Want a real misery? Word autocorrect. No, Word, you do NOT know better than me. Honest. Stop changing CNA to CAN and all the rest of the stuff you know nothing at all about. No, no, no.
More and more I’m finding MS Word thinks it knows best, when it does not. And turning it off doesn’t seem to make it stop!!!!! Grrrr.
People—mostly other authors—ask me: Why clean? Why no sex or profanity? Nobody much asks me why no gore.
So, here’s why in a nutshell: Because readers, especially me, are tired of dodging the cringe factor, which, as time goes on in entertainment (be it books, movies, music performances …you name it, and in our culture in general), now strives to reach a higher level of ‘shock impact’, each iteration trying to outdo the previous. It all becomes a race to the bottom.
Honestly, sex, gore, and profanity aren’t necessary for good, solid story.
I used to pride myself on realism. And, yes, especially with the workarounds needed to remove any and all profanity, that can push the credibility off a cliff, because, also honestly, most cops …most people curse …unless they come from a very strict upbringing and stick with it. However, as an author, creating story without it is doable. It just takes figuring out another way to deliver the same meaning or effect without losing impact.
There’s your nut taken out of its shell for the morning.
—Dawn
It never fails. I have things all ordered, lined out, figured out, and …our internet goes down …for days. Right in the middle of a book launch, a promise to send free audio book codes to people who email, etc., etc., etc.. Okay. So I go to somebody else’s house or the library to do anything. …Okay. Except, oh, I can’t access email from there because …guess what? I put in protections that only allow me coming from my home computers to access. Right. Well, instead, I worked on ‘web stuff’, yes, I did. And manuscripts, of course. Anyway, we’re back online. It was the ISP’s problem, not an issue on our end …which, they always claim, don’t you know …until they finally figure out that, yep, they messed up, yes, they did! I’m downloading email as I type this.
Want to be informed when new releases are out? !
The latest release in The Jessica Anderson K-9 Mysteries, Book 9, Furtive Prey, is out in eBook, Large Print Paperback, and is also available to read for free on Kindle Unlimited. This novel in the continuing K-9 SAR (Canine Search and Rescue) career of Jessica Anderson and her Wonder Mutts was released on June 7th, 2024. The story takes place while it’s still deep winter in Bitterroot County, Idaho, the snow deep and the consistency of a slushy—not dog tracking/trailing weather in the wilderness. That doesn’t mean there isn’t something happening, though, and, in fact, happen it does. Enjoy the adventure. Follow the trail as Jessie and her dogs, once again, seek their targets, both bad guys and good.
Stray Trouble is being narrated by the incomparable Sam Guncler. I’m in awe of his performance of it. It’s …WOW! Can’t wait for you to hear it!
BTW, the audio version of Death Scent came out a while back. It’s narrated by Lisa Baarns of Red Baarns Audio. Those who would like a code to get a free copy, sign up for my newsletter for the instructions on how to. , because that’s about the only way you can keep up with new releases, plus there will be other stuff coming for you …like maybe a prequel—what happened that caused Jessie to flee home to the Bitterroots.
Critical Traces, A Jessica Anderson K-9 Mystery, Book 10Yes, it’s already in the works and on pre-order . And it’s nothing but the wonder mutts in action trying to save the lives of both the innocent and guilty.
And, Psst! There’s something else in the works, too!
Let me introduce you to… Mike ‘Midnight’ Murphy and his dog King. This series is K-9 police procedural/crime and set in Arizona! And, yes, it’s on pre-order already …because it’s almost done. 🙂