Many of you will remember seeing old western movies with store buildings that had false fronts, making them appear much larger than they were. Let me tell you that people have false fronts too, sometimes without even being aware that they have them. For example, how many of you may be a secret cozy mystery […]
Jan 21, 2019
Moonlight Can Be MIghty Mysterious
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Snowlight from below, moonlight from above made a fairyland of the street, turning it into a silent, shimmering, unfamiliar place. It was like a pathway to tomorrow or, maybe, to yesterday, away from the mundane into the marvelous. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see an elf or a leprechaun dancing from tree shadow to […]
Jan 5, 2019
A Confusing Kind of Morning
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A mockingbird, a cardinal, and a bluejay are pecking around on the grass. They may think spring has come early, or perhaps they are just taking advantage of the lull in winter. It is a confusing kind of morning–is it winter or is it not? As a reader, you probably have favorite scenes in […]
Nov 15, 2018
Terror in the Moonlight
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Ulysses’ low growl woke me. Groggily, I turned over and opened my eyes. “What is it, Ulysses?” I whispered as I dropped my hand to his head. He stood stiff and alert on the floor beside my bed. Moonlight flooded the room, making it seem almost like day. What was happening outside? It was of interest […]
Nov 13, 2018
The Cozy Mystery That Almost Wasn’t
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As I completed the third Ned McNeil moonlight cozy mystery, Moonstruck and Murderous, I looked back at the last one, By The Fright of the Silvery Moon. I remembered the terrifically hard time I had writing just the right opening scene. On this one, Moonstruck, I think I wrote no less than six beginnings […]
Nov 5, 2018
Stepping Away for a Closer Look
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Remember the old saying, You can’t see the forest for the trees? Have you ever noticed in a museum of art, people stepping away from a painting to look at it from a more distant viewpoint? That’s where I was with Moonstruck and Murderous before I started the proof-reading or first editing. I finished […]
