A friend of mine gave this little plaque to me a few years ago. I absolutely love it!
I keep it on my desk and have to laugh because so many people have asked where I get the ideas for my novels and are my characters based on anyone I know. Maybe their essence, but no, I just have a twisted imagination.
Sometimes it’s hard to fit everything I want or need to do into a day/week. Thus far, it’s been a juggling act for me between art, writing, and keeping up with life and other commitments.
Suddenly, in August 2021, the writing bug bit again. Although I’ve had two full-length novels in the works for some time, I’m not ready to jump into finishing them at the moment. I admire authors who can whip out a novel every couple of years. Not me. Developing complex subplots, characters, and research takes time. But who knows? Now that I’m retired, I may just have time to finish those novels in the coming year.
Instead, I pulled up several short mystery stories I'd written over the years that were collecting dust, if that’s possible, on my hard drive to see if any were worth publishing.
Amazingly, there were several. I selected four short stories that were written between 2005 and 2017. I had completely forgotten about one of them which was a huge shot in the arm to read it again. The remaining two short stories are new that I wrote for inclusion in this book. In all, I Spy a Crime, which I plan to release in November 2021, will include six short mystery stories. The book will be about the length of a novella.
It’s exciting to finally get to the finish line. It’s been through the editorial process, we’re working on the cover art, and it’s now in the hands of a few beta readers. When asked, I have to say that at the end of the day, I write and I paint for the pleasure of it and if either brings a bit of joy to others, all the better.
I hope you’ll enjoy the read!
"A short story is a different thing altogether - a short story is like a quick kiss in the dark from a stranger." Stephen King, Skeleton Crew