I hope you all are enjoying some frightful happenings… as only our favorite Cozy Mystery authors can give us. I just wanted to drop a quick note to wish you all a Happy Halloween!

I know I just told you all about how I find some of the authors I decide to follow. If I read a mystery anthology, and there is someone who I like, I simply add him/her to my list of authors to read. Nothing complicated about that.

I also know that I just told you about two Christmas mystery anthologies that I was going to read. Well… I’m pretty sure of which author I will not be adding to my list of authors to read in the future!

I just started the second anthology last night. Sometimes, when I have a book of short stories, I read the authors out of order. I sort of pick and choose which author to read based on whether or not I’m familiar with the authors, if the titles catch my interest, etc. There’s nothing complicated about that, either. In this case, I decided to read the books in their correct order.

Last night, as I started the second anthology, I was a little “put off” by the reference of a special type of “inflatable” doll – on the second page of the first author’s novella. Hmmm…. Don’t get me wrong >>> I AM an adult! But, I do wonder why an author has to throw this type of “hook and bait” adult situation into his/her story so early. Is it to let me know that: “Wink, wink, we are all adults here.” I know I sound like a prude to a lot of people. I am using my “Would Ricky and Lucy do that ?” type of measurement, only substituting Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh for the “Ricardos.” Would you be more apt to finish an Agatha Christie mystery if she had spiced it up at the very beginning of her book, or thrown in a few expletives?

I continued to read the Christmas mystery novella, and actually finished it… just barely… And, “bare”ly is a good word to use in this particular situation… This novella features a young woman who gets up her nerve to ask a young man in her apartment complex out on a first date… I’m not going to write any spoilers here, but I will tell you one thing… Their “first date” is… I’ll leave it at “explicitly graphic”… That’s when I realized the reason for the “Wink, wink, we are all adults here.” on the second page of the novella — a warning of sorts.

Good grief!!! Wouldn’t you expect a publisher to lump the same type of authors together in an anthology? If I wasn’t familiar with two of the other authors in the anthology, I would have simply tossed the book, and not bothered to read the other novellas. I sure hope the editor didn’t make “my two authors” spice things up!

I have to “come clean” about this! I was absolutely addicted to The Carol Duvall Show and Aleene’s Creative Living >>> for years!

I found the Aleene’s Creative Living crafting show many, many years ago, when my children were still in grade school. I believe it was on every Saturday morning.I remember taping it and watching it on my trusty VHS tapes. Boy am I sorry I taped over those shows!

The fun thing about Aleene’s crafting show was that it showed the how-tos for fun children’s crafts… many of which my children enjoyed making. (A lot of them, of course, featured Aleene’s Tacky Glue, which I still use today.) This show was my first venture into televised crafting shows.

I then found The Carol Duvall Show, which was on HGTV, before that channel became what it is today… a home improvement channel. Let’s face it, how many shows do we need about knocking out room walls, how to re-tile your kitchen floors, or how to plant a few shrubs and trees to make your home look like it is worth $100,000.00 more than it really is? (If you know of a crafting show on that channel that is of the same quality as The Carol Duvall Show, please tell me! And, I don’t mean “That’s Clever”… ’cause it’s not!) There is a reason Carol Duvall was known as “The Queen of Crafts”>>> her show was simply the best crafting show I have ever seen!

It is at this time of year when I really start to miss (and reminisce about) these shows… especially Carol’s. Even when I absolutely knew I wasn’t going to try one of the featured crafts Carol showed that day (Yes, the show ran daily on HGTV… “before it became a home improvement channel”…) I would still enjoy the segment. It was just that good! I would DVR the shows to watch at a later time, and again, boy, am I sorry I didn’t keep those shows!!!

Carol used to have the Carol Duvall’s Holiday Workshop shows during November, in which she would feature the best holiday crafts for an entire week or two. Usually she would have her regular guests show a craft, but a lot of the time would be spent highlighting new people’s crafts. I never missed the shows, even the year Carol was in the hospital and Robb Weller (one of her producers) played host. Boy, am I sorry I didn’t keep those shows!

I am sorry that neither of these shows are on anymore… I am sorry that mothers and fathers of young children don’t have a show which can give them ideas of things their children would enjoy making, things that would add richness to their homes, items that would be cherished for many, many years to come. I am also sorry that these very same mothers and fathers of children don’t have a show which will inspire them to make wonderful heirlooms for their children to be able to pass on to future generations…

But, of course, the good news is this: If you want to find out how to knock that pesky wall out between your dining and living rooms… you have to do nothing more than turn on HGTV at any time of the day or night. And, while you’re at it, buy some shrubs for your front lawn!