Once again, I’ve been remiss in posting here. To be honest, until last week, I didn’t have a lot to blog about. Where The Guilty Hide is still with my publisher as is Helpless .   I’ve made great progress on the second Detective Honeywell Mystery, as yet untitled. Beginning next week, I’m going back into Book Jail to finish the first draft, hopefully before my developmental edits on Helpless come back from my editor.   So I’ve been busy writing. Except for last week.   I mentioned back in June that Death By Equine had been named a finalist for the 2021 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award. Last week, Thursday, November 3, was the cocktail reception at Castleton Lyons Farm for the award presentation. Most of a writer’s life is taken up by the stuff I just shared. Drafting a new book, editing another, waiting to hear from publishers. Getting nice reviews is often what keeps us plugging onward. And PLOTTING onward. To be nominated or named a finalist is nothing short of a dre...

Late last year, at the urging of one of my readers, I submitted Death By Equine for the 2021 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award. I filled out the application, sent in the required copies of the book, and promptly put it out of my mind.  Then early last week, I received an email notifying me that my novel had been named one of six semi-finalists for the award! I was over the moon! The three finalists will be announced later this month. Cross your fingers! At least I'll be so busy that I won't have much time to obsess over whether Death By Equine makes the cut. Fatal Reunion may have been released on May 10, but the launch events begin in earnest with my launch party at Mystery Lovers Bookshop on Sunday, June 12, followed by Lunch with the Author at The Gathering Place on Wednesday, June 15, the James Patterson event on Thursday, and a publishing panel at the Kittanning Library on Saturday.  For details and even more events, check out my website .

For all of my audiobook fans, it's finally here! Death by Equine is now available in audio! Once again the incredible Romy Nordlinger has given voice to my characters (yes, there's a reason Dr. Jessie Cameron sounds a lot like Zoe!).   To purchase, you can click on the image to buy from Audible, or go to your favorite audiobook seller. 

At the beginning of the year, I posted what I was looking forward to in 2021 . I included a mix of concrete goals (the stuff I had control over) and hopeful goals. In looking back at that post, I did pretty well on the concrete stuff. Less so with the rest.  I managed to self-publish a novel and a short story collection. In the process, I've learned a lot. I also have a lot to learn on that front. Going forward, I don't have immediate plans to do any more self-publishing, but it's good to have that option available.  I turned in the next Zoe Chambers mystery to my new publisher. And I completed a first draft of a manuscript I've been starting and stopping for a while. We don't have a contract for it yet, but at least that crappy first draft is DONE. My fabulous agent managed to land an audio contract for Death By Equine as well as placing it on a couple of new reading platforms, KISS and Scream.  As for the rest of my goals? The conferences I'd hoped to attend ...

Somehow, I've once again managed to let several months fly by without checking in here. I could offer up a multitude of excuses, all valid, but instead, let me just do a quick catch-up.  The garden did extremely well but is done now.  I've been kept busy doing both in-person and virtual book events. It's been wonderful seeing people in 3-dimension instead of just in a little box on a computer screen. I got to interview my good friend Liz Milliron during her launch party for Harm Not the Earth at Mystery Lovers Bookshop Hanging out with Jennifer Diamond after I presented the keynote at the Festival of Books in the Alleghenies Doing a reading at the Festival of Books in the Alleghenies One day in September, we had waterfront property, courtesy of Hurricane Ida. Thankfully, the floodwaters didn't quite make it to the house. Earlier this month, I released my second indie-published book. Not a full-length novel, but instead, a collection of short stories featuring the chara...

It's finally here.  Over the last few years, I've averaged a book release every 8 or 9 months. The time from story concept to publication has been reasonably short. My first published novel, Circle of Influence , took seven years to make it from me typing "Chapter One" to finding a publisher to hitting the bookstore shelves.  Death by Equine has languished for SIXTEEN years. I wrote it a couple of years before Zoe and Pete hatched in my brain. I signed with an agent for it. It didn't sell. The agent and I parted company. I put it aside, started, and completed Circle . Another agent expressed interest in Equine (although it was called something else back then. Even the title has been on a twisty path to publication). Zoe and Pete were shoved to the back burner while I revised Equine . Still nothing happened publication-wise. I put it away once again, found a publisher for Zoe and Pete, and never looked back. Sort of. Every so often, someone who'd read and/or ...

The arrival of THE box of books--the first bulk order or the first shipment from a publisher--is always a reason for celebration.  Death by Equine is my eleventh novel, but this part of the process never gets old.  The official release date is less than a week away. If you haven't registered for my launch party, hosted by Mystery Lovers Bookshop on Zoom, you should do so now . You can order a signed or inscribed copy there while you're at it.

For those of you who aren't familiar with horseracing, the first leg of the Triple Crown is tomorrow (Saturday, May 1). With the exception of last year, which was...after all...LAST YEAR...the Kentucky Derby is run on the first Saturday of May. It holds the distinction of being the longest-running sporting event in the United States, dating back to 1875. My personal history with the race doesn't go back quite that far. As a horse-crazy kid, I'm sure I've watched it every year since I was born, thanks to my dad, who was a sports aficionado. But my first memory of it was 1971 when a longshot by the name of Canonero II came charging from the rear of the pack to win.  Everyone thought it was a fluke. Until he repeated the feat to win the Preakness, which is the second leg of the Triple Crown and is run two weeks after the Derby. Not a lot of time for a horse to rest up between races. It had been 25 years since the world had seen one horse sweep all three races. I remember t...

It's almost time to celebrate the launch of Death by Equine ! The release date is sneaking up on me. May 11th! The party is being held on Zoom this time, so everyone can attend. Hosted by Mystery Lovers Bookshop , the event involves a discussion between me and my dear friend and longtime critique buddy, Donnell Ann Bell .  Donnell helped me create the earliest version of this book over a decade ago. When my first agent couldn't sell it, Donnell hounded me to do something with it. For a long time, I resisted, having moved on to my Zoe Chambers series. When the lull in the publishing action happened, and I decided to dust off, revise, and indie-publish Death by Equine , Donnell became the obvious choice to include in the launch party.  I haven't seen her interview questions yet but last I heard, she had something like FIFTEEN of them. Yes, I'm a little scared. Mostly though, I'm excited. I get to hang out with one of my dearest friends. Laughter is inevitable.  The p...

If writing is your career, you're never really resting on your laurels. For instance, this week, I'm continuing to prep and format the print version of Death by Equine and juggle the marketing side of its impending release. I'm revising and rewriting a chunk of Fatal Reunion (the next Zoe mystery) following Sunday's meeting with my critique group. And I'm working on the first book in the new series, which my agent has out on submission.  The location of the new series "Working on" doesn't really mean "writing" at this point. Sure I have three chapters and a synopsis completed. Those are what are out on submission. I'm eager to pick up at chapter four and start putting words on the page. However, I'm not quite there yet. When I'm offering a critique on a new writer's first few chapters, nine times out of ten I find the story doesn't truly begin until page 25. Or page 30. Or page 50. Prior to that, the writer is laying out...

Last week, I finished the second draft of Fatal Reunion AKA Zoe Chambers #11. Does that mean it's done? Oh, heck no. I have a critique group meeting this Sunday and they'll give me feedback on fifty pages of it. Next week, I'll work on their comments and make fixes as needed. But for the moment, Zoe and Pete and the gang are resting. I was supposed to teach an online writing workshop for a local library this Saturday, but it's been postponed. Happily, the reason for the postponement is the flipflop of last year's cancellations. We're putting it off until we can have the workshop IN PERSON, inside the library , later this summer. This makes me extremely happy. I love to teach, but much prefer seeing the looks of understanding or confusion on my students' faces, thereby allowing me to shift focus to keep everyone up to speed. That's nearly impossible when focusing on a shared-screen PowerPoint.  Which brings me to what my main focus is this week: Death by...

It's been a stressful week. After much procrastination, I buckled down and started the actual process of publishing Death by Equine . I confess my stress levels were off the charts. This was all new to me. I didn't know what I didn't know. Thankfully, I left myself plenty of time to allow for "bugs." And I have some amazing friends in the writing community who offered answers and advice.  My release date is May 11. My goal has been to have it up for pre-order by March 11 (TODAY), and I've met that goal. The part I hadn't anticipated is that I can only offer digital for pre-order. The print book is uploaded and ready, but when I clicked "publish," it went live! And the version of the manuscript is still in uncorrected proof stage! Ack! So I pulled the plug. At least I know it's ready to go once I complete my final proofread and make the fixes. Want to pre-order? For Kindle, click here . To order in one of the other digital platforms (Nook, App...

I had hoped to have Death by Equine ready for publication by now. I had hoped to be able to list it available for pre-order by the first of next week. Alas, I'm running behind. My reasons (excuses) are numerous, beginning and ending with yet another round of Covid Distraction.  A year ago, when the pandemic began, I lacked focus, motivation, and creativity. Lots of us were in that boat. By autumn, I'd regained my ability and passion to write. Lately, it's once again become a struggle. Add Cabin Fever and Spring Fever to the mix and you have one frustrated author.  I have moments of eagerness and hope. A third vaccine. Lower case numbers. Maybe my husband and I will get our vaccinations sooner rather than later. Part of my brain begins to plan trips in anticipation.  Even a weekend at Lake Erie, a mere 3-hour drive, sounds amazing. But I can't let myself get too excited. Focus. I must focus.  That means continuing to run through one more round of revisions on Death b...

I started writing Death by Equine back around 2005. I landed my first agent with it, but it never sold. The agent and I parted company a couple of years later.   Fast forward to last spring. I'd completed Til Death , my tenth Zoe Chambers mystery, and had reached the end of my contract. I wasn't sure what was next.  I dragged out that 15-year-old manuscript and run it through my critique group to determine if it held up and was worth revisiting. They liked it, so I decided to delve into the world of indie publishing.  I contacted a cover artist and sent the manuscript to my freelance editor. Within the last two weeks, I received the results from both.  So far, nothing has been that far from my previous experience. Yes, I had a lot more say in the cover, but I've worked with my editor for most of the Zoe mysteries and her comments came as no surprise. (What is always a surprise is how I miss all that stuff!) Going forward, though, feels like entering a strange n...