Happy Summer!

Happy summer! We’re in summer mode here on our hilltop. We’re just back from a couple of weeks in beautiful Scotland and long, long June days. We were joined by Joe’s brother and sister and their spouses for a fun get-together. Memorable walks, dinners, laughs and sightseeing. The weather was sometimes rainy, sometimes sunny (Scotland, right?) but we loved every minute. Below are photos of Isle of Skye.

I found time to start my summer reading. I read Jane Harper’s The Dry, a gripping novel set in Australia. Grabbing your e-reader for summer travel? Several of my boo… Read More

Beautiful Maine

Last weekend I scooted over to Portland for the Maine Writers’ Retreat, an annual gathering of about 40 writers at all stages of their careers. Great fun! I’ve spent a lot of time in Maine, especially along the coast (“down east” of Acadia) but also inland, with friends who have a “camp” on Rangely Lake. Maine has served as a setting for a number of my romantic suspense novels:

On Fire

The Harbor

The Widow

Rival’s Break (releases August 27)

Southern Maine is FBI agents Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan’s home base in the Sharpe & Donovan series, which launched in 2011 with Saint’s Ga… Read More

Kiss the Moon gets a new look

Perennial reader favorite Kiss the Moon gets a new look! This standalone romantic suspense novel is set in maple-sugaring season in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, where my youngest brother lives. (I have three brothers and three sisters!)

Lost in the frozen woods of New Hampshire, Penelope Chesnut discovers the wreckage of a small plane. An aviator herself, she sees clues to a conspiracy in the rusted-out remains.

Rumors of her discovery bring Wyatt Sinclair to Cold Spring, determined to put to rest a family scandal and learn what really happened to his legendary uncle, who had disappear… Read More

Happy Mother’s Day!

Sunday is Mother’s Day. We’ll be visiting my mother. At 84, she’s hanging in there, and every day with her is a gift. She grew up  in a tiny town in the Florida Panhandle and married a Dutch sailor, my father. Long story short, they packed up the car with my brother and sister, then toddlers, and moved to New England just before I was born. Four more kids ensued, and while my father died in 1990, my mother continues to live on our family homestead on the western edge of the Quabbin Reservoir in rural Massachusetts. In addition to the seven of us, she has 13 grandchildren and 12 great-… Read More

STONE BRIDGES is a USA Today and Publishers Weekly Bestseller

In “monk mode” writing here on my hilltop and getting back to normal after my nasty neck and shoulder injury, and what a treat to have fun news to celebrate! Stone Bridges popped onto the USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists its first week on sale. Many thanks to all the readers who pre-ordered and stopped at their favorite place that sells books, whether online, an independent, a box store or a spin-rack at the grocery. Best of all are the comments from readers who enjoyed this uplifting story set in picturesque small-town New England. Thank you!

 … Read More

STONE BRIDGES in two weeks!

Time’s been slipping away as I recover from my shoulder injury, and I just realized Stone Bridges will be in stores in two weeks. I’m so excited! It’s the latest standalone installment in my Swift River Valley small-town New England series. Pre-order your copy from your favorite bookseller today! Click here for handy links.

Be sure to let me know what you think when you’ve had a chance to read Adrienne and Adam’s story. I had a great time writing it, mostly here on my New England hilltop. Check back for more info. I’m running behind with everything given … Read More

Claim the Crown in eBook and back in print!

When I “discover” an author, I love to dive back into his or her backlist and read…well, everything. I’m not alone! Many readers have asked me how to get their hands on books I’ve written that are now hard to impossible to find. Claim the Crown is at the top of that list, and I’m happy to say it’s now available in eBook for the first time and again in. print. I did a bit of updating but for the most part it’s the same as the original. It’s my first “single-title” novel and it hit stores the same month my son was born. He’s … Read More

Loving winter, dreaming of spring

We’re deep into our Vermont winter, with snow and a frigid temperatures in the forecast. I do love New England winters (except when they drag into April!), but I find myself dreaming of spring at the moment. I spent most of the day writing by the woodstove and now I’m thinking about what I want to plant this spring, and where we want to go.

Joe and I love to travel in early spring. It’s an amazing time to take long walks on Irish lanes, with lambs prancing through grassy fields and colorful wildflowers popping up everywhere. The photo with me in my orange Irish raincoat was taken on a … Read More

Happy 2019

Happy New Year! The first week of 2019 is in the books and I hope yours was a great one, and the rest of 2019 is filled with what makes you happy. Fun, family, friends, adventures, creative pursuits, hikes in the Irish hills…I’m in!

Right now I’m in “monk mode,” as Greg McKeown puts it in his brilliant book Essentialism. This means I’m on a tight deadline. I’m running a bit behind given our multi-day power outage and then a nasty post-Christmas stomach virus, but all is well on our hilltop in Vermont.

This photo’s a favorite from 2018, from a tr… Read More

After foliage season

The “leaf-peepers” have gone home and my corner of northern New England is quiet. I love the bustle of foliage season–and its spectacular beauty–but there’s something special about this time of year, too. With the leaves off the trees, the landscape opens up. I see more of the river on my walks and runs. Fewer cars pass by, taking back roads to check out the Vermont scenery. I haven’t been asked directions in a couple of weeks.

I don’t take my phone with me as often on these quiet days. No music, no podcasts, no audio books. I let my writer’s mind … Read More