The Fish, the Plane Crash, and the Coyote By: Lynn Chandler Willis In my former life, I owned and published a bi-weekly newspaper. Circulation 15,000, thank you. Not bad for a totally ad-supported paper that covered one incorporated rural town and a couple unincorporated surrounding communities. The paper lasted thirteen years and probably could have …
The People You’ll Meet by Grace Topping When I think about my journey to publication, Dr. Seuss’s words often come to mind, “Oh the places you’ll go!” A terrific line, but to me, a more important thought was “the people you’ll meet.” As a budding mystery writer, I traveled to Orlando to attend Sleuthfest, Boston …
Returning to Childhood by Debra H. Goldstein Last Friday was Passover’s first 2019 Seder. At one time, our extended family’s Seders averaged 20-30 attendees, but in the past few years the death of the older generation, the different cities our children have settled in, and the activities of our children and grandchildren significantly decreased that …
With a Little Help From My Friends by Barb Goffman Ah, the perennial question: Where do you get your ideas? Mine spring from all kinds of places. Newspaper articles. Overheard conversations. Advertisements. Sometimes they seemingly spring from nowhere, a random product of the weirdness that is my brain. But even those out-of-nowhere stories likely had …
There Simply isn’t Enough Time in the Day by Debra H. Goldstein Have you ever wondered why so many Type A people only sleep a few hours each night? I’m positive there is a scientific explanation, but I’ve got my own (and I’m sticking with it). There simply isn’t enough time in the day. I’ve …
Can a Cat be Inspirational? Oh yes, especially if his name is ROCCO…. By T. C. Lotempio I have always been an animal lover, especially of cats. When my calico died a few years ago, I went to my local Animal Shelter and adopted a handsome tuxedo cat named ROCCO. It soon became apparent that …
My Road to Fiction by Bryan Gruley I have wanted to be a novelist for as long as I can remember. I started dreaming about writing chapter books when I was reading Hardy Boys mysteries in second grade. But I didn’t publish my first novel until I was 51 years old. That was ten years …
What Cozies Are About for Me by Angela M. Sanders Until recently, I valued cozies as what they aren’t. They aren’t too disturbing or cruel. Even the murders are easy to stomach, especially surrounded by such warm and engaging characters. Cozies allow me to get away from the pain of the real world, which—in my …
An Interview with Carrie Singleton by Marilyn Levinson Carrie, how did you end up living in Clover Ridge, CT? When I was young, my brother and I spent summers at my father’s family farm outside of Clover Ridge, CT. I had fond memories of those days. After college, I got a degree in library science …
It’s All About How You Tell the Story by Leslie Karst Like Debra—the host of this fabulous blog—my career before becoming a mystery author was in the legal profession. I spent twenty years as a civil attorney specializing in research and appellate work, which was basically akin to writing a term paper every day of …
