My Fun Filled Year

It’s hard to believe that this year is nearly over. It was filled with fun, new friends, new books, and great opportunities.

We started off the new year with a trip New Mexico and Texas to visit family. Might as well go where it’s warmer in the winter. 😉

photo from our trip

I attended a new author event in Lebanon, Oregon, held by the Lebanon Library. It was a fun event and one I’m doing again in 2025.

I joined an authors group who promote audiobooks, trying to get more sales of my audiobooks. I think it’s helping and we’ll be even better in the coming year when I can sell the audiobooks direct from my website.

In April I attended the Left Coast Crime conference in Seattle. It is always fun seeing author friends and meeting new readers. I’ll be headed to Denver this March for this same conference. They move around every year. I also had a wonderful week-long Oregon Coast trip with my friends. I write and then we go out and have fun. I like to do this twice a year but because of my Europe trip this year we only made it to the beach the one time.

May was a busy month promoting books and selling books. I attended the Beaver-con a mini comic con held for the first time in Central Oregon. I manned a booth for NIWA (Northwest Independent Writers Association) selling my books and those of other NIWA members. Then the end of the month I attended the Memorial Weekend Sumpter Flea Market as author Mary Vine and I have done for nearly ten years. This year it was poorly attended. We managed to sell books but not like normally.

June was another busy month with manning a NIWA booth at the La Pine Rhubarb Festival, promoting and writing books, and being one of the speakers at a conference in Beaverton.

July was a writing month. I sat down and wrote every day to get a book finished so I could attended the Tamkaliks Powwow in Wallowa Oregon. And July started my trekking around Oregon judging at county fairs. The categories I judge are sewing, crocheting, knitting, cake decorating, foods, art, photography, writing, and various other things like leathercraft and pottery. If it’s a small county with only one or two items then I do my best to judge the items.

fishing platforms on the Deschutes River

August more county fairs and the state fair where I judged writing. The month ended with our Labor Day Flea Market in Sumpter. It was poorer attended than Memorial Day. We are rethinking whether or not to continue with this event. They have started a new one on July 4th that sounds like it is gaining in popularity and we may switch to that once a year.

September is the month I waited for all year! My oldest daughter, a granddaughter, and I set out on my bucket list adventure. We started in the Netherlands where we stayed with one of my husband’s cousins. She and another cousin took us around the Amsterdam area. I’ve been writing about the trip on posts here. You can go back and read about them and continue reading about them as I will have several posts. From Netherlands we went to Spain where we stayed with one of my nieces. From Spain we went to England, specifically Bath. And then the train to Scotland.

scenic Ireland view

October found us in Ireland. We had a week in Ireland and enjoyed every minute of it. When I returned from my trip, Hubby and I looked at houses that interested us in Baker City. OR. We found one that ticked off all buy one box and decided to go for it. We now own the house we will be moving into in a couple of years when he retires from his current job. We rounded out the busy month of October with a family reunion.

November was all about writing and selling books at two large holiday events. I had a booth with another author at the Redmond Holiday Market and then manned a NIWA booth at the Portland, OR Expo for their Holiday Market.

This month was all about finishing book 13 in the Gabriel Hawke series. And celebrating the holiday with family.

This month I have audiobooks, Yuletide Slaying (Shandra Higheagle Mystery) Poker Face (Spotted Pony Casino Mystery) and Murder of Ravens (Gabriel Hawke novels) on sale for $0.99 through Kobo. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the books or start listening to the books in audio, now is your chance! I even have the second books, House Edge and Mouse Trail Ends, on sale for $1.99 through Kobo.

What Does May Have in Store?

Wow, I’m kind of leery of what May has in store for me. On May 1st hubby called saying he was being taken to the ER. He’d left early that morning to drive a cattle truck for a ranch. I asked what happened and he said a bull kicked him. Great! By the time I arrived at the ER he was all stitched up. three layers worth of stitches. They had a hard time getting some arteries to stop bleeding. He has a four-inch gash in his head with stitches and staples. But luckily, he moved out of the way and didn’t get the brunt of the kick, so he didn’t have a concussion or any other head injury. He told me he has a hard head.

Then on May 5th in SE Oregon four inches of snow came down and the power was out for five hours. A skiff this time of year isn’t unheard of but the 4 inches came down all at once. My poor horses were freezing after being rained on and then getting snow. I blanketed them up since I’d curried a good chunk of their winter hair off the week before thinking spring was here! Mother Nature fooled a lot of us. The good thing that came out of the power outage, it gave me time to finish a book I’d been trying to get read. 😉

Today the morning started pleasant with blue sky and puffy clouds. Hubby said he needed help unloading irrigation pivot pipes he’d picked up the day before. So the morning was spent, thankfully while the sun shone, unloading the pipes. I was the lucky person in the backhoe following directions. 😉

This coming weekend is our 45th anniversary. May 12, 1979 is when we were married in a church in Lostine, Oregon. My mom when to great pains to make it beautiful. She made my dress, and they remodeled the kitchen and dining room so it would be better for hosting the reception at the house in the back yard. The apricot trees were in bloom and it was a sunny day. That’s about all I remember of the day.

Anyway, for our anniversary we’re going to the coast for one night after I sell books at the Comic con in Redmond, Oregon. Which is about the halfway point from our house to the coast. We’ll stay two nights with my mother-in-law and then go on to the coast for a one night stay before loading up calves and alfalfa seed and coming home.

It’s a little bit better than our honeymoon, 45 years ago. We were headed to the coast from clear across the state. Lostine is in the NE corner of Oregon. So we had to travel the full width of the state. And at the halfway point, which was close to where we were living, the car started acting funny. We limped it home and never made it to the coast for our honeymoon. As soon as we arrived at our house, the phone rang and hubby agreed to haul a load of something to pay for repairs on the car. Since then, we try to go to the coast or somewhere we both want to see on our anniversary, but it doesn’t always work out since it normally ends up being Mother’s Day weekend. Something we didn’t think about when we picked a month between our birthdays.

Before I go, I want to let you know that because May 5th was MMIW Awareness Day, I have my book Stolen Butterfly on sale through the month May for $1.99 in ebook or audiobook. The proceeds from the sale are donated to the MMIW movement.

https://books2read.com/u/baZEPq

While I’m sharing good deals on audiobooks, I wanted to pass along that I also have an audiobook on sale with the Indie Audiobook Deals. You can get Murder of Ravens in audiobook for $0.99 until May 15th. IndieAudiobookDeals.com 

I hope the month of May will be kind to you. Be happy and enjoy life!

Keeping up with Paty

I thought spring had arrived in SE Oregon. I found buttercups on the hill while hiking and we had two beautiful days of sunshine and 60s temperatures. Then, rain, rain, rain, a little snow and sleet, and we’re back to the cold weather with dreary gray skies. I’d just begun to think about pulling weeds and turning over the soil in my garden bed. Too muddy to do either now.

But the snow keeps building up on the Steens. I wish I had a view of the mountains from my house, but I don’t. There is a tall hill that I have to climb to see them. However, my daughter has a wonderful view of them. As witnessed by this photo taken at her place.

Steens Mountain from my daughter’s.

I’m so happy that my little dog, Nia likes to do road trips. The small dog I had before, Tink, loved road trips. I took her everywhere. Sumpter Flea market where I sell books on Labor Day and Memorial Day weekends, on research trips to Silver City, Granite, and other places. She also attended several outside book selling events. I’m hoping once Nia gets out of the puppy/teenage stage she’ll be a good mascot as well. She has been to one outdoor selling event and has attended Sumpter with me twice. She is getting better, but she likes to meet everyone, dogs, people, squirrels. And doesn’t listen well. Once she starts listening better she will go on more trips.

As you read this, I am on a plane to Seattle, WA. I’ll be attending the Left Coast Crime conference in Bellevue, WA from the 11th – 13th. I’m excited to meet some authors I’ve worked with but have not met in person. They are other members of my Ladies of Mystery blog. If you like to learn more about mystery, suspense, and thriller writers and books, it is a fun place to hear stories about how some books come to fruition and learn a few of the writing snags authors have. https://ladiesofmystery.com/

This month I also have a couple of audiobook deals happening. One is part of a great Indie author audiobook group I joined. Right now, you can get some great deals on audiobooks. I have the first box set of my Shandra Higheagle Mystery series on sale for $0.99! Yes! That’s 3 audiobooks for $0.99 and it’s at most audiobook vendors. You can find all the deals here: IndieAudiobookDeals.com

I’m participating in the Kobo Stock UP and Listen sale. I have the first audiobook of the Shandra Higheagle Series, Double Duplicity on sale for $1.99 at Kobo only. During this sale, you can also find the first Gabriel Hawke audiobook, Murder of Ravens for $2.99. Here is the Kobo link to find all the books that are on sale right now. https://bit.ly/3TIvKuC

My next post will be coming to you from the Oregon Coast! I’m excited to do my semi-annual trip to Rockaway Beach. I’ll be writing and spending time with friends. If you follow me on my Author FB page, Author Paty Jager, you’ll see my daily photos of the coast and what I’m doing.

And if you want to get a free mystery/suspense/thriller book a month, you can join my newsletter. I have teamed up with 12 other authors to share one of our books each month on our newsletters. You’ll not only get the free book, but when you sign up you get a subscriber only free short story from me and each month I have a puzzle search for you. Subscribe here: https://bit.ly/2IhmWcm

Fun Writing Stuff

I was at an author event held by a library over the weekend. It was fun to hang out with one of my writer friends and meet other writers and readers. I even had an older man come over and start talking to me in Dutch. I understood what he was saying because my husband is Dutch and his parents moved here from The Netherlands. But I couldn’t respond to his question in the language. I can only understand it. He had seen my name on my banner and once we started talking, I believe his sister knows my mother-in-law. small world!

The event went well and I enjoyed my day before the event when I spent time with my friend who lives in that area. We went for a walk in the park and I had to take a photo of these gorgeous daffodils. Something to look at on days like today when we are having rain, snow and wind.

My latest book released. The Pinch book 5 in the Spotted Pony Casino Mystery series. Here is the cover, blurb and buy link if you’d like to give it a read.

Dela Alvaro, head of security for the Spotted Pony Casino, is asked to do a security check of a casino on the Oregon Coast. She no sooner starts her rounds at the casino and a child of a dubious couple is kidnapped. Special Agent Quinn Pierce of the FBI has been out to get the father for some time.

One of Dela’s best friends from the Army is also at the casino and they catch up. The next morning, Dela finds her friend strangled. As Dela struggles with the violent death of yet another best friend, Tribal Officer Heath Seaver arrives and the two begin untangling the lies, kidnapping, and murder.

As Heath carries the kidnapped child to safety, Dela must face a cunning killer alone.

Universal buy link: https://books2read.com/u/38Y787

I have my mystery audiobooks at Chirp and am proud to join the authors at Indie Audiobook Deals in sharing this HUGE giveaway with you. Four entrants will win a $55 Chirp gift card! Chirp is the premier site to listen to fantastic audiobooks.🎧

They’re picking FOUR winners so make sure to complete all of the extra entries to enhance your chances of winning. Good luck and happy listening! 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: https://kingsumo.com/g/jz0pgc/win-1-of-4-55-chirp-gift-cards

I had a good conversation last week with the OSP Fish and Wildlife officer who has been helping me with my latest Hawke book. I now have enough information about patrolling the Snake River that I can start writing the story. I’ve been antsy to get back in Wallowa County with Hawke and tell another story about him, Dog, and the other characters who inhabit his world.

If you like to listen to audiobooks and get good deals on them, I suggest you enter the contest above and sign up for my newsletter https://bit.ly/2IhmWcm so you don’t miss a single deal when I discount my books.

Fun and Not so Fun

Since the beginning of the year. Jan 1, 2024, I pushed to get the next Spotted Pony Casino book finished. And it is off with my line editor and will be released February 22, 2024. So far my critique partner and beta readers have enjoyed it. 😉

The Pinch

Book 5 in the Spotted Pony Casino Mystery

Dela Alvaro, head of security for the Spotted Pony Casino, is asked to do a security check of a casino on the Oregon Coast. She no sooner starts her rounds at the casino and a child is kidnapped. The parents are a dubious couple. Special Agent Quinn Pierce of the FBI has been out to get the father for some time.

One of Dela’s best friends from the Army appears and they catch up, only to find her friend strangled the next morning after having divulged to Dela she may have photos of the kidnapping.

As Dela struggles with the violent death of yet another best friend, her lover, Tribal Officer Heath Seaver, arrives and the two begin untangling the lies, bribes, and murders.

In the end, as Heath carries the child to safety, Dela must face a cunning killer alone.

pre-order link: https://books2read.com/u/38Y787

Now that is fun to see the cover and read the blurb! It means that this book is wrapped up all but the edits and uploading it to vendors. Which means… I’ve started gathering research for the next Gabriel Hawke book. As yet, untitled, but I had a good conversation with an Oregon State Police officer with the Fish and Wildlife who is helping me with this particular book.

Hawke and Dog will be patrolling the Snake River with biologists. While helping the biologists with their work, Dog will come across a decades old body or should I say skeleton. It’s what they find with the body that helps Hawke follow the clues to its death and others. So stay tuned for that!

I also have a YouTube channel where I have been putting up samples of my first in series audiobooks so far. You can find them here: Paty Jager – YouTube

If you are an audiobook listener, I am setting up audiobook specials with different vendors for the coming months. As well as I have a Special coming up in February for Double Dupilicity in ebook and audio formats. It has a new cover and I’m having a “New Cover Special.” I’ll be posting about it in my next blog post.

I have been trying to get my newsletter signup form and thank emails set up and synchronized in the new format my newsletter provider has upgraded to. It is a pain! As soon as I get it figured out and set up, I’ll post it here so you can get my newsletter if you would like to have a fun puzzle to solve each month and have access to free short stories and specials.

And here is a photo of my writing partner. She has discovered she can go from the back of my chair to the window and snooze in the sunshine.

Audiobooks news and Christmas Delights

It’s the last month of the year and I’m having my biggest blowout sale of audiobooks I’ve had all year. (Mostly because I finally found out how to promote and move audiobooks.) Thank you, Rebecca Hefner!

I have three audiobooks on sale right now!

Murder of Ravens, book 1 in the Gabriel Hawke novels is only $0.99 on Chirp.

The ancient art of tracking is his greatest strength…

And his biggest weakness.

Fish and Wildlife State Trooper Gabriel Hawke believes he’s chasing poachers.

However, he comes upon a wildlife biologist standing over a body that is wearing a wolf tracking collar.

He uses master tracker skills taught to him by his Nez Perce grandfather to follow clues on the mountain. Paper trails and the whisper of rumors in the rural community where he works, draws Hawke to a conclusion that he finds bitter.

Arresting his brother-in-law ended his marriage, could solving this murder ruin a friendship?

Universal buy link for ebook, print, and audio: https://www.books2read.com/u/bxZwMP

And Double Duplicity, book 1 in my Shandra Higheagle Mystery series if available at Spotify for only $0.99!

Dreams…Visions…Murder
On the eve of the biggest art event at Huckleberry Mountain Resort, potter Shandra Higheagle finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. She’s ruled out as a suspect, but now it’s up to her to prove the friend she witnessed fleeing the scene was just as innocent. With help from her recently deceased Nez Perce grandmother, Shandra becomes more confused than ever but just as determined to discover the truth. While Shandra is hesitant to trust her dreams, Detective Ryan Greer believes in them and believes in her.
Can the pair uncover enough clues for Ryan to make an arrest before one of them becomes the next victim?

Universal book link for ebook, print, and audio: https://www.books2read.com/u/bww90b

Or if you would like to listen to the first 3 books in the Shandra Higeagle mystery series, you can purchase them for $2.99 at Barnes and Noble Nook.

Double Duplicity

Potter Shandra Higheagle’s deceased Nez Perce grandmother visits her dreams, revealing clues that help Shandra uncover not only one murder but two.

Tarnished Remains

Digging up Crazy Lil’s past takes Shandra Higheagle down a road of greed, miscommunication, and deceit.

Deadly Aim

The dead body of an illicit neighbor and an old necklace sends potter Shandra Higheagle on a chase to find a murderer.

Universal buy link for ebook, print or audiobook: books2read.com/u/m2ELO3

If you happen to be a Kobo member, I have partnered with the authors at Indie Audiobook Deals for a MASSIVE year-end giveaway. Five entrants will win a $50 Kobo gift card! Kobo is the premier site to listen to fantastic audiobooks.🎧

We’re picking FIVE winners so make sure to complete all of the extra entries to enhance your chances of winning. Good luck and wishing you a happy holiday season!

Enter here: https://kingsumo.com/g/pt4ez1/win-1-of-5-kobo-50-gift-cards

And if that isn’t enough to get you giddy about goodies for yourself and others this holiday, I have a recipe for you.

I like to make caramel corn every year for gifts for family and friends. If you want the crunchy caramel layer on the popcorn to be thick, double the caramel recipe but use the amount of popcorn the recipe calls for.

Caramel Corn

15 cups popped corn

1 cup brown sugar packed

½ cup butter or margarine

¼ cup light corn syrup

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

Heat oven to 200˚. Divide popped corn between 2 ungreased 13” x 9” baking pans. (I use 1 roasting pan because the higher sides make it easier to stir.) In a saucepan, heat sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt, stirring occasionally, until bubbly around the edges of the pan. Continue cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat; stir in the baking soda until foamy. Pour over popped corn, stirring until the corn is well coated. Bake 1 hour, stirring every fifteen minutes.  When cool it is ready to package up to gift.

Enjoy the audiobooks while you make the caramel corn or eat the caramel corn!

Special Guest and Friend, Carmen Peone

Carmen Peone’s series Seven Tines Ranch are sweet contemporary romance books that deal with abusive relationships. I’m happy to share my blog space with her and her books and hope they help women in similar situations.

Cowgirls with Grit

You gotta love cowgirls with grit.

They are hardworking, super businesswomen, dedicated, and beautiful – inside and out.

You might hear one saying something like:

A woman who wears spurs gets the job done.

Dwellin’ on lost love leaves no room for future romance.

Ridin’ the gossip wagon is not group therapy.

You might see one of them:

Carrying a flag, turning a can, wearing a crown, or roping a calf.

You might even find one, like my heroine, Rita Runninghorse, roping several calves, giving them shots, tending to bovine and equine wounds and illness, fixing fence, herding cattle, and baking her favorite dessert.

Check out the opening scene of my latest novel, Broken Bondage.

 Early October

Umatilla Indian Reservation, Eastern Oregon

“You dirty bugger, git over here!” Henry, the red-and-white

calf Rita Runninghorse had secretly named,

darted sideways as she winced at the pain in her sides,

gathered her lariat, and tried for another loop.

Her head pounded from when her fiancé, Bowie Dark

Cloud, had slammed her against the door of his pickup

earlier that morning and crushed her against a stall door two

days ago.

Concentration eluded her, and her timing dragged

like the sludge of cold cowboy coffee at day’s end. Dusk’s

chilly breath hovering over the rolling hills of the Columbia

Plateau country on her father’s ranch failed to help matters.

“Come on, Opal, let’s get ’im this time.” She swung her

lasso overhead and spurred her smokey grulla mare into a

gallop, close on the calf ’s tail. With her horse staying on him,

she landed the loop over its head and reined her mare to the

right. Th e jerk of the rope when her horse skidded to a halt

caught her breath.

The calf balked on the other end of the rope as Rita jumped

off, and her backside landed on the wet ground. Could this

day get any worse? She pushed to her feet, wobbled toward

the wide-eyed little one, and flopped him to the ground with

a deep groan. Good grief. Her father could’ve built a smaller

holding pen.

“Sorry, little man,” she said, thankful for the fall calf ’s

small size. “You shouldn’t have run from me.”

Rita pulled a short piggin’ string from her back pocket

and tied the critter’s legs together. Seconds later, he finally

quit fighting her. Th e cut on his leg was nastier than she’d

suspected. She went to one of her saddlebags and retrieved a

syringe and a bottle of penicillin. His round eyes watched her

while she cleaned the crusty wound, a low bellow escaping

his mouth.

Inhaling his earthy scent, she gave him a shot of antibiotic,

massaged the injection site, and untied his legs. “All better

now.”

Carmen’s Latest Book

Broken Bondage

A Road Trip to Redemption

Rita Runninghorse is about to marry the wrong guy. She has to get away from him. Now. She flees to a guest ranch in Eastern Washington State that offers a safe haven for women in need only to find the owner on a month-long speaking tour.

Robert Elliot has one thing on his mind: bronc riding. The Indian National Finals Rodeo is within reach, and he’s not about to let anything ruin his chances of going pro. Not even the woman he finds asleep in the stall of their rankest horse. 

When Rita’s fiancé discovers where she’s hiding out, she takes Robert’s offer to go with him on the road and prays her fiancé gives up the hunt. Saddled together, Rita and Robert must rely on each other as they go on the road to keep her alive.

Grab your copy now!

About Carmen

Carmen Peone is an award-winning author of Young Adult and Inspirational Western Romantic Suspense and lives with her husband in Northeast Washington and on the Colville Confederated Indian Reservation. With the love of history and the Western woman’s lifestyle, she weaves threads of healing, hope, and horses, with threads of love, of course, into her stories.

Connect with Carmen

Website and Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | BookBub | Goodreads

Sign up for her newsletter and receive her novella, Gentling the Cowboy for Free. https://bit.ly/3WyltBG

2021 is Here!

One of my goals this year is to try and remember to post here more often. I put it down in my date book, but then something else needs my attention and I tend to put this off and deal with everything else. I’m sorry!

With 2021 I am finishing up a murder mystery series. I hope my readers like the way I ease out of the Shandra Higheagle mysteries. I felt like it was time to do a graceful exit with the option to pick it up in the future. 😉

I’m starting a new murder mystery series which is requiring a LOT of research. I want to make sure the setting rings true and the stories are riveting. If you, or someone you know, works for an Indian Gaming Casino, I would love to visit with you. You can email me at patyjag(at)gmail(dot)com.

Hawke is set to get two new books this year. The one I’m starting on next week will also require a lot of research. I’ve been reaching out to people for help. Hopefully, a few will come through.

Right now you can get the first book of my Isabella Mumphrey trilogy, Secrets of a Mayan Moon for $0.99 through a bookfunnel event I’m participating in: Strong Women Leads. https://books.bookfunnel.com/strong_female_lead/rbrgaya5oy

My two horses and George, the donkey, had their hooves trimmed yesterday. George and my mare needed it done. Jan, the gelding, just needed evened out. If the ground wasn’t frozen with some icy spots, I could ride, but at my age, I prefer to ride in adverse conditions. 😉 We have had very little snow so far, but it is only January. There are still two months in which we could get snow. That’s the good and the bad of living in the high dessert. We do get snow, usually in small amounts that melt quickly. Or we get a foot and it stays really cold. And you never know when you’ll have either.

George and the horses

I hope you have a wonderful year and keep coming back here to see what I’m up to. I’m hoping things ease up and I can attend the three conferences that were cancelled last year. We’ll see!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you are spending this day, or weekend, with people you care about or how you wish to celebrate or not celebrate this time of year.

We are spending the day with our family who live down the road. We see them all the time, and we live rural. One of the perks of being rural. 😉

As always at the end of the year, I figure out what I’ve accomplished and where I want to go with my writing. I am ending a mystery series. The last book is written and will be published in early 2021. I’m starting a new murder mystery series that I’m nervous and excited about. It’s requiring a lot of research because it is set in a business I know nothing about- Indian run casinos. And the protagonist is female disable veteran. Lots to learn!

I’m excited to write the next Gabriel Hawke book which will deal with Missing and Murdered Indigenous women. I know that sounds bad to say I’m excited about writing it. But what I really mean, is I hope by using this as a premise in my book, I can shed more light on the problem. And 75% of the proceeds from this book will go to the MMIW organization.

If you haven’t had a chance to start the Shandra Higheagle murder mystery series, or have been putting off getting the 7th book in the series, Yuletide Slaying, it is available right now at all ebook venues for $0.99. It was picked by Books2Read for a special Christmas promotion. http://d2d.tips/diehardchristmas 

The best part of Christmas to me is finding the perfect gift for each friend and family member. I love the search, wrapping the gift, and then the look on their faces when they open the gift. That and spending the day together, playing cards, visiting, and enjoying good food.

Wishing you a fabulous Christmas and a New Year that brings you all the joy and love you could ever wish for!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Itching to Decorate for Christmas & Party!

As hubby keeps saying, “It isn’t Thanksgiving yet!” However, last year for some reason, I can’t remember, we only had the decorations up for a few weeks and I felt slighted. I feel like I need to get the decorations up so I can enjoy them longer. I’ve already started listening to Christmas music- Penatonixs- but I’m still not ready to gorge on Hallmark Christmas movies.

I’m also going to be gone all next week at a writing retreat on the coast. Which will cut into time to get other things done *cough* Christmas presents *cough*. I always sew something for the grandkids. I know my kids enjoyed when my mom would give them things she made herself.

And, I’ll lose a week in December when I travel to Wisconsin with my daughter to pick up pigs. You can believe I’ll be blogging about that trip!

My Norfolk Pine with lights

The more I think and write about this, I will take down some of the Fall decorations and be prepared to have our oldest daughter and her girls along with another granddaughter help me decorate the house the day after Thanksgiving! Then it will be finished and I won’t have to worry about it when I’m on the trip.

How about you? Do you like to decorate or have your house decorated for the holidays? I tend to do something for every season/holiday. It makes the house look happy.

I’m having a “Where in the world is Isabella Mumphrey?” Facebook party to reveal the new covers for my Isabella Mumphrey action adventure/suspense/thriller trilogy. There will be clues and those who leave the correct answers will be in the running for some great prizes. Books, gift cards, tote bags, swag, and other goodies.

So join me Nov. 14th on Facebook. Sign in that you are attending today so you will be ready to join the fun at 5 pm PST.

https://www.facebook.com/events/471554667120961

And book 1 Secrets of a Mayan Moon is on sale in ebook for $0.99 through the weekend.

Secrets of a Mayan Moon

Book one of the Isabella Mumphrey Adventure series

Move over Indiana Jones and MacGyver- Isabella Mumphrey has arrived!

Child prodigy and now Doctor of Anthropology, Isabella Mumphrey, is about to lose her job. Unless she can decipher an ancient stone table—and she can. She heads to Guatemala at the request of her mentor, but drug trafficking bad guys and artifact thieves wreak havoc on her scholarly intentions.

When undercover DEA agent, Tino Kostantine, meets Dr. Mumphrey it’s obvious she’s never been in a jungle or outside of the States. Entangled in helping her discover the truth in the tablets may make both of them lost casualties buried forever.

https://books2read.com/u/bzQEE4