Spring sprung yet in your neck of the woods??

 HALLIE EPHRON: Here in New England we have “sprung ahead” so daylight is breaking at around the time I am waking and signs of spring abound!

A pair of downy woodpeckers are doing their darndest to make a dent in my brick chimney. Cardinals are back and proclaiming wallah-ballou from the rooftops. A flicker is drilling for worms between the stones in my patio. A house finch (with a bright red head) is singing from the top of a maple tree in front of my house. And I’m bidding a fond farewell to the darling little juncoes (snow birds) that have literally flocked to my garden all winter.

My yard is shaking off winter doldrums. Carpets of blue scilla are popping up everywhere, and some have hopped the fence and are colonizing in my neighbor’s garden. The little clump I planted at Jerry’s grave is blooming.

Sedum, which will bloom in October, are starting to poke their tidy succulent heads heads out of the soil.

What’s happening in your neck of the woods that says: Spring has sprung! Or maybe not so much...

JENN McKINLAY: Spring came and went and we’re back to summer here in AZ! It was 99 degrees the other day. Hoo boy! I’m hoping the heat slows its roll. Summer is long enough out here. But my vegetable garden is busting out, so I am very happy!

RHYS BOWEN: I’m with Jenn! Just when I was loving spring it was suddenly summer and 99 degrees. I had to switch from heating to air conditioning. I think it’s back to more normal temps next week but if it stays like this it’s back to California for me.

Lucy Burdette: Spring in Key West is not subtle! We have the bright red royal Poinciana trees, yellow, or pink plumeria (which also smell lovely), and what my sister calls yellow rain. This tree has delicate bright, yellow flowers that rain down onto the sidewalk. Also, the orchids that have been tied to various palm trees seem to burst into blossom this time of year. Here’s one from my neighbor.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: In one word: ducks! They are back, and Flo and Eddy are as adorable as ever. 

Also, spring brings the opening salvos in the humans vs. squirrels/rabbits skirmish over the tulips–who will prevail? We are spreading Rabbit Scram like mad. Sorry bunnies, you are so cute, but our hosta and tulips are not bunny salad. Grrr.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: The squirrels are very helpfully turning our flowerbeds for us, Hank. But I can't say a bad word about them since Rick has tamed one of them. He's named her Tikka and she eats peanuts out of his hand. As annoying as the digging up of things is, I have to admit she's pretty cute.

Spring is springing in full force here in north Texas, although it seems a couple of weeks later than is normal for us. Last night we moved the big plants back outside, and today I'm off to hit the stores for Boston ferns.

I bought tomatoes last weekend so hopefully we will get those in this next week, as well as getting new plants in the deck and patio pots.

The roses are all thick with buds and the Climbing Old Blush (always the earliest) has a bloom or two. The bridal wreath is blooming, the Japanese maples have leafed out in brilliant scarlet.

There will be something new every day now–and so many chores and projects! The gorgeous pots and hanging baskets I brought back from Round Top will need to be repotted into bigger containers. Here's one of the pots with the Japanese fishing float that was my fun find at the show.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’m experiencing just the opposite of Rhys and Jenn here in Maine - just as I was enjoying the first signs of spring, The Old Crone of Winter came back for another go-round! We have four inches on the ground and more sleet and freezing rain in the forecast.

The few song birds that already arrived are very quiet today - probably wondering why they weren’t still in the Carolinas!

I did get out yesterday afternoon while it was nice and warm and started my annual spring task of picking up all the branches that fell over the winter. I have two enormous trees in the front of the house, and it amazes me how many deadfalls they have over the course of a year and still keep right on leafing out.

As for other signs of spring… sigh. I’m visiting friends in the Hamptons in a week and a half; I’m hoping the landscape is more hopeful there.

HALLIE: It should be super-springy week after next in the  Hamptons!

Now over to you! Is spring bursting out, limping along, or in hiding in your neck of the woods?

What We're Writing: Jenn Edition

 JENN McKINLAY: Someday I'm going to gather all of these what we're writing posts together just to get a sense of what I was doing every 8 weeks. I will either be pleased or horrified--probably both.

If I worked for the government and was required to submit my list of five things I accomplished this week, it would read something like this:

1. Copyedits on WITCHES OF DUBIOUS ORIGIN - 25 pages/day due Apr 4.

2. Emailed cover ideas for THE SUMMER SHARE (contemporary novel 2026) with a mock up made on an app on my phone because I'm an overthinker. The art department probably hates me. LOL.

Yes, there's a Harlequin Great Dane	in the book named Dude.

3. Wrote 5-10 pages/day on BOOKING FOR TROUBLE (Library Lovers 2026) due ASAP.

4. Decided I wasn't ready to let go of the cupcake bakery series and started writing 3-5 pages/day on a manuscript FORMULA FOR DISASTER (working title) with no plan for release or publication as yet.

5. Started drafting proposals for the next contemporary romance, a romantasy idea I have, and a possible cupcake mystery spin off series.

Bonus task: Prepped a print version of I CAN'T EVEN, which comes out on 4-8-24 (Oops! I meant 4-8-25- thanks, Edith for catching) for the readers who demanded it. You're welcome :)

ORDER NOW

So, those are my top working tasks this week. What else did I do? Had a long chat with my agent that boiled down to this:

Amazeballs Agent: Jenn, we've talked about working smarter not harder over the years--

Me: That's never gonna be me. It just isn't.

Amazeballs Agent: LOL. I know.

(I think I wore her down, y'all)!

And lest you think I don't have a life, I also took care of my critters every day, worked in my garden, continued training for the upcoming Pat's Run (4.2 miles!), celebrated my birthday with the fam by seeing the musical WICKED, and tried to keep up with the news (oh, horror)! 

So, Reds and Readers, are you a "work smarter not harder" sort of person? Or an incurable workaholic like me?

What We're Writing Week: Julia is Copyediting

 JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I'm occasionally having to pinch myself, because it's been such a long time, but it appears AT MIDNIGHT COMES THE CRY is really, truly happening. I've had meetings about authors who might generously give a blurb, been assigned a publicist, and I recently got the copyedits to work on.

When I started in this business, the copyedits arrived as an actual printed manuscript, the same one I had sent in, with mark-ups in yes, you guessed it, red pencil. The author had to respond in blue pencil, and if you wanted to add anything, like a better turn of phrase or a bit of explanation, you had to handwrite it. Publishing has NEVER been a technology-forward industry (the Gutenberg press exempted.)

I was fine with the old way, but I have to admit, having the designer's and copy editor's notes in comments in Word, and being to make changes without trying to squeeze them in between double-spaced sentences, is a pretty sweet upgrade.

The first thing I did when I got my packet was read the Author Instructions, which carefully lay out how to respond to comments, make changes, etc. There were several places urging me to call or email with questions, leading me to suspect the average publishing company doesn't have a lot of confidence in the ability of writers to follow directions. Fair enough.

Then I read through the notes, to get an idea of how big a job I had in front of me, and what the larger issues needing fixing were. I tackled those first, and afterwards went through page by page,  changing or agreeing or STETting. We don't actually STET anymore, and I have to admit, I did enjoy a large, slashing STET scrawled in the margins, conveying with my penmanship my incredulity that anyone would make this suggestion.

At this point, I've finished all the copy editor and designer's queries, so yay for me! The next task is to insert a few bits and pieces that will better prepare the audience for some events at the end of the book. Finally, I'll do a line edit, looking for places I have an awkward phrase, or use the same word twice in close succession, or just have an unnecessarily over-stuffed sentence. The edits are due back by April 4, and I'm very happy to say I won't have any issue getting them in on time! (That's a first for me...) Then it's on to the next book.

 

And now for something completely different! I'm one of some 250 authors participating in Crime Writers for Trans Rights, an online auction benefiting the Transgender Law Center. You can bid on fun crafts, character names, signed books, audiobook narration, professional research assistance, conference registrations, and in my case, a 30 page manuscript review and an in-person (or in-Zoom) coaching session! I hope you'll check it out and find something fabulous.

Round Top Rolls Around Again--Deborah Crombie

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I have to admit that I have NOT been writing this week, and to apologize for being absent from the blog since Monday, because the end of March brings not just spring, but the spring antiques show down in Round Top, Texas. This has become an annual event for me and my daughter, Kayti, and I look forward to it all year. I've written about Round Top in the past, and apparently I've been persuasive enough that my friend Francine Mathews decided to see for herself and joined her sister there. Two other friends, also first-timers, attended as well, and everyone had a terrific time!

Our big event was the Marburger Farm Antique Show, which requires tickets. There are more than half a dozen enormous tents filled with different vendors from all over the country. The tents are set up in a big field in the central Texas rolling countryside, which is so beautiful this time of year! And it being central Texas with the usual unpredictable spring weather, on Tuesday, the opening day, it was HOT. Hats, sunscreen, and comfy shoes are essential, but even being prepared, we just about melted this year. 

But it was cooler inside the tents, and the vendors go all out to make their booths appealing.

Many of the vendors sell lots of different things, and it pays to look carefully. One booth might have furniture, china, vintage clothes, and jewelry, for instance. Or you might see things that you can't imagine somebody would actually take home, like this enormous shell covered urn.

And many things that you (or at least I) would like to take home, like this handsome pair of dogs.

(And, no, I didn't. I didn't even look at the price, but I'm sure it was way over my budget, and that's assuming I had anywhere to put them.)

Marburger is only one of many places to shop in and around Round Top. Here, Kayti found the champagne vending machine in a new venue we discovered this year.

Here's something I thought Rhys should have to remind her of Georgie's granddad.

And something I resisted buying.

These were circa 1920s bulb forcing vases, and I loved the cobalt blue ones and thought one would look gorgeous in my kitchen. Unfortunately, there were really expensive, so I resisted!

Here's what we did come home with, however!

Two hundred miles further south means plants get started earlier, and we can never resist "the plant lady's" beautiful pots and baskets.

Now, after that little mini vacation, it's back to work on the book for me. But nothing is wasted for a writer--maybe one of my characters will have a giant purple shell urn. 

Or at least a few garden gnomes...

Reds and readers, what sort of things on offer would tempt you?

Writing Mistakes I've Made @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: Sometimes I feel like I must either know every detail of a real setting, or else make it up entirely. With either approach, I would be much less likely to make mistakes. But alas, that’s not the path I chose when I began writing the Key West mysteries. An early writing friend suggested after reading the first book that maybe I’d be better off using a fictional town so I wouldn’t have to worry about geographical or other errors. (In An Appetite for Murder, for one small example, Olivia St. goes in the wrong direction.) It’s not unusual for a restaurant that Hayley visits in one book to go out of business in real life. Sigh.

I was invited recently to a meeting of the Big Pine Key library book group—the members had all read the book and were ready to discuss. After a lot of friendly conversation, one man said, “we did wonder where you got the ravine.” This made me realize that on an island made of coral, the chances of finding the deep ravine that I described were pretty much zero. I explained that I needed that ravine for the story, and we had a good laugh. 

I won’t spoil it by telling you the details, but you will recognize them when you get there. Here’s what led up to the ravine scene:

“When the camp was cleared out not long after Veronica disappeared, you can imagine the trash that had been left behind. Everything those kids no longer needed they discarded as if the backcountry was a giant dump. Monroe County sent a front loader to scrape some of it into the ravine behind the camp and take the rest of it to the real dump on Stock Island. But that altar, it was back in the trees. I hadn’t remembered it until now.”

“You think it could actually still be there?”

“Could be,” he said, squinting his eyes at me.

My excitement was mounting. “Could you point me in the right direction so I could see if anything’s left?”

I’ve also made character mistakes, urging characters to make choices that really didn’t fit them or do them any favors. When people are about to start the first book in the series, I say in a breezy voice that they need to remember that Hayley Snow improves over the course of the series. That she is a little immature in the first book and makes some poor choices. But that will get better as it does for many of us as we grow up, and that’s one of my favorite parts of writing a long series!

What kinds of errors in books bother you, or are you happy to read past them?

Giveaway from Goodreads for THE MANGO MURDERS through the end of March. 

Also through the end of March, A POISONOUS PALATE ebook is on sale for $2.99. 

If you like to read and review on Netgalley, here’s the link. 

What I'm Writing: Rhys is Juggling

RHYS BOWEN: Why do I put myself through this?

 I ask this question many times each year but even more so now. Why don’t I write a nice simple whodunit set in a bakery with a woman who is a former lawyer and a man who is a lumberjack/ veterinarian, wears plaid flannel shirts but has a heart of gold under the rugged exterior ? Instead I create the Molly Murphy series that requires more research than a PhD thesis and stand alone novels that have multiple stories in various time periods and the stories have to intersect, impact each other and end with everything tied up satisfactorily

 The one I’ve given myself now, with the working title FROM SEA TO SKYE--  is a doozy ( does anyone use that word any more?). 

It takes place at a castle like this.

I’ve an elderly woman with dementia who can’t finish the book she is writing set on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The young writer she has hired to finish it. The young writer goes to the island of Skye and finds what she thought was fiction was really true, only much earlier and may involve the elderly lady although this isn’t possible as she is Australian.

So I’ve got the same story essentially being told in 3 time periods, one having been written by an elderly woman with dementia in a different style from the rest of her famous series. In the telling of each story we find a clue to the truth. And we have a couple of the sort of twists when the reader will scream “What???” The sort of twist that will change the perception of the whole story. Like Debs’ Dreaming of the Bones which was so brilliant I’m about halfway through and have more or less completed the amount of the written story the elderly writer has finished before she couldn't continue. So now I have to retell it as the young writer experiences it on Skye without being repetitive. 

And being me I like a touch of romance but I have no idea where that might come in. A handsome lumberjack should be getting ready to come through the door on the island of Skye!    At least I know how it has to end this time. It's the getting there that is like walking through a maze.  After The Rose Arbor you'd think I'd have learned my lesson about having various time periods and various stories woven together.

I’m thinking of dropping writing and taking up crochet!

So Reddies: do you like complicated stories or do you prefer straightforward ones? (My stand alone that comes out in August is one woman's story,  told from start to finish with no jumping around. Bliss!)

The gift to see ourselves as others see us!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: It's "what we're writing week," and it's got me thinking about writing styles. I know what I think I write--but what do others think?

 Somewhere in the deep recesses of my childhood memories, I have an image of my mother quoting 

Portrait of Burns by Alexander Nasmyth, 1787,
 Scottish National Portrait Gallery

 Robert Burns at me:

"O wad some pow'r the giftie gie us.

to see oursels as ithers see us!"

which translates to

"Oh, would that some power give us,

the gift to see ourselves as others see us!"

And now, because my mother was always right, (just ask her), that ability to see ourselves as others see us becomes a mainstay of book selling!

Otherwise known as: "also boughts."

In libraries and book stores and on Amazon and everywhere else, we readers are greeted with the titration and analysis of our reading choices and the resulting suggestions for if we like X, we will like Y.

And they pretty much work!
(Pretty much.)

So let’s play "also bought" today!

If I do my own, I would say:

If you like Hank Phillippi Ryan, you will also like--Lisa Jewell and Laura Dave
If you like Hallie Ephron, you will also like--Ruth Ware
If you like Rhys Bowen, you will also like--Richard Osman
If you like Deborah Crombie, you will also--Ann Cleeves
If you like Julia Spencer-Fleming, you will also like--Sarah Stewart Taylor and Ana Reyes
If you like Lucy Burdette, you will also like--Joanne Fluke and Alexia Gordon
If you like Jenn McKinlay, you will also like--Emily Henry

Am I right? Or do you disagree?

Now: You do it.

Tell us, darling Reds and readers, who do you think all of our also-boughts are? (And, commenting authors, yours?) I would love to know--and I bet it will be pretty revealing!

Copy and paste:


If you like Hank Phillippi Ryan, you will also like
If you like Hallie Ephron, you will also like
If you like Rhys Bowen, you will also like
If you like Deborah Crombie, you will also
If you like Julia Spencer-Fleming, you will also like
If you like Lucy Burdette, you will also like
If you like Jenn McKinlay, you will also like
And authors, put yourself in! If you like (insert your name here)— you will also like:

Cannot wait to read these!

A peek inside the sausage factory - What we're writing

 

HALLIE EPHRON: Welcome to What We’re Writing week!

Recently I put together materials for a class I gave for the Writers Digest Mystery and Thriller Writers Conference. (I get to do it via Zoom from the comfort of my new desk chair!) I was talking about one of my favorite topics: character-driven plotting.

I usually start off quoting what I once heard Walter Mosley say. It went something like this:

STORY is what happened. PLOT is the order in which it’s revealed to the reader

I’m still chewing on his words. I think this is what he means…

STORY in a mystery novel is the crime: what led up to the crime  (sometimes years or generations earlier), what the villain and suspects did and why. The pieces get revealed in dribs and drabs as the sleuth discovers them. It’s kind of like putting together a jigsaw puzzle that has no edges, the reader putting the pieces in place along with the sleuth.

PLOT is more about the sleuth’s journey. How they get involved in the investigation, why they care about the outcome, what they discover, what they discover about themselves, and how the investigation challenges and changes them. It's told sequentially.

That's one of the reasons why mystery novels are so hard to write: there are TWO stories. The investigation (the sleuth and their associates figure out what happened), told sequentially. The crime itself (what led up to it, what happened, who did it, and why), revealed as the sleuth puts the pieces together.

So… it’s complicated! And hopefully when you read one of our novels, you will be blissfully unaware of the two stories we’re trying to tell while keeping you bamboozled and finally gobsmacked when all is revealed.

Are you a fan of puzzling mysteries or do you prefer the adrenaline rush of a thriller, where you know who the villain is early on, and goal becomes beating the clock and keep the bad thing from happening again.

Dutch Baby. The ultimate comfort food.

 JENN McKINLAY: It's been a stressful winter/spring -- deadlines, moving Hooligans, and the world at large -- to name just a few. The capper was my mom suffering a broken foot (open fracture no less) while visiting us, putting her in a boot for month. When we got back from the ER, emergency cheer up food was required!

Normally when I am stressed, I have a hard time eating anything. However, the dutch baby breaks through all that silliness with its yummy goodness, so I share it with you.

DUTCH BABY

Sadly, I am not Celia, so there is no video just a recipe and pics, but trust me it's delicious! Also, I got the recipe from @cast_iron_chris on Instagram so that makes my time spent on social media worth it!

Ingredients:

3 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 Tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Powdered sugar

Directions:

Heat all metal skillet in oven at 425.

Mix eggs, milk, flour, sugar, and nutmeg until smooth.

Add butter to hot skillet and let it melt.

Once butter is melted, add the batter to the skillet and bake for 20 mins until walls and center of Dutch Baby have puffed up. Turn off oven and let it bake another five minutes. Don't open the door during baking or baby will deflate. Remove from oven add powdered sugar and sautéed apples (optional). Enjoy!

Apples: Peel and slice 3 granny smith apples, melt a tablesopon of butter in medium sized pot, adding cinnamon and brown sugar to taste. I used a Tablespoon of brown sugar and a half teaspoon of cinnamon.

Coat with powdered sugar:

Serve with sautéed apples and cinnamon:

Okay, Reds and Readers, what's your go-to comfort food?

Whimsy

Jenn McKinlay: I was recently doom scrolling through social media, as you do, when a post popped up about whimsy. Y’all, it was delightful. The OP (original poster) shared what little bits of whimsy filled her day and invited other readers to chime in to share their daily whimsical moments as well. It was a delightful antidote to the winter doldrums I was having at the moment, so now I share with you (my fave was the tiara, which informs me that I need to go find mine).

Some of the whimsical things were…

1. ”I wear a “lock in tiara” whenever I have to lock in on a difficult task.”
2. ”I say “it’s bath time” when I’m about to do the dishes.
3. "I wear matching pajamas every time I change my sheets so I can have what I call fancy sleep."
4. "I hold 'office hours' every Tuesday at a local coffee shop, which means I sit on the couch and order drinks for 4-5 hours while various friends and acquaintances visit me to yap about books and gossip."
5. "I say, 'my lady,' every time I walk by a mirror."
6. "I teach the dog how to do things either to make them more interesting for me ('Let me show you how to start a load of laundry') or just to make him feel included ('Do you remember how to make coffee or should I walk you through it again? I know it's hard to remember since you can't practice without thumbs.')"
7. "I kiss my cat on both cheeks then she kisses me on both cheeks then I explain 'she's European' to no one."
   
8. "I sleep in vintage nightgowns, it makes me feel like an 1800s princess✨"
9. "I hot glued a bow tie onto the Roomba and we call him Jeffrey."
10. "I say, 'May I take your coats?' when I'm peeling garlic."

My personal whimsies are to tell the dogs “we’re going on an adventure” instead of a walk. I give pep talks to my plants in the garden - “oh, look at you , growing overnight” etc.

And when the hooligans were little, the whimsy was usually over the top. I convinced them that packages at the post office had wings put on them and were launched to fly to their destination. They spent a lot of time scanning the sky for boxes.

But my favorite was the koi pond at the Phoenix Zoo. I convinced them the fish were “wish fish” so we would stop by every week, pick out a fish, and tell it our wish. I stumbled upon a koi pond last week in CT and naturally had to make a wish. I’ll share the video here, so you can pick a fish and make a wish, too. ♥️

And now you, Reds and Readers, what silly whimsical things do you do to bring cheer to your days?

Character Names

JENN McKINLAY: I recently handed in my latest WIP. It was a marathon of writing to get it done. My final day was almost 5K words! But here’s the problem: I don’t love my character’s names. I changed them several times while writing and I’m still “meh” about them. 

Yes, we have talked about this before but we’re living in the modern age so it should be easier, right? I mean I used to name my characters by scrolling through the white pages of the phone book - paper version!

It being 2025, I tried a name generator but that was awful, too: REEDSY CHARACTER GENERATOR Another blow for AI, I just don’t think it can craft something as cool as this:

Thankfully the lack of love for my character’s names didn’t impede my writing process — sometimes it does. I’m hoping my editor has some input about them. But if she likes the names so be it.

Of course, when thinking about this I started thinking about some of the great names of characters in fiction —Atticus Finch, Katniss Everdeen, Ebenezer Scrooge, Holly Golightly, Scarlett O’Hara, and James Bond to name a few. Like naming a child, I started to ponder if the story is what makes the character’s names iconic or if it’s the name itself.

Here me out: If Ian Fleming had named 007 Harvey Bean would the “spy who loved me” still be as memorable? If Margaret Mitchell’s Scarlett O’Hara had been named Doris Winkle, would we think of her as the vain selfish force of nature she was portrayed to be? Would Jay Gatsby really be as interesting if he’d been named Timothy Dickson? 

Of course, none of this pondering has made me feel any better about the names of my characters. So, I’ll turn it over to you, Reds and Readers. How much do names matter to you as readers? How hard is it to come up character names as writers?

Moving Day!

JENN McKINLAY: For the fourth time in five years, the Hooligans are moving. The first couple of moves, Hub and I were all in, helping schlep their worldly possessions up three flights of stairs (why?!) to their new abode. This time, I am conveniently back east and Hub is booked with gigs. 

Huh. Weird how that worked out.

Even though we look forward to retiring and moving "someday" that day is a ways off for me and Hub. We've been in our home for 26 years--Amazing! Before that, I moved eight times. Since we are out of the moving loop, I had to look up stats because that's who I am (librarian!). So here are some interesting things I learned from CT Moving and Storage:

1. The average person will move 11.7 times in their life. 

2. Half of all moves happen between May and September. 

3. Typical household moves contain at least 6,500 pounds worth of moveable items. 

4. Moving is the 3rd most stressful event in a person’s life. 

5. Friday is the most popular moving day. 

6. About 40 million Americans move every year, making up 17% of the US population. 

7. California, Texas, and Florida are the top moving destinations. 

8. The average American home contains over 300,000 items. 

9. The most common item left behind during a move is the shower curtain. 

10.  Packing the kitchen is considered the most time-consuming part of a move. 

For laughs, here's the classic "pivot" scene from Friends:

How about you, Reds and Readers? How many times have you moved and how did it go?

Baseball Movies: Let's Discuss

Play Ball!!!

 Jenn McKinlay: Arizona, my home state, is the land of Spring Training. From the middle of February when pitchers and catchers report until Opening Day, it is baseball, baseball, baseball. I am not a super fan like the Hub, but I do enjoy an afternoon or evening spent at the ballpark enjoying hotdogs, peanuts, beer, popcorn, ice cream, you know the essentials to get through nine innings. I also appreciate that its slower pace gives you a chance to chat with your companions.

Diamondbacks Opening Day!

Recently, while enjoying a game, we got into a discussion of the best baseball movies. Now on this I do have an opinion. My fave baseball movie of all time is: FIELD OF DREAMS: 

Because it's the BEST! James Earl Jones will always be one of my favorite actors of all time and his portrayal of author Terrence Mann in this movie was FANTASTIC!

Hub's favorite is BULL DURHAM:

And Mom's favorite in LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN:

Of course, there are many honorable mentions, BAD NEWS BEARS, DAMN YANKEES, SAND LOT,  and MAJOR LEAGUE, to name just a few.

What about you, Reds and Readers, are you a baseball fan? Who's your team? And which movie is your fave (if you have one)?

I Regretfully Decline by Vicki Delaney

Jenn McKinlay: Most of you know I am a summertime Canadian. My family has had a cottage in Nova Scotia for forty years and my brother and I ran amuck on the shores of the Bay of Fundy as kids just as our four boys have done all their lives. To say that I have been UPSET by what the current administration is doing is putting it mildly. When our dear friend Vicki Delaney reached out and offered a post from the Canadian perspective - of course, I said yes. The librarian in me is a big believer that information is power. So here's Vicki to give us some insight from the North. 

Community note: Any nasty messages will be deleted. As lovers of books and the book community, we're all in this together. Conduct yourselves accordingly, please.

Hooligans on our beach in Scot's Bay with their Wowa.

Vicki Delaney: When I decided to try my hand at writing a book, about the last reason was in order to meet interesting people and make new friends.  Turns out that’s the best part of it. I include Jenn and the rest of the Reds in the friends I cherish. 

I am a Canadian, and in the 20 years since I became a full-time author, I’ve travelled to the United States many, many times. I love meeting readers and fellow authors. I love listening to their stories and talking books and brainstorming promotional efforts. Of the three major mystery conferences (Left Coast Crime, Malice Domestic, and Bouchercon) I’ve gone to at least one every year, many years all of them. (COVID years excepted, naturally). I’ve been to smaller festivals and conferences, to libraries, to bookstores. I’ve done a signing in a bowling alley and one in a gym and have been a guest speaker at the Pennsylvania Tea Festival. I’ve toured with wonderful American authors many of whom I now consider good friends, and I’ve spent before and after event time enjoying a vacation. 

Is all that over? Possibly. I posted the following to my Facebook author page in February. 

With much regret I wrote to the Malice Domestic Board today to tell them I will shortly be cancelling my registration and hotel booking. As a proud Canadian, I can not in good conscience travel to the United States as long as the President continues to insult our Prime Minister and our country and is threatening Canadian sovereignty, either by destroying us economically, or invading militarily. I will miss getting together with my many American friends and readers. I hope, but do not expect, that the situation will change and we can meet again. 

I believe Canada, and the entire democratic world, is at an existential crossroads. The current regime in the United States is determined, for whatever demented reason, to eliminate Canada as an independent country, by whatever means necessary.  The insults from the President and other members of the regime against our Prime Minster personally (and yes, Governor is an insult and meant as such) as well as the country as a whole  are relentless. The tone and much of the wording is exactly the same as used by Russia prior to its invasion of Ukraine. (Trump: Most Canadians want to be 51st state. Peter Navarro: Canada has been taken over by Mexican cartels. Elon Musk: Canada is not a real county). 

We don’t for a minute believe, even if this comes to pass, we would be a “51st state.”  We wouldn’t be a state, with voting rights and government investment, but a colony, a vassal to be exploited for resources. 

In 2019, the leaders of the United States, Canada, and Mexico negotiated a revised free trade treaty called CUSMA (CanadaUSMexicoAgreement). This treaty is up for renewal in 2026. 2026. Not today. Showing that the word of the President of the United States is meaningless, Trump has overturned the agreement and slapped steep tariffs on Canada and Mexico. 

The pretext Trump is using to impose tariffs on Canadian goods (in violation of a treaty he himself signed) is that supposedly Canada is allowing fentanyl to “pour’ across the border. That is an out and out lie. 

According to the CNN on Feb 3, 2025 :  Fact check: Canada makes up just 0.2% of US border fentanyl seizures | CNN Politics

Federal statistics show US border authorities seized 21,889 pounds of fentanyl in the 2024 fiscal year. Of that amount, 43 pounds were seized at the Canadian border — about 0.2%

Only a month later, on March 4, 2025, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quoted data from US customs and border protection: 

“..fentanyl seizures from Canada have dropped 97 per cent between December 2024 and January 2025 to a near-zero low of 0.03 pounds seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection."

Near zero. Down from a very low figure to begin with.  

Therefore, there is literally nothing Canada can do, as the PM pointed out, to fix a problem that does not exist.  (As an aside there are no customs and immigration checks upon leaving either Canada or the US for the other country.  Is it not, therefore, the responsibility of US customs to stop illicit goods coming in?)

Why then does Trump keep repeating the lie? Because it isn’t about making trade ‘fair’ or fixing problems that don’t exist, and thus cannot be fixed, but creating circumstances to permit the annexation of Canada’s Arctic, natural resources, and water. 

This isn’t a trade dispute; it is an outright attack on our sovereignty and Canadians are coming together in a way they haven’t since WWII.  We are well aware that a trade war hurts everyone, but the Government of Canada believes appeasement will accomplish nothing, so Canada has imposed tariffs on a wide range of US goods. 

As well as retaliatory tariffs, Canadians are fighting back in other ways. Stores are posting stickers on shelves indicating Canadian goods. Apps are being created to indicate the nationality of companies and the source of their product, and Canadians are taking those apps shopping. The world’s largest purchaser of alcohol is the Ontario liquor stores - all US products have been removed from the shelves and the same thing is happening in other provinces.  The province of Ontario (where I live) has announced a 25 percent surcharge on exports of electricity to the US. Substantial numbers of Canadians are cancelling holidays to the US, or, like me, forgoing optional business trips. The list goes on and continues to grow.

We’re not interested in the game of ‘on-again, off-again, on-again’ Trump is engaging in. As long as the threat exists, Canada will retaliate. 

It has been said that Canadians are prepared to sacrifice much in this fight and Americans nothing, so we do have the upper hand. Which of course, considering your President, might not matter.


We will see how things pan out, but I am encouraged by the solid and vocal support we are getting from our many American friends.

There isn’t much I can do, as an average Canadian citizen, to resist these threats, other than make my position public, shop mindfully, and refuse to grace the United States by my presence, definitely not spend any money.  

Others have different opinions. Some say it’s important to engage Americans, and point out that despite propaganda from the US leader and members of his party and administration, the overwhelming number of Canadians are firmly against any take-over.  I’d argue in return, we have social media on which to present our case and a substantial number of my American friends approve of my choice to make this clear stand. 

I will admit the decision to forgo travel to the US is easier for me than it might be for self-published or small press authors and particularly for writers just starting their career. I have a solid social media following, I have a strong reader base, I’m active in two prominent online cozy mystery groups, I’ve been building my newsletter distribution list for twenty years. 

It’s up to each of us to decide what’s best for us and for our country. I’ve made my decision. 

Elbows up. 

(You’ll be seeing the phrase “elbows up” a lot. That’s a hockey saying meaning to protect yourself and your teammates, to fight back.)


JENN: I just bought a t-shirt with "Elbows Up" and a maple leaf. I support you, Canada, and will spend a boodle up North when I arrive in the summer (fingers crossed). Count on it!

Reds and Readers (many of whom are also Canadian), what questions do you have for Vicki about what's happening in Canada? She'll be popping in all day to discuss.

Vicki Delany is the recipient of the 2019 Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing. She is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than fifty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy.  She is currently writing the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the Year-Round Christmas mysteries, the Tea by the Sea books, and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates). 

Vicki is a past chair of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It Crime Writing Festival.  Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the CWC Awards of Excellence. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.