Oh, my word! I can't believe I've done it again. Only worse, this time. I've let the whole month of May slide by without my letter to you.

What do you suppose the problem was? That I had too many affairs going on? That I was lazy? That my mind is going? I expect the answer is, "A little of all three."

Now, when I mention "affairs going on," I'm not speaking of a sexual connection, man-woman goings on, I'm sorry to say. One of the affairs that took up a world of time was the annual conference of the Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc. (OWFI) for several days in May.

What fun it was! Here's a picture of one of the things that happened, and it involves two (2) men. Dusty Richards took the picture of Dan Case and me sitting at our table with our books at the autograph party. We didn't sell a ton of books but we talked with lots of friends.

Of course Dusty and Dan are well and truly married to lovely women, friends of mine, so no one would ever hint that old Peggy was anything but totally respectable when she was around either of those two. Anyway, Pat Richards and Susan Case are good about loaning their men to me when we have business to conduct. Now, Radine Nehring is another matter. Whenever I hug big tall Jon I know I need only look around to see Radine observing the whole thing from a very short distance away. Jon is good for hugging but Radine is a strawberry blonde. That's a kind of redhead, isn't it? No use riling her up so I don't hug Jon nearly as much as I might like to.

There are a few other men I find attractive but they too are thoroughly married. What's a poor grass widow to do?

As for me being respectable, there are those who would reject that idea even though I'm not making love to their men. One of my longtime friends gave me a great compliment a few years ago. She said, "Peggy, you would have made a great madam or an even better literary agent."

Well, I tell you... her words thrilled me.

Another man whom I like awfully well is Velda Brotherton's husband. Lucky me. I'm taking him and Velda to dinner this month (the third Tuesday in June) just before our NightWriter meeting. Velda is going to talk about her switch from historical fiction to historical nonfiction. She is such a good speaker but I wouldn't want to tangle with Velda, who, by the way, is the winner of the "Crème-de-la-crème," the top prize at OWFI this year. That's $500.00, folks, and lots of cachet, so I'll quietly speak to Mr. Brotherton and stand back in awe at being in Mrs. Brotherton's presence. We NightWriters are a lucky bunch this month.

And I am terribly lucky as well.

One of the things that kept me busy and amused was the fact that I really did find a man, a retired military officer, who apparently wants to become better acquainted with me... and there is no Mrs. Poopoo in the background AND he is a reader!

Men who read are such jewels. Single men who read are even better than jewels. May the Lord make a million more of them and send them to Oklahoma?