March 2021

No contest highlight of the month: My husband and I got our first shots of the COVID-19 vaccine. The line stretched three and a half blocks when we arrived at the walk-in clinic, and the weather was cold and drizzly, but it was well worth the wait. We’ll get our second shots at the end of April, which means we’ll be fully vaccinated before my May birthday. Couldn’t ask for a better present.

Earlier in the month, we took an abbreviated spring break trip to southeast Oklahoma, intending to find out-of-the-way places to hike and enjoy nature. And we did, but first we discovered that Beaver’s Bend State Park is popular, too popular for our taste. Because the area around the park office was congested, we drove to the farthest trail head, expecting lighter crowds, but it was even more congested. The first half-mile of super-steep trail had a way of thinning the crowds, though, and the scenery was beautiful. We spent the rest of the mini-vacation exploring the Little River and Red Slough wildlife management areas, where we found the space we’d sought to enjoy …. and alligators!

What I’m reading

This month, I read two very different books by fellow Kansans: Stormbreak, book three in Natalie C. Parker’s super fun Seafire trilogy, is an action-packed young adult high seas adventure. This Book is Not for You by Daniel A. Hoyt is a darkly funny murder mystery-ghost story-literary trip of a story. I loved them both.

Also on the March reading list: Die on Your Feet by SG Wong (current national president of Sisters in Crime who graciously allowed me to crash her table at lunch one day at Bouchercon 2019), Everything You Want Me to Be by Mindy Mejia (I took this one to Oklahoma with me — the perfect vacation companion!), A Curious Beginning and A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn, A Room Full of Bones and A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths, The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh, 212 by Alafair Burke, Say No More by Hank Phillip Ryan, and Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan.

What I’m writing

It’s been a month of thinking and tinkering. I added about 8K to my WIP as I started to flesh out the sort-of outline I developed last month. I’m also taking another look at a short story I finished a few months ago — revising and rethinking.