augustbengal

I’m going to try The Library at Mont Char, based on your rec.

I read fantasy on occasion so I’ll see how it goes. Seems lighter on the horror?

Just curious, as a reader and author, how you find your next read.

I tend to find mine from reader groups online (like FB reading groups) and then some bookclub picks like GMA or Reese's, but that's because I lean toward popular book club fiction, for a variety of reasons.

But I'm looking for recommendations for suspense/thrillers, and though they are often book club picks, there are so many books out there, I'm curious how some of you find your next read. Do you follow people who rec to you? Or do you just check bestseller lists? Or do you only reader certain authors? Or is this the place you come for recommendations?

TIA

I just can’t risk using AI for any of my writing. I can use it for other tasks, but the actual writing won’t happen for me. I have a contract I don’t want to lose, and publishing houses have been pulling offers because of suspicion of AI.

But I think AI has some great uses and some writers use it for their actual writing. Each to their own in that regard. But I’ll stick with the “old-fashioned” way when it comes to my actual writing. ????

Yes. They announced it was starting on August 5th, I believe.

I follow The S**T No One Tells You About Writing podcast and the two agents have been discussing AI ad nauseam. But then again, all the publishing world is after 7 figure contracts were withdrawn due to AI.

As an author it’s scary to me. My books (17 of them) were fed into Claude to help create AI. So I keep thinking that if my publisher (I have a new one) fed my book into a program to check for AI, would it register as AI if they used my books with my voice, syntax, verbiage to create it? Makes me a bit nervous with books being pulled.

I think Ariel Lawhon's books are so well done - most are based on real life women but are fictional, historical novels built around their lives. The Frozen River was my introduction, but I just finished Codename Helene and it was inspiring.

I thought Remarkably Bright Creatures was very good. The Wedding People decent.

For Louisiana reads, try Ashley Elston and Jennifer Moorhead who both do suspense/thriller well.

I like Book Club fiction geared toward women, but I also like police procedurals and action books like the Jack Reacher series.

If chihuahuas were as big as a pit bull, you could probably triple it. I was bitten as a child by my grandmother’s chihuahua. The other dog that bit me was a lab during a scuffle with another dog.

Pitbulls/gs/doberman/rotties all are capable of killing a person. It’s rare that there aren’t warning signs though. Usually you know if a dog shows aggression - it presents long before an attack.

I have a pit bull mix. Never shown the slightest aggression toward another dog or human. If he attacked unprovoked, I would no longer have him. I love him. But I would never keep any kind of aggressive dog capable of killing. I also wouldn’t pass an aggressive dog to someone else to become their problem. If our dog showed aggression, I would be a good pet owner and taken him to be humanely euthanized. It would break my heart, but I would never endanger another animal or human.

This happened to us at Walmart 30 years ago. They ran water through our engine and blew it up. Realized the mistake right away. Told us they would take care of everything. Rental car and tow to where we wanted it repaired.

Pulled the same thing - wanted to take an engine out of a wrecked car that wasn’t even the same model and replace it. We’d towed it to Paretti in Metairie. Paretti said they would not replace the engine with an engine from another vehicle. We’d have to go elsewhere. Basically we had to pay the remainder of what was owed to replace a new engine. We were so stinkin’ poor at that point. We had to use our tax refund to pay the balance. We were twenty four years old, too stupid to know to call an attorney. We didn’t go to Walmart for anything after that. Full on boycott for twenty plus years. Then our oldest got a job at corporate Walmart. The irony…

Thank you! I'm not a member and in town trying to find the spot. Obvs I suck at the internet. Geaux, Tigers!

Call your mother…

Quarterly estimated. Yep, they base it on the previous year. If you make a good profit in one year, you pay the same estimated for the next. Then in April Uncle Sam gives you back the difference (usually in credit for the current year) Yes, for many people the government gets your taxes before they know what you’re going to make.

Um, yes he can.