In the third Ned McNeil cozy mystery, the whole mystery centers around an old woman who recently died in a nursing home. Because she is the basis for the story, I have to know all about her before I can introduce her to you. That means I must write a back story. That’s the fascinating […]

Discovery and Inspiration
Sometimes inspiration comes in a surprising way–when I least expect it. Now, the New Testament is inspiring in itself but some time ago, I made a discovery that I hadn’t been expecting and I was inspired to include that discovery in a mystery. Some of us stick small items of importance in our Bibles–a picture, […]

A Mysterious Stranger
Chapter Sixteen The Carnegie Library, a single story, red brick structure with white trim stood proudly at attention commanding a view of the old courthouse just as I remembered. As I went up the wide, stone steps, a light snow began to fall. Shivering, I tucked my jacket closer around me. Heavy, double doors […]

An Open and Shut Case
To the authors who read my blog: As you write your new book, do you find that you have some chapters you prefer to other chapters? To the readers who read my blog: As you read a cozy mystery, are there chapters that stand out to you? And then, of course, there are favorite parts within each chapter. […]

The Sky Is the Limit with “What If”
But, what if things were not as they appeared and behind all the facade beat a real, honest-to-goodness mystery? With the magic words of “What If” the sky is the limit. I am pleased and honored to be guest blogger on Southern Writers Magazine Suite T this morning. Please click on this link and […]


