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Sunday Snippet: The Opening Weekend Edition with Chicks and Ducklings and Turkeys…Oh My!
There’s a particular scent that always pervades the first weekend of being at the lake–it’s a mixture of citronella and watermelon candles, mothballs (to keep the critters away) and pink antifreeze, bleach, and a slight mustiness that means you’re at the lake. This year, it hit us as soon as we opened the front door. We both inhaled deeply and grinned at each other and said, in unison, “We’re at the lake!” Pic is Husband in his happy place–the lake! We’ve been working most of the past two days getting the cottage ready for another summer. Husband turned on the water (which involves more than turning a knob–he has to…
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Sunday Snippet: The Easter Memories Edition (Redux)
I’m doing a rerun today, although it will be new to Substack readers. Easter memories abound, and today we will make more as the family gathers here at our house today for food and fellowship. So if you remember this one from a couple of years ago, go ahead and read it again anyway and Happy Easter to you! The night before Easter, we colored hardboiled eggs with the Paas Easter egg dye kits. Remember those? After we kids went to bed, Mom, who was probably already exhausted from working at the grocery store all day and studying whatever courses she was taking for her nursing degree, hid them around…
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Author Spotlight: Meet Author Marla Miller
Friends, I met Marla Miller when she invited me to be on her podcast. She is a dynamic and interesting woman, and I’m so happy to introduce you to her today. Marla began her freelance writing career after birthing three children and ending a career as a psychiatric nurse practitioner, RN, MSN. For 16 years, she wrote columns for the OC Register’s lifestyle magazine before becoming founding editor-in-chief of an O.C. coastal lifestyle magazine. Her first book, All American Girls, was the only authorized biography of the iconic World Cup/Gold Medal winning U.S Women’s National Soccer Team that Simon & Schuster published. SweetSpot: Now and Then, her recently published novel…
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Sunday Snippet: The Author Event Edition
Did you really write all these books? How long have you been writing? How long does it take you to write a book? Where do you get your ideas? and interestingly, Do you like doing this? Do you like writing? Those questions and others came up from readers at the author event I participated in yesterday and the last one was the only one I hadn’t heard before. Yes, I did write all these books. I’ve been writing since I could hold a pencil; I wrote my first book at age 10, but I’ve been published since 2012. It takes me about four to six months to write a book.…
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Author Spotlight: Meet Tule Cozy Mystery Writer Melissa Westemeier
Melissa Westemeier grew up around the edge of nerd culture, but marriage and motherhood with three sons immersed her in it. She’s fluent in Marvel, DC, Dr. Who, Star Wars, Godzilla, and more thanks to their influence. Her fiction work includes rom-com and a trilogy loosely based on her experience tending bar on the Wolf River in Wisconsin. She’s thrilled to realize her childhood dream of writing murder mysteries. Her books blend her humor and appreciation for nerd culture while tackling serious themes and unpacking the puzzle of whodunnit (and how and why!). In her spare time, Melissa needs to be outside or near a window. Her passions include hiking,…
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Author Spotlight: Meet Historical Mystery Writer Jolie Tunnell
What a fun treat to introduce you (and I’m just meeting her myself, too!) Historical Mystery writer, Jolie Tunnell, who has just joined the Tule Publishing family! Award-winning author Jolie Tunnell brings the past to life in suspenseful historical mysteries with a hint of romance, bringing the flavor of the turn-of-the-century Wild West to the isolated mountains of Idyllwild and the writhing underbelly of San Francisco. Her books gallop to the last page. A Southern California native, she loves on her sprawling family, forces her freeloading tomcat to cuddle, and can drink her weight in Yorkshire Gold tea. Sign up for her extraordinary newsletter and settle in for a visit at JolieTunnell.com…
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Sunday Snippet: The Wildflowers and Memories Edition
Neighbor and pal Mary and I have been walking in between raindrops this week, admiring all the spring flowers in folks yards and the magnolia trees and other flowering trees that are blooming. Some wildflowers are showing up in yards as well because we live in a neighborhood with lots of huge old trees. Wildflowers like delicate spring beauties, violets, and the little white blooms that look like stars. They’re so beautiful and they reminded me of when PJ and Kate and I used to go out into the woods behind our church when we were kids and hunt for wild flowers. The woods there was gorgeous and full of…
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Author Spotlight: Me with Big News!
Putting myself in the spotlight today with a big announcement–I’m moving! My amazing publisher has offered me a new challenge, and I couldn’t resist! I’ve been invited to write a series for Tule Publishing’s Montana Born imprint, so for the next four books, we are all about the cowboys, ranches, the spectacular Montana mountains, rugged cowboys, Marietta, rodeos, cowboys, bronc ridin’, the open range ..oh, and did I mention cowboys? My first Montana Born book, Forever Cowboy launches in September as a part of a special Bad Boys of the Rodeo series with three other fabulous authors: Jeannie Watt’s Unforgettable Cowboy; Nicole Flockton’s Headstrong Cowboy; Sinclair Jayne’s Rogue Cowboy; and…
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Sunday Snippet: The March Memos Edition
It’s that time again, mes amis. March memos. March has been an incredibly busy month so far–finishing a book, starting a new one, editing gigs to do, April book events to prepare for, plus housework and laundry and keeping fit. Thus, I do have a few things I need to get off my chest. Dear Spring, WTAH? Twenty degrees and frost on the ground one day, eighty degrees the next? And what’s with all the rain? Oh, wait, it’s spring in the Midwest… of course each day is a new weather adventure, but FYI, I’m ready for real spring. Warm days, cool nights, sunshine… you know… Confusingly, Nan ~*~*~*~*~ And…
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Author Spotlight: Mystery Author Carol Light Is Back with a New Book and a Giveaway!
We have a winner! Latesha B, you are Carol’s giveaway recipient! She will be in touch with you. Thanks to you and everyone who stopped by to chat! We love talking to our readers! What a treat to welcome back my friend and fellow Tule author, Carol Light! Carol and I were roomies at the 2023 Tule Author Retreat in San Juan Capistrano, California, and I knew immediately we were kindred spirits and would be good friends. Carol Light is an avid reader and writer of mysteries. She loves creating amateur sleuths and complicating their normal lives with a crime that they must use their talents and wits to solve.…