Like to laugh? You'll love this book!

So happy for my friend Mary Kennedy and celebrating the re-boot of STAY TUNED FOR MURDER, the third book in her Talk Radio Mystery series. If you've never tried this series, it's very funny. It's got a dog--Pugsley, and some whacky characters who will steal your heart. (First book in the series is DEAD AIR). Check it out!

Dr. Maggie Walsh's radio show has been getting a boost in ratings ever since Madame Chantal, who claims to talk to the dead, started her regular guest appearances. But when two women are killed after a seance, it's up to Maggie to catch the culprit before she, too, winds up on the other side...

Kindle US  |  Kindle UK  |  Kindle Worldwide  |  Nook  |  Kobo  | Apple Books  | Smashwords

Hooked on British Reality Shows

I don't like American reality TV shows. There, I said it. They're just too scripted and full of drama. I may be wrong, but British reality shows seem a lot more real to me.

It seems like every few months I find another show on YouTube to binge on.  Last month, it was Bad Tenants, Rogue Landlords. (Its original title was Bad Tenants, Scum Landlords. I guess they had to change it.)  Over the 40+ episodes, I got to feel like Paul and Chris were chums, helping people with really bad tenants get back their properties. (And there were more than a couple of scary moments that I'm sure were NOT scripted.)

This week, I found a new show to have playing in the background while I do mundane things like pair socks and fold towels:  Eat Well For Less.  This show features two guys (Gregg and Chris) who watch people shop, confront them at the register, and then go to their homes and swap out bad-for-you and expensive food for lower calorie and cheaper (similar) products.

Unfortunately, there aren't many episodes available on YouTube so I'll be looking for something new next week, but I've quite enjoyed the episodes I was able to see.

What I like best is that most of the families eat a LOT of processed food -- mostly because they think they don't have the time or were never taught to cook. I like the cooking portions best. They don't give the recipes, but you can find them online. (There are a few I want to try -- like vegetable croquettes, where you take all the dodgy veggies out of your fridge, chop or cut into ribbons, add a little flour, some garlic, and a couple of eggs, and fry them in a little oil. I can see me making that in the summer when the garden is over-producing. The Rosted Caluiflower with Romesco Sauce sounds good, too.

After watching those shows, it really made me want to get in the kitchen and cook. Unfortunately, I didn't have most of the ingredients for the dishes they made. (Like coconut oil, plain yogurt, etc.) I'm going to have to hit the grocery store and stock up on some of these ingredients.

Any suggestions on what British show I should try to watch next?

Try out a series with the first book free!

You may not know this, but I'm a member of Novelists Inc. That's an organization that represents authors.  We were recently given an opportunity to participate in the Nook Book Bash.  That's a promotion where you get the first book in a series for FREE and the opportunity to get the second book in a series for 25% off.  (Don't worry if you don't have a Nook ereader -- you can download the Nook app for FREE, too!

What genres are covered?  Mysteries, thrillers, romance (contemporary, historical, paranormal), and Sci-Fi. The books are all from tried-and-true traditionally published authors. You can't lose! You can either choose from categories or see all the books (over 200) at once.

I've got two series in the promo. The Lotus Bay Mysteries (cozy) and Tales of Telenia (adventure-fantasy).

You can pick add my two free books to your shopping cart. Just click the links below:

Panty Raid

Tales of Telenia: STRANDED

Go to the checkout and use coupon code: NOOKBASHFREE

 ~  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To get the second books in the series for 25% off, use these links:

With Baited Breath

Tales of Telenia: JOURNEY


Go to the checkout and use coupon code: NOOKBASH25

This sale is a great way to find new authors.

So what are you waiting for?  You could be reading right now!


 (This sale lasts until Feb. 28th)

Time to Tidy

Last winter, I started watching decluttering videos on YouTube and I did a major decluttering in a couple of areas of my home. I reorganized our "supply" closet in Mr. L's office and it had pretty much stayed organized. I did a purge on my office closet, but somehow it's back to square one--as is the rest of my office. It's time to do another purge.

So, where did I turn to?  Yup, YouTube. Only this time, I'm consulting the queen of tidying, Marie Kondo. This diminutive Japanese lady has written several books on the subject, including The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I haven't yet read it, but I've got it on order and it should arrive next week.

Ms. Kondo advises you to start your purge with your clothes.  I did that, too, last January, and managed to weed out a big box of stuff but the closet is still bulging. Mostly with things I THINK I might wear. I bought a dress (yes, me--who hasn't worn one in at least 20 years) to go on a cruise and paid retail. (I know! A shock.) Never wore it. I've got that tight little black cocktail dress I wore to a wedding 30 years ago and can't seem to part with because -- hey, I once was that size. (Ah, the memories...mostly of feeling starved.)

One thing I have not done as I examined each item was ask myself if the item brings me joy. Hmm. I haven't experienced joy all that many times, so this is a tough question to ask. Does the little blue teddy bear that has sat on or near my desk for the past twenty years bring me joy? No. But my mother gave him to me (his name is Roger), and he pleases me. How about that icky tasting chapstick on my desk? It definitely doesn't bring me joy, but it gets the job done. Do I really need a planter filled with a gazillion pens, pencils, markets, fans, and at least four pairs of scissors on my desk? Well, yes. I am constantly losing my pens, fans, and scissors. Having more than one pair at hand may not bring me joy, but it's a lot less frustrating to know if I want a pair of scissors, I won't have to go hunting for them.

So I will read Ms. Kondo's book and I will try to embrace her ways (I think I could really get into her method of folding T-shirts). It's going to be a journey.  I'll keep you posted along the way.

Have you embrased the life changing magic of tidying up?

Have an Irish Coffee

I'm not a coffee drinker, so this is not my day. But I did once have an Irish Coffee in Templebar, Dublin Ireland. Why? Well, because I was in Ireland. Another famous place we went that serves Irish Coffee is Cliff House in San Francisco. While the others all had two Irish coffees, I settled for a hot chocolate. It wasn't memorable, but the view was. (Lots of seals on that gray, raining morning.)

Are you an Irish Coffee drinker? If so--have you had it anyplace memorable or have a happy memory of it?

Mmmmm....peanut butter

Cookies are a favorite at The Patisserie -- what a great day to visit and try the different peanut butter cookies on sale.

Of course, if you don't like peanut butter (what???), what kind of cookie would you order?

Celebrate with PIE

Yum-yum! It's National Pie Day.  What's your favorite?

Are coffee/cocoa stations over the top?

During December, I watched (well, they were playing while I did other things) over 100 entries in the $5 Goodwill Challenge 2018 Christmas Edition on Youtube. An awful lot of these vloggers made hot cocoa stations or did an overhaul of their coffee/tea stations.

Since when does everybody have coffee stations?  Okay, our coffee maker lives by the sink and the GFI plug. I don't drink coffee, but I make a pot every morning for Mr. L. My electric kettle lives on the opposite side of the counter because that's where that plug is.  You can't plug both coffee pot and tea kettle in the same plug or they trip the circuit so that's why they live apart. Mr. L's coffee and filters live in the cupboard above the stove and my tea bags and teapot live near the kettle.

Now I will admit that cocoa stations can be incredibly cute. But Mr. L and I don't have a lot of visitors and I can count on one hand how many mugs of cocoa I drink in any given year. Not that I don't like cocoa, but it has a lot more calories in it than a cuppa tea does ... so tea is my daytime drink of choice.

Until recently, I only had one glass jar to hold my tea. Most of the time I make a pot of tea and use Typhoo teabags. If I want to make just a mug of tea, I use a Red Rose teabag. Mr. L gave me a box of Red Rose orange pekeo teabags and they're now living in a smaller glass jar.  I've had the little ceramic teabag holder since I got married (Mr. L brought it with him) but only recently started using it.

It's not what you could call a tea station, but I guess it functions as such. I don't put sugar in my tea, so no sugar or creamers lives on the counter (although I must have at least 10 bone china sets).

Of course, two of my characters have "beverage stations."  Tricia of The Booktown Mysteries offers her customers free coffee and treats like mini cupcakes or cookies. Kathy Grant of The Lotus Bay Mysteries owns a B&B called Swans Nest. When her guests are in resident, she keeps a coffee/tea/cocoa beverage station in her dining room, along with fresh-baked cookies.  (Kathy loves to bake cookies.)

So, do you have a coffee, tea, or cocoa station?

On sale now!

Woo-hoo!  If you've fallen behind on reading my Booktown Mystery series, for a limited time, my publisher has decided to lower the ebook price of A JUST CLAUSE, the 11th book in the series, to $1.99 in the US.

Here's a brief description:

Tricia Miles, mystery bookstore owner and amateur sleuth, is in for a surprise when her ne’er-do-well father, John, comes to town—and promptly becomes a prime suspect in the murder of a woman with her own scandalous past. Even Tricia’s faith in the old man is shaken when the Stoneham police break the news that her father is a known con man who has done jail time. From merlot to murder, Tricia is determined to clear the family name before another body shows up and ruins Stoneham’s first—and highly anticipated—wine and jazz festival.

Kindle US | Kindle UK | Nook |  Apple Books | Kobo

Read more about it on my website. Just click this link.

A way to go green

More than a decade ago, I was reading a copy of Martha Stewart magazine and took note of an article on ways to go green. In it, one of the suggestions was to use "kitchen rags" instead of paper towel. Not long afterward, I went to K-Mart and sure enough, there were kitchen rags. Basically, they were washcloths. I bought a set of eight for a few bucks and used them a few times. Then they got relegated to the rag bag and I didn't think of them much until I needed to dust furniture or clean up a spill.

Recently, I decided to revisit Martha's advice.

As it happens, we had maybe fifty or sixty washcloths stuffed into a drawer of our cottage. They've been there for ... a long, long, time. Now why does anyone need that many washcloths? They probably came from yard sales. They were in there so long, they were musty. I took them home and washed them in a little bleach and then rolled them up and put them under the sink.

Now when reach for a paper towel I stop and think ... would a dishcloth work in this situation?  About half the time, it will. So while I'm still using paper towels, I'm going through a roll every other week instead of every week. That's less paper going to the landfill.  Although ... if the paper towels aren't soiled (like if I use them to dry off a washed apple), I'll let it dry and put it in with the recycling.

Does it take time to roll them up? Yes. Why do I do it? Because I can fit iin a lot more rolled up than I can folded. And I'm usually listening to an audiobook when I do it. I love audiobooks. I listen to them when I drive (usually it's a story I've heard before because ... I don't go very far in the winter) or any time I have a task to do that's going to take a awhile.

P.S. If you want to know about audio editions of my books, check out the follow links for Lorraine Bartlett, LLBartlett, and Lorna Barrett.

Happy National Rubber Ducky Day

Talk about the ugly ducklings....

Stay Warm

What's your favorite soup on a cold winter's day?

National Milk Day

Are you a milk drinker?

I've lost my glasses ... again

When I was younger, I was near-sighted. I wore glasses to drive, when I went to the movies, yada-yada-yada. Then...my eyes did a switcheroo. Now, I no longer need glasses to drive, go to the movies, yada-yada-yada. Now, I need them to read.

When I wore glasses to drive, etc. I had ONE pair and somehow, I never lost them. I could never eat with them on, but I wore them quite a bit of the time, and somehow when I'd put them down, I would always find them.

Those days are gone.

Now, I have at least ten pairs of "cheaters" and they're scattered all around the house. The funny thing is ... I often have to  hunt for a pair. I have scattered little relish dishes around the house so that I can keep a pair of glasses in them and they are supposed to live in that room. (Kitchen, dining room, living room, etc.) Unfortunately, I have a habit of putting them on and wearing them to my next destination. Therefore, I often have six or seven pairs sitting on my desk when I'm in the living room trying to read the daily paper (or a book or magazine). Get up, hunt, find, sit down. I do a lot of that.

Mr. L suggested I get chain to attach to a pair of glasses.

Ha! No way. Only OLD LADIES and librarians wear glasses on chains around their necks.

Not so, Mr. L reminded me. Magnum P.I. (the ORIGINAL Magnum that is) often wore his sunglasses on a cord.

Hmmm.

Nope. Wasn't gonna do it.

After my mother passed away, I came across a chain and a cord for hanging glasses amongst her things. I took them home and let them sit...for three years.

One day this past fall, I was so frustrated from my glasses hunt that I searched out those hangers.

*Sigh* I guess I'm now old, because I end up wearing one or the other of those glasses most days. That doesn't mean I don't take them off and misplace them, because I do--and a couple of times a day.  (I guess I really just don't like wearing glasses.)

Does this happen to you? Do you have a solution? If so, please share!

Happy Sunday!

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What's for supper? How about spaghetti?

Hey, it's National Spaghetti Day -- and there's nothing like a nice plate of spaghetti and sauce on a cold winter evening. (Don't forget the meatballs and garlic bread!) And--hey! Angelica has the perfect recipe for sauce. It's from MURDER IS BINDING--the very first Booktown mystery. It's work, but you won't regret it! Check it out on my website. Just click this link!

How do you like your spaghetti served?

New For You Today!

Now available: Life On Victoria Square #

THE RELUCTANT BRIDE

Don Parsons and Nick Ferrell bought a ramshackle Victorian spinster and plan to transform her into a Painted Lady. Weddings and other parties are a part of their business plan. They’ll be hosting a small ceremony and reception for bride-to-be Lauren Washborne … except she doesn’t seem all that enthusiastic about her upcoming nuptials. Don wants to know why—but Nick is against the idea. Will Lauren have a chance to live happily ever after, or will her suitor be left at the altar?

Kindle US | Kindle UK | Kindle Worldwide | Nook | Kobo | Apple Books

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from everyone in Booktown. Oh, and me, too!

How about starting the year with a fun jigsaw puzzle?  Just click the link and you can do a puzzle of the graphic above.  Leave a comment to let us know how long it took you.

https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=32becfaf1a66

Santa was very good to me

Over the years, my brother has bought most of my small kitchen appliances as Christmas gifts. The very first, was a toaster oven which lasted me over 30 years. YES, you read that right: THIRTY YEARS. It was only when I frapped the cord that I tearfully pitched it in the trash tote. (I bought a replacement at a yard sale for $2. And then I bought another for $4 -- just in case the current one, which was about the same age as the original, dies.)

Over the years my brother bought me an electric fry pan, a crock pot, a waffle maker, a panini maker, an electric hand mixer, a food processor, and I'm sure more. This year, it was an air fryer.
It was back in October, and I freezing my feet off at our summer cottage, struggling to finish the edit on the next Booktown Mystery in order to hand it in on time (and I was a week late) when he called and said, "Would you like an air fryer for Christmas?"

Huh? I had never heard of an air fryer before and had no idea what he was talking about. (I live a very sheltered life.) He said he had bought one and his wife LOVED chicken wings cooked in it and would I like one? (P.S. As far as I know, he has been on a diet since he bought the thing and has never tasted anything cooked in his--but he regularly cooks stuff in it for the rest of his family.) Needing to get off the phone to attend to Tricia and Angelica, I said, "Sure."

So, my Christmas present was locked in more than two months before Santa's late-night journey.

I got my present on Tuesday. Wednesday, my brother dropped in with a package of raw chicken wings, eager for me to try out the air fryer. Unbeknownst to him, I'd already made a turkey pot pie for that evening's repast. But I promised him we would have chicken wings on Thursday.

So last night we wrestled open the box and found the instructions to be sadly lacking. I texted my brother and we went back and forth and I just decided to "wing" my "wings." His instructions didn't match the manual, but I figured as he'd been making chicken wings for at least two months, I'd just take his advice. Earlier in the day, we'd stopped at the grocery store to buy a jar of Boss Sauce (OMG--is it good). And I warmed up some butternut squash (Christmas leftovers) to have with the wings.

Half-way through the cooking time, we turned the wings over and gave them a smart squirt of cooking spray. Already they smelled wonderful. Ten minutes later, we were ready to eat.

OMG -- can you say tasty? And clean up was incredibly easy, too.

So...now I'm ready to scour the Internet to find air fryer recipes because not only it is fast, but boy was what I tried last night TASTY.

Santa was extremely good to me this year, not only with the air fryer, but with books, Orange Pekoe tea (hard to find around here), DVDs, and more.  Yes, Santa was very good to me ... and I'm not sure I can pick a favorite present. Maybe you can ...

So what did you get for Christmas (Hannukah, or Kwanzaa) that you are forever grateful for?

Something to think about!

Did you get a gift card from Christmas?  If you haven't caught up on the 12 Booktown Mysteries, now's your chance!  Check out all the titles on my website.

We Woof You A Merry Christmas

May you have a wonderful day -- from everyone in Booktown!

Here comes Miss Marple as Santa Paws!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Coming in only two weeks!

You know about Victoria Square thanks to the Victoria Square Mysteries. Artisans Alley takes center stage in those books, but the merchants--and their businesses--are just as intriguing. They all have stories to tell ... and that's what the Life on Victoria Square companion series is all about.

The next installment in this series is THE RELUCTANT BRIDE, coming on January 2nd and ready for pre-order.

Don Parsons and Nick Ferrell bought a ramshackle Victorian spinster and plan to transform her into a Painted Lady. Weddings and other parties are a part of their business plan. They’ll be hosting a small ceremony and reception for bride-to-be Lauren Washborne … except she doesn’t seem all that enthusiastic about her upcoming nuptials. Don wants to know why—but Nick is against the idea. Will Lauren have a chance to live happily ever after, or will her suitor be left at the altar?

Kindle US |  Kindle Worldwide  |  Nook  |  Kobo  |  Apple Books

Want to read some reviews?  Check them out on Goodreads.

It's Teacup Tuesday Once Again!

Happy Teacup Tuesday. You don't have to only drink tea out of a teacup -- how about a nice eggnog during this holiday season?

For your cookie pleasure

Sometimes we forget that not everyone celebrates the holidays, be it because they belong to other religious persuasions or have no religion at all. But there's one thing we should all be able to agree on ...

COOKIES!

The holiday season is about spoiling those you love and...why not yourself, too?  And one way to do that is with food.

Here's a recipe for a favorite of mine.

SNOWBALLS
Ingredients
1 cup butter softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups finely chopped pecans or walnuts
Confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 325ºF (170ºC, Gas Mark 3) Cream the butter and sugar in medium-sized bowl until creamy. Add the vanilla; beat until well mixed. Add the flour and nuts; beat at low speed, scraping bowl occasionally, until well mixed. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Place 1 inch apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until very lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes; roll in powdered sugar while still warm and again when cool.

Yield:  4 dozen cookies

Every day can be a holiday. What's your favorite holiday cookie recipe?.