Catch me and 49 other local authors, poets, illustrators at a BOOK SALE!
TODAY (August 26) from 4 PM until 8:30 PM
The Johnson Auditorium
HAVERHILL PUBLIC LIBRARY
99 Main Street
Haverhill, MA 01830
Can you imagine so many local area artists in one spot? You won't want to miss it!
See you there.
My youngest nephew, Brandon, turned 21...oops! I mean he turned 12 yesterday. Don't want him to grow up too soon.
With red hair, blue eyes that glitter with mischief, and a grin that makes you forget your words, Brandon is a nephew any Aunt would wish for and love dearly.
This Aunt has loved Brandon since the moment my sister told me she was pregnant with him. I remember sitting around with my sister and brother-in-law and other friends and family tossing out baby names. When we hit on Brandon it was as if he reached out from his mother's tummy and snapped up the name because we all knew that he was Brandon.
Isn't Brandon a great name for an Irish bartender who I cast him as in my fourth novel? :-) Wait until you meet him in print!
Brandon loves to read a good book, but can't sit still for very long either. Hmm...that must be a family trait. He's an active guy who right now is into baseball.
Brandon is the next writer in the family. How cool is that?!
I am so proud that he wants to draw pictures with words and put them on paper for others to read and enjoy.
Please give a big birthday shout out to Brandon!
I don't know about you but it's the little things in life that make me smile. You know, the things that you don't think about until it happens and then a grin spreads across your lips and your heart trips a little lighter.
Perhaps you come home from a long day at work and find your trash cans pulled up next to your garage so you don't have to trek back down to get them.
One of my favorites is when my neighbor hollers down the road and yells, "Chocolate pie!" Yes, Donna makes the best sugar free chocolate pie ever. I will literally and did this past Saturday drop everything and jog up the street to get some pie.
It's someone holding a door open even when your hands aren't full. It's a complete stranger offering to share his umbrella so you don't get soaked walking into the office.
Maybe you receive a quick phone call from a friend just to say "Hi."
As a writer, one of the things that makes me smile is when someone I gave a book to tells me her mother stole my book from her and is halfway through it and loving it.
What little things put a smile on your face?
As I pumped gas into my car this morning, I glanced down and noticed a penny lying on the ground. The first thought that ran through my mind was a childhood adage.
Do you remember "Find a penny, pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck"? Do you pick it up?
Do you ever take an evening stroll and find yourself avoiding cracks in the sidewalk? Is it because of the phrase "Step on a crack, break your mother's back"?
What other childhood sayings do you remember? Which ones do you swear are true?
All of those M's describe the wine mystery event that took place at Zorvino Vineyards last Friday, August 13th.
Thanks to authors CJ West (wrote the mystery for the evening), Vincent O'Neil, Stephen Rogers, the staff at Zorvino Vineyards, and Sandown Chief of Police Joe Gordon, the 200 plus people who attended Mayhem Over Merlot Mystery event had a blast! 
The event consisted of great food, a terrific wine tasting, a mystery or thriller book, and a fun-filled, interactive mystery where the patrons had the opportunity to play sleuth for an evening. 
Check out some of our wannabe detectives in action!
Yes, that is a real police officer interrogating the suspects. Check out that guilty look on Ken's face as Chief Joe puts the screws to him.
Do you see the way Chief Joe is turning up the heat when he interrogates me? I tell you I was feeling the pressure.
Our murder victim - CJ West in his ghostly look.
Do you see the guilty looks on the faces of our murdering criminals? Yup, they are wearing real handcuffs.
If you missed this event, don't worry. There will be another!
I have recently fallen in love with walking the Windham Rail Trail. This morning I decided to walk it from Salem to Windham then have breakfast at Windham Junction.
At about 2 miles into my walk I had to slow my pace because I ran into a few friends.
Can you think of a better way to start your Sunday than to walk on a path through nature enjoying the sights and sounds and encountering a few geese?
On my return walk I didn't run into new friends, but I did see the geese left their calling cards all over the trail. Wasn't that nice of them?
I didn't run into any more feathery friends. I did, however, listen to a couple of ground squirrels AKA chipmunks having a rather heated argument. Of course, they stopped chattering when I chuckled.
Then I heard this strange noise in the pond/swamp that was a tad eery. It sounded as if the Loch Ness Monster or a Slestak was rumbling beneath the lillie pads, moss, and brown water.
I kept looking for the creature that made the fire-breathing dragon noise and made the tiny hairs on my arms stand at attention, but alas, I did not find the culprit. Maybe next time.
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