I'm currently riding a triple-decker high that is incredibly rare in the world of hard-working writers. Most of the time, the path to publishing is a struggle. We begin by struggling to write a book. Yes, it's fun, communing with those imaginary characters filling our heads. But the part about creating a complete story that entertains not just ourselves, but hopefully readers, is a struggle. We take workshops and webinars. We read craft books by the dozen. We study and try to implement what we've learned. Eventually, if we're lucky and persistent, we're able to type THE END.  Then we struggle to revise and refine our words before struggling to find an agent and/or publisher for the book. Then we struggle to find readers. All the while, we're back struggling to write the NEXT book.  And so on. And so on.  I've been incredibly lucky to have repeatedly made it through all those struggles to reach this high point in my career. As I've already stated, I'm...

For the last few years, I’ve been saying I want—no, NEED—to slow down. I’ve been pumping out books as fast as I could. Two or three a year. Now, I know writers who write even more than that, and I’m in awe. But for me, the old cliché “all work and no play” was wearing on me. Back on January 1 of 2024, I announced that I was taking measures to let me slow down. And I am. I’ve cut back on travel, although to be honest, a big part of that has to do with Kensi’s heart issues and the twice-a-day pill she gets. But the key measure I’ve taken involved turning down a three-book contract to continue the Zoe Chambers series. Okay, don’t cry or send threatening letters. I turned it down FOR NOW. I did not burn bridges. I simply need a break from multiple deadlines one after the other. Also back on January 1, 2024, I mentioned a book deal sitting on my desk. As you probably already have heard, that was another three-book offer, this one for the Detective Honeywell series. I’ve already written ...

I've been busy. I turned in the next Detective Honeywell manuscript on March 1. Afterward, I spent most of the month taking care of boring non-writing stuff. Annual doctors' exams and tests that I'd been putting off. Tax preparation. Other necessary but uninteresting personal odds and ends. As the end of the month neared, Matthias and Emma were getting rambunctious inside my head, so I started drafting what is currently being called "Honeywell #4."  It was kind of fun having only that one book on my plate.  Of course, that didn't last long. Along came the cover art for the next Zoe Chambers mystery! I love it! Next, my developmental edits for Honeywell #3 arrived earlier this week. There aren't really a lot, but a few of them require a lot of thought. The changes will make it a much stronger book, but I'm now working on two different books at the same time. Draft Honeywell #4 in the morning, revise Honeywell #3 in the afternoon.  Oh, and my line edits ...

Last year, I failed miserably in my intent to slow down. This year, I'm taking measures to see that I will be able to slow down in the near future. We'll see how it goes. I realized yesterday that I can't yet talk about much of what's on my plate for 2024. I have a book deal sitting on a desk while everyone's off on holiday break. Until that contract is signed, I'm keeping quiet. Suffice it to say, I'm writing a book that should come out at the end of the year. More on that later. I'm teaching a couple of writing courses this year, one in January, another in November. Plus, I have a couple of workshops scheduled.  The 13th Zoe Chambers Mystery, What Comes Around, is scheduled for release in May. Stay tuned for more on that (cover reveal, pre-orders), too.  I have two other books to outline and one of those to write before the end of the year.  I'm sorry I'm being so vague. Basically, I'm saying, that in 2024, I plan to write two books and out...

It's been so long since I last posted and so much has happened, there's no way I can fit it all into one post. Especially since I'm busy with the second draft of a new book. So I've decided to catch up a little at a time.  First up, HELPLESS , my 12th Zoe Chambers Mystery came out in May. It's my first foray into straight suspense, rather than whodunit mysteries, and the reviews have been outstanding. I'm so happy. And relieved.  Second, Where the Guilty Hide is FINALLY available in paperback in the US. It took a lot of trial and error and manually pushing buttons by my UK publisher, but it's out there! I won't go into the frustration involved in not being able to get my books into US bookstores. And I've been assured this won't happen when the second Detective Honeywell Mystery comes out in print early next year.  That would be Keep Your Family Close which has my absolute favorite cover of all of my books! It's up for digital pre-orders no...

Greetings from my writing cave.  I'm making great progress on my Book Jail projects. Only ten days in and I've completed copy edits on Where The Guilty Hide . Unless my editor determines my fixes still need more fixes, it will be off to proofreading next!  I've also completed the second draft of the next Zoe Chambers Mystery and shipped it off to my beta readers. That means two of my three goals have been met.  Now I have the big one to work on. I'm happy with the way the outline is shaping up for the second Matthias Honeywell Mystery. And I have opened a new Word doc and typed "Chapter 1" as well as an opening paragraph. To be honest, the opening paragraph sucks but it's a first draft. For me, all that first opening paragraph has to do is give me a starting point from which the story can flow.  The other BIG THING that's happened is Where The Guilty Hide is now available for pre-order with a release date of January 20! So far, only digital is listed,...

I've planned for this month all summer. By "planned" I mean I've been saying NO a lot. No doctor appointments, no speaking engagements. No days off.  All I'm doing is writing.  Before I go any further, let me catch you up on Rule of Thirds , the first in my new Lake Erie Mystery Series. First, it's no longer " Rule of Thirds ." The sales and marketing teams at One More Chapter (HarperCollins UK) have changed the title to Where The Guilty Hide . My first reaction to the new moniker was "OooOOooo..." Which is precisely what they were going for. Second, it's no longer the Lake Erie Mysteries. It's now the Detective Honeywell mysteries. Matthias (Honeywell) is overjoyed to get top billing and, in my fictional world, is flaunting it over Pete Adams, who has been miffed about not sharing the billing with Zoe Chambers all these years.  Good thing these two characters live in different parts of the state.  Anyway, I'm okay with this sec...

I feel like I've spent the last three months, maybe more, WAITING for stuff. Waiting for cover art. Waiting for pre-order links. Waiting for Malice Domestic. Waiting for a couple of other exciting items to become official. And now all of those things have happened and I can breathe a little.  The big one for today, of course, is the release of FATAL REUNION! I finished the first draft of this novel back in November of 2020, so it's been a long time coming.  You can purchase it for your Kindle through Amazon by clicking here . They haven't merged the paperback and Kindle versions yet, so you have to click HERE if you want the print book.   Or you can order from Barnes and Noble . Or even better, you can order from Mystery Lovers Bookshop or your favorite indie bookseller. Always my preference. Plus, if you order from Mystery Lovers, you can request a signed copy.   More on Malice and the other "things" I've been waiting on coming up tomorrow and Thursday.

I have a very busy few weeks ahead. Malice Domestic next weekend. The release of FATAL REUNION. Pennwriters Conference. And everything that comes with real, live events.  But first, there's the preparation. Since I'm often asked about what it entails to be a writer and published author, I thought I'd post a diary of sorts here, and share what's going on behind the scenes.  Yesterday, I received my proof pages AKA galleys AKA PDF ARCs. That's a lot of letters. Basically it's the PDF file of the book with the pages laid out the way you'll see them once it's bound. Or on your e-reader.  The galleys aren't just a sneak peek for me. This is the final chance I have to fix things. Not big things. That ship has sailed. But typos, missing words or punctuation. That sort of thing. The sneak peek is one of my favorite parts of the process. Trying to find those nitpicking errors is one of my least. I've enlisted a couple of eagle-eyed friends to help, but th...

It's here! The cover for Fatal Reunion, the 11th Zoe Chambers mystery! I have to share a secret. In my mind, it's now the Zoe Adams mystery series. After all, Zoe has a new job, a new home, and a new husband in this one. But I didn't want to confuse everyone too badly with a name change. So for the sake of continuity, Zoe is keeping her maiden name.  "What's this one about?" you ask.  Here's the back cover copy: As Monongahela County’s new coroner Zoe Chambers-Adams gears up for a third day searching for a missing woman, she receives the news she’s been dreading: a body has been found. What she discovers at the scene leaves no doubt—the missing woman was violently murdered. Worse, the manner of death mirrors the Monongahela Strangler case that terrorized the county when Zoe was in high school. Those murders stopped, but the case was never satisfactorily solved. And with people arriving in town for Zoe’s twentieth high school reunion, the memories of those ...

Another one of my favorites of the Zoe Chambers series is No Way Home . Partly because I had a blast researching it, exploring New Mexico, learning about the Navajo people, but because the character Billy "Pony Boy" Yellowhorse really took on a life of his own. Created not by me, but by one of my dearest friends, Leta Burns of Aztec, NM, Pony Boy leaped from the page. Enigmatic, stoic, and with a super dry sense of humor, Billy left Zoe puzzling over his motives for much of the book.  “I hate to keep asking the same question,” she said, “but where are we going?” “You want to see that your friend’s son is safe. I’m taking you to him.” Allison half turned to Zoe with an eager smile. “I told you Pony Boy would take care of him.” Zoe didn’t reply and didn’t return the smile. Allison might trust the Navajo, but Zoe still did not. Here they were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by miles and miles of nothing in a truck driven by a man who knew the area and no doubt knew where to...

Continuing this stroll down memory lane, I'm thinking back to the second book in the series. Lost Legacy remains one of my favorites of all I've written. And this scene is one of my favorites from it.  Pete tucked the phone into his pocket as Zoe and his father appeared in the doorway. She gave him a guilty grin. Pete held up a hand. “I don’t want to know.” “But—” “You didn’t lose Pop. That’s the main thing.” In fact, his old man looked almost—perky. Harry nudged Zoe. “Do I still get something to eat? I’m starved.” “Sure. What’ll you have?” “A milkshake. Chocolate.” Pete snorted. “That’s not exactly a healthy lunch.” Zoe planted her fists on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s still too early for lunch. This is...brunch.” Harry nodded in fervent agreement. “Yeah.” “Chocolate milkshakes for brunch?” Zoe dropped her stance and leaned down to Pete’s ear. “At his age, if he wants a milkshake, I’m buying him a frigging milkshake.” Why is it one of my favorites? Simple. Th...

Two months from today, a new Zoe Chambers mystery, Fatal Reunion, will launch into the world! I'm currently working on the red line edits and have proclaimed I hate commas and hyphens. Thankfully, I have an editor who keeps me on track. I'm eager to show off my cover art. However, I haven't seen it yet, so I'm waiting and trying to be patient...not my strong suit.  So until I have cover art and pre-order links to share, I thought we could look back on the stories and characters that have brought Zoe and Pete to this point.   Remember when...   We first met Monongahela County Police Detective Wayne Baronick in  Circle of Influence ?    Detective Wayne Baronick of the Monongahela County Police Department grinned from the doorway. Young, good-looking, and cocky, Baronick was a constant source of irritation to Pete. Most annoying was the fact that he reminded Pete of someone. Himself. “Relax, Chief. I come bearing gifts.” He held out a venti Starbucks. “I know ...

We had our first real snow of the season Friday morning. While regions to our south got hammered, our accumulation was minimal--an inch locally--just enough to be pretty. It is January, after all. This is Pennsylvania. We're supposed to get snow! I busied myself with writing and self-care this first week of 2022, so I didn't have time to fuss over a little white stuff outside anyway.  After a talk with my agent, we decided to set The Hit List aside. This was the second of two new series proposals we'd had out on submission last year. I'd already gone back to the first of the proposals anyway. That was the project I completed for NaNoWriMo. ("Completed" meaning very rough first draft.) I spent much of last week giving the first three chapters another polish and the entire manuscript a new title. I also updated the synopsis and sent the entire package back to my agent. She'll be sending Rule of Thirds out on its second round of submissions next week. Whil...

Happy New Year.   I'm whispering the greeting for two reasons. One, I'm feeling a little trepidation, remembering how happy we were to see 2020 go and how quickly we realized nothing had changed. Two, I have laryngitis on the heels of a nasty cold (negative Covid test).  Moving on to my goals (not resolutions) for the coming twelve months. Once again, there are things I can control and things I can only hope for.  Under my control:  1. Complete revisions on Fatal Reunion and celebrate its release this coming May! I am thrilled to bring Zoe and Pete back to my readers.  2. Complete rewrite of my NaNoWriMo manuscript (as yet in search of a title) and get it back out on submission. 3. Outline, research, and write the 12th Zoe Chambers Mystery.  4. Set up a mini book tour for this summer. Hoping for: 1. Attend Malice Domestic. I'm more optimistic about this actually happening this year. As long as the fabulous people running the convention proceed with their p...

After a whirlwind November, I'm finally at a place where I can catch my breath just in time for the holidays.  After doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) last year for the first time, I'd sworn I would never do it again. True, it had allowed me to complete my first draft of the next Zoe Chambers mystery, but I hadn't needed the "goal" number of 50,000 words to do that. 50K in 30 days is sheer madness. At least it is for my personal process.  However, as I wrote back in June, I had abandoned a manuscript that wasn't selling to start something else. The Something Else hasn't sold either, and the characters from the first of those manuscripts were clambering to have their stories told. So I signed up for NaNoWriMo 2021 with abandoned manuscript #1 as my project. I'm thrilled to report that a.) I topped my 50K goal within the month of November and b.) I completed the rest of the first draft within the first week of December. Typing THE END is suc...

Last weekend...and the start of this week...have been sheer madness. Some good, some bad, heavier on the good. The week ended with the sudden and unexplained death of our ancient TV. On the other hand, I guess the mere fact that it was ancient makes its demise explainable. The bad part was the timing. It seems smaller televisions are a rare commodity these days thanks to distribution chain issues. Normally, I'd research online, make a decision, and click BUY.  I will say, having no TV resulted in a couple of productive days. It also made for a grumpy and bored husband. By Saturday night, I'd tracked down what had to be the only set matching my criteria within several hundred miles. I clicked BUY along with the option to pick it up the next day. (Seeing the words "last one in stock" tends to nudge me to stop researching and show them the money.) Sunday morning, my no longer grumpy and bored husband and I drove to Oakmont PA and Mystery Lovers Bookshop to attend a perso...

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...

I can't bring myself to celebrate winter. I've never skied. My sledding and inner-tubing days are long behind me. I used to attempt skating, but the memories of landing on my backside keep me from ever trying it again.  Nope, I don't do winter.  But I love Winter Solstice. It's about looking forward to more hours of daylight. This is it. We've bottomed out on the darkness quotient and are heading toward spring! We had snow last week. It was pretty. Yes, although I don't do winter, I can appreciate the beauty of Mother Nature painting the world in black and white.  Ask me again in January or February (or March!) and I won't have anything nice to say about snow. But it's the week leading up to Christmas, so I'm okay with it. Ha! As if I get a say! The longest year in the history of the world is winding down. I'm cautiously optimistic about the New Year, although I have no illusions about things suddenly becoming rosy just because the ball drops at ...