Well I e-mailed my editor the last of the changes for "A Commitment to Murder." It is now a matter of getting it to the printer once she lets me know they are made and the story updated. In the meantime I am on the slate to be president of the South Bay Cities Genealogical Society for 2007/08 as well as a presenter at the SBCGS workshop on genealogy in October. I will be speaking on documentation: What is is and the right way to do it. Besides all of that we have the society's 30th anniversary coming up as well.

As for writing...well...I need to update this website first and then I can start writing again. I figure if I have to make a presentation for the society I might as well incorporate it into the Genealogy Hints and Tips page. Sort of like killing two birds with one stone!

Also I found that my book is now on OCLC and thanks to modern technology I have even updated said record. For all of you who don't know what OCLC is...it's the place for libraries to download MARC records. These are the records the patron sees when looking up books in the online catalog. A technician like myself downloads those records, cleans them up (makes them presentable to the public) and then sets them free. I spend much of my day doing just that. It is very intensive, concentration wise and I take pride in the fact a student will call up a book and get the most comprehensive information on that book to determine whether or not it is useful for the research assignment they are doing. Now mind you many of our old records aren't as nice, so don't take all the records in our system for my work...

Well we made it through. What a day! Very few problems cropped up and the happy couple are now almost to Hawaii for their honeymoon. The day was quite hot (almost 90) and the church was hotter. We had fans and bottled water but it only took the edge off. The reception hall was also quite warm and after much animated debate with the caterers (who also own the hall) we were able to open the windows and grab some fans (we brought the hand ones from the church too.) That helped enormously. There was lots to drink - alcohol wise - but it was way too warm for it. Water and punch were consumed liberally. We had the hall till 10, but most of the guests were gone by 8:30 so we packed up and headed home where we had a small after the wedding crash party. By Crashing I mean we all pulled off the shoes, changed the clothes and crashed on comfy couches and the cool carpeted floor. My airconditioner has been on since Friday (because of all the flowers for the arrangements) so it was a blessed cold. After some leftovers and lots of water, we all packed it in at 11 pm, although it certainly felt like 1 am.

So how does it feel to have one less person at home? A little weird right now. But I still have two to keep me crazy and out of trouble. And not a wedding in site for at least another 5+ years - I hope!

Now back to writing...

Three days and counting. We survived the rehearsal dinner and the rehearsal. But boy were the instructions ambiguous. They priest will do this...but not tell you to do this...and you do this...but he won't tell you, you have to figure it out on your own. Thank goodness I go to Mass or I would be in a heap o' trouble. Tomorrow are nails and dinner and the guys are playing poker. Then bright and early Saturday morning...

So my plan is to sleep Sunday and then after a week of recouperation I will start working on revamping the content on my web page. Probably the Genealogy hints and tips page. I may add some useful info to it. Land, or census info maybe.

Then I plan to go back to book two and finish documenting the changes so my editor can get those done before she starts back to school on her Ph.D. Maybe then I can get back to book four. Since I am really tired right now, even thinking about finishing book four sounds completely insane...we'll see.

Oh yeah, I need to get that book in the mail tomorrow for sure. I promised to mail it to her by the 20th...

Congratulations to Gina Micale of Sierra Madre, CA who won a copy of An Old Fashioned Murder from Mystery Most Cozy based through Overbook.com. I will be mailing a copy out to her ASAP. We have a wedding gown about 2/3 done so I will mail it to her probably Monday or Tuesday before the last minute wedding stuff hits the fan.

I currently have two little girls eating refined sugar from my sugar container while running back and forth watching fireworks on my porch being shot off from the Home Depot Center. Apparently it is our welcome to David Beckham...that's what I get for suggesting a sleep over to keep her busy while we sew. 

Keep us all in your thoughts over the next few days, and hope that my writing will get back on track after all the mayhem has ended...

Well I got an e-mail Monday from MysteryMostCozy. It's an online book discussion group that asked for reads back in January. I had pretty much given up and then I heard from the moderator that I was August's pick. I had to quickly come up with a number of discussion questions and submit them. I came up with 13, which I may eventually ad to this website to help other groups with a book club/group that might be interested in doing the same thing. If you want to check out their set up/group just put the following into Google: MysteryMostCozy · Overbooked.net's Cozy Mystery Group. The link was too long to copy! 

I've gotten a little more feedback on the book. One reader felt that I was a "kind person" because of my portrayal of not only the main characters but the murderer as well. Another lady who read it was on a trip to visit family in Chillicothe Ohio (one of the towns mentioned in An Old Fashioned Murder) and totally related to the area and scenery, as well as the plot. I had a retired police detective tell me that I gave too much too soon, but with genealogy, it's a little different than if I was a police detective hunting down clues. You're working with a "family" a little different dynamic. But food for thought nonetheless.

My book will be added to a library catalog soon, so it will be available for many to read. That's sort of exciting actually! Well I must get going - lots to do today. Two weeks to wedding and counting!

Well I survived the book club interview. It was actually a lot of fun. I think it's interesting because so many people start to look at their own family history after reading the book. We didn't discuss the mystery as much as genealogy. So I guess I am showing people that genealogy isn't so boring afterall.

I was asked when the next installment will be out and also where they could visit a genealogical society. Of course I mentioned SBCGS (see my links page) as a place to start. They were also impressed with the fact I used my own family as the basis for the storyline. I like the relaxed question/answer format. I would love to do more of them.

The reference to three weeks and counting is to my oldest daughter's wedding. It is coming so fast and summer is just flying by. I will need a vacation after all of this is over with!

If there's anything genealogically related you want me to post on my tips page just e-mail me and let me know.