Some days, writing murder mysteries takes you to a different reality. As I’m pounding through the final pages of my current manuscript (Zoe Chambers book #3…which still needs a title, but that’s a blog for another day), I need to crawl into the dark and disturbed mind of my villain. He’s made some huge mistakes and knows it. The police are getting closer, and he’s feeling the pressure. This makes him desperate and very very dangerous. While the scenes I need to construct regarding how he reacts to his current situation will never end up on the page, they’re the scenes that drive the story. What my villain does determines what Pete and Zoe find and therefore what does end up in the book. I may be telling their story through their eyes, but it’s the villain who controls the circumstances. It’s kind of like playing both sides of a chess game. Move. Counter move. So today, I’m in Devious Mode. Look out.

This morning I'm working in the "shipping department" of my one-woman business, packaging the five Lost Legacy ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) for the winners of my Goodreads Giveaway. Congratulations to Kristen Slater, Missy Nelson, Beverley Albright, Sussan Navabi, and Judie Dooley! Your signed copies are on their way!

After a whirlwind couple of months, life is finally slowing down to a tolerable level. And it's June. I love early June.  Provided it isn’t storming. Some of the worst storms we’ve ever had in this area hit on May 31 or June 1. This year, we’ve been lucky. A bit of rain during the week, but gorgeous weekends. I guess this is our reward for suffering through last winter. Everything is so green it makes your eyes hurt.  My  rhododendron was splendid this year after not blooming at all last year.  I've already started dining from our garden. Lettuce, radishes, and green onion salads. YUM!  And topping things off, my advanced copies of LOST LEGACY arrived! Kensi approves! Or maybe Kensi just wants me to unpack the books so she can have the box to play in! So enjoy the sunshine. Take a nap. Read a book. Happy June!

Henery Press has rolled out the cover for my next Zoe Chambers mystery, Lost Legacy ! Release date is September 16th!

Today was the warmest day we’ve had in six months, and I’m horribly out of shape, so I took an afternoon walk around the old farm. I grew up here, but most of what I remember is gone. I’ve recreated it in my mind and on the pages of my books. Zoe lives in the house of my youth although the actual structure was razed after decades of being vacant. Check out the post I wrote about it a couple of years ago. So my walk involved a lot of ghosts.   Memories of my childhood, standing on ground that was once the farmhouse or a tractor shed, wandering through fields and valleys where my childhood best friend and I used to play, making up big adventures, cowboys and indians, acting out our favorite books. I walk over this ground every spring until it gets too grown over with brambles and the ticks come out. But with all the snow and cold we’ve had, the new growth is late this year. As a result, I was able to find the red-dog gravel base of what used to be the old tractor ...

I've been blog touring this week to celebrate the official release of Circle of Influence, which is much less stressful than actual travel. I can meet and greet readers while sitting here in my PJs and slippers! I have two stops today. Mysteristas interviewed me with a lot of good questions that made me stop and think. I hope my answers entertain you. At Pens Fatales , I'm telling tales on my mom. We love each other dearly, but she is totally bamboozled by this thing I do for a living. I did a few blogs earlier in the week, too, and if you missed them, here are the links. Monday, I was interviewed by Canyon Mason on Thoughts in Progress . Tuesday, Zoe Chambers, the "star" of Circle of Influence, took over the writing duties and shared a typical day in her life at Dru's Book Musings . I also was given the floor at my wonderful publisher, Henery Press' blog . Next week, I'm taking a blog break so I can finish my revisions on Lost Legacy, th...

Yesterday, my dream came true. Yes, signing a three-book contract was also a dream come true. As was holding my finished book in REAL BOOK form in my hands. But yesterday was my launch party. I’ve been a bunch of these and other author events/book signings and such. I’ve longed for the day when it would be me. I’ve feared that no one would show up. I’ve wanted to sign the Mystery Lovers Bookshop’ s bathroom wall with a passion that bordered on lust. Yesterday, it happened. My fear that no one would come was more than unfounded. The place was packed with family and friends from all over the state and even from Virginia ! Here is my dear friend and owner of Mystery Lovers Bookshop, Laurie Stephens, introducing me.  I babbled on about the book and Pete and Zoe for a while. Hopefully not TOO long.  Then I read a couple of pages. People laughed in the right places. THAT was good!  Three of my fellow Pittsburgh authors elbowe...

Saturday is the publication party for Circle of Influence at Mystery Lovers Bookshop . I liken the feeling to being inside a rocket on the launch pad. I can feel the engines rumbling beneath me as I wait for take-off. All right, so that’s a tad over-dramatic. The only thing rumbling beneath me is my nerves. Folks have been RSVPing, so I’m not so much afraid no one will show up as I once was. The books are at the store, ready to be unpacked. Check that one off the list. I’m worried about the weather—although the forecast for Saturday looks okay at the moment. So just when it seems I should be able to relax—Hubby gets sick. Poor baby. But I dare his cold germs to think about attacking me next. Don’t EVEN. I’m sure the day will be a blur without the added benefit of me being doped up on antihistamines and decongestants. Germs, if you ARE insistent on taking me as your next victim, at least have the decency to wait until Sunday to strike. As a prelude to the party...

I'm launching my blog tour with a fun interview at Writers Who Kill . E.B. Davis posed some wonderfully interesting question to me. Plus, anyone who comments on the WWK blog will be entered to win a signed ARC of Circle of Influence. Speaking of giveaways, I still have one running at Goodreads , too! And as of last night, you can pre-order a print copy at Barnes and Noble ! Of course, if you want a signed copy, those can be ordered through my always favorite indy bookstore, Mystery Lovers Bookshop . In other news, it looks like winter might finally be loosening its strangle hold on us. I decided yesterday that Tuesday morning's zero temperature was the LAST of the wicked cold. And if anyone tells me something different, they're in danger or serious harm. Are you listening, weathermen??? NO MORE WICKED COLD. Hubby reported seeing a groundhog killed on the road yesterday. I wasn't surprised. Some motorist went gunning for ol' Phil, I'm sure. Come on, ...

Four weeks from today, I'll be celebrating the official launch of Circle of Influence with a party at Mystery Lovers Bookshop. Everyone is invited! And the announcement is now up on Mystery Lovers website's calendar of events. This may be my new wallpaper on my computer. In the meantime, you can pre-order and request a signed copy from Mystery Lovers. Click here . Did I mention FREE SHIPPING?

This is the final stretch to my debut book launch. Someone asked me yesterday if I got flutters when I think about it. Oh my, YES. Mostly though, I'm keeping too busy to think much. Which is probably a good thing. I've created a second Goodreads Giveaway , so for those of you who didn't win the first time around, here's another chance.

I woke up this morning to 22 degrees. No minus sign before the number either. I was beginning to think the thermometer got stuck every morning at MINUS 8. This seems to be the winter that just will not end. I can’t recall one with such a sustained period of cold. Nights on end with temperatures below zero. It doesn’t help that I think we must live on some sort of polar dark hole. The weather map on the morning news shows temperatures all around us in the single digits. And the cold spot on the maps? Right here in my backyard. Then again, is there all that much difference between single digits and MINUS single digits? Cold is cold . But there’s hope. The long range forecast calls for the mid fifties next weekend. I’m not sure I believe the weathermen, though. I suspect they’re throwing us a bone. Something to look forward to so we don’t all start throwing ourselves off the Pittsburgh bridges. Of course, we’d only go PLINK on the ice because the famous three rivers are...

Thanks to everyone who entered my first Goodreads Giveaway and congratulations to the winners. I'm doing several guest blogs next month and will give more advanced copies away to some lucky commenters, so stay tuned.

The link is on the right! Good luck!

I'm attempting to set up a Goodreads Giveaway for an ARC of Circle of Influence . The button to enter is on the right, but as I post this, it isn't active yet. I hope to figure out why ASAP, so keep trying. My technical ineptitude is showing.

I'm at West of Mars today talking about my short story "Sweet Deadly Lies" from Lucky Charms . Stop in and check it out.

They’re here! We had some wicked weather recently that played havoc with a lot of shipping schedules. While I knew my ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) were on their way, I had no clue when they would arrive. Patience may be a virtue, but it isn’t one of mine. Friday, the box showed up on my front porch. Reverting to a four-year-old at Christmas, I squealed with delight as I snatched the package and began to tear into it. My heavens, some people use a lot of tape. Plus my knife was dull. I very nearly ripped into the thing with my teeth. But at last I tore it open. Shiny! Pretty! My baby! My first-born. My debut novel! There is something very REAL about finally, FINALLY holding your book in your hands. Not just a print-out of the cover art, which I’ve been carrying around with me and flashing at everyone I encountered for the last few months. No, this is three-dimensional. It looks like a book. It feels like a book. It even has words inside! MY words. “What is an Ad...

RESOLUTIONS, GOALS, AND EVENTS I’ve never been one for making “resolutions” because they’re too vague. I’ve always felt “goals” offered a better chance at success. What’s the difference? A goal is something you have control over. “I want to get published in 2014” is a resolution. “I’m going to write and submit an article every month” is a goal. You may or may not get published, but you’re doing something tangible toward that intention. It worked for me in 2013. I made a plan and stuck with it. It can work for you, too. This year is a little different. I have my three-book contract, so I’m not working on “goals” for publishing so much as I’m following a production schedule that was made up for me by my editor, while weaving my own writing quotas into and around it. While in the past, my goals have all concentrated on writing and submitting to different markets, this year I’ve changed focus. And I have included some of those vague resolutions into my plans for the coming yea...

Forgive me, Garrett Morris, for borrowing (and corrupting) your famous SNL tagline, but 2013 has been bery, bery good to me. As I look back at my first blog post for the year, my goals for 2013 included pitching some story ideas to Pennsylvania Magazine , querying Circle of Influence , finishing the second Zoe Chambers book, finishing the short story I was working on, and making my dream of traveling out west a reality. How did it turn out? I only pitched one story to Pennsylvania Magazine , but it was accepted. My article “Restoring the Past, One Buggy at a Time” appeared in the September/October issue. As for querying Circle of Influence … If you’ve followed this blog (or if you’ve kept tabs on me on Facebook or Twitter) you already know I signed a three-book contract with Henery Press in early September. Circle of Influence , the first in the Zoe Chambers mystery series, is set for release in late March 2014! (Available for pre-order now!) The second in the seri...

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a joyous holiday season!