It's finally spring in western Washington State. I’m ready. After snow, freezing temps, flooding – I was beginning to demand “ground-hog” recipes since it seemed like winter would go on forever, not just six more weeks.

Now, it’s over! The rain’s stopped and the river that borders the farm is lower, back to decent levels. Dry weather means the mud is drying up and I can walk around the farm in my slippers, or hiking boots and leave my heavy-duty Muck boots by the kitchen woodstove. Grass is growing, but so are weeds, and the daffodils in the front yard finally bloomed.

Normally, they’re bursts of sunshine in mid-February around my mother’s birthday and one of my best friends always joins me in bringing Mom a bouquet along with her favorite carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. The alders, maples and cottonwoods have budded – not such great news – because they ‘play Hob,’ with my allergies.

The forecast calls for a week of sunshine which means it’s “painting time” on the ranch. Songbirds have returned and I hear them singing in the yard all day. Luckily, the robins are smart enough to fly away when Pal, the young cattle dog tries to catch them and I’m not sure what they taste like because he doesn’t tell me. At dusk and after dark, it’s the frogs’ turn. Strange that I don’t realize when they stop in the winter, but I always welcome them every spring. As my grandmother used to say, “Spring has sprung!”

The gates on the various fields and barns sport a bright purple, my new favorite color. Sometimes, when I talk about painting, folks ask if I’m an artist. No, I just like to freshen up the home place. Purple is also the color I use a lot in the Baker City series. I have a feeling Durango Hawke, my hero in GHOST OF THE PAST will go hog-wild with pink fences and purple gates on the family ranch to irritate his long-time love, Heather McElroy. She’s not much for what she considers “sappy” colors, but he’s annoyed because she walked out on him when he wouldn’t give up his career as a mercenary soldier.

When I wrote MY SWEET HAUNT, Cat’s young daughters made her promise to use a lot of pink and purple. It still makes the fences and barns pop at our “kid-centric” riding stable, as one of my favorite readers says. She’s the one who came up with the phrase, “fashion police”, something else that shows up in HERO SPELL, Book 4 in the Liberty Valley Love series when the heroine color-coordinates bridles and saddle blankets for the ponies. We still do it for the horses here and the kids love it.

Sometimes real life mirrors the books or else the books mirror my real life, although I haven’t found any time portals or shape-shifting neighbors. Then again, who knows what’s on the other side of the ridge?

Do you have a favorite time of year? Is it spring? Or a different season?

One good thing about rain, mud and cold weather meant I didn’t feel too badly about missing out on fence-building. I just finished the edits on THE MARSHAL’S LADY, Book 3 in the series.

Liberty Valley is the place “where no matter what, soulmates find each other!”

Rad Morgan, the marshal of Junction City sets off to capture the Dawson gang after they rob the Junction City bank. Along the way, he meets his match in Afghanistan War veteran -homicide detective, Beth Chambers. She takes no prisoners and will fit right into 1888 Washington Territory. Of course, I had to figure out how to get a woman from 2018 to the Old West and why she was even there, but that was part of the adventure and the paranormal elements kept escalating. Much to Rad’s initial dismay, Beth and Trace become fast friends.

I’ll have more news about THE MARSHAL’S LADY in May, including Ma Sims’ favorite doughnut recipe (or as they say in 1888, “receipt”), but you don’t have to make them on a woodstove like she teaches Beth to do.

Book News for April:



To celebrate the release of Family Skeletons, Book 3 in the series on March 23rd, My Sweet Haunt, Book 1 ebook is on sale through April 23rd for only 99 cents. Find it on Amazon ~ My Sweet Haunt (Baker City: Hearts & Haunts Book 1) - Kindle edition by Malone, Josie. Paranormal Romance Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Read an excerpt of Family Skeletons on my blog - Josie Malone ~ A Writing Good Time! 

Enjoy the Family Skeletons book trailer at https://youtu.be/g1jE6gnvXQA

April Giveaways:

See you next month. Happy Reading and if you have horses, Happy Riding! Since they’re mostly in the barns right now, Happy Mucking too. Be sure to pass out lots of long, skinny carrots. My horses love them.

 Josie

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