If you are like most people who are house bound because of the cold weather or tired of shoveling snow, then you are probably dreaming of warmer weather.

Well, we know that isn't going to happen for a least a month or so.

And pay no attention to the fact that I live in Florida -- the only state that has not had snow this winter. Not that we are bragging or anything.

So here's something to warm you up -- the Hawaii Five-0 series, which airs 9 p.m. CST, 10 p.m. EST Mondays on CBS.

Just watching those warm waters, lovely beaches and sunshine will make you put on your swim suit now...of course, that would look a little silly with your hat, gloves, scarf and coat.

And because we all do need a bit of silliness sometimes, here's a comment and a song about Hawaii Five-0.

Hal Glatzer, author of Too Dead to Swing: It's good to have Hawaii 5-0 back again. The plots are still outlandish - real local crime is rather mundane - but the leading characters now are younger and more likely to crack wise; and as TV cop shows go, they have more "realistic" backstories. The producers kept Morton Stevens’ hard-driving theme music; so I did little Internet research and discovered that there are lyrics to it.

All together now . . . .
If you're feelin' lonely / You can come with me.
Feel my arms around you / Lay beside the sea.
We will think of somethin' to do.
Do it till it's perfect for you / And for me too.
You can come with me.

Who knew there were lyrics to that song! Thanks, Hal.

As the northeast gets hit again with a snowstorm and the rest of the country is cold, we have a good way to keep warm.

That would be 2011 Sleuthfest.

Sleuthfest, sponsored by the Florida chapter of the Mystery Writers of America, begins March 3, 2011, with the Third Degree Workshop and continues March

4-6. Editors, agents, authors and forensic experts will be on hand to discuss writing.

And Fort Lauderdale in March is pretty darn nice. Even if we have a cold snap, it is a lovely time to come to South Florida.

Unlike other conferences, Sleuthfest is a writing conference, geared to aspiring writers and published authors. And fans are welcomed, too.

Registration is $255 for MWA members; for nonmembers, $275. The rate includes some meals. One-day attendance also is available. Information and registration is at www.sleuthfest.com.

This year's guests of honors are Meg Gardiner, author of “The Liar's Lullaby” and “The Dirty Secrets Club,” and multi-award winner Dennis Lehane, author of “Mystic River,” “Gone Baby Gone” and “Shutter Island.”

Gardiner won the 2009 Edgar award for Best Paperback Original for her novel “China Lake.” Lehane built his career with Boston private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro, who returned in his recent novel “Moonlight Mile.”

In addition, mystery authors S.J. Rozan, James W. Hall, Michael Koryta, Dana Cameron, Deborah Crombie, Lisa Unger, Julie Compton, Marcia Talley, and more will attend. Les Standiford and Joe Matthews will launch their nonfiction book "Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction That Changed America," about the Adam Walsh case.

As a movie buff, I am always interested in the Oscars. I can't help it, but I will watch the Academy Awards presentations every year, no matter how absurd or guady the show is.

As a mystery reader, I am most interested in the four nominations garnered by Winter's Bone. Winter's Bone has been nominated for best picture, best adapted screenplay, best supporting actress for Jennifer Lawrence and best supporting actor for John Hawkes.

I hope the attention to this small, lovely film brings more attention to its source material -- the novel by Daniel Woodrell.

Woodrell often has been called the "poet of the Ozarks," which fits. Woodrell writes about an area seldom shown in fiction -- the Missouri Ozarks. His characters are poor with hard-scrabble lives where violence, dysfunction and homemade drugs often enter the picture. His novels also are filled with hope and show how people can overcome anything.

Woodrell also is a beautiful writer whose prose is indeed akin to poetry.

Tomato Red, his sixth novel, won the 1999 PEN USA award for Fiction, and his second novel, Woe To Live On, was adapted for the 1999 film Ride with the Devil, directed by Ang Lee.

One of my favorite Woodrell novel is The Death of Sweet Mister, an uncomfortable look at a young mother, her brutal boyfriends and her impressionable son.

See the film, but also read the novels

Every airport, every doctor's office, darn near everywhere, I see more and more people reading on a device.

Maybe people finally learned how to work all those reading devices they received as holiday gifts.

And the proof of the devices' popularity is in the sales.

USA Today recently reported that the "the e-book outsold the print version for 18 of the top 50 books on the newspaper's bestselling books list, including all three Stieg Larsson novels. The week before, 19 had higher e-book than print sales. That was the first time the top 50 list has had more than two titles in which the e-version outsold print."

Wow!

More proof?

Charles Todd's newly released A Lonely Death sold approximately the same number of e-books as it did physical books.

Happy reading.