Hijinks, Hilarity and Heart
Do you follow me on Instagram?
My feed is a lot like me….quirky and obsessed with coffee, dogs and nature, with the occasional book or WTF moment thrown in for good measure.
Here’s a sample of what you’ve missed:
The two purchases I’m most likely to treat myself to are flowers and cheese.
Because they make me happy, I buy myself flowers regularly. (Nothing fancy. I get carnations, for four bucks from the supermarket.) For the first week, they stay in this pitcher, which is one of my prized possessions.
It was hand-painted by a woman I met in San Antonio who didn’t take up painting until she was eighty. EIGHTY!!! Isn’t that inspiring??
After that, they get trimmed down and are placed in six tiny bud vases that are scattered around my home. Little splashes of color and scent that make me smile.
I’m pretty obsessed with flowers, so check out my Instagram for more blooms!
My other favorite treat is cheese.
I pretty much like all kinds, though recently I’ve been enjoying an espresso rubbed dessert cheese. Here’s the description from the maker….caution it may make you drool.
The Bellavitano style, unique to Wisconsin, features a rich and creamy texture with a great, cravable taste reminiscent of an aged, premium Wisconsin Cheddar balanced by a full flavored Parmesan. This Bellavitano is hand-rubbed with freshly roasted espresso, creating a truly unique flavor, delicious for breakfast, dessert, or whenever your taste buds desire! The combination of Cheddar and Parmesan give this Cheese a terrific texture, somewhere between creamy and rich and crunchy and granular.
What do YOU like to treat yourself to?
I’m owned by a dog. Her name is Smudge.
When people ask what she is, I tell them she’s 100 percent mutt. She was about two years old when I adopted her five years ago. She was a little sick and a lot scared.
But with time, training and a little patience, she’s turned into an amazing companion, which is why I strongly encourage people to consider adopting adult dogs.
(Do we think that’s Armani’s Scrabble tile bag?!?!)
I tell her that she’s cuter than the dog featured on the cover of A WOOF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING, but I might be biased. What do you think?
While investigating the disappearance of a psychic matchmaker, Detective Brian Griswald meets dog trainer Stephanie Browne, a beautiful woman who can be just as prickly as the rescue mutts she works with.
Like her dogs, Stephanie’s not quick to trust, which is why she rejects the charming detective when he tries to pursue a relationship with her, but when Brian is dragged into a case involving Stephanie’s beloved dogs, the two must work together to find the truth.
Solving the mystery proves challenging for both of them and dangerous for Stephanie. Can Brian and a canine cavalry save her before it’s too late?
If you want to see more of Smudge, be sure to check out my INSTAGRAM.
A long time ago I had business cards which said, “I don’t care if the cup is half full or half empty, I just want to know if it’s regular or decaf!”
That still pretty much sums up my life motto, lol.
Needless to say, I’m a coffee drinker.
If you FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM you’ll see it’s one of my recurring themes and you’ll be able to see what else I enjoy in my 100 Days of Happy challenge.
“C” also reminds me of THE HITWOMAN AND THE CHUBBY CHERUB which opens with one of my favorite opening lines:
“You just know it’s going to be a bad day when you open an envelope filled with glitter. That shit gets everywhere.”
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Love and Murder are in the air.
In years past, Maggie Lee has not been a fan of Valentine’s Day, but this year, the holiday has warped into its own special hell.
She’s stuck working at her aunt’s lingerie shop during the busiest (and cheesiest) time of the year, someone volunteered her to help with the Valentine’s Day party at her niece’s school, and there’s a hitman in town, known as the Cupid Killer.
Maggie is up to her eyeballs in declarations of love, sex toys, and candy hearts, when all she really wants is to chase down leads pertaining to her missing sister.
Can Maggie survive a guy with a bow and arrow, the pain in the butt parents of school kids, and a romantic proposal?
Or will she succumb to her favorite fantasy?
The one where she runs away with her pets.
I’m writing and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting a pivotal scene in the 20th story in the CONFESSIONS OF A SLIGHTLY NEUROTIC HITWOMAN series and I just cannot get it right.
The fact that I’m drinking too much coffee probably isn’t helping my writing process as much as I’d like to believe.
On the positive side, here’s Day 3 of my 100 Happy Days challenge….a friend just sent me the cutest socks. Obviously she knows me well, lol.
I had the pleasure of having brunch with my writer pal, Jennifer Hillier today.
Jenny and I got to talk about writing, life and, of course, murder.
Day 2 of 100 of my 100 Happy Days Challenge!
Check out the cover of Jenny’s latest release!
Ugh, I know, I’m terrible about blogging. Sorry!!!!
I decided to take on the 100 Happy Days Challenge, where I’ll try to share something that makes me happy every day.
Here’s DAY 1 of 100
Hiking through a nature preserve…despite the fact my shoes ended up covered in muck.
Spending time in nature helps to recharge my creative juices. (Coffee does this too, but fresh air does it without the jitters.)
Something else that’s making me happy is the work I’m doing on my secret PCM project. I’d been stuck on it for quite a while, but now I’m busy writing it.
I’m not saying I dress like a five-year-old, but I will admit that I go out in public wearing these.
What do you wear that makes you smile?