My New Book: Bitsy Rabbit!

My sister Susan and I have finally co-authored our first book together, and it is now available for sale on Amazon! We should have the second Bitsy book available in early 2026.

Bitsy Rabbit! What a funny name for a dog! How did a sweet yellow Labrador puppy get such an interesting name?

When we first meet Bitsy, she wishes she could be as big and strong as her brother Bode. Then, an adventure in a nearby meadow changes how Bitsy sees herself and proves that even though she might be small, she is courageous and kind.

The perfect length for a bedtime story, Bitsy Rabbit is a beautifully illustrated and thoughtful tale that will be especially appealing to children ages 3 through 7.

Halloween Decorations circa 2016

I LOVE Halloween, I love making decorations and decorating and funky lights and crisp nights and strange noises in the night. I started seeing some cool Halloween bottles pop-up on my Pinterest feed and knew I had to make some, so here are my efforts thus far:

The plain glass bottles before

And after they've been transformed into Magical Potion and Elixir Bottles!!!!!!

Some detail shots showing what I did:

In case you haven't figured it out, I made my "potions" very personal, they are named for my novels, and contain things like limerance, and essence of canine and strength of mule.

Narrative Jewelry and more...

I mentioned my jewelry selling days of yore in a previous post so I thought I'd share a couple of brooches from those days. I came up with (I'm really pretty certain that this is my original idea) a genre which I call narrative jewelry. Think of it as wearable illustrations. 

This brooches illustrated sidebar scenes (these are stories based on my first novel's characters but not in the book.) And yes, I'm working on a second novel. It's called "Limerance Road" and is the second book in what will hopefully be my Jame County Mystery series. God willing and the creek don't rise.

What I'm reading...

Oh happy day...C.J. Box has a new novel out and I've got it loaded up on my iPad!

What I'm Reading . . .

I love all of the C.J. Box novels- the Joe Pickett mysteries and the stand alones, and joy of joys, here is the newest Joe Pickett book- Stone Cold - just downloaded it onto my iPhone and can't wait to get reading- bliss!

What I'm Reading . . .

I'm always eager for a well written horse book and Julia Wendells' Finding My Distance didn't disappoint. It took me a bit to get into the rhythm of the book, but once I did I was captivated by her journey in life and eventing. Only wish it had had more photographs!

What I'm Reading . . .

I love each and every one of Sarah Addison Allen's novels. Her latest is Lost Lake-wonderful characters, plotting and great escapist reading., I highly recommend!

Winter Reading

I've just finished:

World  War Z: An Oral Hisotry of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would; an easy book to
put down for a couple of days and then pick right back up.

From Publishers Weekly

Brooks, the author of the determinedly straight-faced parody The Zombie Survival Guide (2003), returns in all seriousness to the zombie theme for his second outing, a future history in the style of Theodore Judson's Fitzpatrick's War. Brooks tells the story of the world's desperate battle against the zombie threat with a series of first-person accounts "as told to the author" by various characters around the world. A Chinese doctor encounters one of the earliest zombie cases at a time when the Chinese government is ruthlessly suppressing any information about the outbreak that will soon spread across the globe. The tale then follows the outbreak via testimony of smugglers, intelligence officials, military personnel and many others who struggle to defeat the zombie menace. Despite its implausible premise and choppy delivery, the novel is surprisingly hard to put down. The subtle, and not so subtle, jabs at various contemporary politicians and policies are an added bonus. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.

Summer Book Club: 11/23/63

11/23/63

On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Stephen King’s heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination—a thousand page tour de force.


Following his massively successful novel Under the Dome, King sweeps readers back in time to another moment—a real life moment—when everything went wrong: the JFK assassination. And he introduces readers to a character who has the power to change the course of history.

Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.

Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

A tribute to a simpler era and a devastating exercise in escalating suspense, 11/22/63 is Stephen King at his epic best.

(thank you Amazon for the review)

Summer Book Club: The Eighty-Dollar Champion

The Eighty-Dollar Champion

Harry de Leyer first saw the horse he would name Snowman on a truck bound for the slaughterhouse. The recent Dutch immigrant recognized the spark in the eye of the beaten-up nag and bought him for eighty dollars. On Harry’s modest farm on Long Island, he ultimately taught Snowman how to fly. Here is the dramatic and inspiring rise to stardom of an unlikely duo. One show at a time, against extraordinary odds and some of the most expensive thoroughbreds alive, the pair climbed to the very top of the sport of show jumping. Their story captured the heart of Cold War–era America—a story of unstoppable hope, inconceivable dreams, and the chance to have it all. They were the longest of all longshots—and their win was the stuff of legend.

(thanks to Amazon for the review)

Summer Book Club: The Kill

The Kill by Jan Neuharth

Award finalist in the mystery/suspense category of USA Book News Best Books 2010 awards

When word reaches her in war-torn Afghanistan that her beloved Uncle Richard has been brutally murdered, globe-trotting photojournalist Abigale Portmann reluctantly abandons her assignment and returns to the rolling hills and rocky relationships of her past in the picturesque equestrian community of Middleburg, Virginia—a place she has painstakingly avoided for 17 years. While the sheriff thinks the murder is a random robbery gone bad, Abigale soon becomes convinced her uncle was slain by someone he knew. Suspicion swirls among colorful characters in the tweedy, foxhunting crowd, including a superficial nouveau riche social climber, the lazy heir to an old-money fortune, and, most painfully to Abigale, her former childhood sweetheart. As the gripping plot unfolds, friends become suspects and family ties are tested, until events spin out of control and the riveting tale races to a terrifying finish.

(thanks to Amazon for the review)

Summer Book Club: Force Of Nature

Summer Book Club:  Force of Nature by C.J. Box

Horses, Wyoming, Hot Falconers, Death, Mystery, YEAH!!!!


Editorial Review - Publishers Weekly vol. 259 iss. 05 p (c) 01/30/2012Edgar-winner Box’s breakneck 12th Joe Pickett novel (after 2011’s Cold Wind) focuses on Joe’s outlaw buddy, Nate Romanowski (who is smoking hot charactor) Nate’s been hiding in the foothills of Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains from cruel and powerful enemies, harmlessly communing with his falcons (except when's he is twisting off someone's ear), except when assisting game warden Joe on a case. Unfortunately, Nate’s sociopath former Special Forces commander, John Nemecek, a fellow falconer, comes after him with merciless efficiency and a crew of fanatical thugs, and Nate responds with measured but startling ferocity. When Nemecek begins interrogating—and eliminating—people connected to Nate, Joe’s family members become targets, forcing Joe to decide how far he can go to help his friend. The struggle between loyalty and law has always been at the heart of this series, set far from big-city legal support systems, and it’s especially impressive in this superior entry (plus we finally get a sex scene!!!!).

Book Club Week: The Hunger Games

Summertime is reading time ....or at least it damn well should be!  Warm days, comfortable lounge chair, shady spot in the yard, panting dog underneath said lounge chair, ice tea and a good book.

What I read over Winter and Spring:

Of course,  I read the Hunger Games series! Loved the first book, loved as in couldn't put it down, chores didn't get done, didn't get enough sleep loved it. A little less enthusiastic about books 2 and 3. But thought the movie rocked! I rarely love a movie that's based on a book, but this was the rare instance where it was as good, if not better.

My new line of jewelry

I'm working on a new line of jewelry for my yet-to-be-launched-but-in-the-works ETSY Shop...the design is based on my short story "Mermaid's Tears."  (Which in turn, is based on characters from my novel, "The Fourth Storm.")

I've done a line of brooches based on Mermaid's Tears....but I realized that since suits are no longer chic wear to work grab (I'd be in heaven if I could just wear jeans everyday!) that I've not been wearing my brooches very much. What I have been wearing are a lot of choker length pendents, thus the new line are all pendents. I'm using my favorite materials- mother of pearl, wood, brass, and my most favorite of all- vintage rhinestones. Here is one of my first pieces in this line.

What I'm reading this summer

I love Sarah Addison Allen's books. A little love, a little magic, and so well written. This is her latest. I've had it for a couple of months now, but wanted to save it for summer. I'm pages away from the end, and now I'm reading it so very slowly in order to make it last.

My summer book report

For the last month I've been bewitched by Sarah Addison Allen's books, The Sugar Queen, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, and Garden Spells.

It is so rare that I find a book (let alone three of them!) that I
Just. Can't. Put. Down.

All three were a delight: well written, interesting characters, and fascinating plots.

What I've also discovered is that these books are part of a new genre called "Magical Realism"  which I actually think my novel the Fourth Storm might have fit into in its day.  (Yes, shameless plug for my novel, copies of which are growing musty in Amazon's warehouse - be kind, free them!!!!!)

I hope your summer reading has been as rewarding, comment and let me know what books are entertaining you these days!

What I'm reading right now

Influenced by our recent trip to Orlando and the 7 hour behind the scenes tour we took at Walt Disney World it makes sense that right now I'm reading a biography of Walt Disney by Neal Gabler. Walt's is a very inspiring story- hard childhood, a father who was not the nicest of men, poverty - as in, not enough to eat poverty, and a dream that refused to die. Even if you are not a fan of anything Disney, Walt's story makes for a good read. 

I ordered it from Amazon and downloaded it to my I Phone using my Kindle application. Since I got my I Phone and the Kindle app I find that the books I read for pleasure, I download. But yesterday Ger and I went to Borders and I bought two paperbacks - a cookbook on using bread machines and a book on Drupel (a new software package I need to learn for work.) So, the break down seems to be digital for pleasure, and hard copy for work-  domestic and otherwise.

Passing thought, I wonder what will happen to libraries in the future? Any ideas? Do you think they will die out like video rental stores?

It’s going to be a Laura Crum Summer!

For about two decades now I’ve defined being wealthy as having enough money to walk into a bookstore and buy everything I want. (It hasn’t happened yet, but I’m still hopeful.)

I love to read. For pure pleasure reading I look for books with great plots, interesting characters, and if horses or the outdoors can be thrown into the mix, so much the better.

Last summer, my sister, alerted me to an author she hadn’t read before, C.J. Box. Following her lead, I quickly got hooked on Box’s “Joe Pickett” series of mysteries. Those books made for hours of wonderful summertime backyard reading.

Now the summer of 2010 is nearing, and I want another new author to enjoy…and I’ve got one!

Meet Laura Crum (but come back after you’ve met her OK?)



Laura Crum has been writing her Gail McCarthy Mysteries since 1995 and she has 11 (ya-hoo!) books that should keep me entertained well into fall.

(and for those of you who love to always have a book on your iPhone -like me- you’ll be pleased to know that a couple of her books are available for digital download. Ya-hoo again!)

I found out about Laura when I came across a blog that she participates in called Equestrian Ink.
It was there that I learned about her newest novel “Going, Gone” and I emailed her publisher asking if I could review the book here on my blog.

(Don’t worry, I'm not going to ruin this excellent book for you - I don’t like to read reviews that giveaway everything either, so no spoiler alerts needed for this review.)

In “Going, Gone” the main character, Gail McCarthy (a veterinarian who gave up her practice to raise and home school her young son) takes her family on a horse camping vacation. Their destination is a rural mountain area on property owned by a former boyfriend. A former boyfriend, who Gail soon discovers, has just been charged with murder.

“Going, Gone” meets my criteria for a good read: it’s got great characters, interesting plotting, and lots of horses. And Laura Crum knows horses – nothing is worse than an author featuring something about which they know nothing. Laura’s equine knowledge adds a richness and authenticity to “Going, Gone” that a non-horseperson would be hard pressed to duplicate.

Like all good books, I wanted to finish it fast and have it last longer. And like all good books it left me wanting to know more: Gail’s husband Blue, is still a mystery to me after reading “Going, Gone.” I was never able to “figure him out” and I’m eager to read her previous books to find out more about him.

“Going, Gone” is a fast little “who-dun-it” that sparkles with effortless writing. I’ve already ordered “Cutter,” the very first book in this series. And I think as soon as it arrives I’ll declare summer officially here! (Cutter arrived in the mail today and it's on my nightstand ready and waiting!)

So, for your summer reading pleasure I suggest the Gail McCarthy Mysteries by Laura Crum (in the order in which they were written)

Cutter (1995)
Hoofprints (1996)
Roughstock (1997)
Roped (1998)
Slickrock (1999)
Breakaway (2001)
Hayburner (2003)
Forged (2004)
Moonblind (2006)
Chasing Cans (2008)
Going, Gone (2010)

Book Club at the Barn

I've been involved with my Book Club for over 10 years. After I got into horses again I began inviting them down to the barn when it was my turn to host (and of course they had to read a horsey book each time!) I've meant to share some photos from our last trip back in July and just never got around to it, so here is one of the gang and my western trainer, Larry K. And of course my pride and joy, Dallas.

C.J. Box

Tonight is book club night! We will be meeting at my home and the book for this month was my pick- Blue Heaven by C.J. Box. LOVED this book- one of those: can. not. put. it. down. books.

My sister Susan got me started reading C.J. Box at the beginning of last summer. And I plowed through everything he'd written in 3 months. I love his Joe Pickett mysteries, but my favorite is definitely Blue Heaven.

I hope everyone else in the club enjoyed it (guess I'll find out!) and hope they like the Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake I'll be serving (thank you my beloved Costco!)