What do you do when you suddenly feel like you’ve lost control of . . . everything? It doesn’t happen often, but when it does I feel like I’m running around trying to balance too many plates in the air at the same time. My life is always changing, as it should be, but over the last year I’ve ventured into unknown territory.

At the end of 2017, my husband and I will be relocating to Florida, to be closer to the water. It is definitely something to be celebrated, and excitement abounds. In the meantime we need to downsize. A daunting task and the source of much unanticipated anxiety. Suddenly every item in my house is a family member.

In March, Tim and I attended the Left Coast Crime conference in Hawaii. The trip was far beyond anything I could have imagined. I’m still missing the sand, sun, resort atmosphere, bursts of color everywhere, and meeting fabulous authors I didn’t know, and many that I did. Tim sat on the beach, while I attended fascinating sessions about murder, and we ate dinner watching the sun set over the ocean.

I’ve completed my first murder mystery novel, Death Fetish, and am currently writing the last 1/4 of my second, Killing Rose. These are the first two of my Cali’s Kindred Spirits series of three books about a recent retiree, widow and Southwest artist, California (Cali) May who sees the ghosts of murder victims and thinks she’s going crazy. I’ve also been writing short stories. All of my writing is a learning experience, and I’m thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. Like all things, it takes time, practice, and patience.

On top of all this, I changed my email address, missed reminders from GoDaddy, and didn’t realize my domain name had expired and this site had been down for 10 months! For this I sincerely apologize to you, my readers! Definitely a plate came crashing down, slid right between the cracks in my amazing, but sometimes out-of-control life!

As you can see from this blog post, I’m slowly but steadily picking up the pieces. Eventually I fully expect:

• to have a series of three Southwest murder mysteries published by next year’s Left Coast Crime conference in Reno,
• my treasures sold through my Etsy site (Shore House Vintage) to patrons who will love them as much as I have,
• our move to Florida completed and everyone, including the dog, settled in,
• (our dachshund trained to do her business on a leash)
• and all my media, like my website, up-to-date.

Too much, you think? The way I figure, if it’s not on the list, it won’t get done. Let’s shoot for the stars and expect the very best!

~ Wendy