Ready for Spring
April 2, 2024
I like to tell myself that I'm getting better at the social media thing, such as newsletters and occasional blog posts. But then one day I look at the calendar and it's two days into April and that means my quarterly newsletter is already late. Well, that's not really too, too late as I used to say.
My corner of New England, on the Massachusetts coast, has had another "winter that wasn't a winter" year, and even though I'm not complaining, I know I should be. The seasons are off. Spring begins earlier, which means the insects awaken earlier. That doesn't bother me but it means the birds will arrive to fewer or no insects to eat until plant life picks up. The insects come alive with warmer weather, and the birds take flight according to the length of daylight. You can see the problem here. But it also means gardens get planted earlier, and we have a longer growing season.
Last month I visited the tiny town of Wendell, MA, for a Sisters in Crime Speakers Bureau event. As is often the case in small towns far from the main city of the region, we had a great turnout as well as lots of fun making up a mystery on the fly. Judy McIntosh led me, E. Chris Ambrose, and Max Folsom through the steps of making a mystery out of suggestions from the audience, which included all generations.
The most pressing issue for me right now is keeping up with the reading for the next Crime Spell Books anthology. If you write short stories and have been following Best New England Crime Stories anthologies, you know that Devil's Snare, our fourth collection, will be out in October. The deadline for submitting a story has been extended to April 30, so if you're fretting over missing the earlier deadline, you're in luck. Send in your story, and see what happens. The guidelines are here: https://crimespellbooks.wixsite.com/my-site/submission-guidelines
For the fans of Anita Ray, there's good news and sort-of good news. The fifth Anita Ray will be out in paperback this summer from Harlequin. In Sita's Shadow tells the story of Deepa Nayar, who is preparing to meet her past, an unexpected challenge, while Anita Ray confronts a death in the hotel and Auntie Meena's expected response of near hysteria. The sort-of good news is that I'm making my way through the sixth installment, The Lure of Mohini, which is about the dangerous temptations of an achingly beautiful young woman.
And for those who are following my other love, photography, my exhibit of the Pongala festival is now on view at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Danvers, MA. My fifteen photographs share space with my late husband's images of skiffs, a few photos taken by my mother in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and India, and two by my grandfather. Yes, we are all into cameras and what they can do in my family. And for the photo historians out there, my mother worked for Ansco back in the 1920s/1930s.
This week will bring another early spring warm-up (right after the snowstorm), which means I can get outside and renew my assault against invasive species. It's hard to know if I'm winning or losing the battle, but at least I'm outside, wielding my shovel against the onslaught. Here's hoping you too are brandishing whatever weapon you need in these changing times.