D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review Nothing speaks of murder and mystery more than a body discovered and then gone missing. Library assistant Beth Williams faces a special conundrum when this happens to her in Silent Winter Solstice, a cozy historical mystery set in a small town in Northwestern Minnesota in the late 1960s.... Continue Reading →
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To get news and updates on the next book in the series, subscribe to my occasional newsletter. Silent Winter Solstice is a cozy historical mystery set in Northwestern Minnesota in the late 1960s. Beth Williams, a young Library Assistant, discovers a body. But, it disappears before the police arrive, and then she is followed. Now,... Continue Reading →
Goodbye to Summer
The long goodbye to summer ended a couple weeks ago when the extended warmth of September turned into a brisk October. The 10-day forecast confirms what we already know here in Minnesota, autumn is short and winter is right around the corner. A hard freeze is just days away, and snow flurries will soon follow.... Continue Reading →
Cover Reveal and Roads Not Taken
I just finished reading The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig. As I read it, I pondered the junctures of my life where I made fateful decisions. For example, what if I’d stuck with my first choice of being a pre-med major instead of dropping that, floundering about, and eventually choosing English Literature and then an... Continue Reading →
Invasive Species
Recently, my husband and I were walking down a dirt foot-path through an abandoned tract of land that lies between Minnehaha Park and Coldwater Spring, part of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, located in Minneapolis, MN. https://www.nps.gov/places/coldwater-spring.htm Along the path, I noticed some lovely blue flowers and I took a picture, hoping to... Continue Reading →
Arrests throughout the Ages
Part I: Naked he Fled. Sometimes, by chance or by choice, you happen to be in a place when everything changes. Like that naked young man. Who was he, and what was he doing in the story? Unused to standing in hard-soled shoes, after a pandemic year of attending mass via YouTube in my stocking... Continue Reading →
A Shot and a Short Story
Today I have two reasons to celebrate. I got my second vaccine dose, and a short story published! Check it out: https://sites.google.com/view/sundial-magazine/short-stories/duc-pho-delivery
Endings, Beginnings, and Crows
What a month! What a year! I will attempt a glance back over my shoulder. This month marked the end of one presidency and the beginning of a new and, I hope, better one. Like so many people, I watched in horror at the final crescendo of idiocy as a band of riled up rowdies... Continue Reading →
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Okay, so 2020 wasn’t a great year. But, here are a few things that made a not-so-great year, not-so-bad, in no particular order: Take outOutdoor dining at restaurants (summer)Parks, trails, and sidewalks for walkingBeachesSocial media (a mixed blessing, I know)TV & moviesDeliveryStaying HealthyGarbage pick-up (Odd, you say? After a missed week, when our block was... Continue Reading →
Time to Hunker Down
These are dark and disturbing times. Recently, soot laden air from western wildfires further dimmed the darkening skies, as winter slouches towards us. Ominous signs abound--cue the distant drumming. Disease stalks the land. Civil bonds unravel. A sudden change in the weather prematurely forced us into our seasonal cocooning. A pleasant start to the month... Continue Reading →