Thank you to new patrons Lily Fouts and Leslie Hall and Meyari McFarland. Welcome!

Also, the winner of the Goody Bag drawing is Kathleen Kendricks. Congratulations! You've already been contacted. And to the patrons who signed up in November, I'll be sending out the stickers and calendars, your postcards, and the Goody Bag contents this month. I need to wait for the printing of the wall calendars first. I'll make an announcement on the Patreon page to let you know when they ship out. Thank you so much for making my first Patreon campaign so much fun. I think I might do this every year. :-)

Thank you to our existing patrons for believing in our work offline and here in the podcast.

This podcast is sponsored by our patrons at Patreon.com/valerieihsan.

Become a patron of the arts at Patreon.com/valerieihsan for books, writing instruction, coaching, and planning. Go to

Patreon.com/strangeairstories for short stories in the paranormal mystery genre

Patron comment:

Comments/email from listeners:

Questions from listeners:

Announcements:

• Early Bird registration is open for the 2024 Writer Craft Writing Retreat. At this point, there is only four private tickets left and three shared tickets. We'll likely sell out again.
• I'm in a new anthology by Tsunami Press with my essay "Eye Contact." It's in stores now. You can order at http://www.tsunamibooks.org/shop/pre-order-tsunami-press-first-anthology with free shipping in the U.S. or order wherever books are sold.
• Season of the Shadow up now! (Erick's new title.)
• UPDATE:

• Valerie:
• finishing up life coaching training
• Thinking about my next campaign for new clients, and the bonus material I'll put together for that.

• Erick:
• 48.484K words in Nanowrimo book, taking some unexpected turns; been a great experience.
• wrote a Nano book (now a new series!); working on Book 3 of NEW series
• print edition of new book
• newsletter hygiene
• cover designs

Just finished:

I'M READING: What's a Poor Girl to Do?: Prostitution in Mid-Nineteenth Century America by Elizabeth A. Topping and Ma and Me by Putsana Reang

Catching the Big Fish by David Lynch

Up Next:

Soiled Doves: Prostitution in the the Early West by Anne Seagraves

Frog Music by Emma Donoghue

Harness: A Systemic Approach: Guaranteed to Revolutionize Your Coaching by Tess Cope

• Erick's Reading:

Widowmaker by Paul Doiron

The Last Ronin (TMNT)

• Show Notes:

Erick surprises me with a question that I have to answer on the spot!

• Next Episode: Lynne Golodner on Mining Life for Story

Find Us:

Valerie's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/valerieihsan

Erick's Linktree link: https://linktr.ee/erickmertzauthor

Writer Craft Facebook Group

Valerie's Services: https://valerieihsan.com

Valerie's Author Site: https://valerieihsanauthor.com

Valerie's Facebook Page and Instagram account

Erick's Services: https://erickmertzwriting.com

Erick's free book on Ghostwriting: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/cexki4kp5n

Erick's Author Site: https://erickmertzauthor.com

Erick's Facebook Page and Instagram account