I know I have written several entries about Sprite, our “puppy” of  fourteen years. (Actually, I think I may have written that she is fifteen, but I was wrong… She’s “only” fourteen.) Poor little Sprite is on medication for arthritis, and several other infirmities. She has recently started staking out her place on our sofa in the television room now that I have moved my computer downstairs so that I don’t have to continuously carry her up and down.

It seems like the last few months she has gotten even more tired than before. She is perfectly content to just laze -around on the sofa, not even worried about following me into my computer room. Every once in a while I see her opening her eyes and peering out to make sure I am still downstairs, but she doesn’t seem totally content on the guest bed… as we had hoped she would be. She definitely prefers her little area on the sofa. She’s a dog of habits, and she “knows” the sofa. She’s not as crazy about the bed.

Anyway, she has gotten to a point where our backyard patio is a problem. Our patio  has a drop of about eighteen inches.  A few months ago, we noticed that Sprite would sometimes stumble and hit her chest and jaw after jumping to the grass. She absolutely refuses to use the deck’s step, insisting that her jumping-off location remain the same as she has always used.

We had a dilemma… We were afraid that she was going to hurt herself when she jumped off the deck. It was rare that she would stumble, but all it takes is that one time. We started thinking that we would have to build a ramp of some sort so that she could walk down to the grass. The ramp was going to have to be built in the same location that she insists is her jumping-off spot.

My son and I went over to some of the home improvement/building stores to see what we could come up with. We would have to build the ramp, somehow attach it, make sure it was sanded so that Sprite wouldn’t hurt herself, ETC!!! Yikes!

In the meantime, I decided to see what I could find at the local pet stores. We had tried getting Sprite little steps, but those failed miserably. She simply refused to use them… even with us tugging at her collar and trying to coax her with Pupperonies.

And then it came to me… What about those dog ramps that dogs use to get in and out of cars. Anyway, the long and short of it is that Sprite loves using her ramp to go down to the grass. (However, being our lovable and stubborn Sprite, she refuses to come up the ramp. Where’s the Dog Whisperer when you need him?!?)

As I previously stated, “I’m all for authors who decide that they should finish up a series if it is no longer fresh. If an author feels like he/she is simply ‘calling it in’ while writing their series, I say: Quit churning them out, start something new. ”

Boy! Do I believe that!

Sometimes I wonder about why I continue reading an author who I have gotten tired of… an author who just seems to be writing in his/her sleep, an author who  seems to be going through the motions. But, I stay with my favorite authors until they finally stop writing their series… even though some of the authors I decide I am going to stop reading, but soon find myself getting the next book in their series… sort of like potato chips… very addictive! (And I like potato chips!)

I wonder if all readers are loyal to their favorite authors. Since I update authors’ pages on the site, I can see just how many books the individual authors are writing. Based on what seems to be an overall ‘cleaning house’ attitude of some of the publishers, I doubt that an author could continue to get published if he/she didn’t bring in the $ale$.

OK… Here’s an example of an author who just writes, writes, and then writes some more!

The author I am thinking about has one series that has more than 20 books in it… Sometimes this particular author writes two mysteries in just one year for this series. In addition to this best selling series, the author has another series with over 15 books in the series, sometimes two books have been published in one year, and this series is being written at the same time as the other series. That’s a prolific author!

But, wait, there’s more! This author has two more series which are being written at the same time as the other two series, and both of these have close to half a dozen books in them. WOW!!!! That’s a lot of books!

So, I ask myself about authors who are that productive… Are their last books published as good as their third books in the series? Are they as fresh?

Well, if the readers of that author are anything like me… Those questions don’t matter…. I just wonder if everyone is as loyal a reader as I am?!?

So, you say you’re a cozy mystery reader. As someone who enjoys cozy mysteries, then I take it for granted that you enjoy the twist and turns that most cozy mystery authors provide in their mysteries. And, I also assume that you enjoy making your way through all of the red herrings, discarding those you don’t need and keeping only the important facts. Let’s face it, that’s part of the fun!

BUT>>> Do you enjoy getting important facts that help solve the mystery at the very end of the novel, when the culprit is being announced?!? I don’t! And, when that happens while I am reading a mystery, I quickly discard that particular author from my personal list of favorites. I simply find that a cheap shot, and I don’t care for it!

I hate it when I am reading a cozy mystery and two or more of the characters go off to discuss something that is really important to them, without letting me know about the facts. This is usually accomplished with such dialogue as:

“Miffy told Biffy about what she had seen, and they decided they couldn’t tell anyone about ‘IT’ since they would be in grave danger.”

OR>>> “Ziffy and Jiffy went into the kitchen and could not believe it when they compared notes and found that the murderer had left the glasses (with fingerprints) by the victim.”

OR>>> “Diffy could simply not believe her ears when she accidentally picked up the phone to hear the speaker acknowledge being at the dock.”

I don’t know why this irritates me so much. I guess it’s because I like to solve the mystery along with the sleuth, and don’t like to have important clues (that the sleuth is aware of) kept from me.

Unfortunately, I have found that this happens a lot more often than I would have guessed. I don’t mind if two characters go off and discuss all of the details that have been presented to the readers. I truly don’t need for the author to have to itemize all of the facts. Just don’t spring any new ones on me at the very end of the novel!