Animals, Arson, & Amazing Adult Kids
- Gay Kiser
- Sep 2
- 4 min read
Animals
Those of you who know me well are aware that I’m not exactly a huge fan of ‘CHANGE.’ But, life happens, and we’ve experienced a good deal of change here at the Kiser Ranch. We had to say goodbye to two of our beloved pets. Bella, our rescue dog who had been with us for about ten years got a second attack of what vets call ‘twisted gut.’ Bella absolutely adored Jim, and I feel as though his recent hospitalizations upset this sweet dog immensely.
Bella’s body gave out, and this time when she experienced twisted gut once again, we made the decision to put her down. It was one of the most painful decisions we’ve made, but she was suffering. That was in June. Fast forward to August 19th; the day our sweet, pet goat, Ginger crossed the Rainbow Bridge. To put it plainly, Ginger was flat out ‘old.’ We sure do miss both these sweet girls and now just have the two donkeys.
Arson in the Alto Section
As promised in my June newsletter, the third in my cozy mystery series is now available. Let me just add that I so greatly appreciated your strong support when I put the book release off for several months because of Jim’s health issue. Arson in the Alto Section was so much fun to write! Here is a humorous exchange between Pastor Patti and grocery store owner, Gabe Thompson, a man who’s given up on religion:
Annie saw something in Gabe Thompson’s eyes that bordered on pain. The amber flecks in his eyes had dimmed, and he looked away briefly. When he made eye contact with her again, he spoke, his voice trailing. “Religion and I have a long history, and it’s not pretty.”
“It’s just a get together, Gabe. Nothing more.”
“The pastor won’t try to convert me, then?”
“Nah, she’s nothing like that.”
“Can I bring an adult beverage to this little gathering, or is Pastor Patti a throwback from the days of prohibition?”
“Of course you can. The pastor drinks wine.”
“Red or white?”
“Both,” Annie replied, amused by the surprised look on Gabe’s face.
“On second thought, maybe I can just bring water. That way, Jesus can turn the water into any type of wine the other guests prefer.”
“You have all the markings of a fallen Catholic.”
“Try Baptist.”
If you’ve kept up with these cozy mysteries, you know that the topics I’ve covered so far are: murder; (KILLER IN THE CHOIR) poisoning someone; (RHYTHM OF REVENGE, and arson (ARSON IN THE ALTO SECTION). I’m stumped as to what I’ll write next and open to your ideas. Readers—help me out! Please! What mystery should be next?
Amazing Adult Kids
For this portion of the newsletter, I’d like to give a shoutout to our grown kids, Matt & Megan Kiser. Megan visited us recently during one of Jim’s hospitalizations and was a tremendous source of support. She even mucked the stalls for me every single morning and accompanied me to the hospital to see Jim. I couldn’t ask for a more loving, supportive daughter. Here’s a picture of the three of us.
The other shout out goes to our son, Matt Kiser. For those of you who don’t know this, my husband, Jim, has been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). It’s a rare form of cancer. So far, Jim’s had two rounds of chemo.
Within the next month, Jim will reenter the hospital and receive more chemo and a full body radiation treatment. One week later, Jim will receive bone marrow from a donor that will be injected into him to (hopefully) save his life. Matt is the donor and we’re so grateful he agreed to do this. Prayers would be greatly appreciated. The road to Jim’s recovery will be a slow one and require a good deal of patience, on our part.
Although I missed a book signing opportunity this year called McKinney Literary Fest, I was fortunate enough to be recorded and videotaped for a segment here in Fairview, Texas called ‘Getting Neighborly.’ In that recording, Dave Quinn interviewed me about writing. He’s a writer, himself, so it was a very rewarding experience.
Here’s the link to the book Arson in the Alto Section.
Feel free to share this with your friends. For those of you who are creative, toss out a few ideas about what type of mystery should occur next in this Serenity Hills Choir series. I’m open to suggestions! If you do send me an idea, I’ll place your name in a drawing, and if your name is picked, I’ll send you a print copy of Homeless for the Holidays, a really fun Hallmark-like Christmas romance. If you already own this book, I’ll send you a different book.
It's been wonderful chatting with you. I look forward to what the next month will bring. Love to you all!
Gay Ann
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