Hello, Kids and All Readers, I have some family news to share! I became a grandmother for the fourth time on July 12. I have two grandchildren, a granddog, and now the newest addition–a grandcat! Agnes is an all-black cat with enormous amber-orange eyes. Perfect for Halloween, right? (But will she grow into them???) My…
Dear Kids, Teachers, and All Readers, Happy Summer! The season when children and educators get giddy, and parents wonder what to do with the kids for three months. However you plan to spend this summer, I hope it’s one of your best. I get nostalgic this time of year as I reflect back on wonderful…
Happy Fourth Birthday, Blackbird Writers! Hello, Dear Readers! This is an invitation to join the celebration: My fellow “four and twenty” Birds and I are celebrating four years flying together to “bring mystery and mayhem to the world,” one book at a time. Our flock of supportive mystery writers took flight in May 2020, thanks…
Dear Readers, We’ve probably all seen movies or read stories where someone, somehow sneaked a large file into a jail cell to help a prisoner have at the metal bars to enable an escape. I’ve been a “prisoner” in a kind of “jail” for a few years now–the jail of clutter! And the kind of…
Dear Kids and All Readers, Who hasn’t sought those delicious chocolate-covered, candy-speckled, and rainbow-dyed eggs left by the E.B. in pretty baskets and springtime flowerbeds? For now, however, please try not to think about chocolate as we shift to the nonedible, nondenominational types of Easter eggs—those scattered in literature and movies. The formal name for…
Hello, Kids and All Readers, Seven days a week, I take a three-mile walk to enhance and extend my healthspan and lifespan. The five different routes I mapped out years ago take me over much of my historical neighborhood of North Park in San Diego, California, USA. North Park is where I grew up and still live, so I have…
Hello, Kids and All Readers! Do you dare to enter Dr. Frankenstein’s La-BOR-a-tor-y? That’s where you’ll be when you read Upas Street: Shocking Specter, Book 6 in my Botanic Hill Detectives Mysteries series, releasing in Fall 2024. I’m finally busily working on the first draft–yay!–which is due to my editor on March 10–yikes! As Detective…
Hello, Kids and All Readers! I hope each of you had a meaningful and joyous holiday season. Mine was wonderful! I drove a short distance across town to my cousins’ lovely vintage home that was aglow with scented candles in every room, a to-the-ceiling Christmas tree, a fireplace ablaze, and much good cheer. Eight of…
Hi, Everyone, The holiday season is here! I hope you’re getting into a festive spirit. I just returned from Pennsylvania where I had Thanksgiving with family. I traveled to my son-in-law’s parents’ home. Then, my daughter, son-in-law, two grandkids, and granddog drove up from Virginia for the big feast and long weekend. Everyone pitched in!…
Hello, Adult Readers and Scary Story Aficionados! Withered leaves rattle in the chilly wind before their death-drop. October shuffles to its end. Darkness descends sooner now, encouraging owls and bats to fly about the countryside in search of earlier feasts. Jack-o’-lanterns glow and burn to ward off evil spirits. Some trick-or-treaters venture forth while others decide to huddle indoors with a bowl of popcorn, some candy, and a book or movie to elude banshees on the…
