For Younger Readers

The Entomological Tales of Augustus T. Percival, Book Two: Countdown for the Countess (middle grade, historical fantasy)
When Petronella Arbuthnot and her insectivore guardian, Augustus T. Percival, join friends in Brighton for a summer holiday, they meet a mysterious Russian countess and are soon embroiled in a plot to assassinate the visiting Russian archduke. While trying to thwart the nefarious plans, Petronella and her intrepid friends and relations must deal with international scholars at the Royal Entomological Exhibit, anarchists, a submersible, and unwanted ardent suitors.

The Entomological Tales of Augustus T. Percival, Book Three: The Bicycling Baron (middle grade, historical fantasy)
When Petronella Arbuthnot and her insectivore guardian, Augustus T. Percival, visit Scotland, they are nearly overwhelmed by bicycling enthusiasts in one of the many races that preceded the first Tour de France. One of the enthusiasts is Baron Merthrop, who has learned of Uncle Augustus’s obsession with insects and the special powers he has gained thereby. The baron will stop at nothing to increase his own athletic prowess.

I Hold My Breath (young adult, science fiction)
Eighteen-year-old Kinzie Montgomery seems like any other normal college student in Durango, Colorado. What she does not dare tell anyone is that she can see into the future—not just one future, but many future possibilities that slowly diminish in number until there is only one. The only thing she is certain of with her latest revelation is that her beloved long-lost father is returning. She should be ecstatic, but the majority of the futures she sees fill her with dread. Kinzie has never been able to alter the future, but for the sake of her family and the very fabric of society, she must do something.

Maddie, Maddie, Flying High (young adult, contemporary)
Maddie adores her father and wants to follow in his footsteps as a pilot, so she is excited when her parents pay for flying lessons for her seventeenth birthday. Later, she finds out that her father wanted to give her an extra special present in case he didn’t live through his newly diagnosed cancer and the treatments he has to endure. To complicate matters, the boy Maddie has been interested in is finally paying attention to her, but Maddie is more intrigued with her new flight instructor, while her friends feel she is neglecting them. The guilt Maddie feels about enjoying her flying lessons and boys while her father is suffering and her friends are distancing themselves just when she needs them causes her to do things that are foolish and sometimes heartbreakingly funny.

Not the Worst that Could Happen (middle grade, contemporary)
Marci may only be twelve, but she’s experienced more than most adults—from a runaway brother and an abusive father, to witnessing her father try to murder her mother. Now her mother is determined to find Marci’s brother—on a cross-country motorcycle trip from Oklahoma to California. But police reports keep reaching Marci and her mother that Marci’s father is on their trail. The race is on to reach the brother and remove him to safety before the father finds any of them.

Falling from the Sky (young adult, science fiction)
Because of her extraordinary athletic abilities, twelve-year-old Budran is captured by interplanetary bounty hunters and taken to a training facility. Her trainers are determined to make her into a champion gladiator, just as they are determined to train other captives from other planets in order to earn huge fortunes off their trainees’ winnings. Budran will do anything to return to her home, but she is isolated from her fellow gladiators-in-training. She must use her wits to develop codes and other elements of subterfuge to enlist the other captives in a revolt.

For Adults

Murder in Perfection (mystery)
Mercy Watson feels that her little town is the perfect place for her as a fifty-five-year-old widow, president of the Sunshine Ladies Society, and grandmother to adorable, three-year-old Rory. Her life is further enriched as she starts to make a name for herself writing mysteries under a pseudonym so her neighbors won’t discover that they are the inspiration for her characters. Then Mercy discovers the body of a homeless man and she realizes that he is one of many homeless men who have died on the outskirts of her perfect town over the last ten years. Her complacency is further shattered when she finds that a female college student who is hitchhiking across country, and whom Mercy has befriended, is also murdered. While solving the mystery of the murders, Mercy must also contend with chairing the town’s bicentennial celebration, a developer who wants to bring big box stores into the town, her daughter-in-law’s past, and a couple of admirers who don’t seem to understand the word no.

40,000 Miles to Yellowstone (creative non-fiction)
By the time my husband and I rode our motorcycles to Yellowstone for a week-long trip, I had ridden over 40,000 miles as a solo rider on various motorcycles. In this narrative of our trip I not only reflect on the joys and pains and absurdities that have happened to me and my friends as I’ve ridden motorcycles, but I also give some savvy advice to male and female riders alike about gear, equipment, and riding strategies.

Old Men and Old Women Go Good-Mornin’ Swimming (creative non-fiction)
Over a period of more than fifteen years I’ve been a faithful participant in morning swimming exercises in our community pool along with several senior citizens who have liberally imparted their hilarious wit and poignant wisdom to anyone within listening distance. Many mornings I rush headlong into the ladies’ locker room to write down gems of conversations that deserve to see the printed light of day. In this exploration of aging, I combine the records of years into one unforgettable summer at the pool.