I'm trying to get back into blogging.  And since I'm so busy with so many projects, I'm only going to commit to Wednesdays for now.  And basically, I'm going to use this time to answer you "What's Up?"  I hope you'll join me on Wednesdays.  At least for the summer months, I'm going to try and keep this going.  I'll have guest visitors and probably a prize or two.  Although, I'm headed to the U.S. Post Office today with no less than 15 prizes that I'm shipping to various month of May winners already!  Whew!

That being said, I'd like to chat about "the tide over" or this is what it's known as in our house anyway.  When I married my hubby, he had a fourteen year old son and he was always hungry.  Always.  He was always asking "when's dinner?" And then, when told that he'd have to wait a ridiculous amount of time (like 20 minutes or so), he'd beg for a "tide over".

This meaning...a snack right before dinner that helps you withstand the long wait so that you don't keel over from pure hunger.

His favorite tide over?  Usually something in the chips and salsa department.

The problem for me is that if I eat chips and salsa before a meal, they will become my meal.  Snacking is dangerous for me in that I'd often rather snack than sit down for full meal.  But my husband would always give him a snack and it never ruined the meal.  He'd always come back for more.  Ah, the metabolism of youth.  Sigh.

These days, we have three more children at home and they often go into the clutching of stomach routine where they swear that they can't possibly make it another minute until dinner is on the table.

And, I wonder, do readers ever feel this way about waiting for the next book in a series?  When it comes to reading, do we sometimes need a tide over?

Well, just in case you feel this way about my Working Stiff Mystery series (I can only hope and dream that you are writhing around in the floor in the hopes that Book #3 won't be too far around the bend), I've written my novella (#2.5) to fill in the gap.  It is entitled "Backyard Bar-be-feud" and features Mandy and the crew from Millbrook back at it again!

You can find this little tide over in the Killer Beach Reads collection available on JULY 16th wherever e-books are sold!

Now, my step son is full grown and out on his own.  He graduated from college back in the spring and he's working a real job (or "the beginning of the end of his life" as he calls it).  He still visits us and almost always asks for a "tide over" before dinner.  Some things never change.

Happy reading,
Kerri