I'm feeling more "at home" with the new computer. There's even cat hair accumulating on the keyboard. But not everything is completely comfortable yet. I'd complained earlier about Tweetdeck. It seems the app was bought out by Twitter who promptly removed nearly all the features I loved about it. I still have the old version on my laptop, so any tweeting you see from me will have been sent from there. I'm having other software pains. My old 2001 version of Microsoft Picture It Publishing, which I'd saved from my very first computer (Windows ME edition AKA Bluescreen Hell), is no longer compatible. This does not make me happy. I used that old program a LOT. Made all my address and return address labels on it. Made business cards and brochures on it. Made greeting cards on it. Now I have to find something compatible. Suggestions anyone??? The other program I lost in the move was QuickStory , which is no longer manufactured. Yeah, it looks like you ...

At the end of this month, Working Stiffs is closing its doors after six years. All of us are having an emotional time saying goodbye. Today it's my turn. But that's not the only place you can find me blogging today. I'm also Becky Levine's guest , and I'm sharing my thoughts about critique groups.

Last week I told you about my computer refusing to start. At that point I was still waiting to hear from my cousin.  It’s a wonderful thing, having a computer doctor in the family. Unfortunately, Sean had only minimal success resuscitating my ancient machine, and then only after restoring it to its original state. Which means we wiped seven year’s worth of files off the thing. Don’t panic. We saved everything onto a flash drive first. Sean said I might still be able to use the computer. The dying hard drive MIGHT last another year. Or it might crash later this week. Plus I’d have to reload any files and programs I wanted to use onto it. Well, hell, if I’m going to reload files and programs, I’m gonna do it on a new machine. Sentimentality be damned. The new computer arrived yesterday. It’s shiny and black. Okay, so was the old one. THIS one works. That makes it beautiful in my eyes. This is actually my fifth new computer (third desktop, plus two laptops ov...

I get entirely too attached to the mythological concept of “normal.” I’ve even blogged about finding a “new normal” when life situations change. I must stop this quest. I swear the universe rises to the occasion every time to squash my efforts. Hubby started yet another new job last week. The good news is he actually LIKES this one. I’m ecstatic. He’s happy. Life is good. Except that I’m eagerly anticipating settling into a routine. And it hasn’t happened. For the last two weeks, I’ve been kitty sitting for my nephew and niece while they’re on vacation. I love those cats like they were my own. But it takes a chunk out of my day to drive out there, feed, water, clean litter boxes, and—this time—give meds. Plus a little play-with-the-kitten time. My duties were supposed to end on Sunday when the family returned home. I was looking forward to life getting back to normal . Unfortunately, their flight was cancelled and they can’t get another one until tomorrow. Kitty duty cont...

I'm at Working Stiffs today with a post about a kitty crime. Actually, it's about my recent adventures in pet sitting, but I had my crime fiction writer hat on at the time.

I'm over at Working Stiffs today and we're playing the If Money Were No Object game.

To continue with the theme of spring fever from my last post… We decided to drive to Confluence on Saturday to “check the camp.” Now, this would be a logical and necessary chore if we’d had the kind of snow we had two years ago when THIS is what “checking the camp” meant. But this year has been mild. Snow fall has been minimal. Let’s face it. We needed a day away. The camper was fine. All bundled up in its tarp, just the way we left it in October. So the rest of the day was spent looking at the water. Hubby bemoaned the fact that he’d left his fly pole at home. He would’ve loved to be right out there with these guys. Never mind that he was bundled up against the wind as it was. Standing in icy water? Nah. From Confluence, we headed downriver to Ohiopyle. I love photographing the falls and the rapids. Only two more months until camping season! 

We’re on to the next phase of drilling. The rig is up. The good news is I can’t see it from the house. It’s just over the hill far enough to be blocked from view. I can, however, hear machinery when I step outside. No big deal. Hopefully the bulk of the noise will be done by the time open-window weather arrives. Speaking of which… I have spring fever. Yes, it’s been an incredibly mild winter. I haven’t bemoaned my loathing for the season even once. That has to be a first. Today is gray and chilly. No snow, but no hint of spring either. Still I have the fever. Either that or I just want to run away from home. I thought life would be a little less stressful now that Hubby has a new job. Not so. Without going into details, let’s just say I need a vacation. A real vacation isn’t in the cards. Hasn’t been for the last three years or so. Our measly vacation budget is used up on the annual rental for our camp in Confluence. And that’s okay. I just have to hang on until m...

We've been officially notified. The drilling is about to commence. I'm blogging about it at Working Stiffs today.

That’s definitely an oxymoron. But it’s also my life at the moment. My husband started a new job this morning. After seven months of unemployment, followed by a little over a year at a job he was extremely uncomfortable with (cleaning up “stuff” in an emergency department is NOT a good fit for a germophobe), he’s on to a new chapter. Hopefully a better one. I felt like a mom sending her little one off to his first day of school this morning. Happy, but a bit worried. This new job creates huge changes for me, too. His old job was steady three to eleven. It took a while to get used to having him around in the morning. I had to come up with a strategy to get my writing done with Hubby underfoot. It was a practice in patience. I learned to tune a lot out. I also learned to close the door to my writing cave. But then, after he left, I had the afternoon and evening all to myself. I admit I liked it. This new job involves Hubby working all three shifts. This week, while he’s...

Usually by early February I’m so stinking sick of winter, I’m ready to shoot the darned varmint that wants to tell me I have to endure six more weeks of it. OR, on the rare instance when he says it’ll be an early spring, I want to shoot the darned varmint because I know it’s a lie. Yes, if he sees his shadow we have six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, about a month and a half. That’s just the way it is. This year, however, I’m feeling more kindly toward the old rodent. Yesterday and the day before we almost hit sixty degrees. Six more weeks of that? Okay. I’ll take it. Today is a little chilly at 39 degrees. But that’s not bad. There’s no snow. No ice. Yeah, I can definitely live with it. I know, I know. There are those people who LIKE cold weather. They like skiing and sledding and all that cold weather sport stuff. I am not one of them. You guys had last winter to enjoy yourselves. I’m laying claim to this one. Plus it is only early February. Old Man Winter s...

I've recently been dealing with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue as anyone who follows me on Facebook no doubt has heard. The good thing about it is it provided me fodder for today's post at Working Stiffs . Come on over and join the rant.

It’s January 23 rd in southwestern Pennsylvania and the thermometer reads 50 degrees. And the sun is shining. There’s something very wrong about this. Not that I’m complaining. We had single digits, snow, and ice last week. This is much better. It’s just wrong. It’s in my nature to complain vehemently about winter weather. That’s hard to do when you can wander outside without a coat. But there’s something else about this time of year that I can still grumble about. Tax season. If I wanted to spend my life adding columns of numbers, I’d have been an accountant. But I’m not on good terms with math. I prefer words. So I’m a writer. Except this time of year, I’m a writer trying to balance my spreadsheets. It wouldn’t be so bad if I only had one business to keep tabs on. Silly me. I have three. Writing. Yoga. And Avon . That last one is the most involved, so I’m doing it first. Oh, it would be much simpler if I kept up with income and expenses as they happen instead of l...

We’re halfway through January. So how are you doing with your resolutions and goals? Do you still remember what they were? Last week, I crossed off a big one. I finished this round of revisions and sent it off to The Agent on Thursday. Sound the trumpets. No, it’s not “done” yet. But I need a break. I need to clean my house and get my stuff together for my accountant. While I’m taking that break, I figure The Agent might as well take a look at it and give me her thoughts and suggestions. Because right now I feel like I’m bumping around in the dark and could use someone to shine a light on things for me. Hopefully, the comments I get back will involve only revisions. ONLY revisions. What I’ve just spent the last six months doing was a rewrite more than a revision. What’s the difference? Well, here’s my distinction: Revising involves tinkering with words, moving scenes around, fixing odds and ends. Since I live in Pennsylvania , the home of the orange barrel, I compare...

Kensi's new favorite game is to burrow into the folds of the afghan we keep thrown over the back of a chair. From this vantage point, she thinks she can observe without being observed. 

Today, over at Working Stiffs, I'm offering one of my favorite rants regarding parking lots. I also share one of my all time favorite movie moments. TOWANDA!

Yes, it’s that time again. Time to make my New Year’s resolutions. In other words, time to set myself up for failure yet again. In looking back to the goals I set for last year , I did fair. I’ll give myself a B-. I bought a used treadmill and was really good about using it up for most of the year. But then I got into this heavy duty rewrite thing and all my treadmill time got converted into writing time. But I kept up with the yoga and the weights until about a month ago. For some reason, when winter sets in, I can’t seem to drag my weary butt out of bed when it’s still pitch black outside. And the only time I can get a good workout in is before breakfast. The treadmill stuff comes later in the day for me. But the yoga or weights have to be done first thing in the A.M. It’s just the way it is for me. So I always slack off around mid-November. However, for most of 2011, I did really well with the fitness stuff. As for writing every day, I did well with that, too. Whil...

New Year has never been one of my favorite holidays. I remember when I was a kid I couldn’t wait until I was grown up and could take part in the merriment. I watched Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve and observed the partying from the quiet of my living room. But when I did grow up, I discovered those parties weren’t all they were cracked up to be. I remember getting grabbed and kissed by a lot of guys (generally drunk) I wouldn’t ordinary kiss for a million bucks. Yuck. One year we spent a lot of money for tickets to a swanky party at some hotel. The food was bad. The dance floor too crowded. And again, at midnight I was surrounded by drunks. Maybe the problem is that I don’t drink. At least not in the quantity to numb me to the madness. I’m a cheap drunk and would fall asleep long before I hit the proper level of intoxication to be considered a “good buzz.” So I always took the job as designated driver. And therefore I was the sober witness to my friends making asses of t...

Okay, yes. I'm painfully aware that lately, the only time I post here is to announce that I'm blogging at Working Stiffs . But I'm doing it again. I've posted pictures over there from the Pennwriters and Sisters in Crime Christmas parties. Just so you know, though, I'll be back here in a more regular fashion SOON. My excuse for not blogging is a good one. I'm driving to finish the rewrite of HORSE OF A DIFFERENT KILLER so I can send it off to the agent I've been working with by early January. My plan is to finish this draft (#546) by Friday so I can take the holiday weekend off. Then print it out and give it another quick pass between Christmas and New Years. THEN send it off to my beta readers so they can catch the stuff I've missed. And THEN (drumroll, please) send it to the agent by the middle of the month. At which point, I will collapse for a day or two before picking myself up and starting in on all the stuff I've been neglecting. Like m...

I'm still up to my eyeballs in my revisions, but I'm coming up for air today to get a haircut. And to blog at Working Stiffs . So in the spirit of multitasking, I'm blogging about getting a haircut. Bangs, or no bangs, that is the question.