I Had To Post This

I had to post this, if only because I am in the major minority of those who didn't like Twilight. It was the only book in the series that I read, I'll be honest, and I have not see any of the movies. I found the angst and drama of high school bad enough to live through, and it is probably a testament to Stephenie Meyers that her brought it all back for me.

"He looked at me, does he like me?"
"He's not at school today, is it becase of me??"
"Oh he talked to me! He must like me!"
"He's so cute! He couldn't like me!"

Yikes. I am not aware of a discussion of Twlight or Harry Potter being the better book, but that seems to be what Stephen King is addressing here. I just really liked his comment and had to post this here today.

Of Long Summer Days and Good Summer Books!

Summer is officially here! And with summer comes the opportunity to relax in the warm sun and pull out a good book to read. Do you have any good books on your list that you're just dying to get into?

It seems everyone has a summer reading list, a beach reading selection. I love to read all year long, but confess that in the summer my tastes run much lighter. No Tolstoy or Hemmingway for me please. Give me the new Stephanie Plum book or some Kristin Hannah or Barbara Delinsky to while away the long hot days with. In other words, I don't want to think, I just want to be entertained. Romance novels call to me as do cozy mysteries.

Here's my first book of summer: A Turn in the Road by Debbie Macomber.  I'm picking it up at the library later today, and I'm sure I'll be well into it before bedtime. I like her books. She has a sensitivity I respond to, and her books are about real people in real situations that feel familiar.

AJ's trying to re-read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which is difficult since he's in the middle of calculus and astronomy in summer school. But he's making headway and enjoying the ride.

A fellow writer and a friend of mine from here in Colorado Springs has a new book out I'm anxious to read. It's the first in her new series. I've read the books from Beth Groundwater's first series and they are excellent, so I feel confident recommending these to you if you're interested.

Whatever your tastes or interests are, stop by the library, or the bookstore or go online for an ebook. Read something. Read to your kids. Have fun with it. After all, it's summertime! Yay!

Book Cover

I'm showcasing the cover for my new book which will be published later this week. Designed by the very talented Tara-Kelley Cruz, this cover is exactly what I was hoping for. I'm so pleased with it, and hope she will work with me on future projects.

Tara is a graphic artist who is very talented. If you are an author looking for an artist to design a cover for your next project, feel free to contact her at tara@thunderbaby.com and let her know you got her name from me.

Freebies!

My cozy mystery What Would Nancy Do? is currently available on smashwords.com in a wide variety of formats.  This is an ebook, and is not available in print format as of yet. 

However, you can preview the first twenty percent of the book for free to see what it's like.

You may also download a companion short story Emails: A Maeve and Kate Mini-Mystery.  This story features the characters from the novel and is a complete mystery on it's own.  Emails is available for free. 

Both of these can be found at http://www.smashwords.com/ or you can go directly to my author page there at http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/maureenmullis if you desire.

I hope you'll take the time to check them out!

Now Available!

My ebook, WHAT WOULD NANCY DO? is now available on smashwords.com!  I am so excited to be able to make this announcement which has been a long time in coming.  Within a few weeks you will also be able to find it on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and others.

WHAT WOULD NANCY DO? is the story of Maeve Haile and Kate Hanson who have been friends for over forty years. Having met in junior high the two quickly discovered a mutual love and admiration for the girl detective Nancy Drew. It was the cement that bound them and now, all these years later, they fondly remember the heroine.


When a woman is killed in front of them and the detective assigned to the case dismisses it as a gang related murder, the two friends decide to tackle the case asking themselves "what would Nancy do?" as their guiding force.

A stay-at-home wife and mother Maeve volunteers at the library with their former high school teacher who helps them with research and advice. Kate, a therapist, runs court appointed anger management classes giving her access to the detective in charge. Together they use all their resources to delve into the woman's life and family to discover secrets, sibling rivalries and deeply rooted resentments that convince them the woman's death was not random act of violence.

More shootings around their small town convince them they are on the right track while they hurry to put the pieces together. As they deal with all of this, one of Kate's court enforced clients seems to be of the notion that she is the one standing in the way of his success, and continues to interfere in their investigation and frightens Maeve with his confrontations.

With their lives at stake, Maeve and Kate learn they can rely on each other in ways their friendship has never been tested before as they race to find the killer and turn him over to the police before he kills again.

Spousal Support

My sweet husband Stanley! He is the best. He always supports me in whatever endeavor that I take on, be it sewing Halloween costumes, teaching a Relief Society Class or working at becoming a published writer.

Since my falls last year and the increase in my arthritis, most things are difficult for me. Especially sitting in the basement on the office chair and working on the computer. My joints ache so that I can only sit for a short time. Not conducive to writing, let me tell you. I haven't written anything new since last August.

But Stan gave me my birthday present early. He bought me a notebook computer. It's very simple, nothing special on it like a DVD R/W or anything like that. Just the Word program and a keyboard and a port for my flash drive. I'm in heaven!

Now I can write anywhere and anytime I want to. I've started my fourth book, and it feels SO GOOD to be writing again! Happy happy me!

Happy Reeny!

I got a box in the mail Saturday afternoon from my best friend of forty years. This September was the anniversary of our meeting and I sent her a Bobby Sherman CD with all the songs we used to listen to while we talked about boys. In the box she sent me the new Maeve Binchy book HEART AND SOUL.

Binchy is an Irish author who's work I adore. This is her latest book and will not be available in this country until the end of February. Beth's husband, Ken, travels all over the world for his company and brought us each back a copy of the book from his latest trip to the UK.

Don't you just love it when an author you love to read has a new book out? I'm taking the phone off the hook, unplugging the TV and curling up for an evening with a new set of friends! I'll talk to you all later .......