Coming Up For Air

I have spent much of the last month sitting in front of my computer, writing like a crazed woman. That’s my excuse for not having blogged recently, and I’m sticking to it. However, this past week, I typed two lovely little words (The End), so I’ve resurfaced, albeit briefly, to catch up.

My first bit of news: Circle of Influence has been nominated for the David Award for Best Novel. This announcement came completely without warning. I awoke one morning to congratulatory posts on Facebook.

Let me just say, don’t assume I know about good stuff happening to me. More often than not, I learn about this stuff from Facebook or Twitter friends who bring it to my attention. I did set up a Google Alert for myself once, but it doesn’t seem to work. The only one I ever received was about a particularly scathing review. I can do without being alerted to bad news.

Anyway, I am now registered to attend the Deadly Ink Mystery Convention in New Jersey in August for the awards banquet.

Another bit of news: Bridges Burned was given a fabulous review in Mystery Scene Magazine! Since it was good news, Google Alerts didn’t clue me in on that one either. I subscribe and was eating my lunch and scanning the new issue in blissful ignorance when I turned the page and there I was!


And more recent news: the Zoe Chambers mystery, formerly known as Book #4, now has a title. With A Vengeance. Some titles come easy, some not so much. This one took almost as much thought and research as the book itself. But I love it.

In the process of completing the first draft of With A Vengeance, I pretty much fried my laptop. Last weekend, while hunkered over it, the poor beast starting making terrible sounds and got so hot I expected it—or the table it was sitting on—to burst into flames. Not wishing to lose my manuscript, or even part of it (I do backup religiously), to a computer meltdown, I shut it down and ordered a new machine. However, the new one hasn’t arrived yet, so I’m still using the old one, which of course, is functioning just fine at the moment, thank you very much.  

After taking this weekend to relax and read, I’ll crawl back into my writing cave on Monday to begin revisions.


See you all next time I come up for air!

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