Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

 Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Tours for a chance to read this mystery.     In the Event of Murder (A Starlit Bookshop Mystery) Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series Setting – Colorado Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crooked Lane Books (August 20, 2024) Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1639100709 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1639100705 Digital https://amzn.to/3xRh1X8 It’s the star-studded event of the season in Silvercrest, Colorado—but some of the guests might not make it to the last dance alive in the second charming installment of the Starlit Bookshop mysteries from Agatha Award-winning author Cynthia Kuhn. Nestled on the banks of a breathtaking Rocky Mountain river and dotted with delightful boutiques and galleries, Silvercrest, Colorado, is a book lover’s paradise. Bookseller and literary event planner Emma Starrs is looking forward to attending the annual Silvercrest Library Gala, a glamorous evening with celebrities including the legendary Whitney Willton, currently on the...

 I'm delighted to review another installment in the ever-enjoyable Shady Grove mysteries.     Title: A Run for the Mystic: Shaky Grove Mysteries Book 8 Author : Ada Bell Publication info : Empress Books, 2024. 212 pages. Publisher's Blurb: Aly's racing to find a killer... When Aly’s boyfriend Cal gets her spur-of-the-moment tickets to watch his cousin ride at the local track, it’s off to the races! She’s forced to rein in the excitement after one of the jockeys is murdered. Once the dust settles, the local police turn their attention to Cal’s cousin, and Aly gets saddled with the task of finding the real killer. Cal doesn’t believe his favorite relative would hurt anyone, but Jacob entered the race under suspicious circumstances. Cal begs Aly to use her physic powers to clear Jacob’s name. Unfortunately, one obstacle after another slows her down: Heightened security at the track makes it difficult to get close enough to the evidence to induce a vision. No one w...

I'm pretty sure this was originally written in 2015. In any case, it's a semi-fictional account of an actual storm we experienced in Kings Canyon NP that summer. It's a quick read at 360 words. Fear and Trembling in a Tent  It's midnight in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and suddenly we are not sleeping. The weather was pleasant when we went to bed, and two days of hard hiking made it easy to drop off. I wouldn’t have been surprised had I slept soundly all night.   Thor and Odin and the crew have a different idea. The first boom of thunder—if it was the first; it was the first I woke to hear—is loud and close. The flashes of lightning sear the retina even with the eyes closed. We count off the seconds between flash and boom. Do the math. Two miles. One. Half a mile. A quarter. Then: holy shit it’s in the tent!   It isn’t. The mind knows that, because the mind is still there to think about it. But when the gap between lightning and thunder drop...

 Since I'm out hiking, it seemed only right that my flashback stories should be from the mountains, as it were. This 770-word gem is from 2016. A Minor Navigational Error   "I'm cold, dear."   "You're always cold. That's the trouble with you females. You can’t handle the weather at all."   "It's July. It shouldn't be this cold here. Are you sure we're in the right place?"   He made an exasperated noise. "Of course I'm sure."   She sighed in her turn. "You're always so certain you are right."   "I am Zeus, after all. A god. Remember?"   Hera hated it when he brought that up. Anyway, she was a god, too. "Well, yes, dear, but..." She didn't finish the sentence. They both knew she was thinking about Leda. That had taken some tricky explanations on his part, and she had really only pretended to believe him. But he'd had to claim it...

In addition to the recent hike on the West Coast Trail, I enjoyed a few smaller adventures on Vancouver Island recently. Enjoy the photos! Besides the beaches on the trail, we visited Quadra Island and found some pretty beaches there. Tidepools with crabs, as well as tiny fish and shrimp (not shown). Comox Harbour Rebecca Spit. Of course, with a name like that, I had to visit! I also took a hike in the Paradise Lakes area of Strathcona Provencial Park. Paradise Meadows Battleship Lake Mountain stream Of course, a trip like this was also all about the ferries (all told, including the tiny "ferry" that took us down the lake to start the backpack trip, we rode 5). Large BC Ferries vessels to take us from Tsawassen (Vancouver BC) to Nanaimo. Leaving Vancouver, Mt. Baker dominates the skyline to the south. There's a sharp line where the muddied waters of the Fraser River flow into the Salish Sea. The small ferries that serve Quadra and the other islands are open-ended like the...

It's the first Wednesday of the month, and time for another IWSG post, delving further into a touchy topic: AI.   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! Posting:   The first Wednesday of every month is officially   Insecure Writer’s Support Group   day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting!   Don't forget you can post your link on the IWSG Facebook page !   Let’s rock the neurotic writing world! Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and ...

True confessions time: I went for a hike yesterday instead of working on my photos and writing this post. So the weekend post is going up mid-day on Saturday. I also have a problem: a quick skim through my photos from the West Coast Trail (a mere 4-day trip and less than half the whole trail) had me selecting over 80 photos I want to share. I had to trim that down a LOT.   I did this hike in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on the west coast Vancouver Island July 18-21 with  my friend Sumi. She handled the logistics of permits and transportation--a non-trivial effort for which I am very grateful! Our hike was intended to be 2 night and 3 days, but because they warn that the trail can have issues--washouts, high water, inconvenient tides--we got the permit for 3 nights. By the end of the first day we had figured out two things: miles on this trail are a lot longer than on other trails, and we wanted to stay out there as long as we could. That led to an easy decision to sho...