Lynn Cahoon

When did you stop writing Christmas letters to Santa? Eight? Twelve? Fifteen? Or do you still write the Jolly Old Elf a letter every year? I'm writing him a letter this year. Not because I need a new toy or a new kitchen appliance, but instead, I need to put my wants and dreams out into the universe. And there's no one better with dreams than St. Nick. Dear Santa, This year I'm hoping that a sustainable author career will be in my stocking hung in the living room as we don't

We have the tree and Santa collection up. The Christmas cards are bought and some ready for the post office. I bought reindeer toys for the pups. And, that's about it. I still have gifts to purchase. And mail. I still have to plan out Christmas dinner. No goose at our house. And I have a list of cookies I want to try out for the season. And there's two weeks left. What about you? Are you ready? What's your favorite part of the season? #lynncahoon #Christmas #santalist #SantaP

Happy Sunday peeps - I'm back from my author trip to southern California. I drove on the 405 and survived. :) I walked on the beach -several times - which soothed my soul. And I spent time learning about marketing and thinking about my career as an author. I also got to meet up with my agent who chatted with me about possible future pathways. The status of the current career plans is always on our agenda. I love that she lets me dream about doing bigger projects and at the

It's finally here - book 10 of the Tourist Trap mysteries. I'm so excited to get this book in your hands. It’s October in South Cove, California, and the locals in the quaint resort seem to be happily pairing off in the lull before the holidays. Everyone, that is, except for Jill Gardner’s elderly aunt, who just dumped her besotted fiancé—and she won’t say why. When Jill hosts a talk at Coffee, Books, and More on the topic of elder abuse, all that’s really on her mind is l

Not sure I'm doing NANO this year but I found this blog and I'm repurposing it today. :) Novel Writing month is an annual event for writers around the world. The project has it's own website and community groups all over. I'm pretty sure there are t-shirts. Goal - write 50000 words in one month. November. I’ve started NANO several times and for some reason, the thought of 50000 scares the pants off me. But I’m not giving up. My best word count was 35000 which for someone who

Non-traditional holidays - it's kind of my thing. I've spent several Thanksgivings on the road or with friends rather than family. Of course, my mom and my MIL wasn't too happy about our decisions, but we made it up the next year. A Very Mummy Holiday is Jill's turn at a non-traditional Thanksgiving. Of course, dinner is all about family and friends with Aunt Jackie and Harrold showing up (set prior to Killer Party) and a bunch of the South Cove crew. And it mirrors my Thank

As a teenager, I talked my mom into sending me on a history tour. NYC, DC, Colonial Williamsburg, and Philadelphia were all on the list of stops. I fell in love with NYC, thought I fell in love with a boy from Driggs, Idaho, and had my heart broke for the first time before I arrived back home from the trip. I never saw Derek again, but I've been back to NYC several times now. This last week, I tripped down memory lane a few times. I visited St. Patrick's cathedral again. I a

I do a home Sunday post on my FB author page weekly. Mostly talking about how I spend my time on my few free weekends. Talking about food I want to cook. Talking about the pups. Talking about home. Having a home of my own is important to me. I have some issues around safety that like all good solid issues, came from incidents in my childhood. Not blaming here, but I like a good solid house with doors I can lock. Home is also a place where I can keep my stuff. I have a lot of

I took a few days off last week to go camping at Branson, MO. It's a tourist trap of a different kind. Here, there's a lot of music shows, mostly catering to a person of a certain age, which apparently I'm approaching. But there were lots of family activities. In fact, we talked about doing the fake skydiving adventure. Instead, we hunkered down at the camp site and enjoyed the summer sunshine. We tried our hand at fishing - I caught the first and only fish - a baby catfish

Or at least it's in my head this last month. I just got back from Iowa. Beautiful farm country. Lot's of corn fields by the side of the road. Friendly people and a successful book signing. One of the best things is the drive to these events. I have great friends who also are authors. So we spend a lot of time chatting about books, about writing, about plotting, and always, marketing. What works, what doesn't, what totally bombed. It's like a 8 hour trip to the water fountain