Barbara Schading, Ph.D.

"A Civilian's Guide to the U.S. Military" is a comprehensive introduction to each branch of the American military, their differing cultures and unique missions. It covers military rank structure, chain of command, protocol, special operations forces, call up to war procedure, Geneva Conventions, basic and slang terms and acronyms, adn many other aspects of the military realm - in plain English. Designed for military members, new recruits and their families, those writing and speaking about the military, and thinking civilians who just want to know.

Closure, n., a finish, end, conclusion, as in: Once obsessed over cold cases, Davis Fairfield is now a ghost who desperately seeks closure about his own death which only he and his killer know was not accidental. For Carey Sampson, her career will be finished unless she attains closure over the death of her friend and would-be lover Davis and is able to follow his investigative success. For the brother of a murdered woman and the parents of two missing coeds, closure is unattainable until their fates are known. For Detective Roy Moran, his mandate to protect Indian River County is jeopardized by the systematic murder of seemingly-unrelated women and he cannot rest until the killer is stopped. For retired FBI profiler Mick Kryszka, his rampant cancer races against his need for a final success over a serial killer whose personality, but not his identity, he alone can describe.

Closure, n., enclosure, that which confines, as in: The suffocating feeling Carey has as a killer comes closer to home, tightening his metaphorical noose around her neck as he gains a stranglehold on her life; the macabre, interminable trap Davis finds himself in, with only desperate hopes of peace–but never happiness–in his future.

Sequel to Closure. Still recovering from the realization that Davis was murdered, Carey continues work on his cold cases, focusing on a hit-and-run law clerk victim while she tries to keep her career alive. He returns at times in mirrors as she struggles to maintain her sanity.

The intentional error–the name for deliberate imperfections in an Oriental rug.
Simone and Kip Fairman, anonymous thriller authors, stumble into their character’s dark world of international intrigue while in London researching their next book, when they inadvertently purchase a rug containing instructions for a terrorist attack. Simone’s long-buried past reemerges as they are caught in the crossfire of terrorists and underworld thugs. The result is a crescendo of action, intrigue, mistrust and doubt that threatens their marriage, London’s peace–and their lives.

Margaret's letters are scathing and she pulls no punches whether she's writing to her deceased mother, family members, people from her childhood, and even to the doctor who prescribed this as an exercise. Will she die a bitter woman or possibly learn something from this process?

Think Bridget Jones meets Erma Bombeck, double the insanity and add a dozen wacky beach-dwelling characters and that's But I Digress.

There are a million stories in the Naked City. This, unfortunately, is one of them. Fanny Flamingo is no featherhead, she's a tough old bird out to keep South Florida free of killers...if she lives that long. A novella written by 20+ members of the Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. Their story appears in The Writer, June 2005.

"Authors Write Naked," The Writer, June, 2005; the story behind novella "Naked Came the Flamingo."

"Weaning Woes", a mother's essay, The Philosophical Mother, www.philosophicalmom.com, October, 2003; http://philosophicalmom.blogspot.com/2007/03/weaning-woes.html.

"Your Healthy Garden," how to keep your vegetable garden free of disease, in Gardening How-To, July-August, 2000.

"The Perfect Murder," Mysterical-E, the E-zine for mystery lovers, www.mysterical-e, June, 2002.