On this cool, early April morning, I’m doing a lot of looking back. I confess it. Sometimes, a person reaches a milestone and just sitting down on it for a rest and a think seems to be in order. I’ve covered a good many miles before reaching this thinking spot–more miles behind than there are in front, to be sure, and I ask myself what I’ve accomplished and what, if anything, I hope to accomplish on the road ahead. Do you ever pause and take stock? It’s a sobering experience.
The maple tree by the mail box is finally getting leaf buds. So is the white mulberry across from it. They are always so slow to leaf out, waiting until they are sure it’s safe. Cautious trees, these. At times, I’ve been a bit like those trees, cautious, fearful of what might be out there. At other times, I’ve rushed headlong down the road when a little caution would have been in order.
So, here I am, older, hopefully a little wiser than when I began, and I’m writing. Why? Well, maybe it’s as the poet wrote about the month of June–it’s an instinct within me that reaches and towers. There seems to be so much within that I want to say and, since my listening audience is rather small, I say it through the characters in my books.
A couple of my friends deplore the fact that I write mysteries. They find the subject frightening and can hardly bring themselves to read one of my books. In fact, one of them started and stopped because she knew she’d have nightmares. My friends are very dear to me, but I find this remarkably funny. My books, scary? Oh, my!
To my way of thinking, the world has too much ugly stuff in it. Really vile words and actions, vacillating opinions, far-out beliefs or no beliefs at all. My purpose in writing cozy mysteries is to show that a book can be interesting, intriguing even, and never have to resort to steamy scenes or base language. I don’t like to read books that have these things on the pages and I want my readers to know what they are getting when they open one of my cozies.
So, now that I’ve sat on this milestone, looked back and considered things, I’m ready, once more, to look ahead, to get up and travel on. It’s April, spring is here, hope rises with the sun, and who knows what wonderful things await on the road ahead?
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