I'm home after a fairytale-worthy four days at Malice Domestic in Bethesda, Maryland. No, I did not win the Agatha, but I've truly embraced my eight nominations for the honor they are. And speaking of honors, I absolutely LOVED being the Guest of Honor this year. I will treasure these memories for the rest of my life. The adventure began on Thursday, road tripping with my longtime pal Martha Reed.  There was momentary panic when I posted that picture on Social Media. "Where's Liz???" Dru Ann Love demanded. Liz moved a while back, and for this trip, since Martha is now closer to me and was also Malice-bound, I chose to ride with her. But Liz and I still roomed together. No, the Dynamic Mystery Duo has not broken up. Malice placed me in a lovely suite with a great view.  Thursday evening, I joined the board and the other honorees for a meet-and-greet, but didn't get any photos.  Friday was a busy day, although it didn't begin until later in the day with my A...

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...

Once again, I've fallen behind on my posts, but I have a good excuse. Several, actually. June was a busy month.  In case you missed it, there was my interview with James Patterson.  In addition to a bunch of appearances throughout the month, I was working on the next Zoe and Pete mystery, tentatively titled Helpless . It's proving to be quite the challenge.  At the end of the month, I received word that Death By Equine had made the cut and has been named one of THREE finalists for the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award! I'll be traveling to Lexington, Kentucky, in November for the announcement of the $10,000 winner.  I also received my first editorial letter from my new UK publisher for the first book in my new Lake Erie Mysteries series. I wasn't sure what to expect. New editor. New publisher. The United Kingdom. But I couldn't be more pleased with her insights and suggestions. So for several weeks, I put Helpless on the backburner and focused my full attention on revisions...

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 .