Why do you pick up a cozy mystery and read? Is it because you like the characters or is it the setting? Do you like to try to untangle that snarled web of a mystery before the protagonist does? Have you noticed that in the cozy mystery genre, there’s a lot of leeway, a lot […]

Acting Out of Character
·One of the most fun things about writing cozy mysteries is creating characters and developing those characters into becoming. Becoming what, you may ask. Becoming real in the mind of the writer and reader. Oh, I enjoy manufacturing a plot with plenty of chills and setting the whole thing down in a place that may […]

Once Upon a Time, a Few Years ago.
·As I looked back this morning at past posts, I found this one I wrote a number of years ago. My grandchildren were a lot smaller then. I was working on the first Ned McNeil moonlight mystery. Today, I’m working on the third book in that series. So, because it gave me a warm feeling, […]
When I Grow Too Old to Dream
·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 spiders’ webs, 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 straw of […]

Getting Older
A few decades back, in Cherokee County, in a small house atop one of those beautiful Oklahoma hills, while rain poured and lightning flashed, I made my appearance into the world. And, true to form, we have rain again today, to celebrate my birthday. Actually, I don’t feel all that much older, but as I […]

Mornings Go Better with Coffee and You
·So come on in, and let’s have a warm conversation on this strange sort of weather morning. My thoughts are scattered, but there’s nothing like a cup of hot coffee and a talk with a friend to sort things out. It is so-o windy this morning. There’s a chance for storms, then the temperature drops […]