Five Fabulous Days of Free Reading

Five Fabulous Days of Free Reading

What do you get when you start with an indomitable, adventuresome heroine  who just happens to live in a house with a pretty interesting past, add a deserted church, a legend of an old-time, ruthless outlaw, and plunk the whole thing down in a small, rural town in Oklahoma? You get By the Fright of […]

A Day in the Life of a Writer of Mysteries

A Day in the Life of a Writer of Mysteries

Writing a mystery is an all-consuming thing. I mean, it sort of takes over. For example, I went to get groceries. That was where I was, physically. My mind was somewhere else. My thoughts went something like this: The plantation was once called a plantation but it has changed now to growing soybeans and race horses. […]

A Guest For Coffee

A Guest For Coffee

  A redbird (to this southerner, a cardinal is a redbird) is on my neighbor’s wet lawn. Not finding what he is looking for there, he flies across the street to my yard. He’s so beautiful–bright and flambuoyant. I ask the Lord to protect him from cats. It’s okay to pray for redbirds, isn’t it? […]

When the Long Ago Suddenly Reappears

When the Long Ago Suddenly Reappears

Is the past really the past or does it reappear now and then? I saw one of my old college professors the other day, even though he has been dead a good number of years. Now, before you think I’ve gone completely round the bend, let me explain. Actually, I didn’t see him but I […]

Failure Is a Stepping Stone, Not a Destination

Failure Is a Stepping Stone, Not a Destination

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.” Sir Winston Churchill. I’ve been thinking about defeat and what is considered being defeated or failing and what is considered being a success or successful. By the time a person reaches my age, she or he has probably succeeded […]

Whence Cometh Thou, O Brother North Wind?

Whence Cometh Thou, O Brother North Wind?

As if making up for the warm weather before Christmas, Old Man Winter and Old Brother North Wind have returned with a frigid breath and long, icy fingers. As I looked back at last year’s post, it was cold on this date a year ago too. I was working on By the Fright of the […]