It was a dark and stormy afternoon. Rain beat against the deck. Lightning flashed and thunder rattled the windows. Within the dining room, four women sat around an antique dining table, sipping coffee and munching chocolate. They spoke in hushed voices, almost as if they were afraid they would be overheard although they were the […]
Nov 24, 2024
That Dark and Stormy Afternoon
Filed Under: Mysteries · Tagged: authors, Cozy Critters, critiques, storms, stormy afternoon, writers, writing
Sep 13, 2024
Cats, Mysteries, and Rain
By Blanche Manos · 2 Comments
I was hoping that Hurricane Francine would throw some nice showers into dry Arkansas. I’m not sure about the rest of the state but here in the northwest corner, we got hardly a trace. Not enough to register in my rain gauge. However, did the disappointment from Francine keep me from continuing with Miss Tootsie […]
Jun 4, 2024
Gravely Speaking
By Blanche Manos · 2 Comments
My friend Joy recently said she might want me to write her obituary. She said this jokingly as a compliment. “Well, after all,” she said, “you are in the cemetery business.” Gravely speaking, I guess I am, but it’s only in a fictional way. For example, The Cemetery Club, Grave Shift, Best Left Buried and […]
Filed Under: Mysteries · Tagged: authors, books, cozy mysteries, gravely speaking, happy endings, Manos, mysteries, women sleuths, writing
Apr 9, 2024
A Gold Mine of Information
By Blanche Manos · 2 Comments
Ned McNeil wanted to know about Marvie and she found the person who was a gold mine of information! Excerpt from Murder By Moonlight. It was one thing to say I wasn’t interested, but it was another to actually mean it. All that trouble at the deserted farm had happened a long time ago. Mrs. […]
Filed Under: Mysteries · Tagged: authors, books, clean cozies, clues, cozies, fiction, information, Manos, memories, mysteriers, women writers, writers, writing
Apr 8, 2024
Tea and Cake
By Blanche Manos · 2 Comments
A frog and a toad have inspired generations of children and adults. Although they existed only on the pages of books by Arnold Lobel, these small amphibians taught real life lessons. Frog and Toad were friends and never a day went by that one didn’t go visit the other and, over a piece of cake […]
Filed Under: Musings · Tagged: authors, books, children's stories, fiction, friendship, Frog and Toad, tea and cake, writing
Feb 13, 2024
Once a Year?
By Blanche Manos · 4 Comments
As I get older, it’s the small things that matter to me the most. As the song goes, Little Things Mean a Lot. For a writer, it’s a treat to get a special Valentine from a happy reader. I remember the email I received from a fan of The Cemetery Club. She enjoyed it […]
