First of all, I confess I love the fall.
I love feeling the temperatures drop from the sultry 80’s and 90’s to the way more comfortable 60’s and 70’s, and even a little nip in the air. (Although this year in the Ohio Valley, summer did not want to give up its grip and kept us roasting in the nineties long past the normal expiration date of summer.)
I savor the changing colors of the leaves in the woods and neighborhoods around me, watching in new awe each year as the maples, oaks, sweet gums and river birches exchange their mantle of luxurious deep green for the flaming colors of red, yellow and orange as if some giant hand was doing some broad brushstrokes.
I even enjoy the process of switching out the clothes in my closet from shorts and short sleeve tees to pants and long sleeves. By this time of year, I’ve tired of short sleeves and worn shorts—that I couldn’t wait to wear in April or May—and I’m equally glad to switch back to long sleeve polos, tees and button-downs along with some worn and comfortable khakis. Yes, I guess I’m a bit fickle.
Most years, I like turning the page from cheering for my favorite team on the diamond
(my Reds had another disappointing year) to rooting with renewed expectation for my favorite high school, college and, sometimes pro football teams. Even though I know I’ll likely be disappointed here again. For me, the handoff from summer to autumn provides a new hope for championship possibilities unmatched by other times of year.
Okay, I must also admit I’m more than a little biased.
I served children as an educator for four decades, first as a teacher, then as a college professor and finally, for most of those years as a school leader. There are many things wrong with the school calendar most districts still use, which is largely based on the agricultural calendar. But one benefit I came to recognize was that, for both educators and their students, the start of school each fall gave all a chance to start over, a fresh start, as it is. For most teachers, when they greet their students each fall, they see a new set of faces. It gave me, as an educator, a chance to start over, to learn from what I did right the year before and the missteps I’d taken, and then use that knowledge and experience to make the new year the best it could be, starting in the fall.
As an educator, every autumn filled me with anticipation and hope. Even though I put my textbooks away and shelved my lesson plans a while ago, each autumn I still feel an echo of that excitement and optimism. As the rains falls outside my window today and the color transformation process gets a kick, I look forward to walks in the woods and drives through country roads bursting with color.
All this is one reason I chose to set two of my recent titles in the fall. Blood on the Chesapeake, the first in the Haunted Shores Mysteries series, takes place in September and October of 1998. The story is full of tales of school starting, of high school football, of breathtaking colors of leaves changing on the Eastern Shore…and of the mystery around the death of a student who died mysteriously at the school years earlier.
Cruel Lessons, the first entry in my new series, Lessons in Peril, is an atmospheric mystery about drugs being pushed in a middle school and the rush to find the dealer before more kids die. The narrative also takes place during the autumn, placing the horrors of drugs against the backdrop of the excitement of the start of the school year and the innocence of beautiful natural colors changing.
I’m thrilled both titles have received warm receptions, earning five national awards including BEST BOOK award from Chanticleers Reviews, the GOLD AWARD from Literary Titan and MYSTERY OF THE YEAR from ReaderViews, not to mention the many 5-star reviews from readers.
Since we are, once again, exchanging baseball for football and switching out shorts for slacks, this would be the perfect time to curl up with either of these award-winning fall mysteries. Check out either on the link below to my website,
And, since the exploding colors of fall are—like most precious things—fleeting and ephemeral, remember to savor nature’s gifts while we can. And since these delightful temperatures and brilliant hues provide the perfect backdrop for either of my fall titles, why not pull up a chair on the porch, sit back and enjoy a great fall mystery.
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