by Diana Orgain | May 27, 2021 | Cooking up Murder, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
Did you miss Chapter One? From Murder as Sweet as Honey Chapter Two Mona, we’re in the festival!” Vicki exclaimed when her best friend answered the phone. “What? Are you serious?” Mona shrieked. “Yes, it opens in a couple weeks. I can have a bunch of stuff ready by then. How about you?” Vicki buckled her seat belt and leaned back against the headrest, giddy. “I should be able to work on some new jams this weekend,” said Mona breathlessly. “How about we do a fall theme?” “You read my mind.” Vicki broke out into a dance in her seat. “I already have some cinnamon and pumpkin-spice honey sticks.” “I could make some muscadine jam and apple butter. And some strawberry and blueberry jam to fill out the table.” Vicki’s mouth watered. “That sounds delicious! I’ll have my body scrubs, some lip balm, and my honey straws. I might take along some honeycomb too. I’ll be harvesting tomorrow after Coupon Clippers.” “Mmm, I love your honeycomb. Did you know that beeswax is being sold at some festivals now?” “Beeswax, huh? Where’d you see that?” “At the county fair last weekend. The guy selling it had some candles, but also just the plain beeswax. He said people are using it to coat their tools, and cheesemakers use it to cover their cheese.” “Interesting,” she said slowly. “Beeswax is the main ingredient in most of my products, but I could bring along a few pieces of plain beeswax too.” “Cool,” said Mona. “Oh, could I buy one of your relaxing scrubs? I could sure use all the help I can...
by Diana Orgain | May 27, 2021 | Cooking up Murder, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
Did you miss part one of Chapter One? From Murder as Sweet as Honey Chapter One Continued “Oh!” Kristen’s eyes widened, and she snapped her fingers as if she’d forgotten something. “I’m an idiot. Julia, could you run down the street to the bank and get the last five month’s transactions for the festival account? I was supposed to print those off this morning. I need to see if a sponsor’s check has cleared. They called me up yesterday and asked if I would look into it. It cleared a while ago, but they’re old-school, and I want to be able to show them a physical paper trail when they come by this afternoon.” “Fine,” huffed Julia. She grabbed her purse and stalked out the door. As soon as the door closed behind her, Kristen shot Vicki a conspiratorial grin. “That should give us some time.” Vicki smiled back. She liked Kristen’s style. “So, what do we have in the baskets?” asked Kristen. “Well, I assume jam and honey? Julia mentioned something about the honey situation from last year. She . . . can be a bit much, can’t she?” Vicki breathed a sigh of relief and searched for something diplo‐ matic. “I like Julia, but her tastes and mine don’t necessarily jive.” Kristen laughed aloud. “My tastes don’t jive with Julia’s either. I think she just doesn’t like jam, to be honest. In the years she ran the festival, she rarely let any vendors sell jam. I, however, enjoy it just fine—and even if I didn’t, I’m aware enough to know that someone else might.” Tin by...
by Diana Orgain | May 20, 2021 | iWitch, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
From A Witch Called Wanda Chapter One MAEVE After stumbling over the second box on her way out the door, Maeve O’Dare paused for a moment to catch her breath. Her move to Wisteria Pines had been rather impulsive, but when her fiancé, Frank, had stormed out of her life, and after all the trouble she’d been having in Hollywood, she’d needed a change. She’d packed up her minimal belongings and headed north, driving until she’d found this charming small town. She’d stopped at the local truck stop to eat and befriended a woman, Gracie, who’d had a lead on an apartment. One thing had led to another, and before Maeve knew it, she’d signed a rental agreement. Then Gracie’d mentioned a vacant commercial building she’d owned smack in the heart of the small town, and another dream reignited in Maeve’s soul. If she could get Gracie to agree to lease it to her, she would open the small café that she’d been envisioning since she’d been a little girl. The café would feature all her passions: vinyl, live music, art, and vintage record players. Maeve had been in Wisteria Pines less than a month, and things seemed to be working out so well that it made her feel a bit charmed. “Keys …” she muttered to herself, looking around the apartment. “Boxes,” she said. “Boxes everywhere!” She scolded herself for not being more organized, but after a few minutes of scavenging, she managed to unearth the keys from beneath a stack of Hollywood gossip magazines. Keys in hand, she raced out the door and jumped into her beloved...
by Diana Orgain | May 20, 2021 | iWitch, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
Did You miss Chapter One? Did you miss Chapter Two? Did you miss part one of Chapter Three? From A Witch Called Wanda Chapter Three Continued… MAEVE No sooner did Maeve unwrap her sandwich than Gracie reached across the table and popped her on the hand. Maeve looked up, star‐ tled, but saw that Gracie was attempting to be sly and point without being noticed, cutting her eyes toward a woman with long, brown hair in a tight braid, trailing all the way down her back. “Remember the crazy woman I told you about who kept speeding so that Joseph would pull her over?” Gracie whispered. “Oh, wow, is that her?” Maeve asked. Gracie nodded. “That’s Eleanor. She’s an awesome beautician if you ever need a haircut, but she’s got a pretty colorful reputation.” “How do you mean?” “Well, and this is only a rumor, she had an affair with Mayor James Wayne. I don’t know how true it is, but she and her husband divorced last year over it, and he left town. He was irate and before leaving, yelled it from the rooftops, but the mayor denied it, of course.” Maeve giggled as she took a bite of her sandwich. “Small town drama, right?” “Of course,” Gracie agreed. “These seats taken?” an older gentleman asked. “Tommy!” Gracie said with a smile. “No, come sit! Maeve, this is Mr. Ether. He’s our local farmer.” Mr. Ether smiled, and tipped his hat as he took a seat next to them. Then, he waved his family over, and introduced his wife, two sons, daughter-in-law, and grand‐ daughter. “Got the...
by Diana Orgain | May 20, 2021 | iWitch, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
Did You miss Chapter One? Did you miss Chapter Two? From A Witch Called Wanda Chapter Three MAEVE A pang of guilt shot through Maeve’s chest as she watched Wanda put her tail between her legs and let out a loud, unadulterated whine. The evening before had been really pleasant with the dog’s company, but Maeve couldn’t shake the feeling that perhaps someone was looking for the dog. And, even if she didn’t have an owner, Maeve hadn’t cleared having a dog with the landlord, and the last thing she needed right now was for the dog to make a mess of her rental home. So, despite her moral compass screaming at her to do otherwise, she was dropping Wanda off at the local pound. The dog cried and yelped at Maeve when she handed the leash to the woman behind the desk. “I think she likes you,” the woman said, making Maeve feel even worse. “You’re Gracie’s friend Maeve, right? She told me you might be by here. My name’s Katie. I run this sad excuse for a pound.” “Yeah, that’s me. Jeez, the dog sure isn’t making this easy,” Maeve said, kneeling down to give Wanda some farewell hugs and kisses. Wanda pressed her nose into Maeve’s cheek, and Maybe suddenly clutched the fur around Wanda’s neck. How did I get so attached to this dog in only one evening? Maeve thought. “I feel so guilty, but it’s not even my dog, you know?” she said to Katie. “I’m sure someone will come and claim her.” “I don’t know,” Katie says. “We’re kind of full at the...
