Not so long ago, I decided to revamp my teaching text. And I quickly realised I’d left things out that needed to be in. Oops. It’s not the end of the world. Most of the missing information became class notes and handouts. Easy peasy.
I spent some time over the weekend and all Monday morning and added the missing notes to my textbook.
Then, because I can, I added things to the workbook.
I adjusted the covers for the larger page count and reloaded everything to Amazon.
All sorted.
Sadly, the two workbooks and two teaching textbooks I have sitting here are no longer required. Bugger. I’ve also got a few copies of the original workbook “Don’t kill the chicken”.
I might giveaway some workbooks in a week or so, but not the teaching text because that’s based on the crime writing course I designed. I’m not giving that away.

Anywho, life carries on. I discovered a logistic issue with jury service and have emailed the court. 

I discovered a use for ChatGPT that I very much enjoyed. I fed Chadd (that’s what I call my ChatGPT) some notes on adverb and adjective use in crime writing and then I dropped in a chapter from [Indigo Romeo Lima] and asked Chadd to analyse the text using the information already provided.
That was fun. What I got out of it was a teaching tool. A way to show how I deal with adverbs, adjectives, and whatnot. 🙂 🙂

Here’s a snippet:
Thursday marched on. Steph peered around the office door before entering.
[NOTE: Active, lean. “marched on” is a vivid verb doing the mood work—no adverb needed.]

“I have arrived,” she announced. “Where’s that AirTag?”
[NOTE: Dialogue carries tone; no “she said excitedly.” Strong choice to avoid adverbs in tags.]

Crockett took the purse from the backpack and handed it to her. “Battery is in there too.”
[NOTE: Concrete verbs (“took,” “handed”) keep prose active and visual.]

And my favourite part …

From my desk, I grabbed my bag and phone. Crockett was already waiting at the door, car keys in his hand. I waved to Steph, and we ran down the stairs. No one walks any more.
[NOTE: Adverb “already” is time-value; earns its place.]
[NOTE: Ending beat is pure active motion + voice button—excellent chapter exit.]

It was a foggy start this morning: