Bookcast 100: Issa CELEBRATION!

Welcome to a milestone episode! In this special 100th installment, I'm taking a moment to celebrate how far we've come while sharing my latest reading and writing updates. From my humble beginnings recording in my closet to now having published multiple novels, it's been a trip.  
I talk about my #GLOCKtober reads, my plans for #NonficNovember plan, and reflect on 100 episodes of growth. Plus I'm sharing that's in the MAYBE pile of upcoming projects. Plus, I'll give you a sneak peek at what's brewing for my 10th anniversary as a published author.

Find full show notes including the books I read/ plan to read and the upcoming works and appearances at booksbydlwhite.com/bookcast/100 or my substack at authordlwhite.substack.com.

 

Transcript

Well, hello there and welcome back to the book cast my platform for sharing short fiction and updates on life as a self published author of romantic fiction that centers black.

00:00:30 DL White

Love.

00:00:31 DL White

I'm Dale White, an Atlanta based author of 14 novels, numerous short stories, and fan fiction works. But I'm a reader first, so.

00:00:39 DL White

We usually begin with the.

00:00:40 DL White

Book.

00:00:41 DL White

Report and then we talk about writing and topics of the day. This is episode 100, and apologies for the late upload this week. I absolutely forgot to plan and record a podcast episode, so I pulled together some quick and dirty details that I wanted to share for episode 100.

00:00:59 DL White

We'll talk about by October, reads what I'm looking forward to reading in November. What I'm writing right now and what I might get into.

00:01:07 DL White

Next uh hint. I have no idea, but I do have some ideas that are always tumbling around in my head like a clothes dryer. We'll see if I get next to them and we'll see if I get to them in the next year. But I am already, you know, looking into 2025 and it's November, it's fourth quarter.

00:01:25 DL White

It's election week.

00:01:28 DL White

It's daylight saving.

00:01:30 DL White

But everything's fine. Everything's fine. Today is Monday, November 4th. I want to get this out before we get into a new Super Tuesday shenanigans. Let's celebrate while we're in a good mood. It is 12:33 PM. Actually, I'm using my lunch hour to talk to you guys. It's gloomy in Atlanta. I, but I have a mic and I'm ready to dig in. So.

00:01:50 DL White

We'll be right back.

00:02:28 DL White

Alrighty.

00:02:31 DL White

Welcome back. We begin, as always with the book report.

00:02:37 DL White

I read 19 books in October and I'm a nurse and seven, three books have no challenge to read 200 books in 2024 that ended to 86.5% of the full 420245.

00:02:56 DL White

Beginning like this state or something like that so.

00:03:04 DL White

I choose new laptops.

00:03:10 DL White

19 books in October, 10 of those were.

00:03:22 DL White

We're actually.

00:03:27 DL White

Sit for Wellness and two words.

00:03:32 DL White

List with all 19 in my bed. I'm.

00:03:34 DL White

Not through the list, but.

00:03:40 DL White

I had. I had a pretty good run in October, I would say blocks over wasn't like.

00:03:47 DL White

It wasn't a knockout month. It wasn't terrible, but it was probably. It's like, wow, one romance novel like in the mail, third nail romance author Walker so.

00:03:52 DL White

So awesome I did.

00:04:02 DL White

I did get.

00:04:02 DL White

That, and I always want to check in and so when I saw that.

00:04:10 DL White

In October.

00:04:11

Was there?

00:04:15 DL White

So.

00:04:16 DL White

That's the new thing, the professor write it on your thing, so that in November I'm really compelling. But I do also have the usual fillers and.

00:04:36 DL White

Because I can't go a whole month without notice and kissing. But I do want to throw in some nonfiction reads in there for nonfiction November. I'm currently reading the quiet damage Q Anon and the destruction of the American family by just.

00:04:48 DL White

And cook and that focuses on five families affected by the conspiracy theories and their societal impact. And then I'm reading made off the final word by Richard Behar. Behar and that explosive Bernie Madoff financial scandal. Both books seem to focus on different types of social damage. One examining the personal.

00:05:09 DL White

Family impact of conspiracy theories, which I'm deeply into.

00:05:13 DL White

Due and the other looks at financial fraud and its consequences, they're both super timely choices for understanding modern American history and current events. Plus, they're a little bit dramatic and intriguing as far as not fiction goes, overlapping themes. I didn't come up with any of these myself. It's a gathering of random stuff.

00:05:33 DL White

On the Internet, trust and deception, family breakdown, mass delusion and denial vulnerabilities in society. Physiological psychological manipulation.

00:05:47 DL White

Aftermath and recovery of devastation and of course, red flags for the future. I'm all up in it. If I read nonfiction at all, it's usually along this vein. I'm excited to get into November for the rest of the month, I curated a great list of about 20 books to choose from. Of course, among the thrillers and romance which are always on for me, I'm going to include.

00:06:07 DL White

My list of October reads and my curated list of nonfiction reads in my show notes. Feel free to look those up on my sub stack. It's author deal white.substack.com click on podcast. It'll be there in my show notes also on my website at books by dlwhite.com/podcast.

00:06:25 DL White

I'm sorry. Books by John white.com/book cast Slash 100 that those lists will be there. I got a good, good list, a few themes or groupings, strong focus on investigation and justice, cold cases, some contemporary investigations, some historical inquiries.

00:06:45 DL White

I have societal impact stories that Q Anon political lies, financial corporate crime, racial justice, personal narratives like memoir, investigative journalism. So I have, I think, some exciting stuff coming up.

00:07:03 DL White

So we'll see how it goes. And of course I will report as I am writing or not writing, but reading them and listening to them so far, the QN book is pretty good. It just it makes me sad. I just I find the stories where families are being torn apart by this kind of thing to be.

00:07:22 DL White

Remarkably sad, so I'm I'm I'm digging it and I can't wait to get to the Madoff book because I am obsessed with Bernie Madoff.

00:07:33 DL White

Just truly obsessed. So moving on to the writing and publishing updates. This is episode 100. I have evolved this podcast from reading my own work. My own books allowed in my closet as practice for reading the NEVER list aloud for the podcast to sharing.

00:07:52 DL White

The full journey of being an indie author episodes one through 12 are unexpected. Second time around. I think the Kwanzaa brunch comes in there and then I read some of the samples from the NEVER list. Those were all really just practice to get me.

00:08:11 DL White

Used to being in front of the microphone and it basically has transformed from reading some of my work because I had time. This was heavy heavily during the beginning of the pandemic. I had time and I needed to stop watching the news, so it definitely transformed the into.

00:08:31 DL White

Behind the scenes of an author life, I found my voice here between structured content and casual chats.

00:08:40 DL White

This.

00:08:42 DL White

Podcast the book cast quote UN quote has really lived up to its meaning. I talk a lot about books. I talk a lot about writing. I talk a lot about what the writing means to me, and I've celebrated a lot here on this podcast I have read. I think I have written, I think 6 books on this podcast. Four to six books. I recorded the neverless samples.

00:09:02 DL White

Episodes 12 to 15.

00:09:04 DL White

My how I write series which is episode 74 through 77. I talked about you know, my experiences at Essence Fest Episode 37 and episode 90. I have talked about my writing retreats, specifically episode 79. I have talked about my writing journey.

00:09:24 DL White

Episode 45 is I'm so excited because I had made words, which was basically the first book that I wrote after two years of burnout. I want to say that was.

00:09:32 DL White

Your lover. I talk about Burnout episode 30 betas and burnout. I talk about just needing to vent sometimes. I just get on this microphone and I have things I need to say. Episode 57 is just me venting and then episode 84 was me finishing I forget what book it was. I want to say.

00:09:52 DL White

Elysium, perhaps I'm not.

00:09:54 DL White

Sure.

00:09:55 DL White

There's a lot of growth here in this podcast. I have learned to balance my reading updates and my writing journey here.

00:10:02 DL White

I really fell into a good rhythm with talking about my the the the reading challenge. Pulling myself through writing challenges, whether it's nano, Rambo, which I'm never doing again, or 20K and five days getting comfortable with scripted versus unscripted content.

00:10:22 DL White

Intent building confidence and sharing the messier parts of my author life and really just trying to be real and authentic here. If there are aspiring authors or new authors, I want them to know what it's really like being behind this mic. Writing 15 novels and really trying to push myself really towards 20 because 20 is like my first big goal.

00:10:44 DL White

So I'm like, honestly, four books.

00:10:47 DL White

If we're talking real talk, three to four books away from hitting my goal of 20 published books. Most of all, I have been connecting with listeners about the shared experience of being an author here on this podcast. I've shared the reality I've shared the balance, I've shared my marketing challenges, and my victories with paid ads.

00:11:07 DL White

With with what do they call them? Newsletter ads like the fussy librarian e-reader news today, even book club ads.

00:11:17 DL White

I have kept it real about all of that, how much it costs me, how much I profited when I stopped doing ads because I was spending more than I was making. I'm currently making, and I've talked a lot about the lessons that I have learned. Specifically some of my unplanned episodes are the best ones. How being authentic resonates more than being polished.

00:11:38 DL White

The value of documenting our journey here, like being able to go back and, like, listen to how I was struggling reading or writing. Hey lover or writing the Never list which was the first full book that I wrote here on the podcast with you all.

00:11:53 DL White

And how podcasting has influenced my writing process. When I'm writing, am I thinking about how am I going to share this with my audience? What do I need to remember as I'm writing and what I've learned about my readers and my listeners here? I have a lot of writers that listen to this podcast, and I have some of my, like, die Hard readers.

00:12:13 DL White

That that also listen to this podcast. So it's been a journey of 100 episodes.

00:12:19 DL White

Looking forward, I don't so much have goals for this podcast. I don't know.

00:12:24 DL White

That content is going to evolve.

00:12:27 DL White

I don't know like new segments like I feel like I just revamped the podcast a little bit so I can have like a little bit of stability going forward. So I know where I'm going and how I'm going to get there. I need a routine and I don't want to upend that routine every month, every six months, every eight months, every hundred episodes. I just need a steady routine.

00:12:48 DL White

To be able to push me forward and to settle into, I do want to grow my podcast community and I don't know really how to.

00:12:56 DL White

How to manage that? Because I feel like I'm. I'm spread among a couple I like. I I I put the podcast on my website at book cast. I also have it on sub stack because there's an audience there that doesn't know me, has never heard of me. They don't follow me anywhere else like sub stack. Is it I have a community on.

00:13:16 DL White

My Instagram. I'm not so much on Twitter, but like it's just shenanigans over there.

00:13:23 DL White

I do want like 1 central place to like cultivate and grow my community. I did try to buy me a coffee. I did. I did for a very short period of time, had an author group it just it was it wasn't giving, it wasn't giving. It was one more thing to update. One more thing to keep up on. And I also did not have.

00:13:43 DL White

The following that I thought I needed to sustain that group I was paying to keep it open. There were like maybe 30 people in there and there were people I didn't know, so.

00:13:56 DL White

I have maintained the past couple of years that I'm just not the type of author to have a group, but that doesn't mean that I don't have a community so.

00:14:06 DL White

I think maybe in 2025, I just think about a way to cultivate the Community that I have here at the book cast and find one central place to keep all that stuff.

00:14:17 DL White

I had a list here like to touch on some personal points like favorite episodes to record moments. That surprised me how the podcast has affected my writing journey. I just don't. I don't have that top of mind. But as those come out in the next three episodes, I will be sure to highlight them. But most of all, I want to thank the listeners. I want to thank the people that always comment.

00:14:37 DL White

Robert justice. OK, the reader. There's one other person that always comments on YouTube, but the name totally escapes me. Jason Graham will always send me a message. Jessica will always comment.

00:14:51 DL White

On on Instagram, when she listens to the podcast, My editor, Kai, will also send me a note, especially when I'm about to announce a brand new book on the podcast that I haven't told.

00:15:02 DL White

Her about so?

00:15:04 DL White

This platform is super important to me. It really has become like a place for me to vent and to download and to share.

00:15:13 DL White

What it means to me to be an independent author?

00:15:16 DL White

How I am making that happen? How I am bringing my words and my work to the masses and how I can work to do that better as I'm looking at other authors and seeing what they're doing and evaluating if that could work for me, I'm.

00:15:36 DL White

Vocalizing that on the podcast and bringing that to my audience, and hopefully it gives people an idea of.

00:15:46 DL White

What if what I'm doing could work for them, so hopefully the next 100 episodes will be just as exciting as the first 100 have been. I don't have any special plans or changes coming up, but guaranteed if something's not working, I I'm going to change it. I have written, I believe, six books on this podcast from 2020 to present.

00:16:07 DL White

A note I released the guy next door in audio in March of 2020. That was a very busy year for me. I also released a second edition, second edition of within line in March of two.

00:16:16 DL White

20I released the NEVER list in September of 2020. Hey lover, December 31, 2022, I had two years I went two years without publishing a book. I wrote Elysium in August of 2023, home for the holidays in December of 2023, I wrote the Pearl at Black Diamond in June of 2024.

00:16:37 DL White

And then calculated risk I am writing and releasing in 2024 and then.

00:16:43 DL White

I am reading or writing. I'm trying to write a little holiday short. Calculated risk is off to the editor, so I'm writing the festival at Evergreen Falls. That's my working.

00:16:57 DL White

That's my working title as a distraction and something that kind of keep me busy and out of calculated risk, and I'm aiming for it to be short like 8 to 10 chapters. We'll see how it goes. It's coming out super cute, a little bit like a lifetime or hallmark movie, like kind of funny, fun, quirky, warm, sappy, full of holiday goodness. Hope I can finish it.

00:17:18 DL White

But I am absolutely panting this novel. So we'll we'll see where we end up, so.

00:17:25 DL White

Looking forward it to 2025, I know I mentioned on a previous episode it will be my 10th year anniversary as a published author and going into that with 15 books written feels good, feels really, really good. I have a couple of series books that I've been tossing around. 2 books I wanted to add to the Ruby series is drinks at Minx, which is a true follow up to.

00:17:46 DL White

Rubies. I've had that. It's been 10 years since I wrote brunch at rubies, so I don't know if more rubies books are coming. Specifically. More books that follow up on these. Those 3 ladies.

00:17:57 DL White

But it's on the list and then missing persons. Uh features Yvette, who is The Who is the private investigator from dinner at Sam's.

00:18:08 DL White

I've had a book brewing for her. She's a private investigator and I wanted it to be like my foray into romantic suspense. We'll see if I can get that written. I already know Robert is going to e-mail me about it and encourage me to write it because he wants me to be on crime riders of color. We'll see. We'll see. It's.

00:18:28 DL White

It's been.

00:18:30 DL White

I have a few chapters written and then I got stuck. We'll see. I I have said that before a couple of Potter lake ads. Still I rise, which is Renda Bell and her.

00:18:44 DL White

Linda Bell is the daughter of Helen, who we met in. She's been in every Potter Lake book, actually.

00:18:51 DL White

Think and then her hero. I think his name is Kingston. I don't know. I don't know if.

00:18:59 DL White

That's coming, but.

00:19:00 DL White

It's it's, it works. I did start something with Tamara and Eric, but I don't quite know what's going to happen. And I also had a question mark on a historical based in Potter Lake.

00:19:11 DL White

Which would feature Earlene and Grandy. I feel like I'm going to have to be in the mood to write that I'm not a historical fiction writer. I would have to be deep, deep into reading my historical fiction, like dig into my My Beverly Jenkins and my doctor, Vanessa Riley and my Piper hugley.

00:19:32 DL White

I don't know if that's gonna happen, but it's on the list and then I I was going to do an extended epilogue for the never list, which I started, and I just could not. I just couldn't get it to I couldn't get it to work, but we'll see. And then home for the holidays. Maybe. I had. I had an epilogue planned for that book, but an epilogue for a short might just be too much work. So.

00:19:52 DL White

I am thinking about incorporating it into.

00:19:58 DL White

Still, I rise, which would give us an update on read and Sabrina.

00:20:04 DL White

I don't know. I have too much going on and sometimes the.

00:20:10 DL White

Sometimes the series really wear me out and I want to write new characters, new people, because that gives me juice. You know, I'm saying then when I'm tired of new people, I run back to the series because those are comfortable. Like, I need a summer book to start in January, like in my going to my to do a Potter like book in the summer. So like.

00:20:30 DL White

I've got to start writing that in January or February if it's going to be out in June, July or August.

00:20:35 DL White

I got out the side here pretty soon. New characters I'm thinking of I have had. I've said before I've had this sisters trilogy in my mind, the Berkeley sisters, Frankie Franzel, Rocky Raquel and Charlie Sherrell. In my mind, they're three black women who were adopted when they were children.

00:20:56 DL White

By a white couple each book, it will feature one of the sisters with book one gives the sisters an inheritance from their grandparents which will give them the freedom to make things happen in their lives. And then there's an overarching theme across the books of the girls searching for their birth family.

00:21:12 DL White

I started book one. I hit a wall.

00:21:18 DL White

And then then I didn't know what to do with it, so I would like to dig into that and like dig it out and like really put some effort into getting it going right that during all of 2025 and then make me release those in 2026, I don't know.

00:21:35 DL White

I'm not very motivated by writing a three book series and then releasing the not releasing them all at once, but having them written and ready to go. But.

00:21:45 DL White

I don't know. I'm 50 now. I'm slowing down so I could maybe get myself to do that. And then I had an idea for a Christmas past, which was a a previous fan fiction, which is a holiday book about two people who run into each other so many years after they met for the first time. He doesn't remember her, but she remembers him.

00:22:05 DL White

UM.

00:22:06 DL White

So.

00:22:08 DL White

That's pretty much it. Like as far as ideas for upcoming, but like, that's more than enough, more than enough, because as I read and as I'm writing and as I listen to music and watch movies, I get ideas. And you know, I might write those down and jot them out, sketch them out, see if they have any oomph, if they have any.

00:22:28 DL White

Staying power. If they give me any kind of energy and then.

00:22:33 DL White

I don't know. We'll try to make something happen. There's definitely more books coming because I got to get to 20. You know, I'm saying.

00:22:40 DL White

Super quick. My last point appearances I will be at the Snellville Book Festival in November, November 9th, 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Look up the Snell book Snellville Book Festival. I know they have an Instagram account and they have a Facebook account and you can search them up on the web.

00:22:59 DL White

I don't have the address handy, but I'll put it in the show notes, bring book money, bring your debit card. I will be there. Come and buy books if you are local or just come look around, it's going to be like 100 authors there. Super very, very, very super excited about it. I did. I bought my little bottle like a table runner for my book and I have my signs.

00:23:18 DL White

I printed. I gotta. I don't know where my little credit card thing is, so I have to figure that out. I'm going to be right. Well, reading like a little 5 minute piece. I got to decide what I'm reading and.

00:23:31 DL White

No clue.

00:23:33 DL White

I don't know why did I volunteer for that? I don't know.

00:23:36 DL White

So that was a lot in about 20 minutes. 23 ish minutes. Let's see if I can get out in.

00:23:43 DL White

25 minutes.

00:23:44 DL White

Because I have to edit this and get it up.

00:23:46 DL White

And then I.

00:23:47 DL White

Have a meeting at 3:00.

00:23:48 DL White

So that was a lot. I am hoping the next 100 episodes are as rewarding and life slash career changing.

00:23:55 DL White

As the first 100 had.

00:23:56 DL White

Then I cannot in this podcast, without thanking all of you for being here, for being in my corner, for listening to this episodes, whether you are brand new today or if you have an OG, you have been here since episode 1. I thank you so much. I have loved to sharing this podcast with you and having you here to go off at me while doing this thing over and over and over.

00:24:18 DL White

I welcome any comments or feedback you might have at books by dalewhite.com/broadcast slash 100. I'm also, as I said on sub stack, it's author dalewhite.com author Dale White dot sub stack.

00:24:29 DL White

Com hit podcast. I'll be there. You can also find full show notes, links to all the things I've talked about. You have the relevant and transcript for today's show. You can find all of the important links that books by daylight.com/link in bio. Please share this podcast if you enjoyed this episode. If you listen on Apple Podcast or Spotify, give a girl a rating.

00:24:50 DL White

I would really really, really appreciate it and do not do not forget that you can support this podcast. Your book purchases at paychex.com/books by dear white by spreading the good word by joining my newsletter.

00:25:02 DL White

Or the sub stack at books by diy.com/link and bio you can find links to everything at that link. You can also throw some coins in the hat at broadcast dot bus dot dot com.com.

00:25:14 DL White

I'm rushing because I am trying to get off this microphone before my lunch ends. Thank you so much to my monthly supporters. Your gift covers my current Buzz Sprout subscription and I really, really appreciate the support. Every little bit really.

00:25:29 DL White

Help.

00:25:30 DL White

This podcast is written, produced and edited by me. The all white can you?

00:25:34 DL White

Tell.

00:25:35 DL White

Our theme music and any sound effects are provided by Pixabay. I will be back next week for sure, maybe on time until then, have the best week ever. Take care of yourself and we'll chat again soon.