Keeping the Hearth Fire Burning

Keeping the Hearth Fire Burning

  Maybe it’s because October is here and with its arrival, the promise of cooler weather. Crisp days and nights make me think of much chillier temps and that, of course, leads to the thoughts of the fireplace. So, why do I have a life-long love of fireplaces? Could it be because Irish ancestors sat […]

To Write or Not to Write

To Write or Not to Write

  Why did I write them? Why, indeed? Why are the three Ned McNeil moonlight books on the market, available for those who like to read cozy mysteries? As any writer can tell you, there are people and plots inhabiting the area in our brains where creativity takes place. Since those people and plots would […]

It Almost Didn’t Happen

It Almost Didn’t Happen

  We’ve read stories about artists who suffer greatly, trying to represent on canvas or paper the picture they have in their minds. Many of them try and try again before they let the picture be seen by the public. Writers suffer the same way. Sometimes, the exact words just don’t seem to be available. […]

Dream Your Troubles Away

Dream Your Troubles Away

  We all have a dream–something that puts a spring in our steps and a gleam in our eyes. Dreams are those wonderful things as filmy as a spider’s web, as substantial as moonbeams, somewhere ahead of us, calling to us to follow, to pursue, to hope, to reach. We can spin dreams of the […]

Moon Shadows on the Path

Moon Shadows on the Path

  Chapter 28 The rain stopped and I turned off my windshield wipers. About halfway to Myra’s home, I realized no one in the whole world knew where I was and that was not a good thing. I speed-dialed Cade but got no answer, only his voice mail. Leaving a message, I told him where […]

Cut It Out!

Cut It Out!

“Cut it out!” I used to hear this phrase a lot; not so much nowadays. It just means, “Stop that.” Stop doing or saying whatever. It’s a useful phrase, a word picture of taking a pair of scissors and snipping off something, or using a black marker and rubbing it out. The thing of it […]