Writerly Ways

[cornerofmadness]

If you celebrate, I hope you had a good day. Mine was....here I did make up some delicious lemon-rosemary lamb chops though (I know, I know but I do like that protein) Had a sugar crash out and then was dizzy. I'm supposed to do a blood pressure when that happens. I did. It gave me an error message twice. Now I'm thinking OMG it's off the chart high (vs these digital cuffs fuck up half the time) third time and it was a normal BP (thanks for the heart attack my cuff)

And I wasted a lot of time preparing for a book swap at my book store. Even got the goodreads ratings and the more books you bring the m ore tickets for $$$off at the store. Then I realize I would be double booked for this. I look to see if I can do both...and realized YES my bookstore put this event up. NO it's NOT my book store. It's in fucking Buffalo NY. Well that's a help. Fuuuuck.

So now both a book ad and a BP cuff have made me feel stupid.

Sigh. My Easter gift didn't make it. Mom got an email to tell her they ran out of stuff to fill the order. Story of my life.


Let's get on with the writerly ways. I DID write another full chapter of the new novel. I'm up to 12K. I will give another taste of the novel last (probably the last one too and as always your input is so appreciated)

I had things to say and ask but it's late, I'm feeling dumb so let me ask for help. Some authors do charity drives for this "honor" b ut I'm just going to ask. Ezio had a clowder of kittens. The only one I have named is Honeybunny. (for now) Yes, they have cats instead of something fantasy else because lazy right now.


Anyhow toss me some names. They might make the book (it's not an earth setting so pop culture stuff won't work). Thanks. How do you feel about naming characters and stuff? I struggle with it if I'm honest

Open Calls

I SHOULD have more here but I didn't think to save any from my new source and I have work to do yet tonight so you'll be seeing the usual sources

Open Calls

NonBinary Review Films (interpreted through a speculative lens)

The Dancing Griffin Press Halloween Special Horror stories set during the month of October with at least one character death (Started something for this)


Sinister Soiree: A Celebration Horror Anthology Celebrations that turn dark or horrific (I submitted to this)

Three-Lobed Burning Eye. Open speculative fiction

Emberwick Press Is Open To Novel Submissions Theme: Open themes with a focus on character driven storytelling
Genre: Contemporary, fantasy, romance, romantasy, mystery, historical fiction, horror, and thriller across MG, YA, and adult audiences

Ten Manuscript Publishers Open to Submissions in April 2026

27 Literary Fiction Publishers that Accept Direct Submissions – No Agent Required



From Around the Web

Alternative Ways to Describe Character Reactions

What Bookstores Want From Traditional Publishers—and How the Bookstore Market Has Changed

Children in Horror


Creating Chemistry Between Your Characters

Using Origin Stories to Sell More Books


From Betty (who also sent me a bunch of stuff from Pintrest that I don't have time to showcase this week)

Seven Ways Jokes Can Sabotage Your Story

How Do I Write for Niche Readers?

Fights Between Protagonists

Why Writers Need to Learn How the Publishing Business Works

Descriptive Words of Wisdom

Why Criminals Believe They Are Heroes

Managing Backstory

How Does Fear Play Into Character Arc? Part One

What Your Story Problems Reveal About Your Writing Brain

Coping Mechanism Thesaurus Entry: Suppression

Why Worldbuilding Fails Without Strong Characters (and How to Fix It as a Writer)

How Writers Can Stay Consistent on Social Media Without Burnout: 9 Simple Strategies That Work

What Noir Can Teach Any Writer

Failing the Perception Check

Overlooked Tools


This is chapter three of the novel. Content Warning: set within a morgue, autopsy, mentions of sex work


Chapter Three

Liliana drank coffee, swirling the bitterness through her mouth in a vain attempt to wake herself up. She had sleepwalked through making Rosa her breakfast before sending her off to school with one of the other mothers on the street who always walked them to the building three blocks away. Wanting to sit on the steps to wait for Ezio Zucca, Liliana didn’t allow herself to do so out of fear she might actually fall asleep.

Asha was sitting on the step, her head bowed. She had twenty years on Liliana and the late name had caught up to her. She didn’t know how much longer Asha planned to work, maybe the full decade she had left before retirement would be firmly suggested. Their partnership might only be six months old but it felt like they had been friends forever. Liliana had a lot more to learn from her mentor. Retirement needed to be far off as far as she was concerned.

“Have you heard from the twins?” she stifled a yawn.

“Both are doing their thing at school. College is a busy time according to Dajana. I went directly into the police academy when I was done with school so what do I know?”

“Me too. If I’m honest I was always too busy for my mom too when I was eighteen.” Liliana shook her head. “Some days that feels like forever from now and on the other hand, I’m terrified I’ll blink and Rosa will be off to college.”

“She will be and you’ll be wondering where did my life go as you watch it go off to make its own way in the world.” Asha looked at her watch, a surprisingly delicate looking thing, definitely not police issues.

Liliana suspected it was a gift from Dajana that Asaha took pride in wearing.

Her own watch had flowers on it and her nickname Lily. Valens had helped Rosa buy it for her the year before he’d died. By rights she should put it in her jewelry box and reserve it for days when she wasn’t likely to damage it. However, she liked looking at the reminder of her lost love. It made him feel close. She’d be crushed, of course, on the inevitable day it would get damaged in the course of doing her duty.

“And yes if you’re checking, Ezio is late

“Easy has fingers in many pies,” Asha replied, hauling herself up using the handrail. “he might not show but I think for Phoenix he might.”

“Always, for her.”

Both Liliana and Asha’s attention focused on the bottom of the stairs. A pair of mothers pushing carriages walked by the building – the police armory though all the building said was Police. An elderly woman walked and equally elderly looking dog down the street. In front of all of them was a young man in a crisp pinstriped suit. His black tie and hat both shared a purple embellishment: a feather in his hatband and a tiepin of amethyst. His walnut-hued hair tumbled in waves to almost his shoulders, longer than was fashionable for most.

She blinked. Liliana barely recognized him as the man of the purple thong, high heels and towering violet wig of the night before. If Ezio hadn’t spoken to her, she wasn’t sure she would have known it was him. His pleasing tenor sparked recognition in her brain. He hustled up the stairs.

“Sorry, I couldn’t sleep late night,” he said. “And then I overslept. Aarre had to pour me into the car.”

“I know what you mean. Follow us.” Asha walked up the remaining stairs and followed the walk away from the armory’s front door. They walked to the back where the door was marked with the templed hands used to denote hospitals. No living patient passed these doors. The light beat at them in the forced cheeriness of the lobby. The morgue was sealed off thoroughly from the front-facing armory. Asha flashed her badge at the middle-aged man working the front desk and he waved them on. Their soles clipped and clattered on the tiled floor, easy to clean. Too many bodily fluids spilled out in these hallways. The astringent scent of citrus, vinegar and ammonia assaulted them as they walked deeper into the building.

A robed man with his dark hair in twisted locs stopped Asha with a raised hand.

“Morning, Detective Chase. Dr. Laselli isn’t quite finished with the autopsy. Do you want to observe?” The lab assistant studied Ezio for a moment, a dubious expression flitting across his face.

“Not today, Bekel. Think she can give it a pause just long enough for an identification to be made.” Asha pointed to Ezio.

“I’ll ask.”

He disappeared deeper into the building, leaving them standing there.

“I knew you had to be taking her apart but…I’m not ready for this.” Ezio shivered.
“There is no need for you to see the autopsy. We have time to wait.” Asha put a hand on his shoulder.

He studied her and gave a sharp shake of his head. “Do you really? I’ve been listening to the news on the wireless. I know she’s only one of many.”

“We have other officers tracking down Phoenix’s last movements. We have time now,” she replied.

He quieted and leaned on the ugly brick wall outside the autopsy door. Eventually the aide returned for them and led them into the cold autopsy room. Dr Laselli had the sheet drawn up over Phoenix’s face when the trio arrived to view her and had it tucked around her leg so that the tattoo showed. Ezio’s olive tones faded before infusing red with rage.

“That’s Marlaine. Her tattoo is distinct. I want to see her,” he said.

“No, you don’t,” Dr. Laselli replied.

“She was in the water,” Asha said.

“She’s not my first. I want to see her.”

Asha shrugged and nodded to Laselli who rolled down the sheet, keeping the worst side of her face still covered. Ezio took in a deep breath. Liliana stepped closer in case he went down but Ezio merely kissed his palm and pressed it to Phoenix’s forehead.

“I’m sorry, Marlaine. I don’t know why this happened to you after all you’ve been through. I will make sure the children are all right but they will miss you horribly. I will do whatever I can to help the detective. I can promise you that much. You won’t be forgotten.”

Liliana’s breath hitched. She hadn’t expected so much emotion from Ezio. He was her boss, her pimp. What was she missing? She hadn’t asked nearly enough questions of Asha on the way here nor when they were waiting for him. They needed to talk to him more and now they were here to talk to Laselli. Ezio could go anywhere in the meantime. There certainly wasn’t enough evidence or even suspicion to force him to the station to wait until they could make time to question him.

He’s not going anywhere. He owns two prosperous businesses, she reminded herself. But could he hide evidence in the meantime?

Asha’s expression radiated calm. If she worried about Ezio Zucca it didn’t show.

Maybe it’s the surname that’s getting your back up? There are many Zuccas out there that have nothing to do with the Seaglass crime family. Seaglass is hundreds of miles away.

“Can I go now?” Ezio tugged at his tie, loosening it quickly as if he was struggling to breathe.

“We’ll have questions for you later but why don’t you go home and get some rest.”

“I have to talk to the kids at Acorn Hall,” Ezio replied. “I don’t want them learning the hard way. The papers are still reporting her death as Phoenix Wings and I want to be there so we can tell them more gently.”

“That’s good. Go on and do that,” Asha replied while Liliana turned over that statement that had too many things she knew nothing about lodged in it. What was Acorn Hall and who were the kids? She hated that she was lacking in knowledge but it was to be expected since she’d only been here half a year.

“Find him, Asha, I’ll help any way I can,” Ezio said, stalking toward the door.

“We’re working on it.”

He left and Asha turned back to Dr. Laselli who rolled the entire sheet off Marlaine’s ruined body.

“Find anything Elisavet?” Asha asked.

Laselli pointed to the far wall. “If you want to look in the evidence bag.”

Lililana walked over and picked up the paper bag. Inside was a smoky quartz heart about the size of her palm. “You found this inside her heart?”

“Just like the others. It’s interesting that it’s a different piece of quartz every time, always a heart but, so far not a repeat in the type of quartz. There are a few dozen varieties. I hope this killer doesn’t intend to use them all.”


“We’ll have to send it to the lab to see if there are any finger marks but if it’s like the others, there won’t be.” Liliana resisted the urge to pick it up and hold it. She and Rosa loved pretty rocks and had a modest collection of semi-precious stones. She hoped someone didn’t leave a newspaper where Rosa could see the headlines about it. Someone had been bought off and leaked the fact the killer was embedding the quartz hearts in the victim’s hearts. The urge to drop whoever it was who let that out into the river ran high in her.

“Is the rest of it the same?” Asha peered into the opened cavity spanning from Phoenix’s collar bones to her hips.

Laselli nodded. “She was drained of blood.”

“And who knows what the hell the killer is doing with it because it wasn’t at any of the previous scenes,” Asha replied.

“That is for you to discover, Chase. I can confirm both the liver and the iliopsoas muscles were taken.”

“That is so bizarre. Why take those two muscles in particular?” Liliana wrinkled her nose, picturing her suspect hunched over Phoenix’s ravaged body, carefully extracting the liver and those two muscles. There were easier muscles to cut free than the ones hidden inside the hip’s cradle.

Laselli shrugged and tucked a strand of light brown hair back up under her surgical hat so it wouldn’t drag into her work once she and Asha left her to it. “I remember my medical school instructor telling me that the Iliopsoas muscle was the top of the line most tender part of the cow, the one you pay a chunk of your soul-well for.”

“Oh, gross.” Asha shuddered. “Why Elisavet? I could have lived without knowing it.”

Laselli let loose with one her loud, crow-raucous laughs. “Hey, I had to know it and now you do too.”

“Not if it helps nothing.” Asha glowered at her and Laselli flapped her fingers at her.

“What if it does help?” Liliana pondered more to herself than anyone else.

“What?”

“What if it does help? Think about it, the killer is removing a liver, a particular muscle and blood, all delicacies if you consider the gourmet market, not that I care for any of it.” She made a face against the thought of the Arezzian treat of mixing chocolate and cinnamon into a blood pudding.

“You don’t like hip round steak?” Laselli raised her eyebrows.

“Not the important thing here.” Asha jammed her fists into her hips, squaring off with Liliana. “You think this guy is eating our victims? Based on what?”

“Nothing other than Dr. Laselli’s offhand remark,” she replied. “It would explain though why only those odd assortment of organs and muscles are taken. And doc, I was raised on the coast. I lived on seafood. Hip rounds were out of my price range. I only had it once on my honeymoon.”

“Take her out, Chase. And I can’t say yes or no to that theory. I can tell you I’ve seen no signs of anyone gnawing on the remains if that helps.”

“Not really.” Asha ran a hand through her twisted locs, making them swing. “I don’t like that thought, Liliana and I hate that it makes a certain amount of sense. That goes no further than here, agreed? The last thing we need is for the press to start replacing the title Quartz Heart Killer with the Capitol Cannibal.”

Liliana nodded her agreement. “And it doesn’t explain the quartz pieces inside their heart.”

“I had thoughts on that.” Laselli said, holding up a hand. “I know, not part of my job but I was reminded of a story I heard as a kid. I know it had something to do with someone having a quartz-hard heart but my family wasn’t religious in the least. I’m pretty sure a babysitter told me the story. I couldn’t even tell you if it’s a Vargian story, something from the Isle of Etta or something my babysitter made up but she was like a hundred then.”

“Really?” Liliana smiled.

“Okay she was probably fifty but when you’re four anyone over thirty might as well be a hundred. What a bunch of fools we are when we’re young.” Laselli shrugged. “Regardless, I know she’s passed on so I can’t send her a letter. I’m sure she never had a phone, hated the one in my parents’ home.”

“It’s something to think about,” Asha said. “It won’t be the first time one of our killers have been out of their heads delusional. I’d love to see that new branch of medicine popping up everywhere.”

Liliana nodded. Psychiatry had only been around as a cohesive medical branch for a few decades but her doctor had helped her after losing Valens as she had.

“I can also tell you Marlaine was about three months pregnant,” Laselli said. “That is the extent of interesting things from the autopsy. It’s like the others, slit throat, organ and muscle removal and some abraded skin around the ankles to suggest they were hauled up and drained of blood.”

“Funny, Ezio didn’t mention she was pregnant.” Liliana made a note of it in her journal.

“He might not have known. He provides contraceptives free of charge for the gentleman callers and it’s mandatory they wear them. He’ll ban anyone caught sneaking them off. If you want to ride bareback, both parties have to sign a contract. He’ll also pay for abortions if his sex workers want them. That she didn’t do that means she wanted to keep this child,” Asha said. “Easy didn’t mention her having a partner either.”

“Is it his?” Liliana didn’t trust him and it made sense he’d lie if it were his.

Asha shook her head. “Easy is strictly gay, not bi, at least not that I know of. He’ll sleep with women if you pay him enough but he prefers men. I don’t think they’d partner up, especially not after what they’ve been through.”

“What do you mean?”

“Here.” She pointed to a crescent moon much like the birthmark on Ezio’s hip. Phoenix’s was just above her extensive tattoo. “This is not a tattoo. It was a brand used by a group of sex traffickers. Phoenix was one of them.”

“Then Ezio….”

“Easy’s story is his own,” Asha cut her off. “He’ll tell you what he wants you to know if you ask. But his life has not been an easy one and it could have made him a monster but he is one of the fairest brothel manager you’ll find in Ancono. We’re going to have to go to Phoenix’s home next. There is probably a clue or two as to whom her lover is.”

“You can head out now as far as my autopsy is concerned. It’ll be a while before the lab can tell me her blood chemistry to see if she had been given a PS to bring her down,” Laselli said.

Lilian wrinkled her now. A Pathetic Shot encompassed a host of sedatives pathetic would-be partners used to get their way without consent. Seaglass had been incredibly tough on prosecuting that but there were always new drugs, one they didn’t yet have lab tests for. It kept the scientists busy. “Thanks Dr. Laselli.”

“This one was more of a mess than the others,” Laselli said. “The water was probably meant to hide her forever but if it was someone doesn’t understand bodies float. I saw no signs that she was weighted down.”

“Good to know. The water might have merely been to wash away evidence, not that they have left much at other scenes,” Liliana replied. Asha shot her a look she didn’t quite understand.

They left the morgue and slid into Asha’s car. Liliana opened her journal, scanning her messy handwriting to find Phoenix’s address after Ezio had given it to them last night. That was another thing she was still learning: street names. Back in Seaglass she had most of the city memorized like most beat cops did. Here, she had a much larger city to learn.

“He gave the address as 108 Hart Lane.”

“It’s the apartment complex many of his employees use. It’s not far from the Rose and the Midnight, makes for a quick journey home at the end of a long night.” Asha started the car.

Liliana gaze back at the morgue, questions forming in her mind. She wondered if she would damage her relationship with Asha if she asked them.