April 2026 Monthly Blog
Happy birthday you Aries people! We know that AK has a birthday on the 19th and we hope it’s the best day ever. Send us your birthday info and we’ll send you a special bookmark for the occasion!
I started painting again. Diana and I had gotten a small freezer that only fit across from the kitchen entrance but is hidden from the dining room by the bookcase with all of Diana’s cookbooks (she is nutty about cookbooks, and we are fast running out of room for her collection. Fortunately she’s an excellent cook so I get to benefit from her experiments.). This addition of the freezer begged for some kind of decoration. So, Diana asked for paintings of fruit in an Andy Warhol style. I did limes, raspberries, strawberries, and tangerines. The choice of fruit was determined by leftovers in the refrigerator – not scientific at all. I had so much fun doing them that now I’m going to do 4 by 4’s for the kitchen cabinets. Each will have a small painting of the item in the cabinet. This means that Diana will not be able to reorganize the cabinets again.
Diana has a habit of reorganizing closets or cabinets when she knows that I’m going to be gone for a couple of days. Since I’m having back surgery in May she’s probably making secret plans for reorganizing something. Well, now the kitchen will be “off limits.” The last time I was out of commission I found out that she’d thought of a more convenient organization, had executed it, and I couldn’t find anything without opening each door. If I put the paintings on the cabinet doors she’ll be deterred from doing the kitchen again. Of course there’s always my closet and my bureau! It’s good to have a bit of mystery in one’s life.
Mysteries are my favorite genre along with thrillers and spy novels. If James Patterson asked me to team up with him, like he’s asked others to do (I’m thinking of Viola Davis, Hillary Clinton, and others) I’d be in seventh heaven. As it is I sent my chapters 12 and 13 to my Critique Group. This requires quite a bit of bravery. One of the group has a tendency to simply say “I read it, and don’t like this chapter one bit,” while another one of the group often says, “There are a few points I’d like to go over – -well, more than a few.” The third member usually agrees with one or the other of the first two. This is painful to hear, but actually helpful. You kind of have to gird your loins and suck in. So, I was pleasantly surprised when the first one said that she liked them while the second one said that she had some suggestions but that they were minor. Now I can fix the chapters and move on to chapter 14. My progress is slow, but it’s steady.
Speaking of mysteries, don’t forget that Landis Wade is coming to speak to our group on April 26th. He’ll speak about his newest novel, Deadly Gold Rush. It’s an Indie Retirement Mystery. Please come to the Zoom meeting. Landis is an excellent speaker and loves answering questions. He spoke to us before when he published Deadly Declaration a few years back. Read any of his oeuvre and enjoy. You can RSVP on the website www.acozydeath.com/events . We hope to see you!
Love a Mystery,
Karin Diskin