The Detective’s Daughter – Over the River and Through the Woods

Kim, in Baltimore, getting things together for the York Book Expo on November 2nd.

 

I always joke that because my dad was a homicide detective and my mother grew up in a graveyard, I was obsessed with death. I’ve spent countless hours watching shows about unsolved cases, police dramas, and anything that involves haunted houses. In addition to reading mysteries, I also enjoy writing them.

Dad would say I tried too hard, that I made my writing difficult. He wanted me to fictionalize some of his cases, and before he lived with me, would spend hours on the phone explaining them to me in great detail. After his death I found that I was in possession of  his notebooks and a few case files. I’ve never used any of them.

Recently I’ve been writing more than just mysteries. I’ve dipped my toe into women’s fiction and romance. A lot of this change has come about during my fall and spring retreats with a group called The Mindful Writers.

We meet twice a year for retreat in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. The group consist of writers from all genres. During one of our retreats we decided to produce anthologies and donate all the proceeds to different charities. Our first collaboration was called “Into the Woods” and we chose the Children’s Heart Foundation as our charity. This year we published “Over the River and Through the Woods.”

All the proceeds of this anthology will be donated to the Ligonier Camp and Conference Center which holds summer programs for children and most of the work the LCCC does is geared towards children and their families.

This year’s anthology contains twenty-one winter holiday stories written by some of the most entertaining authors I know.  If you are a lover of short stories you may want to check this volume out. I will be giving away a copy to one lucky reader who comments below.

My story, Tidings of Comfort and Joyce, involves a woman named Joyce Pine. The name, or character rather, came to me before the story did. I knew Joyce was a lost soul who had tried to make the best of the bad choices she had made in her life. When the theme for the anthology was decided, I began to wonder how Joyce might be spending her holidays. I thought about the conflict that occurs during family holiday gatherings. How would Joyce avoid that? With that question as the jumping off point, the story practically wrote itself.

With family holiday gatherings in mind, does anyone care to share a funny or touching story of your own? Remember, your comment may win you Over the River and Through the Woods  A Mindful Writers anthology.