MACAVITY AWARD WINNERS 2026 - Mystery Fanfare

They missed a lot of good indie books and stories.

Tootling around in the Catosphere today, the Panzermobile was suddenly buffeted by clapping and cheering outside. Following all the noise took our intrepid kitty traveler to the Mystery Fanfare site.

 

There he discovered a list of the winners of this year's Macavity Awards was posted. The list also includes the nominees for each award. The poem that's about Macavity (the cat the awards are named after) is at the end of the post.

 

Panzer says, "This little kitty didn't see any indie books or short stories on the list."

 

Note:This is a long post. You'll need to decide what you want to bring to snack on.

 

To read the post tootle ovesr to Macavity Award Winners...

Book Publishers Are Quietly Using More AI. Staff Are Revolting - Wired

I wonder if cover designer know about this?

Today, Panzer stopped at the Wired site where he discovered a post about publishers and AI.

 

According to interviews with employees at HarperCollins, Simon and Schuster and Hachette, all three are using AI in ways unknown to the public. These run from email to cover material.. If you've read about the books pulled by publishers because of "suspected" AI use, you'll find this post about their own use of AI interesting.

 

 Panzer says, "It's not that big a jump from back cover copy to front cover illustration."

 

Note: This is a long, long post. You'll need to decide what you want to bring to snack on. 

 

To read the post tootle over to Publishers and AI 

More Rights Grabs from Must Read Magazines - Writer Beware (R)

Pay Attention! These are professionals.

Panzer made a trip to the Writer Beware (R) site where he found an interesting post about Must Read Magazines.

 

After the trouble Must Read Magazines contracts caused with writers the new owners are using similar ones with illustrators. The outcome looks to be the same this time.

 

Panzer says, "This little kitty doesn't think it looks like they learned anything from the writer uproar."

 

Note: This is a very, very long post. You'll need to decide what you want to bring to snack on. 

 

To read the post tootle over to Writer Beware (R) 

We're making it easier to identify A-I generated content globally - News from Google (Blog)

Here's an announcement Panzer found on the Google blog site.

 

According to the post, Google has made their AI watermark detector available to everyone. The detector can read other AI company's watermarks as well as Google's. The detector works for video and audio watermarks. The post contains links to other information about the detector and Google.

 

Panzer says, "The post lists the other company watermarks the detector can read." 

 

Note: This is a short announcement. You won't need anything to snack on unless you decide to follow the links to other information.

  

To read the post tootle over to SynthID Detector 

A Panzerism

 Panzer on the human idea of closure:

 

Mom's goldfish Molly died. Mom says she wants closure.

 

Silly idea. Cats don't waste their time that way.

 

Mom. Molly was a goldfish.

Humans should understand each moment passes away forever. It's gone. There's no way to enter the past.

 

The past is like water disappearing down the toilet with Molly. She's gone to some unknown unknowable place.

 

A better place for Molly? Perhaps. 

A Puzzle - I am not lost.

Hint

Here's your new jigsaw puzzle.

 

At the puzzle site if you click the square in the lower left corner, you can see the finished puzzle.

 

Have fun!

 

To go to the puzzle site tootle over to Cat Jigsaw Puzzle

Free to Watch Classic Mystery Movie: Bowery at Midnight.

See you for Puzzle Day tomorrow.

Panzer found this movie on the Hastings Mystery Theater site on Youtube.

 

Bowery at Midnight is a 1942 black and white thriller movie. It's 1 hour 7 minutes long.

 

 Have a pizza delivered, get your favorite beverage and enjoy the movie.

 

To watch the movie tootle over to Classic Mystery Movie

Free to Listen Clean Romance Audiobook:Falling Into Fiction

I'll see what else is out there.

Here's your romance audiobook Panzer found on the author's channel on Youtube.

 

Falling Into Fiction is written by Victorine E. Lieske. It's 6 hours 42 minutes long. 

 

To listen to the audiobook tootle over to Clean Romantic Comedy

Free to Listen Creative Penn Podcast: From Story Seeds To Stories, And Writing An Author' Note, With Joanna Penn

I'll see what else I can find for you.

Panzer found this episode on The Creative Penn podcast.

 

The episode shows how to gather ideas, plan and write a publishable piece.

 

 The podcast is 1 hour 18 minutes long

  

To read the post tootle over to  The Creative Penn

SelfPubCon 26 The Future of Self-Publishing: What's Working Now & What's Next

I'll find more for you.

The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) has announced the date of the SelfPubCon is October 17 and 18. 

 

All presenters and their topics are included in the post. You'll need to adjust times for your location.

 

The event is online and free. You do not need to be a member to attend. A link to register is included.

 

To read the post tootle over to SelfPubCon26