Bookcast Episode 140: Two Book Fests & a Sale

Today's epi is a quickie before two weekends of travel. Reading update, watching update, promo news, and upcoming events.

Reading Challenge Update

75 of 150 books read for 2026

Recently Read

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, Jeff Hobbs

In Bloom: Liana, C Monet

Currently Reading

The Goodbye Man, Jeffery Deaver

Balls in Your Court, Nina Hai

Spring (Seasons of Love book 3), Norian Love

What I've Been Watching

• Agatha Christie's Miss Marple on Hulu
• Comparing Miss Marple to Elsbeth
• Considering Murder, She Wrote and the original Perry Mason

Writing and Publishing

• Secret project in progress
• Standard of Care is still a new release 
• New Releases for Less promo through BookFunnel on june 16th
• Leslie's Curl and Dye picked up 900+ downloads from the Freebooksy and Fussy Librarian stack
• Make It a Black Diamond Summer sale runs through July 4th: Beach Thing is free, books two and three are 50% off

Upcoming Events

• Black Ink Book Fest, New Orleans (attending, not appearing)
• Wine with Writers the following weekend   (appearing, sold out) 

Transcript

DL White [00:00:14]:
Well hello there book friends, book pals, book baes and book Bros. Welcome back to the Bookcast. My little weekly chat show podcast thing where I share what I'm reading and sometimes what I'm writing and a lot of times what life is like as a self published author of black fiction. This is episode 140 and I am your host, DL White. I'm an Atlanta based author, reader, storyteller, podcaster, sometimes substacker fan girl. You know, that's me. I contain multitudes. If you like this podcast or the very idea of such a podcast, I encourage you to support me by buying the book.

DL White [00:01:04]:
You can find those@booksbydlwhite.com shop. You'll also find print editions on my bookshop.org shelf. So you're supporting indie bookstores and me at the same time. And I don't know if you've heard, but that is my very favorite thing. Today's Sunday, June 14, 2026 and this is going to be a real quick one. Like quick and dirty. Shoot, shoot, bang, bang. I'm heading out soon this week so I will not be doing a podcast next week or the week after.

DL White [00:01:34]:
We'll talk about that in the podcast, but I just want to get it in the episode for this week. So I'm not terribly behind when I come back. So let's just go ahead and get into it. But first let's have a little bit of a beverage break. Okay friends, welcome back. Let's begin with the book report, as always, because if I'm going to do anything, I'm going to do what? Read a book. I am at 75 of 150 books I plan to read in 2026. That means I just hit 50% on my Goodreads goal.

DL White [00:02:30]:
A lot of times. I hit this way earlier in the year, so that tells me I haven't been reading as much as I usually do. And that is bothersome to me and my homegirls, and my homegirls being my Kindles. So I gotta get on my zoom. I should have a much busier, much less busy week this week, so hopefully I should be able to get in some reading. I did get some reading done though. I got two books in. I finished the Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, a brilliant young man who left Newark for the Ivy League by Jeff Hobbs.

DL White [00:03:07]:
I listened to this in audio. It was the longest book about a short life I have ever listened to. You know how the kids say, I'm just here so I don't get fined? I read this because it was a biography and it looked interesting. It was okay. It was okay. There was just a lot about his life, and then he died. Yeah, I see there's a movie about this, and I might want to watch the movie. It sounded a lot more evocative than the book.

DL White [00:03:35]:
It was. It was a book. It could be. I just didn't take enough in as I was reading it because it's nonfiction and the narrator was very monotone, a lot like this. And Robert went to school, and then Robert went to college, and then other things happened. And then Robert's dad died, and then Robert's mom lost her job and moved, and things happened sort of like this, in a monotone fashion. And it was just hard to get really emotionally involved with this book. I would watch a movie.

DL White [00:04:04]:
I would watch a movie. So. So I also read in full Bloo Liana by Simone. I do really enjoy Simone. I actually discovered her a while back. But last year, I read two of the books that she wrote for the Love and Scrubs series. Like, one book she wrote for the Love and Scrubs series and one spin off called Ignite. Enjoyed her writing, and I said, hey, she has a new book out.

DL White [00:04:25]:
Let's pick it up. So I read that, really enjoyed it. I think I gave it four stars. I think I'm gonna give Robert Peace, like, three stars. It was, you know, it was a book. It was. It wasn't terrible. It wasn't the best thing I ever put into my face.

DL White [00:04:38]:
It was a book. So what I'm currently reading now, the Goodbye Man. Coulter Shaw Number Two, by Jeffrey Deaver. Continuing the series, the source material for the show Tracker. Depending on how the Goodbye man goes, I may put the Kulter Shaw read on hold because these are going really slow. I just don't find this interesting. I just don't end up. I'm not gonna drag myself through.

DL White [00:05:06]:
So we're gonna see how the goodbye man goes and then try to call it, put it down, or continue at the end of this book. That's the decision I've made because y' all know I don't drag myself through books unless I really, really, really have to. And then I'm also reading. I'm also reading Balls in youn Court, a Dallas Vipers romance by Nina high. I'm about 60% of the way through this. It's just. It's sweet. It is really.

DL White [00:05:35]:
It's sweet. Like, Nino writes very comforting reads. They're very much comfort reads. They're not fluffy, but they are just Like a warm hug. So this is a very sweet read. I'm very much enjoying it. The sassy 16 year old is completely stealing the book and I'm truly enjoying it. And then I'm gonna jump into a love story in the Seasons of Love series by Norian Love.

DL White [00:06:04]:
I did throw a little bit of a 10 temper tantrum this week earlier on Threads because like the way that some authors don't want to announce that they have books out is it needs to be studied. It just, it just, it needs to be studied. I am just amazed how people be like, I want people to read my books and buy my books, but then they don't talk about their books and I, you know, I'm vain about my work. I want everybody to read my books because I think they're fantastic. Like I would talk about my books 24 7, 365. I have to make myself shut up about my books. So the idea that I could put something out and then not say anything and not send a newsletter or make a social media post or at least like post the link to it in my stories. Like I'm shy anyway.

DL White [00:06:56]:
Norian Love, I mean, maybe I found it before it was meant to be announced, but I had been looking for it and I couldn't find it. And then all of a sudden he was up on his website and there was no link to and there was no launch day. And I listen, if Norian Love puts out a new book, I need the link to it. And also I know Jason Graham is listening to this podcast right now and when he has a new book available, I need it in my hot little hands. Stop playing with me, people. I bite. I'm so serious. Okay, so those are the books I'm going to get into this week and try to have finished.

DL White [00:07:44]:
Very excited. You know, I love, love, love books. What I also love is streaming things on various channels. So on Hulu, I started watching Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. I'm just watching one episode a night, which is exactly the right speed I need to be watching. Ms. Marple is adorable. I have not read the books, I am just watching the show.

DL White [00:08:09]:
But she is just this cute little old gray haired lady who is just sharp as a tack and you can just tell when she has figured out the mystery. Ms. Marple reminds me a lot of Elspeth Tasioni in the show Elsbeth. I want to know if Elsbeth is modeled after Ms. Marple. I'm going to research that because it's very like they're very quirky. Elsbeth is younger, but she is just sharp. Like she sees things.

DL White [00:08:40]:
And then she starts asking questions and you can tell that she has figured it out. But she is going to let the perpetrator or the murderer or the antagonist in the scene kind of dig themselves a hole and make it obvious that here's, here's what happened. So that's, that's who Elsebeth reminds me of. So I'm gonna find out if she is modeled after Ms. Marple. And I say this after only watching three episodes, but I see, I see some parallels. I. I'm sensing patterns, you know what I'm saying? So I'm definitely not reading these in book form.

DL White [00:09:20]:
I sometimes I just take in more when I can see it and hear it. So it's relevant information. Giving. Given my mystery classics penchant from that, I don't know where I'm gonna go. Do I wanna. Do I wanna watch Murder She Wrote? I've literally never seen Murder She Wrote and I did see that the old series. I've not actually been talking out loud at all today, so my tongue is very lazy right now. The old series Perry Mason was airing on some channel.

DL White [00:09:52]:
Do I want to watch Perry Mason? I don't know. I don't know. So we'll see. But I do want to get into some more classics. And if I can do it without actually getting the books and reading them, which is very lazy. I know, but I just, I can ingest it faster and get it into my brain if I can hear it, see it as opposed to just reading it. That would be a great thing. So, all right, moving on.

DL White [00:10:19]:
Writing, publishing. I'm writing a thing I wrote yesterday. I wrote the day before. Just like a few, like a thousand words a day. Just on a fun thing. It's a secret. I am not ready to talk about it. But if you are not on my newsletter, you'll want to get on my newsletter.

DL White [00:10:38]:
It's booksbydlwhite.com newsletter because if I am announcing anything or release seeing anything short and quick and dirty, relatively soon, the link will come first to my newsletter and the news will come first to my newsletter. And where do you think the sneak peek is going to come? That's right, my newsletter. So get on it. Booksbydlwhite.com Newsletter I'm not going to tell you again until I get to the end. So that said, that's really the only thing I've got kind of going on writing wise. But I am still promoting Standard of care because it is still a new release until I say it's not. At least until April. On Tuesday I am running a new New Releases for Less promo from Book Funnel which allows you to just run a promo on a new release so it can be promoed at full price.

DL White [00:11:35]:
I think I said last week this was expensive, so fingers crossed we at least break even. I won't tell you how much it costs, but we are going to have to pray that it breaks even. Can I afford it? Yes, yes, absolutely. But do I want to make my money back in more? Absolutely. So also the promo that I ran recently, the Free Booksy was also stacked with Fussy Librarian. Now that was just a one day promo, but Fussy Librarian also ran it every day, four or five days and that's how I kept seeing people pick up the book for free. It was Leslie's Curl and Die for free. So that's actually been getting a lot of traction.

DL White [00:12:16]:
I have like 9, 900 and some books out yet. But also Beach Thing has been free for like a week. So Beach Thing is free. That's my next thing is the make it a Black Diamond Summer is running through the 4th of July. So beach thing is book one in the black Diamond Romance series and that is free. And then books 2 and 3 are 50% off. So you can get the whole series for like $5 ish. Less than $5 in ebook and that's fantastic.

DL White [00:12:47]:
I did not put the AUD on sale because it is rather inexpensive. If you have a credit you can use it or you can. I think it's like 7 99ish. You can get it on Chirp, you can listen to it on Everand you can borrow it from your library if they don't have it. You can request it, you can get it on Hoopla, you can get it on Spotify. If you have Spotify Premium dial it up on there. You get 15 free hours through Spotify Premium. This audiobook is maybe five hours, four hours and something.

DL White [00:13:23]:
It's fun. It's just a fun little dreamy, beachy black romance. So you want to get your hands on that. Prices should be live at most retail sites, the sale prices. So go get a book and enjoy a steamy, beachy black romance from books by D.L. white. Events coming up. So here's why I am not going to be on the podcast the next two weeks.

DL White [00:13:46]:
Next week, next weekend actually. Friday is Juneteenth and I took it off because we don't get it off but we get five floating holidays A year. So you can use a floating holiday whenever you like for like holidays. We don't get off so you can take it off. So I used one of my floating holidays this year for Juneteenth and I wasn't planning on going anywhere, but then I saw the Black Ink Book festival pop up and two people that I really adore are going to be there. And I have friends in New Orleans. I have two friends in New Orleans. And I said, hey, how would you guys like for me to come to town and just be smiling in your face all weekend? Except for when I'm at this book festival.

DL White [00:14:23]:
And they said, bet come through. And so I am. And so Friday I'm going to New Orleans, spending some time with my good good girlfriends. And then Saturday is the book festival. I am not going to the Friday night event. I'm spending some time with my friends. But Saturday from 11 to 3 is the book festival. There's a series from far over Sean that I.

DL White [00:14:46]:
I wanted to get the Bayou Dreams series in print and I forgot at Black Romance Book Fest. So I'm going to grab those there. I'm going to see what else I need to pick up from New Orleans area authors. And then melanated reader Crystal Forte, pre PhD, if you know what I'm saying, is going to be moderating a panel. And so I'm excited to see Crystal. I'm basically just going to be staring at Crystal all summer because I think she's also going to be at another event that I'm in that hasn't been announced yet that was supposed to be announced last week, but hasn't been. So I have to wait to announce it. But I'm gonna and when I do, you'll know anyhow, so I'm gonna be seeing Crystal there later on in the year.

DL White [00:15:29]:
Anyway, Crystal will be at the Black Ink Book Fest this weekend in New Orleans. Excited to go. I love a book festival, especially when I don't have to set up a table and sell books. But I am gonna set up a table and sell books at Wine with Writers, which is the following weekend. Look at me traveling two weekends in a row. Who do I think I am? I'm gonna be so tired. So y. Yes.

DL White [00:15:50]:
So I will have books for sale at Wine with Writers, which is sold out. But I do think they had some slots available for the paint and sip, which sounds fun. And then a lot of people, a few people ordered some pre order so I will have those. I've been tracking my books. It looks like they are shipping this week. So I should have them hopefully this week, early next week and then I'm gonna quick turnaround and ship them to the site so I don't have to put them in my suitc. And then let's hope and pray we don't have to bring a ton of books home because I do not know how I'm going to get them home. Yeah.

DL White [00:16:29]:
So I mean, I could probably ship them. I do have friends in the area that could drop them off at, you know, FedEx, UPS, etc. For me. So I'll figure it out. I'll figure it out. So that's what's going on the next two weeks. So this will be the last episode before I come back from Wine with writers. I'm very excited to be in conversation with some amazing authors like the legend Ms.

DL White [00:16:54]:
Beverly Jenkins, who is giving the keynote. Joan Bassar, Nia Forester, Jacinta Howard, I think Ray Lees, Danielle Allen. It's going to be a really great time, an intimate time with readers to just chill and talk books. And I am so excited. I don't know if you can tell. So that's pretty much what I've got going on. I will be back with notes on all my sales and all my good stuff and possibly, possibly some information on the secret project. I don't know.

DL White [00:17:29]:
I don't really know. I'm just, I'm having fun. It might come, it might not. Chances are it will though, because if I, if, if I finish it, y' all are getting it. I'm just saying. So that's gonna be it for me. I did it in under 20 minutes. Yay.

DL White [00:17:45]:
Thank you so much for spending time with me book friends. It's a really quick, quick episode, but I will be back in a few weeks with a full debrief after New Orleans and Wine with writers. If you enjoy this episode, please share it, please read it, please leave a comment, leave a review, leave a love note, leave a rave. Share it with like six friends, Apple, Spotify, Substack, YouTube. You can leave a comment at all of those places. Full show notes, transcripts and links will be at booksbydlwhite.com bookcast140 and on my substack@authordlwhite.substack.com. you can support this podcast once again by shopping the books@booksbydlwhite.com Sheila shop by buying me a coffee@buymeacoffee.com Booksbydlwhite. You can share this podcast or join the newsletter.

DL White [00:18:37]:
Find all Those links@booksbydlwhite.com LinkInBio Such a big huge thanks to my monthly supporters and everyone who has sent over a cup of coffee. You keep this mic on. Actually, my Buzzsprout invoice came in last week and it was like you owe zero because the money that people give me every week in support of this podcast past pays that invoice isn't that neat. I think that's fantastic. That's one of my favorite things. I love it. Yes. So now then, the book cast is written, produced and edited by me, DL White.

DL White [00:19:13]:
The theme music and any sound effects are from Pixabay. Thank you so much for joining me once again. We will see you in a couple of weeks. Until then, find yourself a really, really good book. Like a deliciously good, good book. It does not matter the genre. It doesn't matter if it's short or if it's long, or if it's romance, or if it's nonfiction, or if it's mystery or if it's horror or if it's a comic book. Find something really good that you would enjoy reading and put it into your face and then come tell me about it.

DL White [00:19:43]:
Have a wonderful, wonderful couple of weeks and I will see you all soon. Bye Bye. Sam.