The Insecure Writer’s Support Group and Latest Food Boards

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, founded by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

The question for today: What is the most favorite thing you have written, published or not? And why?

Many years ago, I had this dream of an amazing place filled with books, magic, and treasures. As I do with most cool dream elements, I jotted it down.

A few years later, I began to craft a story about it, placing a group of vampires on a quest to find it. 2015 I finished and polished it – and then it just sat there as I worked hard with my Dancing Lemur Press authors.

Finally, I sent it to our editor and it was published as a novella in 2023. (And later as one of four stories in my In Darkness book.)

That story was The Vampire. It’s paranormal romance, but of the four stories, it contains probably the least amount of romance, focusing on the adventure. I am so, so proud of that one! It took forever to come to pass but I’m glad it finally did!

Do have a favorite story you’ve written?

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Charcuterie Time!

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And finally, second carpal tunnel surgery done and I will soon have two working hands again.

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, AI, Comic Con, and Latest Food Board

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, founded by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

This month marks the thirteenth anniversary of the IWSG website and fourteenth anniversary of the beginning of the IWSG with the monthly blog posting. Be sure to visit the IWSG for a list of what we’ve accomplished and built over the years.

The question for today: What are your thoughts on using AI, such as GPChat, Raptor, and others with your writing? Would you use it for research, storybible, or creating outlines\beats?

I’ve never used any of them and at this point, I doubt I ever will except maybe for research. Anything to make that easier!

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We did a con last month. There are so few near us and most that are within driving distance (without an overnight stay) are too expensive. Fortunately, the Greenville Comic Con is close and reasonable!

And of course, one of my latest food boards:

Would you use AI for writing? Do you get out to many events?

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group and Unethical Publishing Practices

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, founded by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.


The question for today: What is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry?

There are a lot of things to choose from! Plagiarism, vanity publishers, using AI to write the whole book, etc.

I decided to go with one that many people may not be aware of – book returns.

Bookstores and the wholesalers & distributors who deal with them are the only ones who return books. (They have a three month minimum window to do this.) They will order ten books, sell five, and when it gets close to 90 days, they return them – only to turn around and order another 5-10 books because now they don’t have any! Meanwhile, the publisher gets dinged for those returned book, sometimes just for printing cost and profit made, sometimes also for the shipping. This practice started during the Great Depression when stores were afraid to order any books lest they get stuck with them – and unfortunately, it was never reversed. (So, when my authors see a negative balance, that’s why – we get dinged and so do they.)

I’d also like to add that Amazon’s practice of allowing returns of eBook up to 7 days later is also unethical. People can download a book, read it, and then return it. No other seller or distributor allows eBook returns!

Have you experienced book returns? What do you consider an unethical publishing practice?

And some recent charcuterie boards:

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group and Exploring Other Genres

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, founded by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.


The question for today: Is there a genre you haven't tried writing in yet that you really want to try? If so, do you plan on trying it?

I’ve written non-fiction instructional, non-fiction inspirational, paranormal romance, and new adult.

While I can’t think of another fiction genre I’d want to tackle, I might be interested in a cookbook. Specifically charcuterie boards! (Are you surprised?) I think the biggest challenge with that would be creating the boards and taking professional photos of each one. My photos are fine for snapshots, but I’d have to redo each board and set it up with my lights and big camera. Lots of work.

(Good time to show off one of my latest.)

A language book also is a possibility. Estoy aprendiendo español. (I am learning Spanish.) And in going through dozens upon dozens of simple Spanish books, the ones I really like have pictures. It would be fun to create an extensive book with pictures, the word in English and Spanish, and the pronunciation. (In fact, my Spanish instructor suggested it.) I’d just have to convince my artist husband to draw all the images. LOL!

And in case you missed it - I also posted about stoking creativity through other creative outlets at the IWSG site a couple weeks ago.

What genre would you try?