When I was a kid, our farm gardens were massive. We had acres of potatoes. My grandmother's "kitchen garden" had to be at least a thousand square feet. Corn, cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, kohlrabi, onions, peppers, and so much more. Rhubarb, horseradish, and dill grew along its borders. We had an apple orchard as well as pear and peach trees.  Now, we have a ten-acre chunk of that 150-acre farm, and our little garden has grown progressively smaller over the decades. This year we have onions, cucumbers, a few sad tomato plants, peppers, and one plant each of yellow squash and zucchini. Those last two are threatening to take over the world alongside the cucumbers. We've given bushels of the things away. People see my husband coming and run. They can't escape. He drives by when folks aren't home and leaves squash on their doorstep.  I've been cooking and eating squash and cukes for lunch and supper every single day. Yes, I'm sick of them. And...

Fifteen years ago today, the Universal Cat Distribution System deposited this tiny, wormy, flea-infested little one on our front porch. I tried to find a home for her, but Kensi had already decided THIS was home, and I was her human. I've learned to never question her again.   Kensi 2010 Happy Gotcha Day, Kensi. Kensi 2025

I'm breathing a little easier this week. I completed and turned in my proofreads of No Stone Left Unturned early this week and have been pounding away on the first draft of the fifth Honeywell mystery. As of today, I've topped 75,000 words. I expect this one to be around 90K or a little under, so I'm on target to meet my goal of completion by the end of August. Yay me! I do have one item on my to-do list that will take up part of my time this coming week. As I mentioned last time, I'm teaching a two-hour workshop for Steel Quill Workshops. It's titled Creating 3-Dimensional Characters and is geared toward all genres and all skill levels. If you're interested, click here to register. The workshop takes place on Sunday, August 24 from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 at 5858 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA. 

I'm still here. I even managed to get out for a few in-person events last month. First, I had the honor of being Linda Castillo's conversation partner for her Pittsburgh stop on her book tour. RAGE , her new Kate Burkholder novel, is fabulous. I loved it and was reminded that I need to go back and pick up a few of her earlier books that I somehow missed. Photo courtesy of Mystery Lovers Bookshop Then, I spent a little time at our local Senior Citizen's Center to chat about books with the hometown crowd.  Photo courtesy of Burgettstown Senior Center Finally, I was honored once more to be the conversation partner with Shari Lapena. Her newest thriller, She Didn't See It Coming , was riveting! And the crowd was amazing.  Photo courtesy of Mystery Lovers Bookshop Now, for the month of August, I'm mostly holing up in Book Jail. I'm juggling two books right now: drafting Honeywell #5 (which needs a working title) and proofreading No Stone Left Unturned .  I do have on...