St. Patrick’s Day Giveaway Hop

Posted on March 17, 2016Leave a comment

Friendship and Service: Remembering My Mother

Posted on January 26, 201611 Comments

I turned sixty-six today, and I can’t help but think about my mother, who died when she was my age after a long illness. In that context, this particular milestone seems unusually significant. Both of my parents are gone…and yet daily I am reminded of the impact both of them had on my life. Six years ago, I wrote a tribute to my father, Second Chances and Role Models, that talked about how his choices in life and his decision to write poetry in his retirement years influenced me in my decision to finally fulfill my dream of writing historical fiction by becoming a self-published author when I was sixty. Today, however, I would like to talk about my mother and how I can see her influence in my journey as an independent author. The two characteristics I associate most Read more…

What Do a Victorian Lady and a 1940s Gal Gumshoe have in Common?: Part Two

Posted on January 21, 2016Leave a comment

Yesterday, M. Ruth Myers and I posted Part One of our joint interview with our two female sleuths, Maggie Sullivan and Annie Fuller. Today, Part Two of the interview concludes over on Myers’ blog. Do go on over and read it, I think you will find that these two women end up having a lot in common. Meanwhile, Uneasy Spirits, the second book in my Victorian San Francisco Mystery series, is still free today and tomorrow (1/21-22) on Kindle. Myers’ book, No Game for a Dame is free for Kindle, Nook, Apple and Kobo through Jan. 26.

What do a Victorian Lady and a 1940s Gal Gumshoe have in common?: Part One

Posted on January 20, 20166 Comments

When M. Ruth Myers and I discovered we were both promoting books in our respective historical mystery series at the same time, we thought how much fun it would be to compare the responses our female sleuths from different historical periods would make to the same questions. On the surface, Mrs. Annie Fuller, the protagonist in my Victorian San Francisco Mystery series, is a rather typical 19th century widowed woman who supports herself by running a boarding house. The fact that she supplements her income as the pretend clairvoyant, Madam Sibyl, is a secret she must protect in order to preserve her reputation as a respectable lady. In contrast, in M. Ruth Myer’s award winning series, her protagonist, Maggie Sullivan, is proud of her profession as private eye. Living in Depression-era Dayton, Ohio, Miss Sullivan drives a DeSoto, carries a Read more…

January Promotions

Posted on January 17, 20165 Comments

Maids of Misfortune is the first book in my Victorian San Francisco Mystery series, and I am pleased to say that six years after I first published it on Kindle, it is still selling quite nicely (one of the benefits of writing historical fiction is that these books never go out of date.). It has over 1100 four and five star reviews, and the whole series continues to attract readers who just want a light, fun, easy read (always my goal.) It will be 99 cents on Kindle for the next 3 days. Next up is the second book in my series, Uneasy Spirits, which will be free on Kindle 1/20-22. This book is probably my most edgy, in that it deals with the question of whether or not spiritualism (which was a very popular belief in the 19th century) Read more…