Dealing with Competing Objectives

By James M. Jackson

Both the Story Structure class I teach, and the Revision and Self-Editing class have lessons on constructing scenes that work. Some ideas I try to impart are that

1. Every character in the scene has a goal (or goals) they are pursuing.

2. Some of those goals are in conflict.

3. If there is no conflict, there is no scene.

What happens if there is only one character in the scene? Two things are possible.

Most often, the character is trying to overcome obstacles left in her path by other characters who aren’t in the scene. For example, our Lead is preparing to leave the house, but before doing that, always follows a ritual of tapping for good luck and safe travels the St. Christopher medal nailed to the right of the door to the garage.

Except, the medal is missing because someone stole it.

The other possibility is that the individual has competing or conflicting goals. That would describe the situation I found myself in earlier this year with two goals.

Goal #1 – expand the number of potential readers for my Seamus McCree series and Niki Undercover Thriller trilogy.

Goal #2 – prioritize my work time for efficiency to allow more time to focus on joyfully enjoying life.

Let me explain how these two goals arose. I’ve heard many authors say they write because they must. I write because I want people to read what I write. If you told me no one would read my story, I wouldn’t bother writing it. I suppose it’s an ego thing—probably not something to be proud of, maybe not even something I'm supposed to say out loud. But I am who I am, and that person likes an audience, enjoys engaging with that audience, likes to feel there is a reason for spending all those hours writing, when I could well be doing something else.

According to Bowker, they issued ISBNs to over four million titles in 2025. Adding to that the books published on Amazon without an ISBN, I’ll bet we’ll have close to five million books published in the U.S. last year. With all those new books available, not to mention the millions of backlist books, “Build it and they will come” does not work.

So, to get people to read my stuff, I need to market the books. That takes money (fine, as long as the books bring in more than they cost) and time (to create newsletters, blogs, advertisements and monitor the same).

Which brings us to Goal #2. I enjoy virtually nothing about the process of advertising books. I don’t enjoy creating ad copy, researching comparable novels to get my advertising in front of their readers; I don’t enjoy learning multiple ad platforms, I don’t enjoy creating graphics, or videos, or … the list goes on.

There is a Grand Canyon gulf between these two goals.

I am giving up trying to be all things to all readers. Unlike with my financial investments, where I spread my risk across multiple asset classes, for my books, I’m following Andrew Carnegie’s advice to “put all your eggs in one basket and watch that basket.”

I have decided that the best way for me to reconcile my goals is to focus my marketing efforts on one specific venue: eBooks on Amazon. Oh, sure, I still offer paperbacks, and you can order signed ones from my website. And yes, audiobooks are still available. Henceforth, backlist eBooks will only be available on Amazon, either through purchase or through “free” reads for those who pay for Kindle Unlimited. I’ll continue to offer new releases to a wider eBook audience for a limited time.

So, if you are a Kindle Unlimited reader, I invite you to pick up either the Seamus McCree series (8 books, 2 novellas) or the Niki Undercover Thriller trilogy from where you left off, or start with the first book in each series (Ant Farm and Niki Undercover).

That’s my Grand Canyon: ego on one side, sanity on the other. What are your competing objectives in your life or writing? Drop your thoughts into the comments. I’d love to know.

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James M. Jackson writes justice-driven thrillers with brains and bite, including the Niki Undercover Thriller trilogy and the Seamus McCree series. To learn more information about Jim and his books, check out his website https://jamesmjackson.com. You can sign up for his newsletter (and get a novella and two free short stories featuring his protagonists).

Baby Boomers are a Major Force Online by Teresa Inge

In 2026, baby boomers are no longer casual users of digital platforms. They are active, intentional, and increasingly influential. This generation spends significant time online, controls substantial purchasing power, and engages with content differently than younger audiences.

Smartphone Usage

Raised on rotary phones, party lines, and memorized phone numbers, baby boomers see smartphones as practical tools for communication and information. They check their phones an average of 224 times a day, more than any other generation, using them for messages, news updates, and everyday tasks rather than spending long stretches glued to a screen. (reviews.org)

By comparison, Gen Z averages 4 hours and 6 minutes of smartphone use daily, often in longer scrolling sessions. (reviews.org)

Social Media Usage

Today, boomers scroll through their smartphones with the same enthusiasm they once brought to hanging out at the mall food court as teenagers.

They use platforms like Facebook and YouTube to stay connected with family and friends, engage with trusted brands, and watch longer-form content. In fact, 82.3% of U.S. baby boomers use at least one social media network in 2026 (awisee.com).

By contrast, Gen Z, often called "platform hoppers," favor TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. While boomers stick with familiar platforms, Gen Z moves between multiple short-form, trend-driven apps. On average, Gen Z spends 3.2 hours per day on social media, compared with 1.5 hours for baby boomers, highlighting their different approaches to online content and communities (SocialRails; Sociallyin).

Baby Boomers and Online Commerce

Baby boomers are strong online consumers. An estimated 11.3 million adults ages 55 to 64 and 10.8 million age 65 and older are expected to make purchases through social media, proving social commerce is not limited to younger generations. Their buying power is significant: 63% have a credit card, 39% made an online purchase within the last week, and 30% fall into a high-income bracket. (Awisee.com)

Trust remains a priority. In fact, 62% of boomers regret at least one impulse purchase influenced by social media, making credibility and transparency far more effective than high-pressure sales tactics. (Awisee.com)

As baby boomers continue embracing smartphones, social media, and online shopping, they are proving that digital engagement is no longer defined by age. From rotary phones to smartphones, they have adapted remarkably well. The message is clear: boomers are not just keeping up with the digital world, they are shaping it.

 

 

 

 

Diet Killers: Recipes for Readers and Writers – Gravestone Fudge from Molly MacRae

 

Welcome back to Diet Killers, my series that’s become a bit sporadic and doesn’t always (as I’d originally intended) spotlight a chocolate dessert. We’re barely into October, but Halloween will be here before we know it, so here’s a recipe and a book recommendation to get you in the spirit.

Have you ever wondered what recipe you’d put on your gravestone? I’m not inclined to put one on mine, and I’m willing to bet most of you won’t either. Martha Kathryn “Kay” Kirkham Andrews did, though, and I’m so glad.  

Kay Andrews was known, throughout her long life, for her compassion and her wonderful fudge. The two went together; when family and friends needed encouragement, she wrote them a poem and delivered it along with a batch of fudge. What a sweetheart! She lived to be 97 and asked that her fudge recipe be engraved on her headstone so that she could continue making people happy by sharing the recipe. (The original engraving had a typo, calling for one tablespoon of vanilla. The headstone has since been updated to correct the error.) Fudge is sweet, but even sweeter is the final line on Kay’s headstone: “Wherever she goes, there is laughter.”

The larger world now knows about Kay’s fudge thanks to Rosie Grant, a digital librarian in Washington, D.C. She collects and prepares gravestone recipes as a sort of hobby. She’s posted them on her TikTok account @ghostlyarchive and, in October 2025, she came out with the New York Times bestselling book To Die For: A Cookbook of Gravestone Recipes. The book is a collection of forty recipes she’s found on gravestones across the globe. The recipes range from chicken soup to guava cobbler, with honey wheat bread and tea biscuits in between. Most of the recipes are for desserts, though, making sweet memories for the loved ones left behind.

Kay’s recipe, as written on her gravestone, is below in my lovely drawing. So that it's easier for you to make your own fantastic fudge, I've typed the recipe with the list of ingredients first followed by more detailed directions. 

On a food chemistry site called Ricardo you can read about why you shouldn’t stir in the two steps where that’s specified, plus clear instructions for how to test softball stage.

 

Kay’s Fudge

Ingredients

2 squares chocolate (Baker’s Chocolate squares used to weigh one ounce. Now they weigh half an ounce. I used four squares)

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup milk

3 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Pinch of salt

 

Directions

Line an 8” x 8” pan with parchment paper and have all ingredients ready.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, while stirring over low heat, melt the chocolate and butter. When the chocolate and butter are melted, stir in the milk, sugar, and salt. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Over medium-low heat, let the mixture come to a boil—without stirring. Continue cooking over medium-low until the mixture has reached 234 degrees F (softball stage).

Remove from heat and let cool—without stirring—to 109-113 degrees F. You can hasten the cooling by putting the pan in sink of cold water. Don’t use ice water because the outer edges will cool too quickly while the middle stays hot.

When cool, beat the mixture continually until it visibly thickens and loses a bit of its luster, 5 to 15 minutes.

Pour into the prepared pan, allow to cool completely and, as Kay Andrews tells us, eat.

 

Would you like to be remembered for a special recipe by having it on your gravestone? What will it be?

 

Molly MacRae writes the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries, the Highland Bookshop Mysteries, and the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest, connect with her on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky. 

 

Staying on Theme by Mary Dutta

I recently signed publishing contracts for three new short stories in themed anthologies. One story was inspired by a city, one by a song, and one by a crime.

I love writing to a theme. There are an infinite number of stories we each could tell, and starting with a broad focus helps me narrow down those endless possibilities. Conversely, a theme can get me thinking about topics I might not have come up with on my own.

The latter was the case when I was invited to submit to an anthology on pickpockets. It wasn’t a subject I had ever considered writing about, and I had a lot of fun researching the details of how those particular criminals practiced their craft. Or used to, anyway. In today’s world a thief is far more likely to rifle through a digital wallet on a stolen phone than ease a physical wallet out of a pocket or purse. I ended up setting the story in the 1980s, so I could include some of the tricks of the trade I had read about.

That story was set in New York City. My newest city story is about Pittsburgh, inspired by a visit there last fall. I’ve published multiple location-based stories featuring places such as Minnesota, Nashville, and Charlottesville. For that kind of story, it’s important to include local details and lore without making them feel shoehorned in. As the winner of the 2020 New England Crime Bake’s Al Blanchard Award for best crime short story set in New England, I became a judge for the next year’s contest. It wasn’t hard to spot the entries that relied on a quick Google search or overused clichés to try and meet the setting requirements. Getting it right takes effort.

I’ve learned to get it right when choosing a song for an anthology of stories “inspired by the music of” a particular artist or music genre. My first foray into such an anthology involved choosing by song title alone. As a result, I struggled to come up with a story that evoked the brief and largely content-free lyrics of the song I had chosen. Lesson learned, I read through the lyrics of many options before choosing the song that I wrote about for a forthcoming yacht rock anthology. Having content to inspire me made my work much easier.

I’m looking forward to the release of these three stories and am already, and always, on the lookout for my next theme.

 

Do you enjoy writing to a theme? Or reading works centered on one?

The Story of Her Life, by Lori Roberts Herbst

 

As I am writing this, my 93-year-old mother-in-law is in the last days, maybe hours, of her life, and it’s hard to think of anything else.

I’ve known Marilyn for about forty-five years, have been married to her youngest son for forty-three of those years. She’s been my mother-in-law for two-thirds of my life, and she’s never treated me as anything less than a valued part of her family. We are quite different in many ways, but that hasn’t gotten in the way of our mutual affection. Besides, we are similar in enough of the important ways to bridge any potential gaps. 

There is a saying that we are all the protagonists of our own stories. Marilyn’s story began in 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression. She occasionally talked of waiting in line for rations, of getting milk and ice deliveries, of playing outside in the heat of a Chicago summer and the chill of a Chicago winter. She married at age 19 and gave birth to the first of her five children when she was just 20. Her life revolved around raising her family and doing what needed to be done. But she also knew how to have fun. She and my father-in-law had a broad network of friends with whom they played golf and cards and bowled. When they retired, they traveled extensively, often to see us and their grandchildren. When my father-in-law passed 18 years ago, Marilyn seemed a little dazed for a while, lonely, as to be expected. But she persevered. She took care of their house, their family. She went to lunch with friends. And a couple of years ago, she moved into an independent living apartment and began a series of new adventures.

Hers has been an ordinary life—no remarkable wealth, no fame or celebrity. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that there can be extraordinary value in an ordinary life.

In my own story, the one in which I’m the protagonist, Marilyn has served as a stalwart supporting character. She never plied me with unsolicited advice but rather encouraged me in every aspect of my life, from being a mother and wife and teacher to my most current venture: author. When I started writing and publishing cozy mysteries, she was delighted. She read and raved about each book and even placed a set of them in the senior center library, nagging her friends to check them out. She was one of my greatest champions.

And now we are in the process of saying goodbye to her. It’s like reading the last chapter of a book you don’t want to end. But it’s a book that tells a full, rich story. And when we finally close the back cover, we will be all the better for having read it.

The Callie Cassidy Mystery series is available on Amazon Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and paperback.

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Lori Roberts Herbst writes the Callie Cassidy Mysteries, a cozy mystery series set in Rock Creek Village, Colorado, and the soon-to-be-released Seahorse Bay Mysteries, set in a Texas cruise port town. To find out more and to sign up for her newsletter, go to www.lorirobertsherbst.com 

Their Time Upon the Stage by Susan Van Kirk

 I was watching the credits of “Les Misérables” this week and the order of the players reminded me of the Shakespearean cliché about the world being a stage. Yes, it’s true that each player has his time and size of role. But even the most obscure part has its function. (Think of all the dead bodies at the end of the revolution or on the battlefield in “Lincoln.”)

What functions do authors have to think about when they create characters in their minds and on their pages?

 

Orson Scott Card, who has written multiple books about the writing craft, mentions that characters can be divided into walk-ons and placeholders, minor characters, and major characters. When drafting a novel, an author has to consider how much time and description to give to each character she creates.

 

The walk-ons and placeholders are part of the background of a story. They have their purposes either in large ensemble groups or in small parts. They come into the book and do their thing, and then they leave. Often, in a movie, such a character is labeled “second man with gun.” In the Sherlock Holmes’ stories the Baker Street Irregulars, a band of street urchins that Holmes relies on for intelligence, is such a group.

 

I’m currently finishing a book of three novellas that brings forward my character, Detective TJ Sweeney. She’s always been a major character, but since Grace Kimball married, TJ hasn’t had as much time on the stage. These three novellas give her center stage. The first story, “Doing Justice, Loving Mercy,” goes back to 1991 when Grace Kimball’s children were young. None of my readers have met those children because this story is a prequel to the series. The series begins in 2011. The children are minor walk-ons and have a role in this story, but I did give them names since they were mentioned in the later novels.

 

The second category, minor characters, helps the plot along, and we learn more about them than the

walk-ons. They have their purposes too, and without them the story wouldn’t work as well or take the turns it takes. In “Two Graves,” the second novella, the setting is TJ Sweeney’s 20^th high school class reunion. TJ’s partner, Jake Williams, and two of the policemen, Jim McGuire and Ted Kessler, are minor characters. But they have a role in making the climax work. They’re given names because they are more than walk-ons but not major characters.

 

A sub-category of minor characters is those who provide comic relief, especially in my Endurance series. Lettisha Kimball, Grace’s former sister-in-law, is always the comic relief. Lettie believes everything she reads in the tabloids, listens to all the gossip around town, and has outrageous opinions. As a minor character, she reflects the views of a small town person, but she also keeps her ears open for what’s happening. She’s an amazing cook, so when she gets mad at TJ Sweeney for something, she cuts off her pie allowance.

 

The major characters are the ones who play the biggest role in novels and films. We get to know them well and want to know their fates. Their lives—and often their point of view—drive the plot. I describe them in detail. We must care about them, however, to stay involved in the story. In the upcoming novella, “The Locket,” Grace Kimball becomes a minor character while Detective TJ Sweeney is the major character, and it’s her view that drives the plot.

 

The next time you read a novel or watch a film, think about the role each character plays, large or small. Each one is necessary to make the plot move forward. Do you read mystery series where characters are sometimes in major roles and sometimes minor?