May 11, 2015 - 29 Years of Marriage

Happy Anniversary to Don Barley. The very best man I have ever known. Here's to the next 29 years, love. 

In Recognition of Two Special Occasions

Here's a picture of me and my mom -

Happy Mother's Day, Mary Hazel Messick Wilkinson

and

tomorrow Donald Barley and I will celebrate 29 years of marriage.

Spring has finally come to the mountains!

After a long cold icy snowy blowy winter, we are happy to see spring in these North Carolina mountains.

Yesterday was Art in the Park day.  A monthly happening in Blowing Rock from May through October.  

Locals, tourists and dogs all happy to wander around seeing what's on display and for sale - some beautiful jewelry, pottery, photography, woodwork, weaving, and much more.

Then we spent the afternoon on The Blueridge Parkway, which is always a wonderful way to be reminded how awesome Mother Nature is in her art.

Have you ever seen such blue blue skies and fluffy white clouds?

While enjoying the view from one of the many overlooks, Donald spotted a cross affixed to one of the trees.  There's a story here, I only wish we knew what it was.

And then, dinner at Bella's.  

Where the pizza is delish!

But I decided I wanted Veal Marsala instead.  (But the pizza that didn't get eaten by Donald came home with us, of course!  Yay - Pizza today, too!)

Scanning My Way Down Memory Lane

Today I went back to a project I had started a few years back, but dropped before I finished.

Scanning old photos.

Some of these photos were taken many years before I was born.

Some when my parents were both itty bitty.

My dad's family was obviously much more into preserving family moments than my mom's family, but I do have some treasures, I must say.

The problem with this project is that I get so wrapped up in looking at the photos - albums and albums full of photos - that I have actually forgotten to scan some of the pictures.

Which means, I'll be making another sweep through them all to capture those I'm missing this round.


One of the photos I ran across today is one I had forgotten. 

I may have forgotten the photo, but I remember this day so vividly.

1983 - Me sitting at a table writing in Piraeus. Greece shortly before we boarded a boat.

We didn't know what boat, or where it might be going.

We just wandered around the docks, got on the first one that had room for us and was leaving soon.

We ended up on the island of Chios.

My traveling buddy for this trip, Michael Dean, is no longer with us.

Lost to AIDS not too many years after our trip.

He was a very close friend, dear to my heart, treated like a son by my parents and he took me on many great adventures.

I miss him every day.

This photo scanning project has been a bit of an emotional ride.

Time to stop for the day, methinks, and return to the memories tomorrow.

More Mary Oliver

2015 Anthony Award Nominees

Congratulations to all the nominees! 

The following are the nominees for the 2015 Anthony Awards. Winners are selected at Bouchercon by vote by attendee vote.


Best Novel

Lamentation - Joe Clifford [Oceanview]
The Secret Place - Tana French [Hodder & Stoughton/Viking]
After I'm Gone - Laura Lippman [William Morrow]
The Long Way Home - Louise Penny [Minotaur]
Truth Be Told - Hank Phillippi Ryan [Forge]

Best First Novel

Blessed Are the Dead - Kristi Belcamino [Witness Impulse]
Ice Shear - M.P. Cooley [William Morrow]
Invisible City - Julia Dahl [Minotaur]
The Life We Bury - Allen Eskens [Seventh Street]
The Black Hour - Lori Rader-Day [Seventh Street]



Best Paperback Original

Stay With Me - Alison Gaylin [Harper]
The Killer Next Door - Alex Marwood [Penguin]
The Day She Died - Catriona McPherson [Midnight Ink]
World of Trouble - Ben H. Winters [Quirk]
No Stone Unturned - James W. Ziskin [Seventh Street]




Best Critical or Non-Fiction Work

The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis - Charles Brownson [McFarland]
Death Dealer: How Cops and Cadaver Dogs Brought a Killer to Justice - Kate Clark Flora [New Horizon]
Dru's Book Musings - Dru Ann Love [http://drusbookmusing.com]
Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe - J.W. Ocker [Countryman]
Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer's Journey - Hank Phillippi Ryan, ed. [Henery]



Best Short Story
"Honeymoon Sweet" Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014 - Craig Faustus Buck [Down & Out]
"The Shadow Knows" Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays - Barb Goffman [Wildside]
"Howling at the Moon" Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Nov 2014 - Paul D. Marks [Dell]
"Of Dogs & Deceit" Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Nov 2014 - John Shepphird [Dell]
"The Odds Are Against Us" Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Nov 2014 - Art Taylor [Dell]



Best Anthology or Collection

FaceOff - David Baldacci, ed. [Simon & Schuster]
Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014 - Dana Cameron, ed. [Down & Out]
Trouble in the Heartland: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Bruce Springsteen - Joe Clifford, ed. [Gutter]
In the Company of Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon - Laurie R. King & Leslie S. Klinger, eds. [Pegasus Crime]
Carolina Crimes: 19 Tales of Love, Lust, and Longing - Karen Pullen, ed. [Wildside]