Serving Up A Slice of Blackberry Pie A La Mode

Earlier this morning as I was doing the final round of edits on my next mystery title, I happened to think of a slice of blackberry pie, always good eating even before breakfast. It's late in the summer for blackberries, which are usually in season back in July. When I was a kid, we used to pick wild blackberries by the bucketful. My mother froze them for wintertime eating and used the others to bake pies. The juicy fruit part of the berries is sweet, but the berries also contain lots of pits (seeds). Anyway, the wild blackberries grew everywhere (we lived in the country). Nowadays, I see pint cartons of domestic blackberries out for sale at the Farmers' Market. They're bigger and plumper than the wild ones are. The vendors ask for a steep price, but then the blackberries are probably handpicked, and I know that's hard work.

Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons.

Pour Another Iced Tea And Turn The Page

Summertime has reached the dog days of August, and I can't think of a much better hot weather beverage than a tall glass of iced tea. I like mine served sweetened with a lemon or lime wedge hooked over the top rim. I used to drink iced tea for my dinner, but the caffeine in it now keeps me awake at nights, so I have to take mine for lunch, which is just as seems just as good.

I checked around on the internet to see which celebrities, dead and alive, who also enjoy their spot of tea, iced or hot. Taylor Swift surprised me, for one. I like her catchy songs. Sean Connery didn't surprise, and the same goes for Mick Jagger. But Jimi Hendrix gave me pause. When in Britain, do as the British, I suppose.

When I was a kid, I remember reading books during the summer months while drinking iced tea. Maybe it makes reading books more enjoyable. I'll have to try it someday when I get a free summer afternoon to sit out on the patio with a favorite book to read without any interruptions.                 
Photo credit: Publicdomainpictures.com

The Perils of the Daily Pedestrian

Earlier this summer, the local cops installed one of those portable radar units that flashes your oncoming speed as you drive up on it. An email went out to all the residents in our neighborhood that the purpose was to encourage the motorists on the street to slow down. Residents on the street had complained about the speeders.

The street, you see, is a cut-through motorists use to avoid having to wait at the traffic light down at the nearby intersection. The street sort of shaves off the corner, so it is a timesaver for morning commuters trying to get to work on time. The residents have children. I know because I see them every day when I go that way on my walk.

I don't know if the radar unit was a success or not. It's gone down now. I guess it appeased the residents for the time being. The cars passing me on the street seem to go the same speed as before the radar unit went up. I would've put it up after the vacation season ends following Labor Day when more commuters are using the street. I don't think the commuters are speeding so much as they're inattentive while on their smart phones texting, or whatever. Maybe the cops wanted commuters to slow down before school opens.

"Hey, let's be careful out there," as Sergeant Phil Esterhaus used to say on Hill Street Blues.

Check Out the New Front Cover Made for My Private Eye Novel

Earlier this summer, I posted a blog to reveal the new front cover to my private eye novel After the Big Noise. My private eye Frank Johnson is one of the original characters I created when I started writing commercial fiction two decades ago. We sort of grew up together in print you might say. Frank's life has been much more dangerous and exciting than mine. He's the kind of guy you might sit down and have a steak dinner with in a small restaurant. He's not a tough guy, a lady's man, or a weapon's expert. He's just hardboiled Frank Johnson who gets the job done. He's sleuthed his way through six books, and After the Big Noise is latest title in his series I've published.

AFTER THE BIG NOISE can be bought at Amazon Books or Barnes & Noble Books.

Meet the Three Musketeers in My Cozy Mystery Series

This week I've been working on the next title, SWEET BETSY, in my Isabel and Alma Trumbo Cozy Mystery Series. Three of the recurring minor characters in the series are known as "The Three Musketeers." Ossie, Blue, and Willie are spry octogenarians who like to spend their days sitting on the wooden bench situated in front of the flower shop down on Main Street. Willie's niece Corina runs the flower shop, so they won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

The three gentlemen made their first appearance in the debut series title Quiet Anchorage. Since then, their involvement in the different plots has been growing. They are Isabel and Alma's "eyes and ears" on Main Street. They are also the Trumbo sisters's good friends who enjoy their company.

While Isabel and Alma are based on real people (my aunts who are now deceased), the Three Musketeers are colorful characters I just made up. Readers have said they like the interactions between the Three Musketeers and the Trumbo sisters because they add a lot of good humor to my cozy mystery series.