by jphilo | Oct 23, 2025 | Book Updates, West River Mystery Series
DIY sausage, dachshunds, head healing, and chocolate cake. What in the world are they doing in the same title? Perhaps nothing in your world, but they’ve been main events in the Philo family’s world since Hiram and I returned from vacation a couple weeks ago.
Upon arriving home, we became aware that while we were out galavanting, the family at home had been doing stuff.
As in facilitating the imminent arrival of Long John, the dachshund pictured above. (If you’re interested, the slipper behind the dog belongs to our son-in-law. If you’re not interested, you’ll want to skip this parenthetical explanation.) My daughter and her family lost their dog to old age not long ago and planned to wait a few months before getting another one. But then they saw an ad for Long John, a 3-year-old rescue dog up for adoption in the next town over. They went to meet him and changed their minds. He’s been here for a week now. As of this writing, he is joined to my daughter at the hip. Both the grandkids are convinced the dog’s devotion is in the process of transferring to them any minute.
Hiram and I have been doing stuff as well.
The most challenging stuff required patience rather than conscious effort as we waited for our bodies to heal––me from a split chin and him from a tooth extraction. I’m pleased to report that my stitches are out and I’m doing fine. Hiram’s glad to be past the first step in the several month process of getting a dental implant. Until that’s done, the dentist created a sort of false tooth retainer for him to wear. It makes Hiram feel like he’s in junior high again––self-conscious about how it looks and worried about tossing it in the garbage after school hot lunch.
Writing stuff is taking a big bite out of my time these days too.
I’m almost halfway through the first revision of the See Jane Stop, Drop, and Roll! manuscript. In other words, I’m almost halfway through the “this-is-absolute-trash-and-anyone-who-starts-to-read-it-will-stop-after-the-first-page-it’s-so-bad” phase of writing. Every session of revising leads to me craving sour cream chocolate cake. You’ll have to read the book to find out why.
In other stuff, I decided to take a big leap and make my own sausage seasoning.
The idea’s been banging around in my head for a while, and it surfaces whenever Hiram and I use our Kitchenaid food grinder to turn pork loins and/or pork butt roasts into ground pork. (It’s a good substitute for expensive ground beef.) Since ground pork + seasonings = sausage, I took the metaphorical pig by the snout and gave this recipe for sage sausage a try. It went over well with everyone, so next week I’ll try out a recipe for Italian sausage seasoning. I thought about hiring Long John to be my taste tester as a ploy to gaining his devotion, but fear the grandkids might resent me for that.
DIY sausage, dachshunds, head healing, and chocolate cake are things I can handle. Ripping a happy family apart by bribing a dachshund? Well, that’s the kind of stuff I wouldn’t touch with a Long John sized pole.
by jphilo | Oct 9, 2025 | See Jane Dance!, South Dakota, West River Mystery Series
I’m homesick for South Dakota. Had our last visit been a while ago, the feeling would be understandable. But we just got home 3 days ago, so the homesickness is puzzling. The best explanation is how absolutely perfect our trip was (a week in Spearfish and a week on our friends’ ranch in Harding County), with a couple notable imperfections. You’ll soon see why, even with the imperfections, I’m homesick for South Dakota.
The Many Perfect Bits
- Participating in the South Dakota Book Festival in Spearfish was a dream come true! The workshop I presented was well-attended. So was being part of a diverse panel of mystery writers. Nat Cassidy represented horror Shannon Baker. represented adventure, and I represented cozy mysteries. We had so much fun talking about our craft and answering questions posed by the moderator and audience members.
- At the Festival, I met one of my favorite mystery authors, William Kent Krueger. He endorsed See Jane Dance!, and I may or may not have cried while thanking him for his kindness. Hiram took a picture of us while I fan girled.
- The weather was gorgeous in Spearfish and Harding County. The leaves were beginning to turn in both places. We took in the colors on a drive through Spearfish Canyon. A week later we did the same thing in the Cave Hills located in northern Harding County. On our last night there 1.5 inches of rain fell overnight. Rain is a blessing in semi-arid Harding Country whenever it falls. Local ranchers consider 1.5 inches in October to be perfect weather, and we do too.
- The West River Cousins Reunion organized by one of my two West River cousins. We three cousins and our three patient spouses gathered for lunch one day and talked for five hours straight. Then we had an impromptu boat ride at Lake Sheridan in the Black Hills on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. What a blessing to be together and remember our parents, grandparents, and our large extended family!
- Hiram and I saw many old friends at the Camp Crook Volunteer Fire Department BBQ near the end of our stay in Harding County. Several of them recounted hunting stories from the 1970s and 80s. Some of their hunting tales will make their way in the seventh book in the West River Mystery Series. Whether they do or not, listening to what people said will add depth and color to Book #7. Being with our friends was wonderful. Saying good-bye to them was hard. They are the main reason I’m homesick for South Dakota already.
- Thanks to many hours driving across South Dakota and down time built into our trip, I was able to approve the final proofreading edits to the See Jane Ride! manuscript and send it to the publisher for type setting. Arriving home without that deadline looming was a great stress reliever.
The Imperfect Bits
- Hiram’s 50-year-old root canal gave up the ghost a couple days before we drove home. The tooth split, but didn’t come out and it wasn’t painful. Setting up appointments for fixing it seems to be a full time job!
- We were about to head out on the final leg of the trip home on Monday when I tripped and split my chin open on the asphalt. Hiram bandaged it up, I called our local doctor, and was in his office getting three stitches an hour after we drove into town.
Not only did I bring home a scar for a souvenir, the experience could show up in a future See Jane book. What more could I ask for?
by jphilo | Jun 11, 2025 | See Jane Dig!, West River Mystery Series
The 2025 South Dakota Festival of Books will be seeing Jane and me this September in Spearfish. Word came in late May that my workshop proposal was accepted, and I couldn’t be more pleased. Here are a few reasons why:
- Our son was born at the Spearfish hospital in May of 1982, a day my husband and I will never forget.
- Before our baby was born we loved to camp at the Spearfish City Campground. After he was born, we didn’t. Now that he’s grown we stay there when we pass through because it is a beautiful place. We’ve already reserved our campsite for during the Festival.
- Spearfish is located on the northern edge of the Black Hills, which means the city is West River, as in The West River Mysteries. What could be finer than to be smack dab in the middle of the series’ target audience?
- The city is ninety miles from Camp Crook, where we lived from 1978-1985. After the Festival we’ll head up there to visit friends for a week. (Don’t tell anybody, but that’s the reason we love best.)
Here’s what I know so far about the Festival:
- It will be held September 26-28 at a variety of venues throughout the town.
- There will be well-known authors and lesser known ones (like me) doing workshops, but all of them have South Dakota, Midwestern, or Western roots.
- Most of the events are free, and there will be many, many books available for purchase.
- Henry’s Books, my favorite Spearfish bookstore, will be handling the See Jane book sales and my book signing. Wahoo!
- My confirmed workshop is called Building a Book from the Bones of Your Life. It uses See Jane Dig! to demonstrate how to use life events as a springboard for a story, as well as how to augment it through creative research.
- There’s a good chance I’ll present another workshop and participate in an author panel.
More details will be passed along at a later date. For now feast your eyes on this photo of the Spearfish City Campground. Yes, it really is this beautiful!
by jphilo | Mar 27, 2025 | Book Updates, West River Mystery Series
Jane is going non-linear for now. And yup, it’s complicated. So complicated that the linear lady behind Jane and her hijinks has yet to add recent changes to the wall calendar that usually makes her heart go pitter pat.
Jane is going rogue for several reasons. The reason behind her reasons were the subject of my March 2025 newsletter, which you can read here if you haven’t already. With the background reasons out of the way, you can join me for a tromp through the non-linear weeds that are Jane’s existence, at least for a while.
Weed one–– that phrase may hold a meaning quite different from what I want to convey if you live in a state where marijuana has been legalized––is the See Jane Ride! (Book 5) cover reveal in January of 2025. At that time, See Jane Ride! was still slated for publication in October of 2025. It has now been moved to October of 2026 due to the changes outlined in the March newsletter.
Are you with me so far? Good.
Weed two––again, this has nothing to do with legalized cannabis––is The Plot Thickened post that went live in February. In it I was giddy to announce that the plot outline for See Jane Stop, Drop, and Roll! (Book 6 in the series) was a done deal. The plot outline is done indeed, but that book’s release date has been moved to October of 2027.
Still with me? Then let’s keep going.
Weed three––refer to the previous two weeds for a disclaimer refresher––is where it gets complicated for Jane’s highly linear and calendar-loving creator. If you’ve lost track, I’m her creator, and I’m making pretty good progress on the first draft of See Jane Stop, Drop, and Roll! Nine chapters are already completed and it’s still March.
Now for a recap, which is where things get mindbendy for me. Maybe you as well.
- It’s March of 2025 yet I’m writing the first draft of a book that comes out in October of 2027.
- In a couple months (hopefully shortly after the current first draft is finished), the publisher will send the concept edits for the October of 2026 book that used to be the October of 2025 book, and revision process for it will begin. Probably through the summer so the revised book can enter the publication pipeline by early 2026.
- In early 2026, I’ll begin preliminary research for Book 7, which will come out in October of 2028. I have a title in mind, but don’t want to confuse you until I’m less confused. We’ll see how that goes.
- In February of 2026, the whole process starts all over again with a plot thickening workshop for the 2028 book and then the writing of the first draft.
- Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat until the eleventh and final book in the series comes out shortly before the apocalypse.
Are you still with me? That’s amazing because I’m not. I am not pleased that Jane is going non-linear for now. However, my editor assures me that I will adjust to their new publication schedule and like it. I hope that’s case. If not I may have to move to a state with legalized marijuana and take up a new hobby.
by jphilo | Jan 29, 2025 | Mystery Update, South Dakota, West River Mystery Series
Yesterday the plot thickened.
You may be asking yourself how can that be? Just last week, Jolene revealed the See Jane Ride! cover and said the manuscript was now in the concept editor’s hands for review. Does that mean the editor wants a total plot revision? Say it ain’t so!
Rest easy readers. It ain’t so.
The plot being referred to in this post’s title is for the yet-to-be-written sixth book in the West River Mystery series. To stay on track for its release in October of 2026, my handful of notecards about a mystery that takes place during prairie fire season needed a lot of thickening. That handful of cards was also intended to contribute to the overall arc of series and its overarching mystery. That needed some thickening too.
Yesterday afternoon’s plot workshop with Midwestern Book’s concept editor and I was thick enough to accomplish both aims.
I’m not gonna lie. It was a brutal afternoon. Mainly because the concept editor kept asking hard questions like:
- Why would such-and-such a character do that?
- What possible reason could there be for Velma to stay overnight this time?
- Is that concern big enough for Jane’s mom to get her underwear in a bunch?
- How will Jane’s students contribute to solving the mystery?
- What spiritual growth will Jane experience?
- What’s the community event that gathers the town together?
- What about Dick and Jane?
My initial answers to such unreasonable questions were:
- I haven’t thought that through yet. I just thought it would be funny.
- I’m not sure yet, but Dick is going to agree with Velma.
- Everything gets her Mom’s underwear in a bunch.
- Still working on that, but they will.
- Still working on that, but she will.
- I assumed coming together to fight prairie fires was a community event.
- What about them?
To which my diabolical editor replied:
- Think harder.
- Let’s brainstorm until we figure it out.
- True, but be more specific.
- We’re not moving on until you come up with something.
- Ditto.
- Wrong assumption.
- Time to brainstorm again.
Thanks to the editor’s uncanny ability to spot plot holes and not move on until they were plugged, we worked on thickening the plot for almost 4 hours.* The picture at the top of the page shows that by the end of the 4 hours, my handful of notecards had expanded to almost 50 and categorized into 5 “acts.” The feat is actually more impressive considering the number of cards we torn up and rewrote. They’re the messy pile visible in the bottom middle of the table.
At that point the diabolical editor abandoned me, citing a flimsy excuse. Something about frosting a birthday cake for her daughter who turned 7 yesterday. After she left I used the calendars ,also visible on the table, to fit the plot into a three week mid-September 1978 through early October 1978 timeline. Then I stacked and rubber banded the cards for each act in chronological order and then banded the acts together into one thick and beautiful plot outline.
Oh, the burden the brutal workshop afternoon lifted from my shoulders!
Oh, the joy!
Oh, the freedom!
Oh, to begin writing the first draft of Book 6** and doing research to keep the story historically accurate!
All this because yesterday, the plot thickened.
*Minus 1 potty break per person and 1 session each at the espresso machine.
**The name of the next See Jane book will be announced in a few months.
by jphilo | Jan 7, 2025 | Book Updates, See Jane Run!, West River Mystery Series
Midwestern Books lost its renaissance man and founder, Tom Walker, this past December. Tom succumbed to pancreatic cancer just two months after his diagnosis. Those who knew and loved him––his wife Kris, his three children, his eight grandchildren, his siblings, his nieces and nephews, and many more––are still reeling.
Our family was among those who attended his funeral. Tom’s brother-in-law gave the eulogy and described him as a renaissance man, a person who is educated and knowledgeable in a number of fields. That was certainly true of Tom. He assembled his own computer when they were just coming onto the scene. He was a musician, an athlete, a theologian, a pastor, and an avid fisherman. He operated a sawmill, constructed several buildings, read widely, was an IT director, and founded a publishing company. He was a lover of books, and was both a reader and a = writer.
He wrote sermons, seminary curriculum, and computer code. He created elaborate Dungeons and Dragons back stories in his role as a Dungeon Master. He helped his parents write books about their lives and wrote children’s books for his grandkids. When he retired, he started Midwestern Books to showcase writers who represented the values and stories from a poorly represented area of the United States. See Jane Run! was the first manuscript he acquired.
Tom was more than the renaissance man who published The West River Mystery Series. He was also my husband’s cousin and an appreciator of my daughter’s editorial talents. To that end, he asked her to become his partner at Midwestern Books. She accepted and they worked closely together for five years. After his cancer diagnosis, he signed the business over to her at no cost.
Midwestern Books lost its renaissance man and founder. In the midst of our grief, Anne and her husband, as well as Hiram and I, are aware of the opportunity he created for our daughter’s family before he died. Our hearts testify that Tom Walker exemplified more than a renaissance man. He exemplified Christ. We were blessed to know him and grateful beyond words.
In loving memory of Thomas “Tom” Hayes Walker,
November 7, 1953 – December 22, 2024
