Author: Jackie Houchin

First, I am a believer in Jesus Christ, so my views and opinions are filtered through what God's Word says and I believe. I'm a wife, a mom, a grandma and now a great grandma. I write articles and reviews, and I dabble in short fiction. I enjoy living near the ocean, doing gardening (for beauty and food) and traveling - in other countries, if possible. My heart is for Christian missions, and I'm compiling a collections of Missionary Kids' stories to publish. (I also like kittens and cats and reading mysteries.)

GROUP QUESTION: “Fave” Writing Book on Craft?

September Group Question: What book taught YOU the most about writing craft? What book would you RECOMMEND to other writers?

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G. B. Pool: The book that taught me the most about writing was Aristotle’s The Poetics. I took a Philosophy course in college, and that was one of the books we read. Good ol’ Aristotle said there were Five Basic Elements in writing: Plot, Character, Dialogue, Setting, and the Meaning of the Story. I have covered each of these areas in numerous posts on Writers-in-Residence. I have also written a book on the very subject myself called The Anatomy of a Short Story, which covers those points. The points are good for short stories and novels. Without using each point in your work, you will be leaving a large hole in the story. So I thank Aristotle for his insight.

Jackie Houchin: My favorite book for learning the craft of writing novels (stories of any kind) is Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book On Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need, by Jessica Brody. She has a series of “Save the Cat” books that might cover the genre you would like to write. The cover photo shows a cat hanging at the end of a rope. (I love it!)

The book reveals the 15 “beats” (plot points) that make up a successful story — from the opening image to the finale. It lays out Ten Story Genres alongside quirky, original insights (Save the Cat; Shard of Glass) to help novelists craft a plot that will captivate and sell. If you want to know how to START a novel or short story (and not a screenplay), this is a good book to buy. Yes, it may repeat things you’ve read in other books on writing, but it’s done in such a clever, easy-to-read way that you will learn easily.

And, NO, I didn’t buy the book because I like cats (although I do), but because of the easy-to-understand details on crafting a story.

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Miko Johnston: Tough question, as I’ve found many books helpful in certain aspects of writing. Two that stand out are Sol Stein’s How To Grow A Novel, which taught me, among other things, the importance of a great beginning, and Noah Lukeman’s The First Five Pages, which laid the groundwork for creating a great opening. However, I strongly recommend reading well-written books, regardless of genre, and studying the author’s techniques. That always inspires me to write, and to write better.

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Bonnie Schroeder: Stephen King’s On Writing taught me quite a bit. He certainly knows whereof he speaks.

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Patty Smiley: No book on writing has clarified the process as clearly as Jack M. Bickham’s Scene & Structure: How to construct fiction with scene-by-scene flow, logic, and readability. Bickham argues that readers are threatened by change, which you must introduce at the book’s beginning. Readers also want a story question to worry about. For example, in the opening scene of my latest Justice Bay mystery, A Cold November Murder, Emma McCoy discovers a murder victim in a remote rural field. She recognizes him from a chance encounter the day before but doesn’t know his name. The problem is, no one else does either. Discovering a dead body changes her life and raises a story question: Will Emma identify the victim and help find who murdered him? By the end of the book, the story question must be answered.

Each scene also raises a question. Bickham defines a scene as an action sequence that mirrors a play performed on stage. In each scene, the writer should include: 1) Scene goal. 2) Conflict: who opposes your character in this scene and why. 3) Plot twists that turn the story in another direction or deepen the conflict. 4) Resolution, i.e., an answer to the scene question, which should not be yes. Possibilities are no, yes, but… (I’ll help you, but I want a favor in return), No, and furthermore (Never come here again or I’ll call the police). A sequel follows each scene. The sequel includes the following, though it doesn’t have to be long: Emotion: how the character feels after the scene. Thought: review, analysis, planning. Decision: a newly selected goal. Action: leads to a new scene

Linda Johnston: I know that this month we’re each supposed to tell the world about the books on writing that inspired us when we started out. Me? I really have nothing to suggest. I started reading, and writing, long ago to start my career. No book I read then particularly stands out.

My advice to aspiring writers? Check out the books my fellow writers here suggest. And what I did then, and suggest now? Join writing organizations in the genre(s) in which you want to write and learn all you can from the other writers there.

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Thank you, ladies (members and guests) these suggestions are very helpful. I hope readers will learn from them and start writing quality books and stories for themselves.

Here are a few more:

1. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott;
2. The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White;
3. Into the Woods by John Yorke;
4. The Mindful Writer by Dinty W. Moore.

NOTE: We hosted a guest poster who wrote about helpful books. Here’s the link, in case we missed any good ones this time that you may be interested in. “Do Writing Books Help?” by Jacqueline Vick https://thewritersinresidence.com/2010/01/29/do-writing-books-help/

ONE MORE came in this morning:

Rosemary Lord: For me, Lynn Truss’s book immediately comes to mind: EATS SHOOTS AND LEAVES! It’s a wonderful, humorous book about sloppy and careless grammar.

It reminds me of the actor Michael Caine when, as a young actor in a play, he and another actor found themselves laughing hysterically at his reading of a line written: “What’s that in the road ahead.” He (intentionally) read it aloud as “What’s that in the road? A head?”

A “Fake” Ghostwriter

by Jackie Houchin

You have all heard of ghostwriting. That is when famous people who don’t know how to write will hire a writer to tell their story. There are days and weeks of interviews, drafts to check, rewrites to slog through, cover art to approve, and then … the beautiful book. Your book … almost. Your title and name are on the cover, but you did not actually write it.

This is great for the ghostwriter, who can make a tidy sum of money if she is willing to put up with a lot of guff from the “famous person.” She can be proud to see the book printed and perhaps sold on Amazon. But it’s a secret pride. And only if the “famous person” shares her name can she get a few “kudos.”

One of our own Writers in Residence members is a ghostwriter of many volumes.

Now, think about a ghostwriter that any “Mary, Sue, or Kathy” can hire for a very low sum. A brief interview with some questions answered, a few thoughts on how the “not very famous” person sees their book, and a selection of cover art to choose from. Voila! Your book is done, and a copy (or two or three) is mailed to you in a couple of weeks.

One of our own Writers in Residence members has “hired” just such a ghostwriter. Me. And three copies of “my” book cost me a mere sixty bucks.

And, you may ask, just who is this super-cheap ghostwriter? His name is Art. Artificial Intelligence, or AI, as he is more often known. Yes, I crossed into the writer’s no-no land of AI. And you know what? It was super easy.

I found BeThe Author on Facebook (where else?). The advertisement showed several happy people receiving books that loved ones had “written” for them about themselves. They were all surprised and very delighted. Shots showed them deeply engrossed in reading their own stories. The ad ended with an enticing question. Did I want to try BeTheAuthor for a relative or friend?

I paused, mesmerized by the possibility. My husband’s birthday was coming up in a matter of weeks. I pictured him with a book in his hands, HIS photo with some automobile art on the cover, and a fun, easy-read adventure/mystery where he was the main guy, with just 200 or so pages.

That’s all it took. I signed up and answered some questions about my Hubby’s personality, likes and dislikes, habits, hobbies, quirks, and dreams. I found a photo of him working on some building project and uploaded it. BeTheAuthor (aka AI) immediately gave me six cover art options featuring my Hubby and his hot rod. I picked one, filled in my address and payment info, and pressed “Do It!” (or actually, “Order.”)

Two weeks later, EXACTLY on his birthday, the package arrived. He picked up “his” book, a slow smile coming to his face. “What’s this?” he asked, turning it over to read the back cover.

I told him what I’d done, and he opened the first page. Standing there, by the kitchen table and the other (forgotten) mail, He began reading. He turned a page and kept reading. Then he moved to a soft chair, leaned back, and read all of the first chapter.

I was so excited and pleased. My Hubby is not a reader, except for a few hot rod magazines. But he was reading.

Today, he’s almost finished. He’d told a few other guys about “his” book and given one of the extra copies to our son.

Would I do it again? Yes, yes, yes. I know it’s not my own creativity. It’s not my own words, or much of my own ideas. But it has given pleasure to someone I love.

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Since then, I’ve seen many similar offers on Facebook, with different results. BookNova, Booky.ai, Chapter.pub, and WriteABook.com are just a few. Some of these will take YOUR outline or even book draft and create the finished novel. BookVa offers to create a graphic novel for you with a story idea and an extra photo or two.

And some offer elderly people a “memoir” to give to their children. The old gals or gents answer quite a few questions about their lives, some even via recorded phone calls, and “their life story” is created for the generations to come.

There’s a wide audience for these AI Ghostwriting offers, especially these “personalized” books. They are enticing, and I believe some will be thrilled with the results. I truly loved my “Hubby’s Book.” (The only thing I would change would be to offer more DETAILS on the questions they asked.)

But yes, I know. These are not the classics that true, human writers will create and that will endure and inspire. But for now. I’m happy with what I did.

GROUP QUESTION: What advice would you give to your younger writing self, or to writers who are just starting their careers later in life?

Hosted by Jackie Houchin

Once every 2 months or so, we ask our writers a group question. Those who can, reply below for your reading pleasure. Let’s see what they said this week.

G. B. (Gayle) Pool:

Even before I told everybody that I wanted to be a writer at age 12, I wrote stuff. When I was 8 years old, I stapled together newspaper clippings about the movie Lady and the Tramp. My mother kept it, and I still have it. It was technically my first book. But I kept writing things – poems, stories, ideas. It might have taken a while, but I finally completed a book when I was in my thirties. But I never stopped writing until that time. A little while after I wrote the book, though it hadn’t been published yet, I spoke to a kid who said he was a writer. I asked him what he had written. He said, so far, he hadn’t written anything. He was just thinking about it. Well, technically, he wasn’t a writer…yet. Because you have to write to be a writer. So write…something, anything. Put those words and ideas on paper. Hold onto them because they might be the basis of a book or two later on. But if the words don’t appear on paper or in your computer, you aren’t a writer. Writers write. Write On!

My first “clippings” book.

Jackie Houchin:

Younger self (or mid-life ladies): get an MFA degree (Master of Fine Arts) focusing on Creative Writing (or Journalism, communications, etc.), at a local college (or online) if at all possible. I wish I had, instead of just plunging in “by the seat of my pants,” and writing this and that, making mistakes, giving up, then beginning again. I took a few free or low-cost courses and learned a little. I joined critique groups (like Writers in Residence used to be), and I wrote stories for myself that never saw the light of day. And I even wrote for a couple of local newspapers for a few years (That was fun – maybe I should have studied journalism!). I learned things along the way by trial and error. BUT I COULD HAVE learned them at the beginning, and become a Great American Novel Writer, or a Pulitzer Prize Winner by now. And so today … I’ve never published a book. (I did have a short story published after entering it in a contest, but that’s as far as it got). ***** DO BETTER, younger self!

Maggie King:

Read, read, read, especially the type of stories you plan to write.
Don’t let anyone discourage you. That includes YOU!
Later in life is a wonderful time to write. Think of all the experiences you’ve had, the insights you’ve gained, the stories you’ve read.
Above all, WRITE!

Miko Johnston:

I can answer that: I’d tell my younger self to ask more questions of family and friends, engage more with strangers in social situations, and especially to discreetly listen to others’ public conversations (much easier today in our cell-phone world). Having that ability can generate lots of character background, quotable dialog, and plot ideas.

Years ago, a friend had a brief but oddly humorous conversation with a woman in a SoCal movie theater restroom. Two years later, she heard that conversation used verbatim in the movie “Independence Day.”

.And that’s it for this time!

Word Pictures

by Jackie Houchin

“One picture is worth a thousand words,” or so they say. (Actually, it was first said by newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane.) And that’s what I try to do.

Six mornings each week, I go out early and walk a couple of miles before the sun is all the way up. I leave before eating or anything else… well, I do throw out some bread and peanuts for my crow friends as I go.

I listen to a Christian podcast or two via Bluetooth as I walk, and I usually walk in one of the 4 directions from my house. The routes get familiar, so occasionally I drive to a walking or biking path.

I’ve discovered 10 Little Free Libraries in my neighborhood along the way, and sometimes I switch books between them (or grab one to read).

It’s cool. It’s quiet. It’s sometimes foggy. I may see a familiar dog-walker or two, but mostly I’m alone. I LOVE it.

My eyes are constantly roving here and there as I walk. I’ve been a photographer for many years, and my mind-eye connection often sees unusual, fun, or beautiful sights out of things you would normally pass right by.

Such as a tree with eyes. A big stuffed tiger hanging out of a child’s wading pool. Or a bright cerise rose poking up through a snowfield of dusty-white other-plant leaves. A tiny black crow sitting in the top branches of a wintry black tree skeleton. A silvery Jetstream arrowing straight up and catching the first beams of the sun. A hidden shell. A mossy side of a fireplace. Wild daisies growing in and through a log fence. Weird oil leaks and stains on the asphalt that look like something to me, which I call “street art.”

I shoot these with my phone and post them online under “Early Morning Walking.” With a mini-fun description, or possibly a “find me” puzzle, a story, or maybe nothing.

(A recent post showed what looked like an above-ground aquarium to me with colorful “marine” plants and even a fish swimming among them. Some people could “see” the fish. Others wrote comments of frustration at missing it completely. (See photo below) I have a writer’s artistic imagination, I guess.

Yes, my family calls me weird. But I enjoy my “visual creative-writing” in my daily walks and pix.

See the fish peeking out? (Maybe squint a bit and use your imagination.) This is my above-ground aquarium. Heh, heh, heh. It’s become one of my faves!

Redundancies and Series: How to Make Both Work.

by Jackie Houchin

A couple of weeks ago, Gayle shared with us about repeats and redundancies in our writing and how to avoid them. This is only one of the points she’s taught to keep our writing enticing and enjoyable for our readers. She used the TV show, Murder, She Wrote, to illustrate both the allowed and the frowned-upon redundancies.

“TV series like book series need formulas to stay consistent,” one person commented. “It’s why we keep going back.”

On the same note, I love books in a series. When I find a well-written and fun series, I will begin with the first installment, read right through to the last, and then hope there will be more to come. They have the same main characters (which I’ve grown to love) and the plots, although varied, follow a basic plan each time. The settings can be here and there, I don’t care.

(Oops! Yes, I know that for some readers, the PLACE where the series happens is the ‘sweet spot,’ as in outer space, a certain beloved city, or on a cruise ship. It’s why they keep returning for book after book. Sorry!)

Anyway, in a series, I know what to expect, even though I don’t know what to expect, if you get my meaning.

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One series I enjoy is Canadian author Iona Whishaw’s Lane Winslow Mysteries. They are set in British Columbia (with a few side excursions) shortly after WWII. Lane was a British spy during the war, and she uses her “secret” skills to help the local police inspector solve crimes.

The author has written 13 installments, so far, with a little prequel thrown in. I’ve read all but the last, and have just purchased it. It’s a series that can keep going with the same characters and slightly altered plots.

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I have also enjoyed Gabrielle Meyer’s Timeless series, which combines mystery, light romance, and history across a dozen settings and eras. She uses a “time-crosser” or two in each book. These gals (and sometimes guys) are in one of two settings every other day until they turn 25. At that point, they must choose the one they wish to remain in.

While the plot is essentially the same (a choice between two lives, weighing the costs and benefits of each), the era and places, along with the wonderfully researched history, make each book different. They do not follow one another chronologically, like the Lane Winslow Mysteries. It’s a series that can continue as long as the author wants, but each story stands alone. They repeat only in form.

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The other series that hooked me was Ashley Weaver’s Electra McDonnell Mysteries. In these, Electra is a skilled safecracker from a family of thieves who is coerced into working for British Intelligence to avoid prison. Of course, a handsome Major is her handler. Sparks happen, but she is SO “not fitting” for a high-born Brit. Very exciting, suspenseful, and FUN.

The books in this series follow a close chronological order and have a natural ending in book five. If I want to read more in this series, I will have to re-read from book one.

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Where was I? I guess I segued from redundancies, repeats, and formulas to book series. But these examples show that YOU can write a short or long series that grabs and holds your readers without resorting to boring repetition or copycats.

(And for my faux pas about setting, there IS a series I love set on the cruise ship, Siren of the Seas. It’s Hope Callighan’s Millie’s Cruise Ship Mysteries. Set aboard a luxury cruise ship, now as familiar as my own house, or at a port o’ call, the books feature recurring characters and similar plots. The story advances chronologically with each book, and there are multiple dozens of books in the series.)

I’d love your comments on the book series you love (and why you love them – characters, settings, plots?). I have hundreds more I couldn’t list. Let’s compare!!

GROUP QUESTION: What is your favorite season to set a story in, and why?

Jackie Houchin — I like setting stories in the Fall. There are all those warm colors, of course, like red, gold, rust, brown, and even olive. I can (at least in Southern California) have my characters wear any style of clothes, from shorts, a tee-shirt, and sandals to jeans, boots, a jacket, and a hat. Hot Santa Ana winds blow. Nights come sooner. Dried leaves crunch and reveal secrets, but also hide things. Bare branches look spooky. And there is an urgency to action (before the frost comes). Also, Autumn characters can be older, wiser (or more foolish), and willing to make one last effort.

I wrote a short story titled Autumn Gold set in Central Park & San Francisco, in the Fall. It won 4th and was published in an online magazine. Autumn Gold

Rosemary Lord — I grew up with the cold and wet of England’s summers, longing for just a few days of no rain and some sun. So I am happiest writing about sunny summers, endless days of sun, and light evenings. I guess I just feel better writing about warm or hot places! I shut down when it’s too cold.

In Lottie Topaz and the Flicker Murders, I have also used the extreme heat of Hollywood in the 1920s, and I loved creating that atmosphere.

During the cold weather of most of my English childhood, I would hibernate, so that does not feel at all creative. My dad was in the Royal Navy, so we lived on the Mediterranean island of Malta for a while when I was tiny. It was blissfully sunny and hot. We had grapes growing in the garden, and spent days on the beach. Moving to Hollywood, California, I found a similar climate. So I stayed!

Gayle Bartos-Pool — A Little Seasoning to Your Story

As writers, we can add characters, dialogue, and settings to the plot, but how about a particular season? Maybe you have a favorite one.

Having lived in California for decades, I got used to no seasons at all, but here in Ohio, boy, do we have four distinctive times of the year. And they can be a great background or even part of the plot. A snowstorm in winter or a beautiful autumn when leaves really do change color, or a spring when buds start to pop after one of those long winters, can be just what the characters need to tell their story.

I never thought about writing an entire book in a particular season, but I have used a rainy day or snow as a background in a short story. At least that’s a start.

Miko Johnston — I don’t have a favorite season to write about. Instead, I incorporate aspects of the seasons into my writing for atmosphere (no pun intended) – the frigid winds of winter, the springtime beauty of cherry trees in bloom, summer heat shimmering over the pavement, a bird of prey’s last hunt before migrating in autumn. Each change of season creates a natural transition in time.

I also use the seasons as a metaphor. By pairing or contrasting them to the emotional upheavals my characters must endure, I can enliven the story with vivid imagery or negative space (see this post).

Maggie King — My stories are set in all seasons, my favorite being autumn. I love walking under trees ablaze with the reds, golds, and oranges of the season, hearing the sound of leaves crunching under my feet, pulling my jacket tightly against the chill in the air as temperatures drop. The earthy smell of decomposing leaves and burning wood from fireplaces evoke memories from childhood—sipping apple cider, coming home to the heavenly aroma of my mother’s beef stew, celebrating Halloween and Thanksgiving.

My novels Death Turns the Page and Laughing Can Kill You are set in autumn, as is a short story I’m currently writing.

Holding your breath!

by Jackie Houchin

I’m sorry this is late.

I forgot.

I had medical tests on my mind.

I had to get an MRI early Wednesday morning, and it was the only thing on my mind.

Not a fun experience.

But neither was the breast cancer surgery I had two years ago. This was merely a deep scan of my left side to see if….

I held my breath.

Things are different on that side of me now with scars and after radiation, so it’s hard to tell what’s okay and normal.

So I held my breath.

A message from Hoag Hospital…

“Benign. No malignancy. Congratulations.”

Whew. I let out a long breath.

Thank You, God!

I can breathe again.

Thanks for your patience.

A “February Is Love” Group Post

By Linda O. Johnston

Many people have something special to remember about Valentine’s Day. I certainly do. It was the day I got engaged to my wonderful husband—more than four decades ago now.

We still lived in Pittsburgh then, and my first Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Panda—Pandaemonium—celebrated with us. We even let him lick the dry exterior of the champagne bottle. Guess it must have smelled interesting, though, of course, we didn’t give him a drink.

We got married in May and have been celebrating ever since, here in Los Angeles now, along with whichever Cavaliers are with us each year. This year, it’s Cari and Lexie.

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

By Rosemary Lord

It’s wonderful, marvelous – this outward show of love, with images of celebrations, hearts and flowers, love songs…

But more intriguing for me as a writer is the silent love that stays hidden. The oft-unrequited love, the unspoken love. The secret love. The love that tugs at the heartstrings.

Whether it’s the quiet, shy love where the individual feels inadequate to express feelings about their heart’s desire. Not wanting to risk rejection, they stay silent. Or the cautious person afraid of getting ridiculed by revealing where their heart wants to go. The feelings of unworthiness or inadequacy to receive their heart’s desire. The secret love that someone dreams of from afar.

And it’s not just a love of another person. It’s the love and passion for dreams yet to be realized.

It’s the passion for a seemingly unattainable goal, project, or career. Those loves so often stay hidden. The offer or demonstration of love that is held back for fear of being laughed at or worse, being ignored.

It’s the unwritten love stories that stay locked away in a writer’s head for fear of rejection – or just unsure of a perfect ending. The love stories that will never see the light of day.

How many amazing, intriguing tales of love and passion remain hidden and lost to the world?

Those are the love stories that I want to read and want to write.

By Gayle Bartos-Pool

STOP! in the Name of Love, Searching for Love, You Can’t Hurry Love, April Love, When I Fall in Love, When a Man Loves a Woman, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, All You Need Is Love, Dream Lover, Can’t Help Falling in Love, I Just Called to Say I Love You, How Deep Is Your Love, Love Me Tender, Love Will Keep Us Together, Love Me or Leave Me, I Will Always Love You…

So many ways to search for love… until it finds you because it so often does in the most interesting places. Then you want to hold onto it… if you can, and you do because, as that last song title says: I Will Always Love You.

Richard and I had a couple of songs we liked, both from singer Randy Travis. We even went to one of his concerts. The songs: Forever and Ever, Amen, and Look Heart, No Hands. And there’s that other one that still brings tears to my eyes: I Will Always Love You…And it always will because Love Is a Many Splendored Thing. Ain’t Love great…

By Jill Amadio

My Dearest Valentine,

Here it is, another year, and I dislike you more than ever. Ever since you rejected my submission, the third in my mystery series, I have awoken with bitterness in my heart towards you.

Do you ever consider how your rejections affect authors who are begging for acceptance and publication?

Do you realize the amount of royalties that were envisioned, only to have that dream turn into a nightmare? I was thinking of sending you a big bouquet of dead flowers, but then I thought about the cost of mailing them.

Always looking forward to next year!

jill

By Miko Johnston

The journey of love takes place over a lifetime. The early yearning for it. The sweet innocence of that first infatuation. The intensity of true requited love. The joy and peace that come from loving someone and having their love over the years. The sweetness of togetherness and the sorrow of loss. Music has always captured those emotions so well. A very partial and personal list:

“How Will I Know?”

“I Believe (When I Fall in Love it will be Forever)”

“Can’t Help Falling in Love”

“At Last”

“I Got You Babe”

“My Guy”

“Only You”

“Unchained Melody”

“God Only Knows”

“In My Life”

“Maybe I’m Amazed”

“I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party”

“The Tracks of my Tears”

“How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”

“All In Love is Fair”

“I Will Always Love You”

For me, love has always held hands with music.

By Jackie Houchin

For about 22,630 days, I have felt loved in one way or another. This is approximately how long I have been married to my one and only husband. (62 years on February 1st) Of course, I felt loved in the months of engagement before that, too.

Love isn’t always romantic. Sometimes it’s simply sustaining, especially in times of trouble. Sometimes love is felt when you are sick in bed, and a warm bowl of soup is brought to you. Or when you are exhausted…. and the long list of household chores gets finished without a word from you.

I feel loved when I come up with “brilliant” (I think) ideas, and my husband (who might roll his eyes a bit) sets about to accomplish them to the best of his ability.

Yes… I am definitely LOVED, and I feel it every day.

Snail Mail and Literary Correspondence

It was a shock. How could they?

I’m talking about Denmark’s announcement to discontinue its PostNord postal service as of January 1, 2026 (after 400 years of continual service) and to remove all its 1,500 letterboxes.

Think of that! No friendly postmen. No possibility of letters from family. Or Christmas greetings. Or bills and solicitations. (Well, I wouldn’t miss those!)

Maybe not having snail mail wouldn’t bother you. (Tell me how you feel in a comment.)

And yes, yes. I know about email! I use it. But it’s not thick envelopes, colorful stamps, and paper “delight” in your hand.

Anyway…

This news made me aware of a writing phenomenon that has begun in earnest this year. If you are on Facebook at all, you will have noticed. It is the many opportunities we have to sign up for story-letters: snail-mail fiction divvied out twice a month for a fee.

A while ago, I interviewed the creator of “Letters from Afar,” Shawnee Mills. She researches (and sometimes visits) places around the world. Her fictional character tells readers about them in letters. She sends field notes, a map showing its location on the globe, and a “find me” game where she hides objects in her hand-painted illustrations. The Afar article.

Shortly after the “Afar” letters, I signed up for the “Flower letters,” where an actual story – romantic/adventure/mystery – was told through correspondence (and inserts and artifacts).

But now. Wow! In a short time, I discovered a baker’s dozen opportunities for you to receive bi-weekly story letters via snail mail. I’ve listed some. You can find them on Facebook by typing the titles into the search bar.

The Moonlit Letters – a cozy mystery where a young woman inherits her grandma’s cottage on Ocracoke Island and discovers/solves a mystery. Postcards, recipes, and a map are included.
The Lost Letters Society – four choices of historical-fiction war correspondence, most including romance. Authentic-looking letters.
Letters by Lanternlight – a choice of three small town cozy whodunnits (all include a cat)
Storyville Letters – mystery, romance, adventure. Two choices: one is from the 1920’s, the other is 1874, Victorian London. The creator of these is a filmmaker, so they are bound to be atmospheric.
P.S. (PostScript) Letters – These are original historical fiction, in “the imagined voice” of women you may know. Not biographies, just private, human letters. You will read letters by Emily Dickinson, Jane Austin, Helen Keller, Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt, etc.
Letter Joy – letters for history buffs. Produced by the same people that create the PS Letters. You’ll read everyday correspondence from authors like Fyodor Dostoevsky, Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain, etc.
Epistolary – “Letters, Lattes, and Lies,” a cozy mystery told in letters of observations and evidence by a retired librarian, to a reclusive homicide detective.
The Heart Letters – a more serious “novel” told in letters. The creator calls this 24-letter series “therapy through storytelling.” It is designed as “a gift experience for women navigating transition, healing, heartbreak, empty nest, divorce, or loss.”
The Romantasy Letters – Bold, daring, fiery, spicy, romantic fantasy with passion, intrigue, and magic. (Not my cup of tea.)
The Titanic Letters – Passengers tell their secrets in correspondence. “An illicit affair and a gripping mystery.” The creator rates the letters PG-13.
The Asylum Letters – psychological suspense set in the Danvers Asylum in 1926: a secret correspondence between a female inmate with amnesia and a new doctor. By the creator of #10, rated PG-13.
The Salem Letters – correspondence by an herbalist held in prison for the witch trials. Dark mystery/romance. Rated PG-13.
Scaremail – a “terrifying, unfolding horror saga told through personal correspondence between characters. (The ocre envelopes are splotched with black dripping stuff! EEEEKKK!)

And there are more of these letter-stories available, like: The Max Letters, Writings from the Wild (animals), and The Cozy Letter Club (a farmyard mystery) for kids. (There are also fictional Pen Pal stories to interact with.)

Most of the serialized stories span 12 months of biweekly letters and cost $99-$149. It’s a bit expensive, but it’s fun to find them in your mailbox!

There is a series I didn’t mention above, because it was only available briefly. It is Mysteries in the Mail, written by mystery writer Sara Rossett. I signed up for the series and have received 3 letters so far. It’s different in that the “letters” seem like chapters in a cozy mystery book written in 1st-person POV. There are some lovely hand-drawn, colored illustrations among the text, but no other inserts.

Have YOU ever done or thought of writing and mailing serialized fiction? It would mean some creativity, a bit of postage, and of course a mailing list – but some of YOU have that already. What do you say?

Now is the time to jump on the bandwagon, especially if you have something unique. Any of the writers on this Writers in Residence blog could do what Sara Rossett has done.

And, who knows when the US Postal Service may discontinue!!! Yikes!

But… if you don’t want to go through all the rigamarole of sending out prescribed letters, you can always do what these authors have done. Write your story in a series of letters. It’s called an Epistolary Novel.

Lee Smith did it with “Fair and Tender Ladies.” Helen Hanff did it with “84, Charing Cross Road.” Annie Barrows wrote “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.” And one more by Virginia Even, the new, highly touted “The Correspondent.” Go for it, girls! (And guys.)

Me? I’ve written (and illustrated) several serialized letter stories in the past. They are fun. I wrote mysteries for each of my three elementary-aged granddaughters via letters in snail mail.

I also wrote a series of twelve letter-stories for the same-age kids at our church, about life in Africa. (These were actually email story-letters.)

If I can do it, so can you. Why not give it a try… while you still have time…. AND MAILBOXES!!!

Write in the New!

What are YOUR writing plans, ambitions, and hopes for 2026?

Will you finish that book manuscript or begin a new one? Will you submit a short story (or two) to a contest? How about brainstorming a month’s worth of blog posts? Or will you finally write that book review for your favorite author’s new (or almost new) novel? If you’re really stuck, go to one of those online sites that have hundreds of daily, seasonal, or holiday lists of prompts, and free write for 10 minutes several times throughout the day.

Whatever and whenever, in 2026, get to writing! (And I’m talking to myself here too!)

Happy New Year!