After begging for it for more than ninemonths now, I finally got the letter from my publisher giving me back my rights to my three Summer Westin mysteries: Endangered, Bear Bait, and Undercurrents. The letter was sent to my agent and called mysecond book Bear Bath, (their reverence for my work is truly overwhelming). But after I quit laughing, I was ready to party at the good news of being cut loose.

No longer being published by a traditional publisherdoes mean that it will be more of a chall...