October 2024

Daisy’s getting new clothes! It’s true. What’s more, she didn’t have to make them herself. My publisher, ePW (the only publisher ever to make money for me) said sometimes a long-running series whose sales are sluggish can be revived with new cover art. So Daisy’s getting new clothes! Here are the almost-approved covers for the first two Daisy books. Because Daisy always attempts to appear dignified, pale, and wafty, I asked that the neck to her gown be rounded and that it be given sleeves, but I don't know if it will happen. Daisy does not ordinarily flaunt herself, as you know if you've read her books. Oh, and for your convenience and because I remain forever hopeful even in the face of facts, if you click on the cover art, you'll get the Amazon Kindle link to the books. This is pretty much how I envision Daisy, by golly!

Daisy’s twentieth (20th!!!!!) adventure has been written and is now undergoing another read by me before I send here to the kindhearted folks who have offered to beta-read Spirits Adopted. Honestly, I don’t know how they can stand it, but I sure appreciate them. If you’re feeling generous, please feel free to pre-order Spirits Adopted from a bookseller of your choice. I’m giving the Amazon Kindle link here (and I don’t yet have the cover art). Please. Daisy, Sam and their newborn son, Joseph (after Daisy’s father) Louis (after Lou Prophet) Rotondo, and I would appreciate it greatly. Just click on the cover, and you'll be magically transported to the Amazon Kindle link for the book:

Some folks actually beta-read Celluloid Angels and claimed to like it. Go figure. Truth to tell, after I was through writing CA, I was ready to shove Mercy Allcutt and her entire crew out of a skyscraper window. The only thing that stopped me was that there was only one skyscraper in Los Angeles at the time (the Continental Building), and I didn’t have a key.

Celluloid Angeles is still for sale, though, so if you’re benevolent and/or interested in reading what nearly sent me over the edge and into a full-blown snit, here’s a link. This is a great book to give to people you don’t like! Or even to people you do like. Not everyone seems to have the same problem with it as I do. Again, just click on the cover. How easy is that?

I don't think I'm supposed to admit to disliking one of my own books, and it's true that other people seem to like it. Even Mercy's staunchest allies, however, do mention she's crabby through the entire book. Can't imagine why:

Daisy, Sam, Lou, Flossie and the rest of the Spirits folk are safe. I still love them. In fact, the only reason I started writing the Mercy books was that I believed Daisy (my personal favorite character of my writing life, except maybe for Loretta Linden from my Titanic series) was floating belly-up in the goldfish bowl of publishing. I thought she was dead. I was heartbroken, not for the first time. Writing is a tough job, believe it or not. When Five Star/Cengage gave new life to her, I was thrilled and delighted. Then FS/C bought a Mercy book as well, so I was stuck with both of them. I feel about Mercy and her pals about as jaundiced as Ariadne Oliver felt about her Finnish detective, Sven Hjerson. The only difference, of course, is that Agatha Christie invented Ariadne and Sven, and Aggie was rich as Croesus and I’m poor as the proverbial church mouse.

Ahem. My publisher said another thing authors of long-running series often do when things begin to flag is…I can hardly bear to write this…start another series. Oy. It’s about all I can do to write two books/year. I used to be able to write 4-5 books a year, but that was when I was young and still enthusiastic about what I laughingly call my writing career. Thirty years, seventy books, and about a hundred dachshunds later, writing’s not so much fun any longer. However, a group of wonderful people from the Daisy Daze Facebook page have sent me all sorts of interesting ideas, and I’ve pretty much settled on one of them for a new series. We shall see.

Now we come to the subject of book reviews. PLEASE leave a review somewhere online if you've enjoyed a book. Authors depend on word-of-mouth (or of the written review) in order to feed themselves and their dachshunds and purebred New Mexico Street Dogs. You can just leave a number from 1-5 if you want to. You needn't write a single word. Thanks!

There was a time when I had so many plots dancing with my gray cells on my brain’s convolutions, I could barely write them down fast enough. Those were the good old days. With, however, new fodder and a whole lot of help from friends, things might change. Or they might not. I’m pretty darned old, y’know.

Oh, and I’m sorry to report that the absolutely gorgeous Papillon I wrote about last month, Riley, had to go back to her daddy, Jacob. At first I thought my dogs were merely jealous of Riley. It took me a day or so to realize they were terrified of her! She weighs all of two pounds. On the first day she was here, Bam-Bam, my beloved senior wiener, attempted to walk into my office. I heard a high-pitched growl and the scritch of tiny puppy nails on the floor. So I looked from my computer to see Riley and Bam-Bam. Silly me, I believed Riley wanted to play with Bam-Bam. She didn’t. She wanted to kill him. Same with Cookie, my purebred New Mexico Street Dog and Mixed Terriorist.

I decided to give the situation another day or two to resolve itself. What happened was that Bam-Bam and Cookie decided they didn’t want to put up with this mini-intruder’s attitude and snapped back. Welllll, both Bam-Bam and Cookie have proved themselves to be mighty hunters, particularly when it came to kittens and other small game. They also weigh a good deal more than two pounds each. So I decided, because I didn’t fancy having to tell Jacob my dogs had savaged Riley and spread her guts throughout the house, I’d give her back. It’s okay. Jacob and I had agreed to this deal before he even brought her over. Bam-Bam and Cookie are relaxed again, and Jacob sent Riley to her co-owner to learn some manners.

This means I’m living in a two-dog home again. Only one (1!!!) of those dogs is a dachshund. I haven’t lived with this few dachshunds in…oh, I dunno. Forty years or more.

Just want to mention how sad I am for the people blown up or washed away by Hurricane Helene. The devastation is hard to look at on TV. I can’t imagine how people are coping with it. I’m extremely glad my older grandson and his family live inland from the North Carolina coast. Whatta horrible mess. Best of luck to everyone on the southeastern coast. According to the weather gurus, there’s another storm or two heading in the same direction. Just what the folks there don’t need.

Okay. The following people entered September’s book giveaway won: Vickie Shaw gets a paperback copy of Library Spirits, Jackie Wisherd gets a paperback copy of Lost Among the Angels, and Debby Guyette wins a Kindle copy of A Gambler’s Magic. Thanks for entering, and I’ll get your books to you ASAP.

At the end of October, Bam-Bam will select winners of…oh heck, I dunno. An e-copy of the book of your choice. Please, if you enter, tell me what kind of device you read on. You know, Kindle, Nook, Apple, or whatever. Thank you. Just send your entries to me at alice@aliceduncan.net

If you’re on Facebook, please join Daisy Daze! Anyone who has an interest in the 1920s will probably find Daisy Daze interesting, at least sometimes. Daisy Dazers give me plotting advice all the time. They’ve been going at it like gangbusters lately and I’m extremely grateful for their ideas. Daisy Daze was founded by Iris Evans and Leon Fundenberger, both of whom like Daisy and Mercy. Daisy Daze is a great place for Daisy Gumm Majesty Rotondo and Mercedes Louise Allcutt (soon to be Templeton) fans to hang out, as well as anyone who is interested in the “Roaring Twenties.” We concentrate pretty closely on the Pasadena and Los Angeles areas, because the books are set there. We also cover a lot of stuff relating to early motion pictures, because both Daisy and Mercy have friends in the biz. Daisy Daze is entertaining, it’s educational and if you’d like to be a member, check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/905100189878318/

If you’d like to visit my web page, here’s the link, thanks to Lyndele von Schill, who seems to be capable of doing anything and everything. Amazing woman, Lyndele. So glad she befriended me on Facebook! Home | Alice Duncan . If you’d like to be Facebook friends, please go here: (20+) Alice Duncan | Facebook .

Here’s a link to my author page at ePublishingWorks: Alice Duncan Author Page (ebookdiscovery.com)

Thank you!