Tag Archive for: Thanksgiving

Plimouth or Plymouth?

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by Paula Gail Benson
In school, I learned that the
Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620.
On the map, there is an oceanfront
town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, which is a lovely place to spend a carefree
summer day.
Within the town of Plymouth,
Massachusetts, there is a living history Museum called Plimouth Plantation.
Why is the Plantation name spelled
differently from the town’s?
According to a United States History Project webpage, the definitive
journal detailing the organization of the colony by William Bradford had “Of
Plimouth Planation” written at the top. “Plymouth” is considered the more
modern spelling.

Visiting Plimouth Plantation gives
modern guests the opportunity to immerse themselves in 17th century culture,
both from the colonists’ and Native Americans’ viewpoints. The museum was
established in 1947 by Henry Hornblower II (1917-1985), who worked in his
family’s business of finance, but had a love for American history and
archaeology that grew from his boyhood spent in the family’s Plymouth summer
house. He became determined to present the story of the Pilgrims and the
Wampanoag People with the greatest accuracy and integrity possible.

From
its humble beginnings, the museum has grown to include a replica of the
Mayflower (known as the Mayflower II and now residing in Mystic Seaport being
restored for the 400th anniversary of the crossing to take place in
2020–Queen Elizabeth II is expected to be in attendance for the celebration);
recreations of an English village and Wampanoag
Homesite; a visitors’ center (featuring a café where foods from the 17th
century are served), craft center (where artisans use tools, materials, and
techniques to create items that might have been used by the early colonists),
barn with native and historical animals, and grist mill. All these venues are
open to the public with interpreters and other guides.

This summer, I had the
opportunity to spend a morning at Plimouth Plantation. As we approach
Thanksgiving, here are a few pictures of the buildings and depictions of how the early settlers and
Native Americans lived.

Visitors’ Center
Nye Barn

Craft Center

Wampanoag Homesite

The Wampanoag Homesite features Native Americans demonstrating skills used by their ancestors. On the day I visited, they were cooking rabbit over the fire.

 Here are photos of the English village and interpreters.

The Grist Mill is at Jenny Pond. Visitors can watch the grinding and purchase corn meal.

May you all find joy in your celebration of Thanksgiving this year!

FAKE NEWS, FOX NEWS, REAL NEWS, THANKSGIVING

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By AB Plum

Thanksgiving is always a tough subject for me. Both my parents died—twenty years apart—on the holiday. A good friend also died in between that timeframe. I was an adult, but roasting turkey can still stir up some tough memories. Sometimes all the food porn in every magazine out there gives me a tummy ache and a conscience twinge for serving so many different—and rich—dishes.
But this blog isn’t a sermon. Instead, I want to share a story that someone sent my husband recently. Skeptic that I am, always on the lookout for fake news—especially from Fox News—I did a little research on the story. I think it’s real news and perfect for Thanksgiving—a reminder of how much we have to be thankful for.
Maybe you’ve read about this project or seen the pictures, but I hope you’ll check out The Fallen: 9000 Silhouettes on Normandy Beach. WARNING: Content sadly joyful. NOT A BUMMER.
Happy Thanksgiving!
********************

AB’s latest book, The Reckless Year is the fourth in her dark, gritty psychological thriller MisFit Series. It was released in early November. Quite frankly, she often questions why she wrote this noir series …. but believes darkness does lurk in the human heart. However, she’s grateful for an overly active imagination and how much she’s learned from writing about a psychopath from his birth to falling for his first love.



Incoming

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By Bethany Maines 

The holidays are coming. I can feel them barreling toward me with the speed of one of those fancy Japanese trains that float on magnets and go like three hundred miles an hour. Of course, the train type doesn’t really matter. Amtrak or coal trains will both kill you just as dead.

Yes, death and trains. That’s the holiday metaphor I went with. That should tell you all you need to know about how I’m feeling about this upcoming season.
I think one of the most unfair parts about being an adult is that we no longer get to enjoy the seasons like we did as children. For adults, time compresses until you’re blinking through the seasons like you’re in an H.G. Wells time machine.

And with that as a backdrop it’s easy to go down the trail of “Why put up holiday decorations when it’s just going to be over in a minute?”
But I’m putting my foot down. Christmas will be enjoyed. There will be décor. I might even décor it up pre-Thanksgiving. Holiday rules be damned. And I’m banning guilt. Didn’t buy someone a present? Well, presents aren’t obligatory. Didn’t bring a potluck dish? How fortunate that some other mom showed off and made extra. Decided not to do the holiday shuffle between in-laws and stay at your house in the morning? Tough cookies, Grandma. The stockings are still up, the munchkin will still get sugar-high, you can wait the extra hour.

You know what else I’m going to do over the holidays? I’m going to read at least one book. I used to enjoy doing that before I tried to have kids, see my husband periodically, and write all the words into new books. I’m going to pick out something awesome, probably fluffy, and enjoy the crap out of it.

That’s my 2017 Holiday Manifesto. Who’s with me?

Happy Thanksgiving

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Dear Readers,

It’s Thanksgiving and that means that the commercial holiday known as Black Friday is upon us. If you’d prefer to stay in your jammies and read or just order books from the comfort of your own home, then we have the reading list for you! Peruse our holiday book list and pick up all your favorites!
Thank you to all our readers – we hope that you’re all warm and safe and that your To Be Read pile is within easy reach!


The Stiletto Gang


Black Friday Gift List

Sparkle Abby

Buy on: Amazon • Barnes & Noble • iTunes

Downton Tabby

When Laguna Beach pet therapist Caro Lamont’s newest client, Internet billionaire Graham Cash, leaves his Scottish Fold cat, Kenzy in Caro’s care, she believes he’s coming right back. Not only does Cash not return, his partner, Jake Wylie, is found murdered and suddenly it’s not clear whether Kenzy’s owner is on the run from a killer or is a killer. Homicide detective Judd Malone is on the case, but suddenly everyone is sharing secrets with Caro and she finds herself in the middle of a game of cat and mouse. It seems someone let the cat out of the bag and now not even the cat-sitter is safe.

Raiders of the Lost Bark

When Bow Wow Boutique owner Melinda Langston’s assistant, Betty Fox, surprises her with a week-long canine “glamping” adventure, Mel is a little reluctant to pitch a tent in the middle of nowhere-land. Especially when Orange County’s hottest gourmet pet chef, Addison Rae, will be their private chef for the week. Addison is writing a cookbook and has been pressuring Mel to sell it at the boutique. And Addison isn’t above a little blackmail to get her way. So when Addison is found dead, Mel’s just one of many suspects who had motive to snuff out the demanding chef. Mel’s warned not to get involved but as usual she’s is not one to tuck tail and run. Even when it looks like she may be next.

Sally Berneathy

Buy on: Amazon • Barnes & Noble • iTunes • Kobo • Google • Audible Audio (Audio also available from Amazon)

Death by Chocolate

Lindsay’s only secret is the recipe for her chocolate chip cookies, but she is surrounded by neighbors with deadly secrets. Suddenly Lindsay finds herself battling poisoned chocolate, a dead man who doesn’t seem very dead and a psycho stalker.
Lindsay needs more than a chocolate fix to survive all this chaos.

Juliana Aragón Fatula

Buy on: Amazon • Conundrum Press
“Juliana Aragón Fatula writes histories so terrifying they feel as if they were written with a knife. She writes with craft and courage about what most folks are too ashamed to even think about, let alone talk about. Her fearlessness is inspirational. This is the kind of poetry I want to read; this is the kind I want to write. She makes me feel like writing poetry!”
— Sandra Cisneros

Paffi S. Flood

Buy on: Amazon

Twenty-five-year-old fraternal twins, Naomi and Penelope Dotson, discover the dead bodies of their parents in the lake house on the edge of Centerville. While still in shock, the twins strive to discover the murderer and are drawn into two other related investigations—the kidnapping of nine-year-old Jamie Reed and the disappearance of Keith Evans, a deadbeat dad. When a car tries to run the twins down, they know they are getting close to the truth. In the process of chasing these criminals, they learn it’s hard to run in high heel shoes.

Debra H. Goldstein

Buy on: Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Walmart
Attorney Carrie Martin’s balancing of her job and visiting her father at the Sunshine Village retirement home is upset when her mother reappears, twenty-six years after abandoning her family. Carrie’s mother leaves her with a sealed envelope and the confession she once considered killing Carrie’s father. Before Carrie can find answers about her past, her mother is murdered.
Instructed to leave the sleuthing to the police, Carrie’s continued efforts quickly put her at odds with her former lover—the detective assigned to her mother’s case. As Carrie and her co-sleuths, the Sunshine Village Mah jongg players, attempt to unravel Wahoo, Alabama’s past secrets in this fast paced cozy mystery, their efforts put Carrie in danger and show her that truth and integrity aren’t always what she was taught to believe.

Kimberly Jayne

Buy on: Amazon

Take My Husband, Please!

If you could teach your ex-husband a lesson, would you?
After Sophie files for divorce from Will, his unexpected financial apocalypse brings him back under her roof. Awkward! And if that’s not bad enough, Sophie’s new guy—a sexy and successful entrepreneur—is not keen on dating her without proof that Will is truly out of the picture. Sophie and her best friend concoct a brilliant bet to keep Will “occupied,” but things take a surprise turn for the crazy when Sophie gets roped into sending her ex on five blind dates!
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry. You might even want to take her husband!

Kay Kendall

Buy on: Amazon • Barnes & Noble • iTunes
Kay Kendall’s Rainy Day Women is the second book in the Austin Starr Mystery series. In 1969, during the week of the Manson murders and Woodstock, the intrepid amateur sleuth, infant in tow, flies across the continent to support a friend suspected of murdering women’s liberation activists in Seattle and Vancouver. Then her former CIA trainer warns that an old enemy has contracted a hit on her. Her anxious husband demands that she give up her quest and fly back to him. How much should Austin risk when tracking the killer puts her and her baby’s life in danger?

Bethany Maines

Buy on: Amazon • Barnes & Noble • iTunes

Wild Waters

His duty. Her secrets. The mission that brings them together will tear them apart.
In the steamy jungle of 1960’s era Vietnam, when a team of Navy SEALs are brought together with a pair of reporters, no one is prepared for the explosive secrets their encounter will reveal. Lt. Ben Kolley, former WWII frogman, leads one of the first teams of Navy SEALs, including the elusive point-man with an uncanny sense of the water – Catch. The reporters, a drunken writer, and Kahele, a female photographer with dark eyes and an even darker secret are the first allowed to interview a SEAL team. But neither Kahele or Catch are prepared to discover an attraction for each other that’s like nothing they’ve ever experienced. Soon, Catch is breaking all the rules to be with her, and Kahele finds herself entangled by a passion she’s never felt before. But for Ben, Kahele dredges up horrifying memories of an old mission – one where not all of his team returned. Can Kahele be trusted or is she the monster Ben fears? The clock is ticking, and soon all their lives may depend on Ben.

Julie Mulhern

Buy on: Amazon • Barnes & Noble • iTunes • Kobo

Send in the Clowns

Haunted houses are scary enough without knife-wielding clowns. Especially murderous knife-wielding clowns. So thinks Ellison Russell, single mother, artist, and reluctant sleuth.
Now death wears a red nose and Ellison is up to the blood-stained collar of her new trench coat in costumes, caffeine, and possible killers. Who stabbed Brooks Harney? And why? Money? Jealousy? Drugs?
With Mother meddling, her father furious, and her date dragged downtown for questioning, turns out Ellison’s only confidante is Mr. Coffee.

J.M. Phillippe

Buy on: Amazon • Barnes & Noble

Perfection can haunt you.
Quick-witted 24-year-old Allyson Smart is the perfect woman — in her dreams. In real life, Ally has to deal with the clumsiness of her size-16 body, the good intentions of her over-achiever best-friend, and the condescending attitude of her too-cool little sister. But when the fantasized version of herself shows up in her bathroom mirror, calling herself Allison (with an i because she says it’s prettier), Ally discovers how cruel perfection can be. In this contemporary fantasy novel, Ally learns that perfection really can haunt you.

A.B. Plum

Buy on: Amazon

The Misfit – The Early Years

An eleven-year-old prodigy bullied by his older brother, rejected by his icy mother, and ignored by his absent father retaliates with the creativity of a budding psychopath.

Linda Rodriguez

Buy on: Amazon

Plotting the Character-Driven Novel

In Plotting the Character-Driven Novel, Linda Rodriguez turns her sought-after writing course on using depth of character as a springboard to a strong plot into a book designed to help the aspiring writer who wants to tell a story made compelling by the truth and complexity of its characters. She provides examples of actual documents she has used in creating her own award-winning books to demonstrate the methods she teaches. Great plot springs from character and the motivations each character has for taking or not taking action. With this book, you will learn to create an exciting and complex plot, building from the integrity of the characters you create.

Binary Pie

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by Bethany Maines
 For me, Thanksgiving and the coming end of the year frequently combine to make me philosophical and prone to navel gazing. Just what have I been doing with my life? Am I grateful? Am I curating my life in the path of gratitude? Do I even want to? Why should I have to? Is this my problem? Is this my fault? Then I start humming Paul Simon’s “Gumboots” and then go shove some pumpkin pie in my face.

Tuesday’s Stiletto Gang post from J.M. Phillippe discussed the nature of gratitude, particularly in the face of difficult times – When Gratitude isn’t Easy – and struck a chord with me. I thought she expressed beautifully the idea that gratitude is not a binary thing, it’s a plus thing. Gratitude can be added like a spice to any recipe. Even if I’m feeling other things, it doesn’t mean I can’t feel gratitude.

But the very concept of binary got me to thinking about our radically non-binary human nature and how it is so very at odds with our consistently binary thinking. We all have that one relative who is “such a nice guy, except for (fill in the blank)” Fill in the blank could be anything from his random use of racial slurs, his insistence on patting the waitress on the behind, or the fact that he tells jokes about Asians. He doesn’t cheat on his wife (but maybe on his taxes), he doesn’t use drugs, he holds open doors for people. Except…

So is this character a good person or a bad person? Binary says: yes/no. Non-binary says: depends on other factors – I’ll have to really think about this. I’ll have to think about my own moral stand on multiple issues. And also, does he kick puppies? Because that’s a deal breaker.

From a writing standpoint, this is the kind of thing that’s fascinating to explore. But in real life, during an election season, it’s made Thanksgiving a cringe worthy holiday where we all go and wonder if Republican Uncle Bob is going to get more than his turkey sliced if he brings up Trump to Democrat Aunt Jane. I don’t have the answers. I’m not sure any of us do. That’s why binary is so attractive. Make the decision, yes/no, and then I don’t have to think about it anymore. Non-binary means I have to keep revisiting the topic – to keep thinking. If binary trims away the indecision, then it also trims away the additional factors – the pluses. Good/bad. Yes/no. Happy/sad. Grateful/non-grateful. Is that what we want the answer to be?

 If that’s the way it’s going to be, I’m going to call this whole thing to a halt.
– Gumboots, Paul Simon

And now if you’ll excuse, I hear a pumpkin pie calling my name.

When Gratitude Isn’t Easy

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by J.M. Phillippe

The common wisdom is that a daily practice of gratitude is not only good for the soul, it is also good for your mental health. As a therapist, I often help my clients focus on the positive in their life, and on their own strengths. Strengths-focus is the heart of Positive Psychology, “the scientific study of the strengths that enable individuals and communities to thrive.” Martin Seligman, the founder of Positive psychology wanted to find a way to help people “to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within themselves, and to enhance their experiences of love, work, and play.” He found it in practices of strength-based focus on positivity.

I am a huge fan (and amateur practitioner of) positive psychology, so I get all the health benefits of gratitude. But lately, I have found gratitude to be particularly challenging — I am having a hard time staying focused on what is good.

Right now, there is a lot of hurt in the world. Here in the US, we have water protectors at Standing Rock getting hosed down in freezing water, and the Southern Poverty Law Center reporting a high number of incidents of hate crimes since the Presidential Election. My clinical clients are struggling — some have been targeted by hate crimes themselves and most are afraid of what will happen next. Plus, there is still a lot of bad things happening outside our country, the most recent being yet another huge natural disaster in Japan (BIG earthquake). In the midst of all these horrible things, how do you stay focused on the strengths? How do you continue to practice gratitude?

I want to remind people that gratitude is not an absolute feeling. It’s not something that requires that you feel it, and only it. Gratitude is an “and”, not a “but”. There are horrible things happening in the world, “and” I am thankful that most of the people I love are safe and sound. There is a lot of fear and hate floating around, and I am grateful that people are still able to come together under the umbrella of love. The “and” is not trying to eliminate, or even counter, everything that comes before. Gratitude is not about balance — some things are so horrible a simple expression of thankfullness could never even begin to counter them. Gratitude is a practice of opening up all the parts of us that are afraid, sad, and overwhelmed just enough to let some of the good in — and some of the good out. It is the the thing that lets us keep the words of Mr. Rogers in mind:

Gratitude reminds us that we are strong — is the very act of focusing on strengths. It says, life is hard, and I am capable enough, talented enough, and brave enough to handle it. Life is hard, and it is beautiful, and worth living.
It is when gratitude is the hardest to find that we most need to look for it, to look for the “and” as a way to help bolster us against everything that comes before. This Thanksgiving I will be far away from family, and still reeling from the events of the last few weeks, and still worried about the future. And I will be with friends, will be eating bountiful food in relative safety, and will be able to find moments of laughter to share. Life is never just one thing. This year, I am grateful for “and.”
*     *     *
J.M. Phillippe is the author of Perfect Likeness and the newly released short story The Sight. She has lived in the deserts of California, the suburbs of Seattle, and the mad rush of New York City. She worked as a freelance journalist before earning a masters’ in social work. She works as a therapist in Brooklyn, New York and spends her free-time decorating her tiny apartment to her cat Oscar Wilde’s liking, drinking cider at her favorite British-style pub, and training to be the next Karate Kid, one wax-on at a time.

Thanksgiving Giveaway

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by Bethany Maines


In my recently released novel High-Caliber Concealer, #3 in the Carrie Mae Mystery series, the heroine Nikki Lanier returns to her childhood home for what she hopes will be a nice, quiet visit.  Of course, since she’s a covert agent for an espionage agency, her hometown appears to be harboring drug dealers, and her mother is clearly hiding something, a quiet visit is probably not in the cards.  But a girl can dream right?

And I’m pretty sure that’s what we all dream of for Thanksgiving. A nice quiet meal where everyone gets along and the food is delicious.  We all want it, but judging by the amount of letters to Dear Abby requesting advice about dealing with crazy relatives, we’re not all going to get it.

As we approach the season of counting our blessings and remembering what we’re thankful for, I will say that among my blessings is lovely readers such as yourselves. And if I can’t guarantee you a peaceful meal, the least I can do is giveaway some escapist fiction that can be used to avoid your relatives.  Leave a comment here or on the Stiletto Gang Facebook Page to be entered to win a digital copy of High-Caliber Concealer.  Winners will be announced on Black Friday (the day for free stuff).  Winner will be chosen by random number generator or my dog if I can get him to wake up from the tryptophan coma.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!
Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie
Mae Mysteries, Tales from the City of
Destiny and An Unseen Current.
 You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video
or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

Busy, Busy, Busy

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Though I keep saying I’m going to slow down, it doesn’t seem to work out that way.

I’ve sent my next Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery to my publisher, and of course, the niggling thought is there, I better plan the promotion.

I’m also writing the next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery–and I need to really get busy on it.

Oh, and yes, Thanksgiving is coming. Everyone’s coming to my house this year–which includes a few more than usual. I cook the turkey, dressing and candied sweet potatoes fortunately others are bringing items. (I also cooked a turkey and made dressing for our church’s Thanksgiving potluck.)

I’ve been working on a promotion for a .99 cent Kindle book, more about that in December.

I’m the newsletter editor for two organizations–one is monthly, the other is due the end of the month.

I’ve been doing some holiday boutique sales where I can display and sell my books. I enjoy these because it’s a chance to actually talk with readers. And of course, promotion is a given.

Christmas is coming and books make wonderful gifts. I’ve always been thrilled to receive books since I was a kid.

And because it’s so near Thanksgiving, I have to say that I”m thankful that I am able to still do all these things at my age.

What is going on in  your lives? I know authors are always writing, but what else is filling your days?

Marilyn

Free Book! Free Recipe! Free Time?

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by Bethany Maines

Ok, it’s the day before Thanksgiving and that means that you
are either baking like a mad fiend or you’re kicking back while someone else
bakes and wishing that you could be done with work so you could go home and get
your holiday on.  My mom does the
hosting for Thanksgiving and that means I skate by making the easy stuff like
cookies, pies, and the cranberry sauce. 
Only I make cranberry relish because it’s easier, and far, far tastier
than the gelatinous glop that comes out of a can.  (See below for the recipe!)

Hopefully, you’re in a similar position when it comes to the
holiday cooking and you’ll have a little free time to read something new this
weekend. And because I’m feeling ever so thankful for readers like you, the first
5 people to comment get a free e-book version of my short story collection
Tales from the City of Destiny. I will also be drawing one name after the five
person cut off, so leave a comment no matter what, and then hop over to the
Girlfriends Book Club for a second chance to win on my second blog of the day!  I will contact all winners by Friday 11/27.
Cranberry Relish:
  • 1 bag cranberries (the bags usually have holes, so a quick
    tip is to rinse them while they’re still in the bag and let the water drain
    out)
  • 1 orange (don’t forget to remove the sticker)
  • 1 cup white sugar (use less or more depending on taste)
  • Optional: pinch of cinnamon 
Directions: Rinse everything.  Chop orange in quarters.  Put orange and cranberries into food processor and
chop.  Add cup of sugar.  Chop until everything is of relish
consistency.  Put in bowl.  Pretend you slaved for hours.  Eat.

Bethany Maines
is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery series and Tales
from the City of Destiny. You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

Untitled Post

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Perfect Thanksgiving Diet Discovered! 
by Debra H. Goldstein

A perfect Thanksgiving Diet has been discovered! No starvation! Not impossible to follow! The Killer Wore Cranberry:  A Fourth Meal of Mayhem guarantees not a pound will be gained this holiday season.

The Killer Wore Cranberry: A Fourth Meal of Mayhem contains recipes from Lisa Wagner and short stories by Big Jim Williams, Lesley A. Diehl, Sandra Murphy, Earl Staggs, Barbara Metzger, Steve Shrott, Rob Chirico, Laird Long, Barb Goffman, and Debra H. Goldstein. I’m thrilled to be in the company of these writers.  Many of them had stories in each of the first three successful The Killer Wore Cranberry books, but three of us are newbies to the series.

Writing my story, Thanksgiving in Moderation, was pure joy with a touch of madness.  The call for submissions required a story that had a Thanksgiving theme and incorporated a Thanksgiving food. Thanksgiving wasn’t an issue, but as you know from my prior blogs, I love to eat and be a dinner guest but I don’t know my way around the kitchen.  Consequently, the first thing I researched was what different dishes are served at Thanksgiving besides turkey.  I was amazed at the possible menu variations.

Living in the South, I gravitated toward greens-especially when I realized “greens” could be any leafy vegetable including spinach, kale, collards, cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and parsley. Once I had my food, my mind focused on family dynamics. I long ago concluded that no matter how serious a situation is, family dynamics bring humor to it. From that point, the story flowed.  My critique group pointed out a few rough spots and then the story was ready for submission.  I crossed my fingers and looked around for a wishbone. Happily, Jay Hartman’s e-mail accepting Thanksgiving in Moderation granted me two wishes:  inclusion in The Killer Wore Cranberry: a Fourth Meal of Mayhem and a celebratory reason to avoid my kitchen.  

The stories in The Killer Wore Cranberry: a Fourth Meal of Mayhem prove laughter is the best medicine by including, as its blurb explains, “what happens when sisters are pushed over the edge, dentists dine with crime bosses, 1950s private detectives deal with dames and sweet potatoes and a family has a bit of a problem with their future son-in-law.”

The anthology is available from The Untreed Reads Store: http://goo.gl/jl7gCO (best discount), from any store or library ordering from Ingram using ISBN 9781611877403, or from Overdrive as a November promotion.  TKWC truly offers a way to enjoy Thanksgiving food without gaining a pound.  Now, put your fork down and read every word of this Thanksgiving short story and recipe anthology.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~





Debra H. Goldstein’s debut novel, Maze in Blue, received a 2012 IPPY Award. In addition toThanksgiving in Moderation in The Killer Wore Cranberry: a Fourth Meal of Mayhem, her short stories and essays have appeared in Mardi Gras Murder, It Was a Dark and Stormy Night, The Birmingham Arts Journal, Mysterical-E, Kings River Life (November 1, 2014), Bethlehem Writers Roundtable, MORE Magazine online and www.Alalit.com.