And just like that it's winter again in Southern California.  After a few days around 80, the high hovered in the low 60s.  It was back to wearing a sweater and a vest.  The sky is a leaden color, but I don't think it's going to rain. I just sent off the manuscript to Classy Yarns and I can sit back for a minute.  Though not for too long.  I had pushed everything aside as I pushed to finish the manuscript and now all of that is waiting.  The first order of business is to update my website.  It is a matter of deciding what changes I want to make and wri ..read more

             Oh, yes, I had a fun time at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books last Sunday. I saw friends and met strangers who write and read at the Sisters in Crime LA and the Mystery Writers LA booths. And the panel I mentioned last week, Turf Wars: When Cities Rewild, was wonderful! I enjoyed all the speakers and will most likely get around to buying books that most of them talked about, although I had to leave before they did their signings.                I also visited the Hunting ..read more

   I finished going through the proof pages for KNOT DEAD AGAIN and sent them in by my deadline.  It's all wrapped up now and will be up for pre-sale probably today.  I love the cover. I immediately went back to working on CLASSY YARNS as it is due next week.  I am working on the ending right now and then will spend next week reading it over.   And then there's the next Molly book.  I needed to push up the deadline for it and as I was discussing it with my editor and told him about the hot water leak and buckled floors, I realized it might turn out to ..read more

           Yes, I’m still plotting some new ideas.  I’m also looking forward to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this weekend. I’m only going to be there on Sunday, but I’ll be signing at the Sisters in Crime LA and the Mystery Writers LA booths as well as visiting a lot of other booths. I’ve also signed up to attend a panel: Turf Wars: When Cities Rewild. It’s about wildlife returning to urban areas and some people who write about it. For one thing, I’m fascinated that cougars are found in LA, and the freeway overpass for them and other wildlife ..read more

 Even with all the chaos here I am keeping on track.  Still just buckled floors with blowers going as the restoration company tries to work things out with the insurance company.   I finished going over the galley pages for KNOT DEAD AGAIN.  It is basically proof reading for errors and little things I want to change.  The way  I handle the corrections is to print the pages that have them and then at the end I make a list by page and line number of changes that need to be made.  I will make that list over the weekend and it will be ready to send in by Mon ..read more

           I’ve been getting back into my routine after our trip I described last week, although I’m not under any current deadlines so I’m mostly in the clouds of my mind, coming up with and working on fleshing out some ideas—both for more Harlequin Romantic Suspense books and also for a potential new mystery series. I also had some details to finish for my HRS book that will be out next year, and that’s all in the works.              This year? My next book, CANINE PROTECTION, the fourth in my HRS minis ..read more

 I am still in the preparation stage for getting the damage from the hot water taken care of.  It's an arduous task to consider and move what we need to keep available while everything gets packed up.  My mornings are still spent at my computer as I keep working on CLASSY YARNS.  I am closing in on the end of the rewrite.  Also have to go through the galley pages of KNOT DEAD AGAIN.   In the midst of all this, it occurred to me that things will never go back to the way they were.  I have a meditation tape that makes a point that the only thing certain is unce ..read more

             Last week I traveled with family to Honolulu. Fun trip! Did I get much writing done? Nope. But I did get more ideas. Plus, we had a wonderful ocean view off our room, and I went out onto the patio a lot to watch the ocean, boats and surfers, and listen to the surf, to kids yelling and to airplanes flying over as I read a book and magazines in the small amount of time we just spent hanging out at the hotel, as well as when I stayed there by myself when everyone else went parasailing.            ..read more

 My father was a writer and I remember as kid that it was always an issue that he had to have the perfect place to write.  I decided that I wanted to be able to write anywhere, anytime.  So, as I am writing this, there are three plumbers going under my house to find the hot water leak.  There is lots of noise and upheaval, but I am determined to work anyway.   I did get an extension on Classy Yarns because even though I am able to work on it, it is not as efficient as when there isn't all this going on.  Hard to get in the flow when I am being shown what it looks ..read more

             My sixty-second traditionally published novel, CANINE PROTECTION, will come out in August, the fourth in my Shelter of Secrets series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense,               And I’m delighted that many of those books remain out there in various ways. For example, my first mystery series, the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter Mysteries, have been republished as ebooks and are currently also coming out as audio books. And of course I love that series for many reasons, including the fact it starred a C ..read more