A New Take on My Book Blast

 

A Different Take on My Book Blast

Hello, I’m Mary Davidsaver.

I write cozy mysteries based on the twenty plus years I lived in Bishop Hill, IL, a micro-sized town with a plus-sized ego about its history.

Bishop Hill began as a communal society establish by Swedish immigrants in 1846 on the prairie of western Illinois.

I’ve spent a lot of time with the 180 years of Swedish-American heritage, culture, history, if you will, bending and blending the facts to my literary purposes.

In modern terms: I’m into fake news, misrepresentation, and little white lies.

Perhaps it’s too harsh to call them “lies,” but what would you call fiction that keeps the basic sense of the village, with the layout of it’s streets, the description of the major buildings, the festivals, the food all as accurate as memory permits, and messes with everything else?

I tell my stories without naming real names. To me Bishop Hill is a major character and it’s populated by a cast of composite folks leading interesting lives, who occasionally get into trouble. It’s all part of telling an interesting story of a special place.

[Next time I'm at a book fair and need to address a crowd, I'll be better prepared.]

My Milkweed and Monarch Year of Panic Gardening

My 2025 Monarch Season in Davenport, IA started out with failure. My crop of millkweed was extremely limited, much more so than last year. I had no idea why what few plants I had were only growing along the edge of my garden, and new shoots were struggling to grow in the nearby lawn. How could I feed any more than the first few arrivals? I consulted my best go-to resource books and blogs. 

First up was my favorite reference book Monarchs and Milkweed: A Migrating Butterfly, a Poisonous Plant, and Their Remarkable Story of Co-evolution by Anurag Agrawal. By re-reading and looking at some select photos, I figured out that my problem was the over crowding, and over growth, of nectar plants in my small garden. I had no idea that milkweed was so sensitive. I thought it could force its way up wherever it wanted. I started digging up flowering plants that I had duplicates of in other beds. I was amazed at how dense the root mass of purple coneflowers, rudbeckia, and Shasta daises could be. It was no wonder my milkweed was trying to escape.

What started out as selective thinning soon turned into wholesale destruction as I realized I needed a thorough garden makeover. The loss of an indoor butterfly rearing season would be the unfortunate result. My goal had to be more milkweed next year at all cost.

As I cleared out areas of nectar plants, mulching and watering as I went, I discovered that my efforts were being rewarded much sooner than I thought possible. New milkweed plants were coming up from seed I’d sewn earlier. Fresh shoots from established plants were making their way up to the surface and thriving. I would be able to feed the hatchlings of the first Monarch moms and perhaps a few more.

I bought and read Milkweed Quickstart Guide for Monarch Butterflies eBook by Tony Gomez, the host of monarchbutterflygarden.net. I appreciated his new ebook as a valuable resource that’s a great companion for the invaluable information he shares on his blog. Milkweed is touchy about propagating and transplanting. I’ve had some success over years of trying, but it’s been limited. I was hoping for a miracle for this year, and thought tropical milkweed, as shown in Tony’s ebook, would be it. Unfortunately, my timing was off. I could not find local sources for tropical milkweed. I have to wait until next spring. The same goes for other new varieties of milkweed plants. Tony’s ebook listed contact information for many plant nurseries, and one had a discount offer.

My saving grace was my local Davenport library branch. Several years ago I became a volunteer gardener at that branch and I got the powers that be to leave their milkweed plants alone. To let them attract Monarch butterflies. I was able to collect eggs and release some adults to prove it could be done. Going back to that branch this spring I noticed how well their milkweed plants were doing. I also noticed that some in the parking lot were going to be mowed down. I was able to harvest those leaves and prepare them for my freezer. I was going to have enough food for more Monarchs. I collected eggs from my garden and the library’s.

As of mid-September I’ve added 54 adults to this years migration. It’s a great ending for a year that I’d thought would remain a failure.

Other Information & Data

Caterpillar Escapes: 0

Unexplained Caterpillar Deaths: 0

Caterpillar Diseases & Parasites: 0

Accidental Deaths: 1

Chrysalis Problems: 3 (no deaths)

Butterfly Enclosure Issues: 1 (no deaths)

Final Results

How many monarchs survived to reach Butterhood? 54

Accidental deaths: 1

Disease or parasite issues: 0

Unexplained deaths: 0

Healthy males: 31

Healthy females: 23

Survival rate: 98%

Lessons Learned 2025: Don’t overcrowd the milkweed with nectar plants. Potted milkweeds are a great source for egg laying. Always check the zipper!

Migration Memories 2025: I don’t usually name my caterpillars/butterflies, but the Lazarus trio was the exception. One got its tummy stuck on a leaf. I trimmed the leaf so it wasn’t hanging upside down and struggling hopelessly. The next day it molted and was fine, even ate the discarded skin. Two others had hanging issues. I taped one up to the top of a mesh cage. It emerged OK. The other had attached itself on the side of an ice cream container. I found a way to support the Blue Bunny container so the chrysalis was in a semi-hanging position with space for the wings to dry. The adult emerged with good wings. They all survived their trials and tribulations.

WORDS, WORDS, WORDS

 

     How to celebrate Ten Plus Years of Blogging? Two hundred and eighty blog posts (2014-2024) and counting. The way I figure my word count, 280×500, equals roughly 140,000 words. All my own! (No AI. Not that there was any when I started.) Okay, the count has slowed down some from those first few years, but I now have incentive to do better.

     Going forward with this blog, I can think about the 240 or so words that I should perhaps consider not using, as per an official government document. In case you’re wondering, here they are:

• activism • activists • advocacy • advocate • advocates • barrier • barriers • biased • biased toward • biases • biases towards • bipoc • black and latinx • community diversity • community equity • cultural differences • cultural heritage • culturally responsive • disabilities • disability

• discriminated • discrimination • discriminatory • diverse backgrounds • diverse communities • diverse community • diverse group • diverse groups • diversified • diversify • diversifying • diversity and inclusion • diversity equity • enhance the diversity • enhancing diversity • equal opportunity • equality • equitable • equity • ethnicity • excluded • female • females • fostering inclusivity

• genders • hate speech • hispanic minority • historically • implicit bias • implicit biases • inclusion • inclusive • inclusiveness • inclusivity • increase diversity • increase the diversity • indigenous community • inequalities • inequality

• inequitable • inequities • institutional • lgbt • marginalize • marginalized • minorities • minority • multicultural • polarization • political • prejudice • privileges • promoting diversity • race and ethnicity • racial • racial diversity • racial inequality • racial justice • racially • racism • sense of belonging • sexual preferences • social justice • sociocultural • socioeconomic • status • stereotypes • systemic • trauma • under appreciated

• under represented • under served • underrepresentation • underrepresented • underserved • undervalued • victim • women • women and underrepresented

(Source: https://gizmodo.com/the-list-of-trumps-forbidden-words-that-will-get-yourpaper-flagged-at-nsf-2000559661) [NSF, National Science Foundation.]

     One thing is for sure, I’m not going over my past 140,000 words to see if they would clear this new hurtle. The original purpose for this blog was to explore the challenges of writing my first novel, which was based on my living in a small town with an historic legacy. Fortunately, Bishop Hill, Illinois, Sweden, Swedes, and what not are not included on this list or any other lists of official sanctions … yet. I should be good for a while longer. 

A Reminder On One Way To Survive Despair

 I was sorting through files looking for one thing and found another. This quote from Barbara Kingsolver is a favorite and worth sharing. I strive to follow this advice and look for joy and be hopeful. It's easiest in a garden. Hardest at the keyboard.

Excerpt from High Tide in Tucson

“Every one of us is called upon, probably many times, to start a new life. A frightening diagnosis, a marriage, a move, loss of a job or a limb or a loved one, a graduation, bringing a new baby home: it’s impossible to think at first how this all will be possible. Eventually, what moves it all forward is the subterranean ebb and flow of being alive among the living.

In my own worst seasons, I’ve come back from the colorless world of despair by forcing myself to look hard, for a long time at a single glorious thing: a flame of red geranium outside my bedroom window. And then another: my daughter in a yellow dress. And another: the perfect outline of a full, dark sphere behind the crescent moon. Until I learned to be in love with my life again. Like a stroke victim retraining new parts of the brain to grasp lost skills, I have taught myself joy, over and over again.

It’s not such a wide gulf to cross, then, from survival to poetry. We hold fast to the passions of endurance that buckle and creak beneath us, dovetailed, tight as a good wooden boat to carry us onward. And onward full tilt we go, pitched and wrecked and absurdly resolute, driven in spite of everything to make good on a new shore. To be hopeful, to embrace one possibility after another—that is surely the basic instinct. Baser even than hate, the thing with teeth, which can be stilled with a tone of voice or stunned by beauty. If the whole world of the living has to turn on the single point of remaining alive, that pointed endurance is the poetry of hope. The thing with feathers.”

Barbara Kingsolver from High Tide in Tucson, Essays from Now or Never

Review of “A Handful of Nothing” by Ken Gullette.

 

The author, Ken Gullette, gave me a copy of this book exactly one year ago. I’ve enjoyed reading it, all be it slowly, because this is a book that shouldn’t be rushed. It is an asset to be savored for its calming scenes and passages that require a bit of reflection.

What comes to my mind first are a few thoughts in chapter 80, page 183:

“The master continued, ‘Just like this stone, you are being shaped by the stream of life. … Seeking perfection is an endless pursuit. But striving to be a better person each day—that is a journey worth taking.

He placed the stone in the monk’s hand. ‘When you see a stone, let it remind you that perfection is not the goal. The true path lies in embracing your imperfections and transforming them through continuous growth. It is in the daily effort to be better, to spread kindness and truth, and to see the world as it is without judgment or supernatural delusions—that is where true wisdom is found.’”

For me, that was an instant reminder of a gemstone I purchased ages ago from a gem and mineral show. The original piece of transparent gemstone material would have been heavily marked with alternating colors, banding in blues and yellows, and with a shift in orientation. Not the kind of quality usually valued by the traditional jewelry trade. However, what was done by the crafts person, the lapidary, transformed that piece of flawed material and made it into a remarkable gem. The stone was cut to reveal a chevron-like pattern when held up to the light. Getting that pattern required the crafts person to use all their skill as the final stone was quite thin and would be difficult to mount into a piece of jewelry.

That gemstone is a constant reminder for me to look beyond the ordinary, the casual correctness of accepted standards, and to seek beauty in all its forms in the natural world and in human culture. Whether it is a leaf, a flower, a butterfly, or a man-made object, beauty is all around us if we pause long enough to notice.

That is from only one chapter among eighty-eight. It is for each reader find their own gems within this meditative book as they pursue their journey.

Seasoned Citizens Write-in Event

 

Seasoned Citizens

Write-in

For NaNoWriMo 2024

All genres & All ages

Welcome

CASI/Volunteer Room

Mondays, 1 PM-3 PM

Nov:   4^th   11^th    18^th    25^th

 

This year’s National Novel Writing Month has officially begun. I’ve registered, entered my first word counts, and have embarked on a mission not just to help my writing but to help others who may need a change of pace or place.

It all happened quite recently and by happenstance. The volunteer room at CASI became available and I pitched my idea for its use for the next month. That worked out. Getting things set up with NaNoWriMo folks was a bit trickier but it all seems to be in place as well. Now all I need is to get the word out.

The name: Seasoned Citizens is a favorite saying I’ve heard tossed around the Scribe Tribe meetings I’ve attended. I take it to mean a “Senior” citizen whose life experiences have left them with an interesting mix of trials and triumphs. All things that are worthy of putting down on paper by pen or pencil or typed out for a computer journal.

Write-in is a group action whereby a variety of writers come together for the express purpose of increasing their word count. The personal project, whether it’s a novel or short story or whatever, does not matter. The goal is sitting down and writing: something, somewhere, somehow, with a minimum of distractions.

CASI, Center for Active Senior, Inc, offers a perfect venue for all things that encourage people to exercise, play games, work on crafts, learn something new, or just mingle. The volunteer room is easy to find, just down the hall from the front desk. Look for the above sign for a Month of Mondays writing action.

Checking out CASI and Seasoned Citizen’s is free.   

Recent Marketing Information from a Mystery Convention

 

This information came from the back cover of Glass Houses, a Thriller/Sci-Fi book by Madeline Ashby I picked up at Bouchercon 2024 Nashville. I thought it was interesting and possibly useful for potential promotional purposes.

 

“MARKETING CAMPAIGN

-Author events

-National print and online publicity campaign

-Bookstagram and Book Tok influencer campaign

-Dedicated social media campaign, including sweepstakes, social media posts, and exclusive content reveals

-Early-reader review campaign, including NetGalley, Edelweiss, and Goodreads

-ARC mailings to booksellers, librarians, media, and industry bigmouths

-Special promotions tied to major conventions and festivals [Bouchercon!]

-Library marketing campaign

-Newsletter promotion

-Indie Next campaign

-Book club outreach and promotions

-Reading group guide”

 

“FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Tor Publicity, tpgpublicity@tor.com

Agent: Sally Harding, CookeMcDermid Literary Management”

 

And YES, I wrote reviews for this book for Goodreads and Amazon.