Laundromat owner and stain removal expert Josie Toadfern knows her tiny town's dirty clothes and most of its dirty little secrets. But an upcoming "Psychic Fair" has raised the ire of a local evangelist and his minions, as well as the more conservative citizens of Paradise - so it doesn't take a crystal ball to predict that murder will ultimately foul the fair.
I had only one ambition as a child--to be a writer. When everyone told me hardly anyone ever makes a living as a writer, I briefly considered becoming a policewoman (because the trench coats looked so cool in all those '70's police dramas) or a psychologist (with the hope of finally understanding my family). Nevertheless, heart won out over practicality, and I became a writer. The police and psychology bits, though, come through in my mystery writing.
Now, I delight in mixing humor with mystery in my Stain-Busting Mystery Series, published by Avon Books. The series features Josie Toadfern, self-taught stain expert and Laundromat owner, and is set in fictional Paradise, Ohio. Josie cleans up crime one hilarious load at a time, while sharing changes, advances and set-backs in her personal life. She's guardian to her cousin Guy, an adult with autism, and her best friends are Sally and Cherry. Her love life is currently a roller-coaster!
I am also a humor columnist; my column, Sanity Check appears every Monday in the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) and covers everything from shredding pantyhose for stress relief, to talking refrigerators. My fiction credits include short mysteries published in Murderous Intent Mystery Magazine, Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine, and Orchard Press Online Mystery Magazine.
