Yes, the title is a little play-on-words with our cozy mystery book titles. All three of those things, however, relate to my life at the moment. First of all, we've had a round of bronchitis (to the extreme) going around the household with three of the four kids and myself. Even though we're feeling much better, we have coughs that are lingering. Mine is particularly annoying at the moment. And there's that tickle in the throat that shows up at the worst possible moments

Today being Father's Day, I thought I'd share some thoughts on my father and the father characters in my books. I grew up a daddy's girl, and the fact that he is my stepfather (who officially adopted me) indicates that he's something special. Keith, my husband, is in fact stepfather to my three kids, and another one of those super-special men who willingly took-on a challenging dad role and did so with excellence. Growing up, my dad was my "coach." I ran track and did chee

I logged in and was surprised to see that it had been eight months since my last blog post! Funny how life gets so busy that you forget things you were once trying to prioritize. My husband and I are now committing to re-focusing on our writing and book promoting so that we can share our stories with more readers. That being said, there are certainly some new time-stealing obstacles we will have to overcome. The baby of the family will start high school this fall, and two

I know that March being Women's History Month is specifically for women who have "made history" through their heroic actions or great societal contributions. But, I think it's important that we remember women who contributed to the world through humbler activities. For example, my great-great grandmother, Carrie Crawford, may not have done anything to get her worldwide recognition; but she did raise a large family under tough circumstances and instilled values into the futu

I like to think that I'm not a mushy romantic, but I'm often forced to admit that simply isn't true. I'm a hopeless romantic if ever there was one. Writing romance is a challenge for me because I feel like I have a different perspective on what constitutes romance compared to most women my age. Or, maybe I just like thinking I'm different than everyone else. Regardless, I like to incorporate romance into my stories; Bert and Doris, Michael and (possibly) Kelly, and who kn

This past week I had the privilege of traveling back home to Knoxville, specifically the Karns and Solway areas, to visit my family. While there, my mother presented me with a beautiful gift: a photo album containing funeral programs from relatives such as my great-grandparents, their siblings, and some cousins. It may sound a bit bizarre or even morbid for some, but the historical and genealogical significance for me is great. Not only did she give me this incredible gif