Weekly Round-up Posts are a great way to catch up when life has kept you super busy with things other than visiting your favorite blogs. Staci Troilo’s is excellent this week. Check it out for some great links to posts you may have missed. (Great as always, Staci!) And as always, pass it along if you can! Thanks!
Ciao,amici! Hope you’re all doing well. It was another busy week for me, and it doesn’t look like my obligations will be changing anytime soon, so rather than boring you with the same lament every Friday, I’m going to move on to what is relevant.
We celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. this Monday. Man, wouldn’t it be nice if we kept his quest for peace in mind all the time? I thought I’d choose one of his quotes in his honor this week. One, I think, that applies to anyone as well as to our writing lives.
Faith is taking the first step
even when you don’t see the whole staircase.
Wise words.
I’m not sure if you’re just starting out on your writing journey or if you, like me, have been at it for a while. Wherever you are, beginning each new story can be daunting. It’s exciting, but…
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The Write Stuff 
Staci always has an excellent end of the week post. Thanks for sharing, Marcia!
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So sweet, Mae. Thanks.
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I agree wholeheartedly, Mae! My pleasure to share! 🙂
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These ARE great ways to keep readers up to date and still stay connected to the blogosphere. I may have to borrow the idea from Staci.
Marcia, I’m in love with the image in your blog header. Is it from one of your books? It’s so moody and atmospheric.
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Thanks, Jess. It’s nice to know people find value in them.
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These days, I rely on bloggers like Staci and Sally Cronin who do weekly recaps to help me keep up with what’s going on. Such a great idea!
Oh, I WISH that were from one of my books. It’s from one of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files covers (my favorite all time urban fantasy series) and the art is by Chris McGrath, who’s a pure genius cover artist! The model is a favorite of mine, too, and in fact, he was my inspiration for MacKenzie Cole in my Wake-Robin Ridge series. Every one of these covers is wonderful! In fact, pretty much all of Chris McGrath’s work is wonderful. I ordered a signed & numbered print of my favorite Dresden Files cover for my library wall, and it makes me very happy to have it waiting for me every day. 😀 Glad you like this one.
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I’ll have to pop over and check the books and this artist… might be right up my street 🤗
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Jim Butcher has written 15 Dresden Files books, beginning with Storm Front in 2000. The last one published was Skin Game in 2014, and there are those of us who are about to rise up in arms against him, because there are supposed to be at least 3 more books before the series ends, and Skin Game left us desperate for the rest of the story. Somewhere, the graphic novels and the RPG that were born from the series seem to have intererrupted the progression of novels. I’m considering a face to face confrontation with him, myself, since a long-awaited development in the plot reared its head in Skin Game, but needs to be resolved. Grrrrrrr.
The first book showed promise, though his writing skills got better and better with each one. As did the characters, with Harry becoming snarkier and braver and more fun to hang out with. I highly recommend the books if you like urban fantasies with wizards, talking skulls, and plenty of the usual paranormal suspects. 🙂 Butcher’s work and characters have appeared in a lot of urban fantasy anthologies, too, and the short stories are almost as much fun as the novels. I’ll do a post on the series one of these days, and share some of Chris McGrath’s cover art. In the meantime, you can visit McGrath here: https://www.christianmcgrath.com/ He’s done the covers of several of my favorite series, but he’s so prolific, there’s much more to be seen and enjoyed and wondered about on his site.
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PS, for a nice, comprehensive look at Butcher’s entire body of work, with info on each one, check out this link at Fantastic Fiction, one of my favorite sites for keeping up with familiar authors and learning about new ones: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/jim-butcher/
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Wow thanks Marcia! You know I think I’ve heard of the Dresden Files books somewhere along the way. And yes, wizards and talking skulls are indeed my cup of tea 🤗
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Omg Chris McGrath’s works are STUNNING!!! I soooooo want him to do my cover art now 😫 and it’s truly not fair for make believe men to be as gorgeous as he makes them.
And I’ve bookmarked Butcher’s Dresden Files, they really do look right up my alley. Thanks so much for putting me onto these two amazing guys.
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Oh, boy! If you figure out how to afford Chris McGrath for your book covers, please tell me, too. Now I love my own cover designer’s work, for sure, but even ONE cover by Chris McGrath would be a dream come true. 😀 I’m glad you like the sound of The Dresden Files. It’s truly a hugely popular series, and remember that over the course of 15 years or so, Butcher’s writing got stronger and better and funnier and scarier, all at the same time. Plus, if you do read the books, MAYBE by the time you finish #15, the 16th one will finally be OUT! (If not, maybe you’ll go with me to track him down and smack him about the head and shoulders! 😀 )
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I plan to win lotto. Actually, that’s my plan for a LOT of things I want in life 😉
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I was hoping to win Lotto one day, too, but then I found out I’d actually have to buy a ticket! 😯 😦
😀
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Story of my life 🤗
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I just have to tell you ladies how nice it is to see a simple post of mine reblogged only to spark such an interesting and spirited conversation.
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Jessica and I did get a bit off track, didn’t we, Staci? 😀 But it was a fun conversation, and I’m glad you enjoyed it! 😀 I do love The Dresden Files and I adore Christian McGrath’s art, so it was a pleasure to find someone else interested. I highly recommend the series, and any book with a McGrath cover on it will grab my attention at once. He’s done covers for MANY of my favorite Urban Fantasy books. 🙂 Maybe I’ll do a post on his work one of these days, assuming I ever catch up again. (A BIG assumption!) 😯
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Haha, join on in Staci!
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I look forward to that post and I hope you catch up quickly. (This is a do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do comment, as I’m woefully behind.)
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As always, thanks for the support, Marcia.
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It’s my pleasure, Staci. I really look forward to your weekly updates, and save every one to go through as time allows. They do NOT go to waste around here, believe me! 🙂 So, thank YOU! 😀 ❤
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