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.

Book One This is the first of a series of posts leading up to National Sisters Day, August 4th. Please respond with your own memories, whatever comes to mind as you read. No one was more surprised than I when the Sleuth Sisters series took off. What I'd intended to be a single e-book grew, due to reader demand, to include print and then audio formats. Since that first book, the sisters have returned again and again (7 times so far) with more adventures. Just about the time I think readers are tiring of Barb, Faye, and Retta, someone writes to ask when the next book will be available. "If you do decide to end this series," one fan wrote, "please don't kill off any of the sisters!" Having lost a sister IRL two months ago, I could never do that to my fictional family. If I had to give a single reason for the success of the Sleuth Sisters, it would be sisterhood.We don't all have sisters, but those who do often recognize themselves in the stories. Re...

I had a visit from a cousin last weekend who is very close to me in age. We grew up far apart, so our encounters were few as kids. Our mothers were only siblings to each other, their brother having died young in an auto accident. They were close but un-alike. We lived in northern Michigan on a farm; my aunt's family lived in Chicago. My cousin confessed her horror when they came to visit us in the mid-1950s and she learned we didn't have indoor plumbing. I was equally horrified when we visited them and found they lived in a concrete box: no woods, no animals, not even any grass to roll around in! In many ways our lives are vastly different. She has three brothers; I have two sisters and one brother, which changes the family dynamic, even as adults. She saw the world as a young woman; I married early and pretty much stayed in Michigan. So what do we share? Well, we're both a lot like Grandma, (She's the adult below) who was tolerant of society's craziness but smar...