...Cottrell successfully blends a complex mystery with social commentary on troubled teens and the pain of Parkinson's. McCoy is a sympathetic character who, empowered by the empathy one wishes to see in all teachers, struggles against despair and loneliness by seeing to the needs of her students. The teenagers are as complicated as the plot, scary yet likeable, with not a cardboard stereotype among them. A commendable first mystery.

- Mary Welk http://www.mysteryscenemag.com

Writer's Tip
Got writer's block? A weird little technique that helps me is to start browsing through my CD thesaurus. I'll think of a word relating to a scene I want to do, such as sword, and then follow links this way and that. My CD also has a dictionary, Bartlett's Quotations, and a small encyclopedia, so I can drift from a word to a stirring quote to gruesome details about a battle.

Very shortly, my mind will fire up with all the words and phrases my characters are shouting into my ears. At that point, of course, there's nothing to do but start writing out of sheer self-defense.

My own CD is the good old Microsoft Bookshelf, but there are many available through online sellers like amazon.com, such as Merriam-Webster's 11th edition, The Oxford Thesaurus, and so on.

I love reading books, but for quick research and browsing, there's nothing like my little CD.

Weird Things
I've had a great time lately entering a contest on a website for a trio of caricature artists. They had a drawing for a free caricature, to be won by "the most entertaining answer"

I didn't win, of course, or there'd be a new picture on my website. However, I had a wonderful time dreaming up answers. I suspect mine were a bit too far out, but they were fun to write.

A few of my contest entries, answering the following question: Why do you want to win a caricature:

• Because then I can upload it into the computer games my husband and sons play. Hmm, that would make me a Mongol, an orc, and a Polish freedom fighter...





• Because the U.S Dept of Treasury will need it to put on their million dollar bills





• Because my driver's license needs a replacement caricature.





• Because it's the only way for me to REALLY do the Snoopy happy dance!

Apparently, they're starting up a new contest. If you want to check it out, the website address (and my other entries) are on my blog. Check it out at : Jeanette's Quirky World

Contest Drawing

The winner of the May 15 drawing is:

Mina Gerhart, from Hamburg, PA

Congratulations, Mina!

New Contest, Drawing on July 15, 2006