Thinkingdog Publishing

October is almost over. That magical month where the sweaters finally escape the back of the closet, the blankets stage a cozy rebellion over the couch, and suddenly sitting by a fire with a great book feels like the most important activity in the world. Now, I know what you’re thinking, I am usually a summer person through and through. Sun on my face, ice cream in hand, toes in sand… that is my natural habitat. But there’s something about October that makes me fall in love with spooky season. It’s the way the fog curls around the trees like a little ghosty tiptoeing home. The shadows that suddenly look a little suspicious, the subtle magic that hangs in the air, like someone whispered an incantation and left it floating there just for fun. This is exactly why I write my magical realism cozy mysteries the way I do. I want you to feel that moment of delightful suspense, when you’re expecting a ghost to pop out at any minute but also hoping it does, because honestly, ghosts are kind ...

October has arrived , my friends, and with it comes that crisp, pumpkin-scented breeze that whispers, “Hey, you should be writing instead of sniffing every cinnamon candle in the store.” Now, I don’t know about you, but summer around here was busy. Between art shows, book releases, and wrangling the latest audiobook production into existence, I managed to blink and suddenly September was gone. I also managed to ignore the elephant on my desktop—otherwise known as the first draft of book seven (!!!) in my Magical Papillon Mysteries series. It has been sitting there, waiting patiently, like a half-baked pie that really needs to go back in the oven. Here’s the problem: I also have a perfectly delicious outline for book eight. Oh, book eight is shiny. Book eight is whispering, “Pick me, pick me!” in the way that only brand-new ideas can. But alas, I am not allowed to start book eight until I whip book seven into shape and send it off to my editor. Think of it as literary tough love. ...