Stretch your Crime Reading Dollar Today!

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I know the world is dark now (and getting darker) and budgets are tight for many readers. If you’re one of them, you might be interested in my post from a few months ago, How to Get Your Reading Fix During the Covid Crazy, and Other Lean Times. I’ll be sharing a bunch of Giveaways and Deals throughout the month of October to help you stretch your reading dollar. If you want to see all of these, make sure you’re on my email list. (Click on Free Story at the Top or enter your email in the Sidebar to sign up.) Read more…


Stories I Love: Justified

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Hoo, boy. This post is one that’s been a long time coming, and almost didn’t happen this week, either. But when my husband shared that a friend is currently watching this Story I Love as comfort viewing, I knew I had to suck it up. Who knows? If you’re a stranger to Harlan County, this may be the comfort you need to get you through until your next delivery of ice cream and/or alcohol. (Future blog readers, assuming there are any: we’re currently seven months or so into the Covid Times.) Harlan County, Kentucky, is the setting for the crime Read more…


Pursuing the Pandemic Productivity Delusion

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I’m feeling pretty scattered lately. We all are, right? Checking our latest local Covid numbers, or forecasts for the Gulf of Mexico, or wildfires, or… asteroids. <Sigh> I feel like I need some dude with a light saber (and preferably decent sentence structure) to teach me how to F-o-c-u-s. I’ve read so many books and articles and blog posts about productivity and how to best start your day, blah-de-blah-de-blah. Not that I don’t think there isn’t value in their advice. (Was that too many negatives? I’ve been doing Russian on Duolingo, and that language’s approach to negation blows my mind Read more…


During the Dark Days, a Bittersweet Smile Will Do

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It’s rough out there, folks. At least, I think it is. With the exception of snatched “retail window” moments (post office, library window, grocery checkout), I rarely interact with any non-spouse humans. But I see it in my Inbox and on social media and podcasts—many of us are just hanging on to the non-committed side of the mental health line by the skin of our skinless teeth. [Random digression: I did not know skin of my teeth is a phrase of Biblical origin. Random Digression P.S.: how many of you thought I was going to rant about about pathetic mental Read more…


panorama blurred bookshelf Many old books in a book shop or library

Virtual Travel in the Quarantine Times: Retro Books Edition

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Hey, Reader Peeps! What’s the current travel situation in your neck of the woods? International advisories change daily, but Americans are pretty much stuck hanging out with fellow Americans. Since we’re leading the world in coronavirus cases right now, you can’t really blame our global neighbors for not taking our calls. Or rather, our passports. 😜 Restrictions also change daily within the US, state by state, county by county, and city and city. Here in Hawaii, we’ve been under a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all airport arrivals (tourists and traveling residents alike) for several months. That had kept Covid cases Read more…