Veronica Cline Barton's Blog: Mistletoe and Mayhem: Yuletide at Castlewood Manor listed as, "One of the best suspense books of all time." - BookAuthority, page 13

Veronica's #WritersDiary, No #Blarney Here!

“May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks. May your heart be as light as a song, may each day bring you bright, happy hours that stay with you all year long.” Irish Proverb

☘Top of the mornin' to ya and a very happy #StPatricksDay! ☘ This is a day to celebrate your #Irish roots and perhaps tip a sip of Guinness, or in my case, Irish coffee. #Yummo The feature pic today is of the Blarney Castle, which is located near Cork, Ireland. We were lucky enough to have visited this medieval abode ma...

Veronica's #WritersDiary, #Spring Forward

Spring is in the air, with its colorful beauty and fragrant splendor highly anticipated. The flowers and succulents are beginning to bloom here in SoCal. We're still waiting and hoping for our winter rains--they haven't really materialized as thought thanks to the La Nina in effect. Let's hope they come, otherwise it's going to be another fiery summer.

I thought today I'd share some of my favorite garden pictures from Hampton Court Palace to get into the spring vibe. These pics always cheer me...

Veronica's #WritersDiary, Fecundity is My #MarchWish

"If not us, who? If not now, when?." ~ John F. Kennedy

#HappyMarch! What better way to celebrate a new month than with a fav quote and new word to inspire you?! I think the Carpe Diem inspired questions of the former President are perfect for the je ne sais quoi of my post today. As for words, fecundity, is my choice for fav March lexeme (TYSM Brenda B., had to look this one up): The condition of being ,prolific; The use of, imagination or ,original ideas to create some...

Veronica's #WritersDiary, #InspirationResearch at Big Bear!

Oh, happy days--we finally made it up to Big Bear to experience the chilling temps and snow! My snow boots were so happy after sitting unused in a dark closet for over a year, LOL (I knew exactly how they felt ). The weather was gorgeous during our stay--invigorating, winter beauty without the slush and mess.

This was our first, official road trip of the year. #SocialDistancing and #Mask policies were strictly enforced. Sadly, many of our fav restaurants were not open--most had closed due to not...

Veronica's #WritersDiary, It's an Almost-Royal #Book Birthday!

What a week to celebrate! Tomorrow, February 18th, is the three year book birthday for The Crown for Castlewood Manor, the first book in my cozy mystery series! Who knew that three years on I'd be preparing for the 6th book's release? In honor of #TheCrown I thought it would be fun to go back in time to my first #blog post on this story and update my nouveau #author views then, with a 2021 perspective. Today we're talking about main character Gemma...

From March 11, 2018 (don't ask me why, but ...

Veronica's #WritersDiary, Happy #ValentineWeek!

Just four more days until the most #romantic, #chocolate overload day of the year! Since we're still pretty much in #lockdown limbo, I thought it would be fun to get a head start on the celebrating! #WhyNot In today's post, I thought I'd share some of my cherished memories from trips gone by that bring out the #amour in this #femme.

#Paris

In an unexpected, #writing twist for me--there is a trip to The City of Lights for a few of the characters in Twins in the City. I won't give away any spoilers...

Veronica's #WritersDiary, #February Wish

Well hello, February! The shortest month of the year is packed with famous days to celebrate. February 2nd is Groundhog Day ( the good news is that Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow, leading to the prediction of six more weeks of winter for those of us who love this time of year); the 12th is the start of the Chinese New Year (Year of the Ox); the 14th is the day of romance and chocolates, Valentine's Day; the 15th is President's Day; February 16th is Mardi Gras ( laissez les bon temps roule...

Veronica's #WritersDiary, Eye on the Prize

Tick-tock...A short post this week--it's crunch time for me! I always have mixed emotions heading into the final stretch of a new book production. I really enjoy the time spent with my characters--figuring out what they're going to say and how they'll react to the situations I put them in. After the editing is completed and final changes made, I give them a final salute, until we meet again. I tend to get a bit teary eyed, but I know they're in good hands and hopefully providing readers a brief ...

Veronica's #WritersDiary, Breathe

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." Robert Frost

And so it goes...I wanted to pause for those of us in the United States and remember for a just a moment, despite our differences, what a wonderful country it is we live in. We're going through situations none of us have experienced, at least not in my lifetime, and it has tainted the view of our nation by many. I'm not going to get political nor preach--we've all had enough. My wish today is that moving...

Veronica's #WritersDiary #January Reflections

January has always been a fun month for us to travel--the #holidays are over, a #NewYear started, and it's a perfect time for me to enjoy a few weeks of cold weather. I thought I'd share some of our January pics from prior year travels since we're all kinda stuck in #lockdown mode these days. The feature picture⏫ is the Silfra Fissure in Iceland where I spent my 60th bday. We snorkeled in the 34 degree, ancient, iceberg waters that narrowly separate the North American and Eurasian tectonic plate...