It’s Time to Go

It’s Time to Go

by | Nov 10, 2021 | Mystery Fiction

I’ve come to end of my writer’s retreat.  It has been a fabulous retreat.  A treat of a retreat. When I arrived on October 1, Monday, the trees were in leaf and vines and grass sprung thickly from the paths, grabbing at my ankles as I pushed my way through. During the...
A Storm is Brewing (and so is a story)

A Storm is Brewing (and so is a story)

by | Oct 27, 2021 | Mystery Fiction

October 15, 2012 A storm is brewing (and so is a story). The sky has grown a milky grey and the wind is quickly denuding the trees, sending leaves swirling over the tin roof, scratching its surface as they crash to the ground below.  It feels like November...
Dogs, Not Bears

Dogs, Not Bears

by | Oct 13, 2021 | Mystery Fiction

From the moment I awoke the sun was working its way out, tinting the sky outside my window a wispy lavender. Wilson saw that I was awake and came over to give me a lick on the lips.   I tolerated it.   Since he is normally so undemonstrative, I don’t mind an...
Hemlock Haven

Hemlock Haven

by | Sep 29, 2021 | Mystery Fiction

Hemlock Haven was my mother’s place.  She discovered a quiet grove of hemlocks on the southern point of the Tennessee property.  The hemlock branches were low and stately and ferns grew in the bed of needles beneath them. My father built my mother a little bench under...
The Pond

The Pond

by | Sep 15, 2021 | Mystery Fiction

October 11, 2012, Thursday As my writer retreat wears on, I’ve developed a routine. I rise early and take a quick walk around the mountain ridge with my dog Wilson. And then return to the cabin to let the morning mists dissipate. (In the mists, all stumps look like...