I've had a couple of e-mails asking me about the neck sniffing thing, so I thought I would explain. I was down in London a couple of days ago and there I was, happily tootling up the escalator at Liverpool Street Station when I felt someone pressing really, really close behind me. "Hello", I thought, "Either you've pulled, Donna, or you're getting your pocket picked." I've had relationships with people who got less intimate on a first date. Before I could do anything, I then felt a nose on…

I was out running errands today (doing some shopping...getting the monster puppy new food and water bowls, collar and leash...he's outgrowing EVERYTHING at an astonishing rate!!!). I figured I would get them done today since I was off duty and the monkeys (the two of our three children who are still at home) were at school.

As I was leaving my favorite local mass retailer, I noticed a couple in the parking lot having a good old fashioned, knock down, drag out, screaming, yelling,…

Just did something that I found quite scary - I sent off 25,000 words of a thriller I'm writing to my agent. The hope, of course, is that she'll love it and beg for more. The fear is that she'll hate it and suggest my taking up needlecrafts. Another fear is that the reaction might fall somewhere between those two chairs. That eventuality signifies real work in rewriting which is something I find hard because it is painstaking and... dull.

Now, here is the history of how I got…

Well, I'm done with the Boucher book. Finished, completed, done, over and out. The files are ready to be printed and sent off for the laborious process of making it a book. I'm still getting used to the feeling. It's a bit odd to be without the book after so long.

I've found myself wandering around the house a lot today. Going into a room and forgetting what I came in for. I'm sure I'll adjust to non-deadline time again shortly, but for the moment, I'm feeling a bit guilty about not…

I've also written a YA novel -- an intense, coming-of-age, male-bonding, werewolf-with-a-difference

story, inspired, many many years ago, by the movie

Teen Wolf. The idea of someone coming to realize he was a werewolf, and

his father was a…

K. J. A. Wishnia, Soft Money

Nothing makes me happier than finding a series I like and plowing through all of the books. In order. Happily, this series seems to fit the bill. Because of my financial situation - poor - I try and read books from the library as much as possible. My library often tortures me, however, by not having all the books in a series. Luckily, I had some birthday money and bought several books missing from the library; 23 Shades of Black was one…

Next week I'm off to France, to the "Quais du Polar" festival at Lyon. This is to give my new French book LES ALLONGÉS (Série Noire) a push. Some of you knew this and have already had a word about it, but let me just ask the rest of you now: is there anyone else who wants me to say hi to Daniel Woodrell for them? Jeez, anyone would think it's Woodrell Fest 2007.

Just kidding. He's right at the top of our genre and it'll be great to be in his presence. Maybe I can find out what…

I could never pick just one book as "the best," so here's an opportunity for a list. Even

this list might change from one day to another. If these…

INT. DARKENED ROOM…

Ok, so it's not a mystery, and not even a crime (that I know of), but it's taking too darn long to get my blog posted on our website because of a project, so until then, here it is! And for other cool stories, go to http://blog.traveloregon.com . It's my job, I have to get you there, or at least to www.traveloregon.com .…

A good question.

My first foray into the world wide web,and I had the amazing good luck to land at 4MA (4 mystery addicts, at Yahoo!)

A minor mishap with my( and others) names, resulted in the list owner, Maddy V.H.(who is great) bestowing my nickname upon me. Given my preference for red wine, it seemed like a good match.(and it sounds a lot more dashing than 'Grants')

Merlot has all of my good points and none of my flaws.She can say things that I might not, and get away…

I love this show. Like obsessively. I have the DVDs and I try to watch it whenever it's on television which is no easy feat because it's almost always on television. Next to my husband, I think Vincent D'Onofrio is one of the hottest dudes out there.

When I read last week that the show may be canceled, I freaked! I hope it doesn't come to pass but I won't be shocked if it does. It seems like so few people actually get the intelligence that is this show. I dig the quirkiness of Goren…