Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

Hey, today the writer is mostly excited because the newest Pismawallops PTA mystery is almost out! And here's a secret: for now, the price for the ebook is just $2.99, but it won't stay that way! Get your pre-order in! Even better: If it's a paperback you want, order directly from me from now to launch day and get Death By Donut plus any one of my other books for just $18, including shipping to the continental US. That's pretty much getting one book for free! (Books will be shipped sometime in the two weeks after launch). Special offer ends May 17, 2021. Check out the stops on the DBD blog tour for interviews and guest posts as well as reviews! DEATH BY DONUT TOUR PARTICIPANTS   May 17 –   Literary Gold   – SPOTLIGHT   May 17 –   Laura's Interests   - SPOTLIGHT May 18 –   Novels Alive   – GUEST POST   May 18 –   I'm All About Books   – SPOTLIGHT   May 19 –   Hearts & Scribbles   – SPOTLIGHT   May 19 –  ...

Got distracted, so as so often happens, my Friday post is here today! Some of you may have noticed that I was gone most of April. I was off enjoying a mobile COVID pod, otherwise known as rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon! I'm still working on the photos (of course), but here's a quick look at some from the first two days of the trip! We booked with AZRA--Arizona Raft Adventures--and were extremely happy with the whole trip. The trip started and ended in Flagstaff--so with a 3-hour bus ride. This might have been our chance to start getting to know each other, but masked and still thinking about COVID, we tended to stay in our seats. In my case, that was the front seat, in my quest to avoid motion sickness. Peering eagerly ahead as we near the river--knowing the cliffs ahead (the Vermilion Cliffs) are on the other side. We stopped at the Navajo Bridge--the only river crossing for a long way in either direction--to see the Canyon for the first time, and to check...

It's the first Wednesday of the month--time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Read all about it here . I missed last month because I was rafting the Grand Canyon, so I have a large collection of writerly insecurities to share this time! The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer's Support Group day. Members post on our blogs, discussing our doubts and fears, struggles and triumphs. We visit each other and offer a word of encouragement for those who are struggling, or cheer for those with a success to celebrate.  Today's the day--Let's rock the neurotic writing world!  The awesome co-hosts for the May 5 posting of the IWSG are Erika Beebe, PJ Colando , Tonja Drecker, Sadira Stone, and Cathrina Constantine! We also have an optional monthly question, and we'll get to that later. First, the writer report. I'm happy to report that I managed one submission--and one rejection--in April(well, March/April). I'm trying not ...

  Title: Shooting By the Sea (A Mollie McGhie Cozy Sailing Mystery) Author: Ellen Jacobson Publication Info: 2020 by Ellen Jacobson. Source: Purchased   Publisher’s Blurb: When Mollie McGhie attends the grand opening of her friend’s nail salon, she’s looking forward to getting a manicure and sipping on champagne. The event is going great until Mollie discovers a dead body nearby and her friend’s brother is arrested for murder. Mollie agrees to help clear his name. During the course of her investigation, she has to do some crazy things including auditioning for a game show, giving a pedicure to the local chief of police, and teaching her cat how to play the ukulele. Can Mollie get to the truth and find out who the real murderer is? Shooting by the Sea is the fifth book in the light, humorous, and original Mollie McGhie cozy sailing mystery series. If you like kooky characters, adorable cats, and plenty of chocolate, you’ll love this cozy mystery. Grab Shooting by...

I'm home from the Grand Canyon with thousands of photos to edit, and a single piece of flash fiction to share. I wrote this story for our rafting group, and specifically for Ben Whitaker, one of our 7 amazing crew. Why Ben? Because one day, after repeated drenchings, I told him I was going to take him up a dry wash and leave him there. And so I did. Of course, I could as easily have treated any of the guides the same way--repeated washings in Colorado River water is a part of running the Canyon. Ben just got first dibs. The story is, I hope, comprehensible to those not on the trip, but is especially meant for those who were; forgive the hint of an inside joke. For the non-Canyon folks, a few notes: my trip was with Arizona Raft Adventures, aka AZRA. The "groover" is the toilet. And the food was fantastic and abundant, with no gumbo in sight (not that there's anything wrong with gumbo), and none of our guides dodged the cooking! Without further ado, I present: River Re...

Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer, made his debut during my first April "A to Z Blogging Challenge," when I needed a post for "X". That was in 2013. Since then, I have written and shared about 18 more XX stories, and have a particular fondness for the occasionally hapless explorer. Some of what's in this one I'd totally forgotten and may not be so true in later stories.   Xavier and the X-Ray Eyes Xavier Xanthum explored space.  With his Arcturian Warp drive, he’d been doing it long enough that time and age no longer had any meaning for him.  Twice he had passed through random uncertainty fields, and met himself coming.  Once he’d hit something strange, and the next ship he met told him a hundred years had passed.  He'd aged two days. After that one, he’d sold his ship to an antique dealer for enough to buy one of the new-fangled ships with an even better faster-than-light drive, one that was guaranteed to keep him from ever being stranded in a gravi...

 Since I'm still on The River (a designation subject to local interpretation. I'm in the Grand Canyon. On a raft. Probably not writing anything except inarticulate exclamations in my journal about the mind-blowing scenery), here are some random photos from spring in CA, which comes early and fades too fast into summer heat. These were taken in February and March. Almond trees Magnolia tree with Christmas lights :) Here's the magnolia tree in daylight. Peach tree Close-up of the delicate, promising peach blossom This and the photo below are taken in Bidwell Park, Chico's amazing city park. Yes, this is still within the city park! Indian Paintbrush is the latest--along with lupines--to burst into bloom in the Upper Park.  ©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2021  As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated.