Spring begins in fourteen days. I can’t wait for those tiny, cheerfully-yellow forsythia blossoms to breathe some life into my tundra-like yard. Have you noticed the small, encouraging signs that warm weather is coming? I captured the above shot this morning. Those are genuine little buds on the trees. Of course, below is a mentally depressing cornfield, brown, dried–up, and dormant – just itching to be planted. I think our brains get like that. I know my certainly does in the winter.

But spring is almost here and there’s good news ahead.

My publisher is asking to see the third book in the Jersey Girl Cozy Mystery series, which I am pretty sure will be titled Another Man’s Poison – changed from the original working title, Food for Thought. I need to fix a few things, clean it up, and then I’m sending it in. It seems like such a long time since Hide nor Hair was released, but it’s been less than a year. If accepted, this new book will take a few months before it sees publication. That’s just the way publishing goes. You think once it’s done, it’s done – that’s it. Unfortunately, having the book accepted is just the beginning of the publishing process. There’s still more editing, covers, cover art, what I used to call typesetting but I think is now called digital formatting (who knows what these terms mean?), and so on and so on. But the good news is PageSpring is interested and waiting to take a peek. I’m thrilled.

I am not thrilled with Recurring. The ending is so freaking tricky, it’s driving me crazy. I certainly know the ending inside out. I’ve played it out over and over a thousand times in my head. I’ve outlined it on paper. It’s been written and rewritten – and rewritten again! It’s all there. The fault is in the storyteller – me! I have to be satisfied with it and I’m not. I intend to have that monkey off my back by the end of the week.

While I wrestle with my stand-alone, everybody go out and enjoy the coming week. I hear the weather is supposed to be a delightful preview of spring here in New Jersey. If you are reading this post in a miserable climate, remember spring will arrive before you know it, and in a few more months you’ll be cursing the heat!