Lynn Rankin-Esquer's Blog

The second book in the Order Out of Chaos Mystery Series will be published on January2, 2026. Here’s a preview:

Getting better at organizing? Check.
Getting better at attracting murder? Unfortunately, also check.
Izzy Bishop is finally starting to find her footing—both at her sister-boss Lauren’s organizing company and in her newly chaotic life. But when a job at retired baseball legend Victor Rivera’s mansion leads to Izzy touching a pair of peridot cufflinks, she’s hit with a psychic vision she can’t shake: a knife buried in someone’s back.
When a real murder is discovered soon after, the police take a sudden—and very uncomfortable—interest in Izzy. So much for keeping things tidy.
Now everyone around her seems to be lying—about money, love, and loyalty. Between possible shady dealings at a wealth-management firm, a betrayed spouse, and heirs with more entitlement than truth, Izzy’s juggling more suspects than closet clutter. Lauren wants her to keep the “voodoo stuff” to herself, but Izzy’s determined to sort out what’s real and what’s just another dangerous lie.
This cozy-ish mystery—packed with humor, heart, and a little spice and sass—proves that not every mess can be handled with bins and labels. And if Izzy doesn’t untangle this one soon, she might be the next thing someone tries to neatly eliminate.

Contact me at: lynn@lynnrankinesquer.com
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Celeste Bates was an amazing photographer, she’s making it hard for me to pick. Let me know what you think!

Contact me at: lynn@lynnrankinesquer.com
Visit me at my Facebook author page:  Lynn Rankin-Esquer Author
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Adult participation trophies are not silly.

Because the win here is that we are participating. We are getting ourselves out there. The medal on the left is an actual winning medal for my pickleball team in our league last summer (we were actually the champions!). Our captain bought these in a very light-hearted fashion but I have kept it around because it signifies way more than beating beginner/intermediate middle aged women at pickleball. It signifies me being willing to look stupid learning a new sport in my late fifties. It represents all the other delightful people I have met learning that sport. It reminds me that I didn’t quit when I realized 99% of the women were former tennis players and I was not. It represents the discovery of a whole new fun community I would not have otherwise met.

It led to trying a hip-hop class and laughing my way through the performance (yes, we performed! It was excruciating and exhilarating and very bonding).

The real ‘trophies’ I have won include a body that is more fit than ever, several new communities of friends (many of whom are also willing to be newbies), and an improved ability to laugh at myself. Like, laugh ’til my stomach hurts fun.

Highly recommend (but no need to hunt down that performance video).

Come visit me at the other places I am finding participation trophies:

Contact me at: lynn@lynnrankinesquer.com
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A cluttered closet is nothing compared to the mess of murder.

Izzy Bishop’s life is messy. Her house is chaotic, she’s headed for divorce, and she’s almost out of money. So, when Type-A-Sister-Boss Lauren’s organizing company hires her, Izzy vows to purge the past, master organizing, and create a sparkling future…if only she can keep her pesky extrasensory abilities under control.

Not a chance!

When Izzy picks up her client Joanna’s tangerine dress, she receives a message from Joanna’s dead husband that someone is trying to kill his wife. Despite Lauren’s warning to keep her psychic silliness filed away, Izzy has no choice but to investigate.

Izzy soon discovers that everyone around Joanna has secrets, and someone is willing to go to any length to keep their dirty laundry hidden. Faking it as an organizer could get her fired, but faking it as an investigator could get her killed. If Izzy can’t figure it out quickly, she’s likely to be both. Although fired doesn’t really matter if you are dead.

No book is for everyone (for example, I just couldn’t connect with Gone Girl, while seemingly every other person in the world loved it) and so I am not the least bit offended if my book is just not someone’s cup of tea. But if it was …… and it is almost physically painful for me to type these words, could you consider leaving a review on Amazon (link in picture above) and/or Goodreads? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223915370-murder-mess-and-the-tangerine-dress

Contact me at: lynn@lynnrankinesquer.com
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In the interest of throwing a little humor into a bleak world I am going to tell on myself. I have done a thing that is completely mortifying in its cluelessness and involves birds and squirrels and a camera and …an undressed aging body. Please take a mini break from the horrors of your world and enjoy the horrors of mine.

You are welcome.

As befits my advancing age, I have grown attached to watching birds in my backyard. I hung a bird feeder. The birds found it (how do they do that? It is magical how quickly they discover food!) So pleasing to watch.

And then.

The squirrels quickly broke the code to savaging the feeder (those evil black squirrels, diving off a bush like Tom Cruise doing a Mission Impossible stunt, hitting the feeder enough to spin it around and fling birdseed like a demolished pinata, by which point the squirrels were already on the ground feeding on the largesse).

My daughter, a champion gift buyer, bought me a bird feeder that is supposed to be squirrel proof. AND it has a camera that I connected to my phone, so throughout the day I could delight in seeing all manner of birds pecking at the feed, right up close. And it comes with a solar charger so the camera is always charged and set off by any movement nearby, at which point it records. So even if I miss the live action, I can review the day’s videos and see all kinds of funny and goofy birds.

I decided to attach it to the railing of the balcony off of our second story bedroom, conveniently located next to the little fountain that the birds bathe in.

This worked for three days.

Then the squirrels learned how to scale the screens on the downstairs windows, leap onto the roof overhang and parkour onto the balcony to get the birdseed out.

Foiled again.

I brought the feeder inside until I could figure out where to install it away from squirrels. I set it on my bathroom counter, in part too lazy to take it downstairs but also to keep it away from the dog who rivals the squirrels in his love of birdseed.

Does anyone see where I’m going with this?

Is anyone, is everyone, smarter than me????

Four days later, four days, it occurs to me that the motion sensor camera is still on. Still recording anything that moves.

In the bathroom.

Where I dress.

And undress.

And shower.

Panicked, I fumble up the Birdty app on my phone and scroll through the recordings.

A veritable slideshow of things I try not to look too closely at in the mirror.

The camera works really well.

I had placed it really well.

The horror.

The praying that no one around us has cracked the password to our wifi.

I flip through one video after another, appalled and hysterical. How did I do this to myself?

“Why are you screaming?” the hubs asks, running in. “Is everyone okay? What is going on?”

I stop hyperventilating enough to tell him. He is amused until I show him his very own hi def videos.

I’ve been feeling pretty full of myself these days. I finished a book that is about to be published. I got rid of not one but two paid storage units. I successfully launched two children out into the world. I’ve gotten decent at pickleball. I can last over three minutes in the cold plunge.

But life is not ready to let me get too big headed. Life was like ‘ah, maybe someone dumb enough to unintentionally install a motion sensor camera in her own bathroom doesn’t get to feel like she’s got a handle on this whole life thing.”

I’m reminded I am still very much a work in progress. And that is is not a bad idea to laugh at myself more. Lots of opportunity for that.

Follow-up: of course I deleted all of the videos. Except for one of my husband, he looks kind of hot.

Contact me at: lynn@lynnrankinesquer.com
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ebook preorder available at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTTY3371/

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This morning I was watching a hummingbird hover near the hummingbird feeder I installed on my back porch. It whirred up, hovered, then perched lightly on the little bar, dipping its beak into the plastic flower filled with nectar. I imagined the hummingbird’s delight to find delicious nectar in a safe spot (hanging, away from squirrels), landing on a bar perfectly designed to fit it’s little talons, the ideal distance from the nectar. It probably wouldn’t know that someone intentionally designed that feeder, that someone else intentionally filled it and hung it. It would probably not be aware that there was a larger consciousness looking out for it. Which made me wonder. What if that is there for me? For all of us? What if there is a larger consciousness (call it God or Source or Love or Grandma) intentionally putting things I would like or need in my path? Is it such a stretch to believe that if I could arrange things for a hummingbird, without its knowledge, that someone might be arranging things for me? What if there is a Divine Design and it is personal?

Contact me at: lynn@lynnrankinesquer.com
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I’m going to repost my fictional character Izzy’s blog here but feel free to head to her site to follow her for more in the future. Back to MY content very soon.

LAUREN WARING LARSENT IS A STAR

So, who knew my mother would read my blog? But she did, and can I say she was not pleased with my … shall we say ‘characterization’ of my sister. I admit, I was a little heavy on the uptight aspects of Lauren (I mean, she’s my boss, that’s not easy) but I like to think of myself as fair so here are a few of her good traits.

Give me a second.

Just kidding. She’s amazing. She’s uber organized (hence, the perfect person to run an organizing company, Order Out of Chaos is fantastic), she’s a great mom, a devoted wife, a loving daughter. She sounds perfect, doesn’t she? Hard to compete with all that, especially as the older sister. But I digress.

Lauren is also a great cook, we share recipes all the time. Of course, she’s more of a from-scratch cook and I don’t mind shortcuts (for example, when bagged salads arrived on the scene I was an immediate adopter and she always makes homemade dressing) but on the whole the Waring sisters (our maiden name) can throw down in the kitchen. The biggest difference is that Lauren’s kitchen will be returned to pristine cleanliness within thirty minutes of dinner ending. In fact, I’ve watched her clean up as she’s cooking, and my kitchen … might have some remnants hanging around the next morning (pots clean better after soaking – I will die on that hill).

Along the cooking theme – here’s this week’s tip: buy the best cookware you can afford (All-Clad comes to mind) and treat those pots and pans like the goddesses they are (hand wash, towels between stacked pans to prevent scratching). This prevents the buildup of ticky-tacky scratched up cheap Teflon pans. I know how it works, you see a sparkling new twelve dollar sauce pan at Homegoods and just know your omelets will no longer stick if you just had that pan, so you buy it but then fail to throw out the old one. The accumulation seems slow but all of a sudden you are wrestling to get a skillet out of a motley stack that is the kitchen equivalent of ratty underwear. Treat yourself to good pans and you could even look forward to cooking. I might even go so far as to say that my All-Clan pans spark joy (wink wink).

As does Lauren. Sometimes. (I mean, all the time, right mom?)

So, who knew my mother would read my blog? But she did, and can I say she was not pleased with my … shall we say ‘characterization’ of my sister. I admit, I was a little heavy on the uptight aspects of Lauren (I mean, she’s my boss, that’s not easy) but I like to think of myself as fair so here are a few of her good traits.

Give me a second.

Just kidding. She’s amazing. She’s uber organized (hence, the perfect person to run an organizing company, Order Out of Chaos is fantastic), she’s a great mom, a devoted wife, a loving daughter. She sounds perfect, doesn’t she? Hard to compete with all that, especially as the older sister. But I digress.

Lauren is also a great cook, we share recipes all the time. Of course, she’s more of a from-scratch cook and I don’t mind shortcuts (for example, when bagged salads arrived on the scene I was an immediate adopter and she always makes homemade dressing) but on the whole the Waring sisters (our maiden name) can throw down in the kitchen. The biggest difference is that Lauren’s kitchen will be returned to pristine cleanliness within thirty minutes of dinner ending. In fact, I’ve watched her clean up as she’s cooking, and my kitchen … might have some remnants hanging around the next morning (pots clean better after soaking – I will die on that hill).

Along the cooking theme – here’s this week’s tip: buy the best cookware you can afford (All-Clad comes to mind) and treat those pots and pans like the goddesses they are (hand wash, towels between stacked pans to prevent scratching). This prevents the buildup of ticky-tacky scratched up cheap Teflon pans. I know how it works, you see a sparkling new twelve dollar sauce pan at Homegoods and just know your omelets will no longer stick if you just had that pan, so you buy it but then fail to throw out the old one. The accumulation seems slow but all of a sudden you are wrestling to get a skillet out of a motley stack that is the kitchen equivalent of ratty underwear. Treat yourself to good pans and you could even look forward to cooking. I might even go so far as to say that my All-Clan pans spark joy (wink wink).

As does Lauren. Sometimes. (I mean, all the time, right mom?)

So, who knew my mother would read my blog? But she did, and can I say she was not pleased with my … shall we say ‘characterization’ of my sister. I admit, I was a little heavy on the uptight aspects of Lauren (I mean, she’s my boss, that’s not easy) but I like to think of myself as fair so here are a few of her good traits.

Give me a second.

Just kidding. She’s amazing. She’s uber organized (hence, the perfect person to run an organizing company, Order Out of Chaos is fantastic), she’s a great mom, a devoted wife, a loving daughter. She sounds perfect, doesn’t she? Hard to compete with all that, especially as the older sister. But I digress.

Lauren is also a great cook, we share recipes all the time. Of course, she’s more of a from-scratch cook and I don’t mind shortcuts (for example, when bagged salads arrived on the scene I was an immediate adopter and she always makes homemade dressing) but on the whole the Waring sisters (our maiden name) can throw down in the kitchen. The biggest difference is that Lauren’s kitchen will be returned to pristine cleanliness within thirty minutes of dinner ending. In fact, I’ve watched her clean up as she’s cooking, and my kitchen … might have some remnants hanging around the next morning (pots clean better after soaking – I will die on that hill).

Along the cooking theme – here’s this week’s tip: buy the best cookware you can afford (All-Clad comes to mind) and treat those pots and pans like the goddesses they are (hand wash, towels between stacked pans to prevent scratching). This prevents the buildup of ticky-tacky scratched up cheap Teflon pans. I know how it works, you see a sparkling new twelve dollar sauce pan at Homegoods and just know your omelets will no longer stick if you just had that pan, so you buy it but then fail to throw out the old one. The accumulation seems slow but all of a sudden you are wrestling to get a skillet out of a motley stack that is the kitchen equivalent of ratty underwear. Treat yourself to good pans and you could even look forward to cooking. I might even go so far as to say that my All-Clad pans spark joy (wink wink).

As does Lauren. Sometimes. (I mean, all the time, right mom?)

https://izzybishopblog.wordpress.com/

I’m about to release the first book in a mystery series and my character, Izzy Bishop, is just too impatient to wait for all this cover-selection, editing business to conclude. So she convinced me to let her start a blog, she is that eager to talk to the world. You can find her at:

https://izzybishopblog.wordpress.com/

To let me know if you want to be on the notification list for the book, you can either comment here or head over to my contact below.

Coming soon: Murder, Mess, and the Tangerine Dress (An Order Out of Chaos Mystery)

Contact me at: lynn@lynnrankinesquer.com
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I am walking in Half Moon Bay, California and just ran across these gorgeous boat fenders arranged so pleasingly with the fishing nets. I feel instantly like I’m on a fishing boat, rocking side to side, salty spray on my face. I assume these fenders outlived their use on actual boats and I love that they weren’t thrown away, that someone saw their decorative value. I love that they continued on with a new purpose, having served well in their first purpose of protecting sides of boat from hitting dock or other boats. And now they can rest. And be admired.

I think of all the years when my kids were young, how I put myself between them and the hard edges of the world, how I absorbed so many blows, cushioned their docking and landing. How I was a fender. And now they are old enough that they are finding their own, more advanced, fenders. I am not done as a mother (would not want to be). I will continue to provide lots of things, love, comfort, cheerleading, a companion for a rom-com or concert, a favorite meal when they come home. In a way, decorating their lives. I am kind of looking forward to my decorative stage of life. I’m colorful and a little worn around the edges and would look just right arranged by the ocean.

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