Kate Collins's Blog, page 331

Dru's Cozy Report: September Reading List

Welcome to Dru's Cozy Report. I will be sharing, on a monthly basis, my views on current cozy mysteries. This month I'm sketching embroidery with a scoop of ice cream and a cup of espresso.

Scoop To Kill by Wendy Lyn Watson is the second book in the "A La Mode" mystery series. Publisher: Obsidian, September 2010

Tallulah Jones may be the proprietor of Dalliance, Texas's old-fashioned ice-cream parlor, but she's no stranger to cold-blooded murder. No one is more shocked than Tally when the...

Dying in the Dog Days

When I last posted to you folks, I was had just arrived in my old hometown of Washington, DC, to do some research and write on the second in my Molly Malone mysteries. I was ready to go, when. . .

Bam! I ram smack into that wall of heat. Whoa! I'd forgotten how bad those ol' Dog Days of Summer were. Yikes! 95 & 96 degrees AND 99 % humidity. Yeow!! The mornings were fine, because Washington heat/humidity sneaks up on you. Mornings are nice then gradually build until almost noon, then Bam! You...

Painting Walls: Stuck on White?

by Kate

For decades I had all white walls in my house. I added color to my rooms only through paintings, throw pillows and rugs. The reason for that stemmed from a mistake I made back in the Time Before Children, when I painted our bedroom pumpkin orange and had a pumpkin-colored print bedspread and drapes to compliment it. After a year of living inside my self-made giant pumpkin, I HATED color so much, I vowed to never do that again.

So I lived with white walls -- or off-white when I was reall...

Love Those Frequent Flyer Miles!

by Leann

Between the last time I posted and now, much has happened. Early last Sunday morning we got the call that my daughter-in-law was in labor--almost 3 weeks early! I was stunned, mostly because I had my flight booked for September 17th--a week before the baby was due. I wished them well, hung up and burst into tears. I had been invited to be the "mom" around with this baby and I was about to miss out on a very special event.

I thought for about 10 minutes, dried my tears and got on the In...

Falling for Fall?

By Lorna

One of the reasons I will never leave Western New York to live somewhere is is because I love the changing of the seasons.

Okay, that's a BIG FAT LIE.  I only like the changing of TWO seasons:  winter to spring, and spring to summer.

If I'm honest, the weather here sucks most of the time.  It's either too hot, too cold, too rainy, or too snowy . . . but, oh those days in between.  Even more than in spring, the Indian Summer days can be glorious.  Too bad most of them happen to come with...

Garden Variety Slacker

By Heather

I had the best of intentions with my garden/landscaping this year.

Really.

But somewhere between April and now, I completely slacked off. April and May were filled with book tours and conferences. Then there were vacations and more conferences. Then it was a thousand degrees and near drought conditions. Then it was September.

The yard definitely suffered.

It's actually kind of embarrassing.

Just look at this poor perennial I planted in the spring. It has neglect stamped all over it...

What Are You Reading?

I read some wonderful cozies this summer, including several by my fellow Chicks, but this month I won't read any.
Why?
Well, I'm finishing the last chapters of the third installment in my Ellery Adams Books By the Bay mystery and I like to ensure that I am totally immersed in my own cozy setting during these pivotal weeks.
This doesn't mean that I'll take the whole month off from reading mysteries, but I'll read other types. For example, I'm in the middle of an engaging literary thrilled...

Authors Reading From Their Books - A Poll

First, authors need to be creative writers. And good ones, too.

After publication they have to become entertainers, going out meeting readers,making them laugh, cry, care.

Then someone, sometime, is going to ask them to read from their book. Gasp! Gulp! What??

The first time this happened to me, I was at the Wisconsin Public Radio studio, with those big earphones on, and my interviewer tossing questions at me. "Read a passage for us," he said, throwing a curve ball. And he knew exactly which pag...

The perfect reading spot: obsession or necessity?

by Guest Blogger Mary Jane Maffini

It's an obsession that started when I was a child reading stacks of Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden and, yes, The Hardy Boys in the old wingback chair by the bay window in our living room. So if I have an ongoing quest in life, it is the search for perfect reading spots. As there are still ninety nine books in my To Be Read pile and that number is about to increase, that quest is not about to end soon.

Don't get me wrong. I can read anywhere and do. The challenge ...

When the Power Goes Out . . .

by Kate

When the power goes out, I get crabby.

Happened last night at 2:30 a.m. But first, the overhead light on our ceiling fan came on at full blast, dragging me out of deep sleep. My first thought was that someone had broken in and was shining a flashlight in my eyes. Then everything went black. Naturally, my writer's imagination went into overdrive.

My husband was awake by then and assured me that it was a simple power outage. So I stumbled my way to the dresser to get an emergency flashligh...