DL White [00:00:14]:
Hello. I am back. I am here even though I warned that I might not be. I feel like if I didn't Get up and get on this mic. It was gonna be some problems some problems not really, I'm playing, but I love that y'all look forward to this podcast, and, I look forward to bringing it to you on the days I feel like doing it. So I am back. Hello. Welcome back to The Bookcast.
DL White [00:00:48]:
This is my platform for sharing short fiction and updates on what I'm reading And writing. This is episode 61. I am DL White, author of, 12 contemporary southern and romantic Fiction novels featuring black men and women. I'm also a big fan of books, so we usually begin with a book report, and then we talk about writing and other stuff. And, I'm currently working on a little dessert project. That's a project I'm doing this just for fun, just for the love of writing and for me that's fan fiction. And I am working on the story of Kate which is a piece for our writing challenge at the fan fiction archive that I run. I'll talk more about that in our writing update.
DL White [00:01:32]:
I want to issue my extreme thanks for your support of this podcast Whether it's a message in my inbox, a tweet, a comment on my YouTube channel, I do it does not go unnoticed. I see them all. I try to reply to them All if I miss you, charge it to my head. My short span of attention and not my heart. I love you all. If you would like to offer more support, Please head over to buy me a coffee.com/booksbydlwhite. There you can offer a one time or recurring monthly gift. I would be most grateful for your support in that endeavor.
DL White [00:02:10]:
This is a, a woman owned run self funded type of thing we're going on here so, I appreciate your your support. The other way you can support is to buy my books and talk about my books but mostly buy the books. Books by dlwhite.com/books has all of the good stuff. My titles are available in ebook, audio, and print. Most of them are available in all 3 formats. You can also snag print copies of my books from bookshop.org and resist booksellers. Purchasing directly from me at my store puts those monies directly into my pocket with virtually no middleman taking a percentage of the retail price. If you prefer to buy them retail, all my titles are available in ebook wherever they're sold: Amazon, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple Books, Kobo Books, Google Play they are also available via subscription sites like Scribd which is changing to e something e evolve e e something.
DL White [00:03:16]:
I don't know. I I just got the emails, this week but it it seems like your scribd app will automatically Switch into a different app and if you use Scribd for like documents and stuff do you have to download a different app? I don't know. Don't get me lying. I don't know, but, my titles are also available at Kobo Plus. All of the ebooks that I have available and all of the audiobooks that I have available are on Kobo Plus and if you are a member I believe it's 11.99 for ebooks and audio. You can put books by d l y into your face all day and all night, so those they're also available to request at your local library through Libby or Hoopla so snatch them up. Books on sale, Leslie's Carl and Die is still on sale, an audiobook for 99¢ At a few retailers, head to payhip.com/booksbyd l white. There's a banner at the top of the page.
DL White [00:04:12]:
I'm using that to keep the links to any books I have on sale handy that title is normally like 11.99 in audio so 99¢ is a steal and if you go to I believe it's chirpedot Com they have so many audiobooks that are on discount like I just I had need to stay off of chirp but every time I go on there I buy like Five audiobooks because like 99¢ is a really good deal for audio. So all of the books that I have available I believe are on Chirp Cheaper than an Audible credit. I'm just saying. Stay tuned because I will have a few sales I think in November December. So this past week, I was in New York and, I flew in Monday, Westchester County, death to HPN airport. I absolutely hated it. It's a small airport, but it was so chaotic. Like, I know people complain about LaGuardia and LAX.
DL White [00:05:06]:
Let me tell you, those are upgrades compared to Westchester County Airport. I did not enjoy the experience, but New York was delightful. Had a really great time. We were out in New York in the market. I walk, like, 14,000 steps on Tuesday. We were all up in Manhattan, when we took the train from Westchester County into Grand Central Station and, walked, Did did our route really from there went into a bunch of different outlets. Y'all know I work for a beverage giant, and our New York bottler was really generous to take us around on their route, show us how they merchandise things, what's selling up there, what's not, What goals do we have to hit to be better in that market? Walked around most of the day, then went to the World Trade Center Memorial. That was a really solemn beautiful experience.
DL White [00:06:07]:
And then we went to this, like, food court type of place. I Forget what it's called, the name totally escaped me, but it was super neat. I got Korean fried chicken, and, let me just tell y'all, I don't know. I don't serving sizes are huge. Are people able to really eat all that food or what? Because I had weight loss surgery in 2000 My stomach is surgically smaller and I have made a concerted effort to not push the capacity that I have, like I could probably eat more but it would not be pleasant for people around me. I don't like to be so full I can't breathe. So When I'm done, I am done. Especially if I'm eating fur firm protein like a piece of chicken, a piece of fish, pork, beef.
DL White [00:06:54]:
Beef is a real problem. It's really delicious, and I wanna eat a lot of it, but, I can't. So Every time I eat beef, I have to regulate myself. So I had I got the Korean fried chicken and fries. And why Why was the serving size so huge? And then I didn't wanna drag around a plate of, you know, food all day, so I had to, like, share it with the table. I ate, like, maybe a piece and a half of chicken and a couple of fries, and then I was done. Like, I sometimes I need to eat off of the kids menu because that is a perfect it's honestly a perfect size for me. When I order from Zaxby's, I get literally, I get One of the kids' box of Zaxby's and then, like, an extra chicken strip.
DL White [00:07:38]:
It's a perfect amount of food for me. I just get so frustrated, and then, like, for dinner, I ordered, like, a beef bolognese thing, and I ate, like, you know, 3 or 4 bites of it, and then I was full. And it was this giant Plate of pasta, why are serving sizes so huge? Like I can't get something that's small And I can eat all of it that just would make it worth it for me to eat that. I was so frustrated. Anyway, Wednesday, we were up in the Elmsford sales center. They have a production facility to there. It's always neat for me to be able to walk through a warehouse and then walk through production and watch them make the bottles and the, you know, the the the machines mold the bottles and then they fill the bottles and they glue the labels on and Screw the caps on and shrink-wrap everything, and then it rolls over to the warehouse, really super neat process, I I love a production facility, so really had a great time. We had our team meeting up there.
DL White [00:08:36]:
It was always great to see my team in person because a lot of us are remote. And then we headed out and so I landed around 5 o'clock ish, 5 or 6 on Wednesday, And I basically spent Thursday recovering my legs were cramping like crazy because 14,000 steps in one day is a lot of movement for your girl I mostly just sit in this chair. So I am so happy to be back home this week before I have to Head back up there in November 6th, probably not as much walking, but I'm really excited because I'm gonna mix little pleasure with my business I'm gonna see a few friends one of them I've never met, she has been my fan fiction beta reader since 2008 And we've never met in person so I'm wildly excited about it. In the meantime, I'm here, I'm reading and I'm writing. So today we'll start with a book report Always, and I am talking about my dessert project, which is going very well. I'm so excited about it. It is really bringing back my joy of writing. Happy to share a little bit about that.
DL White [00:09:40]:
Today is Saturday, October 28th. It is 10:0:3 AM. I'm I'm actually an hour behind it when I usually sit down to record so if I'm not recording by 9 o'clock I feel like I'm late, but I'm literally not. It's gonna be cold this next week, and I'm not interested in that at all. But it's currently sunny, and I think it's 56 degrees in ATL. I have a microphone. I am ready to dig in, but first, let's have some coffee. That is, that's the good stuff.
DL White [00:10:22]:
Mhmm. I actually had some I made my coffee around 8 or 8:30, and I was talking to my roommate about my 50th birthday trip where she's a travel agent, so we're starting to plan what I want to do for that, and, then I sat here and did my little rundown prep and I listened to a Podcast, so my coffee had a little chance to cool down. I like it. Slammable. Slammable. So Let's begin with the book report because I am a book head. If I'm gonna do anything, I'm gonna read a book. I have read 143 of my challenge to read 175 books This year I am finally on track with my Goodreads challenge.
DL White [00:11:02]:
Woo hoo. Shout out to Amazon originals because they are all very short and I was able to catch up this week. I, read Cause of Death by Jeffrey Deaver. This is a new author to me. It was it's like it's a crime fiction novel. I have never heard of this author, but I was like, hey. That is a crime fiction and it is short. Let's read it.
DL White [00:11:24]:
But I would definitely I would read this author again. So he is 1, to keep my My eyes and ears on, I read, her 2nd death which is Bree Taggart, 0.05 or 0.0.5. This is the pre log To the Bree Taggart series which I have been reading, you know, off and on and, it was It was short, so I I snagged it up. I am have been reading the Bree Taggart series. I think I'm all caught up, on that one. So we're just ready for the next one which I think comes in November. I listened to I'm a fan by Sheena Patel which was Absolutely not enjoyable at all. It was very one-sided, from the point of view of a person who was obsessed with her neighbor, or It's a person who's obsessed with the woman who's sleeping with the man that she wants and he's kind of bouncing around between people and he like texts her all kinds of Things that happen between him and other women while he's stringing her along and I'm like, honey, why? Why? I wanted to read this one because of my dessert project.
DL White [00:12:35]:
I need the perspective of people who are obsessed with other people, but This the narrator not the not the person voicing the book but the point of view of the person telling the story was just a it's just a little too weird for me. Like, why why are you putting up with this? Why? I also decided Since my block Gloctober was has been a little bit underwhelming that I would also try to fill in my Will Trent story holes. If you know me at all you know I love me some Karen Slaughter and recently one of her series has hit, ABC TV I believe. Will Trent series is great. It's awesome awesome awesome. So I didn't get Will Trent number 1 which I think is called triptych. I haven't started with That one, but I did start with number 2, fractured. This is Will Trent number 2, and if you have read or if you have watched the Will Trent series, this This book is where the series begins.
DL White [00:13:37]:
So, we're it, on Fractured, we meet Paul Campanoe who is played by Mark Paul Gosselaar in the TV series. So this is where the actual TV series begins. And then I read on Dunn which is Will Trent number 3 which continues on with Will Trent and, doctor Sarah Linton And then we meet, well we we meet Will's commander Amanda she is the captain at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation And then his partner, Faith, who moves over, I believe, from the Atlanta Police Department to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. So this is Kind of really where the series gets its feet under it. So I am now reading Broken, which is Wolf Trent number 4, and really enjoying it so far. I'm also Reading a welcome reunion by Lucinda Barry Lucinda Barry. It's, I have no idea what it's about. It was short, So I picked it out and it's in Kindle Unlimited so I downloaded it.
DL White [00:14:39]:
It has, ebook and audio included because she is of course on the Amazon imprint. It's the only way that you get audio included with Kindle Unlimited is if they are on the Amazon imprint, so I take full advantage of that. Fortunately, I could not get through the snowman by Joan Nesbo. It just was not my jam. My deepest Apologies to doctor Raymond. I appreciate the, I appreciate the referral. Please don't stop, recommending books to me. I just could not I was Trying.
DL White [00:15:08]:
I just could not get into it. I can't explain why. I just I'm I it was it was a mood. It was just a mood. So I read, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 books this week, which is very surprising. I actually got through most of them Thursday Friday Because I decided I wanted to catch up I it was not going to be okay to go another week 4 books behind. I'm currently reading 2, I DNF'd 1, it was a good week for reading. Writing update.
DL White [00:15:39]:
The story of Kaye is chugging right along. It's going very well actually. I just posted chapter Number I posted the prologue and chapter 4 I posted yesterday going really well. The reception is great so far. Again, I am, I'm writing this over at insyncfiction.com which is the fan fiction archive that I own and operate. There's been a lot of activity, around the NSYNC fandom this week, a lot of Negative press around 1 member, which I have been working hard to not comment on, biting a hole in my tongue. But We remain positive and hopeful that hopefully there will be a reunion someday and if If that member wants to get back into the good graces, what that member can do is give us NSYNC back. So that's all I have to say about that.
DL White [00:16:35]:
All I care about is the group. I don't care about nothing personal about anybody. All I care about is the group. So story of Kate is going really well. Again, this is my Story about my character that suffers from, erotomania. Alright. I lost Internet. I have no idea where I left off, But we'll figure it out, so just gonna roll it back for a minute.
DL White [00:17:00]:
I am Writing the story of Kate, which is a story involving a woman who suffers from erotomania. This is It's a condition or a disorder in which people believe that someone is in love with them. And The character's name is Kate. Her name is actually Melanie Catherine, but she's been going by Kate since the man she thinks is in love with her Released a album called the story of Kate. She feels like that's a sign, and she's been going by Kate, since that album released. Kate is married, and Mark is kind of a doofus. He doesn't like, he sees it, and he knows that she's ill but doesn't Think it's as serious as it is, so he's not really paying attention. He runs a production company, and he's Just kind of not really paying attention, which really leaves Kate to do whatever she's doing.
DL White [00:17:53]:
She and Mark live near this pop star and his wife, And they're just kind of going about life, everything is great. They're still newlyweds, they just celebrated their 2nd wedding anniversary. Wife is pregnant and, like, life is really good and just weird things start happening like stuff starts disappearing around the house and then Their house gets broken into and a bunch of things have been destroyed. All of their photos together are ripped apart and there's like There's holes punched through all the photos. Furniture was destroyed. All of his wife's things have basically, all her clothes are thrown about the bedroom. She'd stole all of the jewelry, all of her perfume was smashed into the tub, all of her makeup, everything on her side of the bathroom is just Cast off the counter, it's a mess, but none of his stuff is messed with except for this person broke into the studio that he has in the basement of his home and stole his demo CDs, his unfinished recordings, and he's got backups in his computer, But someone has the actual CDs and this makes him nervous because unreleased material that is sent out to the public like it's it's really hard to get that back, you can't unring that bell. So that's kind of where we are in the story, this super happy couple Weird things start happening, and they're just kind of starting to realize that, things are weird.
DL White [00:19:24]:
What's What's happening? What's happening here? So it's kind of fun to me to roll this story out, like, piece by piece. It's alternating perspective. It I I write stories as they come to me. So they come to me in present tense. It's really much it's It's very in your face and right now in immediate. It is third person present tense from the point of view of JC and Serena, Who are my married couple, they're actually from a story that like it's my magnum opus. All I wanna do is like the first really long drawn out story that I wrote is like it's 80 chapters of just like a fan that falls for A pop star actually that falls for a fan that he meets on a flight and they he asks her out again and again and again and ends up flying her back and forth from Atlanta to LA and then ends up moving her to LA. It is the story.
DL White [00:20:21]:
It's their love story. So, I decided instead of inventing a whole new couple, I would just bring JC and Serena back because everybody loves JC and Serena at the archive. And so let's just continue, you know, their love story except give it a little bit of a thriller bend. We I am Rolling out this story, I totally lost my train of thought. What am I talking about? Anyway, it's a lot of fun. I don't remember if I read the description of the story before. I think I read it and then deleted it because it sounded stupid, but I am going to include it now. So here is the, I guess what they call the blurb for the story.
DL White [00:21:02]:
Behind the smile of a fawning fan lies obsession. When pop star JC Chasez becomes a target of a delusional Stan no one realizes the depths of her mania Or the danger she poses. Not JC who brushes off troubling signs. Not his wife Serena focused on a high powered career and starting a family. Kate sees messages no one else can. She hears orders to complete a mission that no one else hears. She knows what JC truly wants And she'll go to terrifying lengths to make it happen. After Kate ominously infiltrates the couple's inner circle JC and Serena find themselves in a battle not just for their happy home, but for their very lives.
DL White [00:21:44]:
With an unstable stalker on their trail, the Chassees must decode Kate's endgame before she strikes again and the clock is ticking so I have planned out this entire story already and I'm excited to lay it out, but I haven't, like, planned, like, down to the minute detail because for me The joy in writing is discovering the story and if I plan too much I feel like I have already written the story And then I don't feel like finishing it. But knowing that, a, I have to finish this because people are actually reading it and wanting the updates and, b, I have to finish the story by November 17th. I am fully motivated. So, I did get in a little bit of writing, this week, not on my trip, but I came back Thursday and Friday, and I got I got in some scenes. I just wrote the scene where they, they go to the OBGYN, and they have their gender ultrasound, and they're just so happy, and it almost pains me to, like, like, Throw a kink into their happy home, but also I'm really looking forward to Kate absolutely Misinterpreting what's going on and throwing herself kind of into this family structure and really trying to ruin it. So it's been, it's been a good time. It's really bringing back the joy of writing to me of writing where I'm not worried about it being perfect. Although I do still want it to be, you know, readable and an interesting story, and a joy to open that page and pick up the latest update.
DL White [00:23:31]:
It's also been a long time since I wrote a serial and so really ending each chapter On a cliffhanger is how that has to go. And so now that I've planned out the story and really how it has to How it has to play out, I need to really get, you know, go from the end up to where I'm at. I I have 9 chapters written, including the prologue. And, I, like, I don't know how many I'm going to have, I just know how this has to pan out, and I know that most of the action has to come toward the end of his wife's pregnancy. So it's like planning out, like, how how that has to happen. And that's kind of fun. I am not I'm not really a planner. But when you are writing something where you have to Leave breadcrumbs and you have to guide your reader through the story through the action.
DL White [00:24:25]:
You have to plan at least a little bit. I don't know how people Don't plan this genre of writing. So that is where I'm at with writing. I do Still want to do a little holiday short. I still don't have an idea, but, the inkling is there Since I've had my head stuck in crime fiction for so long, I've been able to take a nice long break long ish break from romance which always stokes, you know, the fire and always makes me want to, Always makes me wanna kinda dig back into it. What I really needed a break. I really really needed a break. And am really enjoying my little break here over in crime fiction.
DL White [00:25:10]:
Just a little something different. Give me a clean slate. Give me some objectivity And also like getting back into the habit of writing and writing where people seem to enjoy the work, has been fun, and who knows what's gonna happen in 2024 once I get through this story. It is not perfect. It is not something that would get good ratings at Goodreads, But it's my 1st foray into, like a thriller story reading a lot of books about Stalkers and people with erotomania and people who dig really deep into parasocial relationships. So that's really been occupying my time. And that's great because we're kind of digging really into hibernation season for me, And it keeps my fingers and my eyes and my ears busy. So that is the writing update.
DL White [00:26:04]:
Again, if you are interested in reading the story if you like fan fiction, if you like NSYNC fan fiction, encourage you to look me up at insyncfiction.com. My username is missm. I have opened up social media profiles for that, personality. She is on Twitter and Instagram and TikTok, and she also has a substack. It's miss m fan thick. So find me, follow me if you dare. I am drawing this Story out, I post a couple of times a week, and so you're not getting the whole story at once, it's more of like a Kindle Vela experience. So it's a serial, so you get the story a piece at a time, and you just enjoy it As it comes, and I I really I'm I'm well ahead in writing in, like, I've I've written I just Finished writing chapter 9, and I have posted chapter 4.
DL White [00:27:03]:
So I I'm well ahead, but I I do need to, like, I wanna get, You know, way ahead, maybe finish it and, and then then I can know how often I have to post before, I can post the end before On on or before November 17th. So I'm just rambling at this point, but it's fun, I'm having a good time. So I cannot think of anything else To update you all on everything's good, so that brings us to the end of today's episode. Thank you for joining me for an episode of the book cast. I will be back next week with a reading update and a writing update. Please enjoy your weekend. Have a superlative week, and we will chat again soon.