Skye and Kensi are still not what I'd call "friends." Kensi loves to torment Skye who isn't interested in rough-housing. But when things quiet down, Skye tolerates Kensi's presence pretty well.

I wanted to warn everyone that I’m going into hiding for a couple of weeks. I call it crawling into my cave. If our camp in Confluence weren’t closed for the winter, I’d head there. But instead, I’m here in my office (which is currently being invaded by those impersonator ladybugs). I’ve had a request from an agent for both of my racetrack mystery/suspense manuscripts. More on that later, but for now, I have two weeks to polish TWO manuscripts before I’m expected to submit them. So with a hyperkinetic Kensi kitten bouncing around and chasing the previously mentioned ladybugs, I’ll be holed up in my cave until further notice.

Today I'm at Working Stiffs with my report from week two of PA State Police Citizen's Academy.

And it’s Monday again. Last week I proclaimed my goal of creating the dreaded blurb for my query letter and website. Done. Sort of. I’ve written, rewritten, and rewritten it over and over. But I’ve settled on one version. For now. Basically, I’m just too exhausted by the process to look at it any longer. So I’ve checked that one off my to-do list. But it’s Monday and time for a new list and a new set of priorities for the week. I have so many irons in the fire right now that I’m having a great deal of difficulty picking one to focus on. I have another article due to Pennsylvania Magazine. There’s the current fiction work in progress (and a critique meeting on Thursday for which I have nada to offer at this point). I’m thinking of pulling out one of my old unpublished manuscripts and giving it another polish. And there’s the rest of the query package to go with the “completed” blurb. Maybe I should throw them all in a hat and just pick one. Nah. That’s too simple. Decision made: First p...

I'm filling in over at Working Stiffs today and have started a new series there on the Citizen's Police Academy. This time it's the PA State Police version.

Mondays are a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I feel relieved that I have an entire week to work through the new to-do list. Later in the week, with the clock ticking down to the weekend, I feel mounting pressure to get the rest of the stuff on the list crossed off. Today, hey, I have lots of time. Ha. This week, I’m prioritizing my list. Topping it is my website. I’ve been meaning to have it updated since spring. If you check it out, you’ll see it hasn’t been touched in a couple of years. It still focuses on the veterinary racetrack mystery. I need to change that focus to my new paramedic mystery. I need to start querying the manuscript. But before I send out my first query, I want the website to reflect the new novel. The holdup is the website page that will be devoted to the novel. I need to write a blurb. I also need a blurb for the query letter. I hate writing blurbs. So I will be spending my writing time this week gnashing my teeth and pulling out my hair as I struggle with two ...

Kensi has found some new friends that don't hiss at her like Skye does.

I'm back at Working Stiffs today sharing a kinder gentler type of ghost story.

Autumn in Pennsylvania can be beautiful. Unfortunately, it only lasts about 27 minutes. We tend to plummet from 90 degree days to cold, wet, rainy 45 degree days within a week. Maybe this is Mother Nature’s version of ripping off the Band-Aid. No time to contemplate the end of summer and the approach of winter. Bam. It’s here. We spent our last few days of the season at Confluence this weekend. We had a double purpose this trip. It was the Pumpkinfest once again, and I wanted to hand deliver copies of Pennsylvania Magazine to the festival’s organizer and the fire department, since my article covering last year’s festival is in it. Plus we had to close up and winterize the camper. Delivering the magazines was fun. Formally ending the camping season? Not so much. Today I’m in mourning. Camping Season 2010 is history. Gone. Who knows what the future holds. Will Hubby have a job next year? Will he be working so much that he won’t be able to enjoy the camp? Will he be working so little that...

We visited Meadowcroft last weekend. This is one of my favorite places on earth, and I have a long history with them, from designing and helping to make the Meadowcroft Quilt that hangs in their visitor center to writing an article about them for Pennsylvania Magazine a few years back. This time we were there for a weekend devoted to Native American history. Especially interesting was this guy who demonstrated fire starting. First there was smoke. And then there was more smoke. And finally... FIRE!