Scooby Doo, I found you!

In 1969 I was 6 years old. Having seen the preview of coming cartoons in the TV Guide, I was in the floor in front of the TV awaiting the first “Scooby Doo where are you”. This was the beginning of my love of mystery and horror.

The Scooby gang stumbled upon the mystery, they were always in the right place at the right time. They searched for clues, though scared out of the wits, they always found the bad guy. The bad guy posed as monster, ghost or ghoul, but was found to be an ordinary human in the end. And so it went, every episode, but as children we sat and watched mesmerized by the story.

 

Later in life TV shows changed to more adult mysteries. The Rockford Files, Colombo, Murder She Wrote, Cagney and Lacy and all the other wonderful cop and sleuth shows of the 70’s and 80’s. In the 70’s I was also introduced to PBS and the mysteries from England. Agatha Christie’s, Miss Marple was my absolute favorite.

Life became more taxing and TV shows became less prominent in my life in the 90’s. But I found my solace in reading. I had become quite the goth chick and Anne Rice and Stephen King were my favorite authors. My life was filled with vampires, ghosts and monsters once again, but fantasy played a big part in those days as well.

The novels of Charles De Lint, stories of fairies, shape changers and shamans lured me into that realm with a pull that has lasted to this day. Kenneth Flint and his tales of Celts, brought in to our own modern urban era, kept time with my renewed love of Irish witchcraft. Fantasy and horror held my attention, until my move back to my birthplace and the discovery of downloadable audio.

Pulled around full circle to my love of mystery, I found Janet Evanvovich and uproarious antics of Stephine Plum. Mary Anna Evans and the formidable Faye Longchamp, Archaeologist and crime solver. Victoria Hamilton and her lovable vintage cookware and cookbook collector turned sleuth, Jaymie Leighton. Lorraine/Lorna Bartlett‘s Katie Bonner the manager of Artisans Alley and mystery solver. Also her wonderful Book Town series with  Tricia Miles, mystery book seller that trips over murdered bodies like it’s her second job.

Then I found Bailey Cates’ Katie Lightfoot, the assistant manager of an Ohio bakery and witch. Heather Blake’s Enchanted Village’s resident Wishcrafter, Darcy Merriweather has the power to make other people’s wishes come true. And Juliet Blackwell‘s Lily Ivory, owner of Aunt Cora’s Closet, has magical knack for vintage fashion.

All of these books and TV shows have shaped my life, and given me hours of calming respite. Some of them supercharged my imagination to try the craft of writing myself. So here’s to all the ladies that write mysteries, I’m hot on your heels and will soon be joining your ranks!