Kate Collins's Blog, page 118

Back in Northern Virginia

by Maggie Sefton



I'm traveling again.  Of course, you readers are not surprised.  :)  June is the month
of the new release KNIT TO BE TIED, which is the 14th in the Kelly Flynn Knitting Mysteries.  

Granddaughter Natale and eldest grandson Joseph, her brother


Plus, I have another very good reason to be traveling now.  My granddaughter Natale (that's the Italian spelling of Natalie, not a misspelled word ) is going to graduate from James Madison High School in Vienna, Virginia on Wednesday June 15.  That's located in Northern Virginia in the ever-expanding suburbs of Washington, DC.   So, I'm here enjoying family and friends.  I got to see both family and old friends plus new friends Saturday afternoon/evening at daughter Christine's and s-i-l Tim's pre-graduation party at their home in Vienna, Virginia.  


Lots of fun and delicious food.  All my four daughters are excellent cooks.   My girls grew up watching me enjoy cooking and trying new dishes and experimenting on the family.  Most of the times those "new dishes" were winners.  But there were some duds along the way, too.  That gave the girls great stories to share which they still tell.    

Natale plus her Mom, my eldest daughter,  Christine


So it was natural for the girls to want to cook.  Frankly, after a lifetime of cooking for the family, I was delighted to hand over Chief Cook duties to whichever one of my daughters I was visiting.  It's wonderful to sit and relax, enjoy a drink or a some wine or a craft beer, and watch others work away in the kitchen.  Love it.  How about you folks?  Any of you been treated to meals cooked by your kids?  Siblings?  

EVERYONE NEEDS A SANCTUARY

by Mary Kennedy                                            

                                                                         
      We're all overwhelmed, over-worked, stressed out and desperately in need of a getaway!
So what do we do? Well, in the winter, that's easy, I escape to Ft. Lauderdale and I find the ocean front condo to be the perfect place to read books, soak up some rays and just chill.
                                                                             
                                                                               

I can sit for hours on the balcony, just relaxing, enjoying the crash of the waves, the sound of the gulls and the soft whisper of the palm trees. It's heaven on earth to me. Here's a view from the balcony of the condo.
                                                                                
So that's what I do in the winter. But what about the hot summer months here in the northeast? With apologies to my Florida friends (you KNOW I love your state!). I just don't want to visit Ft Lauderdale in the summer. (Although I did go in May one year, and it was lovely Not too hot, just right and we took some friends sight-seeing)
But my dilemma is: how do I create a sanctuary right in my own backyard? Well, that's what I did, literally. I turned my porch into a calm, attractive place for reading and reflection. I share it with the cats, or course, but that's fine. There's no clutter, no ringing phones, and I can open the sliders on the days when it's not too hot. When it is, I just crank up the AC.
                                                                              
The view is nice, the woods behind the house provide a shady oasis filled with wildlife. Hours of enjoyment for my cats. (Don't worry, they're indoor cats. No wildlife is injured or chased!) 
                                                                               

I actually try to keep things minimalist, and limit the paper, magazines, etc that I usually have piled all over the house. "A cluttered house is the sign of a cluttered mind," the nuns used to tell me.That message has stayed with me, even though I don't always manage to honor it. The six cats (all rescues) don't care if it's cluttered or not. They just enjoy chilling, and the nice breeze that comes in through the sliders.
                                                                                    

It's perfect for relaxing, or thinking deep thoughts. (do cats think deep thoughts? I'm not sure.)

I feed a chipmunk named Gideon, and he's fond of scampering along this walkway, looking for his daily treats (fruit, seeds, nuts.) The cats love to spot him and watch fascinated as he eats. Lately, he's been showing up with another, smaller chipmunk and I think a romance might be brewing.
My cats seem to have reached some sort of detente with Gideon. They stare at him and he stares back. 

Sometimes, of course, the soft breeze and the cool Italian tile floor is just so relaxing, the cats fall asleep! As you know, "cat naps" are one of their favorite occupations.



So now you've had a peek at my sanctuary, my porch. How about you? Do you have a favorite place to escape to? Some place you can kick back and just relax? I hope so!! We all need one, that's for sure.
Mary Kennedy.

Getting to Know Mare Fairchild!

Good morning! I’m Mare Fairchild, coming to you from lovey northwest Connecticut where I live with Doug, my significant other (interesting phrase, but better than I would have done had I been left on my own), Miss Kitty, the tiny herding cat, and Asia, my Orange-winged Amazon parrot, my feathered companion of 32 years. I have one son who is happily married and living in New York state with my lovely daughter-in-law, Karen .

I am, and have been since the age of 4, an avid reader. My first recollection of book reviewing was my utter dismay at finding out that the Wizard of Oz used tinted glasses and that the Emerald City really wasn't. I won't bother to tell you what I thought of the changes that were made in the movie version. I cut my teeth on Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, and The Hardy Boys rapidly moving on to Agatha Christie at age 9 when I found a damp copy Hallowe'en Party in a summer vacation lake rental. From there on I was hooked and according to LibraryThing I have well over 1,600 books in my home and I have only catalogued through the "M"s on the regular cozies. My books are spread all over the house in a fairly orderly manner: the culinary cozies in the kitchen, the bios/non-fiction in my dining room, gardening/furniture refinishing in the mud room, vintage/classic in the front hall and living room, the straight fiction on one side of the upstairs, paranormal cozies on the other, craft books in my studio, and regular cozies on 2 walls of each of the 2 spare rooms upstairs. I'm rarely at a loss for reading material. 
I also enjoy knitting/crocheting/weaving and spinning. I have a few counted cross stitch and needlepoint projects going as well as a hooked rug I'm finishing up for a friend. I love spending time in my garden and occasionally host dyeing parties in my back yarn during the warmer months. I hope to have a both a dyeing garden planted this year as well as a "cozy garden" (with plants from various series) by the end of the summer. Now all I need is time. 
My job at a middle/high school library as the A/V tech (audio/visual) lets me spend a good deal of time with some wonderful students and I'm very lucky in that our school has a Vocational Agriculture program so not only do we have a great greenhouse, but I also occasionally get some "goat therapy" in. We have some kids out there now who are just adorable. 
My comfort places are rather varied. When I feel the need to shake off the day's nincompoopery I head toward fibery things, favorite books and/or shows, and my tea whether it's a cup (so-so day) or a pot (right big stinker of a day). Comfort reads include Mary Roberts Rinehart, Agatha Christie, Phoebe Atwood Taylor, and Mignon Eberhart. Comfort movies include The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon, any of the old Charlie Chan movies, And Then There Were None (1945), Dead Again, and RED. TV programs are Murder, She Wrote (of course), Miss Fisher Mysteries, The Brokenwood Mysteries, Ellery Queen Mysteries, and Rosemary and Thyme. These are all very conducive to clearing my head and letting me work on my fibery stuff since my I can't just sit and do nothing. In fact, I have project bags with knitted hats ready to go if I feel the need to walk by the lake so that I can work on a hat while I enjoy the view. Just imagine what I could do with a bit more time in my day. 
I recently finished a crocheted wool afghan to donate to the silent auction which will be held at the FFA state convention next month. This is where the state chapter gets most of it's income for the uniform assistance, scholarships, and other forms of help that they offer so it seemed a worthwhile reason to crochet an afghan. I used the yarn that was spun from sheep raised by our Vo-Ag kids a few years ago and I have no idea what I will do next year to follow it up. 
I am part of a fiber group which meets weekly at the local library and we routinely make items to donate. Last year two of us followed the lead of the Ottawa Yarn Bombers and hung out  almost 100 hats, scarves, mittens, and cowls over the winter for anyone needing a warm item to wear. We hung them in trees, on railings, and benches. I have this the bag for this year started. I also donate to the silent auction at school for Project Graduation, I make baptism/funeral gowns for the local NICU, Santa hats for preemies, snoods for a greyhound rescue, and I routinely donate lap robes and shawls to the VA. Even with all of this, I still have enough knitted, crocheted, or woven items to have an online studio and to do several craft shows a year. Really, I just  need another hour or two in my day to do what I want, not what I have to do. \
All in all, I am quite happy staying at home with all of my toys, inside and out, because I can travel anywhere I want to when I pick up a good book or a hank of yarn from some exotic port and I don't have to get a single shot. ;-)
 Mare 
ArtFire: http://www.artfire.com/users/InquisitiveFelinesGoodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1278751Wordpress: http://inquisitivefelinesandfibers.wordpress.com

The Spotlight is on Brenda Stanley

by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett

My name is Brenda Stanley. I'm a wife, a mom, a sister-in-law, a sister, a friend, a daughter, and a nurse, and that's pretty much how I define myself--at least at this stage of my life. Talk to me in a week and the order might be different.

Most of the time, I lead a pretty nice, quiet (rather boring) life in Buffalo, NY. I'm not from Western New York. I was born in the city of brotherly love (Philadelphia), and lived there for the first twenty five years of my life.

I was a twin, and there were no two sisters closer than me and the other half of my soul, Ruth. (I used to call her Toothie Ruthie--although we were identical and she did NOT have bad teeth. They were exactly like mine, but it drove her nuts and that was the point, right?) We had such fun. Had. She died--hit by a drunk driver when we were twenty-three. That--and the following two years--were the worst of my life. A rushed romance, a fast (and short) marriage to an abuser. I needed to get away from Philly. So I ran away from home and got a job at a think tank outside of Los Angeles.  And that's when my life took a dramatic turn for the better. That's where I met my husband.

Of course, he wasn't my husband right away. In fact, he was my boss.  I know, I know--you should never get involved with your boss, but he was such a nice guy. I admit; it was me who pursued him. He'd been unlucky in love--and more than once--so he wasn't looking for someone to warm his bed. I called him "Boss."  (It drove him nuts. Do you see a pattern here?)  Hey, Boss!  Here're those files you needed.  Hey, Boss did you remember to eat today?  Hey, Boss, aren't these the cutest shoes you've ever seen? (Insert image of him rolling his eyes at that. He's just not into shoes.)

I never called him by his first name at work. It was either Boss or Dr. Alpert. I never called him boss at home. Uh, we kind of moved in together after a couple of years.

That was the best job ... but there were drawbacks. The biggest being my mother. She didn't like my significant other. He wasn't the right color. I didn't tell her we'd moved in, but it got back to her. (Thank you older sister, Evelyn, for spilling the beans.) My mama didn't speak to me for nine years--but that's another story, too.

The Boss, er, I mean Richard, thought it would be a good idea if we got married. (He's old fashioned that way.) I loved him. I loved being with him. But married?  Been there, done that--wasn't about to go for it again. He asked a lot. I turned him down a lot.

Money at the think tank was getting tight, and they decided to eliminate our little two-person department. So, that job ended and Richard, decided he would like to leave the land of sunshine and move back to his hometown of Buffalo, New York--in JANUARY. (He did consult me, but I could see his mind was pretty much made up.)  I knew about winter in the Northeast. Hey, I'm from Philly, but Buffalo winters are different. It's called lake-effect snow and it's brutal. Richard wasn't exactly the most jolly person to be around right about then, either. (Men. Job loss. Ego. The whole deal.) And then one morning, very early ... the phone rang.

It was the NYPD calling to say Richard's half-brother, Jeffy (I always call him that. Drives him nuts) had been brutally mugged and was in a coma. You never saw somebody hop on a plane so fast in your life. I spent a terrible few days alone in that big (COLD), lonely house on my own, wishing I had gone with him; but the furnace guy was coming and somebody had to be there to open the door. I'd met Jeffy exactly twice when he came back to Buffalo to live with us in the house he had occupied for three-plus very unhappy years as a teen, so you can imagine how thrilled he was to be returning. (Not at all.)  Nobody likes charity, and he least of all. He was determined to recover and get the hell out. But it didn't happen that way, and life for all of us became very complicated.

You see ... as a consequence of that head injury Jeffy became just a teensy bit psychic.  (Oh, yeah, that went over really well with Richard. Not!) But I recognized it. You see, I have a little bit of the second sight myself. (Richard always called them hunches.) So Jeffy and I are kindred spirits. He's someone really special. (Not that he thinks so.) Before the mugging, he was an insurance investigator. Not the kind that looks at banged-up cars or anything--but a trained crime-scene investigator. After his wife was murdered, though, he transferred to the fraud department. Crime scenes no longer interested him.

Jeffy's kind of hard to get to know. He doesn't reveal much about himself. He's quiet--doesn't make waves ... until he gets what I call one of his "episodes." When his psychic insight makes an appearance all hell can break loose, and it didn't take long after he returned to Buffalo for him to start to have some pretty scary visions. Visions that gave him information about a murder. And didn't he feel compelled to find out who did the deed? It wasn't a pretty end. Richard ended up in the hospital--nearly died. Oh, God, what a mess. But ... it brought us all closer. And I kind of changed my mind about the whole marriage thing ,,,

But that was just the beginning of our adventures. Okay, I mostly sit on the sidelines while the dynamic duo do their investigating thing. I did the volunteer thing for a while at a women's health clinic and the local hospital's low-income clinic. I loved the work. I loved the people. But then ... someone decided to stalk me. And wouldn't you know it--my ex-husband showed up on our doorstep about the same time. (My mother gave him my address. *Sigh* I was remarried--why would she think I'd be interested in seeing him?)

What an awful time in our lives ... because I also had a miscarriage.  I quit my jobs. The stalker actually broke into our home--oh, it was awful. For a while, I didn't know if I could even live in that house again.

I could go on and on ... but maybe it would just be better if you read about our "adventures." Jeffy kind of keeps an account of things. The first account is known as Murder On The Mind. (And it's FREE in all ebook formats. Click this link for more information.)

Jeffy never looks for trouble--but somehow it always finds him. He's just wrapping up the account of our most recent trials and tribulations. It's called Shattered Spirits. (You can read about it here.)

Okay, it's time for me to get back to keeping the home fires burning. At least ... until the next time Jeffy has one of his episodes, because when they come, we never know what will happen next.

P.S.  Let me know if you have any questions about the Alpert-Stanley-Resnick household.

Now I'm Knit To Be Tied

by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett

I haven't had a lot of luck with cheap inkjet printers. The problem is ... they're cheap. Also, they use ink like crazy. But worst of all, my cats like to walk across the paper trays and BREAK THEM.  They've broken THREE so far.

I need a scanner. I have a HUGE scanning project and I'm not sure one of these "all in one" printers is up to the job.  Earlier this year, I scanned a story I'd written a few years ago. I couldn't find the old diskette it was stored on and figured scanning would be the way to go. The cheapy printer/scanner did great ... for the first twenty pages, and then it got cranky. It was almost as if it was saying, "Twenty was fine, but 30? That's abuse." And of course, the story was even longer than 30 pages. (It was 53.) Now when I ask it to scan anything, it groans and moans and creaks and thumps. And now it refuses to scan as a JPG -- "Oh, no, honey. You abuse me, I'm only giving you PDFs."

What's my BIG project?  I have about 1000 vintage knitting patterns I'd like to sell on eBay. I need to scan the covers. I don't think Mr. Weasey/Cranky all-in-one is up to the job.

I've looked at scanners and--holy smoke--they can be pricey. So I've been waffling. Should I invest in a decent scanner, or maybe I should just wait until Mr. Weasey goes to cheapy printer heaven before I force myself to make a decision.

Meanwhile, the boxes of vintage patterns (and a lot of them are for baby clothes--they are adorable!) sit there. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have boxes of OTHER stuff (from my mother's estate) also just sitting there waiting for me to make decisions about what to do with them. (Mr. L has been very patient, but he would like his house back. Because my late mother's house is no longer full of her stuff, it's OUR house that's full of her stuff.)

So if I can steal the title of Maggie's latest Kelly Flynn book *(out this week), I'm Knit To Be Tied. So, anybody got any ideas about how to solve my dilemma?

(P.S. My second dilemma?  I don't have time to do this HUGE project, but that's another story.)

Join us behind the scenes again

Oh no, not edits!
Once again, we’d like to invite you to join us behind the scenes at the writer’s desk, actually the writers’ desks, this time, as it’s both of us.  You see, we recently received our ‘edits’.  The Hammett Hex was returned to us with the usual editor’s and copy editor’s  comments and corrections. This was our chance to make any important changes and to catch any bloopers that might have slipped through. Luckily, we were able to return it within the one-week turnaround time.  Talk about suspense!  
We find that ten days to two weeks is a comfortable amount of time to feel confident and panic-free, but things happen and we all do what we can.  During the time we have, MJ reads the book out loud, ideally three times. It’s surprising what you ‘hear’ but you don’t see. With every read, changes are input and the book improves. Victoria does reading and re-reading and finds answers to tricky questions.
Peachy lets us know that we'd better get all the pug stuff right.
Despite the fact that our heart rate goes up quite often, we love the editing process. It’s fun and surprisingly creative as we seek synonyms for overworked words and solutions to plot kinks that won’t mess with the chapter layout or add new problems.
Every book that you see on the shelves out there in the big old world of books, has been through a number of edits. First there is the reading and rereading that the author does with successive drafts.  When it gets close to being submitted, we give it a good hard read to polish and correct and find bloopers (say, characters changing names, ghosts from scenes that have been cut, hilarious misspelling , plot problems and inconsistencies, that kind of thing.  Many of us have trusted ‘beta readers’ who see the book before our official editor does. 
Once we’re happy with it or the deadline arrives (usually happens first!) the book gets sent to the editor at our publisher.  By the way, you can be assured also that  many “indie” authors also engage editors and proof-reader in addition. Almost everyone needs this.  
Our publisher uses TRACK CHANGES which is a big improvement over the old ways of writing cryptic words and arrows in the margins of the manuscript with masses of post-it notes fluttering everywhere. We can use our own comments to respond, explain or just say ‘thanks for catching that’.A few years back, before we sent manuscripts by email as attachments, they used to go by Fedex.  Ka-ching!!!!  This is all to say, that things are better in many ways, although the time can still be tight.
Because of the short turnaround time this week was given to furious reading and correcting. MJ finds it easiest to sit on the bed, with the nice firm headbored and room for the manuscript pages to be placed next to her when completed.  A dog or two sleeping on a blankie next to the ms. or under the desk helps a lot to calm the soul.

 MJ and Victoria frequently confer about how to deal with the comments. We found that we agreed with almost all of them this time and that their suggested changes and on-page edits will make for a better book.
We’ll see the book one more time in laid-out and formatted form for a final check. Although the book will already have been proofed, we will be looking for small errors that were missed or in some cases inadvertently inserted.  Once someone (and we’ll never know who) touched the number “3” on the keyboard after the book had had its final editing and proofing, and then pressed SEND to dispatch the manuscript to the printer. The result was the word Mo3hawk instead of Mohawk. MJ first noticed while doing a reading at the launch for the book and emitted a squeak.  Maybe Vera should have that first edition for her collection! 
 That final glimpse at the manuscript is called the 1st Pass Pages. It will be a quick turnaround too and no major changes will be accepted.  But we always find something!  Our goal is to make the book the best it can be for you, our readers.  And we’re told by the pros, that the average number of typos that escape all these eagle eyes is eight!




In case you are itching to see the results, The Hammett Hex is ready for pre-order  HERE
Or from your favorite source for books. 

And now let's hear from you. There are errors and typos in this post. Can you find one? Even if you can't, please come by with any comment about this post or just to say hello and MJ will put your name in for a random draw of Little Boy Blues, the book that had Mo3hawk in the first edition.  Sorry! The 3 is gone now, but good luck anyway.

BFFs forever

Hi, Duffy Brown here and talking about friendships. 
Tonight I’m having dinner with a dear friend who I haven’t seen in years. We keep in touch on Facebook...thank heavens for FB. She’s had health issues and a tough time of it lately so it will be great to see her face to face.
I have amazing friends. Many I’ve met online like you all here at the Chicks and probably will never get a chance to meet face to face but there are some who live only a few miles away and we do get together once in a while.

I read this thing that said a friend is someone who when you show up at their door dragging a dead body they say let me get my shovel. That’s friendship. You go to them with your problem and you get help...not a lecture. They are the ones who see you through think and thin and are with you no matter what.
Going on vacation with a best friend is about as much fun as you can have on this planet. You enjoy the same things, always have things to talk about and if things go wrong you are in it together which makes is an adventure and not a problem. 

I have another dear friend since we were four. We grew up together, seen each other through marriage, kids, divorce sicknesses and death of my husband. A whole life together. I can and do tell her everything and she gets it.
I think that’s why I gave Reagan a great friend like her Auntie KiKi, I know how important and special friendships are.

So what about you? Do you have a BFF? Someone you can show up on the doorstep with a dead body and they grab their shovel no questions asked?

On Bookstore Shelves Today---KNIT TO BE TIED

by Maggie Sefton



Yes, it's release day for KNIT TO BE TIED, the 14th in the Kelly Flynn mysteries.  The book should be on the bookstore shelves now.


It's hard to believe this is the fourteenth in the "saga" of Kelly Flynn and Friends.  So much has happened over the years---adventures, relationships, marriages, even breakups.  I have always tried to write realistically----no sugar coating of the all too human characters that make up the Kelly Flynn cast. KNIT TO BE TIED continues their stories and even manages a little "surprise" at the end.  Here's a short blurb version of the storyline-----


KNIT TO BE TIED
Kelly Flynn and her friends at the Lambspun knitting shop in Fort Connor, Colorado are welcoming a new face into the fold. Shy, sweet, and pregnant Nancy Marsted would like to knit a baby hat, and the Lambspun knitters are more than happy to show her the ropes. They soon learn the father of Nancy’s baby isn’t quite the man she dreamed he was. Far from it.  Then one dark night a speeding car fatally mows down the dad-to-be and strikes a cyclist, who’s a friend of Kelly’s.  There are no clues to the driver’s identity. Everyone worries that a crazed killer is on the loose. Now it’s up to Kelly to try to discover who the culprit is before he’s driven to kill again.

PINOT GRIGIO? THANKS, BUT I'LL JUST CHILL WITH MY CAT

By Mary Kennedy                                              
                                                                             

Did you know that 70% of cat owners say that spending time with their cat is more relaxing than a glass of wine? Is this possible? I decided to test out some theories,using my own six cats as advisors. Here are a few thoughts on what cats can teach us about relaxation.
1. Cats are naturally laid back animals. After all, where did the expression "cat nap" come from? Cats love to sleep, nap, chill etc, and they often encourage their owners to do the same. Head upstairs for a nap, and I guarantee your cat will join you (even if he's just had a nap!)
                                                                          
2. Cats are rarely "Type A" individuals. A cat has never come across a task that has to be done today. Cats believe in "manana." Their motto is: Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow. This kitty has a stack of reading material to get through, but hey, tomorrow is another day.                                                                                      


3. Cats will nap in places you and I would never dream of.....

           


 4. Nap time is so sacred to a cat, they even encourage their kittens to nap. (not that their kittens need much encouragement.).     

5. Cats have even been known to nap with other species.
                                                                                 

 6.. Cats understand the value of relaxation, whether it's bird watching...
                                                                          


7. ... or watching TV...                               
8. They understand the importance of being goofy from time to time...                                                                                  
9. And finally, cats will get into a cute pose just to bring a smile to your face.

So the next time you're torn between having a nice glass of white wine...
                                                                             
Or spending quality time with your cat....
                                                                             
I vote for the cat! How about you? Do you find spending time with your kitties helps you relax? I'd love to hear your cat stories.


Mary Kennedy

Getting to Know Connie Payne

Hi, Connie. Thanks so much for doing the interview. We all love getting to know the people we hang out with. Everyone has a story to tell.
-Where do you live now?  
Independence MO
-Pets? Kids? Hobby? 
 Asking me about my pets, well, you’ll never get me to shut up! :) I have a dog, Molly, and a cat, Fireball aka Fat Cat.  Molly is an Aussie / Black Lab mix and will be ten.  Fireball is an orange tabby and will be sixteen.
There are a couple stray neighborhood cats we take care of, and our neighbor’s cat prefers it at our house in the shelter we built on the porch.
As for kids, I have one of each, both adults.  My daughter is married and her second anniversary is coming up.
I like to read (of course), garden (if there isn’t too much weeding to do), cook and bake.
-Day Job?  
I am an assistant manager at an indie bookstore.  Dog Eared Books in Independence.
-Upcoming plans?  
Nothing big planned.  When we plan anything, sadly all plans have a way of falling through.
-What do you do for fun?
  Hmm, being an introvert doesn’t lend itself to much out of the house fun.  I do enjoy taking Molly to the park.
-Do you travel? Got a fav place?  
We don’t travel a lot, but when we do Disney World is my favorite place to go with my husband.  My BF and I go to reader’s conventions/events as much as we possibly can.
-How did you come to reading mysteries?  
My answer is like many people, Nancy Drew.  Originally though, in my early adult years, I read historical and contemporary romance but got tired of the growing amount of sexual situations and the unrealistic behavior of the heroines in historical romance.  It was ten years ago that I came to the genre of mystery.  If I remember correctly, my first “cozy” was a Sammi Carter’s Candy Apple Dead, and Kate Collins’s Mum’s the Word was second.  I love reading romantic mystery (cozy).
-Do you have a fav mystery show? Movie?  
I’d have to say Murdoch Mysteries.  As for movies, I can’t think of one.  My preferences there lean toward disaster movies or the old classics/westerns.  Maybe I could throw in the Thin Man movies?
-Do you have a fav book that you reread from time to time? 
 Currently I have an unknown number of TBReR books that haven’t gotten reread as of yet.  When I was growing up I would reread.  One of the reasons being there wasn’t near the selection then as now.  The other because I loved them.
-Do you remember the first mystery you read? 
 I think that would have to be Nancy Drew: The Secret of the Old Clock.
-Is there a character in a book or movie that you’d like to pal around with?  Oh gosh.  Too many to count.  

Books:Hailey Snow (L. Burdette series)Abby Knight (K. Collins series)Reagan Summerside, Evie Bloomfield (D. Brown series)Emma Lee Raines (T. Kappes series)Abby Cooper (V. Laurie series)Jaine Austen (L. Levine series)Mel Turner (J. Blackwell series)Darcy Merriweather (H. Blake series)
I could go on and on…
No movies that I can think of, but in TV series the characters of:SG-1ChuckDrop Dead DivaMurdoch Mysteries, especially George Crabtree.  Poor George.
-Tell us anything else about yourself. We all love meeting new friends.
I have a grand-dog-daughter, Toots.  I won’t list all of her other names, you’d think she was royalty with the number of names she has.
My favorite color is purple.
Every time I try to plant an indoor herb garden I fail, and I love cooking with fresh herbs.
Dean Martin makes me (figuratively) swoon!!  I also enjoy Michael Buble, and the songs of the big band era and early 50’s.