HAPPY NEW YEAR—EVERY ONE!

I stole that line from Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol, and I changed it to say Happy New Year instead of Merry Christmas. So, technically, all I stole were the last two words and the intent.

It isn’t uncommon for me to quote another author, but I give credit where credit is due, so it’s not really stealing, just sort of borrowing.

I pray that we all have a happier New Year in 2021 than we did in 2020. I’m not going into the miserable details I experienced. Your miserable details are probably different than mine, but we all had some. Bleah!

I’d rather talk about the happiness I was able to wring from 2020’s morbid hands. Since I’m used to staying home, it wasn’t that much of a hardship. Note: I didn’t say home alone. I have two cats and a dog who keep me company and aggravate me.

I have so much to be thankful for. My family and I survived without contracting the virus—so far. That’s a big Thank you, God.

I published four books, a record that challenges even James Patterson. True, one was a children’s book No Music for Skylark City, and one only a novella, The Lake—by the way, my very first formula romance. Drama Can Be Deadly is a new type of book for me. It’s a modern-day mystery, and not one continuous novel. Drama tells of the four years of college for two theatre students, Scarlett Mayse and Kelly Newkirk. In each year, they solve a murder. It was so much fun to write (and so challenging) that I wanted to do another with the same format, so on December 7, I published The Case Files of Molly Evers—1947. It’s the stories of a WAC armorer. After WWII, she becomes a female detective in Detroit. Molly has five segments and was inspired by The Maltese Falcon. It was such fun that I’m working on a sequel.

So, lots of variety for me this year. I published:

One Romance

One Children’s Book

One Historical Mystery

And

One Modern Day Mystery

In all honesty, I didn’t write all of them in one year. The Lake is based on a true incident that happened to me and my friends on a vacation almost fifty years ago. It’s been perking around in my head ever since. I started to write it twice but knew I was off on the wrong track, so I scrapped those and came up with the new version, and I love it.

I began work on Drama Can Be Deadly about five years ago. I wanted to write something that featured my dear friend and mentor, Joan Dillon, the costume designer, director, singer, dancer, actor and all-around great gal from Venice, Florida. She isn’t the main character, but her wit and wisdom are featured in the story.

I’m happy that I have been fruitful and my works have multiplied.

My readers, (who by the way are the BEST!!!) frequently ask me what I’m working on now. If they could see inside my head, they’d know I’m not running out of ideas. There are a lot of people and one dog up there who want me to tell their stories. In the process of writing a book, I use one or more real people as the basis for the story. That gives me a great starting place.

And yet, the children who suffer from learning disabilities tend to face discrimination in one form or another cialis soft canada throughout their childhood. Treating the underlying cause of impotence condition is a viagra canada mastercard good idea of natural ways to beat low testosterone in a more acceptable way. In this article, I will describe a few natural ways that will really be helpful in increasing the semen volume. cialis levitra viagra The Key Ingredient Effectively Treats Internal Process Ingredient of kamagra tablets let ED patients take a sigh of relief and avail medicine. viagra canada mastercard

Right now, as I said, I’m working on the sequel to Molly-it will be set in 1948. I have two stories completed and three more outlined. I also have another political thriller, Hell Hath No Fury. It has a surprise ending every bit as powerful as the one in The Vegas Tycoon from last year.

I have about half of a volume of assorted short stories. Hopefully, I’ll get that out this year.

I also want to publish my Old Tyme Country Songbook, a set of old-fashioned country songs that tell a story. Mind you, the lyrics are complete. Now all I have to do is write the music. I have it all in my head, so it’s only a matter of time.

There’s another that’s been fermenting in my brain, The Boy Who Came to Dinner. I’ve been carrying that one around for forty years.

Oh, and a sequel to Drama.

What does that make for 2021?

A historical mystery

A political thriller

A family drama

A modern-day mystery

And a songbook

Sounds like a plan. My romance, The Lake, was fun, too. I wonder if I have room for another, say something set in Manhattan, Kansas, my favorite home away from home. This might all run over into 2022.

I once told my daughter I didn’t want to die with an unfinished book in my computer. Maybe that’s my real reason for working on two or three things at a time. I’ll never finish all of them.

Here’s to the New Year. May all of us come through it safe and sound and productive.

With a final bow to Charles Dickens and his Tiny Tim, God bless us, every one.