Tis the Season

Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are ready for Christmas. I can't tell you how incredibly humble and thankful I am for all of the support you have given me and my writing over the past - gulp! - 25 years. Once again, as in years past, I have launched my Holiday Giveaway Page. It's my way of saying thank you. This year, you can download and stream eBooks and audio books, and receive discounts on select books! This year's giveaways include:

• Two sample chapters from the audio book version of Space Oddities
• A sample chapter - eBook format - from The Pig War & The Pelican Girls
• A brand new mystery short story (eBook format)
• And discounts on several of my books

So, please visit the page and enjoy the gifts. I do have to congratulate Debby Hackbarth and Shane Day, the winners of a collection of my local history and space history books.

I have another book signing coming up in January. It will be at one of my favorite indie bookstores, Page & Palette in Fairhope, AL, January 10th from 1pm to 3pm. I'll be there signing copies of my new book, Notable Women of Alabama, as well as others. I hope to see you there.

For the Holiday Giveawy this year, I am excited to offer my new short story mystery, A Fortune in Blood. This short story will eventually appear as a bonus in one of my Crystal Bay Mystery books when they are published. Unlike the stories I'm writing for the series that are strictly cozy mysteries, A Fortune in Blood is a hybrid - a little cozy, a little noir, but still fun. Download it, take a read, and let me know what you think.

Just before Thanksgiving, I received an email from an old friend and radio colleague from the 1980s at the Mel Tillis station WMML, Kathy Richardson. She asked me to meet with her at Soundworks Studio in Mobile. I hopped in the car and crossed the bay. When I arrived, I met another Mobile DJ from the "golden days" of radio in the Port City, Dennis Gould.

I felt like I was home and back where I belong. When I walked into the studio, clamped on the headphones, and shimmied up to a microphone, the memories of my radio days came flooding back. What a fun time I had had hanging out with those two. There was lots of laughter, walks down memory lane, and talk of a possible new collaboration. It's too early to tell you the details, but they're coming.

That's all for this issue. I will be on hiatus with the blog until the New Year, so let me wish all of you Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.