Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

I'm beginning to conclude I work best under pressure. Every week I read Chuck Wendig's writing prompt , and think I'll jump right on that, have the story written by Monday, and for once have time to post it early. And every week I realize Thursday morning that I've not quite finished a draft (if I've even begun it), and every Thursday evening I end up editing the story at 9 or 10 p.m., barely making my deadline. This week is no exception. We were to start with a knock at the door. Here's the result, another bit of fun for JJ MacGregor of the Pismawallops PTA as she sits working upon a midnight dreary. I ran a few words over my 1000. Knock, Knock Rap-a-rap-a-rap! Thump! I practically crawled out of my skin when the knock—more like a pounding—sounded on my door. I was working late, trying to finish a short story, and the house was both empty and dark, aside from the light over my desk. Brian was at Justin’s house for the night so I was alone. It wouldn’t have been

  Publisher's Synopsis: The author of A Gilded Grave returns to Newport, Rhode Island, at the close of the nineteenth century, where headstrong heiress Deanna Randolph must solve another murder among the social elite. With her mother in Europe, Deanna is staying with the Ballard family, who agree to chaperone her through the summer season and guide her toward an advantageous marriage proposal—or so her mother hopes. Relishing her new freedom, Deanna is more interested in buying one of the fashionable new bathing costumes, joining a ladies’ bicycling club, and befriending an actress named Amabelle Deeks, all of which would scandalize her mother. Far more scandalous is the discovery of a young man bludgeoned to death on the conservatory floor at Bonheur, the Ballards’ sumptuous “cottage.” Deanna recognizes him as an actor who performed at the birthday fete for a prominent judge the night before. But why was he at Bonheur? And where is Amabelle? Concerned her new friend

Today we are featuring a Great Escapes blog tour, for the cozy mystery Mrs. Odboddy, Hometown Patriot by Elaine Faber Publisher: Elk Grove Publications, 2016. 258 pages.   Source: I was given a copy of the ebook in exchange for my review as part of this blog tour.   Publisher's Summary: Since the onset of WWII, Agnes Agatha Odboddy, hometown patriot and self-appointed scourge of the underworld, suspects conspiracies around every corner…stolen ration books, German spies running amuck, and a possible Japanese invasion off the California coast. This seventy-year-old, model citizen would set the world aright if she could get Chief Waddlemucker to pay attention to the town’s nefarious deeds on any given Meatless Monday. Mrs. Odboddy vows to bring the villains, both foreign and domestic, to justice, all while keeping chickens in her bathroom, working at the Ration Stamp Office, and knitting argyles for the boys on the front lines. Imagine the chaos when Agnes’s long-lost WWI l

It's summer, it's Monday, and the Ninja Librarian has nothing new to say. Instead, enjoy this repost of a little Pismawallops PTA mystery, to kick off a sale on the books. For the rest of June, Death By Ice Cream will be just 99 cents for the ebook, and Death By Trombone just $2.99. Get a jump start on the series, as I contemplate returning to work on Book 3 (while Book 3 of the Ninja Librarian is with the beta readers). The Baffling Case of the Missing Socks A Minor Domestic Mystery “Mom!  I can’t find my socks!” There are few words more chilling to the heart of a mother on a schedule.  No use ignoring him, though.  I’ve known Brian almost 16 years, and he doesn’t give up. With a sigh, I hit “save” and turned from the computer to call up the stairs, “There were a dozen pairs in your sock drawer yesterday.” “I mean my new running socks.  The ones Coach brought me from Seattle.” I began the standard litany.  “Are they in your gym bag?” “No!” “Did you leave them in your locker?”

Our Chuck Wendig challenge this week was simply that the story must contain a map .  That fit nicely with a story I began writing (in my head) while on a hike a couple of years ago. You may draw whatever conclusions you like. 990 words. For Want of a Map “You said you knew the route. You said you didn’t need a map.” Rosa’s tone was deceptively calm, and Hal swallowed. After 27 years of marriage he knew when he was in trouble. “I, ah, must have missed the junction. It can’t be far back, though.” He tried to picture it, but he’d been thinking about a problem at work, and had really no idea where the junction had been. Rosa looked at her husband a moment, hands on hips, and let him squirm. Then she dropped her pack, opened the top pocket, and extracted a map. Unfolding it, she turned her back to the wind—and to her spouse. The effect was somewhat ruined when she had to dig in the pack again to extract her reading glasses. They never listed those in the “10 Essentials,” but after a certain

Title: Where You Go is Not Who You'll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania Author: Frank Bruni Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 2015. 218 pages Source: Library Publisher's Summary:  Over the last few decades, Americans have turned college admissions into a terrifying and occasionally devastating process, preceded by test prep, tutors, all sorts of stratagems, all kinds of rankings, and a conviction among too many young people that their futures will be determined and their worth established by which schools say yes and which say no. That belief is wrong. It's cruel. And in WHERE YOU GO IS NOT WHO YOU'LL BE, Frank Bruni explains why, giving students and their parents a new perspective on this brutal, deeply flawed competition and a path out of the anxiety that it provokes. My Review: Every parent of a kid finishing high school needs to read this book, or at least the blurb. Bruni's message is important, whether you are one of the parents gett

This isn't so much a review as a shout-out for all the fans of Seuss's wilder stories. I found the book at my library. Title:  Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories Author: Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel); introduction by Charles D. Cohen Publisher: Random House, 2014 Source: Library This volume contains 4 rather brief stories and an interesting introduction to them. The stories were published in magazines in the early 1950s, and for various reason just never got collected before. The stories are: Horton and the Kwuggerbug (featuring Horton of Hatches the Egg and Hears a Who fame) Marco Comes Late (featuring the lead character from And to think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street) How Officer Pat Saved the Whole Town (I think it's still Mulberry Street) and The Hoobub and the Grinch (featuring an early version of the Grinch, who doesn't look much like the one who stole Christmas, and is really a send-up of the advertising business, where Geisel made his living for a

This week's Wendig Challenge is deceptively simple: start with a bang. Interpret liberally, but the story must start in the middle of the action. Sounds to me like Xavier Xanthum is on the loose again (go here to find previous stories about the intrepid space explorer). Because if there is one character I've invented who is apt to be in the middle of a big bang, it's Xavier Xanthum. In just over 1000 words, I present... To Be, or Not to Be “Emergency posts. Assume emergency posts at once.” The computerized voice, flat and unemotional, was the strongest warning the starship Wanderlust could produce. When there was time, Larry liked to put emotion into the voice. Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer, grabbed one of the straps along the wall and hung on, wasting no time or energy asking Larry what was wrong. He was still trying to fasten the buckles when a light flared through the ship, and a shock wave tossed the vessel around. “Larry! Report!” Xavier had to wait for his eyes to r

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Vacations. So what's to be insecure about vacations? Vacations are for relaxing! Except...when you're a writer, there's that voice that tells you that a writer writes. All the time. Every day. How can you go on vacation? My real vacation hasn't even started and already I've done almost no writing work in over a week, because of end-of-the-school year stuff, and a bit of holiday-making, and two spare teens staying with us for another week (and we've been having a blast, but one of them is sleeping in the den with my computer, and right now the whole herd is watching a movie on my computer while I write this post on an ancient laptop...). Is it any wonder I get a little worried when I think about writing and my REAL summe