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She gripped the pen tighter when she noticed the line of her signature resembled the scratch of a lie detector test. She flipped to the next page marked with a sticky tab, breathed in through her nose, then signed on the line as she breathed out through her mouth. Each time she wrote her signature it became smoother and she took one more step toward independence. One more step away from the cockroach in khakis, previously known as her husband. She finished signing the contract and placed the pen down on the worn wooden desk. Mr. Tanner smiled beneath his bushy brown mustache. The watery winter sun beaming through the tall windows behind him bounced off his dark shiny pate as he leaned across his desk to shake Ivy’s hand. “Congratulations, Ivy May. You are now the proud owner of Buttercup Cottage.” His tongue made a circuit across his teeth behind his upper lip, plumping his mustache. “How do you feel?” Ivy inwardly winced when she shook his hand. It was hot and moist. She … [Read more...] about Paranormal Cozy Mystery Excerpt

Did you know that you can read the first three chapters of 🍁A Fatal Fumble🍁 for FREE on Amazon? Just click "Look Inside" on the picture of the book cover and BAM. There ya go. (It works with most books.) It's Book 2 in the River Sutton Mysteries. Click here to try it now on Amazon. Here's the synopsis: Only one thing would drag Robin Pearce home to River Sutton, West Virginia for the high school's 100th homecoming 🏈 celebration: seeing her sister in her old cheering uniform with a huge smile on her face at the halftime show. 🎉 Ogling Sheriff Chris Payne's broad shoulders in his old quarterback's jersey wouldn't be a chore, either. So, make that two things. 😍 But when Robin bumps into high school classmates at the football game, her homecoming turns into a nightmare. She literally stumbles over the dead body 👻 of her frenemy, River Sutton's top trophy wife. The whole town suspects Robin, and even Chris wants to lock her up for her safety. When she's not guzzling coffee or … [Read more...] about Do you ever click LOOK INSIDE 🔍 on Amazon?

I love tech. 🤓 I'm not ashamed to admit it. But I never considered myself tethered to my phone. 📱 Until the day my new dishwasher was coming and I had no cell service. None. Nada. That meant I couldn't call anyone. I couldn't text anyone. But even worse no one could call me. 😲 My beautiful new dishwasher was making its long-awaited journey to my kitchen and the installer had no way of reaching me if he was lost, or running late, or had to (say it ain't so!) cancel. I was sweating bullets, I tell ya. 😰 I couldn't remember the last time I felt so helpless. So impotent. So powerless. It was unbearable. Thankfully, past-Nancy lived in fear of a repeat of the cellular crash of 9/11 and still had a landline. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to call AT&T to get my cell service up and running. (I couldn't log into the website for a chat because they had to text me a confirmation code to make sure it was me. Hey, AT&T! No texting! Duh! 😡) Tech is at the heart … [Read more...] about The day my phone died and other disasters

You know you've turned the corner from a hot, young thang to an AARP discount-loving Weeble when the most exciting thing to happen to you is that you switch from drinking coffee 24/7 to sipping black tea in a mug that a toddler painted fifteen years ago that looks like Woody from Toy Story met Jack the Ripper. 😈 (If you don't know what a Weeble is, watch this vintage commercial. And also, are you old enough to read this newsletter?) I drink a lot of coffee. ☕ When I say a lot of coffee, picture Ron Swanson eating breakfast. 🍳🍖🍳🍖🍳 However, there's a tea and herbal shop in A Bitter Swill to Swallow, and its owner plays a very important role. I visited a tea shop recently and purchased far more than I had planned to. I would have liked to have browsed more, smelled more blends, taken in the ambiance, but the blasted owner followed me through the store like a yapping Chihuahua begging for a biscuit. She talked incessantly. 👄 When I asked her questions about her business, her … [Read more...] about Which is better? Coffee or tea?