Greetings Sweden!

Hello to all my family and friends there in Sweden!

I hope you are having a wonderful Advent with all of the cookies, Saffron rolls, and grog you are making. I miss being there in Sweden with you this time of year. Though the days are much shorter now, I love the magic of the land, the warm friendly people, and the songs and beautiful snow flakes falling as everyone attends the St. Lucia celebrations. I miss the giant moose that stop to look back at you as you stop the car to look at them, and the majestic reindeer prancing across the roads in search of food sources on the other side.

I'm in the middle of writing another article about the stories and folklore of Sweden. Thanks to my cousin, Monica, I have more wonderful incite to these treasures of my wonderful ancestors.

I believe in the gnomes and the little people. How about you?

Weekend Signings a Success

We had a great weekend doing book signings in Austin! I ended up with three store signings in two days instead of the two signings I'd originally went there to do and both my promotionalist and I were very pleased with the results. A big thanks to the friendly, helpful store managers and their staff!

I have to admit though that even while I had a lot of fun with the signings and met some very nice people, I was very tired by the end of the second day. I'll have to rest up for a few days before I hit the trail again.

For any of you that haven't bought your copy of The Austin Fires, a Stormy Winters Mystery, there is still time to order it before Christmas for yourself or that mystery lover on your Christmas list. You can order it through my website or just go to Amazon.com or Borders.com directly and buy it there. And don't forget, if you have one of the great new Kindles from Amazon, you can buy and download it from them in a matter of minutes.

Have a great week!

Birthdays and Family

I just celebrated a birthday this last Saturday and thanks to my wonderful family, it was a great day! When I woke up I was a little down about turning another year older, but by the end of the day I felt much better about it thanks to my family. My husband made a delicious breakfast of pancakes with blueberry syrup, bacon, two kinds of fruit, and juice. What a nice treat! My mother had been cooking the night before, and then again that afternoon, and made a wonderful mexican dinner filled with enchilads, tamales, green chile roast burritos, beans, and rice. It was quite a feast and oh so heavenly! I was stuffed. My oldest son, Joshua and his wife and two children came from Austin to decorate and help me celebrate my day. My youngest son, Erik helped them fill the house with balloons. They did a very good job. I heard from all of my other children by phone as well, making it a very special day for me. Was I spoiled---You bet!