After 34 years of marriage, Hubby and I discovered we both love baseball. I grew up watching the Pittsburgh Pirates on television and listening to the games, announced by the legendary Bob Prince, on radio. I had an uncle who was a rabid fan. My dad just loved the game. I celebrated the team led by Willie Stargell. I marveled at Kent Tekulve's arm. I mourned the loss of a true hero, Roberto Clemente. We claimed the song We Are Family as our own. But that was well before I met my husband, who has his own tales of attending games at the long-gone Forbes Field as a small child. Last night, we went on a date night to our little minor league franchise's ball field to watch the Washington Wild Things. Meet The Wild Thing: It was a hoot! There were foot races between a doughnut, an iced latte, and a cup of coffee. Another foot race involved the team mascot and a small boy. The boy won. A couple of kids competed in a hula-hoop contest. We all sang Take Me Out to the Ballgam...

Before I get started, let me say the last couple of months have been horrible. And not just because I'm terrified for the future of our nation. I'm not going there. Not now. This is more personal than that. For the last couple of months, I've been watching my mother's health decline. As I'm writing this, she's in a coma. All of her meds have been discontinued. We're in limbo, waiting for the inevitable. Therefore, my view of the world right now is colored with sorrow. [Taking a deep breath and plunging ahead] However, the entire year was NOT bad. In fact, looking back, I had some of the best moments of my career and my life in 2016. Henery Press released my fourth Zoe Chambers mystery, With a Vengeance ! That's Trevor and Natalie of Mystery Lovers Bookshop hamming it up with an advanced copy of it. AND Bridges Burned was an Agatha Award nominee for Best Contemporary Novel!!! That photo was taken at the celebratory lunch my critique group th...

Last Saturday, I'd spent a wonderful day out with my writing buddies of our local Sisters in Crime chapter. We met for lunch and conversation at Chelsea Grille in Oakmont before walking across the street to Mystery Lovers Bookshop for our business meeting. The weather was lovely. We had a great turnout. I was re-elected as vice president. When I came home, I noticed the light blinking on our answering machine. I expected a hangup or a telemarketing computer-generated voice, which is about all we receive on our landline any more. Instead there was a real, live person stating she was from Malice Domestic and could I please call her back. Malice Domestic? Last year, I'd received a similar call congratulating me for having my novel, Circle of Influence nominated for an Agatha for Best First. But that was last year. I knew it couldn't possibly be anything like that this time. They probably needed to confirm something with my registration. Still, my hands shook so bad,...

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. ...

Yes, I’ve fallen into both of those categories. If there’s any hope, it’s that acknowledging the problem is the first step to recovery. Right? Today is the official launch of Bridges Burned.  Granted the online dealers have been shipping print copies for weeks now, and my big launch party was this past Saturday, so you would think the “official” release would be somewhat anticlimactic. Or at least I always think it’s going to be. Wrong. Besides the big publicity push for the new book, my brilliant publisher, Henery Press, does the remarkably smart thing and puts the previous book on sale during launch week. So Lost Legacy is available in all e-book versions for only 99 cents. The deal hit BookBub. And then Lost Legacy started climbing the sales ratings. Most of the time, I pay little attention to these numbers. I check on occasion to make sure I’m hanging out in my usual range—adequate, but not newsworthy. But the BookBub thing stirred me to star...

Tomorrow I'm kicking off my two week plus blog tour for the launch of Bridges Burned. March 31 - A Blue Million Books April 1 – Jane Reads April 1 – Writers Who Kill April 2 – Tea and a Book April 3 – Shelley’s Book Case April 4 – Deal Sharing Aunt April 5 – Christa Reads and Writes April 6 – A Chick Who Reads April 7 – Readalot April 8 – Marie’s Cozy Corner April 9 – Community Bookstop April 9 – Get Lost in a Story April 10 – Chloe Gets a Clue April 11 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too! April 12 – LibriAmoriMiei April 13 – MysteriesEtc. April 14 – Escape With Dollycas Into a Good Book April 14 – Dru’s Book Musings April 16 – Killer Hobbies

One of the things I hope to improve upon in this new year is decluttering. With the demands of deadlines, not to mention the great excuse “I don’t have time to clean. I have to write,” my house has become a series of what I affectionately call “hog holes.” Comfy, but messy. A little TOO lived in. So I’m tackling one hog hole at a time. No, I will not be showing you the before photos. They might result in a film crew from some hoarding reality show appearing on my front porch. However, here is my first tidied corner of my house. Books and DVDs all neat and orderly. Small cabinet’s top cleared of “stuff.” On to the next corner…which sad to say now contains some of the junk I cleared from THIS corner. Sigh. In other homefront news, Skye has developed a new quirk. She no longer wants her food in the kitchen. She now prefers to eat it in the bathtub! If I set the bowl down elsewhere, she snubs it, goes to the bathroom door and looks at me until I follow her. Then ...

It’s time once again for me to look back on the year as it comes to an end. One thing I can say about 2014: There’s never been a dull moment. It started out frantic with revving up to release my first novel while finishing my second and starting my third. And in March, the day I feared might never happen came to fruition. My first launch party was a huge success. I’d dreamed of someday signing the famous bathroom wall at Mystery Lovers Bookshop. It finally happened. Then I spent a few months learning to be a published author, attending book signings and conferences. Soon I was gearing up for the launch of my SECOND book! At the same time, I was finishing the third one. The highs were tempered with lows, namely my mom’s health issues. My goal for 2014 was finding balance. I think the Universe wanted to make sure I kept things in perspective. The second launch party was incredible, too. And as if that weren’t enough, I hit the USA T...

I like to think I’m flexible—the emotional kind, not just the physical kind of flexibility that comes from almost two decades of yoga practice—but I’ve come to the conclusion that I resist change as much as anyone I know. Give me a rut, a routine and I’m happy. When my rut caves in on me, I lose my center. Heck, let’s face it—I lose my mind! After several months of no routine, no rut, no sense of structure in my life, I’m finally getting back to a schedule. Mom’s settled in nicely to her new home. I don’t necessarily have less responsibilities, but I do have different ones. The important part is I’m managing to fit my new responsibilities in around my writing. And I’m writing every day ! The next book is more than scribbled sticky notes tacked to my office walls! It’s taking shape. In the meantime, the print version of Bridges Burned is now available for pre-order ! 

Ta DA! This is my favorite one so far!

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!