So it's Sunday morning and I'm enjoying the early morning sounds and scents of the garden as it awakens to a new day.

So I’m in the garden marveling at how all the rain and heat has caused a proliferation of foliage. And so begins the game of identification: are you a weed or a flower? The working premise here is that a weed may produce a lovely bloom but it is not the bloom I want overrunning my garden.

So I’m walking through the garden, coffee cup in hand, mentally taking note of what I need to move where or replace or remove. I’m looking at the spot where my birdhouse post used to stand but is no more. The 4x4 beam and the birdhouse lay on the path waiting to be restored to an upright position. I’m sure there are House Wrens lurking, annoyed that their home of seven years is a shambles.

And so, it’s Sunday in the garden. Actually, I’m not in my garden but rather at my kitchen table watching the clouds darken and creep closer. It’s dreary and sprinkling and I’ve taken the easy path of a coffee at the table with my journal accepting random thoughts and pertinent plant information.  So what’s with the title? Perhaps the Bard never knew about the Christmas Rose or is it the Lenten Rose?

“How sweet it is,” doesn’t begin to describe how it felt to hear my name called for Best Short Story. The story, HARRY’S LOSS OF GRACE, is the second short in the prequel trilogy for the Grace Marsden series. So many readers, after reading the first book, asked if there was something that preceded The Rosary Bride. They had questions about Harry and Grace. I guess my smidgen of back story was enough to pique their interest. After the final book in the series, I thought about writing a series of short stories to fill in the blanks of their early years together.