Happy 4th of July to Everyone!
I was 25 years old, the mother of a precious five-year-old son, and I did not hold a college degree when I crossed the southern border to live in the US. I was leaving a really bad marriage in Mexico and starting a new life for my son and myself in the US.
I held dual Mexican and American citizenship because I had been born in Texas. My parents lived in rural Mexico, an area without doctors, clinics, or hospitals, so my mother came to the US to deliver me and my siblings. My parents returned home a week after my birth.
Despite being born in Texas, I had never lived in the US. For this reason, I could not automatically bring my son to live here.
So why did I persist and get my three-year-old son accepted as a legal immigrant?
Opportunity!
The decision to leave my country of origin was heart wrenching. Yet I recognized that it would have been nearly impossible for me to find a job in Mexico to support us. Even more challenging would have been to hold a job and to attend a university at the same time.
US immigration laws that were on the books at that time were fully enforced. Consequently, I signed documents stating that my son and I would be deported if I accepted any public housing, food assistance, or any other type of government assistance. For five years, … I had to keep Immigration informed on where I lived and where I worked because my young son was an immigrant. At the end of five years, my son was granted US citizenship.
As much as I love my Mexican heritage, traditions, culture, and the nation’s amazing history, I have never regretted moving to this country. The first ten years were extremely difficult, yet I’ve seen my son grow into a fine man, I’ve acquired an education, I became both a CPA and a certified management accountant, and I worked in international finance for a major multinational corporation. In addition, my international finance career gave me the benefit of travelling the globe. After two decades in international finance, I took an early retirement. And now I have a fun job – I write fiction!
If I had to do it again, would I?
Absolutely! There’s no other country in the world that provides the opportunities that are available here if we choose to work toward achieving something. I love this country!
Happy 4th of July! Let’s grab a hotdog!
***
The 4th of July is a family holiday, regardless of ethnicity. How did you spend yours?
***
Kathryn Lane writes mystery and suspense novels set in foreign countries. In her award-winning Nikki Garcia Mystery Series, her protagonist is a private investigator currently based in Miami. Her latest publication is a coming-of-age story, Stolen Diary, about a socially awkward math genius.
Kathryn’s own early work life started out as a painter in oils. To earn a living, she became a certified public accountant and embarked on a career in international finance with Johnson & Johnson.
Two decades later, she left the corporate world to create mystery and suspense thrillers, drawing inspiration from her Mexican background as well as her travels in over ninety countries.
Most summer months, Kathryn and her husband, Bob Hurt, escape to the mountains of northern New Mexico to avoid the Texas heat.
Work Life Balance
/in Uncategorized/by Saralyn RichardWork Life Balance
by Saralyn Richard
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
I was recently asked in a video interview what my work-life balance looked like. I had to laugh. I’m sorry to say I’ve never perfected work-life balance, and I’ve never really tried. While I’m a perfectionist in many things, anything that requires me to pay attention to time is a lost cause.
As a disclaimer, writing, for me, is not actually work. Being a writer is a long-deferred dream come true, so now that I have dedicated myself to telling stories, the work is joyous. When I’m working, I give my all to my work. If I’m writing a scene, I am lost in the zone of that scene so thoroughly that I don’t notice where I am or what time it is in the real world. This quirk has gotten me into many difficulties when I start writing close to times of appointments, meetings, or social engagements. I have to restrain myself from sitting down to work within an hour of any of the above.
The same is true when I’m spending time with friends or family. I give my full attention to them and strive to cherish every moment. Having been deprived of social interactions for so long, due to the pandemic, I appreciate in-person get-togethers more than ever. I don’t check my phone for messages or daydream about possible plot twists. I don’t lurk on the fringes; I jump into the middle with my whole heart. I listen, I share, I laugh, I cry. I try to emulate my sheepdog Nana, who gives herself over to her people, completely.
If work and life end up being balanced, that’s a happy coincidence. So how about you? I’d love to hear how you address work-life balance.
Saralyn Richard is an educator and author of five award-winning mystery novels and a children’s book. Visit her at http://saralynrichard.com and sign up for her monthly newsletter.
Out of the Past—Or, How Cell Phones Became the New Swiss Army Knives
/in Detective, Mystery, Paula Gail Benson/by Paula Bensonby Paula Gail Benson
Lately, I’ve been binge watching the 1980s “soap opera” series Dynasty and Falcon Crest. Not only is it interesting to see how the story arcs were developed and played out, but also it’s amusing to watch the use of establishing shots to indicate location. La Mirage is a hotel run by one of the characters on Dynasty. In the earlier episodes, when a scene occurred there, the same video appeared, showing the front of the hotel with its sign and two couples, one dressed in tennis whites exiting and the other wearing clothes for elegant dining entering. When the programs were viewed a week apart, I imagine people didn’t notice the duplication, but when seen back-to-back, it’s painfully obvious. Finally, in later episodes, only the hotel sign was used to designate the venue. Falcon Crest avoided the apparent duplication by showing only the exteriors of buildings without people in evidence. Of course, Falcon Crest featured several impressive architectural structures.
La Mirage Sign Photo from Amazon
Another dating aspect of those series is the absence of the cell phone. If characters were stranded, they had no way to communicate with loved ones or get help unless they had access to a pay phone. Do phone booths even exist now or have they become extinct?
This pondering has led me to focus on the modern utility of the cell phone. Some people trace its earliest model to the communicators used on the original Star Trek series or Dick Tracy’s wristwatch phone. While those wonders may have initiated progress toward the pocket devices upon which we are so reliant today, I think the current cell phone is more akin to the Swiss Army knife.
According to Wikipedia, the name “Swiss Army Knife” was coined by American soldiers who had difficulty pronouncing the German word “Offiziersmesser,” which meant “officer’s knife.” While the Swiss Army knife (now produced by Victorinox) has become lauded for its numerous applications and versatility, it “was not the first multi-use pocket knife. In 1851, in Moby Dick (chapter 107), Herman Melville mentions the ‘Sheffield contrivances, assuming the exterior—though a little swelled—of a common pocket knife; but containing, not only blades of various sizes, but also screw-drivers, cork-screws, tweezers, awls, pens, rulers, nail-filers and countersinkers.’”
Photo by Victorinox
While the current Swiss Army knives have many of those same features, they may also have scissors, saws, and bottle openers, as well as knives. Anything needed to survive in the wild or live more easily in domesticated settings.
In fact, the cell phone is the perfect accessory for the modern law enforcement officer (see episodes of Law and Order), private investigator, or amateur sleuth. Consider all the items packed into one small item: phone, texting, email, internet, clock, calculator, navigator, camera, notepad, flashlight, weather predictor, social media, shopping apps, and entertainment apps (to get one through those long stakeouts). Imagine how Sherlock Holmes might have functioned with a handy cell phone. Perhaps he wouldn’t have even needed a John Watson. He could have recorded his own adventures with Dragon Naturally Speaking Speech Recognition Software!
“Tis the Season – The Voting Rather than the Holiday One
/in Uncategorized/by Debra‘Tis the Season – The Voting Rather than the Holiday One by Debra H. Goldstein
Have you ever noticed the increase in your emails or in list serv postings during the period before nominations are turned in for writing awards? Some requests are blatant – please vote for me. Others are more subtle – noting what the writer has written what of his or her’s that could be considered and asking those who read the post to “remind” everyone of their possible offerings. Some groups simply ask authors to respond in a given thread, others use data bases. The bottom line is that without a little “help” from our friends, there is no way any writer can be familiar with all the possible books/authors to nominate.
There are simply too many books.
That’s why, much as I hate the extra emails and list serv postings, I am grateful for those who compile lists (like Gabriel) or use databases (like the Guppies). These jog my memory and usually give me enough time so that I can read the works of everyone I nominate.
Two questions for you. Do you, like me, prefer the lists and databases or are you okay with emails and list serv postings for all? Today’s email brought an announcement listing the books up for the Killer Nashville Reader’s Choice Awards. The list includes my Five Belles Too Many. In the comments, tell me if you have a book eligible for consideration? Oh, and here’s a call to action: Anyone can vote for Reader’s Choice – follow this link, look at the list, and vote:
https://www.killernashville.com/killer-nashville-readers-choice-award or directly on the ballot here https://killernashville.forms-db.com/view.php?id=246688
Alekos!
/in author promotion, New Release, Romance, Romantic Suspense, Series, Summer Reads/by Bethany MainesWhew! I’ve made it to summer and the final (for now) book of my Rejects Pack trilogy. Alekos wraps up the storyline started in the books 1 and 2 (Hudson & Killian) in what I hope is a satisfactory conclusion. Hint: I’m trying to tell you there’s a Happily Ever After without giving away any spoilers.
Challenges
This series tested my creativity in quite a few ways. I actually started Alekos first and then went back and wrote the first two installments. This created a challenge in that the first two books were therefore more honed in to their themes and where they had to end up in order for book three to make sense. But that also meant that I had to a fair bit of editing on Alekos in order to make all the little plot jigsaw pieces line up.
I also started it during the pandemic and then was faced with the decision to include or not include the pandemic in the text. I ended up choosing to include it but with only light mentions rather than as a plot point. One of the most curious things about the 1918 Influenza epidemic is that it seemed virtually unmentioned in fiction of the time. It was certainly influential as a theme, but most of us haven’t ever read a story that features masks or other remnants of that outbreak. When that was first pointed out, I couldn’t understand why. It seems notable and worth a short story or two to try and capture the moment. I did write one Covid piece of short fiction based on the drag races that sprang up during the lock downs (Fireball Rolled a Seven – Crimecucopia Funny Ha Ha edition), but writers have seen very sharp opinions from readers about mentioning the pandemic in novels mostly they don’t like it. Reading is for escape and bringing Covid back into the escapist fantasy isn’t always wanted. However, it was one of the hurdles my heroine had to overcome, so I left it in without dwelling on it. Hopefully, readers now have had enough distance that seeing a mention of a mask in fiction won’t send them scurrying for the door.
What to Expect
But I think I rose to meet the challenges of crafting a Indiana Jones / The Mummy inspired series that gives magical new worlds, globe trotting adventures, and mythological beings, archaeological mysteries, and one very pissed off ancient Egyptian mummy(ish) person. And I can’t wait for readers to be able to share the complete (for now) adventures of the Rejects Pack.
Pre-Order / Buy Now: https://amzn.to/3l32CAL
Learn more: https://www.bethanymaines.com
About Alekos:
Alpha wolf, Alexander Ash has forged a family dedicated to finding a cure for the magical wasteland that has stretched across Greece since the devastating Night of 1000 deaths. But on the brink of finally being able to right the wrongs fate has dealt, Alex meets translator Eliandra Smith and finds himself called to her in a way he can’t explain. But as Lia is swept into Alex’s world of mystical beings, magic, and deadly ancient wars, they soon discover that she is tied more closely to his past that she could have imagined. And Alex discovers she might also be the one thing that can kill them all.
**
Bethany Maines is the award-winning indie and traditionally published author of romantic action-adventure and fantasy novels that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind-end. She can usually found chasing after her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel or screenplay.
Family
/in Author Life, Uncategorized/by Gay YellenI’ve been thinking about families lately. Specifically, two kinds of family: the kind we are born into and the kind we create for ourselves among the strangers we meet in the course of our lives.
I have a brother I love dearly. I never had a sister, but I was blessed with girl cousins who were close in age. As children, we’d play together like siblings. Holidays were always big gatherings, too. And when we got older, we stood as bridesmaids in each others’ weddings. Eventually, we moved away from our family homes and out of each other’s lives.
This week, some of my cousins came to town for an impromptu four-day get-together. From the get-go, I was struck by how easily we slipped back into sister-mode. Making lunch, shopping, and just sittin’ around reminiscing, the bonds between us are still there, despite the years we’ve been apart. It’s such a comfortable, validating feeling to be with them, those people who knew us way back when.
Almost a decade ago, writing groups and writing conferences introduced me to a different kind of family. After attending my first writing conference, I felt like I had finally found my “peeps.” Without these new sisters and brothers, my writing life would be one lonely enterprise.
I’m especially grateful to the angels among them who’ve taken a personal interest in my work. At times when I’ve been ready to tear my hair out in frustration, they come through with encouragement and sage advice.
When I was growing up, I imagined a writer’s life to be a solitary existence. I never imagined that I’d find such a nurturing community here. But that is exactly what happened.
I’m lucky to have all these folks in my life. Whether related by blood or by our love of books, it’s family that makes life worthwhile.
Gay Yellen writes the award-winning Samantha Newman Mysteries including The Body Business, The Body Next Door, and out later this summer, The Body in the News.
The Force Behind Words
/in Donnell Ann Bell, How to Write/by Donnell Ann BellBy Donnell Ann Bell
When I was growing up, I heard often—particularly on the playground–the children’s rhyme, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” I looked up its origin, which appears to have been around since the 1830s. I suspect whoever coined the phrase meant well, probably devised the rhyme to target bullying. I also believe many an adult used that phrase to assuage a child’s hurt feelings.
Still, the idea that words cannot hurt is a gross misnomer. Spoken or read, words have power. They can infuriate and incite. They can also deter, persuade, motivate, impress, and sadly even bore.
People write to communicate. People read to learn and/or to be entertained. I certainly write books for these reasons. I’m not overt in my opinions. I couch my words and thoughts in fiction. I create characters who may or may not share my views, and while doing so, enlist an arsenal of words.
Many authors have been recognized for the following quote, so I won’t attempt to give credit. But I love the expression, “I write to know what I think.” For me, writing clarifies. As a member of Toastmasters, an organization that focuses on public speaking, I reached the level of Competent Communicator. Other than Table Topics, which concentrated on our ability to ad-lib (at which I was ghastly), I wrote my speeches so I wouldn’t wander into a rambling abyss.
As a reader and a writer, I’m a fan of tight writing. Here’s another quote I appreciate. “Don’t fall in love
with your words.” It’s no fun when your critique partner or editor says your research is showing or, this is filler and unnecessary. In effect, editors call the term overwriting. I have a DRAFT/CUT file for every book. Just as a book that lacks critical layering and reads like a draft in which something seems missing, by overwriting you chance your reader saying, “Get to the point,” and putting the book down.
Words may not have the power to influence us physically, but long after those sticks and stones leave bruising, the words tucked inside our mind’s eye lay dormant ready to encourage or diminish. Words are part of a writer’s craft, the writer’s tool chest. There is a force behind words. I’m not always successful, but I do my best to choose mine carefully.
About the Author: Donnell Ann Bell writes both romantic suspense and multi-jurisdictional task force plots, keeping close tabs on her theme SUSPENSE TOO CLOSE TO HOME. Her single-title romantic suspense novels, The Past Came Hunting, Deadly Recall, Betrayed, and Buried Agendas, have all been Amazon e-book best sellers.
Traditionally published with Belle Books/Bell Bridge Books, Black Pearl, a Cold Case Suspense was her first mainstream suspense and book one of a series. Her second book in the series, Until Dead, A Cold Case Suspense, released in May of 2022. Follow her on social media, sign up for her newsletter or follow her blog at https://www.donnellannbell.com
The Arts Are For Everyone!
/in How to Write, Inspiration, Uncategorized, Writing and the Arts/by Linda RodriguezA few years ago, I was giving writing workshops at a local high school on the wrong side of the tracks. These kids had already been through lots of trauma and stress, though they were only in their teens. These particular twenty kids, however, fell in love with writing, and it offered them a way to deal with broken families, broken hearts, and broken promises. They learned that on their own without me.
I was there to show them that writing can offer them even more. It wasn’t easy at first. Some of them started out prickly. It’s natural when life’s been a hostile environment to be always on guard. It took patience, but we got past that, and they wrote some phenomenal poems.
In the last workshop I had the joy of telling them that their work would be published in an anthology of Kansas City student writing and that they would give a public reading at The Writers Place, the city’s stand-alone center for writers and literature. They were pretty excited. This was a kind of validation that they almost never get. And since the poems to be published were from a workshop we did around identity and specific imagery, it was a special kind of validation. They opened their hearts on the page about the good and bad things in their families and their lives, and society said, “You are great just as you are!”
Out of the school population of 348, these twenty kids are winners. They may not be the only ones, of course, and they may not all go on to college. However, they have learned to use language to help themselves through tough times. They have learned to use language to form images of who they are and where they want to go, and that’s a prize of incomparable worth.
Linda Rodriguez’s 13th book, Unpapered: Writers Consider Native American Identity and Cultural Belonging, was published in May 2023. She also edited Woven Voices: 3 Generations of Puertorriqueña Poets Look at Their American Lives, The World Is One Place: Native American Poets Visit the Middle East, The Fish That Got Away: The Sixth Guppy Anthology, Fishy Business: The Fifth Guppy Anthology, and other anthologies.
Dark Sister: Poems was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award. Her three earlier Skeet
Bannion mystery novels—Every Hidden Fear, Every Broken Trust, Every Last Secret—and earlier books of poetry—Skin Hunger and Heart’s Migration—received critical recognition and awards, such as St. Martin’s Press/Malice Domestic Best First Novel, International Latino Book Award, Latina Book Club Best Book of 2014, Midwest Voices & Visions, Elvira Cordero Cisneros Award, Thorpe Menn Award, and Ragdale and Macondo fellowships. She also published Plotting the Character-Driven Novel, based on her popular workshop. Her short story, “The Good Neighbor,” published in Kansas City Noir, was optioned for film.
Rodriguez is past chair of the AWP Indigenous Writer’s Caucus, past president of Border Crimes chapter of Sisters in Crime, founding board member of Latino Writers Collective and The Writers Place, and a member of International Thriller Writers, Native Writers Circle of the Americas, Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers, and Kansas City Cherokee Community. Learn more about her at http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com or follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/rodriguez_linda or on Mastodon at https://mastodon.social/rodriguez_linda.
Libraries & Summer Reads
/in Cozy Mysteries, Mystery, Summer Reads, The Stiletto Gang/by Mary Lee Ashfordby Mary Lee Ashford
So when I think of summer, I think of hot days, shady trees, and books. My mother was a reader so we had books, but not nearly enough to keep me busy and at the time not the types of books I was interested in. So, once a week we’d take a drive to the library which like my school was the next town over.
I don’t know about you and your experience with libraries, but for me just being surrounded by all those books gave me a thrill. The idea that I could spend time wandering in the stacks and pull something magical off the shelf and take it home with me, was the beginning of a lifelong love of reading that has lasted the test of time and technology. We’d walk the stacks, spend some time making our selections, take them to the desk, and the librarian would pull the card, stamp the due date, and off we’d go.
Over the years libraries have evolved with the times. I live in a much bigger city and the library is much closer…and bigger. Technology has replace the rubber stamp and the inked due date. But two things that haven’t changed it that you can browse through the books and see what strikes your fancy. I’ve always loved the idea of picking something I know I’m going to love – a favorite genre, a must-read memoir, a go-to author. And then I would pick one book just because. Something different that stretches my brain in different ways, challenges my gray matter, or maybe just makes me remember it’s a great big world out there.
As I pick summer reads this year, I’m trying to do the same thing. I have some favorite authors with new books out. I have my go-to genre (mystery, of course) that I know I’m going to be entertained by, and then I am trying to include some not-my-usual-read books. Because summer. I’ve recently invested in a lightweight Kindle because it makes it so much easier when we’re traveling. And because I read a lot at night, it’s wonderful to be able to adjust the light. But I’m loving the variety of books to choose from and so far my system hasn’t failed me.
How about you? How do you pick your summer reads. Do you stick to your favorites? Are you branching out into new genres or newly discovered authors? Any recommendations?
Whatever you’re reading, I hope you’re having a wonderful summer!
Mary Lee Ashford is the “Sparkle” half of Sparkle Abbey (Pampered Pets Mysteries) and also writes the Sugar & Spice mysteries. She is an avid reader and supporter of public libraries. She recently retired from a 30+ career in the public sector and so has much more time for reading. Some days anyway. She loves encouraging other writers and is the founding president of SinC-Iowa, the Iowa chapter of Sisters in Crime. She is also a member of Novelists, Inc., Mystery Writers of America, and the Sisters in Crime Guppies.
She loves to hear from readers and you can find her online at: www.MaryLeeAshford.com
And on social media at: Facebook – Twitter –
Clicking Our Heels – Distractions!
/in Author Life, Clicking Our Heels, How to Write, The Stiletto Gang/by DebraAre you easily distracted? Is so, by what? Here’s what distracts us:
Robin Hillyer-Miles – Social media.
Saralyn Richard – Social media can take me off of a plot line faster and longer than anything else.
T.K. Thorne – Questions like this. Lol, just kidding. Other stuff on my computer—email, FB, trying to stay up with news, but really I think it is the desire to get those things “out of the way” before concentrating on writing. Then somehow, it is nighttime. I need to work on that.
Shari Randall/Meri Allen – Everything! I usually write in a room with lots of windows, and I am the Gladys Kravitz of my neighborhood. Every dog walker, delivery truck, or bicyclist catches my eye. But when deadlines approach, I have to put myself in “writer jail.” Writer Jail means a carrel in the library. No distraction = deadlines met.
Bethany Maines – Social media! Sometimes I’ll put my phone on Do Not Disturb and then move it further away from me. I also got logged out of Facebook on my laptop (my primary writing device) and have consciously never logged back in, which has saved me on multiple occasions. And yes, I could log back on, but I would have to go look up my password and it’s so much easier to not to do that. So laziness is working for me in this instance.
Kathryn Lane – My biggest distraction from writing is the research I do for my novels. Although it’s part of my writing process, I enjoy it so much that I over-research. And I know it, but it also motivates me to write.
Mary Lee Ashford – Hands down, social media and mostly Facebook. I so enjoy hearing what everyone else is up to and chatting with friends near and far. I love seeing people’s dogs and cats, hearing about their travels, or celebration. And then pretty soon an hour has passed. What I have to do is log on first thing in the morning with my coffee in hand and let myself be “social” for a bit. Then I have to move to a different device and get busy with writing. With a break for lunch or a water or coffee refill, I check in on what’s going on but I really have to limit my social media time to before or after writing.
Anita Carter – streaming a British mystery show.
Lois Winston – Life in general and a retired husband, not necessarily in that order!
Barbara Eikmeier – Sewing. I sew every day because I have a lot of sewing deadlines for my day job. If I wrote as much as I sewed I’d be a very prolific writer!
Debra H. Goldstein – Life. There’s always something unexpected!
Linda Rodriguez – At this stage of my life, physical illness and pain. It’s been different at other stages.
Donnell Ann Bell – At this point I can honestly say my 89-year-old mother. She’s in transition from her home into assisted living. I’m doing a lot of travel back and forth.
Dru Ann Love – Since I’m not a writer, my biggest distraction from working on my blog is being sick or having something more important to do.
Gay Yellen – My very patient husband and our life together.
Lynn McPherson – My big fluffy dog doesn’t like to be ignored.
Grab a Hotdog!
/in 4th of July!, Author Life, Kathryn Lane, life/by Kathryn LaneHappy 4th of July to Everyone!
I was 25 years old, the mother of a precious five-year-old son, and I did not hold a college degree when I crossed the southern border to live in the US. I was leaving a really bad marriage in Mexico and starting a new life for my son and myself in the US.
I held dual Mexican and American citizenship because I had been born in Texas. My parents lived in rural Mexico, an area without doctors, clinics, or hospitals, so my mother came to the US to deliver me and my siblings. My parents returned home a week after my birth.
Despite being born in Texas, I had never lived in the US. For this reason, I could not automatically bring my son to live here.
So why did I persist and get my three-year-old son accepted as a legal immigrant?
Opportunity!
The decision to leave my country of origin was heart wrenching. Yet I recognized that it would have been nearly impossible for me to find a job in Mexico to support us. Even more challenging would have been to hold a job and to attend a university at the same time.
US immigration laws that were on the books at that time were fully enforced. Consequently, I signed documents stating that my son and I would be deported if I accepted any public housing, food assistance, or any other type of government assistance. For five years, … I had to keep Immigration informed on where I lived and where I worked because my young son was an immigrant. At the end of five years, my son was granted US citizenship.
As much as I love my Mexican heritage, traditions, culture, and the nation’s amazing history, I have never regretted moving to this country. The first ten years were extremely difficult, yet I’ve seen my son grow into a fine man, I’ve acquired an education, I became both a CPA and a certified management accountant, and I worked in international finance for a major multinational corporation. In addition, my international finance career gave me the benefit of travelling the globe. After two decades in international finance, I took an early retirement. And now I have a fun job – I write fiction!
If I had to do it again, would I?
Absolutely! There’s no other country in the world that provides the opportunities that are available here if we choose to work toward achieving something. I love this country!
Happy 4th of July! Let’s grab a hotdog!
***
The 4th of July is a family holiday, regardless of ethnicity. How did you spend yours?
***
Kathryn Lane writes mystery and suspense novels set in foreign countries. In her award-winning Nikki Garcia Mystery Series, her protagonist is a private investigator currently based in Miami. Her latest publication is a coming-of-age story, Stolen Diary, about a socially awkward math genius.
Kathryn’s own early work life started out as a painter in oils. To earn a living, she became a certified public accountant and embarked on a career in international finance with Johnson & Johnson.
Two decades later, she left the corporate world to create mystery and suspense thrillers, drawing inspiration from her Mexican background as well as her travels in over ninety countries.
Most summer months, Kathryn and her husband, Bob Hurt, escape to the mountains of northern New Mexico to avoid the Texas heat.