Let's Go, Dels!

You are what you write... er... or something like that?

I've always read mysteries ever since I could remember, starting with the Bobbsey Twins, then Trixie Belden mysteries. After that, I played around a bit with Nancy Drew, but started getting into murder mysteries after that.

Sure, I watched Scooby Doo - if it weren't for you meddling kids... - and the Hardy Boys because Shawn Cassidy was my first celebrity crush, though I think that Parker Stevenson was maybe a little cuter, but that's neither here nor there.

During college, I went through my Leon Uris phase and read his books such as Armageddon, Topaz, The Haj, QBVII, Mitla Pass, etc. Armageddon is still my favorite. Heck, I've read it 2-3 times since then. And after college, I went a year without reading until I found Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe.

Dark and Disturbing

No matter what I read, I always came back to mysteries. A couple of jobs ago, I started talking with a coworker who recommended I try Tami Hoag, and oh my god! I'm so grateful! I must have read a good 10 or so of her books that October, starting with Ashes to Ashes, the first in a series with Detective Kovac and Liska. So good. SO SO GOOD! and dark, too. Seriously, the first chapter starts from the POV of the serial killer. OMG!

It's dark and disturbing, and it'll keep you up at night, but not because it was dark and disturbing. No. It's because you have to keep reading one - more - chapter. Then, all of a sudden, it's 230am when you close the book, and you go to work the next morning all exhausted, but so happy that you get to start the next book when you get home! HA!

And then, a couple of years before the pandemic, I discovered cozy mysteries. I'd kind of discovered them a little bit without knowing it - Jessica Fletcher. Agatha Christie's Miss Marple mysteries. Then I read a handful of Laura Child's Tea Shop mysteries. Before long, I found myself at a Cozy Con event sponsored by Kensington and I was introduced to the wonderful cozy worlds created by amazing authors like Julie Anne Lindsey, Lynn Cahoon, Alex Erickson, Christin Brecher, and more. I also made a few new real-life friends that I still keep in touch with thanks to various signing events and online book groups.

So what all these leads back to is that it's said that authors should write what they like to read. Me? I love to read mysteries - especially cozy mysteries. 

And that's exactly what I'm doing! 

A Cozy Undertaking 

As you may know, I'm a huge hockey fan. I love cheering on my Columbus Blue Jackets. In fact, the epilogue in my most recent book, End of a New Life, is set at First Responder night at Nationwide Arena, where the Blue Jackets play.

Anyhoo, I'm currently mapping out a series of cozy mysteries based in and around a fictional minor league hockey team that feeds into the PWHL (Professional Women's Hockey League).

Let's Go, Dels!

Welcome to the world of the Sandusky Psychedelics, otherwise known as the Dels. The Dels will be located just outside of Sandusky, Ohio, up on Lake Erie, in between Cleveland and Toledo, and will be a mix of a fictional town set amongst real places.

I'm nervous, but if I can write military fiction, I can write anything, right? RIGHT! (right?)

I've already started my research and have met with the front office folks with the Columbus Blue Jackets, who were super supportive. So supportive that they spent nearly 2 hours answering all my questions about how to manage a hockey team.

My goal is to publish my first book by the start of the 2026-2027 hockey season, which means one year from now. I can do that, right?

Here's a quick mockup, more of a placeholder, really, of my first book, currently titled Face-Off to Murder, which I hope to publish in October 2026.

Now it's on me to write my book. I have ideas for at least seven books, including a spin-off to another series.

I really need to win the lottery so I can write full-time!

Click on the pictures above to be taken to the world of the Sandusky Psychedelics and see if you don't become a fan of the Dels before it's all said and done. Plus, if you want to go ahead and add it to your Goodreads TBR, click here!

Anyway - didn't mean to ramble, but I'm so excited to be delving into the world of writing cozies!

Thanks and happy reading, everyone!

 - Heather

P.S. Join my Leaux Cay Readers!