It’s been two weeks since I announced I was going to be present on the blog more often. This is still the plan, so be sure to subscribe to get updates in your inbox!
What I didn’t mention was that I probably would take breaks when I went on vacation or took off to conferences and other stuff like that. And because I left for Oregon for a family vacation shortly after I announced that I planned to blog more often, I’ve been missing in action, unless you follow me on Instagram or Facebook (which you should, BTW). I shared a few posts and photos about our Oregon adventures. I plan to share more in the future because Oregon is such an inspiration to me. I’ve even been known to escape to Oregon for writer retreats. I wrote the bulk of Death is in the Details in a beach cabin in Manzanita, Oregon during a stormy few nights and days. It was perfect writing weather for writing a thriller.
While I was in Oregon this past week, I found inspiration around the internet in the things I read and in the towns I visited. Here are the items I found that were worth sharing…
1 — A true crime podcast led to an arrest in a 10-year-old cold case earlier this month. It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for a well-told true crime story, but I’m thrilled that one podcast might actually bring closure to a family who lost someone close to them more than ten years ago.
2 — Crime writer and veteran police investigator Lee Lofland shared some of the best excuses, threats, and dumb statements he heard during his years as a police officer.
3 — I traveled all day Wednesday and saw the inside of FIVE AIRPORTS. The upside to travel delays, layovers, and diversions is that I was able to start and finish a book in one day. And because I knew I would have to stop and start the book often and I would be distracted by children and a husband who were all tired from long travel day, I picked a romance filled with lots of tension and conflict that would hold my attention in short bursts and take me into another world. I read Treasures Lost, Treasures Found by Nora Roberts. It’s an older novel of hers published by Silhouette in 1986 that I had never read but had on my Apple Books app. It took me into the world of scuba diving for shipwrecks and lost treasures. It explored a small town in the Outer Banks and second chance love. And I enjoyed it! There was so much sexual tension and conflict, as well as suspense that comes with swimming in the ocean with deadly sea creatures. I spent a tiring day of traveling from Portland, Oregon to Kentucky engrossed in another world. If you’re looking for a great summer beach read, you can pick up this book at APPLE BOOKS or AMAZON.
4 — Portland is not the only city in Oregon that should be at the top of the list of “Top 10 Dog-Friendliest Cities in America.” Manzanita, Oregon makes it a sport to keep Oregon’s status as the dog-friendliest state in the US. Dogs are welcome just about anywhere and everywhere. Just take a look at these signs posted at one of our favorite lunch spots in Manzanita, Oregon:
The second rule… “dogs may not sit on, or eat off of the tables…” That one is negotiable. I’m not kidding.
Mike and I laughed so hard over the chaos that some dogs created at one of our lunches that we made sure we went back for more on another day. And we both are still wishing we could have been present at the staff meeting where it was decided that THREE was the magic number of dogs one could bring to lunch or dinner. Why three? Why not two? Or four? And is that three dogs per person? Per table? There were definitely more than three dogs on the patio during lunch that day, so I know there wasn’t a 3-dog limit for the entire patio.
Side note: When a dog stands after lunch and shakes their entire body, cover your food and your beer or wine glass.
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Hoping to get into more regular blogging in the coming weeks. But I’m also starting to draft a new book, outline another, and I’m headed to Murder Con in the very near future.
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