Monthly Archives: September 2016

The Ghost and the Muse is live!

the-ghost-and-the-muse-300For those of you who didn’t pre-order Book 10, The Ghost and the Muse, you can get it now at Amazon, iTunes, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and Kobo. Find the links here!

Perhaps Danielle’s first clue should have been—Hillary’s muse is male.

He brings with him restless spirits and murders to solve—if Danielle dares.

She has already been warned to stay away.

The Fitbit Challenge

fitbit

Writing can be a sedentary life. If I’m to believe those articles always popping up on my newsfeed, sitting for long hours can be as damning to one’s health as smoking.

I have a treadmill desk, but I discovered I’m not one of those people who can walk while crafting a story. I can surf and walk, which is okay for 30-60 minutes of daily cardio exercise, but it doesn’t address the other 23+ hours a day.

I also have a jogging trampoline, which I bounce around on periodically throughout the day. That is of course, when I remember to take a break. I need something to remind me throughout the day to get up and move.

This all brings me to the Fitbit.

I’d been toying with the idea of getting an Apple Watch. At one time, I declared they were the most ridiculous gadgets. That was of course, until I started coveting one. I first started considering an Apple Watch when trying to deal with caring for my mother, and worrying about missing calls from her when I was out, and failed to hear my phone ring in my purse.

Since I’m not immune to gadgets and the lure of apps, I started saving my Apple rewards gift cards from my credit card, to put toward an Apple Watch.  But then mom needed a new iPad, so I donated my Apple gift cards to her purchase.  It wasn’t long until I accumulated a few more gift cards—but then my wireless router went out…I had to be practical.

In the meantime, my daughter had just received her new Fitbit, and urged me to get one, so we could do daily challenges. While the Apple Watch also has a fitness app, I rather liked the idea of having someone to nudge me along each day.

After pouring over the Fitbit and Apple websites, I went with the Fitbit. Fact was, if I got the Apple Watch, I would probably spend more time fiddling with the non-fitness apps, while destroying my eyes and forgetting to walk.

Today is day three with my Fitbit. Elizabeth and I have been doing the 10,000 steps challenge each day. I didn’t quite make it the first day—blame it on doctor appointments with my mom and the fact it was almost noon before my new Fitbit arrived in the mail that day.

Yesterday was a hoot—Elizabeth and I were neck in neck all day, and the little stinker reached 10,000 steps about 10 minutes before I got there.

But today is another day….

Haunting Danielle, now available in paperback!

books

Gourmet kitchens, home theaters, exercise rooms, sewing rooms, man caves, supersized garages—those are the types of spaces homebuyers often think about when imagining their dream homes.  For me, it was always the home library.

In three of our houses that we either built or added onto, I made sure they included built in bookshelves. Our current home has a study where two walls are lined with oak bookshelves. While I never got my deluxe home library—the one with the ladder that slides along the bookshelves so I can reach the high placed novels—I gave notable home libraries to two of my series. In Haunting Danielle, Marlow House has a home library, as does the Coulson mansion in The Coulson Series.

While I love my Kindle and iPad, and the fact I can literally carry around hundreds of books in my purse, sometimes I want the paper version of a book or a series. For some readers, it’s not that they necessarily want to build a home library—they simply prefer a paper book over reading from a tablet or other device.

To those readers or collectors looking for paper versions of the Haunting Danielle series—they are now available from Amazon.

Each book in the Haunting Danielle series is available in regular print and large print.  Here are the links to help you find them!

The Ghost of Marlow House, Book 1

The Ghost of Marlow House, Book 1 (Large Print)

The Ghost Who Loved Diamonds, Book 2

The Ghost Who Loved Diamonds, Book 2 (Large Print)

The Ghost Who Wasn’t, Book 3

The Ghost Who Wasn’t, Book 3 (Large Print)

The Ghost Who Wanted Revenge, Book 4

The Ghost Who Wanted Revenge, Book 4 (Large Print)

The Ghost from Halloween Past, Book 5

The Ghost from Halloween Past, Book 5 (Large Print)

The Ghost Who Came for Christmas, Book 6

The Ghost Who Came for Christmas, Book 6 (Large Print)

The Ghost of Valentine Past, Book 7

The Ghost of Valentine Past, Book 7 (Large Print)

The Ghost from the Sea, Book 8

The Ghost from the Sea, Book 8 (Large Print)

The Ghost and the Mystery Writer, Book 9

The Ghost and the Mystery Writer, Book 9 (Large Print)