Most years, May is one of my favorite months. Spring is officially (mostly) conquering winter. The trees and grass are green. Flowers are in bloom. Birds are singing. The view from my kitchen window All that is true this year as well, but the first few weeks of May nearly did me in.  First, my husband and I had his-and-hers eye infections. Then, he brought home a wicked, bone-rattling cough. I thought for sure I was going to catch it.  The Pennwriters Conference was coming up. I tried to imagine keeping my roommate awake all night with that cough. Or trying to get through two workshops while trying to catch my breath.  Just when it looked like I might dodge that bullet, something even worse struck. Kensi Kitty, within a matter of hours, went from perfectly healthy to lethargic and refused to eat or drink. She was obviously in distress.  Sad Kensi at the vet's office I took her to the vet almost immediately. Her blood tests and X-rays looked BAD. The vet didn't expect...

I'm home after a fairytale-worthy four days at Malice Domestic in Bethesda, Maryland. No, I did not win the Agatha, but I've truly embraced my eight nominations for the honor they are. And speaking of honors, I absolutely LOVED being the Guest of Honor this year. I will treasure these memories for the rest of my life. The adventure began on Thursday, road tripping with my longtime pal Martha Reed.  There was momentary panic when I posted that picture on Social Media. "Where's Liz???" Dru Ann Love demanded. Liz moved a while back, and for this trip, since Martha is now closer to me and was also Malice-bound, I chose to ride with her. But Liz and I still roomed together. No, the Dynamic Mystery Duo has not broken up. Malice placed me in a lovely suite with a great view.  Thursday evening, I joined the board and the other honorees for a meet-and-greet, but didn't get any photos.  Friday was a busy day, although it didn't begin until later in the day with my A...

How do cats know when their humans are planning to leave them and go on a trip?  Three years ago, on the Sunday (yes, a weekend) prior to Malice Domestic, my beloved fur baby Kensi Kitty had some sort of episode. She gakked and immediately collapsed. I thought it was a stroke and rushed her to the emergency vet clinic. I thought I was going to have to cancel my trip to Bethesda, regardless of the fact that I was nominated for an Agatha. Turned out to be good news (???) and bad news. The good news was that she'd fainted because of a vagal incident caused by throwing up. Not life-threatening, I was assured.  The bad news was that they discovered, during her exam, that she had mild hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.  In hindsight, this was good news, too, because we caught it. She's been on lisinopril ever since and has been doing well. It does mean I have to stuff a tiny pill down her throat twice a day, but she's remarkably cooperative. For me. When I go on the road,...

I can't believe how fast time is flying. Malice Domestic is little more than two weeks away! How did that happen? I've been so excited for well over a year about being Guest of Honor, and now it's just around the corner!  Yesterday, the cover of the Malice Anthology: Murder Most Senior was revealed, and I adore it.  I'll be taking part in the anthology signing on Friday night, 9:30 p.m. For the rest of my schedule, you can check my Events page on my website.  I confess, I feel like Cinderella in the days before the ball. Just a hard-working writer, plugging along and suddenly having the spotlight cast on me! I have my dress for the banquet. I've been picking up pieces to add to my wardrobe. I have an appointment to get my hair touched up before we leave. What I need to get serious about is putting those new outfits together and beginning to pack. I usually throw everything together the day before I leave, but perhaps not this year.  I have great intentions of post...

I'm currently riding a triple-decker high that is incredibly rare in the world of hard-working writers. Most of the time, the path to publishing is a struggle. We begin by struggling to write a book. Yes, it's fun, communing with those imaginary characters filling our heads. But the part about creating a complete story that entertains not just ourselves, but hopefully readers, is a struggle. We take workshops and webinars. We read craft books by the dozen. We study and try to implement what we've learned. Eventually, if we're lucky and persistent, we're able to type THE END.  Then we struggle to revise and refine our words before struggling to find an agent and/or publisher for the book. Then we struggle to find readers. All the while, we're back struggling to write the NEXT book.  And so on. And so on.  I've been incredibly lucky to have repeatedly made it through all those struggles to reach this high point in my career. As I've already stated, I'm...

I am over-the-moon thrilled to announce that The Devil Comes Calling has been nominated for an Agatha for Best Contemporary Novel. If you're thinking this ever gets old, it doesn't. For the 7th time, receiving the news brought me to tears. Yes, this is my 8th nomination. The first time, I screamed. The poor woman on the phone was probably deaf for at least 24 hours. But after that, I've cried in grateful joy every time.  It's stuff like this that gets me through the current world situation and over a foot of snow outside my door. Thanks to Gabriel Valjean for the second graphic.