Limbo

I've written about it before, but this is a weird time of year for me.

My day job does a big annual conference in mid-January, and it starts Tuesday. So while the rest of the world is doing "start the new year!" kinds of things, I'm still biting my nails and trying to finish out the tasks I spent the last three months preparing for.

Which means that next weekend will really feel like the new year, and this weekend feels a bit like the weekend we had between Christmas and January 1. That weekend where one big event was over, but it wasn't quite time to plunge into the new.

So I'm not pushing myself for much this weekend. For one thing, I'm storing up my energy reserves (since I'm an introvert, that takes some quiet time), because the next week will find me interacting with 2,000+ people for four full days.

Yes, I'll be replenishing my reserves next weekend also!

But when I do get to my delayed new year, I'm looking forward to some new practices: yoga, meditation, photos, and general fun.

I want 2015 to be, as this image a friend sent me describes, entirely F*%K YEAH.

And I'll really focus on that in a week's time....

Poisoned Pen Press January Releases!

Congratulations to my fellow Poisoned Pen Press-ers Steven Axelrod and Michael A. Kahn on their release day today!

Steven's book is the second in his Henry Kennis Mystery series, Nantucket Five-Spot, about Nantucket Island's poetry-writing police chief who finds himself untangling a bomb plot that threatens the Boston Pops. Get more info and links to buy on the PPP site.

Michael's is The Sirena Quest, an entry in his Rachel Gold series about the theft and chase after a legendary Greco-Roman statue, eventually reaching Rachel and a clue she may have in her possession. Find out more and get links to buy on the PPP site.

Signing Out of 2014

We're down to the wire now on 2014, in case there are any gifts left to buy, goals to accomplish, or rules to break.

I'm as ready for Christmas as I'll get, and I'm pretty much ready for 2015 also. This past year was a good enough one for me ... what's to complain about given a healthy family, a stable job, a third book, and a first Indy 500?

But I'm pretty sure 2015 is going to be even better, as I've got some excitement out there in the distance (that I'm not ready to talk about just yet).

I'm not big on annual resolutions, but I'm making two for the new year:

1. I'm going to practice yoga regularly, for mental and physical health and strength.
2. I'm going to take more photos of my friends and daily life. I want more of a record.

I'm hoping that this time next year, I'll be that annoying friend who's always taking photos—who you're later happy with because she captured the flavor of the day or year. And that I'll be strong, healthy, and flexible. Just don't expect me to become the yoga freak. 

Do you have any resolutions? Any good suggestions for me making sure to fulfill mine?

With that, I'm signing off for this year. See you in 2015!

A Dream Vacation

We're nearing the end of 2014, and I'm starting to plan for 2015's major events. In particular, a vacation. We're going to take one with mom for a big (no, not telling or she'll hurt me) celebration. And the world is our oyster ... or something else more delectable, maybe.

So the question is, where do I want to go?

And I'm having a hard time answering. Therefore, I'm turning to you, my Internet friends, for help.

Let's make it fun: you've got 2 weeks and budget isn't an option (within reason, ok? no private jets).

Where should we go? Where would you want to go?

Poisoned Pen Press Cover: Hair of the Dog

Coming in July, from Poisoned Pen Press!

Hair of the Dog: A Dan Mahoney Mystery

It sounds like some work and mostly play when United Life and Casualty sends its investigator Dan Mahoney to Florida. Five greyhounds—all heavily insured—were lost in a fire at the Daytona dog track.

So simple. Five dogs dead by smoke inhalation, bagged, tagged, and cremated. Papers all in order. Ashes in specialty urns on the desk of Dixie Halifax, track and casino co-owner. In jail, a young employee charged with arson to cover a murder he's blamed for committing.

Then the body of kennel owner Jackson Sanchez is found face down in a pool of blood, a knife stuck in his back. But Sanchez didn’t die from a knife wound. Someone has carved “thief” on his forehead. The blood pooled underneath his body isn’t his. Should Dan be looking for a second corpse? And the one man who can answer questions, the track vet, dies in a motorcycle accident.

Working this case is not as complicated for Dan as having his mother Maggie move into the FBI’s favorite mob slob haven in nearby Palm Coast, while his fiancée Elaine Linden, on sabbatical, works on a PI license. Perfect—the FBI can set Maggie up to spy on her boyfriend who may be laundering cash in some geriatric mafia scheme in this follow-up to Flash Flood and Rollover.

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About the Author

Susan Slater is the author of the Ben Pecos series (Pumpkin Seed Massacre, A Way to the Manger, Yellow Lies and Thunderbird), a stand-alone (Five O'clock Shadow), a women's fiction novel (0 to 60), a para-normal short story in Rod Serling's commemorative Twilight Zone Anthology (Eye for an Eye), and the Dan Mahoney series. Susan lives on the Atlantic coast and writes full-time.

Learn more about Hair of the Dog and Susan on her website.

Talking TBR and Gifts

Three questions:

1. What books did you love this year?
2. What are you reading now?
3. What are you giving as gifts this holiday season?

P.S. I asked the same questions last week, and only two people responded. I know more of you have opinions, and I need gift ideas!

Holiday Edition: What Are You Reading?

I've been musing on a variety of topics ... the rain finally falling (briefly) in Southern California, the decorating I want to do for the holidays (and the cleaning that needs to happen prior to that), starting my Christmas shopping, and so forth.

But all I want to do is read. I figure many of you feel the same.

So it's time for a semi-annual survey: what are you reading? and what books should I have on my list? what books should I give away as Christmas presents?

I'll start. This is a combination of what's waiting in my TBR and what I just finished ... pretty much guaranteed to all be excellent:

1. Michael Connelly (I read/re-read all of the Bosch series, the couple of Walling/McEvoy, and now I'm moving on to Mickey Haller).
2. Catriona McPherson's new Dandy Gilver book, A Deadly Measure of Brimstone.
3. Tina Whittle's new Tai and Trey mystery, Deeper Than the Grave
4. Jeff Siger's new Inspector Kaldis novel, Sons of Sparta.

What are you excited about reading? What did you just read that you loved?