WEDNESDAY TIMESAVING TIP

We’re busy people. Any time we can save time, we jump at the chance. Saving time on things we have to do enables us to spend more time doing things we want to do. If you’re like me, daily household chores fall into the former category. So any time I can find a way to shorten the time I spend on chores, I’m all in.

Many people I know stack their dirty dishes in the sink and on the kitchen counter, meal after meal, until they have no choice but to wash the dishes. Then they curse themselves as they scrub and scrub to remove all that dried on food and grease. Here’s a tip that will cut down on both the elbow grease and the cursing:

Fill a spray bottle with 8 oz. of water and a tablespoon of dish detergent. Keep it on your counter next to your sink. Spray each dish as you add it to the pile in the sink. When you finally get around to washing the dishes, you’ll find you spend a lot less time doing so.

Want more timesaving tips? Check out We'd Rather BeWriting: 88 Authors Share Timesaving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips.

Have you ever wished you could find more time to do the things you want to do, rather than just doing the things you have to do? Most authors juggle day jobs and family responsibilities along with their writing. Because they need to find time to write, they look for ways to save time in other aspects of their lives.

Cooking often takes up a huge chunk of time. In We'd Rather BeWriting: 88 Authors Share Timesaving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips you'll find easy, nutritious recipes for meat, poultry, pasta, soup, stew, chili, and vegetarian meals. All of the recipes require a minimum of prep time, freeing you up to read, exercise, garden, craft, write, spend more time with family, or whatever.

Within the pages of We'd Rather Be Writing: 88 Authors ShareTimesaving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips you'll be introduced to authors who write a wide range of fiction—everything from mystery to romance to speculative fiction to books for children, young adults, and new adults—and some who write nonfiction. Some of the authors write sweet; others write steamy. Some write cozy; others write tense thrillers.

Some are debut authors with only one published book; others are multi-published and have had long publishing careers. Some are New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors who may or may not be familiar to you, but being a bestselling author doesn't mean they still don't have to juggle their day job along with their writing.

The authors who contributed to this book are a rather creative and resourceful bunch when it comes to carving out time from their busy lives. So in addition to timesaving recipes, within the pages of this book you'll find timesaving and organizational tips for other aspects of your life. And if you happen to be a writer, you'll also find a plethora of great ideas to help you organize your writing life.

A percentage of the profit from the sale of We'd Rather Be Writing: 88 Authors ShareTimesaving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips will be donated to No Kid Hungry.

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~~~~~~~~~

Don't forget to enter the Spring into Mystery Giveaway for a chance to win more than 35 cozy mysteries PLUS a Kindle Fire. Click here to enter.

#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR JUDY ALTER

An award-winning novelist, Judy Alter is the author of the Kelly O’Connell Mysteries, the Blue Plate Café Mysteries, and the Oak Grove Mysteries. Her work has been recognized with awards from the Western Writers of America, the Texas Institute of Letters, and the National Cowboy Museum and Hall of Fame. She has been honored with the Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Achievement by WWA and inducted into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame and the WWA Hall of Fame. Learn more about Judy and her books at her website and blog.  

Cookbooks? They’re a dime a dozen these days. And what do writers know about cooking—they spend their days at computers and order in pizza, right? Hold on and take a look at We’d Rather Be Writing: 88 Authors Share Time-Saving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips. The title is a tip-off—most writers would rather be writing than cooking (disclaimer: not always this one, and I do have a recipe in the book). But there are some great recipes here, from meat dishes to fowl and fish and soup and chili, vegetarian and even a few vegan ideas. Some recipes will be familiar sounding—stews, enchiladas, and the like. But they’re shortcuts, much quicker than the way you’ve been doing them.

And a few were downright new and intriguing to me. As the author/contributor writes, “Peas are polarizing—you either love them or hate them.” She loves them and so do I, so I’m going to try peas pureed with crème fraiche, Parmesan and mint. Want to make soup out of it? Add chicken broth. Or blend with mashed potatoes and top with a fried egg.

How about eggs in a tomato-spinach sauce? Or eggs in purgatory, which is much the same thing and one of my favorite dishes. Recipes suggest main-dish smoothies, a good yogurt sauce, all kinds of things that writers rely on and you’ve probably never thought of.

But the unique thing about this cookbook is the timesaving tips, divided into cooking tips, household tips, organizational tips, writing tips, and miscellaneous. In the latter category, I like “Let it go.” If it’s not major in your life, don’t waste time stewing over little things. A tip we all know about but don’t always do: meditate. And one from me: nap.

In the cooking tips, I found an old friend—the soup pot. Just put leftovers in a refrigerator container and once a week, see what you’ve got. I called it soup of the week, but my kids called it “brown soup” because that’s how it always came out. This book has better instructions than my haphazard version.

One tip that appears in several sections is to list, list, list. Errands to run? Make a list of them in geographical order. Grocery shopping: organize your list according to the layout of the store. Too many extraneous details demanding our attention? List them and then check them off one at a time.

And a tip for all of us: if your plate is full, learn to say “No” to that extra volunteer project, that speaking gig you don’t have time to prepare for, even that charitable cause you can’t fit in. You can only stretch yourself so far and trying to accomplish more only results in stress.

In short, this is much more than a cookbook. It gives ideas for feeding the body, of course, some of them outstanding, but it also gives ideas for feeding and caring for the inner you, the soul if you will. It’s a great book to explore.

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Judy's latest mystery is:

Murder at Peacock Mansion

Arson, a bad beating, and a recluse who claims someone is trying to kill her all collide in this third Blue Plate Café Mystery with Kate Chambers. Torn between trying to save David Clinkscales, her old boss and new lover, and curiosity about Edith Aldridge’s story of an attempt on her life, Kate has to remind herself she has a café to run. She nurses a morose David, whose spirit has been hurt as badly as his body, and tries to placate Mrs. Aldridge, who was once accused of murdering her husband but acquitted. One by one, Mrs. Aldridge’s stepchildren enter the picture. Is it coincidence that David is Edith Aldridge’s lawyer? Or that she seems to rely heavily on the private investigator David hires? First the peacocks die…and then the people. Everyone is in danger, and no one knows whom to suspect.

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WE'D RATHER BE #WRITING #COOKBOOK

Last year I had an idea for a cookbook featuring my fellow authors. The result was Bake, Love, Write: 105 AuthorsShare Dessert Recipes and Advice on Love and Writing. My hope was that people who bought the book for the yummy recipes would be introduced to authors new to them, thus gaining new readers for my fellow authors and me. I donated a portion of the profits from the sale of the book to my local food bank.

When Bake, Love, Write: 105 Authors Share Dessert Recipes and Advice on Love and Writing became an Amazon bestseller, many of the participating authors suggested a follow-up cookbook.

After giving it some thought, I came up with:

We'd Rather Be Writing

88 Authors Share Timesaving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips

Have you ever wished you could find more time to do the things you want to do, rather than just doing the things you have to do? Most authors juggle day jobs and family responsibilities along with their writing. Because they need to find time to write, they look for ways to save time in other aspects of their lives.

Cooking often takes up a huge chunk of time. In We'd Rather BeWriting: 88 Authors Share Timesaving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips you'll find easy, nutritious recipes for meat, poultry, pasta, soup, stew, chili, and vegetarian meals. All of the recipes require a minimum of prep time, freeing you up to read, exercise, garden, craft, write, spend more time with family, or whatever.

Within the pages of We'd Rather Be Writing: 88 Authors ShareTimesaving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips you'll be introduced to authors who write a wide range of fiction—everything from mystery to romance to speculative fiction to books for children, young adults, and new adults—and some who write nonfiction. Some of the authors write sweet; others write steamy. Some write cozy; others write tense thrillers.

Some are debut authors with only one published book; others are multi-published and have had long publishing careers. Some are New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors who may or may not be familiar to you, but being a bestselling author doesn't mean they still don't have to juggle their day job along with their writing.

The authors who contributed to this book are a rather creative and resourceful bunch when it comes to carving out time from their busy lives. So in addition to timesaving recipes, within the pages of this book you'll find timesaving and organizational tips for other aspects of your life. And if you happen to be a writer, you'll also find a plethora of great ideas to help you organize your writing life.

Once again, a percentage of the profit from the sale of this new cookbook will be donated to charity. The charity I’ve chosen this year is No Kid Hungry.

Authors who contributed to We'd Rather BeWriting: 88 Authors Share Timesaving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips include: Lisa Alber, Reggi Allder, Judy Alter, Krista Ames, Rose Anderson, Cori Lynn Arnold, Judy Baker, Beverley Bateman, Donnell Ann Bell, Paula Gail Benson, Kris Bock, Maureen Bonatch, Ava Bradley, Susan Breen, Lida Bushloper, Michelle Markey Butler, Ashlyn Chase, Judy Copek, Maya Corrigan, Mariposa Cruz, Melinda Curtis, Lesley A. Diehl, Conda V. Douglas, Nancy Eady, Helena Fairfax, Jennifer Faye, Flo Fitzpatrick, Kit Frazier, Shelley Freydont, Mariana Gabrielle, Rosie Genova, Marni Graff, Joanne Guidoccio, Margaret S. Hamilton, L.C. Hayden, Linda Gordon Hengerer, Heather Hiestand, R.Franklin James, Kathryn Jane, M.M. Jaye, Elizabeth John, Stacy Juba, Gemma Juliana, Carol Goodman Kaufman, Melissa Keir, Kay Kendall, A.R. Kennedy, Lynn Kinnaman, Marie Laval, B.V. Lawson, Claudia Lefeve, Alice Loweecey, Cynthia Luhrs, Sandra Masters, Lisa Q. Mathews, J.M. Maurer, Sandra McGregor, Kathy McIntosh, Claire A. Murray, Ann Myers, Tara Neale, Stacey Joy Netzel, Jayne Ormerod, Alice Orr, Laurel Peterson, Irene Peterson, Pepper Phillips, Caridad Pineiro, Kathryn Quick, Renée Reynolds, Josie Riviera, Elizabeth Rose, C.A. Rowland, Cindy Sample, Sharleen Scott, Terry Shames, Susan C. Shea, Judy Penz Sheluk, Joanna Campbell Slan, Karen Rose Smith, Lynette Sofras, Kaye Spencer, Skye Taylor, Lourdes Venard, Lea Wait, Regan Walker, Lois Winston, and Aubrey Wynne.

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GUEST AUTHOR KIT FRAZIER ON 10 MINUTES TO A MORE CREATIVE LIFE

photo by Moyan Brenn from Anzio, Italy

Kit Frazier is an award-winning mystery author whose books have been Mystery Guild Book-of-the-Month selections and who was named Author of the Month at Barnes & Noble. Titles include Scoop and Dead Copy, among others. A former journalist, Kit lives on a working cattle ranch outside of Austin, Texas. Learn more about Kit and her books at her website. 

10 Minutes to a More Creative Life

By Kit Frazier

I know it seems counter intuitive to spend time to save time, but hear me out on this. I had a hard time meditating when I first started because I can't get my brain to shut the hell up. But I've found you don't have to completely shut down, and for me, setting a specific time on my meditation doesn't work; i.e.--I must meditate for 20 minutes--no I don't. I meditate as long as it's beneficial, and the more I meditate, the easier it is.

Part of the beauty of meditating is teaching your mind to be patient with itself.

Yeah, I know. Gah!

A recent study from Harvard University and the University of Sienna found that the powers of meditation go way beyond the whole self-awareness and improving concentration-thing--we've all *know* meditating helps the heart and bolsters the immune system. But consistent bouts of *small* meditation also cuts anxiety and depression--clouds that seem to haunt writers and other creatives.

My Morning Meditation is simple. I call it The Bearable Lightness of *Being*

Find a quiet place to sit and relax. Turn off your phone, put it away and dim the lights. This is your time. A time for total relaxation and inner stillness.

Take a moment to make sure that your clothing is loose and comfortable and that you are seated and comfortable. Rest your hands loosely in your lap.

Now, figuratively close your eyes and understand that you are a Daughter of Creativity.

Take a long, slow, deep breath in . . . hold it for a count of four, and then slowly exhale.

Allow any tension to melt away as your body relaxes more and more deeply with each breath.

Take another long slow, deep breath in . . . hold it for a count of five, and then exhale slowly.

Empty your lungs completely with your exhalation.

Take a third deep breath in. Take your time. Hold it for a count of six and then let it go.

With the release of your breath, you can feel yourself drifting into a state of deep relaxation and creativity.

Suspended above your head is a Golden Ball of Light. It is warm, and gentle, granting you peace and shelter from all harm, from all worry.

You notice and acknowledge that the Golden Ball of Light is the Creative Spirit that lives within you. You welcome this Light as an old friend . . .

You realize the golden light smells slightly of honey,  and you breathe it in, infusing your body with the scent of warm sweet smell . . . your skin warms at the familiar scent . . .

As you continue to breathe, the Golden Ball of Light slowly descends, streaming creativity as it barely brushes the tips of your hair.

You welcome this warm touch as the glowing light descends, flowing along and into your scalp, infusing its welcome presence in every cell of your mind, sparking new ideas, completing old and broken thoughts, and comfort comes in this new confidence . . .

You are Creative . . . acknowledge this awareness, and that awareness brings you peace . . .

The warmth continues, and flowing down and down, over and around your face, and you taste the honey of the light on your tongue as it pours through your blood.

You swallow the light, delighting in its sweet taste, as it feeds your mind and body and spirit and creativity . . . you acknowledge the creativity . . .

The Light continues down and down, flooding over your shoulders, you feel it streaming through the veins in your arms, infusing your blood with energy and peace and the spark of ideas, flexing your fingers as it sparks in your fingertips . . . there is power in this knowledge and you know it all the way into the middle of your bones . . .

The light continues, illuminating your lungs, filling them with deep breaths of fresh air, fresh ideas, fresh feelings awaiting your call . . .

Breathing deeply this breath of life, the Light fills your belly, bathes your organs in the soft glow, sends the light rushing through your abdomen, coursing down your legs, carrying your weight on the wind, on your breath . . .  your body is weightless  and anything is possible . . .

The light courses down and down, running the over and around your thighs, flexing in your knees and calves, down, surrounding you with warmth and light, it surrounds your weightless ankles, caresses the arches of your feet and you notice the Light’s tingling presence in your fingers and toes . . .

The Light is Complete, it completes the circle of energy that is your body . . . the Light floods you inside, filling your body, it surrounds you from the outside, embraces you like a warm, gentle hug and you are surrounded by creativity . . .

You are one with the Universe, and all is possible . . . all is likely . . . all is coming to you, through you, around you . . .

You recognize the light as an Old Friend . . . it is as familiar as an old song . . .

Breath deeply, taking in the light . . .

You are vast. You are weightless. You are timeless. Your path is Clear . . .

All is obtainable, you are able, you are willing, you are one with the Universe . . .

You are ready to take on the World . . .

Now . . .Take a deep breath. Open your eyes. And Write . . .

A MacKinnon Christmas

Cauley’s Christmas To Do List:

1. Identify the Dead Guy.

Not the usual intro to a Christmas To Do List but not so unusual for obituary writer Cauley MacKinnon.

Her problem is complicated by the way the dead guy died--he was gunned down while busting up a convenience store robbery in an eerily similar incident that killed her cop father, ten years before.

Adding to her troubles, she's preparing for her mother's Annual Pre-Christmas Feast of Dysfunction, avoiding her Mama's Knock You Naked eggnog--and she's got exactly 12 hours to make FBI Agent Tom Logan fall in love with her . . .

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MONEY MATTERS WITH SHEILA--GUEST AUTHOR P.I. COLLEEN COLLINS

White collar crime is rampant. You never know when you might become a victim. Today's guest knows quite a bit about white collar crime, and she's here to share some of her knowledge with our readers. 

Colleen Collins is a P.I. and award-winning author who writes mystery and romance as well as nonfiction on private investigations. She and her attorney-husband write the blog Guns, Gams and Gumshoes, selected by Booklist Online as a “Web Crush of the Week” during its 2014 Mystery Month. Learn more about Colleen and her  books at her website.

Crafty White-Collar Criminals

During the decade-plus that my husband and I co-owned a private detective agency, we investigated some interesting crimes, including several white-collar crimes that had been carried out by some very crafty criminals. But one particular crime still haunts us. Not because we investigated it; in fact, we didn’t even know about the crime as it was in progress. What haunts us is that the perpetrator of the crime was our client, an attorney we viewed as a friend. Still do, actually, for the simple reason he always treated us kindly. I’ll call him “Mr. A” for the rest of this article.

Former Federal Prosecutor Turns Criminal

Mr. A had been a former federal prosecutor who had returned to private practice as a trial attorney. He was a man widely respected not only for his brilliance in the courtroom and his legal skills, but also for his ethics and good character. He was in his sixties and silver-haired, with an aura of sophistication and a gentle wit. Once at a holiday party at his home, we all gathered in the kitchen, chatting with Mr. A while he cooked a prime rib for our meal and attended to his guests’ needs. I was impressed how he cooked, mixed drinks and charmingly kept up with multiple conversations at once, never missing a beat. He was part Cary Grant, part Wolfgang Puck. On the drive home, my husband and I marveled at Mr. A.’s perfection.

So a year later, when a federal grand jury issued a 29-count indictment accusing Mr. A of conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and bankruptcy fraud, my husband and I were stunned. Mr. A, a white-collar criminal? Impossible!

It was not only possible, but true. Let’s pause a moment and discuss white-collar crime.

What Is White-Collar Crime?

The term white-collar crime was first used in 1939 by sociologist Edwin Sutherland, who was more interested in who committed these crimes rather than what had occurred. "White collar crime," he wrote, "[is] crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation." It was a profound redefinition in criminal law as Sutherland was emphasizing the status of the accused versus the criminal act or intent.

Types of white-collar crime include embezzlement, bribery, larceny, extortion, fraud and price fixing. In general, the components of the crime include:

~A non-violent, illegal act that principally involves deception, concealment, manipulation, breach of trust, subterfuge or illegal circumvention.

~Enactment by a businessperson or government/public official.

~Evidence achieved by following a “paper trail” that investigators use to prosecute the case.

Unlike Sutherland’s definition of white-collar crime, the U.S. Department of Justice’s formal definition disregards class and economic status. Nevertheless, government prosecutors are more likely to indict the upper-class businessman who works for a major corporation than the middle-class grandmother who buys medications in Canada.

Our Previous White-Collar Crime Investigations

As PIs, my husband and I had investigated several white-collar crimes. Once for a probate attorney who hired us to investigate what had happened to the money that disappeared from a family’s trust fund. In our research at the assessor’s and clerk of recorder’s offices, we learned a certain family member had suddenly been making expensive purchases, from a new home to several new cars. It wasn’t difficult to follow that paper trail and obtain evidence that this person was the culprit.

Another white-collar crime we investigated was for an attorney who wanted us to investigate a man who claimed his ex-wife had gotten all the assets in their divorce. In our investigations, we learned that although the husband and wife had indeed gotten a divorce two years back, they were still living together quite happily in their marital home. In our research of court records, we learned that the “ex” husband had pursued a fast divorce with the full cooperation of his “ex” wife two weeks before he was served with a lawsuit that demanded he pay a hefty judgment to a former business partner. The bogus divorce was the man’s fraudulent attempt to avoid paying that judgment.

But these were small-time white-collar crimes compared to the seemingly perfect Mr. A.

The Personalities of White-Collar Criminals

Of course, Mr. A obviously wasn’t all that perfect. Terry L. Leap, the author of Dishonest Dollars, The Dynamics ofWhite-Collar Crime (Cornell University Press), said that white-collar criminals typically share certain personality traits: They have natural “smarts,” are educated and often have an appetite for risk and committing acts of “destructive dishonesty” that eventually cause serious financial pain and suffering to others. Leap also stated that white-collar criminals are often highly accomplished liars who skillfully distort facts and events as well as craft lies of omission.

I always admired Mr. A’s intellect, but was he destructively dishonest? No, Mr. A, was always kind to people. In fact, he was one of our few clients we could always count on to pay his invoices on time!

Bad Crimes, But Good Criminals?

In the article “White-Collar Criminals: The ‘Kinder, Gentler’ Offender?” lawyer and fraud examiner Frank S. Perri analyzes the myth that white-collar criminals are somehow the “kinder and gentler” offender. This erroneous assumption, claims Perri, is because white-collar crime is classified as a non-violent crime, which he claims isn’t true. According to Perri, research shows that white-collar criminals often display a pattern of criminal thinking that parallels street-level offenders, and that a subgroup of white-collar criminals are willing to resort to violence, namely murder, to prevent their fraud from being detected. In fact, there’s a term for this kind of murder: fraud-detection homicide.

Nevertheless, many people continue to view white-collar criminals as good people. Recently, Michael E. Peppel, the former chairman and chief executive of MCSi, was convicted of conspiracy, money laundering and filing false documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission – his fraudulent activities eventually causing the downfall of his company and his shareholders to lose $18 million. However, the district judge overseeing his case handed down a seven-day sentence because the defendant was just “a remarkably good man.”

The U.S Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati weren’t very happy with the judge for giving Mr. Peppel a “99.9975% reduction” from the 8 to 10 years the federal sentencing guidelines recommended. They have sent Mr. Peppel’s case back to the same judge so she can reconsider a more appropriate sentence.

Meanwhile, Mr. A is in his second year of a six and one-half year sentence in federal prison. I can’t help but imagine that he’s considerate to his fellow inmates, probably listening to their legal issues while he serves food in the mess hall – part Cary Grant, part Capone, and never missing a beat.

A Lawyer’s Primer for Writers: From Crimes to Courtrooms

Grab a front row seat inside the big top of justice, where a lawyer presents the world of litigation and lawbreakers! Topics include a history of trials, players in the courtroom, types of lawyers, trial preparation, the steps of criminal and civil trials, articles on crimes and much more.

For a limited time only A Lawyer’s Primer for Writers: From Crimes to Courtrooms is available for only .99!

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BOOK CLUB FRIDAY -- GUEST AUTHOR TINA GALLAGHER

Today’s Book Club Friday guest author is Tina Gallagher. Tina writes contemporary romance novels and non-fiction. Tina began writing as a young girl. In-between softball, basketball, and music lessons, she and her best friend would create their own "happily ever afters" for their favorite soap opera couples. After a while, the soap operas lost their appeal, but the writing never did. Tina lives in Northeast Pennsylvania and is an active member of the Pocono/Lehigh Romance Writers. To learn more about Tina, visit her website. 

Tina will be giving away a signed copy of Misguided to one of our readers who leaves a comment this week. -- AP

Finding Inspiration

When people find out I’m a writer, they usually ask where I get my story ideas.  Actually, ideas come pretty easily…sometimes it’s as simple as reading a story and wondering “what if this happened instead of that?”  In fact, I often have snippets of potential characters’ conversations running around in my head as ideas come to mind. 

What I have more of a problem with in the writing process is the setting.  In fiction, the setting can be just as important as any character and needs to be developed just as well in order to make it come alive.  And it’s not just the city or town the story takes place in that needs to be described, it’s everything.  Unless my characters are going to have all those conversations that are running through my head in a one room shack, I need to find places for them to go, and I need to describe those places well.  

Since setting is so important, I try to notice things everywhere I go.  Restaurants, parks, schools, houses, hotels, roads…pretty much everything.  You never know what can be used in a story somewhere down the road. 

In my new release, Misguided, Jake takes Cassie for a romantic New Year’s Eve dinner at a hotel that was formerly a passenger train station.  While the town Misguided is set in is fictitious, the hotel is not.  I based it on an actual hotel located in my hometown of Scranton, Pa. 

The Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel was formerly known as the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad Station, whose routes stretched across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York.  This six-story landmark was constructed in 1908 and considered one of the most beautiful terminals in the East, having been built as a showplace for the company’s central business offices and doubling as a depot.  It has been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places since 1977.   

The last train left this station in 1970 and for ten years, the building fell into disrepair, falling victim to vandals and the elements.  After extensive renovations, it reopened on New Year’s Eve 1983, emerging with all the grandeur of the original station, plus so much more. 

The care that was taken throughout the restorations is evidenced throughout the building.  The Grand Lobby, which originally served as the station’s waiting area, boasts a barrel-vaulted Tiffany stained-glass ceiling, Siena marble walls, and a mosaic tile floor.  Surrounding the walls are 36 tile murals that depict scenes along the railroad’s lines, starting at Hoboken Station and ending at Niagara Falls.  Above the dining room walls are a dozen matching stained glass lamps, all but one is original to the old station.

Today, the Grand Lobby holds a fine dining restaurant and a wine bar.  This structure is truly a feast for the eyes.  If you’re ever passing through Scranton, be sure to make a stop at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel.  Grab a cocktail, settle into a comfy chair, and check out the history.

Thanks so much, Tina! I will definitely have to put this train station/restaurant on my Must See Someday list. What about the rest of you? Want to have dinner at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel? Let’s hear from you. Post a comment, and you could win a copy of Tina’s latest release. -- AP