Category: writer’s life
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Bewitched, Bothered, and Beheaded
Whatever made me choose a magic trick gone wrong for the 10th book of the Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries, Bewitched, Bothered, and Beheaded, I will never know. I don’t know the first thing about magic. And the only guillotine I’ve seen is in the movie with Connie Stevens and Dean Jones called “Two on a…
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Here’s a Secret About the Percy Cole Series
The Persephone Cole Vintage Mysteries series was born out of a challenge by my editor to write a protagonist who looked and acted more like a real person, not a model. Could I do it? I thought about it and created Percy Cole. Little did I know that when I made her as large if…
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The Waxing Moon, Percy Cole, and Me
Occasionally, we writers write ourselves into a corner. And so it was with the latest Persephone Cole Vintage Mystery, Hotshot Shamus, debuting in time for Mother’s Day. In some ways, finding out you’ve made a big boo-boo can be a challenge. Being the inventive sort that writers are, we often come up with a pretty…
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The Drop-Dead Temple of Doom et al
I was just told by a friend I hadn’t written a single blog about my latest addition to the Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries, The Drop- Dead Temple of Doom. I didn’t realize that. You could have knocked me over with a puma. I threw in puma, because Drop-Dead takes place in the jungles of Guatemala…
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I Can Deny Ellie Nothing
I don’t say this entirely because I am a pathetic pet-owner who is owned by her cat. A large part is because I am pandemically housebound, haven’t started my blog tour yet for Casting Call, nor started writing my new Percy Cole book. And God forbid I should do some housework. Well, that’s not quite…
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Casting Call for a Corpse
The 7th book of the Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries, Casting Call for a Corpse is now on preorder at Amazon.com for only $2.99 until midnight, July 31srt. Just click here for your copy. This book was a lot of fun to write. I enjoyed every minute of it. The plot certainly took me away to…
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Sheltering in Place – Day after day after day
Today I baked a cake, a banana cake to be exact. With cream cheese frosting. Covered with walnuts. Four hours of my life. Standing on my feet most of that time. I’m bringing it to my mother-in-law because she likes it when people make cakes for her. The cake on the left is not mine.…
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Sheltering in Place – Day Who Can Remember
Pickled Penning For the past thirty-eight years, I have been a Mrs. Even though I held a job, actually ran a department at Stanford University, hubby was a hotshot performer. Being with a rock and roll band, a jazz duo, and with other musical skills, he outshone me. That left people always asking, “what’s it…
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Sheltering in Place – Day I Have Lost Count
The Life of a Writer Who isn’t Writing et al Get up late. Or whenever. Have coffee. Stare at desk. Sit at desk. Read emails, answer emails, ponder emails, delete emails. Do internet search for wire brushes re: outdoor grill. Feed Ellie the Cat. Brush Ellie the C. Play with E the C. Watch E…
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Sheltering in Place – Day I Have No Idea
They say A Day Without Writing is Like a Day Without Sunshine. Actually, maybe ‘they’ don’t. Maybe nobody else says that but me. I know I’ve been paraphrasing something or other for so long, I can’t even remember what the original phrase is. A Day Without Wine is a Day Too Sober? Hmmmm. Maybe not.…
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Sheltering in Place – Day Whatever
I think I’ve been given the right name. Heather. I’m a delicate flower and a blooming idiot, often at the same time. It’s the perfect name for me. But I wonder about a lot of people who have weirder names. In school, I used to know a kid named Graham. Not such a…
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Sheltering in Place – Day Something or Other
When it comes to my writing, I have a fire in the belly. Or maybe it’s acid reflux. It’s hard to tell sometimes. All I know is I finished writing Casting Call for a Corpse, Book 7 of the Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries, on Sunday night and now I’m itching to start the next novel. …