Eight Years Ago

Things change through the years, don’t they? Hopes are not realized or take a different path, kind of like a rocket aiming for the moon but veering off course. People change, groups and ambitions change. Yet, we rise with each new morning, hoping for the best for a new day, a new year, a new month. I thought you might like to look back too for a moment, and, having done that, look ahead to tomorrow. I wrote this eight years ago.

We’ve all experienced the feeling of sadness and impatience as we read the last page of a captivating book, close it, and return to the real world. The feeling is much the same for an author as she finishes writing the current cozy mystery.

Grave Heritage is reaching its conclusion. Darcy and Flora have experienced the rainiest July that Levi, Oklahoma has ever known. They traced down a missing person or two, narrowly escaped death from a madman, and nearly drowned in a flood. Darcy sought advice from her good friend Amy concerning Grant Hendley. Strange and unexpected things happened, let me tell you! Have you ever heard the expression “wrung out”? Well, I’m plumb wrung out. And just a bit sad as I leave Darcy and Flora in Levi for a while. I’m experiencing the feeling I get when I write an ending.

Yesterday, my publisher sent me a short but very nice review of Moonlight Can Be Murder. Now, that review lifted my spirits and brightened my day: A great and interesting book, better than most cozies. I shoved my chair away from my computer and did a little jig dance. But, that reminds me: Ned has experienced her first Christmas in Ednalee and she has great plans for Uncle Javin’s Victorian house. I wonder what and who will stand in her way? Maybe I could look at a new beginning for Ned?

Real life is like that too, with endings and beginnings.

Speaking of books, this is the day for the Cozy Critters to come. I can hardly wait. They will bring with them the latest happenings in their lives, books they’ve read, stories they’ve written, trips they’ve made. We’ll share frustrations and triumphs. Fudge brownies and hot coffee await as we discuss all things literary and a few things that are not. We’ll listen, read, suggest, and come away from our get-together ready for the next chapter in our lives.