Yesterday, Hubby and I climbed into my beloved old pickup truck (affectionately nicknamed The Beast) and headed to Ohio ’s Amish Country to pick up the dining table and chairs we’d ordered back in July. The Beast, by the way, used to be my primary source of transportation. We bought her new in 1990…a fully loaded ¾ ton Chevy Silverado with all the extras for hauling our horse trailer and fat Quarter Horses. Back then, I remember complaining that it took $26 to fill the gas tank. Yes, I was horribly naïve. These days it takes well over a hundred bucks to fill ‘er up, not to mention the Beast has close to 200,000 miles under her belt, so we mostly leave her bedded down in my mom’s garage. The last major jaunt she’d been on was three years ago when we hauled our camper to Confluence. She’d groaned a bit, lugging that thing through the Laurel Highlands . But we figured Ohio is mostly flat and the old girl should be able to handle a table and four chairs. I should mention so...

At the Pennwriters Conference in May, one of the speakers said that blogs were dead and the "new blog" was Facebook. Feeling overwhelmed, I latched onto that nugget as an excuse to lighten my load. Hence, my absence here. However, I admit I miss blogging. So in very short order, I'll be back. You've been warned. First though, I intend on revamping, refocusing, and redesigning this blog and, to a lesser extent, my website. I'm also back in what I less-than-affectionately call Query Hell. And I'm organizing a workshop on Choices and Challenges of Modern Publishing for Pennwriters. And I'm coordinating our Sisters in Crime annual writing retreat. Yes, my plate is full...with everything except writing. To quote Captain Jack Sparrow (and Ozzie Osbourne, I believe), " Not good ." So until I catch up and get back to blogging here on a regular basis, you can find me on my Facebook page .