One Year Past Perfect is out!

My next single-title contemporary romance, One Year Past Perfect, is now available in the Kindle store and will be available on the Nook within a few days. Think of it as a modern riff on Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The back cover blurb:

"Dr. Katti Thompson arrives in Honolulu to not only settle her great-aunt's estate but also to find the older woman's scandalous diary. If there are family secrets hidden within, Katti wants to read them while sitting on the deck of the beach house she's inherited. But when she arrives, she finds the house occupied by three handsome Latin men--and they are reading the diary. The solution is obvious: Katti moves in as the new housekeeper.

Widower Cesar Osorio has risen from valet's son on a Costa Rican coffee plantation to international fame as a singer and performer. His albums have sold millions but he wants this hotel gig to be his last. Now he just has to find the nerve to tell his brother-in-law and manager. It would help if his attention wasn't diverted by the new housekeeper who acts like she owns the place.

One may be too old, one may be too young, but the one with the sad smile… he might be just right, even if, at thirty-six, Katti is one year past perfect"

A sale to Woman's World Magazine!

Yippee! Yeah! Hooray!

I received a contract for a short piece of romance fiction from Woman's World Magazine. It'll be in issue 34, out mid-August. The piece is entitled "Tricks up our Sleeves."

This is the third time one of my pieces will be in Woman's World. I'm thrilled!

The squirrel, the feeder, the window ledge, and me

For the time being, we'll switch our attention on the animal world from the back yard where I have been soundly outfoxed in the twine wars, having neither a photo of the rascal taking my twine or another missing piece. The current focus shall be on the breakfast room window ledge and fence.

Furthermore, if I didn't have a witness, I'd probably not tell this true tale because it does seem a bit calculating on the part of the squirrel. But I do have a witness, so here goes.

We've had so much blowing rain that I haven't restocked the bird feeder which hangs on the fence or the window ledge where I dispense bird food. Keep in mind, we only provide sunflower seed. None of this millet nonsense for my picky birds. And squirrels. But the rain seems gone and as the cardinals get on the fence and chirp bad things about me, I relented this morning and poured seed onto the ledge.

I would have stocked the feeder also, but the cap which keeps water out has gone missing. The squirrels have a very bad habit of knocking it and the funnel off onto the ground. Usually, I find them, dry them out and fill the feeder only to watch the squirrels sit on the fence, take the top off and put their little paws in. I think the cap may have disappeared in the rain, washed away into the street and beyond. That said, after the performance witnessed this morning, I think I'll just get rid of the feeder.

Sunflower seed dispensed, a friend comes over and we remark on flowers, the neighborhood, the squirrel who seems intent on eating the seed. I'll knock on the window, he scurries off, returns about 10 seconds later and we repeat this show. My friend thinks this is quite funny (it's about to get hilarious) and advises that I cannot win. I know this, but I can't give in so easily either.

And then the final straw. I knock on the window, he (it could be she) twitches the tail, slides over on the fence top to the bird feeder and pees in it! Hit the hole! We watch this offering slide down the inside of the feeder. Really? Has it come to this that squirrels make social commentary? He then scampers off the fence, across the street and into the neighbor's yard.

My friend cannot contain her laughter and I must admit it has its moments of ha-ha. And I might still be laughing, but he was back 30 minutes later.

Humph!

To snare the miscreant

Per my last post, I'd decided to defeat the miscreant who was snitching my twine by using the green elastic tape on my patio umbrella and to train the mandevilla to the arbor post. I set the game camera to record so I could know what was happening.

Precisely this: nothing. Not a nibble, not a bite. Either said miscreant, be it crow or raccoon, has left the vicinity, no longer needs my twine, or is waiting me out until I turn the camera off. So today, I tied twine about the umbrella. I did not remove the elastic tape, but I must admit to baiting the trap.

So far, it's animal world 2, Kay 0. I'm still hoping for a tie. Or at least not to be skunked.