Proof of Life

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 one in-person appearance this month for anyone who's a writer. I'll be teaching a two-hour Creating 3-Dimensional Characters class for Steel Quill Writers Workshops in Squirrel Hill (Pittsburgh), PA on Sunday, August 24. You can check out the details or register here.    

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mom Update

Image
It’s been a while since I wrote anything about my mom. If you follow me on Facebook, you’ve probably noticed a number of posts recently about long nights in the ER with her. I appreciate the kind concerns and prayers from friends and family. But while I know they’re well intended, the “hope she gets well soon” sentiments cut like a finely honed blade. Mom isn’t going to get well. She has good days and bad. More and more of the latter. Today’s “good days” are about the same as the bad ones a couple months ago. She has vascular dementia. In addition to her mental slippage, her legs have grown weak and uncooperative, adding to her pre-existing balance issues. We plead with her to call for assistance to get out of bed. Unfortunately, she can’t remember that she’s had numerable falls lately, so she continues to try to get up and around on her own, resulting in more falls. And in more trips to the ER. She has dislocated her right hip twice now. She’s hit her head more times ...
Read more

A New Face

Image
I've been hearing over and over lately that I need to get new headshots done. People who only know me from my online presence complain when they meet me that I don't look anything like my picture. Hmmm. Is that good or bad? I'm still not sure. However, the fact that I now wear my hair a lot longer than I used to is a fact I can't deny. The problem with new photos is...well, I'm older than I was when I had those last ones done. If I could get away with posting a picture of me when I was 25, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Seriously, inside my head, that's still what I look like. Outside? Not so much. But I caved in this weekend. After shooting over 60 frames, I came up with four that I like. So I'm posting them here and asking for a vote. Which ONE photo should be my new "face" for my online persona? Choice #1 Choice #2 Choice #3 Choice #4 Leave a comment with your favorite. Okay, I get to make the final decision, so this...
Read more

For the Sake of Research

It’s been a rough week. Or a wonderful week if you count all the fodder for my writing. Life started getting interesting on Wednesday when I was doing the dreaded prep for my first (and if I can help it—LAST) colonscopy. I realize how important this test is and how many lives it’s saved, but let me just say, if they can put men on the moon, they should be able to come up with a prep that doesn’t taste quite so dreadful. But I lived through it, and as I’d been told, the test itself was a piece of cake. I slept through it. Although I made many mental notes about the hospital experience for use in a future story. The weird complication came when I woke up and announced, through a drug-induced fog, that my eye hurt. Somehow, I’d managed to scratch my cornea. Recovery room staff hustled to bring me eye ointment. The thing hurt like the dickens and my vision was seriously blurred for the rest of the day. By Friday morning, my eye and my vision were improved. However, the universe was...
Read more