You’ll hear writers complain about the
number of typos that get missed during the editing and proofreading processes,
so their work is published with errors it is too late to fix. This is something
that happens to even the most well-known authors, regardless of what publisher
they use.

As a proofreader who is also an author, I
have seen typos in my own published work and have no idea how I missed them.
There is some kind of brain glitch that sees what it expects to see, hence, for
example, ‘to’ becomes ‘do’, and the meaning of an entire sentence is lost. We
just have to hope that readers suffer from the same glitch or like our work
enough to overlook the mistakes.

Proofreading errors are bad enough, but
far worse are errors in continuity and these may be harder to spot. For
example, a character may sit at a table while having already done so on the
previous page; someone claims to have come by bus, yet we know he left his car
in the car park; the protagonist is shown into the boss’s office by a blonde
secretary who is a redhead when he comes out.

I have just finished editing a book I
wrote over several years. It started as three novellas which were then glued
together into one novel. Revisiting old material is a challenge anyway but more
so when a book has been written in sections with not enough thought to the
sequence of events. Continuity errors have been a nightmare with this
particular work, and chunks of the narrative had to be rewritten to iron out the
inconsistencies. Proofreading errors, conversely, have been a doddle.

While storytelling is an author’s main
function, there are many other factors that must be borne in mind. An author
must:

1.     Create
interesting, believable characters that the readers will care about

2.     Provide
them with a plotline that works

3.     Weave
any necessary subplots seamlessly into the narrative

4.     Be
fluent and grammatically correct in the language of their choice

5.     Avoid
spelling and style errors and typos

6.     Create
a consistent atmosphere to suit the genre of the work

7.     Do
sufficient research to support the credibility of the work

8.     Decide
if certain themes, social commentaries or observations are to be included

9.     Maintain
the interest of the readers throughout, regardless of their demographic, and

10  Never
disappoint their readers with weak endings and plot holes.

While juggling all of the above,
continuity might slide under the radar, but an author must keep track of what
their characters are doing: their movements; appearance; clothes; dialogue; relationships;
backstories; ages; emotions, and so on. Added to that is the need to be aware
of changes in time and place.

That’s a lot of plates to keep spinning!
No wonder errors creep in.

Alas, after you’ve written and submitted
your book and you’re sure you’ve created perfection, you might see one of those
plates smashed on the ground when a continuity error is finally discovered—but it’s
too late, because your book’s been published! A case in point is the book I am
currently reading. It’s well written and compelling and the author is prolific
and professionally published; however, I noted that the main character asked
someone if they had any kin, to be told no, only to ask that same person the
same question two pages further on, again with the same response. Given all
those spinning plates the author had to keep an eye on, I’d say it happens to
the best of us.

Here is a brief intro to Book One of Carol’s exciting trilogy.

Banished from Elvendom and forced to seek refuge among the Saxons, young Elgiva faces a grim future – until she crosses paths with Godwin, a Briton enslaved by the people she must now call allies.

When a dark power rises to claim dominion over Elvendom, Elgiva and Godwin set off on a dangerous quest for the legendary Lorestone: the only thing that can stop the looming darkness. With a reluctant elf boy as their guide and a stubborn pony by their side, they must navigate the treacherous land and harness ancient magic before it’s too late.

As battle lines are drawn, Elgiva must embrace her true heritage, and Godwin must learn to wield the secret power he possesses. But can they find the Lorestone in time – or will Elvendom fall forever?

An historical fantasy adventure set in 6th century Britain, THE EXILE OF ELINDEL is the first book in Carol Browne’s The Elwardain Chronicles series.

UNIVERSAL BOOK LINK

Once upon a time a little girl wrote a poem about a flower. Impressed, her teacher pinned it to the wall and, in doing so, showed the child which path to follow.

Over the years poems and stories flowed from her pen like magic from a wizard’s wand.

She is much older now, a little wiser too, and she lives in rural Cambridgeshire, where there are many trees to hug.

But inside her still is that little girl who loved Nature and discovered the magic of words.

She hopes to live happily ever after.

Stay connected with Carol on her website and blog, Facebook, and Twitter. 

Now that winter has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, the human residents of Carpenter Country have started thinking about soup. And quackers too of course. My family and I are duck fans, and ducks generally show up in our neighborhood this time of year. However, much as we like both, we restrain ourselves from combining soup and quackers.

Speaking of combining things, did you know January is National Soup Month in the USA? What we don’t understand is why April is national grilled cheese sandwich month. Those two celebrations belong together. Someone should right this wrong.

We think we’ll have soup while we work up a petition.

Won’t you join us in a bowl? It’s big enough for all.

Easy Potato Soup

1 tbsp. butter
4-5 potatoes, peeled and diced
Chopped or diced onion to taste
1 tbsp. cornstarch or flour
¼ cup water
2 cups water
1 cup milk (whole, evaporated, or 2%)
1 tsp. salt
1 packet chicken bouillon
Shredded cheese optional

Melt butter in 2 quart saucepan.

Add onions and potatoes and cook until soft (5-10 minutes).

Mix 1 tbsp cornstarch with ¼ cup water (pre-mixing prevents annoying lumps). Add cornstarch mixture, water, milk, salt, and bouillon to softened potatoes and onions in saucepan.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20-25 minutes.

Serve with a topping of shredded cheese and a chunk of fresh bread.

Bonus goodness:
Crave added richness? Substitute ½ cup whipping cream for half of the milk.

Are you a vegetable fan? Toss in the veggie of your choice, either frozen or fresh, when you add the milk and water. We like frozen carrots and corn. They add color and they cook right along with the potatoes.

Like things meatier? Put in leftover ham or chicken.

Bland potatoes? Mix in sweet pickle juice. Six teaspoons give the soup a little zing.

Want some zest? A ½ teaspoon dry mustard provides zip.

Need more soup? Add more stuff. The converse works too.

Fighting off vampires? Switch out the regular salt for a teaspoon of garlic salt. If you have a bad infestation, add ½ teaspoon crushed garlic to the soup and serve with a wood spoon.

Once upon a time there was a mother/daughter author duo named Helen and Lorri, who wrote as HL Carpenter. the Carpenters worked from their studios in Carpenter Country, a magical place that, like their stories was unreal but not untrue. Then one day Lorri left her studio to explore the land of What-If, and like others who have lost a loved one the magical place lost much of its magic. But thanks to family, plus an amazing group of wordsmiths named Authors Moving Forward (AMF), the magic is slowly returning.

Helen Carpenter loves liking and sharing blog posts from other authors. She lives in Florida with her husband of many years and appreciates every day, especially those without hurricanes.

Stay connected on her blog and Facebook.

Happy
New Year to all my readers out there! I’m not sure about you, but I found that
2025 was a kind of ‘expect the
unexpected’ year. Unfortunately, I never did get my knee replacement
surgery date last year. Sigh. BUT, I’m booked to go get my new and improved
knee at the end of this January. Yay, me! I’m a little nervous and excited at
the same time, so wish me luck and a fast recovery! That said, January 2025
started with an urgency to research the best publishers to query for The Last
Timekeepers time travel adventure series, and Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls
teen psychic mysteries, as the publisher I had been with for ten years was
closing at the end of 2025. I had decided to split up my book series with two
different publishers (not a lofty goal at all!), where I’d approach a Canadian
publisher for my Fairy Falls series (based in Canada), and an International
publisher for The Last Timekeepers. Wow, talk about kismet! I managed to find
two publishers willing to take on my backlist and future books within two
months. Now that’s when hard work meets luck!

While
I was busy dismantling my old author life, and trying to build a new one, we
were met with devastating news at the loss of our 22-week-old grandchild
February 1st, who was to be born in late spring of 2025. Then, my 95-year-old
mother was hospitalized a week later through a fall in the long term care
facility she’s living in, and still hasn’t managed to regain her walking
abilities. Yes, I’m a firm believer that there is strength through adversity,
and I’ve found that you can only keep it together by understanding that we’re
never in control of the narrative. The truth is we are all experiencing life in
our own way, and at times, our mettle is tested to bring us to the next level
of our lives, if we so choose.

So,
between the grieving what was lost, and making choices that would support my
new Author Life, I
made a plan to tear down my old author world, and build a better
one that would serve me, my needs, and my goals. This whole process entailed
resubmitting my books to the publishers who offered me contracts, doing the
necessary edits and changes, approving the new book covers for The Last Timekeepers
series, firing my useless web designer, and hiring a supportive, reliable one,
and trying new ways to connect with my target audience via school libraries and
Instagram. I managed to get my young adult time travel books and teen psychic
mysteries re-released in May and June 2025. Not bad, and way ahead of schedule.
Woohoo!

Moving
forward in Author Life 2.0, I found that there are two things I’ve learned from
coming out of this challenging year. First, to stop putting pressure on myself,
and just enjoy the ride. Life goes by so fast, and if you don’t slow down to
‘smell those roses’ you’ll miss out on so many things or opportunities that
were meant for you. Second, I have nothing to prove. Period. So many times we
seek the approval of others: our parents, our peers, our colleagues and bosses,
our spouses, even our children. That’s a lot to take on. The only approval you
need is the heart-based approval you give to yourself. It’s a form of self-love
that we all need in this world right now.

How
was 2025 for you? Any milestones? Did you need to take a welcome break from all
the craziness we’ve endured the past six years? Have you been in your comfort
zone far too long like I was? Would love to read your comments! Cheers, Happy New Year, and wishing you a
healthy, happy, and prosperous 2026! Thanks for taking the time to read my
blog. I appreciate you!

Now that the holiday madness is almost over it’s time for a little comfort food. My daughter Dru, who is a wonderful cook, offered this easy dinner. She
is creative in her use of herbs and spices and never fails to come up with a
mouthwatering meal that is easy to prepare. This is one of our favorites. Studs
and I have prepared many times and will many times more.

DRU’S
CHICKEN

½
lb. boneless chicken breasts or tenders

If
using breasts, pound them thin between two sheets of waxed paper. Use tenders
right from package

Sprinkle
seasonings onto chicken.

Pour
oil in a frying pan and heat on medium until is shimmers. Add chicken. Fry
until lightly browned, about 5 minutes, turn, and cook the other side the same
way. remove chicken from pan to a plate and set aside.

Stir
chicken stock into hot pan and scrape in any brown bits from the bottom and sides
of the pan.

Add
soup, mix well, the bring to a boil.

Stir
in rice and broccoli. Turn heat to medium low. Place chicken on top, cover and
let simmer about 5 minutes.

Serve
on individual plates. French bread is a nice addition.

Enjoy!

May you enjoy all the days of your life filled with good friends, laughter, and seated around a well-laden table!

Sloane

Taylor’s cookbooks, Hot Mean Wear Aprons, Date Night Dinners, Date Night Dinners Italian Style, Sizzling Summer, and Recipes to Create Holidays Extraordinaire are released by Toque & Dagger Publishing and available at all book vendors. 

What to do about doing nothing to do? The holidays can be a bubbling vat of stress on a good day. So, I’ve invited my fellow author, Anne Montgomery over during this crazy-business holiday season to hopefully add some serenity to your life with her wisdom about learning how to slow down, and take things easy. The blog floor is all yours, Anne… 

 

So, I
found myself in a rather precarious situation.

One
day, recently, I had nothing to do. Not a thing. Even the house was relatively
clean, and the laundry put away. There was nothing more I could do for the
garden, which was on its way to the summer desert-char season, where all things
green are reduced to sticks and straw. I could find no new reporters, bloggers,
reviewers, or book clubs to pitch my novel to. There was nothing to edit or
update. No e-mails to return or query letters to revise. And, gosh, with school
out for the summer, there were no teenagers to supervise, unless you count my
youngest son, who’s twenty and thinks he’s all grown up and doesn’t need my
guidance anymore.

It
was…quite frankly…frightening.

I know
what you’re thinking. In the inimitable words of Mrs. Blue, when she first
faces Forrest from her porch, “What are you crazy or just plain stupid?”

Now, as
a teacher, I don’t use the word stupid. Five letters, yes, but, in the
classroom, it’s lumped in with the dastardly four-letter variety. Still, when I
tried to explain the cause of my anxiety to a friend, he looked at me like I’d
lost my mind. Stupid, indeed.

I went
online and, because I had nothing else to do, I took what was billed as the 7
Minute Anxiety Test. I agreed or disagreed with all sorts of statements on a
link called the Calm Clinic:  I have sweaty or cold, clammy hands. I
am afraid of crowds, being left alone, the dark, strangers, or traffic. I am
able to relax.

That
last one gave me pause. Even when I go on vacation, it takes me a few days to
stop searching for a purpose, to find that sweet spot where I can take a nap or
crack a mindless novel in the middle of the afternoon without guilt. The
test results showed that I’d scored a 25 out of 100 on the Anxiety Scale:
Apparently, my case was nothing more than mild.

Still,
why the trepidation when I’m not under pressure? I put on my Sherlock
deerstalker cap and, since I had nothing else to do, I gave it a good think.
 I ruminated on the fact that I have spent perhaps an inordinate amount of
time being insanely busy. Sometimes, I flash back to my newsroom days, where
the frantic preparation for the next show could, at any moment, be wrenched in
a new direction, necessitating the tossing of the previous plan moments before
going live on the air. (I still have nightmares about not being prepared when
the red camera light blinks on.)

When I
first became a teacher, my panic at those relatively short TV segments seemed
silly when faced with the proposition of five hours each day staring down
children in the classroom, who glared back, waiting. I felt like an animal in
the zoo. I used to be a server in a restaurant in Washington, D.C. where very
busy people wanted their food “Right now!” As a sports official, decisions must
be instantaneous. There’s no, “Let me think about this and get back to you,”
allowed when it’s time to throw a flag or keep it neatly tucked in your belt.

And then, I paused. Everyone is busy. Our world dictates that we run
from one responsibility to another with crushing regularity. Busy defines us.
 And, clearly, I’m not the only one who feels a bit queasy when things
slow down. More than half of Americans – 55% – responding to an on-line survey
admitted to leaving vacation time unused in 2015, which totaled 658 million
days.

Perhaps
we’re just out of practice in regard to relaxing. Like anything else, one must
train to become adept at a skill. One can’t just jump in without extensive
repetition and expect to excel. So, I’ll solve my free-time anxiety problem by
devising a plan, creating coherent steps in order to discern the proper route
to relaxation, and then…

You know, all this
thinking is making me sleepy. Maybe, I’ll take a nap and ponder the problem
later.

Here is a brief peek at Anne’s Historical Fiction novel base on a real soldier.

Bud Richardville is inducted into the Army as the United States prepares for the invasion of Europe in 1943. A chance comment has Bud assigned to the Graves Registration Service where his unit is tasked with locating, identifying, and burying the dead. Bud ships out, leaving behind his new wife, Lorraine, a mysterious woman who has stolen his heart but whose secretive nature and shadowy past leave many unanswered questions. When Bud and his men hit the beach at Normandy, they are immediately thrust into the horrors of what working in a graves unit entails. Bud is beaten down by the gruesome demands of his job and losses in his personal life, but then he meets Eva, an optimistic soul who despite the war can see a positive future. Will Eva’s love be enough to save him?

Praise for Your Forgotten Sons

“Although a defty crafted work of original fiction, “Your Forgotten Sons” by Anne Montgomery is inspired by a true story. An original and inherently interesting read from start to finish, “Your Forgotten Sons” will prove to be an immediate and enduringly appreciated pick.”  Midwest Book Review

“This was a quick, riveting read that really challenged me to think differently about our servicemen and women, especially those who take on the jobs that don’t get heroically depicted in the media or news…I really highly recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a different take on American history. I left it with a newfound appreciation for the unsung heroes.” Bekah C NetGalley 

“This is the truth. It’s gritty and painful and bittersweet – and true.  When you think you’ve read every perspective of WWII, along comes Bud to break your heart.” Bridgett Siter Former Military Reporter

“Anne Montgomery writes a strong story and I was hooked from the first page. It had a great concept and I enjoyed that this was inspired by a true story…It was written perfectly and I was invested in the story. Anne Montgomery has a great writing style and left me wanting to read more.” –  Kathryn McLeer NetGalley 

Available at Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Google Books, and Kobo

 Anne Montgomery has worked as a television sportscaster, newspaper and magazine writer, teacher, amateur baseball umpire, and high school football referee. She worked at WRBL‐TV in Columbus, Georgia, WROC‐TV in Rochester, New York, KTSP‐TV in Phoenix, Arizona, ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut, where she anchored the Emmy and ACE award‐winning SportsCenter, and ASPN-TV as the studio host for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Montgomery has been a freelance and staff writer for six publications, writing sports, features, movie reviews, and archeological pieces.

When she can, Anne indulges in her passions: rock collecting, scuba diving, football refereeing, and playing her guitar.

Learn more about Anne on her website, Wikipedia, Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter. 

Need a hostess gift to bring to the holiday party or a tasty treat to add to the dessert table? I’ve invited my author pal Stella May to grace us with her presence (and presents) today, and share her sweet to-die-for chocolate chip cookie recipe. Better make a few batches in case extra guests show up for the holidays. The kitchen is all yours, Stella… 

My family loves their sweets. After several attempts, and not many of
them that good, the men in my harem voted the chocolate chip cookie recipe
below is the best of the lot. I hope you enjoy these sweet little morsels too. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 375° F. 

Line a cookie sheet with parchment
paper.

Blend both flours, baking powder,
baking soda, and salt in a medium size bowl. Set aside.

Cream together butter and sugars,
then stir in egg and vanilla. Mix until fluffy. Add coffee.

Add dry ingredients until combined,
then stir in chocolate chips. Mix well.

Use small ice
cream scoop to gather dough, roll each piece in your hands to make a ball.   

Place balls
on prepared cookie sheet, spacing them 2 inches apart. 

Bake 15
minutes until lightly brown. Let them cool 5 minutes before removing from the
sheet.

Here is a peek at
Stella’s time travel romance novel for your reading pleasure. 

One key unlocks the love of a lifetime…but could also
break her heart. 

Nika Morris’s sixth sense has helped build a successful
business, lovingly restoring and reselling historic homes on Florida’s Amelia
Island. But there’s one forlorn, neglected relic that’s pulled at her from the
moment she saw it. The century-old Coleman house.  

Quite unexpectedly, the house is handed to her on a
silver platter—along with a mysterious letter, postmarked 1909, yet addressed
personally to Nika. Its cryptic message: Find the key. You know where it is.
Hurry, for goodness sake! 

The message triggers an irresistible drive to find
that key. When she does, one twist in an old grandfather clock throws her
back in time, straight into the arms of deliciously, devilishly handsome Elijah
Coleman. 

Swept up in a journey of a lifetime, Nika finds herself
falling in love with Eli—and with the family and friends that inhabit a time not
even her vivid imagination could have conjured. But in one desperate moment of
homesickness, she makes a decision that will not only alter the course of more
than one life, but break her heart. 

’Til Time Do Us
Part
is available in Kindle and Paperback at AMAZON. 

Talented author Stella May is the penname for Marina Sardarova who has a fascinating history you should read on her website.