It’s my favorite time of year…I get to choose my favorite cozies released in the past twelve months!  And yet, it’s the hardest thing to do, almost like looking at all of the ornaments on my tree and trying to decide which ones I like the most. Since they all belong to my kids and were gifts from my parents who have been gone for too many years, it’s a monumental task, emotional and heart-warming. Like our ornaments, each mystery I’ve featured, along with the books featured on the Cozy Corner by guest authors, has a special place on my bookshelf. Whether it be the hardback, paperback or the ebook, I tend to keep more than I should so that I can go back and reminisce about the wonderful experience. Maybe I should start a tree with book ornaments—my very own Charli Rae and Scarlet would love that in the Book Barn, don’t you think? Princess the armadillo, however, would probably root through the ornaments and knock over the tree. Goodness, but I do see a holiday novella scurrying through my brain for next year! Without further ado, I give you my favorite mysteries and blogs of 2018! Teen Drama…

Many gods and goddesses from the many mythologies around the world populate the pages of my newest release, Analiese Rising. I had a lot of fun researching and learning about them. Some I’ve heard of before, others I didn’t even know existed. The challenge was taking from their stories and creating a modern version of each—giving them unique personalities based on their legends. Today, I thought I’d introduce you to many of them from my book. I’ll start with Sid, aka Sidapa, and Bulan. Sidapa and Bulan are gods from Philippine mythology. Theirs is a love story between two male gods. Sidapa admired the seven moons’ beauty that he tried to romance them until one, Bulan, answered Sidapa’s attempts to romance the moons. He came down to Earth, and they lived together as lovers on Mt. Madjaas. This story intrigued me so much that I had to add the gods to Analiese Rising. In my story, Sid loves to wear makeup and seems like a player, but when the moon calls, he’s off to spend time with Bulan who only comes to earth on a full moon. Lugh, a Celtic sun god of many skills. He’s a trickster god and…