Let me start off with the book news. “The Accidental Gumshoe – A Sandi Webster Mystery” is free to download on Amazon from 7/23/22 through 7/25/22. I’m offering this book so that if you buy the new release, “One Night in May – An Accidental Gumshoe Mystery,” you’ll know how the Sioux Simms story began. By the way, the stories take place in 1920, and the second story involves seven murders, and interestingly, they span about seventy years and the crimes aren’t all related to each other.                             ..read more

This has been such a rough year for so many people. I guess that’s kind of an understatement. Hmm. No guessing. It’s an understatement. And now we’re in the holiday season. Christmas will be so different this year in homes around the world. I usually post about writing, reading, and anything that’s related to those activities. There are times when I set all of that aside and think about my faith. This is one of those times. Christmas has been neatly deleted from schools, public buildings, stores and all types of places, but the joy of the Lord is still in my heart. Someone might wish me Happy ..read more

 Many people are fascinated by old crimes. Think of Lizzie Borden, Jack the Ripper, The Black Dahlia, and think about the infamous Lindbergh Kidnapping. You can look back on them and wonder if things were really as they seemed. At one time it was said there’s new evidence in the Lizzie Borden case that indicates someone else killed her parents. Jack the Ripper? Do we really know, without a doubt, who he was? Do we have all the facts about the sinking of the Titanic? What is it about old, cold cases that fascinates people? From a writer’s point of view, I think they’re somewhat easier to w ..read more

  Thanksgiving is going to be different this year. In fact, most of 2020 has been different for many of us. With that in mind, I thought I’d write about some memorable holidays past. Maybe you can relate to them and maybe you can’t, but looking back over the years these things make me chuckle. Most of these stories are from many years ago.  I remember one year when both sides of my parents’ families were coming to our house, which was something we didn’t do often – too many people to feed. However, that year we had more to worry about than the amount of food. About five minutes befo ..read more

  Halloween came and went quietly at the end of October. We didn’t have any costumed visitors this year. However, the day did make me think about fear. There were so many more hair-raising movies advertised on television than I normally see, although scary movies seem pretty popular in this day and age. Sometimes fear can actually be fun, if you’re reading a book or watching a movie. In real life? Not so much. When I first started writing I created a book titled Secrets of Holt House, later rewritten and republished as Mysteries of Holt House. I tried to think of what readers might like a ..read more

Recently I’ve been working on a family project including family stories and legends. Sometime back I plugged in the name of a notorious ancestor and what I found surprised me. I found two blogs about this man and both were a figment of someone’s imagination. The information in the blogs said that this ancestor was Italian and that he was a force in the Mafia in Old Los Angeles. First of all, he wasn’t Italian. Secondly, although he wasn’t a particularly stellar citizen and he was in a questionable profession, he was not involved in the Mafia. This blogger hadn’t done his research but had, inst ..read more

  Surprisingly, one question that’s been posed to me numerous times is, “Do you hear your characters’ voices in your head?” The answer is, of course. Although not audible voices, every character I write about speaks to me at one time or another. Each character has his or her own personality, and his or her own habits. Fictional characters are just as individual as real people. Yes, the characters talk to me. Sandi Webster tells me that she wants to be good at her job, and she’s not always happy when I write that she’s bumbled her way through a situation, or she overlooked something. She w ..read more

  Quiet Times is kind of a deceptive thought. We’ve all been going through a lot over the past year. So much has been happening that I don’t need to share details. We all know things have been different. I know that I’ve been very quiet for a long time. Maybe it’s time to come out of hiding, in a manner of speaking. Many of us have been stuck at home with only occasional trips to the grocery store or the gas station. My daughter has been working from home, so my daily schedule is different. Between us we have three dogs, and I think it confused them, at first, to find that we were both h ..read more

Hi everyone! I haven’t written a post in a long time, and with our stay-at-home days, now felt like the right time. I sincerely hope you’re all well and that you’ve found things to fill your time. I stocked up on chocolate, so I’m happy. Too bad I didn’t stock up on toilet paper and tissues. Has anyone noticed, in the middle of all the talk about hoarding toilet paper, that the facial tissues have disappeared, too? Cleaning products? Forget it. I know that people are having a difficult time during the Covid19 pandemic. Some people are feeling fear and panic. Wasn’t it Franklin D. Roosevelt ..read more

I started my original blog in 2010, and I’ve blogged weekly since that time with few breaks. It’s time to take a rest. I may be back from time to time, but probably not often. It’s time to concentrate on writing and life in general. I appreciate the comments people have left over the years and I hope some of my posts entertained the readers. Thank you for your support, and I hope my books continue to entertain you, too. In the meantime, Prudy’s Back! – A Sandi Webster Mystery is now available in audio format. People Lookin’ Half Dead– A Bogey Man Mysteryis reading and waiting to be read. I ..read more