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
Let the Reading Begin
If you read yesterday’s post, you know I’m taking a great big break and intend to read for fun most of today and tomorrow. Four books have clawed their way to the top of my stacks of books: Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid — Lemony SnicketThe Cold Spot — Tom Piccirilli (mystery — Colorado …Read More
Temporarily Out of Order
Tomorrow (Sunday) morning I’m going to declare myself “Temporarily Out of Order.” I might even write that on a Post-It note and stick it to my forehead. Tomorrow and Monday, I will not spend more than two hours per day at my computer. I will not check most lists or groups. I will not visit …Read More
Ten Things I Don’t Love
A couple of days ago, I blogged about ten things I love. That one was easy. Today I’ll let you in on the rest of the story. I have another side. Yes, it’s true, there are things in this world I don’t care for. Side note: the really bad stuff would go on a list …Read More
Some Thoughts About Creating Characters
As I read through my advance review copy of The Desert Hedge Murders, I’m reminded how much fun I had creating and writing about The Florida Flippers, a travel club of elderly ladies. One of the ladies, Kristina Grisseljon, is the mother of my protagonists, Sylvia Thorn and Willie Grisseljon. Kristina is a spirited gal …Read More