I'm moving from one genre to another this week. Just finished up (with my sisters) the first cozy mystery in our Sleuthing Sisters Mystery series--DEATH ON A DEADLINE. Moving straight into the first book in my Pinky Promise Sisterhood series--PROMISE ME ALWAYS. They are both first person. But that's about it, as far as what they have in common. Death on a Deadline was very focused toward clues and red herrings, suspects and motives. Promise Me Always is a sassy present tense story about a woman following her dream. And the totally-opposite-from-what-she's-looking-for man she meets on her journey. Since this is the first in a series about four friends, I'm having to develop each character more deeply than I normally would a secondary character. Not that all the info I know about them will go into this first book, but I want to stay true to their ultimate motivations and their little idiosyncrasies.

While I'm working on Promise, my sisters Sandy and Jan are plotting and outlining the second Sleuthing Sisters mystery, Death of a Diva. They're keeping me updated and occasionally I have to jump in with an opinion. (I hear you all gasping that I would ever feel compelled to offer my opinion.) Our dad who had quintuple heart bypass surgery back in mid-January is scheduled to have his gallbladder removed Friday morning at 10:15. He turned 85 March 1st but he's a fighter and serves a mighty God so we're trusting everything will be fine. He's just ready to get out of the pain of the frequent attacks. My sisters, and my brother, and I will all probably be at the hospital during the surgery, along with Mama. I'd appreciate your prayers for a speedy recovery for him.

Along with everyone else in the country, we're all stunned by Matthew Winkler's shooting and his wife's subsequent confession. One of my sisters said to me today, "You and Sandy and Jan shouldn't be so surprised. You read murder mysteries all the time and even write them." She was kidding, but I thought about it after we hung up and realized that I can't even imagine how this happened. I'm praying for both families and those precious children.

That's all for now. I have to get up extra early in the morning to drive carpool for the girls and some of their classmates to a school field trip. Going to a Nature Museum an hour or so away. Supposedly they have a room that simulates an earthquake and we'll all learn about the New Madrid fault, which runs a little too close to us for comfort. So I guess we'll be "all shook up." OH, and lest I forget, they're supposed to have a skunk for us to pet, too. Joy.

Peace out.