Evelyn Cullet, Guest Author

My guest this week is Evelyn Cullet, who thoroughly entertains me with her books. We all have to start somewhere, and this week she’s telling us how one of the books came about. You never know how things will turn out. Welcome, Evelyn!

My first novel, Romancing a Mystery, came about through an odd set of circumstances.

I had always wanted to be a writer and wrote short stories in high school. I would write my thoughts, ideas and anything interesting I came across in spiral notebooks. In my first job at the Illinois Bell Telephone Company, I worked as secretary to the Inside Wire Chief. One January morning, when I was twenty-three, my best friend who worked in the same office, and another co-worker decided that we'd take our summer vacations together that year. Since I was into mysteries, I really wanted to go England, and they agreed. We made our plans and saved our money, got our shots (you had to have shots to go overseas in those days), and our passports.

At the time, I had been dating a young man. He surprised me with a proposal and an engagement ring. I didn't have enough money to do both, and so instead of going to England with my two friends, I used the money I'd saved for the trip to get married.

The years passed quickly and with a new family, money was always tight. By the time we did have enough, (much later in life), I suggested to my husband that we take that trip, but he informed me he was deathly afraid of flying so I might as well forget it. There went my dreams of going to England. I had wondered why he insisted on taking a driving trip for our honeymoon. At the time, I thought it was romantic--love struck, silly me.

All through the years, I continued writing notes in my spirals. It had become a habit I couldn't break. And by the time I was in my late thirties, I had nine or ten of them filled with thoughts, feelings and interesting information, most of which was about that trip to England I missed, and how I would've liked everything to have turned out if I had gone.

And then, affordable home computers came on the market. Our daughter, who was in high school, wanted a computer very badly, and so we bought one. I decided to transfer all the information from my spirals to the word processor program. After I'd finished, I found that I had almost enough for the first draft of a novel. Needless to say, that was the beginning of my writing career.

The ironic part of this story is that when my daughter got older, she married an Englishman. And they took me on a trip to England, while my husband, who was still afraid to fly, stayed at home with the dog. Funny how things turned out. If I had taken that trip with my friends, I might never have written this novel, or maybe I would have, only a lot sooner. 

Thanks for letting me post my story on your blog, Marja.

I enjoyed learning more about you, Evelyn.  I hope you’ll come back. (I hate to admit it, but I can definitely relate to your husband's feelings about flying.)

Romancing a Mystery short synopsis

All Charlotte Ross wanted was a get-away vacation. She hadn't counted on solving a centuries-old mystery or falling for a handsome aristocrat.

A young woman in her prime, Charlotte is bored living in the small town where she grew up -- and is tired of her controlling mother trying to marry her off to the oldest and wealthiest men in town. So when her mystery-loving friend Jane Marshall suggests a driving trip across England, Charlotte eagerly packs her bags. But Charlotte gets more than she bargained for. Just two days in, their car breaks down in a thunderstorm and the ladies take refuge in Blake Hall, an ancient aristocrat’s lair with a long and rumored past. As guests of the British aristocracy, these out-of-place Americans stumble their way through a fox hunt-- encounter imagined ghosts--and find a mysterious clue to a centuries-old murder that has remained unsolved--until now, at least.

This lighthearted mystery, influenced by the novels of Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle and Jane Austen, is smart, savvy and at times, warmly romantic.

 Evelyn Cullet has been an aspiring author since high school when she wrote short stories. She began her first novel while attending college later in life and while working in the offices of a major soft drink company. Now, with early retirement, she can finally write full time. As a life-long mystery buff, she was a former member of the Agatha Christie Society, and is a current member of the National Chapter of Sisters In Crime. She writes mysteries with warm romance and a little humor. When she's not writing mysteries, reading them or reviewing them, she hosts other authors and their work on her weekly writer's blog. Her novels are: Romancing a Mystery, Love, Lies and Murder, Masterpiece of Murder, and Once Upon a Crime.

Romancing a Mystery is available:

Amazon Print Book: http://tinyurl.com/ocqs9yz

And Kindle edition: http://tinyurl.com/q653ksu

Website and Blog: http://evelyncullet.com/

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EvculletsAuthorPage

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EvelynCullet

Goodreads- http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3425303.Evelyn_Cullet

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/ecullet/

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

The idea of a book about purple cows and elderly spies might sound a little odd, but trust me, you’ll love them. How Now Purple Cow – A Bogey Man Mystery is available in both ebook and paperback format. Find out what cows and spies could possibly have to do with each other.