After a bit of a lull, the last few weeks have been busy with writerly things. I just sent off a new story to an anthology open call, I've submitted a tie-in novella I'm writing for a new fantasy roleplaying world being crowdfunded soon, and I've just had a story published in Mystery Weekly Magazine (available in print or e-magazine) at https://amzn.to/2zOp0T6. My story, Mutatis Mutandis, takes place in Colorado, near where I used to live. I've also got a few other stories in circulation at various publishers and anthologies in hopes of finding homes, as well as a couple stories which have found homes, but are waiting for their spot in the publication queue. I've also started doing a few promos through a website called StoryOriginApp. The website lets authors swap mailing lists, create magnet pages to try to increase their mailing lists, post books looking for reviews, and connect with each other for bundled promotions. The promos are kind of like the promos for BundleRabbit or StoryBundle, but instead of buying a bundle of books, you can go to the promo page and click through to buy only the books you want to get. So far, I've run discounted prices for Frame Shop in the Kill You in September promo (https://storyoriginapp.com/to/SX4BUzX), Familiar Spirits in the Countdown to Halloween Book Fair (https://storyoriginapp.com/to/uNuMSoA), and Tales of an Altered Past Powered by Romance, Horror, and Steam in the Time Benders promo (https://storyoriginapp.com/to/njsoBtQ). Even if you already have my stuff, you should check out the other cool books and stories in these promotional bundles. One of the things these new promotional opportunities have made clear to me is that authors really should generate a newsletter and create mailing lists to contact their core readers (I balk at calling my readers a "fan base") and to share with other authors participating in a cross-promotion. Accordingly, I've started ... just started ... trying to figure out how to create a newsletter on Wix.com, the company that I used to create my webpage. (I looked at Mailerlite, but it doesn't seem to integrate well with my website and expressed a dislike for Aol.com email addresses--yes, I know having an aol address makes me old, but I've NEVER had to change my email address over the decades.) I'll be dropping this blog into the first such newsletter. As things go along, I hope my newsletters will have more than I can put here on my blog. Here's the handy opt-in form to click to indicate you want to subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.donaldjbingle.com/newsletter-sign-up. Don't worry, if you ever get an email or newsletter from me or a cross-promoting author you don't want to get, there will be a handy unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page--it's the law. And, for those of you who have diligently read all the way down to here, I've got a contest going. The first ten, yes ten, people who comment on this blog on Goodreads OR who sign up for my newsletter on my website will get a free code for the Audible version of Net Impact, the first book in my Dick Thornby Spy Thriller series. Of course, reviews are always welcomed, even encouraged. That's it for now. Back to fussing with my website at www.donaldjbingle.com and trying to figure out ways to get more reviews and sales. Being an author ain't all just making stuff up, you know. Aloha, Don Donald J. Bingle, Writer on Demand TM