Yvette Keller's Blog

Being interviewed by a journalist and having my headshot in the paper is fun…even when I’m mis-quoted!

The basic facts are true: I’m heading to Roswell, New Mexico to emcee Roswell Towel Day.

In addition to just shepherding the day along, it has been a labor of love to convince fellow Towel Day Ambassadors to join in. I encouraged them to craft topics for the program that are close to their hearts, so we’re talking about our TDA origin stories, what we accomplished as TDAs, and...

The deadline for Hugo nominations is March 9th. We’ve reviewed the rules (and checked them twice). Douglas Adams’ London is eligible for the prestigious Hugo Award is the category ‘Best Related Work.’

As a member of WSFS (World Science Fiction Society) you can nominate Douglas Adams’ London, Author Yvette Keller, and Publisher Herb Lester and Associates, to be considered for a Hugo Award.

Only members can nominate, but you do NOT have to be traveling to the World S...

Here is my *annual post about my word for 2024.

In case you missed it, my 2020 word was content, both for a year of creating content and a year of feeling intentionally content-ed while making it. My 2021 word was joined by what I called “shoulder” words at the time: intention, momentum, roll. Would one word have served me better? Did I use my words wisely? I certainly rolled with the punches that were still coming hard and fast from COVID that year.

2022 was soul-crushing and wordless. ...

JEST Improv is hosting a night of spontaneity and fun on Saturday, December 2. Mark and I are just completing the level 105 class, where we’ve been learning new games and practicing how to direct and host shows. We’ll be taking the stage with the 102 character class and it should be a hoot to see how far we’ve all come in our improv journeys.

We are again playing with our trusty friend, Barbara, and led into hilarity by Dawn (pictured below after our 101 showcase). This time with the...

This post is a tale of daily synchronicity, earth science, and some reading recommendations.

I fell asleep last night reading Tales of the Fae: Modern Fae Novella Anthology, by E. Menozzi. Menozzi is a writer (and athlete) with exuberant personal energy. I met them recently on the Writing Excuses Retreat. I’ve been devouring their Modern Fae Series since waving farewell on the last day of our Alaskan cruise.

When I woke up, my inbox was an experience of synchronicity about fairies (zeitg...

I’ve compiled a few writing tips here. The most memorable pieces of writing advice from author Dan Wells’ class at the 2023 Writing Excuses Retreat. These reminders are things I’ve heard before, but never exactly the way Dan shared them (which is the beauty of multiple instructors and in particular, writers as instructors).

For level 201 writers who have moved beyond the 101 mistakes, watch out for not describing things at the right time; meaning right when the reader needs the descript...

In my attempt to support local bookstores and become less dependent on Amazon (where I can), I’ve added a new list called ‘Towel Day Ambassador 2023 Bibliography‘ at Bookshop.org.

I often get asked what books I recommend to Adams fans.* Sadly, many of the biographies and related works can’t be found at bookshop.org because they are not currently in print at Ingram.

Here’s a list of books that can’t be found at Bookshop but are in fact, worth finding. If you have trouble finding...

Before we get too far into the new year (it is already really too late but not yet 2024), here is my reading roundup from 2022. Being a voracious reader is as much a part of my identity as being a writer. For many years I’ve wanted to reflect on and share the stand-outs from my recent reading life.

All the links in this post are from Goodreads, where I have tracked and reviewed books for many years. Starting in 2023 I’m going to try StoryGraph as well (here’s why). I read for three reasons...

It is a week of change and spiritual heartburn, a new phrase from a post I read today that resonated with me:

“Our version [of change] is cooked and swallowed like something from McDonald’s. It’s Panta Rhei fast-food style, and we suffer an equal spiritual heartburn from the speed.”

Erik Brown on Medium

The final week of August, not normally a big deal because I don’t have to think about back to school, is a major transition week this year. Full of big change. I feel sick and it isn...

Every once in a while, I remember that The Drink Tank exists and I go binge a bunch of issues.

Last time I did this, I felt compelled to send in comments about a topic near and dear to my heart: Cozy Mysteries.

If you’re curious about what I had to say in response to Issue #447, the third in a series about crime fiction which features a great article about my the best crime-comedy-drama-series of all time, Psych–not JUST my favorite because it is set in a fictional version of Santa ...