LOOKING DOWN THE ROAD

Hey, Y'all! After a busy summer and a hectic, crazy year, I'm taking a little time off from road-trippin and setting up at Vintage Markets  and Antique Shows. However, being the enthusiastic JUNKER I am, I never seem to take a 

break from "pickin'." So my booth at Hermann Antique Mall will be getting a whole lotta love and attention in the coming weeks. I have totes

and totes of all things rusty, cowgirl, garden, lacy, vintage, 
primitive,  dainty, and industrial that 

will be making its way to Brenham for the autumn junkin' season. 

I'm also very excited to be a part of the Rusted Gingham Barn Sale in Gonzales the first 

weekend of November. I'll be setting up a truckload of FRESH "Victorian Cowgirl" themed treasures!

Until then, I'll be presenting, "Flea Markets, Funky Old Stuff and Murder, Oh My!" to 

the Heart of Texas Sisters in Crime Mystery Writers group in Austin September 8. 

They've asked me to present how old stuff could possibly become incorporated into a mystery novel...I'm beyond thrilled to be asked to explain how that can and does happen (at least to me!) Which leads me to 

mention what is happening with VINTAGE MURDER, the second book in the Jimmie Rae Flea Market Mystery series. To be honest, I'm still working on the manuscript--I know, I know...I said I'd be done already and have it available by the end of the year. I'm still learning a lot about publishing and although the book will technically be "finished" well before then, there's a lot of pre-release marketing and reviewing that needs to happen. I'm working to do just that to the best of my abilities, but it puts VINTAGE MURDER at a LAUNCH date of March 2014...just in time for the SPRING TEXAS ANTIQUES WEEK! In the meantime, look for some fun contests AND GIVEAWAYS, a-hot-off-the-press-Jimmie Rae Junkin' newsletter, the VINTAGE MURDER cover release, and lots of vintage wedding info...hopefully you'll understand and it will be worth the wait. 

Until then, here's the "blurb" for VINTAGE MURDER. 

Love is in the air for everyone but Jimmie Rae. Maxine Huntington and Steve Devine are engaged and the wedding planning is in full swing. Even her Grandmother Star has found romance. All is going as well as can be expected until something blue is wrapped around the wedding planner's throat and she is found murdered near Blessings Antique Mall. 
What's a girl to do when all the clues point back to her best friend as the primary suspect? It's a whole lot easier to host a pin-up girl bachelorette party than to investigate a case with more twists than a funky macrame plant hanger. 
Jimmie Rae goes beyond her duties as maid of honor to hurry and solve the murder so Maxine can be taken off the suspect list and the wedding can go on as scheduled. 
What she discovers leads her to believe she may not know her best friend as well as she thought she did. Only the admission of a strange secret past can free Maxine. But will her revelation leave her broken-hearted at the altar and directly into the trap of the killer? Can Jimmie Rae save not only their friendship, but her best friend before it's too late?
Stay tuned....

My last happy thought for this post...six weeks until FALL TEXAS ANTIQUES WEEK!! 

Until next time,

Peace, love, and all the good stuff, sweet friends!

RX For A JUNKIN' HISSY-FIT

Hey, Y'all! As many of you know we have our house on the market. It's a gorgeous, 4-2.75-3 "tree house" on half an acre located in the lovely Cascade foothills of Western Washington. Now here comes the shocking truth--turns out NOT EVERYONE is into the same Victorian-shabby-romantic-farmhouse-TX-French style that I love!! What a reality check! So to make our home more palatable to potential buyers, we had it professionally "staged." It looks beautiful, but it's just not the way I like to style it! What's a frustrated junker to do? Hit the road, of course!

So the when the "nicest man in the world"

(dubbed so by the one and only Pam of One Gal's Trash) --a.k.a. my Sweet Hubby could tell I was about to have a JUNKERS' hissy-fit --a TOTAL FLORAL EXPLOSION and unpack all my carefully stacked totes of vintage bark cloth, old ironstone, antique lace, vintage wicker, and rusty parts, he suggested we hit the road and see what Amy McCoy & Kris Williamson were up to.

It was just what a Junkin' therapist would prescribe! (Sweet Hubby knows me so well.)

Y'all what we found was Kris and Amy's new shop, Today's Country FARM & Frills located at 880 Main Street, Buckley, WA. Many of you may recognize the old 1920s gas station turned awesome, cute VINTAGE shop as the same location where Deb of Garden Party had her shop, Keepsakes Cottage Home and Garden nine years ago.

It is a fantastic location to showcase Today's Country FARM & Frills fresh, romantic farmhouse style and wonderful treasures.

Amy and Kris are celebrating their new shop with a GRAND OPENING, FRIDAY, JUNE 29th from 5-8 p.m.  Their regular store hours are: Wed-Sat 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sun 11 a.m.- 4 p.m.

If you're a frustrated JUNKER or just want to get inspired and SHOP, stop by and tell them I sent ya!

And by the way, this is my small contribution to our staged house (I couldn't help it!) :)

PEACE, LOVE, AND ALL THE GOOD STUFF, Y'ALL!