My Goals for 2016

Karen McCullough Posted on by

I don’t make resolutions, but at the beginning of each year, I do make a list of general goals.  This past year I have started warning clients of my website design/development business that I will be winding down the business over the next couple of years.  I’m taking on just a few new clients, and none that involve doing regular content updates.

I’ve already noticed a definite decline in the business as more of my work becomes designing WordPress sites, which allow people to update the site themselves rather than having to contact me for every change.  That’s okay with me.  I like designing new sites and will continue to do that on a limited basis as needed.  I’m also open to designing book covers.

I will also continue to work with my existing clients for as long as they want me and I’m able to do it.

But going forward I plan to spend more time on my writing, something that has been somewhat neglected over the past few years.

  • Finish a paranormal mystery novel I started several years ago and begin to query agents and publishers about it.  This has the potential to be a series and one I’d very much enjoy writing.  I’d like to see it published by a traditional publisher, but if that doesn’t work out, I’ll publish it myself.
  • Finish the third in my Market Center Mysteries series. The first, A Gift for Murder was published in hard cover in 2011 by Five Star, then republished in mass market paperback by Harlequin Worldwide Mysteries in 2012. The second book in the series, Wired for Murder, got editorial approval early last year, but I’m still waiting for a contract on it.  (Things are going on at Five Star and I’m not sure what it means for the future of my books there.)  Nonetheless, I’ve started the third book, A Perfect Home for Murder, and have mapped out a fourth book which I plan to be a conclusion for the series.
  • Post on my blog once a week, covering progress on books I’m writing, what I’m reading, thoughts, etc.

A Christmas Recap

Karen McCullough Posted on by

I haven’t been very good about blogging regularly here this year, but one of my goals for 2016 (more on that in a later post) is to post at least once a week, on any topic that happens to engage me.

To start off, though, I need to do a Christmas recap.  It was a relatively quiet Christmas this year, compared to some years when we’ve had a lot of family visiting. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, just different.

The season still held some wonderful things that provided treasured memories.

Although the out-of-town parts of the family weren’t able to be here this year, I’m fortunate that my oldest daughter still lives nearby.  Her oldest daughter is away at college, but her son lives with them. And he likes to bake and cook.  Early in December the three of us got together on a Sunday afternoon for a cookie baking marathon. With football games in the background, we mixed, rolled, stirred, decorated and baked for three hours, and emerged with ten or so bags worth of cookies that we split.

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Bags and bags of cookies!

A small gathering with my local Sisters in Crime chapter provided a lovely buffet lunch and a chance to talk about moving forward without our co-presidents, Jim and Joyce Lavene, following Joyce’s untimely death last fall.

My neighborhood does something unique and magical to celebrate Christmas.  This year, The Today Show came down and filmed some of it.  The tree balls are notoriously difficult to photograph, but the video helps.

My own effort is below, showing the decorations on my house, a few of the tree balls we’ve hung and more in the neighborhood down the road.

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Another fairly new tradition for us, but one that we all love is having high tea with my “girls” on Christmas Eve at the O’Henry Hotel.

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My “girls” on Christmas Eve, my step-granddaughter Ashley Thompson, good friend, Julie Stemkowski, daughter Elizabeth Thompson, granddaughter’s friend Rachel Gideon, and my oldest granddaughter, Melanie Thomspon at the O. Henry hotel for tea.

Finally on Christmas day, we went to our oldest daughter’s home for gift opening, then we came back to our place for dinner. I’d thought we’d have a small group, but it turned out to be eleven. There was still more than enough food and even if it was a bit crowded at the table, everyone still enjoyed the meal.

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DSC00951DSC00948DSC00941My daughter washed a ton of dishes for me since the good china and silver don’t go in the dishwasher.  It was a huge help.

The tree has been taken down now and most of the decorations packed away, though I’m still doing some clean up. Now prepping for 2016.

Falling Into Romance

Karen McCullough Posted on by

Fall_Into_RomanceThis post is part of the Fall Into Romance Blog Hop.  For more info on how to win prizes, please read to the end of the post!

Fall is probably my favorite time of the year.  I love the colors, the cooler air after the hot summer, and the anticipation of the holidays. And the aromas of baking spicy, holiday treats. Below is a favorite of mine.

And by the way, I use fresh pumpkin for this.  I cut up my pumpkin after Halloween is over and use it for this. I cut it up into four to eight large pieces, bake it in a hot (425 degrees) oven, then scoop the meat of the skin and put it in a blender, mashing it until smooth.  I freeze whatever I don’t use right away.

Pumpkin Bread

3 cups self-rising flour (or 3 cup plain flour + 4-5 tsp. baking powder and 1 tsp. salt)
3 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups cooked, mashed pumpkin
1 cup melted butter

Sift dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
Form a well in the center and eggs, pumpkin, and butter.
Stir until moistened.
Pour into 2 well-greased loaf pans
Bake at 350 degrees, 45 – 50 minutes.

This post is sponsored by one of my favorite fall stories that I’ve written, Guardian of the Grimoire.

Guardian_125Genre: Paranormal with romantic elements
Length: Novella; $1.99
Amazon
Nook
Smashwords

Librarian Jess O’Rourke already has her hands full with her father’s declining health and the under-staffed, under-funded library she runs. A new preacher in town waging war on her books is just an annoyance at first, but an attractive mysterious stranger warns her that there’s more behind the reverend’s campaign than she can guess. The new preacher is a human possessed by a demon and he’s searching for an old grimoire that’s part of an uncatalogued collection of books stored in the library’s basement.

Gabriel Sutton has been the guardian of the book for a long time, a very long time, he claims, since that has been his penance for crimes he committed as a soldier during the Civil War. He convinces Jess that she needs to find the grimoire and use it to return the demon to where he belongs.

Their time gets short when the reverend realizes she’s searching for the book and resorts to desperate measures to either retrieve or destroy it.

Now, about those prizes:

Grand Prize for the hop is a collection of ebooks from the Scribbler authors.

My prize will be awarded to one commenter, chosen by random, so leave your email addie with your post.  It’s an ebook copy of one of my two Christmas stories, Blue December or A Vampire’s Christmas Carol. Winner gets to choose.

 

 

Heading for Bouchercon

Karen McCullough Posted on by

In a few minutes, I’m heading to Raleigh for Bouchercon 2015. My schedule of events:

Panel Thursday, Oct. 8 at 2:30 : The Comfort of Mystery in a Random World. Sounds like fun!

I’ll also be at Sisters in Crime breakfast on Friday morning and on Friday evening I’ll be helping to host the SEMWA (Southeast Chapter of Mystery Writers of America) Death by Chocolate Party, which will start right after the auction (probably around 9 pm).

If you’re there, please come up and say hello to me!

New Dragons in the Collection

Karen McCullough Posted on by

In the past two months I’ve done a lot of traveling, including a vacation trip to Italy and then a journey to Indiana to help out my daughter and her three kids.  No matter where I go, I always keep an eye out for dragons, and am delighted when I find them. The more unexpected the place, the better!

On our recent visit to Italy, I found several dragons in the Vatican Museums. The picture below was on a wall above a door. Did I mention that one of the glories of the Vatican Museums is that in nearly every room, every surface is decorated with paintings, frescos, carvings, you name it. It’s magnificent. You can click on it to enlarge it. There’s actually more than one dragon in the image.  I can see at least three, but there may be even more.

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My other dragon discovery was at a Children’s Zoo in South Bend, Indiana.  They were having a special exhibit called “Dragons.”  More on that in a future post.

Little Free Libraries

Karen McCullough Posted on by

I live in a neighborhood that borders on the campus of the UNC-Greensboro. It’s a nice modest, suburban area with well-maintained homes, sidewalks, and interesting neighbors. My husband and I walk a mile or so each day, weather permitting, and we always say hello to a number of people in the neighborhood who are out walking themselves, working in their yards or just sitting on porches.

Most of you are likely familiar with Little Free Libraries.  It’s a great idea and our neighborhood has a number of them. We pass a couple no matter which way we walk. I like to stop and look at what’s available, though I rarely take a book out. I already have a towering pile of books to read beside my chair and let’s don’t even talk about my Kindle! But it’s fun to see what kinds of treasure are available.

Here’s an example of one in our neighborhood that’s been nicely decorated in a natural way:library1But recently we ran across a new little free library that trumps any I’ve seen so far. It’s built from an old grandfather clock casing and then painted in a wild array of colors with assorted other embellishments added. You can click on the pictures below for larger images.

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I love it, but I have a question: Why the pink umbrella?  Anyone want to take a guess?

 

The Gothic Romance Chapter of RWA

Karen McCullough Posted on by

I’m a member of Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime, and have found a great deal of support for my writing and help over the years from those organizations and their sub-chapters. For several years, I was vice-president and then president of the Southeast chapter of MWA. And though I’m not as active in it as I’d like to be, I also belong to Murder We Write, the NC Triad chapter of SinC.

I’ve also belonged to several sub-chapters of RWA including both my local ones, Carolina Romance Writers and Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, and a number of online chapters. The one closest to my heart since I was a founding member of it is the Gothic Romance Writers chapter.

It’s always been a small chapter with usually around two dozen or so members, and we’ve sometimes let conversation lapse for long periods of time. But when a member needs help or support, these ladies (yes, we’re all ladies) have rallied around.

We live in different parts of the world, most of us in the U.S., but not all. We are different ages and ethnicities, at different stages in our careers, have varying interests and employment. What links us is a love for reading, writing, and talking about Gothic novels.

Right now, though, this chapter is in a bit of a bind. Membership has fallen over the last couple of years and the chapter is in danger of disbanding. I would hate to see that happen! We’re in the process of revamping our website to make it friendlier and more useful and hope to get more interesting discussions going.

But we need a few more members to rejoin or new members to sign up. If you’re already a member of Romance Writers of America (the sole criteria for membership), please consider joining or rejoining Gothic Writers and help us get this chapter on firm footing again. Join here: http://www.gothrom.net/onlineapp.html

 

Day 12 Last Day of the Trip – Varenna Day 3

Karen McCullough Posted on by

Varenna3_1For our last day of our vacation, we were ready to do something a little less strenuous. Getting on a boat across Lake Como was just what we needed. We made a point to get on a passenger ferry, covered on top but open on the sides. There was a nice breeze to cut some of the heat and the ferry made the rounds of several cities along the central part of the lake. We cruised on past it on the first go around, in favor of more time on the boat, but after making the circuit back, we got off at the town of Bellagio.

Bellagio is a lovely town too, and a great place to shop for silks, leather, and glassware. We did a bit of shopping, then walked around the town, stopping into an old church and having lunch at a little place in the shadow of what appeared to be a medieval tower. A banner on the side of the tower proclaimed a free exhibit of Byzantine icons, and Jim and Joe decided to go check it out while Steph, Freya and I kept the table warm and watched over the food until they returned.

It was apparently an extensive and interesting collection of icons and other Byzantine art. Try didn’t have time to look as closely and extensively as they wanted. But that was kind of a theme. There was wonderful art all around us, but our brains were already too filled to appreciate the riches at hand. Later we found a lovely park in Bellagio that overlooked the lake. We had a welcome rest and Freya got some playing time.

Steph and I took the two funiculars and a lift up to the top level terrace of the hotel to check out the view, which turned out to be pretty spectacular.  From there we got a better look at the upper rooms of the hotel as well.  Despite the amazing view, we decided that with the baby and stroller, we were better off on the lower level.  And the view from our window was nothing to argue with in any case.

We had dinner again at Borgovino, a tiny little restaurant, tucked away on a side street in Varenna. It was the best food we’d had on the trip, and that was saying something. The food was wonderful throughout the trip.

We tried to get to bed early that night, since it would be an early early morning. We were up at 4:30 to catch a 5:30 train to Milan, where we transferred to the train to Malpensa Airport. It’s a gigantic, busy, and very new and modern airport. Eventually we did get on the flight home. It was at least a more comfortable flight. I watched a couple of movies, read a couple of books, played games, and finally we got home after a few more adventures in airport navigation.

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The upper level terrace and the upper rooms of the hotel

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At Borgovino, food presentation was an art in itself. At left, roasted potatoes in foil folded and shaped to look like a swan. At left, tiramisu.

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The sun sets on Lake Como on the last day of our vacation.

Day 11 – Varenna Day 2 – The Castle and Feet in the Lake

Karen McCullough Posted on by
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The Castle at the top of the hill.

After breakfast at the hotel we headed for a ruined castle that sits on the top of a hill high above Varenna. It’s a considerable hike and climb to get to it, but well worth the effort. As ruins go, it’s nicely maintained and reasonably accessible.  (There’s a road that goes to it on the other side of the mountain, but not from the lake side.)

The castle, which is really more of a fortress has a small bailey in picturesque ruins with a couple of towers, including a four-story guard tower in the center, accessed by a stone staircase along the wall and then crossing a wooden drawbridge to the first story.

Within the center guard tower is a display of a fossil that has been found in the area, of a dinosaur that has been found only one other place in the world: China.  Climbing to the top of the tower offers a truly astonishing view of the surrounding countryside, no doubt the reason for its placement there in the first place.

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The start of the steep hike up to the castle.

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Coming back down involved another fairly long steep hike. Stopped in at a little ceramics shop where the young lady made amazing ceramics. Bought a few things for gifts. Then down and down some more to the town on the harbor. Delightful place. We had a drink and lunch on a patio overlooking the lake.

Steph and Joe took Freya down to the minimal beach on the lake to dabble her feet. She wasn’t impressed by the water, but enjoyed playing with pebbles. We walked along the lakefront promenade past many other bar/restaurants, boat landings, and little shops.

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The day was Steph’s birthday, and we celebrated it with dinner at another fantastic restaurant, Quattro Cento, where we feasted on more fabulous food and amazing desserts.

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