How to Take Criticism

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In a recent post on the Writer Unboxed blog, author Jeanne Kisacky shared advice on accepting and processing criticism. Here’s an excerpt from that post:

When you receive the critique, don’t just dive in as soon as you get it. Set aside a quiet chunk of time, sufficient to get through all the critique in one session (if possible), and then just read the comments. You will feel emotions while you read the reviewer’s responses; some positive, but many possible negative ones as well. I have been angry, delighted, depressed, affronted, despondent, entertained, even incensed after reading criticism. It’s normal. Criticism is hard to take. Tackling edits while in the thrall of that emotional response is a great way to get off track and subvert the tone of the writing.

Once you’re done reading the comments, set them aside and do something, anything, other than re-reading your draft or trying to start revising. Go for a walk. Do the dishes. Do some gardening. Do whatever activity lets your mind wander. Do this for a day or two, or for as long as it takes for your brain to process the criticism. Let the criticism sink in, let it percolate. This breathing space lets you weigh what you wanted the book to be against what you just found out wasn’t working. It also gives you the chance to refine your own understanding of your work, so that you don’t lose the heart and soul of it while revising based on someone else’s comments. In my experience, if you jump right into revisions, chances are you are going to go some wrong directions, because you need the time to internalize their comments and figure out how to fix the stated problem your way, not their way.

You can read the rest of the blog post here.

10 Reasons to Love Cozy Canadian Mysteries

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome back multi-published Canadian author Jo-Ann Carson. Today, Jo-Ann shares her love of Canadian cozy mysteries and her new release, One Cookie Short of Christmas.

Here’s Jo-Ann!

When people think of cozy mysteries, they tend to imagine the quaint English villages of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple stories, or Joanne Fluke’s small-town American tales. They envision settings with tea shops, nosy neighbors, and a dash of danger. While I like all those stories, I believe Canada provides a perfect setting for cozy crime. In fact, I’d go as far as to saying that the Canadian landscape is a delicious backdrop for murder. Here are ten reasons to try a cozy Canadian crime for your next read.

1. Picturesque Small Towns

From Prince Edward Island fishing villages on the east coast, to secluded mountain hamlets in British Columbia on the west coast, Canada is full of postcard-perfect communities that practically beg for a bookshop, bakery, or craft store sleuth. Consider for a moment, Louise Penny’s Three Pines series, which has captivated readers worldwide with its idyllic (yet murder-prone) Quebec village. Could her stories happen anywhere else? I think not. They are quintessentially Canadian.

2. Seasons That Steal the Scene

Cozy readers love atmosphere, and Canada delivers in spades. Think curling up with a maple latte while snowflakes swirl outside or attending a sunny lakeside summer festival where a suspicious death interrupts the pie-eating contest. In Vicki Delany’s Year-Round Christmas Mysteries, the perpetual holiday setting in Rudolph, New York, was inspired by her Canadian roots, proof that winter coziness translates beautifully to the mystery genre.

3. Foodie Heaven

Cozy mysteries often shine when food is involved, and Canadian has its own unique cuisine. Imagine your sleuth solving crimes between batches of butter tarts, Nanaimo bars, poutine, or salmon chowder. Canadian author Elizabeth J. Duncan does this wonderfully in her Penny Brannigan Mysteries, where food and friendship ground the story even as murder lurks nearby.

4. Quirky Communities

Cozy readers adore eccentric locals, and to be honest Canadian towns are full of them. Whether it’s the fisherman who swears he’s seen Ogopogo (a sea monster who lives in B.C.), the gossiping neighbor with a basement full of homemade wine (we have them from coast to coast), or the moose that keeps wandering into the hardware store, you’ll find quirky people and animals everywhere.

5. Festivals and Folklore

Every Canadian community has its unique traditions and festivals, from maple syrup celebrations to winter carnivals. Add in folklore, or ghostly legends, and you’ve got a perfect recipe for mysterious goings-on. Vicki Delany’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mysteries often feature themed events that show how celebrations can add both charm and chaos to a cozy.

6. Close-Knit Settings

In cozy mysteries, everyone knows everyone, and this is also true in Canadian small towns. A single crime can ripple through the whole community, stirring gossip at the local Timmies, tension at the hockey rink, and suspicion at the town hall. Louise Penny has built her career on showing how a shocking event unsettles even the warmest of towns.

7. Multicultural Flavor

Canada’s cultural diversity allows amateur sleuths and suspects to come from many different backgrounds. This not only enriches character interactions but also allows the writer to explore diverse food, traditions, and culture. With more readers craving diversity in cozy mysteries, Canada offers endless possibilities.

8. Unique Law Enforcement

While cozy sleuths often operate outside official investigations, Canada’s mix of RCMP, provincial, and local police adds complications and intrigue to the process of crime fighting. Picture a friendly Mountie reluctantly teaming up with your amateur sleuth and how the interaction can add humor and heart. Delany, Penny, and other Canadian writers have already proven readers enjoy these unique dynamics.

9. Armchair Travel for Readers

We all know that reading cozy mysteries doubles as a mini vacation. Readers will love visiting the Niagara wine country, Quebec’s cobblestone streets, or Yukon’s wildflower meadows from the safety of their armchair. Penny’s Three Pines novels, in particular, have become global bestsellers partly because international readers fall in love with the setting as much as the sleuths. Joanne Guidoccio’s Ontario cozies have the warmth of a wood fire in the winter. My Vancouver Island mysteries draw on life in small towns surrounded by ocean, mountains and rugged wilderness.

Which brings me to number 10:

10. A Perfect Blend of Cozy and Wild

Canada’s charm lies in its balance of small, friendly communities surrounded by vast, sometimes untamed landscapes. That contrast heightens the coziness while leaving room for danger lurking just beyond the garden fence. Few places do “cozy with an edge” quite as well as Canada does.

My latest release is called One Cookie Short of Christmas.

When retired nurse Anna Maple hears the school’s Christmas baking table is short on cookies, she volunteers to help. But her holiday cheer quickly crumbles when she discovers one of Santa’s elves, murdered. It’s up to Anna to sift through the suspects and serve up justice before the killer strikes again.

This is a heartwarming, small-town, Canadian mystery with no gore, swearing, or sex. Filled with festive fun, a dash of danger, and cookies.

Amazon | Apple | UBL | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | BookBub

An Early Review

5 stars by My2Doxie, posted on Goodreads, Bookbub, and Barnes & Noble

“One Cookie Short of Christmas is Book 3 in the Anna Maple Cozy Mystery by Jo-Ann Carson. I love holiday stories. Christmas is such a magical time of the year. Anna jumps in when she learns the school Christmas baking table needs more cookies. Unfortunately, she was not expecting to find one of Santa’s elves dead! I felt that Anna was a great main character. Get your cocoa and a candy cane and jump into the wonderful small town Canada mystery.”

About Jo-Ann Carson

Jo-Ann Carson writes powerful stories filled with evocative settings, strong characters, and fast-paced plots. Her stories fall into two main genre categories: supernatural suspense and cozy mystery.

Currently she is working on two projects. The open-ended Anna Maple Cozy Mystery series which is about a retired nurse who keeps tripping over dead bodies. The second is an urban fantasy series called Fangsters, which is the story of a book nerd sorceress blackmailed into running an academy for delinquent, teenage vampires.

To date, Jo-Ann Carson has published 37 stories. Her latest fantasy series include: Fangsters, the Dial Witch Trilogy, The Perfect Brew Trilogy, the Ghost & Abby Mysteries, and the Gambling Ghosts Novellas.

A firm believer in the magic of our everyday lives, Jo-Ann loves watching sunrises, walking the beaches with her poodle near her home in the Pacific Northwest, and reading books by a crackling wood fire. You can find more about her on her Substack website

Blurb Blitz: The Gilded City Trilogy

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Jane Loeb Rubin. Today, Jane shares the novels in The Gilded City Trilogy: In the Hands of Women, Threadbare, and Over There.

Blurb

In the Hands of Women, (June 2023) takes the reader on an electrifying ride through the dawn of the 20th century, delving into the restrictive state of women’s rights, backroom abortions, the plight of immigrants to the Lower East Side of NYC and the prison system at Blackwell’s Island, all through the voice of a young OB/Gyn, Tillie’s younger sister, Hannah.

Threadbare, (June 2024) is a historical novel written as a tribute to Jane Rubin’s great-grandmother, Mathilda (Tillie), who died from a ‘woman’s disease’ in the early years of the twentieth century. It explores the ultra-conservative late Victorian era through a Jewish female character living among the poor, struggling to build a garment company and pushing back against antisemitic and misogynistic values dominating the time. She acquired wealth, only to have life upended by a cruel, unexpected challenge.

Over There (June 2025) brings four family members of Threadbare and In the Hands of Women, all doctors and nurses, into The Great War, each facing down authentic challenges of the period. Meticulously researched and crafted on four stages, the reader experiences the jarring reality of trench warfare, magnificent rise of the American Hospital in Paris, unimagined medical innovations owed to the dedication of healthcare workers, and the universal, frightening impact war has on children.

Excerpt – Threadbare

His eyes burst with astonishment. “What do your husbands think about you ladies starting a business venture? It’s unheard of. Don’t you have children at home to tend?”

Abe’s advice came to mind as my blood heated to a boil. Keep discussing the sale. Don’t let the customer bait you. I filled my chest with air, hoping my irritation didn’t show. “Mr. Kraft, our husbands are in the button and fabric businesses. Our products are interconnected, and in the end, it helps grow their businesses, too. Just as our kits will grow Butterfield’s pattern sales.”

Mr. Kraft nodded cautiously. “Hmm. I’ll run the idea by Mr. Peters, my boss, and let you know what he decides. But he’ll want to meet your husbands.” He fell silent, then added, “I expect the idea may pan out in some way.”

Excitement rose within me, but I kept my expression still. I was learning the art of poker, too. “Please let him know our factory is ready to fill orders immediately.”

He stood. “Could you kindly leave one of your kits, as you call them, with me? Let’s arrange a meeting next week. Please project costs and pricing for one thousand units, and then we can talk business.” Before leaving the room, he faced us and added, “But next time, bring your husbands.”

Author Bio and Links

Author, Jane Loeb Rubin has won numerous awards including the Historical Novel Society’s First Chapters short list for Over There, released May, 2025 by Level Best Books. She will be speaking at numerous Florida events as listed on her website.

With an extensive healthcare background Ms. Rubin began writing in 2009 after a serious cancer diagnosis. She now has a four-book deal with Level Best Books (Threadbare-2024, In the Hands of Women-2023, Over There-2025, The Hat Trick-2026), following the fictional life of her great-grandmother’s family.

In the Hands of Women, (June 2023) takes the reader on an electrifying ride through the dawn of the 20th century, delving into the restrictive state of women’s rights, backroom abortions, the plight of immigrants to the Lower East Side of NYC and the prison system at Blackwell’s Island, all through the voice of a young OB/Gyn, Tillie’s younger sister, Hannah.

Threadbare, (June 2024) is a historical novel written as a tribute to Jane Rubin’s great-grandmother, Mathilda (Tillie), who died from a ‘woman’s disease’ in the early years of the twentieth century. It explores the ultra-conservative late Victorian era through a Jewish female character living among the poor, struggling to build a garment company and pushing back against antisemitic and misogynistic values dominating the time. She acquired wealth, only to have life upended by a cruel, unexpected challenge.

Over There (June 2025) brings four family members of Threadbare and In the Hands of Women, all doctors and nurses, into The Great War, each facing down authentic challenges of the period. Meticulously researched and crafted on four stages, the reader experiences the jarring reality of trench warfare, magnificent rise of the American Hospital in Paris, unimagined medical innovations owed to the dedication of healthcare workers, and the universal, frightening impact war has on children.

The Hat Trick, Ms. Rubin’s work in process (May 2026) transports her family characters into the mid-1920’s in the years before the Borscht Belt in Sullivan County, NY.

Ms. Rubin, a graduate of the University of Michigan (BS, MS) and Washington University (MBA), retired from a 30-year career as a healthcare executive to begin writing full-time. She lives with her husband, David, an attorney, in Northern New Jersey. Between them, they have five adult children and seven grandchildren. Ms. Rubin’s work is available at all on-line retailers, Indigo Books, select Barnes and Noble Book stores and upon request from Level Best Books.

Readers Favorite Review | Website | Facebook | Instagram

Giveaway

Jane Loeb Rubin will be awarding a $25 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Jane on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Honoring Dr. Jane Goodall

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Dr. Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist and conservationist, passed away yesterday at the age of 91.

From a young age, she was fascinated by animals, dreaming of living in Africa and studying wildlife. In 1960, without formal scientific training, she traveled to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania to observe wild chimpanzees under the mentorship of anthropologist Louis Leakey. Her discoveries revealed astonishing behaviors: chimpanzees use tools, show emotions, and live in complex social groups.

She later earned a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, becoming one of the few people at the time to do so without an undergraduate degree. Over the decades, Dr. Goodall shifted her focus from observation to global advocacy, raising awareness about habitat destruction, animal welfare, and environmental sustainability. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute and created Roots & Shoots, a program that empowers young people to address environmental and humanitarian issues.

She has traveled the world, inspiring audiences with her message of hope, responsibility, and respect for all living beings.

My favorite quotations from Dr. Jane Goodall:

What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.

The greatest danger to our future is apathy.

Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.

You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you.

Hope is what enables us to keep going in the face of adversity. It is what keeps us motivated.

The least I can do is help people see the interconnectedness of all life.

Chimps, more like us than any other creature, have helped us to understand what it means to be human.

You cannot share your life with a dog or a cat and not know perfectly well that animals have personalities and minds and feelings.

My mission is to create a world where we can live in harmony with nature.

We still have a window of time. Nature is amazingly resilient. If we give her a chance, she will recover.

Let the Storms Pass

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Here’s a thought-provoking reflection from international speaker and bestselling author Joyce Meyer:

We all face storms in life—some are like the quick afternoon storms that are common in summer and some seem like hurricanes. But one thing is true about all storms: They don’t last forever.

Thoughts and feelings run wild in the midst of our personal storms, but those are exactly the times we need to be careful about making decisions. Decisions are best made in our quiet times with God, not in the midst of a storm.

Instead of drowning in worry and fear, get in touch with God, who sees past the storm and orchestrates the big picture. God makes sure everything that needs to happen in our lives happens at the right time, moves at the appropriate speed, and causes us to arrive safely at the destinations He has planned for us.

Source: Quiet Times with God by Joyce Meyer

Read | Listen | Reflect

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Today is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day set aside to honour the children who never returned home and the survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities.

This day was established by the Canadian federal government in 2021, in response to Call to Action #80 from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC). This Call recommended a statutory holiday for public commemoration.

People across the country will wear orange, participate in healing walks, attend ceremonies, and listen to the voices of Indigenous peoples. It is a day of truth-telling, but also one of commitment—to learn, to support, and to walk alongside Indigenous communities in the ongoing journey of reconciliation.

Today, take time to read, listen, and reflect.

Every voice matters. Every action counts. Every child matters.

This visual brings together symbols of the three Indigenous groups across Canada: the eagle for First Nations, the narwhal for Inuit, and the beaded flower for the Métis. At the centre is a circle which symbolizes unity and the spirit of reconciliation. The pathway running through it represents the journey of reconciliation. The stars symbolize the children who never returned home from residential schools. The orange colour represents truth-telling and healing.

Achieving the “Impossible”

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

When I was a high school freshman, a 260-pound freshman girl showed up for track and field tryouts right alongside me. Her name was Sara, and she was only there because her doctor said her health depended on it. But once she scanned the crowd of students who were on the field, she turned around and began walking away. Coach O’Leary saw her, jogged over, and turned her back around.

“I’m not thin enough for this sport!” Sara declared. “And I’ll never be! It’s impossible for me to lose enough weight. I’ve tried.”

Coach O’Leary nodded and promised Sara that her body type wasn’t suited for her current weight. “It’s suited for 220 pounds,” he said.

Sara looked confused. “Most people tell me I need to lose 130 pounds,” she replied. “But you think I only need to lose 40?”

Coach O’Leary nodded again.

Sara started off as a shot-put competitor, but spent every single afternoon running and training with the rest of the track team. She was very competitive, and by the end of our freshman year she was down to 219 pounds. She also won 2nd place in the countywide shot-put tournament that year. Three years later, during our senior year, she won 3rd place in the 10K county run. Her competitive weight at the time was 132 pounds.

There was a time when Sara was convinced that it was impossible to lose weight because, in her past experience, it had never worked out the way she had hoped. She had failed a few times and eventually lost faith in herself. But with consistency — with the right daily habits and willingness to try again — she restored her faith and achieved the “impossible.” And when Sara showed up to my poolside birthday party in Miami recently, I smiled when I overheard another guest compliment her on her bathing suit and physique.

Of course, Sara still works really hard — she chooses wisely — every single day to maintain what she has achieved.

And, so do I…

Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.

Happy National Day of Encouragement!

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

The first proclamation for the Day of Encouragement was made by Mayor Belinda LaForce of Searcy, Arkansas on August 22, 2007. In September, Governor Mike Beebe of Arkansas signed a proclamation making September 12, 2007 the “State Day of Encouragement” for Arkansas. Later, President George W. Bush also signed a message making September 12 the official “National Day of Encouragement.”

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Here are ten of my favorite quotes about encouragement…

“When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” Alexander Graham Bell

“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” Harriet Beecher Stowe

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” Thomas A. Edison

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” C.S. Lewis

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” William James

Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment. Stephen Covey

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” Maria Robinson

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” Theodore Roosevelt

“If you dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse.” Walt Disney

“Everything will be okay in the end.
If it’s not okay, then it’s not the end.”
Ed Sheeran