Monday was a lousy day for a lot of people. An Air France flight was lost somewhere in the Atlantic. Turbulence and lightning don’t usually knock airplanes out of the sky. The General Motors bankruptcy was distressing, even though we knew it was inevitable. Another 20,000 workers to lose their jobs. Dealerships to close. More …Read More
Colorado Author — Beth Groundwater
I’ll put the full disclosure information right up front. I know Beth Groundwater very well and consider her a good friend. In 2007, we were two of the mystery authors on the Mystery Through the Ages panels (with Mike Befeler, Linda Berry, and Robert Spiller), and also enjoyed presentations and signings with thriller author Bonnie …Read More
And the winner is…
The Practical Preserver (Karen Brees). You can read Karen’s great tips on preserving food at: http://practicalpreserving.blogspot.com/. Please note her new book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Preserving Food, is now available for pre-order at online booksellers. I’ll be sending Karen an advance reading copy of The Desert Hedge Murders for her reading pleasure. This drawing …Read More
I’m Ready to Write
Since I’m writing this blog Saturday night and pre-scheduling it to publish Sunday morning, I won’t hold the drawing for the advance review copy of The Desert Hedge Murders quite yet (just in case someone in the Pacific Time Zone squeezes in an entry at the last minute). Sometime today (Sunday), I’ll post the winner’s …Read More
Once a Bookworm, Always a Bookworm
One of the worst moments of my life happened the day I realized I would never be able to read all the books in the world. Don’t laugh. I was devastated. I’m seriously addicted to the written word. I’ve always needed scores of unread books on hand, just in case. Even with hardcovers and paperbacks …Read More
Self-Editing — Adjectives and Adverbs
I know what you’re thinking. Ouch. Self-editing. Boring! I’ll skim this blog, drop in a quick comment, and run. Please don’t. Stick around. I have a surprise for you. Each visitor who comments on this blog today or tomorrow will be entered in a drawing for an advanced reading copy of The Desert Hedge Murders. …Read More
Today I Will Kill Thistles
I’ll bet you’re thinking Thistles is the name of my neighbor’s cat, the one that uses my flower bed as a litter box. But no, I’m talking real thistles. They began taking over my garden in 2007. I was too busy promoting my book to plant anything. I instructed my husband to keep the weeds …Read More
Speaking of Books…
Yesterday I mailed eleven advance review copies of The Desert Hedge Murders to newspapers and online book review sites, looking for those extra opportunities for publicity. I still have more to send. The book’s official release date is August 19th. The next three months are for planning–scheduling promotional events, designing and ordering bookmarks and/or postcards, …Read More
Tom Piccirilli’s The Cold Spot
The perfect choice for a determined effort to read good books while ignoring Twitter, Facebook, and all those e-mails, The Cold Spot by Tom Piccirilli delivers. First of all, I love mysteries, and it doesn’t matter whether they’re noir or cozy, police procedural or amateur sleuth. It’s only natural I’d put mysteries high on my …Read More
Lemony Snicket’s Horseradish
I admit I was expecting something funny. Instead, I found Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid to be as bitter as the root after which the author named his book. It is pessimism and cynicism with a little dark humor thrown in–not what I was looking for to begin my two-day reading project. It’s my …Read More