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Leave the Thrillers, Take the Romance: A Mid-January Update

Hey friends! Welcome to episode 107 of The Bookcast. I'm recording today with a bit of a cold, so I sound funny, but I'm here and that's all that matters. I had to come in and share a mid-month update on my latest reads, writing efforts and author wins with you. Also, it snowed in Atlanta, a thing that only happens every few years, so there's that.

Book Report

I have read 14 of 100 books. I'm well ahead of my challenge and as per usual, I'll re-evaluate mid year. SO FAR it looks like I am going to be bumping up the goal much earlier. I just love reading. Here's what I've read so far this month- note I was on vacation for the first six days of the month. I'm trying something new by tracking on both Goodreads and StoryGraph. I don't personally enjoy storygraph but I want to stick it out to see if I get good reporting at the end of the year. Goodreads is very social but not good at reporting.

Track Her Down by Melinda Leigh (Bree Taggart #10)

A Winter Crest Christmas Reloaded: Mia and Zen by Cordae

One More to Die by Joy Ellis (Audible Original)

Tell Her Story by Margo Hunt (Audible Original)

The Family Lies by Angela Henry

The Setup by Falguni Kothari

Lacey James series by Chris Patchell

Shooting the Moon by Brenda Novak

Westmoreland Legacy series bundle by Brenda Jackson:

The Rancher Returns

His Secret Son

An Honorable Seduction

The Secret Witness by Victor Methos

More Than Friends by Reese Ryan (Love and Music Suite #3)

Writing Updates:

Currently working on a Valentine's Day story titled Rules in Romance

Calculated Risk is with my editor and due end of February

Missing Persons is complete but needs editing

Still plugging away at my Berkeley Sisters trilogy

Writing fan fiction on my Substack (short fiction by dlwhite.substack.com)

I ended the episode asking how you all are planning to get through these interesting times ahead. Drop me a line - I'd love to hear from you!

Support the show

Support this show with a recurring gift at bookcast.buzzsprout.com. Follow my substack at authordlwhite.substack.com Buy books by DL White at https://payhip.com/booksbydlwhite Buy Merch by DLWhite at my spreadshop. Find the Bookcast on booksbydlwhite.com/bookcast or your fave podcast app: Apple Podcasts | Spotify |Overcast | Podlink| Youtube

TRANSCRIPT

DL White [00:00:14]:

Hello. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Happy Sunday or whatever day or time of day you might be listening to this podcast. Welcome back to the book cast. I am so glad you are here, boos and bros, book pals, fans of the written word. I'm a little bit loopy.

DL White [00:00:34]:

I know you can hear it in my voice. I got a lot of nasally things going on. I do have a cold. I think I am on the end of it, but I am very coffee, sneezy, sniffly, and I have not taken any cold meds because I'm weird. So I think after I record, I may actually take cold meds. So, anyhow, welcome back to the book cast. I am DL White, your host. I am an Atlanta based author of 15 published novels, 16 written ones that you'll hear about calculated risk later this year.

DL White [00:01:14]:

Actually, I think it's more than 16 because I have also finished missing persons. I don't know. I've lost count now is where I'm at. I know I'm not at 20 yet. Anyway, novels, short stories, fan fiction, I write them. I also read. I'm a reader first. So we begin with the book report as always, and then we talk about writing and topics of the day.

DL White [00:01:40]:

I no longer plan out this podcast, so that's why I'm rambling. And perhaps I should go back to planning out the podcast, but, honestly, I feel like it goes so much better when I'm just I get up. I look at the my my, book report information, my Goodreads challenge mainly, figure out where I'm at for the month so I can report, look at my sales to see, like, do I have anything to talk about? Yes? No? Maybe? Is it exciting, or is it meh? Look at my writing stats. How's that going? And, and then I I press record. And I was using Riverside, and I still have my my I still have, like, a login there, but it's just like an extra step. Like, all I need is Audacity. I just open Audacity, and I start recording. So I feel like it's going a little bit better, actually.

DL White [00:02:36]:

I don't have to script out every word I need to say. So, you know, we're gonna do what works until it doesn't work anymore. Anyway, I don't think this episode is going to be long, but who knows? Because I didn't script it out. So it could be 40 minutes of me yammering about books. Who knows? Anyhow, so let's get rolling. We're gonna have a little coffee break. And And then after the jump, we're gonna talk about books and writing. Today is Sunday, January 12th.

DL White [00:03:07]:

It is 8:11 AM. There is snow on the ground here in Atlanta, which I'm very surprised about. I actually figured it would be gone, like, by tomorrow, but it is cold outside. I took some garbage out this morning, and, it's it's it's chilly. Hopefully, we get above 40 degrees today and this stuff starts melting because Monday Friday are work from home days for us. But if this stuff is still on the ground on Tuesday, I ain't going nowhere. Nowhere. Anyhow, let's have some coffee and then come back to talk about books.

DL White [00:04:22]:

Okay. And we are back. Let us begin with the book report. Let me get to my tab because I didn't write any of this down because I'm smart. We are 12 days into the year, and I haven't done an update since January 1. So we are just gonna call this, like, for the year at, 14 books completed. I am 11 books ahead of schedule. My goal is, of course, set at 100 books as always.

DL White [00:04:55]:

I always set it at a 100 on January 1, and we see where we are by, you know, midyear, like the end of June, I'll evaluate. Maybe I will raise it to 150, 175. Last year, I ended up with 225 books. I had a lot that I needed to hide from, and, that worked out really well for me, actually. This year, I'm doing a little something different. I'm trying trying to duplicate my books on the StoryGraph because I wanna see, like, all the pretty graphs and whatever. There's a lot that goes into, tracking a book on StoryGraph, and I literally I just wanna track the book and the dates that I read them. I don't I don't wanna fill out all this extra information, so I'm really not doing all that.

DL White [00:05:51]:

So I don't know how pretty my charts are gonna look, but Goodreads doesn't do very good reporting to me. And I like numbers, and I like reports and graphs and pie charts and bar charts. So I am not actually a big fan of the story graph. It's too plain for me. Like, it it simultaneously does too much and not enough and, that I don't like the interface. I can't see what all my friends are reading. It's not very social. Goodreads is, like, very social.

DL White [00:06:24]:

I can see what everybody else is reading, what everybody else is reviewing, what everybody else is, you know, adding what, you know, what, what do they call them? What, shelves everybody's adding their books to? Like, Goodreads is very social to me, and I've been saying this for a long time. I'm not giving up anything that makes my life easier and enjoyable. I do not care what Jeff Bezos is doing. I don't. He owns 8% of Amazon. 8. If I'm not participating in Amazon stuff, like me not sending him 14 99 a month for Prime isn't going to make him less of a billionaire. So I'm not making my life harder to stand arm and arm with people who can't even get in the booth with me.

DL White [00:07:10]:

I don't I don't care. So that's my stance on it. I'm at Goodreads. I enjoy Goodreads. I'm duplicating at the story graph so I can participate in a couple of challenges that are hosted there and also just so I can see, you know, what my reading year is gonna look like graph wise. So I'm at 14 books for the year. A lot of that is audio, I'm pretty sure, and let's just take a look at, what I have been reading this year. Melinda Lee, track her down.

DL White [00:07:47]:

This is number 10 in the Bree Taggart series. Bree Taggart is a, like, of course, a female sheriff out in the northwest. I believe it's the, Oregon area. I love this series, and I've been gobbling them down. I need Melinda Lee and Kendra Elliott to write many, many books much faster. And then I, caught up a little bit on some holiday reading, A Winter Crest Christmas Reloaded, Mia and Zen by an author named Cordae. This was, I think this was like a, like, a urban urban romance is what they call it. It's one of those, like, you can tell by the cover, by the font, and how they're it's all, like, shiny and whatever.

DL White [00:08:34]:

One of those, there was a lot of sex in it, so there's that, if that's something that interests you. It's a thing that doesn't really interest me much anymore. Like, I like reading sex in a novel as much as the next guy, but after, like, the first two scenes, I get it. They like each other. I'm I'm good. Like, I I like that it's there. Like, if I wanna go back and read a sex scene, I know where to find it. But, I don't read books for the sex, so I wanna know how like, does the plot sizzle as much as those bedroom scenes sizzle? And sometimes, the plot don't be sizzling the plot don't be sizzling.

DL White [00:09:17]:

So, like, a lot of times when I I write, I write the story to make sure the story has legs, and I already know, like, this scene is gonna lead to sex. That scene's gonna be, like, suggestive, but I can close the door that one. But I already know which scenes are gonna have sex in them, but I leave that out. And then in draft 2 is when I go through front to back. I'm writing, I'm rewriting, I'm fluffing, I'm adding, and every time I go through that book, I am adding more to each scene so that it's full and it's fleshed out. That's how I do it and, like, you know, I know I am not one of them popular girls out here, but I feel like my books like, they work out it works out good for me. I wanna make sure that the the story is about the story and the sex is an added benefit. That's an obvious part of a modern adult relationship.

DL White [00:10:23]:

Anyway, I picked up 2 Audible originals, 1 More TO Die by Joy Ellis and Tell Her Story by Margo Hunt. I honestly don't remember what these books were about. They were short, like, 2 hours and whatever. I read those on the second or listened to those on the second. And then The Family Lies by Angela Henry, I believe publishes January 14th. So this coming up, so I had this as an arc. Like, this was really good until it was not. Angela Henry is a new to me author.

DL White [00:10:59]:

I think I started following her on TikTok around, like, 2023, and she had, it's not her first book, but the first book I know by her called The Perfect Ties or something like that. And that book was pretty good, but she gets to a point in her book where it kinda jumps off a cliff, and then it just becomes entirely too complicated, and I can't follow the story. This story, it was it was actually it was actually pretty good about a woman that gets a job managing, the, personal library of this very wealthy family. And there's just, like, a bunch of, like, not creepy, but, like, weird stuff that's happening in the house. Like, she has to live in the house. The dude that, owns the house and is, like, the patriarch of the family, I guess, that hires her. He's got, like, some weird stuff going on. It was, like, it was really good, and then, like, the last 4th of the book was just a lot of what? Wait.

DL White [00:12:07]:

What? What? So I think I gave it 3 stars. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't, like, the most amazing book I've I've ever read. The Family Lies by Angela Henry. And then I listened to The Setup by Falguni Kothari. This was pretty good. This was like it was an audible original about I believe they are a Daisy family and grandpa, I believe, or an uncle, I couldn't I I can't remember, is trying to set a young woman up with, a man so she can get married. And at first, they don't like each other, and then they start to grow on each other. It was really cute, and it was, you know, it's an audible original, so it was pretty short.

DL White [00:12:58]:

Then I stumbled upon this series, and I ate it all the way up. The Lacey James series by Chris Patchell. Lacey James is a I believe she's a young, investigator, detective. And, I found the first one, which I think is, find her, and it's been, I don't know, 10 days since I read this book, so I don't remember the exact, the, you know, the synopsis of the book. It's a police procedural, which is my absolute catnip. I ran through all 4 of the books in this series, in 2 days, which I'm want to do. Hello, Robert Dugoni, Kendra Elliott, Melinda Lee. I'm all over it.

DL White [00:13:52]:

So this series is really good. I really, really enjoyed it. All of these books, I believe, are available on Everand. If you are a member, I think they're also at Chirp if you wanna just buy them outright. I think I borrowed them not borrowed, but think I got them at Libro. I don't remember. Or maybe it was Everand. I don't know.

DL White [00:14:13]:

Can't remember. But Chris Patchell, really good series, and I think there is another coming out in that series in a few weeks, so I'm excited about that. And then I grabbed Brenda Novak shooting the moon from NetGalley. This is an audible, audio arc, and I take all the audio arcs I can get because I wanna keep getting more. This is a audio release of an old Brenda Novak book, and it showed it did not age well. It was rather uninteresting, but, it was a story about a guy who comes back to his hometown to claim the son that he, quote, unquote, left behind. The mother of his child died in a car accident, I believe, and his, mother's the the mother's the child's aunt has been raising him, and grandparents have, like, been taking over since the child's mother died. Like, way way back when they were dating, he was quote, unquote bad news from the other side of the tracks, and dad paid him to go away.

DL White [00:15:34]:

And he comes back like, hey. I need access to my son. And yeah. It's I mean oh, gosh. Yeah. White author's romance doesn't hit me at all anymore. It just doesn't it just doesn't do anything for me. But I listened to it.

DL White [00:15:56]:

I got all the way through it. Gotta send my review off to NetGalley, and we're done with that. And that's that's just gonna be the last that we're gonna do of that. And then I got Brenda Jackson released the first three books in the Westmoreland legacy series, The Rancher Returns, His Secret Son, and An Honorable Seduction in 1 bundle. So this was like a long listen. This took me, like, a couple days to get through. I put this on Blue Sky. Whenever I think that I have put too much sex in a book, I am just going to refer to Brenda Jackson romance because I promise you once her characters start having sex, it's sex in every chapter.

DL White [00:16:48]:

But the thing that miss Jackson does is that story is tight. There is a beginning and there is a climax and there is an end. That story is tight. The sex isn't like, the book the this the story isn't the sex. The story is the story and the sex enhances. There just is a lot of it. So I just sometimes, like, I I'm reading and I'm like, again? Oh my goodness. Whoo.

DL White [00:17:17]:

Lord. So I'm to the point where I kinda skip through a lot of that, and I just I just wanna know what happens in the story. Thankfully, there's so much pleasure in reading the story itself. So those 3 I got through. I can't say I will ever listen to 3 audiobooks in one bundle at a time ever again, but Brenda Jackson is not a bad way to spend a couple of days. And then had a couple days off from reading because that was a lot that was a lot of reading in 9 days. And then yesterday, I, picked up on well, actually, Friday, I picked up, The Secret Witness by Victor Methos because I was want I wanted to read book 2 then realized I hadn't read book 1, which was the secret witness, so I picked that up. It wasn't the best book I ever read.

DL White [00:18:11]:

I like Victor Methos, and I see why I started this and then stopped reading it because it was a little bit boring. But I did wanna read book 1 before I read book 2, so now I'm gonna pick up book 2. I don't even remember what the name of book 2 is, but I got that out of the way. So I can pick up book 2 now. So I got that, and then I read yesterday. I I have been so deep in thriller, suspense, mystery since January 1. I needed some romance. I woke up yesterday like I need a romance immediately.

DL White [00:18:44]:

And Rhys Ryan just released book 3 in the Love and Music Suite series. I believe this is her 1st self published series, and she's doing such an amazing job with it. I'm like I am so pleased and proud of this work that Ries Ryan has been doing. More than Friends is this, friends to lovers romance. And it's a second chance because they dated in high school and decided that they would rather be friends, except one of them did not really want to stay friends. And hence, like, that's how friends to lovers always is, which kinda ticks me off. Like, one of them is always, like like, hanging out in the cut, hoping the situation will change. Meanwhile, I will just take your friendship as a consolation prize.

DL White [00:19:32]:

It's never that they're, like, actual, like, friends. And then one day, they look at each other and they're like, hey. So, why haven't we ever like, that's the Friends to Lovers I wanna read. That's a Friends to Lovers I would write. So I got that read yesterday. It was excellent. Excellent. Like, when I am reading and talking back to the book and highlighting things, it's a good, good read.

DL White [00:20:01]:

I really, really enjoyed it. It's fun. It's set in Atlanta, which I like, a lot, and, I just really enjoyed it. It's very good. More Than Friends, A Second Chance, Friends To Love is Romance by Rhys Ryan. Like, I love a Rhys Ryan book. She is like a Sunday afternoon snuggle down with a book kind of author for me. I have several of those, like, Synthia Williams, Delaney Diamond, Sharon c Cooper, Nia Forester.

DL White [00:20:27]:

Like, if I have a Sunday afternoon and I need to fill it with a book, I will dig through their catalog for something I haven't read. Turn on, like, the fire channel on YouTube, or lately, I've been listening to, like, this lo fi channel and grab me a snack, a beverage, and I'm out. I am out, and that is the best day for me. So that was the 14 books I've read so far in January. I am, of course, not done reading because come on. But it's been a good look so far. I've been I've been happy with my reading. So moving on super quickly to books.

DL White [00:21:07]:

Sales have dropped considerably since the holidays. Of course, things really slow down when the kids go back to school and the earth catches on fire and or freezes. There's been a lot going on, so sales have been a little slow. I'm not promoting as much. There's not there's not a whole lot going on, but it'll pick up hopefully toward, like, the second half of the month. My books are in a book funnel promo. It's an indie sales promo, which is gonna move a lot slower, I think, than a, like, a giveaway, but this is definitely, geared toward supporting indie author sales. So that's at BookFunnel.

DL White [00:21:49]:

I'll be talking about that in my newsletter this week. Also, in my newsletter, I will be talking about, I think I told you guys I wrote a newsletter magnet, like a little a short little story that you can only get in my newsletter. You can now also get it if you are a paid subscriber to my short fiction substack at short fiction dot substack short fiction by dlwhite.substack.com. That's also loaded up there. If you are a paid subscriber, you have automatic access to that as well as my weekly serial. Same time next week, which is actually almost done. I have maybe 4 chapters, which is, like, 2 days worth of posting. That's almost almost done.

DL White [00:22:33]:

So if you were waiting to subscribe until same time next week was already all loaded up, you might as well go and subscribe now. It's $5 a month. Short fiction by dlwhite.substack.com. Get into it, same time next week is a serial. It's a interracial I should actually say it's, yeah, it's a interracial rock star romance that I wrote. It was fan fiction, and then it was original fiction, and I unpublished it because it's interracial. And I'd be writing black on black Negro nosed romance. So, I brought it back as a serial because, it's already written, and I have been publishing it twice a week in theory on my short fiction substack.

DL White [00:23:17]:

It is, paid access only. I do have some free stuff on there. I also have a fan fiction story that I started writing. I actually started writing it in August and kinda lost the plot and stopped updating. And then I got a email from a reader that said they had started it and wondered if I was going to finish it. And I was like, what? So I went back to the archive. I was like, oh, yeah. I did start this, and then I started getting ideas.

DL White [00:23:46]:

And so I have been updating that, and so that's really fun. And that one is that is a fun one about a woman named Zoe Chapman. She is an aspiring songwriter, and, she gets a chance to attend a songwriter's retreat with, JC Chasez. And this is a thing that he does, except I think he usually does it in Nashville. The story is called Music on My Heart because it was the only song title I could think of, which is weird. I'm trying to bring it up so I can, so I can read the synopsis. When aspiring songwriter Zoe Chapman joins JC Chasez's exclusive mountain retreat, she's looking for a musical mentorship, not to fall for the man behind the legend. But as the late night studio sessions blur the lines between professional and personal, they discover their hearts might be writing a very different song.

DL White [00:24:44]:

So, I started writing this in August, and I picked it up in December. It's just like some fun fan fiction stuff if you have any interest in in single whatsoever. I, almost exclusively write JC. He's just a very interesting character to me, especially JC in his forties as opposed to JC in his teens and twenties. It's been very fun to watch him grow as an artist, as a writer, as a person. And so writing this older, more mature mentor type person who still is susceptible to meeting someone amazing that they should probably avoid but can't. I like it a lot. So that's going on my short fiction substack.

DL White [00:25:36]:

Fan fiction is always free, and I have a couple I do have some fan fiction stories that are written there. And, I also I have the serial that's there. I believe I have one serial that's free there on the short fiction substack. That is the story of Kate, which I really, really, really loved writing. And, like, writing that really helped me write missing persons because I needed to kinda turn I just needed to turn my brain toward something that isn't so, like, lovey dovey soft place to landy. So there's the story of Kate that's up there. I really enjoyed writing. The photograph is, up there.

DL White [00:26:17]:

That's a 4 part series that I wrote for the podcast last year. Really enjoyed writing that, and all of those really helped push me toward writing missing persons, which is done, but I do need to go through, like, edits and rewrites and fluffing and adding and verify things I just made up because it sounded good. So very exciting things going on on the substack, but I was talking about book sales. So I'm at 5446 for the year. Sales are spread across basically Amazon and Draft2Digital, then I have 21/21 sales through book funnel, which is direct sales. So 21 sales through my, channels. But a lot of those were free, copies of The Guy Next Door. I was giving that away in audio.

DL White [00:27:08]:

For some reason, I can't remember. So most of those are giveaways. The sales through Amazon and Draft2Digital are, sales that have actual royalties attached to them. Biggest sellers this month are Leslie's Curl and Die in audio, The Guy Next Door, an ebook Home for the Holidays, like, 11 I sold 11 copies of Home for the Holidays in January, which is darn good. A thin line dinner at Sam's, and then I have a couple of sales of pearl at Black Diamond Bay and Elysium Black Diamond Vacation Romance. Those are both part of the Black Diamond series. And then a couple of straggler orders for a second time around, the guy next door and the WANSA brunch. That's kind of how my sales are.

DL White [00:28:00]:

And then, like, a couple sales, I guess, for hay lovers. So that's kinda how my sales are breaking down for the month. Not too bad. I mean, not great, but, like, not too bad so far. I am it's before 15th. So, like, if I hit if I hit $50 before 15th, it bodes well for the rest of the month. So I'm at 54.46. I'm just honestly, I just try to make a $100 a month.

DL White [00:28:29]:

That covers a lot of the subscriptions that I'm paying for, although I subsidize a lot of that with my own money. And then I have a I have, like, my Substack subscriptions and my BuzzFeed subscriptions that helps also pay some costs. But a lot of the costs of being an author and running a podcast, I am paying for out of pocket. And so what what I'm getting in royalties and subscriptions is actually reimbursing me for stuff I've already paid for. That's neither here nor there. You know what I'm saying? Get out of my pocket. So that's what's going on with book sales. Writing wise, it's been kinda slow.

DL White [00:29:15]:

I have been trying to write this Valentine's Day piece for a minute, and it's kinda not coming together. And I'm a little upset about it. Like, I I keep keep keeping changing the title because I can't even decide what the title should be, but I I don't know. We'll see we'll see how it goes. It just is not it's not really coming together. It's kind of a jumbled mess. I'm on, like, chapter 3, and I just keep going back to chapters 1 and 2 and fixing things because if it doesn't start right, then I I set off again on the wrong foot. It's currently called Rules in Romance.

DL White [00:29:53]:

It is kind of an opposites attract grumpy sunshine kind of thing. It's set in Atlanta in the tech space, which I really enjoy writing because I just like writing smart people. And, my characters happen to meet in the cafe at the co working space where they both work at. Sterling has just relocated to Atlanta from New York, and Simone lives in Atlanta. And she works for a tech company, and it's her job to, put together this hiring platform that her company is, putting together, and they're gonna premiere it at this big gala. And, Simone is very much an introvert. Probably not as bad as Esme in the Neverlist, but as an introvert, I do find myself writing introverts because I know them very well. So it's like like, I I want to write it.

DL White [00:30:45]:

I want it to come together, but I also want it to be short. And it just in my mind, it just keeps I feel like when I write short, I leave so much out, but I also don't want to write a 75,000 word novel. You know? I just want this to be like a cute short that's gonna be out for Valentine's Day. I'm gonna take a look at it later. We'll see how it shakes out. I might just need to give it some time and, you know, hit it really hard, toward the end of January. I don't really have time. I don't have time.

DL White [00:31:19]:

I don't I don't have time really to get it to my editor. I needed to be reading writing this in November in order for her to have it in January, but here's where we are. So I don't know what I'm gonna do about that. I know she listens to the podcast. This is not any pressure. This is not, an editor Kai problem. This is a d l white problem. So I may not get it written in time.

DL White [00:31:46]:

It may be something I write and shoot out, and, y'all just have fun with all the typos in it. I'll I would never do that, maybe. I don't know. I I just wanna be I I wanna write more. I wanna publish more, and I just wanna be less rigid about how it has to come out. You know? Like, it doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be edited to the nth degree. And editing is editing is not terribly expensive because I have a very good editor who is cognizant of how much indie authors have to put their own money into their writing.

DL White [00:32:25]:

This is not absolutely not sucking up to my editor. We have had this conversation. But, also, I wanna reserve those funds for my full length projects that desperately need an extra eye. So these things where it's gonna be 5 or 8 chapters, you know, and I'm gonna sell it for 99¢. I'm not gonna spend on editing it. I'm just I'm I'm just not. And, you know, sue me, but I'm just not. So that's kinda where that is.

DL White [00:32:58]:

It's currently called rules and romance. Maybe I'll switch the maybe I'll switch the order and it could be romance and rules, but I don't like that. The idea is that it's kind of an opposite to attract kinda thing, and so I wanna I wanna play on the two sides of this equation. Like, you know, it's a it's a very grumpy sunshine kind of thing. So I may change the name again. I I don't know. So there's there's there's that. The other thing I'm writing is the fan fiction story, and I just published chapter 7 on Friday.

DL White [00:33:35]:

I don't know that I have another chapter in me this weekend. I wanna think about what the next chapter entails. It's a little bit of a field trip, and I just need to I need to think about it and put it together. So I'm probably gonna think about that this week and probably write it Thursday and post it Friday. That's used to be my old, fan fiction publishing schedule. I usually write on the weekends, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, then I edit, think about what I'm gonna write post. So that way, readers always have a week to, like, read it, react to it, you know, offer comments and feedback, etcetera. Meanwhile, I'm thinking about and writing the next chapter.

DL White [00:34:21]:

And I kind of have adapted that also to writing my books and my commercial fiction. So there's that. What else do I have going on? Let me open up Dabble here and see what's popping. I do have, the Berkeley sisters, which is the sisters trilogy I've been yammering about for, like, 2 years now. Missing persons, which I still need to get into. Calculated risk is in here. That's with the editor. I have to turn that in at the end of February.

DL White [00:34:49]:

Again, that's part of a group project. Still I arise, I haven't touched. I did add, like I don't know. I tried to do some editing on it, and I, like, I feel like I added, like, half a chapter to that in the last year, but it's still on the docket. And, I also was trying to do an epilogue to the never list, and I can't even tell you the title because that would be a spoiler. But, I wanna dig back into that and see if I could just do a fun little 5 chapter update to that story because I just love Esme and Trey, and I have the perfect little update to that couple. I just gotta I just have to get it out of my brain. You know? So that's what's happening over here.

DL White [00:35:36]:

Ain't nothing going on with the rent is what my mama would say. Yeah. That's what's happening here at Books by DL White. I am reading a lot. I am writing a lot. I am you know, I'm just trying to make it. I'm just trying to make it over here. I feel like I'm doing better than I was in November December, but I am kind of dreading the back half of January.

DL White [00:36:02]:

I just know I'm gonna be digging hard into reading, into writing, working, getting the work done. I'm somewhat unmotivated. It could have a lot to do with this cold, but also, like, that vacation was long, and it was really, really needed, and I hated to come back. Even though I really like my job, I hated to come back and, like, dig back into work and meetings and scheduling things, and the emails were flying. I definitely just eased eased real slow, nice and slow back into the year. So it is Sunday. I have coffee. I went through my, my planner and all of my streaming channels, and I wrote down all of the things that I have saved in my watch later cues and wrote them all down.

DL White [00:36:56]:

So I have lists on lists on lists of things I can be watching besides the news, things I can be looking at besides doomscrolling on all the social media sites, things I can be reading, writing, or watching for this next however long. That's how I'm gonna be making it through. I am so very interested in your plan for the next few years, how you are going to be pulling yourself through what I feel are gonna be some very interesting, and by interesting, I mean terrible times. So feel free to shout me out a holler. This episode will be on my website at books by d l white dot bookcast.com/107. You can also hit this episode on my substack, or you can shoot me an email. It's author d l white at books by d l white dot com. I'm sorry.

DL White [00:37:54]:

It's author d l at books by d l white dot com. I welcome your comments, questions, feedback, what have you. That brings us to the end of today's show. So I will bid you adieu, but not before thanking you so much for joining me for today's chat. I really enjoy having you here. Again, I welcome any comments or feedback at books by dlwhite.com/bookcast/107. You'll find full show notes, links to all the things I talked about if they're relevant, and a transcript for today's show. Please share the podcast if you really enjoyed the sound of my voice as I appear to.

DL White [00:38:37]:

And if you listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Substack, give a girl a rating, a comment, a hand clap, a re a repost, restack. I really appreciate it. Do not forget, you can support this podcast with your book purchases at payhipdot com slash books by dlwhite by spreading the good word, like repost all my social media, what have you, by joining the newsletter or the substack. The links will be on my website at books by dlwhite.com/linkinbio. You can also buy you can also throw some coins in the hat at book cast.buzzprout.com. Thank you so much to my monthly supporters. Your gift covers my Buzzsprout subscription. I really appreciate the support and as a thank you, I have added you to comped users at short fiction by dlwhite.substack.com.

DL White [00:39:31]:

So people who support the pod people who support the podcast with their funds are automatically added to subscribers on the short fiction substack, so they get access to everything that is available to paid subscribers over there. I figured that would be a nice little perk. The broadcast is written, produced, and edited by me, d r White. Our theme music and any sound effects are provided by. I will be back next week. Until then, please enjoy your weekend. Have a superlative week, and we'll chat again soon. Bye bye.

#podcast #bookcast #Booksbydlwhite #goodreads #storygraph #reviews #Melinda Leigh #Kendra Ellott #Victor Methose #Reese Ryan #goodreads challenge #writing update #authorpod

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booksbydlwhite · 7 months ago

Text

BOOKCAST 88: Check-in and Unraveling the Mystery: The Photograph, Part 3

Send me fan mail!

I woke up with a craving for tacos but first I had to record the Bookcast. Episode 88 brings updates on reading and writing as a self published author of romantic fiction that centers Black love. I also recorded part 3 of my four part serial, THE PHOTOGRAPH. Woot.

Books on sale:

Leslie's Curl & Dye is $.99 everywhere and Beach Thing is on sale for $1.99. Find links to both at my store- payhip.com/booksbydlwhite.

Appearances:

Celebrating Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen at RESIST booksellers June 22, 2024. Details at Resist Booksellers.com.

EssenceFest 2024 (I am NOT a featured author and will not be on the stage, jut in the buildin!)

Black Romance Book Fest May 2025-: https://blackromancebookfest.com. Tix go on sale June 21st.

LISTEN to today’s episode here. Transcript is below the episode details. ENJOY!

I discussed the following books today:

Starcrossed: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Jackson Brothers Book 2) by Shae Sanders

Truth Be Told (Rogue Justice #2) by Kendra Elliot

Do What Godmother Says by L.S. Stratton

Just Like Her: A Queer Romance by Fiona Zedde

Bitter and Sweet by Rhonda McKnight

Uncovering her Dreams by Rae Shawn

Come Ride with Me by AC Arthur

What If I Love You by Yvonne Marie

The Stones We Cast by Chelsea Marie

Back Down Memory Lane by Lamartz Brown

Legal Seduction by Sharon C Cooper.

What You Leave Behind by Wanda M. Morris

A Dream in the Dark (A Wrongful Conviction Novel 2)

Nia Forrester Backlist titles

Support the Show with a recurring gift at bookcast.buzzsprout.com. Buy books by DL White at https://BooksbyDLWhite.com/books. Buy Merch by DLWhite at https://payhip.com/BooksbyDLWhite/collection/merch Find the Bookcast on booksbydlwhite.com/bookcast or your fave podcast app: Apple Podcasts | Spotify |Overcast | Podlink| Youtube

TRANSCRIPT

DL White [00:00:00]:

This has nothing to do with anything podcast related, but I woke up thinking about tacos. Like, tacos with a little bit of yellow rice and some black beans at 7 AM. So guess what I'm having for dinner? Welcome back to the book cast, my platform for sharing short fiction and updates on life as a self published author of romantic fiction that centers black love and relationships. I am so excited that you're here, especially since you're not supposed to be. I was not supposed to record today. I was supposed to be visiting a, bustling Midwestern city, but I delayed my flight by a few days, so I'm here. I am Dale White. I'm an Atlanta based author of 14 and counting novels and numerous short stories and fan fiction works.

DL White [00:00:50]:

I'm a reader First. So we usually begin with a book report, and we talk about writing and topics of the day. I am currently in pre publication for The Pearl, a Black Diamond Romance. Tentative release date is scheduled for on or before July 2nd 2024. Check my blog and my social media for Goodreads and story graph links as well as samples, teasers, even a playlist for this book. I also want you to pay really close attention, in case this book might come out early. You never know. It might be for sale exclusively on my website for a few days if you're very excited about that kind of thing.

DL White [00:01:29]:

I'm really I'm I I can't wait to bring Davis and Kari to your faces. I do have some advanced readers out there who have expressed that they're enjoying the book, so I can't wait until the general population gets their hands on it. I actually just sent out another arc to someone who requested it, so yay for them and for me. It's gonna be a busy month at Books by d l White. I do have some travel, on deck. Leslie's curl and die is on sale as part of the blue collar romance Kobo promotion. Beach thing is also on sale for 199 if you still need to get started on the Black Diamond romance series before book 3 comes out. I actually have a hankering a hankering to refresh myself on the Black Diamond couples, so I might spin Wade and Amina and Vance and Athena one time before I release the pearl.

DL White [00:02:21]:

My most recent newsletter is out. You'll find a link to that if you're not subscribed on my links page. It's books by dlwhite.com/linkinbio. I also need you to take care of that subscription thing exceptionally. Booksbydlwhite.com/newsletter. I'm gonna work on a couple exclusive excerpts to go out before the book is published, so you wanna be on that to get the good stuff. Thank you so much, and don't forget to confirm. Your mailbox will not be blessed if you do not confirm.

DL White [00:02:51]:

I just go go ahead and delete it. As always, if you're a member at Kobo Plus, you can grab all my ebooks and audiobooks as part of your subscription. And if you're a premium subscriber at Spotify, you get 15 free hours there, so snatch up my audiobooks. I get paid for them. I don't think you understand. I get paid for them. I'm available in ebook and audio at your local library, so hit them up, Libby Hoopla, and request me. If you don't find me there, let me know when your request is granted because I absolutely love it.

DL White [00:03:23]:

Libraries buy books. I love it so much. Libraries actually pay more than retail for books, so request me everywhere all the time nonstop. I do believe all my audiobooks are now available on Hoopla, and they have ebooks, and I'm most pleased. Do you have a topic you would like me to cover on the book cast? Something author y, something reader y, something hybrid y? Let me know. Shout me out. Holler. I'm always on Instagram or Twitter at author_dlwhite.

DL White [00:03:56]:

You can even visit the show notes of this year episode at booksbydlwhite.com/bookcast slash 88. You can also drop me a voice note called fan mail. Peep the link in the show notes and send me some dulcet tones of love. I welcome your comments and questions. I'll dedicate a part of the show to answering them. Onward. Today's gonna be a great show. Not not too long, not too short, but not too long.

DL White [00:04:21]:

It's the weekend. I don't have a book to write. My editor is rejoicing. I I see it. I see it. I I'm picturing it in my mind, and I am all about the books. So we will talk about my reading challenge and what I have been putting into my face. I'll finish today's episode with part 3 of the photograph, which is my short run serial that I wrote specifically for the podcast because I just had not shared enough short fiction lately.

DL White [00:04:48]:

Today is Saturday, June 8th. It is 9:55 AM. Whoo. I'm way behind y'all. It's sunny and 65 degrees today in the AAT l. I have a mic and I am ready to dig in, but first, join me for some coffee. It took me so long to get up and running today that my coffee is lukewarm, and I'm sad about it. I like it hot.

DL White [00:05:26]:

We begin as always with the book report because I am a book head. I have read 89 books of my challenge to read 150 books this year, putting me 24 books ahead on my Goodreads challenge. The more I read, the further ahead I am. How how is that happening? Should I increase my goal or just be really ridiculous with it? Let me know in the comments. I had a very good reading week, so let's get into it. This week, I read star crossed and enemies to lovers romance by Shay Sanders. This was absolutely slap your nearest relative. Delicious.

DL White [00:06:00]:

Fantastic. So well done. I'm a Shea Sanders fan. It is cemented in the pantheon. She did such a good job with this. I highlight highlighted so much in this book. I really tried not to spoil things, but, like, she just has a way with, like, a twist of phrase. She is very sassy and sarcastic, but, like, also able to to bring out, like, emotion and, like, just, like, talk about what's actually happening between these two characters.

DL White [00:06:28]:

And her steamy scenes aren't bad either. Big fan. Love that. I also listened to truth be told, Rogue Justice number 2 by Kendra Elliott. Kendra is another one of those thriller authors that has, like, 99 books out in Kindle Unlimited, so I can read and listen with my subscription. And I often will just throw on something to, like, listen to just because. So this was a just because listen. I also got an audio arc of Do What Godmother Says by Ellis Stratton, who is my author bae.

DL White [00:07:03]:

I absolutely love her. You also know her as Shelley Ellis and Shelley Stratton. Listen. If you don't read Shelley, I need you to get your life together immediately, like, right now because sis is on the way up, and you you you you wanna climb on this train, this rocket ship as it's ascending. Do what Gomother says is I think it's called a gothic thriller? Gothic? It's a gothic something, it's dual time period which is my fave, absolutely love it. There's a little bit I feel like there's a little bit of Shelley Ellis in Ellis Stratton. Just just the way that she writes a relationship in a book, it's very reminiscent. But this book is heavily, heavily a mystery, a thriller.

DL White [00:07:57]:

There's, like, a lot going on with, like, some spooky characters and some people that, like, make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, and I'd be like, I knew. I knew it. I knew it. But then, like, I send her a DM, and she was doesn't tell me anything, and she makes me find out for myself. It's just not fair. It's not it's not like, being friends with an author should mean that you get to know the twist before you have to read the twist, but she doesn't play fair. I also read Just Like Her, a queer romance by Fiona Zedd. This finally came out.

DL White [00:08:30]:

I know she's been working on it for a minute. Congratulations, Fiona. And then, I read bitter and sweet by Rhonda McKnight, which was absolutely fantastic. Really, really well done. I can't remember if I had that on my list last week. I just I don't I don't know. The weeks are all running together, but, really, really enjoyed that. That comes out on Tuesday.

DL White [00:08:50]:

Also, Do What Good Mother Says comes out on Tuesday. You wanna grab both of those. They are both excellent. I don't have anything officially on my reading list, but I do know I have at least one ARC for June 11th that I need to read. It's not likely to come out in audio, so I really need to get it together. I'll probably get on it, like, Sunday afternoon. It's a romance, and I don't think it's a long one. And I don't typically read romance by white authors, but Laurie Foster is a fave.

DL White [00:09:17]:

I also love Ronnie Lauren. So I saw that she had a new book coming out. I've loved her since getting rowdy came out, like, 7000000 years ago. Love me some Laurie Foster, so I'm gonna snatch that one up. I have a bunch of stuff in Kindle Unlimited that I wanna read or clear, ala Brigitte Bianca's KU reader release challenge. I have, uncovering her dreams by Rayshawn, Come Ride With Me by AC author, What If I Love You by Yvonne Marie. I have a couple of few Nia Forester backlist titles. I'm I'm on a mission to read all of Nia Forester's work, and so I'd wanna get a few more of those down.

DL White [00:09:56]:

I just love her writing. Just delicious. Like, Nia Forester and Tasha l Harrison, if I don't bring them up every other episode, something is wrong. Please send when they send the police to your house because they think something's wrong, if I don't mention Nia Forester or Tasha l Harrison, send the police. That's what I'm saying. The stones we cast by Chelsea Marie, back down memory lane by LaMarts Brown. I've gotta gotta gotta read more black male authors, specifically more black male indie authors, so I gotta get into it and legal seduction by my good good friend Sharon c Cooper. Lots to dig through, plus I have some upcoming arcs I need to get read.

DL White [00:10:35]:

First up is What You Leave Behind by Wanda Morris. I'm very, very excited about this. I might wait for audio on that one. That one's coming up, June 18th. So, I don't know if I can I don't know if I can wait? I also have a dream in the dark, wrongful conviction novel number 2 by Robert Justice coming up. I'm very excited about that one also, and, I'm just saying I know Robert listens to the podcast, and sometimes I know a book is just gonna be absolutely awesome in audio. And so I will wait for audio to come out so I can listen to it, but I get an ARC specifically so I can read it early because I'm impatient. And so now I'm in this thing where do I wanna read it on the page early because that helps the author, or do I wanna wait for it on audio because that helps me? You know, it's it's it's a struggle.

DL White [00:11:34]:

It's a struggle. That one's coming out in July. I'm very excited about it. I'm really, really excited for Robert Justice. I'm also wanna thank him that he read one of my books, and I so do cherish my, male readers because I I write specifically for 2 black women, but I do have some male readers that really dig me, and I so appreciate your good words about my books. So, thank you so much, and, keep them coming. This week, I put down Secret Keeper of Main Street by Tricia r Thomas. This book just didn't hit me.

DL White [00:12:09]:

It just didn't love love Tricia. I just I couldn't finish it. Sometimes I skip through till the end, because I feel bad about putting down a book. I just I got to about 30%, and I just was not interested in finishing. I think this book has some pretty good reviews, and I just wasn't interested in bringing it down, so I just went ahead and put it down. I don't know if it's a mood thing or the way the book is written or if it would have been better on the page versus audio. I just I lost interest. I didn't wanna pick it back up.

DL White [00:12:38]:

Often, this is a pacing issue. If it doesn't snap, I just I can't I can't stay engaged. I blame my short span of attention. On appearances, reminder that I'll be celebrating Danielle Allen's release cover girl summer in Petersburg, Virginia. She'll be at Resist Booksellers. I will be there to support. I'll be a featured author, and I'm I'm really looking forward to seeing Danielle and Demetrius who owns Resist Booksellers again. That'll be on June 22, 2024, I believe, from 1 to 3 PM.

DL White [00:13:09]:

There's a post on my Instagram and my TikTok and my Facebook page with details, and, of course, follow Danielle Allen and resist booksellers for all of the deets. I'll also be at the Black Romance Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, May 30th through June 1, 2025. I have already booked my room, and I'm telling you, start saving your money. I'm gonna say this every week. Start saving your money. Tickets go on sale June 21st, so get in there, and, come find me because it's very likely that you'll know me before I know you, so don't quiz me. I don't know your name. I might know your face.

DL White [00:13:44]:

I can't tell who people are by that little little avatar, but please come say hi to me. I am not shy, but I am introverted, so I am not likely see see me. Say hi. Give me a hug. You ain't even gotta buy a book. I mean, I'm a just be there to meet authors and, like, fawn over people that I have wanted to meet and see in person, so I might not even ever be at my table. I'm just saying. I'm also gonna be at Essence Fest.

DL White [00:14:24]:

I am not a featured author. I am not on anybody's stage. I'm basically just there to be a fan of some bookish people and authors. The BJ's said they were gonna be there. I have met miss Beverly Jenkins. I have not met miss Brenda met miss Brenda Jackson, and I can't stand the thought of so many good people being in one space at one time. So I'm really, really super excited. So I will be in the building for Essence Fest.

DL White [00:14:53]:

I believe I'll be in town the 3rd through 7th, leaving on 7th. So let a system know if you're gonna be out there. I would love to meet you. Onto the writing update. No real update on the Pearl except we're still in editing. I expect final edits back next weekend ish ish. No. Seriously.

DL White [00:15:16]:

Like rush, but no rush. You know what I'm saying? And then I'll be heads down and making corrections to my file in Vellum and getting my girl ready for her close-up. I wanna be done with this novel, like, have it put together and up for a private sale by the time I hug Danielle's at Resist. So fingers crossed, I can get I can get that. As I mentioned, ARCs are out. The initial reception is good. I real I really, really try not to be precious about the words. So I don't stalk my reviews, and I ask that people not tag me in them if they can help it, send egregious errors and concerns to my email so I can address them before publication, but otherwise, enjoy and warn the others.

DL White [00:15:59]:

It's good or it's not. I mean, it's it's done. You know what I'm saying? Reviews are for readers, so I hope the readers like what they see and decide to read or not read the book based on honest opinions. I'm I am of the I said what I said variety. So if it's not something that popped up in my group chat or from my editor, it is not likely to change shoulder shrug. If you haven't read Beach Thing or Elysium, do not let that stop you from snatching up this novel. I did add a bit in the front matter on some previously on Black Diamond tip, so you can catch up without having to read both books because this book will spoil the first two. I have been working on my front matter and my back matter, so the book is ready to go once edits are complete.

DL White [00:16:46]:

We're getting really close. I'm getting really excited. I've lost count of how many books we've written together on this podcast. 3? 4? I wrote Neverlist, Hey, Lover, Elysium, and Now The Pearl live on the podcast. What a time. What an exciting time to be alive. So it's exciting every time and never ever, ever gets old going through this process. And this process.

DL White [00:17:12]:

And this fall, I'm about to go through the process of writing book 15, and I'm a take you all along. I don't even care if you want to go. We going. Get in the car. Sunday is our first check-in for the summer writing challenge. I'm writing I'm running over at the fiction archive that I own and operate. I hope the writers are getting in good words this week and are ready to chat it up about their summer of writing. Again, this is an off shoot of the 1,000 words of summer challenge, which is a 2 week challenge to write 1,000 words a day.

DL White [00:17:45]:

Our challenge will span June July, and it would be hard to maintain that for 2 months, so our parameters are very loose. The idea is to jump into summer with words and gear up for our most popular challenge, awesome August. So I'm looking forward to writing for fun, writing just because, writing to write, writing to get these thoughts out of my head, and really just, like, building that habit and getting some good ideas flowing. Speaking of writing, it is time for part 3 of the photograph. A little ditty I came up with because it had been too long since I shared fiction on the podcast. It's not lost on me that as a writer of kissing novels, my opportunity to break from the right publish stress about how much I sold rhythm manifests in material that is decidedly not romantic. Anyone that tells you that writing romance is easy as lying. Lying through their teeth.

DL White [00:18:38]:

It's much easier for me to write these little mystery thriller trysts, and I admit they don't go deep, they're not intricate. I will literally I sit down, I read what I wrote before. I write the next section. I edit it a little bit. I record it. Like, it's, like, not deep because if I start too early, I will start stressing about it, and then we have, like, a 67,000 word novel that I have read on the podcast. And, frankly, 67,000 words is something I need to sell. You know what I'm saying? I have decided, though.

DL White [00:19:11]:

My next short serial is going to be romantic. So I will close out the show after the jump. So if you are jumping here, thank you so much for joining me for this week's chat. We will talk again next week. I almost always have chapters in these, episodes, so you can just skip to the end. I appreciate you. Bye bye. The photograph, part 3.

DL White [00:19:40]:

I knew I had to confront Robin, but I couldn't just barge into her office and demand answers. Considering that someone found my email address and sent me a menacing note, the possibility that our offices and her home might be bugged was high. We needed to be careful. I suggested we meet at a quiet out of the way park where we could talk freely without fear of being overheard. Robin agreed and we found ourselves sitting on a secluded bench far from prying eyes or ears. Robin, I need to ask you something and I want need you to be honest with me, I said, looking her straight in the eye. What really happened to Damon? She stiffened, her fingers clenching in her lap. I told you he's not part of our lives anymore.

DL White [00:20:28]:

Why are you so interested in him all of a sudden? Because I found something and I started asking questions. I pulled up my phone showing her the photo that had been haunting my dreams followed by a screenshot of the threatening text message. Someone doesn't want me looking into Damon's disappearance. I know you know why. Robin's eyes widened as she read the message, and for a moment, I thought she might bolt, but then she sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. There's a lot that I haven't told you, Jada. There's so much, but I haven't been going on dates. I furrowed my brow, confused.

DL White [00:21:06]:

What do you mean you haven't been going on dates? I've been meeting with someone who claims to have information about Damon, she admitted, about what happened to him, his disappearance, and who might be responsible. My heart began to race. Who is this person? I don't know him. His name is Liam. He used to work with Damon back when he was involved in some less than legal activities. Drugs mostly, Robin explained, her voice trembling slightly. It was all stuff he was involved in before we met. He tried to leave to go straight, live a normal life, but you know you can never really leave that life especially if they have something on you.

DL White [00:21:45]:

Liam reached out to me about a year ago telling me he had important information about Damon, but it's taken this long to get him to meet me and relay anything I could work with. I leaned forward, my mind reeling. So what has he told you? Robin took a deep breath. He said years ago Damon was involved with a man named Donovan, a drug dealer, of course. Liam said that Damon had crossed Donovan somehow and that Damon's disappearance was likely due to him. He had it inside track, and he was sending me information as he could get it. Isn't that enough to go to the police? Your husband has been missing, Robin. I did, Robin said, her eyes filling with tears.

DL White [00:22:28]:

I did go to them, but they weren't interested. They know that name from back in the day. They're probably happy to not have to deal with a low level drug dealer. They told me that it wasn't illegal for him to leave his family. They even suggested that photo of him being tortured might be a deep fake meant to throw me off so he could start a new life somewhere else. I reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently. But you don't believe that, do you? No, Robin whispered, shaking her head. I think someone killed him, and I think they're still out there watching me making sure I don't talk.

DL White [00:23:02]:

I felt a chill run down my spine. Robin, this is serious. If what Liam is saying is true then you could be in real danger and what about your kids? Why are you even still here? Robin's face crumpled and she let out a sob. I know. I've been so afraid to tell anyone. I can barely keep us above water. I don't have money to move them where Donovan can't watch us. I can't let anything happen to them, Jada.

DL White [00:23:26]:

They're all I have left of Daemon. I pulled her into a hug, feeling the weight of her pain and fear. We'll figure this out, Robin, together. She pulled back, wiping her eyes. How? Where do we even start? I thought for a moment, my mind racing. We'll start with Donovan. If he's as dangerous as Liam says, then he's our best lead. I'll see what I can find out about him.

DL White [00:23:52]:

Maybe I can track him down. In the age of the Internet, it's really hard to hide. Robin nodded, a flicker of hope in her eyes. And I'll keep meeting with Liam to see if he has any information that can help us. We have to be careful, I warned her. Someone knows I've been snooping. There's no telling what Donovan might do or have done. I know, Robin said, her jaw tight.

DL White [00:24:16]:

I can't go one more day not knowing the truth. I need to know and I need justice for Damon, for my kids. I cannot let his tillers go free. I nodded feeling a surge of admiration for her strength and courage. We'll get them, Robin. We need to make sure they pay for what they did to Damon. We just have to get enough information that the case looks good to the police. We left the part separately going in opposite directions, couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched, Every car that passed me on the street, every set of headlights in my rearview mirror seemed to hold some hidden threat.

DL White [00:24:52]:

I pushed down that fear and focused on the task at hand. I had inserted myself into something way bigger than I thought it would be, and I had now tethered myself to Robin, to her kids. I was in just as much a danger as she was, and the only way out was to find the truth about what happened to Damon. I wouldn't rest until we found a way to bring his killers to justice no matter the cost. That'll do it. Thank you for joining me for part 3 of the photograph. I think it's getting interesting, and we will see how I managed to wrap this up in one episode. I don't know how I'm going to do that, but I'm committed to this only being 4 chapters before I start the next one.

DL White [00:25:41]:

So that also brings us to a close for today's chat. I truly enjoy having you here. I welcome any comments or feedback at books by dlwhite.com/bookcast/eighty 8. You'll find full show notes with all the books I talked about today, the links to all the writing, I'm sorry, the links to all the things I talked about today, and a transcript for today's show including the serial if you would rather read it instead of listen to it. Please share the podcast if you enjoyed today's episode and if you listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, give a girl a rating. I'd really appreciate it. Do not forget that you can support this podcast with your book purchases by spreading the good word or throwing some coins in the hat at bookcast.busprout dotcom. Every little bit helps.

DL White [00:26:28]:

I will be back next Saturday, June 15th. Is next Saturday 15th? Let's check the calendar super quick because I was not prepared. Yes. Next Saturday, June 15th, also payday. So, I will be back post my trip to a bustling Midwest city. So enjoy your week as always. Have a superlative one, and we'll chat again soon. Bye bye.

#BOOKCAST #podcast #the photograph #serial fiction #goodreads

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