Hi Ruth! Actually I am a HUGE soccer fan, watch as much of the games from overseas as I can see. By the way, I envy you and the sheep!

Thanks for the invite! So what's the weather like in Scotland in early November?

Howdy Ruth! There's a Portsmouth in Virginia. I'd like to be all exotic and say I've seen the place, but that'd be a fib, and I never do that ;-)
Dallas in the Highlands? It must be awful quiet with only five houses, especially with all those gun fights going on
Anyway, nice to meet you. Hope I'll see you around here some more.

I thought you were up late! Suffolks are stupid by sheep standards. (And don't get me started on turkeys!) From what I can tell, sheep have no fear of the hereafter. If they get stuck in some ditch, they're resigned to die without a struggle. Darned annoying for the shepherd.

We raised and trained Border Collies. Love 'em. Amazingly bright dogs. It'd be a waste to have one in the suburbs, but someday we'll get back to the country and I'll get a puppy. Don't intend to do sheep again. She'll have to content herself herding cats, I guess.

Dram? I'll give it try. I asked for a shot the last time and it seemed to work. Is it considered a mortal sin in Scotland to request a drop of water (or an ice cube) in the scotch? I bought some Jura on the way out of the country just to give it a try. I usually drink Laphroaig, Glenfiddich, Balvenie or Glenlivet. I'm always up to try something new, however.

We raised Suffolks and Dorsets. One year we managed to flush the ewes so well we ended up with six sets of triplets. Lots of sorting feet and pulling lambs in the wee hours. (Definitely not for the faint of heart.) The extras became bottle lambs. Unreal. Though we live in the city now, there are moments I miss the quiet of the country. We had foxes, but had more trouble with the coyotes and the dogs. Nasty critters when they get into sheep.

Ruth,
RE: Single malt being cheaper in your part of the world.

I'm hoping that next year, besides the requisite visit to London, to journey north to Edinburgh. I have a friend who has offered to take me on his "Ian Rankin" tour. I'd also love to visit a few of the distilleries. Since I'll be on my own, I'll take a organized tour. I'm an adventuresome sort, but that does not include driving around Scotland without a navigator.

The single malt in Wolverhampton was cheap by US standards. £2.25. I usually pay $8.00- $12.00 per ounce depending on the bar (£3.80 to £5.71). Of course, I promptly ordered a double.

I note you raise sheep. In our pre-Atlanta days, so did we. We had 75 ewes. Nothing quite like getting up every two hours during lambing season to check on the woolies.

Ruth,
I know of three Peg Herrings: me of course, a college professor, I think she's on the West Coast somewhere, and Peggy J. Herring, a romance novelist. Since J. is also my middle initial, we went with Peg Herring for my book. I'd like to meet the others, just for giggles, but probably never will.

Ruth,

Since my main objective at this point in my writing career is to get my work into reader's hands to be read and enjoyed, self-publishing seems to be my best choice. No waiting years to hear about a submission and then more for publication. Having a full time job, I don't depend on my writing for a living and having earned a pittance from it (failed publishing houses and crooked publishers), fantasies of fame and riches have vaporated. Self-publishing isn't for everyone, especially writers who have yet to develop an audience, but it can work depending on your realistic expectations. I'm sure fans of the Brenda Strange series don't care who publishes the books.

Ruth, I'm happy you enjoy Brenda Strange. I'm still loving writing her stories and am working on the 4th book. I concur with Sandra that publishing has becoming like a treacherous maze fraught with frustrations. That's why I'm taking future journeys in publishing without restraints and striking out on my own. I think I'm having more fun doing it that way. I will still be on the lookout for short story anthology markets, but I'm in charge of Brenda Strange's future. It looks bright. My desire is simply to put her stories in the hands of readers who will enjoy them.

Thanks for telling me about the Highland library. Your life raising sheep and reading sounds exotic, and fun. LAS

No, I'm not physically paralyzed. I'm paralyzed as a writer. BTW, Virago wouldn't publish the 5th book in the Laurano series. I have a good agent and should I come up with a viable book I have no doubt she'd do her best with it. I simply don't have any ideas and don't feel like writing right now. The picture I'm using is the cover of an anthology called A Hell of A Woman. I have a story in it. It comes out at the end of Nov.

It's not a matter of going back to writing. I'm a writer. That's what I do. But at the moment I'm paralyzed. The publishing world is not the one I once knew and it's almost impossible to get published now if your last book didn't do well. But, as I said, I'm a writer and I'll write again. Thanks for caring.

Thanks for the kind words. But after 5 books nobody wanted to publish any more. It seems things have gone backwards in the climate we live in now. I've gone on to publish 2 more novels set in 1943 featuring a P.I. named Faye Quick. Although I got great reviews for these I didn't sell enough so that is that. At the moment I'm not writing anything.

There you are!
Hey!
I have sent a message and put your Cold Frame site in my favorite list... love the name...cold frame, its great! ..;)