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Showing posts from November, 2015

30 Days of Christmas--Day 6*: The Perfect Gift

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Many of us start looking for the perfect gift around this time. (If you're one of those people who's had your shopping done since July 12th, I still love you.) There are lots of ways to go about finding things to make those around us happy, but I've been thinking of something you might not have considered. Why not give people the right to be different from you? Consider if you will how much stress--family, community, national, and international--would disappear if we didn't insist on being right. Football fans call rival teams terrible names, and their fans must be stupid if they cheer for them. Men and women make nasty jokes about the other gender's supposed weaknesses. Kids take note of the differences between them and conclude Not Like Me means bad. I don't think they come to that belief on their own. Internet philosophers speculate on the oddness--and therefore the wrongness--of this person or that group. People of different cultures are

30 Days of Christmas-Day Four

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Barb's Christmas Memories I remember Christmas. We always went to our grandparents’ house for dinner. The times I remember best were when Faye and I were around eight and nine. Our cousins were all boys, and they lived in faraway Muskegon, so we seldom saw them. They were rough-and-tumble types, and I never enjoyed their company much, though Faye was always willing to play Monkey in the Middle or King of the Hill with them. Dad and Uncle Marv, the sons-in-law, sat in the living room, smoking and swapping stories with Grandpa Lemmon. Mom, Aunt Marilyn, and Grandma worked together in the kitchen, each preparing her signature dishes. Grandma cooked the turkey, filling it with spicy stuffing and making delicious gravy from the drippings. Mom liked to do the salads, and I would help her clean and slice vegetables for tossed salad, pasta salad, potato salad, broccoli salad, and fruit salad. Aunt Mar was the side dish expert, and she’d bring a squash to roast, her famou

30 Days of Christmas-DAY THREE

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Here's our first contest of the 30 Days of Christmas. It's a test of how well you know my books (and that other woman's too). Answer the five questions. Send your answers by email to pegfish@yahoo.com. If you get them all right, you'll be entered to win the book of your choice by Peg or Maggie in e-book or print format. 1. What is Loser's hometown? 2. What type of hat does Seamus always wear? 3. What is Rory Neuencamp's job title? 4. How did Simon Maldon meet his future wife? 5. What does Sarah Leigh do for a living?

30 Days of Christmas-DAY TWO

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Today I'm challenging you. Tell me: Is your pet on Santa's Naughty List or his Nice List? A sentence is fine. A paragraph is better. A photo is awesome. This is Burt. He's on the Nice List because he's so patient with his little pet girl.

30 Days of Christmas-DAY ONE

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We'll start with a giveaway--How's that for getting in the Christmas spirit? I have 2 copies of Peg's historical mystery, HER MAJESTY'S MISCHIEF, in large print to give away . If you have someone on your Christmas list who needs/prefers large print , here's a chance to get them Book #4 of the Simon & Elizabeth series. What do you do? If you're signed up for my newsletter, just say so in the comments below and I'll put your name in the drawing for one of the books. If you're not signed up for my newsletter, you can sign up below.   (You might want to know that I only send a newsletter when I have a new book coming out, and I'll   never give your name/email to anyone else.) If your name is drawn I'll contact you and you can decide if you want the book mailed to you or directly to the person on your gift list (personalized, of course!. Once you're signed up, you'll also be eligible for freebies I plan to send
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Starting November 25, you'll want to check this blog every day. I'm planning 30 Days of Christmas, a countdown to the holiday that is sure to make you merry. (Peg and I are collaborating) Giveaways Pet Stories Contests Character-Written Posts Author Spotlights ...and anything else we can think of! So starting Wednesday, Nov. 25th, check here every day for something to warm your heart and boost your Christmas spirit!

The Deer Camp Widow's Pledge

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Hubby left for deer camp on Tuesday, and I told him, "When you get home, I'm going to have the new book done." But Tuesday I had some errands to run. Plenty of time to do it later. Wednesday I had a lunch date with a friend. Did some shopping. Didn't feel much like writing when I got home. Thursday was a dinner date with another friend. I did a little writing in the a.m. but couldn't really settle in. Friday was Career Day at a local school. Then I drove up to see my MinLaw and did a little more shopping. The weekend was spent with my son, who came up to hunt. (Yes, people from downstate come here to hunt and people from here go farther north. I can't explain it, but I guess it's like the thrill of shopping at a new mall, even though it has the same stores as every other mall you've ever been in.) That was great, but I didn't get much writing done even after he left because FOOTBALL. So my husband called last night and in the conversation a

Things about Dogs

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They never judge. They forgive, even when you pull their tails. If you want to play with a toy, okay, they will too. When you laugh, it makes them happy. If you don't want the rest of that cookie, they'll take care of it for you.

Maggie Goes to Magna

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Magna Cum Murder is a mystery lovers' convention held each year in Indianapolis, IN, the last weekend of October. It's organized by Ball State University's Kathryn Kennison, who's a little dynamo seen everywhere, making sure things are going well for everyone. Since it's held at the beautiful Columbia Club on Monument Circle, literally in the middle of Indy, there's plenty to see as you walk around the hotel and the downtown. Since it was Halloween weekend, we saw some strange sights, like a Pedal-bar full of witches (sorry, I didn't get a pic of that one) and a wedding in the hotel grand room with most of the guests in full costume. (How would you like to have Beetlejuice at your wedding?) The weekend was spent discussing mysteries, both on formal panels and informally in corners of the hotel. Guest of Honor was William Kent Krueger, who is one of the best mystery writers out there today. He's from Minnesota, so many of his themes speak to Michi