mounts, the chalet grows colder, and the group dwindles…one by one." Too scary for me.

(All book descriptions are quoted from Amazon.)

From "7 Weird Terms People are Using During the Coronavirus Pandemic that You Should Know" at theladders.com:

Tyrannovirus: "...not only a description of the virus itself but how the pandemic has wreaked havoc in society as a whole. "

Zoombombing: "...means someone has found a link to your [Zoom] meeting and shows up unannounced, sometimes not wearing any clothing."

Covidiot: "...someone who spreads misinformation, attacks other people for their health practices, or is simply trying to cause dissension and confusion."

Coronacation: "...basically a vacation at home where you can’t go anywhere or do anything — but still need a break."

Infodemic: "...a nod to the misinformation we’re all seeing online and on social media. Like the pandemic itself, an infodemic can cause fear and consternation, especially if there’s no factual backing."

 

I think this is hawksbeard, or crepis. They're hard to tell apart from dandelions, so I'm not sure. Either way, an adorable little weed. August 2020.

 

 

by Ellis Parker Butler 

      
In all romances, old and new,
And in all lover’s rhymes
I find one rule that has held true
Since prehistoric times.
 
The lover must, if he indeed
Be hit by Cupid’s dart,
Grow pale, sigh much, neglect his food,
And wholly lose his heart.
 
Now fain would I abide this rule
But I, forsooth, grow red
And hot, and stammer like a fool,
And only lose my head.

 

The Rogue Writer blog is for writers who dare to go against the standard advice on "how to write a book." It's for those who want to write their way, to learn to trust themselves and their own process, and to embrace writing as an act of self-expression that no one else can adequately critique. 

Chapter One:
Welcome to the first Rogue Writer blog post! This blog exists, undoubtedly, because someone or something on the Internet pissed me off and I feel the need to write about it. Actually, I've been thinking about this for a long time. I'd like to write a book about writing books, but that seems daunting. Better to put it all in a blog.

So, if you're here, you want to be a writer. I can tell you how to do that. But I really can't. The truth is that, despite what most other people will say, no one can tell you how to be a writer or how to write a book or a story. You have to figure it out for yourself. But I can tell you a few things.

1. Stop listening to other people.
2. Do whatever it is you have to do to write the way you want to write.
3. Stop trying to please other people.
4. Trust yourself.

There are as many ways to write a story as there are people writing them.

Visit the Rogue Writer blog for more...