The one thing that concerns me most about holiday giving isn't the money. It's figuring out what to give each person that will be personal and appreciated. Sometimes, in our family we've tried drawing names, giving one person a list of things we'd like, and letting that person pass our lists on to the right people.  We've tried making a rule that we could give only homemade items (baked goods, art, sewed or quilted items, etc.) One or two times, everyone brought a small gift and put it in a pile so everyone could draw lots to pick out gifts that could then be claimed by someone else while the chooser had to draw another gift.

None of the ideas lasted for more than a year or two. Even the plan to give money to charity rather than buy gifts for each other (except for young children) worked entirely. There were some who insisted on giving gifts to everyone in the family as well as to the charity. That made the folks who followed the plan feel a little awkward and curmudgeonly.

Here's an idea. Everyone could give books to each other. We know what kind of books most of our family members enjoy. But if someone receives an book, he or she could pass it on in some way. Give it to someone who would like it. Donate it to the library. Put it in a box of items going to a charity. Give it to a retirement community.

People have given my cozy mystery books as gifts in the past, and they've written to tell me the gifts were appreciated. They have also been loved by the folks in retirement communities where I've donated them.

Have a stress-free holiday season. Read a book!

Here are the doors I've been staining lately. Writing in the evenings and staining during the day--the cozy life of a mystery writer.

It's not all play and no work these days. For the past week I've been staining, finishing, and staining, and refinishing wood doors to replace some I painted several years ago. Styles change, but I should never have decided to paint woodwork in my house!!

For Halloween fun, read my short story published at Kings River Life Magazine: http://kingsriverlife.com/10/29/a-wild-halloween/ 
Also, Furtive Investigation e-book is on sale at Amazon for $.99. The second Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mystery: Psycho Cat sniffs out a skeleton in the attic. Police are told to drop the investigation. It's up to Beth, the landlady, to figure out who killed the victim.
(Now's your chance: Goes up to $1.99 on Sunday and regular price on Thursday.)
http://www.amazon.com/FURtive-Investigation-Psycho-Landlady-Mysteries/dp/B00UEU0RP4
 
Happy Halloween

I've now started writing the third Psycho Cat mystery. Psycho Cat is older, as are Beth, the landlady and her ever-reluctant-to-help hubby, Arnie. There are mysteries galore in their new digs on the penthouse floor of the condo building in Brookside, a cozy neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri.

The greatest problem facing me now is a great title which uses a cat pun. A CATacylsmic winner. Contact me with ideas, and your suggestions could become the title.

Before the nice cat Truffles passed away, he interviewed Sylvester, aka Psycho Cat, from my series. You can read the interview at on Truffles' blog.

Since Furtive Investigation has been published, I've had time to write for several blogs published by others, one of my favorite things to do. Here are a sample with the links:

  On THE MAGAZINE AT BLOGSPOT, I posted an essay about writing a cozy mystery, all of my frustrations right out there:  http://the-magazine-at.blogspot.de/2015/07/writing-cozy-mystery-by-joyce-ann-brown.html?m=0


  On Marilyn's Musings, I posted the same article: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/2015/06/writing-cozy-mystery-by-joyce-ann-brown.html 

  I wrote "What’s in a Name?" for James Callen's blog: http://www.jamesrcallan.com/blog/2015/02/27/whats-in-a-name/

  Here is the link to Novel Spaces where I posted about "Flushing Out the Self-Publishing Process": http://novelspaces.blogspot.com/2014/09/guest-author-joyce-ann-brown-flushing.html

  On Creatures 'n Crooks/Buried Under Books I posted my confessions about being a slow reader: https://cncbooksblog.wordpress.com/2014/04/06/confessions-of-a-slow-reader/
 
Psycho Cat's interview with a cat from a different series.

I also have a couple of short stories ready to be sent to contests.

Most people from the U. S. and other countries who travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands go for vacation. It's a U.S. Territory; so no passport is required for U.S. citizens. There are many activities, celebrations, and resorts to choose from. Too bad Beth Stockwell had to be there for an unpleasant reason.

Watch a u-Tube video of island celebrations: