Home again, I am, after a whirlwind trip to St. John, Virgin Island... A few things I learned for my new novel, IDYLL LOST:

We authors spend so much time at our computers that what we see beyond the big screen becomes extremely familiar to us. Any movement or change to my window scene catches my attention, distracting me in a good way... Seems that a Nuttall’s Woodpecker has pounded out a hole in the tree and is raising babies inside the trunk!

Someone programmed Ms. AI to speak highly of my newly-launched novel, even before I got a single review. ...For that matter, Ms. AI said nothing about how many reviews I have on each book (not enough) and the amount of money I’ve made on sales (oh, so paltry). Makes me wonder if a more critical programmer would ask AI to make judgements about such things. I worry about a future when AI determines which books are worthy of promotion.

Central to the problem is hunters and fishermen who refuse to switch from lead ammunition and tackle to brass ammunition and tackle....Meanwhile, vultures like the California Condor are still on the brink of extinction after soaring over our world for hundreds of thousands of years.

As a philanthropist, I have a lot to learn even in my advanced age. I have given money to food banks, Planned Parenthood, public television stations, political campaigns, and my college. Recently, instead of sending a check to my college, I’m sending the same amount, yearly, to my nieces and nephews who are in college or taking advanced degrees. Why not give money to people I know and love who are going to college rather than have those bucks go to strangers at my alma mater?

How did bags of sand with lit ‘candles’ in them become our favorite Christmas decora-tion? Though the yard treatment is widely used in Arizona, New Mexico, and Southern California, we don’t see many examples of it here on the Central Coast, midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Still, once we saw them aglow in Sante Fe, we were hooked. Year after year, setting out lit-up bags, is our favorite way to decorate our landscape. History tells us the tradition of lighting

For the last eighty years of my life, I have been an extremely careful shopper. I look for bargains in grocery stores; I check the sale...

Drum roll, please! I introduce you to my 13th novel’s completed cover including its final title. TO KILL A CONDOR is finished…except for...

Rolynn is my name. When I introduce myself to someone new, I usually say: “Rolynn is pronounced the opposite of ‘Roll Out.’” In truth,...

In my experience, only two homegrown tactics are worthy of continuing: First: Up-to-date large postcards showing all my beautiful covers on one side, with one sentence teasers on the back of the card describing the stand-alone or series. Second: A car magnet, a large one, that again, shows all my stunning covers, my genre, and my website.

When I published my first novel back in 2011, I didn’t know it was the first of a series, so although I took great care in titling the...

Patience is a virtue Time will tell Good things come to those who wait Proverbs and aphorisms guide us to be calm as we persist on a...

Three years went by. Except for some pesky side effects (Dry eyes/mouth, adrenal insufficiency and shortness of breath), I felt...

I strain to squeeze out the very last toothpaste in a tube. When my shampoo stops pumping, I turn the container over and shake the...

I’m embarrassed to admit how little I knew about bees before I started my newest National Park mystery. I could conjure a honey bee and a...