Maggie Pill Mysteries

I'm in Blue (r); Sis in Rose When we were little, Mom used to dress us up (often in mom-made dresses that were alike but different colors) and have us sing in church. The best family story concerning that is when I, at perhaps four years of age, realized partway through our song that I had an issue. Our church had a curved altar rail with a padded arc below it for kneeling during communion. Halfway through our number, I leaned over the railing and told my poor, cringing mother in a stage whisper, "I have to go to the bathroom!" When she nodded to indicate she'd received the message (along with everyone else in church) I climbed over the rail, bounced off the knee-pad, and headed at a run up the aisle to the ladies room. My poor sister was left to finish the song on her own, though I doubt anyone heard it for the laughter.

A Lethal Time and Place is an old favorite of mine, so I'm sharing it as today's giveaway. It's a paranormal mystery set in Chicago in the late '60s, and you'll love the twist in the middle. I think you'll also love the characters: they're weird, they're wonderful, and they will surprise you with their cleverness, their oddness, and their support for each other. If you want to try the book, go to Instafreebie and download it in whatever form you need for your e-reader. Here's the link:    http://www.instafreebie.com/free/KqhUH   You have one week. Merry Christmas!

When I go places to promote my books, I usually begin with an introduction to the Sleuth Sisters , explaining that Barb and Faye start a detective agency but don't want Retta involved because she's so very bossy. Audiences get a kick out of Barb's penchant for secretly correcting grammatical errors around her home town. S ome who've read the books tell me what a sweetie Faye is, and a few have confessed that though they didn't like Retta at first, she's become tolerable because her strengths contribute to the agency's success. What's most rewarding about talking to audiences about the books is that women tend to compare their own sibling relationships to my characters' situation. "I have a sister who--" or "There are four of us and--" and interestingly enough, "I'm the bossy one in my family. I'm Retta." They see their own families in the Sleuth Sisters, and they try to decide which sister they're mos...

September 26th is approaching--faster than I thought it would--and I'm both anxious and excited about the first-ever Alpena Book Festival. Anxious questions: Will there be a good turnout? Will they have a good time? Will we have enough of everything? Does everyone know what to do? These are questions I have every time I'm part of organizing things, and I've learned there's no use trying to turn it off. Of course I know things can go wrong. It might rain buckets (or snow, after all, this is Michigan). We might run out of tote bags or tickets or whatever. And since it's a new thing, people will no doubt be following the organizers around saying, "What should I do?" "Where should I go?" I can take the chaos once the day arrives, but beforehand, there are no answers, which is what makes me a little crazy. As to the excited part: I know that people who attend the Festival will be happy they did . We have great giveaways, so just showing up ...

Boonies, boondocks, down in the boondocks. Who'd have guessed the term has nothing to do with docks? It comes from the Philippines' Tagalog language: bundok , meaning mountain. It was picked up by U.S. military folk and apparently became associated with "way out there where the guerrillas are." When I titled Book #3 MURDER IN THE BOONIES, someone asked if most of America would known the term boonies . I think they do, because of Billy Joe Royal's song, "Down in the Boondocks,"  and an assortment of Vietnam-era movies. In Michigan we use it a lot. Someone lives "way out in the boonies" or we get "lost in the boonies" when our GPS goes crazy. Not sure if/how it's used in other places. (Chime in here!) In Book #3 we learn that Barb, Faye, and Retta were raised in the boonies, ten miles from town. Typically, when they were kids Barb never thought much about where they lived, Faye loved everything about the farm, and Retta felt...