Sisters Are Forever

When the jonquils bloom in the spring, I think of her–my sister Helen. Maybe it’s because of her March birthday, maybe it’s because those first flowers are so welcome after winter and are such a cheerful sight. My sister was a cheerful, upbeat, lovely person. Some people make the world a better place simply by being. […]

Tragedy Under the Bird Feeder

Tragedy Under the Bird Feeder

  It was a quiet, winter morning. The sun shone on juncos, bluejays, chickadees, cardinals, and finches pecking at sunflower seeds in and under the bird feeder that hung from the crepe myrtle bush. Nothing about the scene hinted that a tragedy was in the making. A blur of brown swooped into my field of […]

Rainbows, Any Time

Rainbows, Any Time

  Rainbows! On a sunny day, my bedroom is filled with them. They may not be in arches, like the ones we see in the sky, but the bright colors are there, a part of a rainbow on my wall, a smidgen on the floor, a little dab on the ceiling. The room is warm, […]

Storm Warning

Storm Warning

The weather this morning holds no hint of winter’s re-entry; no notice that a cold, frigid storm is in the near future. Some of the maples sport tentative buds and a few bushes hint of green. Squirrels are gathering fluff for their nests and birds are looking at tree branches with an eye to building. […]

Scared Cozy Critters

Scared Cozy Critters

By the Fright of the Silvery Moon is a cozy mystery that almost didn’t happen. I wanted to write a second Ned McNeil Moonlight mystery, following Moonlight Can Be Murder. The title came easily and I knew I wanted to write it, so that’s where I started. I wrote the opening scene. Somehow, it didn’t […]

A Whisper in the Wind

A Whisper in the Wind

  With the wind whispering secrets to the trees and long shadows lying across brown leaves, was it any wonder that Darcy felt a cold finger of fear trace its way down her back? Something, just hidden from her sight, waited. She was sure of it. Some secret, long buried, lay beneath her feet–a secret […]