Thyme, Place & Story is my personal mini-magazine, designed for readers who want to share what we know about living in place, growing green, growing older, reading, writing, and publishing in an era of new technologies.
Who I am
I’m an 80-something writer who migrated from a 15-year university career to a 40-year career in fiction—over seven million best-selling, award-winning books sold in four mystery series, plus biographical and YA novels, memoir and nonfiction. I love learning about everything under the sun and am especially excited about exploring the new digital technologies. My husband Bill and I live on a 30-acre scrap of Texas Hill Country, with dogs, cats, and an ever-changing community of farm and wild creatures.
What I’m Doing Here
In 2025-26, I’ll be sending two regular posts each month, as well as weekly episodes of a China Bayles mystery. Subscribers are invited to join the conversations, which is sometimes is quite lively. (It’s okay if you have a lot to say. I’m here to listen.)
What I Write
Here’s what my Substack mini-magazine currently looks like. Of course, the magic of online publishing means that I can change the layout and coverage often. And I do.
First Monday. All About Thyme. A plant-themed calendar, a feature on herbs, and a curated list of plant-related things to do and think about. This began as a tie-in to the China Bayles mysteries.
Second Monday. LifeScapes, my personal blog about the place we live and the way place shapes and compels all of us; also on eldering in place: growing older and maybe wiser (imagine that!). The posts are behind a paywall because they are often deeply personal.
Thursdays, beginning in September: weekly episodes of A Bitter Taste of Garlic, a revision of the first book in the China Bayles mystery series, originally published in 1992 as Thyme of Death (still available in print and audio). For paid subscribers: a Reader’s Notebook for each episode (author commentary, craft/cookery).
Occasional Mondays. AI Working Notes, where I chronicle the process of working with and exploring artificial intelligence. An ongoing, exciting adventure that’s always full of surprises.
Occasional Mondays. The most subversive, insurgent, radical thing you can do is read. Guerrilla Reads is a read-along project for people who believe, as I do, that reading deeply is an act of resistance, revolution, and repair. I read and write about books that are timely, idea-driven, and provocative: mostly nonfiction, always urgent, guerrilla texts by writers who challenge the status quo, shed light on how power works, and point to what might be coming. This isn’t another “book club,” it’s a read-along—and a month-long conversation among people who care about the subject.
Choose What You Read Here. TL-DNR? Crowded for time? You don’t have to subscribe to everything I write. Go here to customize the posts you receive from me. You can change your mind any time it suits you.
Time Out. When I take time out, I’ll arrange to republish past posts.
Scholarships. Thanks to the generosity of supporting subscribers, paid subscriptions are available for readers on a fixed income Ask me about this: susanalbert01 at gmail dot com
Subscriptions. Supporting subscribers make my work possible and help keep Substack doing what it does best. I deeply appreciate whatever support you would like to offer. I share a portion of your paid subscriptions with the Story Circle Network.
Where else you’ll find me
If you’re looking for my books, please visit my website. I’m on Facebook here and sometimes here, also Instagram, Goodreads, BookBub and Bluesky.
My AI Policy (because every writer needs one!)
I use Perplexity and Gemini for quick factchecks and ChatGPT-4 and 5 in what has turned into an exciting, ongoing, and often surprising collaboration. I use AI to stretch my thinking and writing, not to replace it. I work with it the way writers work with a well-read and willing research assistant, a sharp copy editor, and an uncanny colleague who never sleeps. I use it not as a therapist, but as a thinking partner: to test out ideas, probe issues from different points of view, and help me develop a clearer understanding of the topics I choose to work on. AI informs and challenges me, connects me with other thinkers around the world, and encourages me to see my work in a much broader context. I’m documenting this exploration here.
