Hijinks, Hilarity and Heart
But I still have fun doing!
I was thinking about this exchange in the upcoming The Hitwoman Investigates
when I was doing one of those Paint and Sip things with a friend.
I have zero artistic ability (see below for proof!) but it IS possible to have fun doing things you’re not good at.
My friend and I had a blast imagining how Maggie would react if this was another Girl’s Night Out. I started critiquing my work as God…just imagine what that was like! 😉
Time flies when you’re keeping busy!
I had a very busy first half of the year. I searched for a house, put an offer in on three different ones and bought the last. (Third time was the charm!)
I moved a couple of weeks ago and have been unpacking and settling in.
In the last six months I published three books: The Hitwoman’s Girls’ Night Out, The Hitwoman’s Getaway, and The Hitwoman vs The Security Guard.
(In case you’re wondering, it is NOT the best idea to have a book published the day after you move. Talk about stress overload! lol)
You might notice that I’ve changed the cover style, but rest assured, Maggie and the gang are still getting up to the same whacky antics!
Even though they drive her crazy, Maggie Lee is all about family.
Now it seems her half-brother has gotten himself into trouble with someone known as The Security Guard.
Luckily (or not!) The Security Guard is now proving to be a problem for the mob boss she works for and he wants him taken out.
Maggie jumps at the chance to get rid of the danger to her brother and the thorn in her boss’s side.
But her assassination attempt doesn’t go as planned. (Do they ever?)
Now she’s the target of The Security Guard’s wrath.
Can old friends, new allies and her loyal pets save her?
It’s a new month and that means it’s time to tell you about a new book.
The Hitwoman’s Getaway will be out next month!
A romantic room, gourmet meals, free booze, massages…that’s what Maggie is promised when she’s sent away on a pet-friendly romantic getaway.
Crazy fellow guests, a missing couple, a human skull, and someone trying to kill her is what she ends up getting.
With the help of the core members of her menagerie and a new furry friend, Maggie tries to figure out what’s going on while staying alive and how to salvage her romantic weekend.
But a killer has other plans…
Spring is around the corner and it’s finally hiking season here in North Carolina. Smudge and I have been having a great time getting outdoors.
Being outside helps me to stay calmer despite the current state of the world. And being less stressed allows me to write more and hopefully offer YOU some much needed escapism. I’m currently working on the next Hitwoman book after that! Maggie and the gang are having a busy year!
I can’t believe it.
I’m soooo excited to report that The Hitwoman’s Girls’ Night Out hit number one in Psychic Mysteries on Amazon.
This is the 30th book in the series, but the first time one of the books has gotten that little banner!
I’m so grateful to EVERY reader who helped to make this happen.
It was a truly lovely surprise. THANK YOU!
The Hitwoman’s Girls’ Night Out is almost here!
Here’s a sneak peek!
just know it’s going to be a bad day when Armani’s planned a girls’ night out.
A sharp rap on my bedroom door woke me from a blissful dream where I was lying in a meadow, all by myself, soaking up the silence and staring up at the stars. My dreams are pretty much the only place where I get to be alone.
Startled awake, I struggled to sit up and focus on the door, but I was held down by the cat pressed to the top of my head, the Doberman draped across my chest, and the pig weighing down my legs. Instead of sitting up, I felt suffocated.
The bedroom door swung open, and Armani Vasquez burst in. “Morning, chica!”
“Go away,” I groaned. I would have covered my eyes to emphasize my point, except my arm was trapped under DeeDee, the dog.
“Big night, tonight,” my friend declared, ignoring my instruction to leave.
“I was sleeping,” I told her grouchily.
Slowly, the animals stirred, releasing me so that I could sit up and glare at my friend.
“We were all sleeping, Sugar,” Piss, the one-eyed cat, grumbled.
“I was not asleep,” God, the anole lizard, declared from where he balanced on a piece of driftwood. “I awoke with the dawn.”
“Me too! Me too! Me too!” Benny, the little white mouse chimed in, racing around in circles in his little cage.
“I hate morning creatures,” I muttered.
“I’m hungry,” Matilda, the pig, grunted, sliding off the foot of the bed and landing with a heavy thunk on the carpet.
“She’s always hungry,” God pointed out.
“Hungry!” DeeDee barked excitedly.
“Her too,” the lizard griped.
The Doberman leapt over her porcine pal, almost knocking Armani over in the process, and raced out of the room, toward the kitchen. Matilda waddled behind.
“Close the door,” I implored Armani. It was bad enough that she was in here, I didn’t need any other early morning visitors coming to pay their respects.
“You’re a grouchy one,” my friend said, lowering herself onto the spot on the bed that Matilda had just vacated.
“I was asleep,” I reminded her.
“Late night with Gino?” she asked with a curious sparkle in her eye.
Instead of answering her, I pulled the bed sheet over my face. “What do you want?”
“Aren’t you excited?” It sounded like she was excited enough for the both of us.
I flipped the sheet back off my face and asked, “About what?”
“Our girls’ night out.”
I was about to tell her that a girls’ night out sounded like the seventh ring of hell, but Piss stuck her claws into my shoulder. “She’s worked hard on this,” she purred quietly.
Knowing the cat was right, I managed a half smile for Armani. “I can’t wait,” I said with false cheer, trying to be a good friend.
She cocked her head to the side and gave me a suspicious look. I guess I hadn’t been too convincing. I was not a good friend.
“I’ll be more enthusiastic after coffee,” I promised her.
“Just tell me you’re not going to back out,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me. She knew me too well. “Promise me, Maggie.”
“I won’t back out,” I pledged. That was mostly because I had not come up with a good excuse to miss the outing. I’d been trying to think of one for days.
“I’ve taken care of everything,” my friend said excitedly. “I made the plans. I bought the outfits. I arranged the transportation.”
“Hold up,” I said, raising a hand, trying to stop her as panic tightened my chest. “What outfits?”
“I got them for everybody,” she said, standing up. “Don’t worry, you’re going to love yours.” I squinted at her suspiciously. I love Armani, but I don’t always love her taste…or lack thereof.
The first of the Psychic Consignment Mysteries, ONE WOMAN’S JUNK has been released in audiobook format!
When their beloved godmother, Letty, dies suddenly, the Concordia sisters converge on the beach town of Sarasota, Florida, to mourn the passing of the woman who raised them. While there, they must scatter her ashes as instructed and decide what to do with her consignment shop, One Woman’s Junk.
Navigating her relationships with her older sisters is hard enough for Beatrice, but after they’re all struck by lightning, things get more complicated in the land of sun and sand. With the power of a newly inherited crystal ring, Bea is suddenly assailed by psychic visions when she touches certain objects.
When her godmother is posthumously accused of having stolen a designer purse (which Bea knows darn well is a knock-off—thank you very much), Bea becomes obsessed with proving her innocence.
Contending with a physical injury, challenging family dynamics, and business headaches, Bea struggles to harness and understand her visions.
With the help of an unusual new “friend” and the sexy carpenter next door, she’s determined to clear Letty’s good name. But doing so may be a bad decision. One that could cost her not only her relationship with her sisters . . . but her life.
Does anyone else feel like the last two weeks have felt like a year?
I’m exhausted by 2022 already. My last two weeks have been filled with quite a bit of stress, disappointment and frustration…and I’m TIRED.
My plans and routine were disrupted as I tried to buy a house. There was a lot of stress and frenetic activity in a short amount of time as I jumped through the “getting a mortgage hoops”. Then the deal went sideways which was disappointing and then I got ripped off (via North Carolina real estate laws….let’s just say I’m hoping the sellers get exactly what they deserve) which was frustrating.
And all of this coincided with something else that was so stressful that it’s impacted my dreams (in a bad way) every. single. night. for over a week. SIGH (I meant it when I said I’m tired. I’m not sleeping well.)
Needless to say, this funk has impacted my writing. Pretty much grinding it to a halt. It’s REALLY hard (at least for me) to be funny and creative when I’m in a funk.
So now I’m dealing with the stress of being behind and the guilt of feeling like I’m not doing enough. Ugggh!
BUT the year hasn’t been all bad. I HAVE made progress toward my smaller and non-writing goals.
I’m loving reading a Positive Quotation A Day as my new way to start every day. Much better than picking up my phone. Highly recommended.
I’ve read a poem every day. (Yay for the Poetry Foundation and their emailed Poem-a-Day.) I read them aloud. The dog listens with rapt attention, lol.
I’ve read two short stories. Didn’t particularly care for either.
I’ve almost finished reading my second book of the year, which I’m really loving. More about that soon.
I got The Hitwoman’s Girls’ Night Out up for preorder.
I tried two new-to-me soup recipes. (Didn’t love either so I’m not sharing them but yay me for eating so many veggies lol.)
In an attempt to improve my mood I went for a wonderful hike and a picnic lunch. (It was only 40 degrees so the lunch part was rather rushed, lol). This is where we sat for a couple of minutes.
It was chilly but beautiful.
Now I’m waiting for it to snow. I moved to a place that averages 4 inches of snow PER YEAR, but they’re saying that tomorrow we could get 8-12 inches. I’ve heard NC is not the best (understandably because they don’t have to deal with it on a regular basis) dealing with snow removal. I’m just hoping the power stays on, otherwise it’s going to get very cold.
Oh, and after looking at a bunch, I put an offer in on another house. I won’t hear about the seller’s decision about my offer until tomorrow night. Waiting is hard.
BUT I’m looking forward to seeing how Smudge, who’s never seen snow, reacts to the white stuff tomorrow.
Hopefully, when I do a goal check-in at the end of the month, I’ll be all caught up on my writing goals and will be able to share more about my current writing project (which was a ton of fun until my mood went south).
The year hasn’t gotten off to a “bad” start….it’s just provided room for improvement. 😉
How are you doing with YOUR resolutions/goals?
There’s soooo much I want to do in 2022!
I’ve got a couple of doozies like publishing 6 or 7 books and buying a house.
I also have some easier fun ones like, starting each day with a positive quotation, reading a poem-a-day (thanks to the Poetry Foundation for sending those), trying 22 new-to-me soup recipes, participating in a photo challenge, and creating a blackout poem daily.
Blackout poetry consists of taking a text (I use pages from a book that was falling apart) blacking out a bunch of it and what’s left is your “poem”. For me it’s a no-pressure way to jumpstart creativity. Here’s the first I did this year:
And the first soup I made this year was this carrot-ginger-coconut milk concoction. It was….okay (then again, I don’t love carrots).
The first quote I read this year was from Ralph Waldo Emerson: Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
I’ll try to remember to check in regularly with updates on the trail I’m blazing through 2022.
I ended the year with the release of book 29 in the Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman series, The Hitwoman Plays Courier.
No good deed goes unpunished.
When Maggie Lee helps an old man who’s fallen, she ends up working as a courier for his well-to-do son.
Proud of herself for landing a legitimate job that doesn’t involve a windowless office, Maggie ignores red flags and the concerns of God that all may not be what it seems. She’s too busy traversing the landmines of literacy involving a certain mobster’s grandson and juggling the two men who both want more from their relationships with her.
Maggie’s already stressed out when things go wrong, really wrong, with a delivery. A man’s dead and the police know about her involvement with him.
With the help of her pets and the two men vying for her affections, Maggie must figure out what the heck is going on…or God may be lost forever.
And I’m starting the new year with the announcement that Tantor Media has purchased the audio rights for the Psychic Consignment Mystery series. One Woman’s Junk will be out later this month!
You can hear a sample here.