The Hookers' Weekend Scarf

 

 Another week gone by in a flash. Now that MURDER BY THE HOOK is totally done and up for pre-sale, I had to update my website which includes adding a picture of the crochet project in the book. I had made the squares for the scarf a while ago, but put off weaving in the ends and sewing them together.  I know I am not alone with putting off doing those things.  I'm not even sure why we all do it. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

Now, maybe I will get back to that kitten who is just a body waiting for a head, legs and tail.

Meanwhile, there is a special promotion for the audio of the last Molly book, KILLER HOOKS.  I didn't want to post anything about it at the same time I posted the cover of MURDER BY THE HOOK.  To easy to get confused.  And the audio of DEATH AMONG THE STITCHES is coming out soon.

My poor web guy always gets confused with all the titles with hooks and stitches in them.  Who could blame him.

 The event at the Agoura Hills library went well.  It was casual and friendly. No microphones or separation from the group.  We sat in sort of an oval of comfortable chairs.  The other author with me, Dorothy Howell, writes a series about sewing. It turned out that we both had books called SEAMS LIKE MURDER.  It was interesting to hear about her process.  She does an outline and then writes a chapter a day.  I wish I was that focused and could write that fast.

Peggy Rothchild was the moderator and she had come up with good questions for us.  It's always easier answering questions than to have to think of what to say. 

One of the questions was about the first thing we ever wrote.  I have a clear memory of that.  I was eleven and we were at our cabin or cottage--not sure of the best word for it.  We had a loaf shaped mail box that I imagined two fairies, Lily and Violet turning into a home.  There was a creek that ran through the 1,000 acre farm across the road.  A small bridge went over it and below the water made little water falls where the fairies would use walnut shell buckets to get water.  It was fun remembering it.

All My Writing

             Oh, yes. As I mentioned before, April is approaching fast—and that means the official publication date for CANINE REFUGE, the fifth and final story in my Shelter of Secrets series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense will be here soon. And yes, as I previously mentioned too, I’ve been working on promoting it—including getting ideas and preparing to do things like more blogs and chats at Writerspace, which handles a lot of my promotion.

            But one of the most fun things turned out to be preparation for my talk for the Union Oil Alumni Association which occurs today. I was asked to talk about—what else?—my writing. I’d spoken to this group before, long ago, so I started with some of my old talks to prepare, as well as going through some of my online information. And wow! It was fun, and amazing, to go back through the annals of the earliest, and many of the rest, of my now 63-book career! 

            Another former Unocal employee who also writes, and has moved away from the Los Angeles area, will also be participating via Zoom. That should be fun, especially since her career is quite different from mine, also successful but as an independently published writer.

            And I’ll also be mentioning that some of my earlier, out-of-print books are now being made available as e-books, with different covers. Others are now also available as audio books.

            It’s all fun!

Murder by the Hook

 

MURDER BY THE HOOK is up for pre-sale.  The official release date is April 8.  It's great timing because the basket of orange orbs on the cover are Pixie tangerines. And April is a big time for Pixis.  They only grown in Ojai, California, where the book takes place.   I finally got it straight about mandarins versus tangerines.  All tangerines are mandarins, but not all mandarins are tangerines.

We went up to Ojai on Sunday and bought our first Pixies of the year. We also passed lots of groves of the trees loaded with them.  I was glued to the window the whole trip as I have spent so much time there in my imagination when I was writing the book, it was exciting to see locations in real life.

This Saturday I'm taking part in an event at the Agoura Hills library.  The topic is cozy mysteries.  I haven't done anything like this in a long time. Whatever I've done has been on Zoom.  It will be interesting meeting readers in person.  I did an event at this library a while ago and as I remember it is a more casual setting with a small group.  So, no microphone or table that sets the speakers apart from the crowd.  I am not a polished speaker and the microphone and table always made me nervous.  I already have the questions I'm going to be asked.  They're all about DEATH AMONG THE STITCHES and I'll do a reading from the book.   

Who knows how many people will show up.

 

Writing and Promotion!

             April is approaching fast—and that means the publication date for CANINE REFUGE, the fifth and final story in my Shelter of Secrets series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, will be here soon. I’m delighted! I really enjoy that series and look forward to the newest and last to be available to readers.

            In fact, I’ve been working on ideas to let the world know about this newest story, from more blogs to newsletters and maybe even chats. Plus more talks. And my new bookmarks are in the works too.

            But yes, I continue to work on the second story in my latest Harlequin Romantic Suspense series, plus researching and more. I’ve also been asked to participate in a Sisters in Crime panel in September for mystery and suspense writers who include animals in them—definitely fits me! And my talk to the Union Oil Alumni Association is next week.

            Still working on new ideas too—as always. And playing with my pups. Yes, I do manage to keep busy! And I’m happy to say that we’ve been getting more rain lately in dry LA.