Happy Monday, Ladies ~

I’m in countdown mode with four days and a wake-up until we leave for our first-ever cruise. On Friday, we fly to San Diego, where we will spend the night, along with the large group of friends we’re traveling with, in a trendy hotel.

We board our Holland America cruise ship on Saturday afternoon, then set sail for Cabo San Lucas. You may remember that I finished “Chaos in Cabo” in Cabo while on vacation last year, then published the book in December. At the time, I had no idea that we’d be vacationing on a Mexican Cruise this year, but I’m thrilled to be returning to Cabo with “Chaos in Cabo” in hand.

One of the friends I’m traveling with is lovingly called the “Queen Bee” because she’s always coming up with interesting ways for us to have fun. During this trip, she came up with the idea of our group wearing matching T-shirts with funny sayings. She picked this saying for me: “Most likely to be writing a book.” I mean, how appropriate is that?

Since Randy and I vacationed in Cabo last year, we decided to join the group for a day cruise on a luxury sailboat with the possibility of seeing whales. I love being on the water and am excited to have a picture taken of me with “Chaos in Cabo” in front of the Arch of Cabo San Lucas, which is featured on the cover of my book. I’ll be able to see from the sailboat the old, abandoned building on top of Mt Solmar, where my villainess makes a life-changing decision. We will sail by the section of beach where Antonio has a boat waiting, and he makes his escape. And the sea route will take us by “Lover’s Beach,” where Amado first proposed to Socorro. I love that I’ll be able to relive these important places in my book, experiencing them now after I know the roles they played in “Chaos in Cabo.”

After our day in Cabo, we set sail on the Sea of Cortés at night, and then we will wake up in La Paz for our second port of call. We’ve never been to La Paz, but I’ve always wanted to visit the charming Mexican town. And as luck would have it … the sixth book in my Mexico Mayhem series is “Lucky in La Paz.” I’m sure I’ve mentioned this in previous blogs, but I always start with a title after I’ve decided on the location of the next book. Next comes my first-draft storyline, defined by three taglines: A perfect paradise. A rocky reunion. A cavalier crook.

And of course, every good storyline needs fabulous characters, which in my case means a Hero, a Heroine, and a Villain. For this book, I’m bringing back three previous characters: FBI Agent Christopher Temple, DEA Agent Jade Mendoza, and Jade’s mother, the elusive Sarita Garcia. Oh, what fun awaits them!

Since I’ve never been to La Paz, I’m taking myself on a tour of the town to do research for my book. Randy says he’s on board so long as we can do some of the research from a cantina to two.

Once we sail away from La Paz, we travel farther north into the Sea of Cortés and stop in our final port of call, Loreto. We’ve also never been to Loreto, but the town has been on my radar for about five years, and we were planning to fly there for a future vacation. And, you guessed it, book five in my Mexico Mayhem series is “Lost in Loreto.” I’ve already started writing this book and am over the moon knowing I’ll be able to visit the places I’ve Googled and used as locations in the book. Once again, Randy and I will walk the streets of Loreto, soaking in all the culture and sights. “Lost in Loreto’s storyline has these taglines: A missing wife. An intriguing romance. A clever abductor.

As with all my Mexico Mayhem books, I advance at least one character from the previous book and am bringing Detective Javier Pérez to Loreto after leaving Cabo with a broken heart. As the Hero, he will be forced to work with his brother-in-law as they look for Javier’s estranged wife, Gabriella. He also finds himself helping attorney Skarlet Quinn, who, as the Heroine, tries to clear her ex-fiancé of abduction and murder. And, eventually, Javier will have to outwit Arlo Najar, a cunning and determined Villain.

Obviously, I am excited and feel blessed to have the opportunity to visit actual cities featured in my books. And bonus, I’ll be able to write off part of my vacation as marketing and research.

Four days and a wake-up… geez … I’d better go pack my suitcase!!!

Happy Writing, Ladies ~

I’m so sorry I missed my turn in January, but I was a tad bit distracted!

Randy and I spent the last week of 2025 in Arizona, a trip he surprised me with on Christmas Eve. He’s been wanting to buy a place in Arizona for our future retirement … you know, someday!

I haven’t been keen on the idea of moving to Arizona since I love living in Oregon. I love rainy days and early nights, which I see as reasons to write. And I can’t imagine living somewhere without the four seasons. With each season, I’m reminded that change is a good thing.

My husband, on the other hand, hates the rain. He complains about every season except summer and talks incessantly about living somewhere warm in winter. Hence, my Christmas present to Mesa, Arizona.

Even though I had no intention of relocating to Arizona, I convinced myself that it would be nice to get away and relax after the holiday season bustle. Of course, this meant I’d have to endure Randy’s enthusiasm for looking at homes to buy, so I asked God for patience.

We arrived late on Christmas Eve night, ending up at the local Denny’s for a less-than-delicious dinner before arriving at the place we’d rented and falling asleep. The next morning, I frowned at the Keurig (I’ll never understand brewing a cup at a time) and made a cup of coffee.

Since I was up before Randy, who likes to sleep in, I thought maybe I’d find a Christmas movie to watch. Remote in hand, I settled on the couch and began channel surfing. The morning sky was beginning to lighten, and I thought we’d left the porch light on. I crossed the small living room, opened the door, and was greeted by the rising sun.

Every morning, I got up early so I could watch the sun come up. I spent all my free time outside at a patio table, writing and smiling.

Randy had researched and planned several excursions, including one to a nearby lake. As we wound our way out of town, our route took us by a beautiful sight … Superstition Mountains.

My writer’s brain kicked into overdrive, and by the time we’d visited the lake, stopped for lunch, and began our journey back to Mesa, I had a heroine, a cover, and a mystery plot.

Let me introduce Sapphire Stone, cousin to Wyatt, Derrick, and Blake Stone from my Stoneybrook Mystery Series. Sapphire, much to her mother’s dismay, is a Private Investigator who also moonlights as a security guard at a cannabis store. Most of her jobs involve following cheating spouses or uncovering insurance fraud. But when she discovers a body in a vehicle crushed by large boulders in a section of the Superstition Mountains, she finds herself a step behind a cunning killer.

I was over the moon to have a new storyline to imagine and build. New characters to create. A new town and state to learn about. And those mountains … oh, the stories that lie hidden in the history of the towering red rock peaks always reaching for the sky.

I’m not sure what came over me, but I’m guessing the bright sunshine sparked my imagination. All of a sudden, I found myself embracing the idea of living in Arizona. After all, we didn’t plan to move away from Oregon entirely. We’d still have our small house in Donald. And we would spend summers at our small cabin on the Siletz River outside of Lincoln City, so I could enjoy the ocean I adore.

I’ve always wanted to live in México, the reasons are many, but as I’m sure you all know, the country is undergoing major changes. I long for the country I first visited thirty-five years ago.

While I still plan to visit the places I love, I no longer feel it is safe to live in México, a realization that has been heavy on my heart.

I believe God gave me more than patience. Everything about Mesa seemed to soften my heart and weaken my resolve. We looked at a few mobile homes in fifty-five-and-over parks, but none met our needs. For me, this was a relief. Even though I was enjoying our trip, I still wasn’t sure I wanted to live in Arizona.

But the minute we walked into the last place on our list, I knew we’d found the perfect home. It was a newer model and had the right layout. The best part, though, was a covered patio area where I could see myself working on a novel.

As I said at the beginning, I was a bit distracted in January because of all the work required to close on our new home in Mesa, Arizona. While we won’t be moving anytime soon, we are planning a ten-day visit in May.

When I write a book, I have to remember to let my characters tell me the story, rather than move them like chess pieces. Advice I should apply to my life, too. When I stopped trying to be “Master of the Universe,” I was blessed with a new home, a happy husband, and a new mystery series to write!

Happy Writing, Ladies ~

Hello, Ladies ~

I hope everyone has their decorations in place, their presents wrapped, and their Christmas dinners planned.

My nine-foot decorated Christmas tree brings me so much joy that I’m tempted to leave it up until Valentine’s Day. Decorating my tree is my favorite part of the holiday. I love looking at each ornament, remembering the origin of every Santa, reindeer, or angel. Of course, I have a few non-traditional ornaments. There’s a unique half-avocado, a stack of books, and my oldest son’s clay handprint from his third-grade art project.

A few years ago, Norman and his family joined us for Thanksgiving, and the grandkids were excited to decorate my tree. It was fun to tell them stories behind some of the ornaments. And grandpa and I enjoyed watching them take turns hiding the dill pickle from each other.

This year, they spent the holiday with us again, and we had the tree ready for decorating. But time changes things, and our now 15 ½-year-old granddaughter, Sloan, preferred watching from the couch. 13-year-old Carter was on a mission to add as many decorations to his area of the tree as quickly as possible. Kendra and Norman handle the placement of ornaments on the tree’s higher branches.

At the end of a lovely visit, the Henson’s headed home, and I put the finishing touches on my decorations. Noticing a glass ball precariously hanging on another ornament, I moved it to a safer place on the tree.

“I bet you can’t leave the tree decorated the way it is this year,” my husband, Randy, said.

“Of course I can,” I replied and resisted moving some of the ornaments Carter had clustered together.

“You’re sure?” Randy tilted his head. “I know how you like certain ornaments in the front and hanging others together for a theme.”

“I think the tree looks beautiful just the way it is.” I smiled and walked away before I could move a glass snowman.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve stopped and looked at the ornaments on my tree. And though I haven’t moved any, Randy was right, I have always placed special decorations toward the front of my fake noble. But I also loved the way Norman, Kendra, and Carter decorated my tree. Sometimes, change is good and helps us see things in a different light.

I’m sure, like me, most of you have discovered that the holiday season’s festivities have made it hard to work on writing projects. But I still try to carve out an hour each day to write. Currently, I’m working on “Fatal Falls,” the 6^th book in my Stoneybrook Mystery Series. In this series, I have recurring characters, think “Virgin River,” and found myself wondering what might happen with the story if I placed the characters in uncomfortable scenarios.

Harley Harper, my heroine, finds herself struggling to connect with her partner, Sheriff Wyatt Stone, since he’s working three different cases. She’s being ghosted by her bestie, Busy, and is thrown into a situation that requires her to rely on Morgan Grey, who is interested in being more than friends. Wyatt’s dedication to his job is challenged when he and his deputies can’t catch a break in their hunt for a serial killer. The sheriff’s department is also spread thin as they race to rescue a kidnapped woman and try to find the person responsible for killing a Stoneybrook resident.

I also decided that some of my supporting characters should have interesting story arcs in this book, so I’m moving them from the back of the Christmas tree to front and center. Can Derrick locate the Stone family’s missing gold? Is Busy keeping something from Harley? Who in the sheriff’s department ends up taking a bullet for a colleague? Which character steps up to bring a serial killer to justice?

“Lost in Loreto” is the 5^th book in my Mexico Mayhem series, and I decided, once again, to approach character creation from a different perspective. All three main characters, heroine Scarlett, hero Javier, and villain Arlo, have serious anger issues from the beginning. So far, their individual challenges are creating an interesting story. Can Scarlett learn to work with Javier, who thinks he’s always right? Can Javier work with his brother-in-law, Dante, considering that both Dante and his father want Javier to pay for abandoning Gabriella? Can Arlo overcome his fiery temper and manage to woo his beautiful captive, Gabriella, into a willing relationship with him?

My beautiful tree watches over me as I write each morning. And though it’s the most wonderful time of year, it’s also a very busy time of year, so who has time to redecorate their tree? I love that embracing a different decorating scheme for my tree has also encouraged me to change my approach to my character’s stories and move them around my “story tree.”

Merry Christmas, Ladies. I hope you all have a lovely and blessed holiday!

Hello, Ladies ~

As Thanksgiving approaches, I find myself reminiscing about last year’s holiday, which was the last family celebration I had with my sister, Lori, and uncle, Terry. Of course, we never truly know when we’ll be called home, but I sensed at the time that it would be their last holiday season here on earth.

Every effort was made to enjoy all the trappings and food that come with Thanksgiving and Christmas. We cooked, laughed, and took lots of pictures to capture the special moments.

As I put up my authentic, fake Christmas tree today, a pang of nostalgia pricked my heart knowing I will most likely never trapse through the woods in search of the perfect Noble tree. Large family holiday gatherings are now a thing of the past with the loss of my sister and uncle.

My mini-melancholy vacation was interrupted when one of my Beta readers called with input on “Chaos in Cabo.”

“I loved this book, Kimila,” she said. “I think this is the best book you’ve written so far. I loved all of the emotional turmoil your main characters faced. Their struggles brought them to life, and I couldn’t wait to see how they worked through their issues.”

I choose Beta readers who I know will always be honest with me. I appreciate being told what is wrong with a character or storyline. Knowing where the problems are helps me rewrite the book and bring everything into a better light.

When I finished “Chaos in Cabo,” I didn’t think it was very good. I attributed my concerns to the fact that the book had been written in starts and stops due to the rough journeys of my sister and uncle. Every time I stopped working on the book, I would lose track of the character arcs and storyline. When I was able to get back to writing, I’d have to read from the beginning to reintroduce myself to the story and find my rhythm.

I’ve never suffered from writer’s block, but the weight of my family’s struggles kept me off balance. And then there are those emotions … sadness, anger, confusion, hopelessness … and many more.

Had my emotions bled into my writing? Did the upheaval in my life thread its way into my characters’ lives? Could it be I had channeled my cornucopia of feelings into my story?

“Chaos in Cabo” had three Beta readers, and I was anxious to hear what the other two had to say. When my next reader texted to see if I could talk about the book, I said I’d call her from my car. “No,” she texted, “I want you to focus on what I have to say, so call when you can listen.”

Alarm bells went off, but I called as soon as I could. Her first words were, “This is the best book yet! The characters were so interesting, I didn’t want their stories to end.”

The conversation continued and was similar to what my first Beta reader said. Imagine my delight when I received the same fabulous feedback from Beta reader number three.

I think as writers we bring parts of ourselves and our lives into the stories we write. Maybe it’s a favorite childhood memory that we have a character share with readers. Or a broken heart served up at the hands of a partner who cheated or left without a valid reason. Then there’s the void left in your life when someone dies.

In “Chaos in Cabo,” my heroine, Detective Socorro Cortés, enlists the help of her former fiancé to solve the murder of his niece’s boyfriend. While trying to solve a murder that she thinks is linked to a scam calling crew, she has to deal with another ex who is trying to win her back. Oh, the emotional rollercoaster she rides!

Lieutenant Amado Peña just wants to help his niece and leave Cabo San Lucas as soon as possible. He knows he can’t risk having Coco break his heart again. But when he’s drawn into her efforts to solve two crimes she believes are connected, he finds himself also wondering whether he still has feelings for Socorro Cortés. Can a broken heart learn to love again?

Alida Burton has two goals in life: to remove abusive men from the planet. And to make as much money as possible from unsuspecting marks. Given her cruel treatment at the hands of previous males, Alida has no intentions of falling in love—ever—until she meets Antonio Ruiz. Could it be that even someone as damaged as Alida can overcome her hatred and trust a man?

The wonderful feedback from my Beta readers has reminded me that even the hardest times in our lives can produce small blessings. “Chaos in Cabo” might have taken longer than my normal timeline to write, but I’m thankful that my emotional baggage allowed me to create unforgettable characters with stories that readers don’t want to end.

Ladies ~ I hope your Thanksgiving holiday brings much joy and many blessings. Gobble, Gobble!!!

Hello, Ladies ~

While I am sad about the loss of three family members over the last three months, I am also relieved that the past eighteen months are behind me. I’m finally back to weaving words together as I work on three novels at once.

I know it sounds daunting—and maybe even a little crazy—but being immersed in a story is my happy place.

The wonder I have for my creativity is endless. I mean, how is it possible to have a character in “Lost in Loreto” looking for a missing wife? A wife, he thought, had divorced him. And at the same time, I’m back in Stoneybrook following Wyatt and his deputies as the hunt for not one, but two killers in “Fatal Falls.” Then, just to keep things interesting, I’m sailing on a 1757 Schooner as it tries to outrun a Spanish Galleon with three youngsters who have been transported from the present back in time in my middle school fantasy novel, “Midnight Sail.”

I’ll admit that while I was dealing with what seemed like endless family issues, I felt that my creativity had abandoned me. It seemed every time I sat down to work on my novel at the time, “Chaos in Cabo,” that I couldn’t string together two sentences that read well. Still, I plodded along, working and reworking sentences, rearranging paragraphs, and adding more chapters.

I’m not going to lie, when my Beta readers reported back that they loved the book, I was thrilled. One even said she thought it was my best book yet. What?!? Now, armed with renewed confidence that my creativity works just fine even if I’m a little distracted, I’m excited again to have three projects to work on at once.

In “Lost in Loreto,” I’m back in Mexico. As luck would have it, I get to visit this city in March while on a Mexican cruise of the Sea of Cortés. I’m excited to stroll the same streets my characters walk. But mostly I like the idea of verifying some of the things I’ve learned about the city via Google searches. Even though I sometimes take creative license with locales, I try to stay as true to the places in my books as possible. Something else I’m excited about with this book is the character dynamics, which already offer huge potential for fun character arcs. Oh, and did I mention there might be a rattlesnake that doesn’t actually have a rattle at the end of its tail?

Of course, my favorite part of being back in Stoneybrook is that I get to write a story thread that honors my son, Derrick, the model for my autistic fictional deputy. I love all of the Stoneybrook characters, most of whom reflect the personalities of people in my life. But it’s also fun creating new characters, and in the case of “Fatal Falls,” the villain is taking an even darker turn than I had planned. One of the upsides of an evil villain is plotting how he will get his just desserts.  Another upside to writing about the town of Stoneybrook is that it’s similar to creating a fantasy or sci-fi world; I can bring my imagination to life in various ways.

Okay, so I’m guessing you’re all scratching your heads, asking how she can write a kids’ book when she’s so dark and twisty. I have had the idea for “Midnight Sail” since I still had kids at home. Then I was going to write the book for my grandkids, now fifteen and thirteen. But a good idea never truly leaves you, and one day I met a ten-year-old boy who brought my main character, Cyrus, to life. After our chance meeting, I couldn’t let go of his winning personality and curious mind. When I started working on the book, it seemed meant to be, because the other characters presented themselves with little effort. Once again, I found myself “sailing” Google, researching pirates and old vessels that once sailed the Oregon coast. As a native Oregonian, I was shocked at the many pirate stories I discovered. Turns out my buried treasure story idea from forty-plus years ago wasn’t such a stretch after all.

Obviously, I’m thrilled to be back in my writing groove. Whether it’s a brief note in the Halloween cards I send to my grandkids, great-nieces and great-nephews, or writing a blog I hope others will enjoy, all writing is good writing.

So, I must bid you adieu and get back to those three stories!!!

Happy Halloween, Ladies!