Bookcast Epi 74: Updates, QTNA+ How I Write Series #1- In the Beginning

On today's episode we talk about books and writing.... of course! As always, we begin with the book report, then we talk about writing and topics of the day and this week, as I’m beginning a new book, I’m starting a new series called HOW I WRITE. 

Find everything I talked about  on today's show at my website: booksbydlwhite.com/bookcast. 

Follow me on all of the socials! I'm Author DLWhite just about everywhere. 

Transcript

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DL White [00:00:15]:
Well, hello everybody and welcome back to the Bookcast. Good morning to the listener who calls my podcast a ray of light and good morning to that person only. They know who they are. Hi, hello there. How are you? I'm great. This is my platform for sharing short fiction and updates on what I'm reading and writing. This is episode 74 and I am D. L.

DL White [00:00:42]:
White, author of contemporary southern and romantic fiction novels that center Black love and relationships. I'm also a big fan of books. So we usually begin with the book report and then we talk about writings, Toppings of the day and this week I'm beginning a new series, since I'm starting a new book, I'm starting this new series called How I Write and I'm gonna talk about that A smidge later, I'm currently prepping to write The Pearl at Black Diamond Black Diamond Romance number 3. I'll talk about my prewriting process in the writing update. That's right. I have not yet begun to write, but it's early. It's early February. I said I was gonna start In February.

DL White [00:01:20]:
It is early February. I still have time. Get off my back. The BookCast is a production of books by D. L. White written, edited, produced, and supported by me. I'd like to thank me for all of my hard work, but if you would love to back me up, I would be most grateful. My podcast website, bookcast.

DL White [00:01:37]:
Buzzsprout.com has all of the opportunities to offer a one time or recurring monthly gift whichever is most appropriate for your financial Thank you so much to my monthly supporters for standing behind me and helping to offset the cost of bringing this show to you. The other way you can support is to buy my books. Booksbydlwhite.com/books has all of the good stuff in ebook or audio and as a reminder I'm phasing out print copies here in my personal inventory except for new releases. If you want a book signed, we can arrange for that or I can send you a book plate or you can catch me, catch, Catch me outside. Catch me out on the road. You can find print copies at most online retailers at resist booksellers or bookshop .org as well. All of my titles are available wherever ebooks and audiobooks are sold as well as subscription sites like Everand and Kobo Plus and are available to request at your local library through Libby or Hoopla and just as a note Kobo is running a little special. If you go to the Kobo website and scroll down, you will see some me and some of my indie romance published friends Have a little section, at Kobo.

DL White [00:02:47]:
I put a couple of books on sale there. I believe Neverlist and Dinner at Sam's are on sale there regularly. 4.99 at Kobo, they are two 99 at Kobo, so snatch them up, and then atchirp.com Leslie's curl and die and the guy next Store are in sale in audio for 199. They are normally like 9.99, 8.99 in audio. Still relatively inexpensive as far as audio goes but 1.99 is a heck of a deal for a heck of a story so Roll on over there to Chirp Books and pick those up while they are still on sale. I believe there's like 10 days left in that sale so you have time. Go go. Today we will start with the book report as always and then, we'll talk about writing.

DL White [00:03:31]:
I'm skipping the marketing report this week. I think I'm gonna try to do that maybe monthly so I can See results month over month instead of week over week. It's, the view is really too micro for me to See results. I wanna try a few things, but I'm kinda still in the same spot I was doing okay on Instagram, Absolutely failing at TikTok and YouTube and Twitter is just shenanigans. So I want to dive into personally how I write, how I start a book, How I keep the middle interesting and not a mud pile and let's talk about how to end a book because I don't think I've ever done this well except for maybe my debut. It took a while to get there, but I wanna talk about how I write. And I'm a shamefully shamelessly took this idea from writer Rachel, what is her name? It just fell out of my head. Rachel something, it starts with an h.

DL White [00:04:26]:
Anyway, she had a podcast, How Do You Write, and she just changed it to Ink in Your Veins and so I really liked the title of that show though because it's just Basically talking to writers about how they write. I like talking about myself and this is my podcast so I'm gonna talk about how I write. Now Kavya, I am not anybody's expert, I'm not a Coach, I'm not anybody's, like, guru, so I'll definitely be using resources and pulling tips, we'll talk about major points of writing a book, Give some sage advice for the experts, and then I'll talk about how I do it. Whether it's right or not, it doesn't matter if you get to the end? It do not. So I'm gonna mostly focus on bringing a good story to your faces and not so much on writing speak. So my goal is really to bring it down to the average person's level for people who wonder how do they Do that. I love talking writing and books so I'm excited to dig into this topic, so let's Get going. Today is Saturday, February 3rd is at 9:17 a.

DL White [00:05:24]:
M. You people, I am on time. It's sunny but chilly in the a. I have a mic and I'm ready to dig in but first, I made coffee this morning and I made it real strong. I can smell colors and I'm going to be awake until Tuesday. I'm gonna suffer the consequences of my actions because I'm definitely going to enjoy This coffee. I have achieved that warmth in my belly feeling, and I'm ready to go. So we begin as always with the book report because I am a book head.

DL White [00:06:09]:
If I'm gonna do anything, I'm gonna read a book. New year, new challenge. I have read 13 books of my challenge to read 150 books this year. I am on track to hit my Goodreads challenge goal and I know that because I was up late Reading a silly very short book just so I could not get on this microphone and say I was behind. Please clap. This week, I read 3 books. I read The American Queen by Vanessa Miller. This was really, really quite good.

DL White [00:06:37]:
Quite good. You know, I was ready To kinda laugh at the idea of a kingdom in the United States, but then I got to the author's note and I felt Silly about being ready to laugh at it. I really want you to read this book. Read the book. Read the author's note. This is absolutely based on a true story. It is based in reality. Very, very much enjoyed this book.

DL White [00:06:58]:
She did a fantastic job, with it, and my I did get this as an advanced reader copy, and The copy that I got was so badly formatted and I just knew this was gonna be a good book, but I could not read it, so I decided to hold until I could get the audio. And so now that I have read the audio, I will go back to NetGalley and say, just kidding. I am gonna review this book and I'm gonna add my voices to the others lauding this work, it's really quite good. It's historical fiction, It is based on the time it's set post slavery, so at the time when the enslaved on plantations learned that they were free, then a little bit through sharecropping and then, the enslaved go on a journey and end at Happyland. Won't tell you more of the story because I I feel like I'm gonna spoil it or spoil more of it, but definitely snatch this up if you are into historical black fiction. I read The Deceiving Look, I listened to The Deceiving Look by Victor Methos. I really like his work mostly because he's a sort of a I think he wants to be a poor man's John Grisham, but he seems to be Draying further and further from that light, this is part of a series and I didn't read the first 2 books in the series this was very Meandering, like, the story was good, but it also felt like every chapter was a whole was a completely different book, And then, like, toward the end of the chapter, you see, like, what this chapter had to do with the overall story. It was alright.

DL White [00:08:34]:
It was it was alright. It was a it was a good read Looking back, but while I was reading it, there was definitely some frustration, and then I listened to Descent by Alexandra Wood. This something I had on Audible that I downloaded because it is part of the Audible Plus package and it was short and I have regrets. I don't I don't know I don't know what this was about because it's one of those full productionable originals where it's just like Like you hear hear footsteps and doors opening and dialogue, but there's no there's no exposition, there's no Supporting words? It's like listening to a movie and I don't like that. I'm not a movie person. I want to listen to a story Read aloud. Like, I don't even need extra sounds. I don't I don't need sound effects.

DL White [00:09:24]:
Like, when I read something for the podcast, I put a little music bed under it and a couple of sound effects just to be fun, but I don't I don't need that for reading. I want to listen to an audiobook and not an audio production of a book. Like I don't I don't want to listen to a movie I want to listen to a book, and there's a difference. So was not not not good for me. Thankfully, it was only an hour long. I did make it through. I I have regrets I have regrets, but I'm I'm on track with my reading challenge and that's what matters. This week, I've got 4 books on my- is it 4 or 5? 1, 2, 3.

DL White [00:10:06]:
I got 5 books on my am reading list, but this is pretty much what I'm gonna be reading through February. Whether I make it through all these or not, nobody knows. I'm gonna be reading The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson, narrated by Robin Miles, who is my other audio bae, right beside Bonnie Turpin. I love, love, love them both. I'm really excited about this. I'm doing another buddy read. Last week, we read the our bookstagram fam. I just love these people, and I hope they're listening, but I love love all of you.

DL White [00:10:39]:
You're the best. You definitely make reading a book so much more fun. Last month, we read King by Jonathan Ige. It was such an excellent read. This month, we're reading The Warmth of Other Suns. I'm really looking forward to reading it and being in the group chat and getting all the Backup and additional information. I'm so excited about it. We're gonna be reading that in February and early March.

DL White [00:11:02]:
Now y'all know me. I cannot, Like I can't piecemeal a book out to save my life once I start I can't stop so I'm probably gonna finish way before everybody else but I like to be in on the conversation so I'm a be up in there. I have Where Butterflies Wander by Suzanne Redfern as an advanced Vance reader copy that pub's, February 6th so I need to get that read this weekend. I love Suzanne Redfern Like her last couple books haven't really hit me good so I'm hoping this book hits me where her 1st book hit. I think it was called Hush Little Baby. So so good. Really, really good. So glad I got an advanced reader copy of this and I'm gonna give it a chance.

DL White [00:11:44]:
Love and Hot Chicken Pubs, February 20th, I saw this on somebody's blog and I thought it looked cute. I'm gonna read it. The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin, pubs, February 27th, I've got, an advanced reader copy of that, And then The Rumor Game by Thomas Mullen also pubs February 27th so I need to start both of those early so I can get both of those in Before they published, Thomas Mullen is one of my favorite Atlanta authors. He wrote Dark Town. I always recommend it is the Fictional story of the 1st black police officers on the Atlanta police force. Really, really good book. And then the follow-up is lightning men, and there's a 3rd book in that Series that I can't remember the name of it, and I'm not gonna look it up, but I'll try to get it into the show notes. Love me some Thomas Mullen.

DL White [00:12:36]:
So the Rember game comes on February 27th, excited about that. This week, I put down Small Town Sins by Ken Jaw Jaworowski, Jaworowski. Yeah. J a w o r o w s k I. It was a lot. It was a lot, and I was very stressed out by The stories in it, it's basically the story of 3 people in this really small, poor, rundown Pennsylvania town. The stories don't intersect at all. It's just like you bounce from 1 character to the other telling their story, and, like, every story is Amazingly depressing.

DL White [00:13:17]:
Sad, dramatic, angsty, depressing Things happening, and I it just it just got to a point where, like, I don't see any way out for any of these people. Like, it's just going down, Down down. Unbelievable things just keep happening to people, and I I lost I lost hope. I put it down. I just could not force myself to pick this book back up. So somebody tell me what happened to Cali At the end of this book, if you read it, let me know what happened to Cali. She's the only character I cared about, but so many unbelievably dumb things were happening to her and she made such incredibly terrible choices. I I just could not.

DL White [00:14:01]:
That was a book report. I hope you enjoyed that. I got a lot of reading on my plate, and so I'm gonna be reading. The other thing I'm gonna be doing is writing. I'm still prepping. No. I have not yet Started writing. This week has been like, January was so much so much, but my manager is gonna be out of town this week, and then she's gonna Out of town, basically, the last 2 weeks of February and the 1st week of March, so we are gonna have a lot of extra time.

DL White [00:14:31]:
So hopefully I'll be able to devote a little bit more time to digging into the pearl and getting some lift off. So that's kinda where I am. I I really haven't looked at what I pulled into DABL. I have been thinking about it a lot, so there's that. I have been thinking. You know, thinking thinking is a good a good piece of of writing. You know what I'm saying? I gotta think I gotta think about it. I am I'm very excited about it.

DL White [00:14:56]:
Really, every time Think about bringing this story to you. I am very excited about writing it and so let's just hope that excitement really, really rides out during the writing part, so I do have some of this written already. And so it's not like I'm starting from scratch, but I do need to fold in More characters and, kind of get, you know, get to the point a little bit quicker than I had when I first started writing this book, so Wish me luck. So jumping in here with a little section that I had, previously and I just bring this back when I have a really good question that people want me to answer called QTNA, questions that need answers from anonymous. I know you know you're a great writer, But have you ever had moments where you feel like your work isn't appreciated or recognized to the to the degree you would like? If so, how do you deal with that? And let me just Say, yes. All day every day. All day every day. And It's a thing where, like, I don't even think it is impostor syndrome because it is not that I think my writing sucks.

DL White [00:16:05]:
It is not that I don't think I can do it. It is more that I don't think anybody wants it, and so I am reluctant to bring my words to the page for people who aren't looking for it, for readers who aren't looking for that, and It's something that I bring up with my friends. It's something that I bring up with my writing group all the time, and I really still keep coming back to those people People aren't your readers. That is what, you know, I know Delaney Diamond is so tired of telling me the The people that you worry that you're not reaching with your work aren't your readers. Those aren't the people that buy your books. Why are you worried about them? I feel like I like my writing. Nothing leaves my computer until I am in love with it. Whatever happens to it After it hits my beta, after it hits my editor, after it is out in the world is a whole different thing than what sits in my computer and I am personally in love with.

DL White [00:17:07]:
After it's published, it belongs to the world and, you know, what whatever Mode or or or or method or shape I put into it to put it out in the world is a completely different situation than what is sitting in my computer. Now, it just so happens that the books that I have published, I absolutely love I love my work, like, I read me like I am my favorite author. I feel like Writers, especially when they get to this point where you're quite a bit in, you know your voice, you know what you're doing. You're really strong in, like, what you need to put into a book and what makes a book good to you. You have got to get a little bit delusional about You and your work. I am a little bit delusional about my work. I think my work is really good, and I want everyone to love it the way that I love it, and what keeps me from what keeps me up at night is feeling like other people don't See the value. Other readers don't see the worth because it's not like X and So's book, it's not like Author A, B, or C's work, it's not as sex filled as so and so's work, it's not as deep and dramatic as so and so's work.

DL White [00:18:30]:
It's not as delicious as so and so's work. I am always I'm in a constant game of looking at my work looking at other people's work and trying to figure out why they like that more than they like mine because mine is good. You know? So I do It's not that I don't feel like I am not a great writer and I know this person and I know that they know they are also a great writer, But making the impact and pushing my books to a place where the people that want it can see it and grab it and read it and appreciate it, You know, when Elysium came out, I was quite disappointed in the reception because I felt like I put my foot in that book. That is a really, really good book, and it is it's a decadent and it is it's quirky, it's funny, it's warm, it's sexy, it's It's it's modern and I just feel like it wasn't appreciated, and that really put me down in the dumps. And to be honest, Not writing ever again was an option. It really really was, and I had to get back to a point where I write because I like Writing. I bring stories to the forefront, to the page, and Put a good cover on them and slave over a blurb and annoy my editor and put these books on sale because I feel like there's an audience for them. I feel like there are people out there that love the work, that see the work, that feel seen and appreciated, and like there's a warm fuzzy feeling when they open a book by D.

DL White [00:20:09]:
L. White and that is why I keep going. So what I do in this situation is I keep going, because I also know that like me, The words sit in my head, and the people in my head don't shut up until I write the story down. Now, once I write the story down, I can choose not to publish it, but then I get to the point where I'm like, This is really good, and I feel like other people would like to read this, And then I I can't not publish it. I have some stuff that is just sitting in the files that's just languishing there that I just felt It's not it's not I mean, I like it, but it's not something that I feel like people are yearning to read. There's Other stuff that I write now I'm like, oh my god, I can't wait for other people to read this and this is something I was talking with my dad Earlier this week, it was his birthday, happy birthday, daddy, so he was asking me and this is the first time we have ever had this kind of conversation, He was talking to me. He's, like, how do you, like, like, how do you even, like, get, like, what what what motivates you? What pushes you To write books. How do you get to a point where you have written a book and you just, you you need to publish it? And I said it kinda calls to me.

DL White [00:21:25]:
My dad is a hunter and a fisherman and he talks often about like he'll just wake up and just feel like he needs to be out on the lake, he needs to get in the boat and go Fishing, he needs to go to the river and he needs to hear the water lapping against the shore and he needs to put his rod in in the water and he needs To do all his machinations and all the things that make the fish come to him, it's just like you feel that the words call me that way. If you wake up at 3 am and you're like, man, I really need to go to the Snake River and go fishing, that's how I feel about writing. And he got it. He's like, yeah, yeah, I get that, I understand that, I understand that. I just, sometimes I just wake up and I just, I just need to be out on that lake and I said, that's me. Sometimes I wake up and I need to be in that chair. I need to be in dabble writer. I need to be putting these words out on paper because just like those fish Or swimming around in your mind, the fish you could catch and, you know, the ways that you could, you know, bring that fish up into the boat, The ways I could bring that story to life in my head don't shut up until I satisfy that urge.

DL White [00:22:37]:
Short story, very, very long. I just keep going because that feeling is gonna pass. That disappointment or That that feeling is gonna pass if you remember why you write, if you remember why you bring these words to your page, And I was saying that I was very disappointed in the reception to Elysium, but me and 121 people really liked that book. Me and 121 people have that book in our minds, in our hearts, in our souls, and those 121 people Are the people that I was targeting, are the people that I was writing to, are the people that love that book, are the people that I publish for. And, eventually, it'll be 121,000. I have to be a delusional person To believe that I have to be that delusional about it, that eventually it'll be 121,000 people That see themselves in that book, that love that story, that feel relatable, that maybe wanna be Vance, maybe wanna be Athena, maybe wanna meet somebody online and Have it turn into a torrid love affair on an island. Now I really want to read that book again. Do you have a topic think you would like me to cover on the Bookcast.

DL White [00:23:53]:
You have a question that you would like me to ramble about endlessly for 10 or 15 minutes, Shout me out a holler. I am always on Instagram or Twitter. You can visit the show notes of this episode or visit me at booksbydielwhite.com/bookcast. Email me if you don't know my email address, reach out to me. I am happy to ramble endlessly about something on this podcast, so Shot me out. Alright. Let is us let let is us I'm not cutting that out. Let's move on for our topic For the week, how I write part 1.

DL White [00:24:29]:
In the beginning, let's talk about what the experts, AKA other authors, say about an effective novel beginning. I'm pulling this from masterclass.com. I just typed, what about chapter 1? And here's what it says: Great novels nearly always have an opening chapter that captures the reader's interest. The 1st chapter should engage readers, introduce your protagonist, and provide a window into the world of your story. So basically what you want to do with chapter 1 is establish the tone, Determine your point of view. Make sure your protagonist has a clear goal and you do that with a gripping first paragraph. An introduction To your main character, an introduction to the antagonist, a vivid setting, and an inciting incident. So if you write romance like me, you need to have in your mind that moment, that world changing or life changing moment in time and in place.

DL White [00:25:25]:
This is your driver. It's where your Story begins, it pushes your story and it's the element that your story is about, it's kinda your backbone. Readers will dump your book if your inciting incident is not interesting. If your inciting incident is something that's commonplace and- and like, I feel like people want stories to be relatable, but not ordinary, Not unremarkable. You know what I'm saying? So essentially your goal is going to be to put the reader into the world you have created or want to create and this involves determining who do we who your reader or your audience is for this book, Your location, your setting, your time period. Posing a question the reader wants to get an answer for, from me it's always who are these people, Why does anyone care about them? What do they want? And why can't they have it? That's the whole basis for my first 2 to 3 chapters. I typically like, I like a dual point of view. Occasionally, I will write a single point of view like a thin line is a single point of view book because I felt like point of view like a thin line is a single point of view book because I felt like having Preston giving Preston a voice in that book is Telling too much of his side of the story, you needed to experience that book from Angie's point of view, And we together with her are figuring out what his motivation is, why is he the way he is, what is happening, and then Together, we watch Angie and Preston reignite the love that they once had for each other.

DL White [00:26:55]:
In my other romances, it's dual point of view because you You meet Gibson and then you meet Vanessa and you figure out what each of them wants and why they can't have this. What does Gibson want? He wants to be a really effective lawyer for his community. Why can't he have that? Because his mama wants him to be this Fancy high powered divorce attorney that charges a lot of money. He wants to work with the community, with people that maybe can't afford a good lawyer but need 1. What does Vanessa want? Ciao, she just want a divorce and she wants to raise her kids and she wants to be happy And she can't have that because Warren doesn't wanna let her go. All she wants is to be free and to have support for her children, And so bringing those 2 storylines together, having Gibson happen to meet Vanessa, and Vanessa saying, I need a divorce and I can't get one, and having an offer to help set her free sets me up for the rest of the story. I've introduced my main characters And typically I like for my characters to meet in the 1st few chapters. We establish life as we know it for each character before we introduce our conflict, Our inciting incident because everything past that is gonna be what's gonna change and become the tale that you're weaving.

DL White [00:28:11]:
I need to set the mood. Is this a comedy? Well, it can't start all dark and sad. Right? Is this an angst ridden drama? Well, then it can't start with your characters being cute with rom com Elements. Know what you're writing. Set that out from the beginning. And maybe you don't know right away. Maybe you're just throwing spaghetti at the wall. Maybe you're just Throwing some words on the page so you can have an ugly first draft and then you can fix it in editing.

DL White [00:28:36]:
Maybe your betas say they're thrown off by how your novel starts. Fine. That is what editing and refinement is for. Draft 0 is for throwing all the stuff on the page, Did you step back and take a look at what you've got? And then you gotta wade through that mud and figure out where you're going Before you can move on to your next step, don't write a whole book full of crap. Start with crap in your 1st section of your book and figure out where you're going so that you can go forward. You're gonna kick start your plot development, which is your inciting incident. For me, the inciting incident in dinner at Sam's was I guess the inciting incident with dinner at Sam's was a, Gibson having a fight with his mother about the clients that he takes on and then Gibson meeting Vanessa who is the opposite of a client that his mother want would want him to take, but him kind of being so taken by her and knowing that his mother had rejected her case and taking her on and then Gibson decides that he is going to help her out. That is where my story begins.

DL White [00:29:41]:
That's my inciting incident. It's also my meet cute, but it's my inciting incident. So I personally start chapter 1. That process really begins for me long before I put pen to page. I have mapped out My characters, I have built my Pinterest board, I have board is what they call them is what I figured out long after I recorded Last week, I could not remember the name Boras, like, profile, topic, Pinterest folder board is what they call it. So I've got my Pinterest board, I've got my inspiration, I know my characters inside and out, what they drive, where they live, what they eat, their favorite scent, their favorite color, what they do as their hobby, how they talk, how they, you know, look, what they find funny, what do they watch on TV at night, their whole, Like Family Outline, I know these people before I even put pen to page. That's why it takes me so long to write a book because I need to know them before I start writing them. And then as I write them, more things might come to light.

DL White [00:30:46]:
I might realize that my character is a diabetic, like, 3 fourths of the way through the book. And now I gotta go all the way back kinda to the beginning And like, look for these little clues that I'm dropping before he reveals in chapter 19 that, I'm a diabetic. None of my characters are diabetic. I'm just, It's just an example. You know, you learn things as you write, but you should know how like a basic structure before you start. I mean, that's me talking to myself. Maybe some people just sit down in front of a blank document and then just shoot out 20,000 words and be like, yeah, that sounds good, and then continue to write 67,000 more words, that is not me. That ain't the type of writer that I am.

DL White [00:31:27]:
I gotta know it. I gotta spend some time in it. I gotta marinate in it. I gotta let it sink in before I even put pen to page. And for me, When I start writing, I already know what chapter 1 is gonna look like. I already know what chapter 1 is gonna sound like. I already know How it's gonna open, because for me, myself personally, it unfolds like a movie in my head, And my job is to give words, exposition, dialogue, Adverbs, action to that movie in my head, and to try to reproduce what I'm seeing in my mind. I don't always do it well, but I do my best and I'm pretty happy with what I have been able to put out so far.

DL White [00:32:17]:
Whether other people agree, as we've said earlier, is a whole different subject, but the people that get it the girls that get it get it. You know what I'm saying? That's part 1 in the beginning. We'll talk next about act 1 and determine if we are already stuck Because I am good for a good like 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 chapters and I'm like, well now what? So, let's go through it together. So that brings us to the end of today's episode! What a fun one! Thank you so much for joining me for today's chat. Do not forget follow me on the socials I am author d l y in most places Twitter, Instagram, Blue Sky, TikTok, YouTube and shout me out a holler Brownie points if you count how many times I say that. Don't forget to share the podcast if you enjoyed this episode, and if you listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, give a girl a rating. I'd really appreciate it. Do not forget that you can support this podcast with your book purchases by spreading the good word or by throwing some coins in the hat at book cast dot buzzsprout.com.

DL White [00:33:19]:
Every little bit helps. I will be back next week with a reading and a writing update. We'll talk about making your way through act 1. Please enjoy this weekend. Have a superlative week, and we'll chat again soon. Thank you. Bye