I have a string of countdowns to keep track of. Seven days until my deadline to turn in book #3 of the Zoe Chambers mystery series to my editor. Eight days until three of my local Sisters in Crime and I hit the road for North Carolina and the Writer’s Police Academy . Yes, next week is going to be very busy. Twenty-two days until the official release of Lost Legacy . Twenty days until my launch party at Mystery Lovers Bookshop . You’re all invited. Bring a friend. I always fear no one will show up at these things. With so much on my horizon, I decided there's one thing I no longer wish put off. My reveal of the title for book #3. Are you ready? Drum roll please! Bridges Burned . A big shout out and thank you to my critique buddy Jeff Boarts for coming up with it. While I haven’t see a copy of Lost Legacy (other than the advanced copies), I believe there will be a sample chapter of Bridges Burned at the end of Lost Legacy . Yes, I’m a tease! 

I had a great time yesterday at The Gathering Place for Coffee with the Author. Great crowd. Great questions. And I discovered one of the hazards of doing a well-publicized event on your home turf. An old friend from high school, John Cherok, came and brought our senior yearbook. I don't know about you, but I really want the whole world to see my senior photo. NOT. He also brought photo copies of my "first published work," a really bad four-line poem that was printed (without my consent) in our senior literary journal. The story about our adviser secretly taking that silly little ditty from my notebook is one for another day. Suffice it to say,  my byline was included even though I'd prefer not taking credit for the poem in question. Again, not something I ever wanted anyone to see. Embarrassment (mine) aside, we had some great laughs about "the old days" at school and on the ambulance service. Speaking of which... By way of payback, check out the

Twenty-eight days until the official release of Lost Legacy. I've posted another Goodreads giveaway. Enter for a chance to win one of five signed ARCs. I'm gearing up for some travel and adventures along with planning my second launch party. And in the meantime, I have my nose to the proverbial grindstone trying to whip book #3 into shape. Deadline for turning the manuscript into my agent is September 2. Where has the year gone? Tomorrow, I'm the featured "guest" at Coffee with the Author at The Gathering Place, a cute little coffee house attached to the Paris Presbyterian Church (Burgettstown PA) at noon. I'll be talking about Circle of Influence and Lost Legacy , writing, and anything else that anyone wants to talk about. And I'll have copies there to sell and sign. If you're in the southwestern Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, or West Virginia panhandle regions, I'd love to have you stop in!