Secrets, Sort Of

I was out of town during the timing of my last two posts here. Could you tell? I thought of them in advance and scheduled them to appear, so hopefully not. 

I’m home now, and back to working harder on my latest series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, my K-9 Crime Solvers series. I’m still editing the second in the series but it’s coming along well. And number three is circling my mind.

 And where was I? On a family trip to Alaska. Did it give me ideas for more stories to tell? Of course! I’ve had series set in Alaska before but it’s a very inspirational place—although I didn’t see as much wildlife this time as I’d hoped for. Even so… yes, my mind is percolating.

Getting Out There

 I am at the end of going through the proof pages of DANGER LOOMS.  Then I will type up a list of corrections for my editor to make and the next stop will be the release at the end of August.  I have been spending too much home or out with family members and I need some fresh company.  Something where I am just me.

Before the the pandemic, I had my gym and knit and crochet group that meet at JoAnn's.  By the time the time everything opened up, the gym had gone out of business and  the knit and crochet group didn't start up again.  Then JoAnn's closed.  Between that and everything being remote on Zoom, I forgot about something where we actually meet in person.

Convenient as it is to do so much without leaving the house, it doesn't offer the same mental refresh that going somewhere and being with a group is.  

But now I know that I really need it.  Ideally, I want  a yarn group.  Just like what I write about, the people would visit while they work on their projects.  It would hopefully offer just the supportive company I crave.

So, the search begins.  The funny thing is that when I did a search for yarn groups in Tarzana, my books came up. 

A Writer's Mind Is Never Done

 Yes, I’m still working on my latest series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, my K-9 Crime Solvers series. The first one will come out this December: K-9 Evidence. There will be at least two more in the series. And yes, unsurprisingly they include dogs—K-9s! 

Will there be more in that series? Too soon to tell. But just in case there aren’t, or even if there are, my mind is at work, as usual, determining ideas to follow up on for future stories, whether related or unrelated. 

Will they contain dogs? Definitely, as long as that works for the publisher! Including dogs is me—and my writing. Will they be romantic suspense stories, or mysteries? Not sure yet, but those are my norms, so they’ll most likely be one or the other. 

Hmm… Just got another doggy idea! Need to start working on it!

More Summer

 Well, July 4th is over and summer has officially begun.  In the old days it used to mean that bathing suits and summer wear went on sale at department stores.  Now it mean Costco and Target bring out the Halloween decorations.  And Hallmark offers a Christmas movie festival.

I received the proof pages for DANGER LOOMS.  It is mostly for proof reading and a small changes.  I set aside the Molly manuscript to give it my full attention.  In the midst of it all I got an offer from a Greek newspaper for the four books in the Writer for Hire series.  They are sending out a cozy mystery with their Sunday newspaper and want to use my series in September.  How fun to think of people in Greece reading about Veronica Blackstone in Chicago.

I am sticking to therapeutic  crochet right now.  The same blanket is getting bigger as it offers a peaceful escape from  the chaos around here.  I would like to work on other projects, but right now I need something that is simple that I can just pick up whenever I need a break.  

It is always reassuring to see how well it works with the only side effect is getting something nice in the end.  Yay crochet