My day starts early—four o’clock if I can manage it. That’s my writing time. It’s also my catching up on news time. I’m a bit of a news fanatic.

Normally I have a mystery I’m working on and those quiet hours from four to six give me the space to slip into my fictional world. Right now, I’m writing short stories for various contests.

My day picks up speed and noise around six. I take care of my dog who likes to sleep in.

I go to group exercise which ends up being a pleasure no matter how much I resist going. My muse goes with me, and she needs it a lot more than I do. She wouldn’t miss it for the world. We have a teacher Wendy who gets mentioned in every book I write.

The rest of my day depends on what lies scheduled or unscheduled for me. I’m a psychiatrist, so on many days I see patients. Other days, I may do more writing—like working on this guest blog.

On good-weather days, I ride my bike along a glorious bike path we have near my house on Cape Cod.

On more miserable days, which we occasionally have on the Cape—ha, I stay inside and read or watch old movies. If there is ever a replay of the Thin Man series, I’m on it. I could probably quote the lines from most of them.

I love to experiment with recipes as does Ditie (my protagonist pediatrician), and I try to resist experimenting with too many dessert recipes.

As to reading, I do a lot of that. I’m not a fast reader, so it takes time. I belong to three book clubs (one of them in Atlanta), and when I’m not reading a book for one of those, I’m reading my mysteries. There is nothing better than settling into bed at night with a cozy mystery and a glass of wine.

Favorite mystery writers include Louise Penny, Elizabeth George, G.M. Malliett, and Charles Todd (the mother, son team). My favorites shift around a lot, and I am always looking for the finely-written cozy. I learn from them.

As for other books, my latest favorite is News of the World by Paulette Jiles. She manages to say in 250 pages everything that needs to be said about her characters and her story—it’s pretty remarkable.

Giveaway: Three readers selected at random will receive a a digital copy (Kindle or Nook) of Too Many Crooks Spoil the Plot. Leave a comment below for your chance to win. The giveaway ends June 3, 2018. Good luck everyone!

You can read more about Ditie in Too Many Crooks Spoil the Plot, the first book in the NEW “Ditie Brown” mystery series.

Pediatrician Mabel Aphrodite Brown adores kids. So when a childhood friend asks Ditie to babysit her kids for a few days, she jumps at the chance. She never imagined she’d be solving a murder too . . .

Despite growing up together, Ditie hasn’t seen Ellie Winston in two years, and she didn’t even know Ellie was living in Atlanta. But when Ellie asks her to take care of Lucie and Jason for the weekend, she thinks nothing of it. They’ll bake cookies together, play with her dog—it’ll be fun! Until the police call with terrible news . . .

Ellie may not have been the best friend, but who would want her dead? Could it have something to do with the vague get-rich-quick scheme she mentioned to Ditie? Or the men in a black truck following her and breaking into her home? Not sure who to trust other than her best friend, Lurleen, Ditie’s buried maternal instincts kick in to protect the kids and find their mother’s killer—before they’re orphaned again . . .

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Meet the author
Sarah Osborne is the pen name of a native Californian who lived in Atlanta for many years and now practices psychiatry on Cape Cod. She writes cozy mysteries for the same reason she reads them—to find comfort in a sometimes difficult world. Too Many Crooks Spoil The Plot is the first novel in her Ditie Brown Mystery series. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached on Facebook or at doctorosborne.com.

All comments are welcomed.