Progress on Rosie and a book review.

     Just wanted to do a quick review here today. If you like a good cozy and are looking for something to read, "Yarned and Dangerous, " by Sadie Hartwell is a good one to check out. It's Book I in her new series. This story is chock full of suspects, but I didn't even come close to who the killer might be. My kind of mystery, for sure. I met Sadie at last year's Crime Bake. She was delightful. She didn't look sinister... Looking forward to Book II.

     Making progress on "Cruising to a Murder." I should be finished by the end of September, take a month to polish it as much as I can and then...drum roll, please... PITCH IT AT CRIME BAKE!!!! 

     My Horoscope stories are coming along. "The Girl in the White Jeep Wrangler" is complete, as is, "Balance and Symmetry, a Story of the Scales" "Taurus, the Wandering Bull" is almost finished. It's a little longer than the short stories I usually write - probably because I'm not sure where it's going. I only know that someone has to die. It is, after all, a story from MY brain. Ha ha...

No Relation

The only similarity between Rosalie Chandler and Jennifer Hammond is, they were born in the same brain. Where Rosie is a mature, loving nurturer, Jenn is a psychopathic teen - so beautiful on the outside, hiding such an awful truth, inside. Will she get her due? We'll See.

Jennifer's story will be told in an, as yet, untitled anthology being put together by our very talented and diverse writing group.

We meet every Friday evening and are working diligently for your reading pleasure. Our stories will make you think, laugh, or dive for your covers. What they won't do, is disappoint.

My Time Has Come

In a couple of months I’ll be celebrating my 70^th birthday and I’ve decided to do it in a big way. I’ve been working on a novel for a  long time now, and have sat by and watched most of my writing friends become published. While I couldn't be happier for them, I have to question myself as to why I've procrastinated as long as I have with my own work.

And then I thought…

If not now, when?

This next birthday has been haunting me, so I'm just going to go full speed ahead. This will be the year I pull out all the stops and give it all I’ve got. I have a four-book series in me that is dying to come out and I plan to pitch it at this year's New England Crime Bake in November.

Rosalie Chandler is a woman of a certain age. When she boards a cruise ship with her husband, Stanley, for their long-awaited cruise to Bermuda, she has no idea how much her life is about to change.

Feeling a little depressed over her fifty-something birthday, and, oh-by-the-way, that twenty or so extra pounds that seems to have crept up on her over the last few years, Rosalie is fairly certain that her life has begun to wind down. That is, until she meets six women only a few years older than her own daughters, who welcome her with open arms into their newly formed clique.

When the group decides to gather their wits and sets out to solve the mystery of a missing crew member, they, and Rosalie (dubbed, "Rosie"), by her new circle of friends, realize that she has a knack for all things investigative which makes the group look to her not only for motherly advice, but for clues and insight into the disappearance as well.

Rosie is funny, smart and heartbreakingly fragile in this story of a woman looking for her place in the world when she doesn't seem to fit anywhere, anymore.

            

A dream come true!

Years ago, I heard a song on the radio that made me feel so happy I HAD to find out who the artist was. At first I thought it was Buffy St. Marie, but later learned that it was Melanie. I loved her music so much I set out to learn all I could about her. She put into words everything I believed in, in a way that I never could. I got out my guitar and made it my business to learn every note of every song and sang my heart out - for years.

Last night, not only did I have a fourth row seat to watch Melanie perform with her son, Beau Jarred, I got to meet her as she signed my CD. I was in awe. At sixty-nine years old, she continues to perform with all her heart. She could have sung off key for all I cared - she was Melanie, and she was only a few feet from me!

It  didn't sound like an audience of baby-boomers, no sir. My petite sister can whistle as loud as any man. Men sporting white pony-tails held up their battery-operated candles for "Candles in the Rain" and we all sang back-up. It was a blast! 

A night to remember.

I'm on a Roll!

     Five hundred thirty words yesterday, seven hundred twenty words today, what's happening? Who am I? What have I done to my lazy self? Ha ha… I'm writing up a storm and I'm thrilled. It's true that the more we sit down to write, the more words come to us. Even if they aren't all good words, they're down, they can be changed and fixed. It's a good feeling.
     I tend to work on my stories while I'm walking and I've been walking these days, so, there ya go! Besides, I have to work off this cupcake I ate in North Carolina. Oh. My. God. It was soooo good!

Writing while I walk!

     So, I've been drooling over a 1/2 Marathon medal for a couple of years now, and I've decided that this is the year. Yep. I'm doing it. I've had physical therapy for some six weeks now, and my legs are feeling much younger than they really are. I'm taking it easy - a few miles at a time - and I've registered for a few races to get me motivated. There's an ALS walk in June, a Cancer walk also in June, a Walk for Alzheimer's in September and whatever else comes up in the meantime.

     So, while I was on a three mile walk the other day, I was going over a scene in the second book in my series and my protagonist's future came to me - just like that! I wrote the entire thing in my head and couldn't wait to get home and get it in my computer. I'm loving these walks!

Walk on!

Getting down to business!

     The more I think about Rosie and the girls, the more anxious I am to finish their stories. I've been writing feverishly lately, trying to get it all down. I know in my heart that I'm not the only one who will love them! Who wouldn't love Rosie? She's everyone's mom, everyone's confidante. Kelli is a wise-ass, but she has heart and she'll never let you down. Missy and Emma are just trying to fit in and Sam is the glue. 
     We all have someone in our lives who fit the descriptions of these characters. The rest of the story is just waiting for me to write it!