Yesterday was my dad’s birthday… Actually, I should say that it would have been his birthday.  My father passed away ten years ago, and I still occasionally have “pangs of a deep loss.” I miss him a lot, but most of all, I miss the grandfather he was to my children.

I was lucky to have my grandmother until a month before I graduated from college. I was able to take advantage of the proximity of her home to my college. Since my parents lived in “two states over,” I visited my grandmother very often. I loved my time with her.

But, my children lost their grandfather (my father) when they were quite young. They have only distant memories of him, and stories that I have passed on to them.

When I miss my father, I think of the importance of making each day count. I try to remind myself not to take loved ones for granted. Every once in a while, when I find myself getting upset with one of my loved ones, I think to myself… Why am I not treating him/her as well as I would treat a stranger? It seems like we treat the ones we love with “less respect” than we do people we bump into while waiting in the grocery store line. “Excuse me.” or “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bump into you.” for complete strangers and “Move.” or “Watch out.” for our loved ones. (These are silly examples, but you probably can get my drift.)

I guess that if there is a moral to this entry it would be : Enjoy your loved ones and don’t take them for granted. When you look back with the “pangs of a deep loss” you might wonder why you didn’t/couldn’t find the time…

You may wonder why I have two authors listed as “What I’m Reading Now”… since I am always talking about having to keep lists of events, times, books, ETC. How in the world can someone like that be reading two books at a time?!?

I go nowhere without listening to my “book on tape” (even though it isn’t a tape.) And I mean nowhere! I listen to my book while driving and then take it in to the appointment I am driving to and use an earphone while waiting for my given appointment. I even take it into my local post office… since I can now count on waiting half an hour to get to the ONE open counter.

I started reading all of Susan Rogers Cooper‘s mystery series years ago. I just checked to see when that could have been >>> and am shocked to see that it is twenty (plus) years ago! I have watched as Milt Kovak struggled with dating, I have “been with” E. J. as her family grew, and I laughed along with Kimmey.  Cooper is not a Cozy author, but I do enjoy her mysteries.

As for the “hard copy” book that I am reading… the actual paper-bound book that I am enjoying right now >>> one of Hazel Holt‘s. I cannot believe that I hadn’t tried her books years ago. Holt had been highly recommended to me by a Cozy Mystery reading friend of mine before I started this site. I don’t know why I never “got around” to reading her. I think that I felt like I had so many other authors who I enjoyed, and that there was always tomorrow.

I’m glad that I finally “found the time” to read her. I just started making my way through her very British Mrs. Mallory series, and I have to say… there is absolutely no question in my mind that Holt is a Cozy Mystery author. I am really enjoying the first book in her series, and am (almost) ready to find out the who, why, and how of the mystery!

I know that I have said this several times: When I first began the Cozy Mystery site, I really had something very different in mind. I only included authors who I had read… authors who I enjoyed and thought that a few of my Cozy Mystery book friends would enjoy.

Actually, my first version of the site was simply a list that I kept for my own use. I used this list every time I bought a new book. Since I kept the list on my computer’s desktop, I had easy access to it every time I ordered a book online. I also printed out my list so that I could take it with me every time I went to a bookstore. My list was pages and pages in large-font print. I marked off each book as I bought it and read it, and also added each book as soon as one of “my” authors published a new book.

A friend of mine asked if she could take a look at my list, so I tidied it up and sent it to her. When I told my husband about sending it to her, he asked me to think about putting my list online as a site. Since I am not the most computer-savvy person, I quickly thought about it, and then promptly said “NO!” I just wanted my list of books so that I could have access to “my” authors, and most importantly, I wanted somewhere to annotate each time I bought or read a book.

Whenever I complained about not having a “universal list” of Cozy Mystery authors with their books listed chronologically, my husband would (again) ask if I might want to create just that. I was tired of clicking on someone’s “Cozy Mystery Books List” thinking that I would magically see all sorts of authors from whom I could pick. Most of the lists consisted of a handful of authors with a smattering of their books. I wanted more!

So, a few years ago I slowly started constructing the site. I have to admit that most of the computer functions I do by rote memory… I don’t know why I click, drag, double-click, “control A C,” or “control V” >>> I don’t need to know why or how, as long as it works.

And, thanks to a whole lot of site readers, I have added a whole lot more Cozy Mystery authors to the site and I have  discovered many new Cozy Mystery authors who I now consider “my authors.” These are authors who I include on my personal “Must Read” list… authors who have given me crime-filled hours of enjoyment. THANKS!