October Newsletter
As October winds down, winter weather has arrived in Royal Oak, Michigan. I've accepted that I'll be spending winter, 2020, mostly inside my house. Fortunately, for me, it's the best place to be.
         Reading, writing, baking, eating... Maybe I'll do some household organizing. (And maybe not.)
         I've been wondering what this Christmas will be like. Last year after Christmas I bought a tall artificial tree to replace the tabletop model I've used for many years. Finally I'll be able to unpack boxes of old family ornaments including my angel tree top and set up my manger underneath.
         But will I do that? Possibly, even if my family can't be with me this year. Even if it's just me and Layla. I do not want 2020 to be the year without a Christmas tree.
         I've been thinking about how grateful I am that I'm a writer, that I can escape into my own book whenever I wish. Writers, artists, musicians and other people have kept fear at bay by relying on their own creativity.
         For example, my friend, Sue McGoun, has assembled dozens of charming little rooms in boxes. She obtains her tiny ingredients from various sources, comes up with the ideas for their presentation, and writes stories to accompany the scenes she creates. 
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         Sue has graciously consented to send me pictures for my newsletter. This series is perfect for the coming Christmas season.
         Unknown to Sue, there's the ghost of an idea for a future Foxglove Corners mystery lurking in them. Stay tuned.
         As for my work in progress, So Long at the Park, perhaps when In The Greenwood He Was Slain is released in December, it will be finished.
         My writer friends have also been busy. Marja McGraw has released a new Sandi Webster book titled The Accidental Gumshoe. This one is a little different from other Sandi Webster adventures in that the girl detective is Sandi's ancestor, Sioux.       Marja tells her story via installments from an old diary which Sandi reads while recuperating from an injury. As usual, Marja has designed her own cover. The setting sparkles with 1920' atmosphere and charming, comical slang appropriate to the era.
         The Accidental Gumshoe is available on Kindle, and I hope it's the first in another series.
         Sue Hurley's new release, Heart Gifts, will be coming from Wings ePress in June. Here's a glimpse:
         It is Christmas time in the little town of Angel, and Serena Davis is in charge of the Christmas pageant. If it goes well, she will be able to save Petals, her mother’s beloved bakery. Arch-enemy Matt Jenkins is the only one standing in her way, and he is not willing to budge. Serena challenges him to take the leap of faith needed to help her. As her deadline approaches, she is faced with another problem. What are the students in her class hiding from her? 
         I just finished Jodi Taylor's Time Police book, Hard Time, and as always wished there was more. Now I'm reading an installment in Vicki Delany 's delicious Year-Round Christmas mystery, Dying in a Winter Wonderland. 
         Speaking of Christmas reads, I've pre-ordered Murder in the Snow, the fourth in a new series featuring Lady Eleanor Swift, the most delightful heroine, in my opinion, since Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody.
         There now. With a good book to write or read or a project to work on, self-isolating through a long, snowy winter isn't so bad after all, is it?
         Until November, stay safe and well.
 
Dorothy