I began writing at age sixty ACL [After Children Left.] Publishing a memoir about teaching over four decades called The Education of a Teacher (Including Dirty Books and Pointed Looks), I followed the axiom that we first write what we know. Once I retired from teaching in 2011, I decided to write mysteries. Why? I had devoured the 1500+ pages of Sherlock Holmes in fifth grade because it seemed like the next step after Nancy Drew, Judy Bolton, and the Hardy Boys. After that, I read thousands of mysteries. Now, I’ve created a series called The Endurance Mysteries and peopled it with folks I love. Well, except for murderers. It’s a cozy series about a retired English teacher in a small town who helps her former student—now Detective TJ Sweeney—solve murders. Add a little love interest and a gloomy mansion, and I’m rolling. When my publisher folded their mystery line, I moved in a new direction, writing a standalone traditional mystery about Beth Russell, a genealogist and historical researcher. My latest cozy series is the Art Center Mysteries, featuring oil painter Jill Madison, who becomes Executive Director of a small-town art center with a scary basement. Seriously, don’t go down there.