Welcome to Cynthia Hickey

Tonight I welcome my second guest blogger, Cynthia Hickey. Her cozy, Fudge-Laced Felonies, is scheduled for publication with Heartsong Presents: Mysteries! next month. Welcome, Cindy!

In this blog, I have been processing the loss of my daughter to suicide. The experience of loss is universal. What significant loss have you experienced? How has it impacted your writing?

This question couldn't have come at a better time. We just had to let my mother-in-law go. Very difficult, and I must confess that during the week we made arrangements, my writing was set to the side. Something she would not have approved of. I believe experiencing this temporary loss, we'll meet again someday, will help me create more in-depth and emotion characters.

What central truth did you learn through your loss?

God never leaves nor forsakes us, no matter how long and rough the road. He is faithful in tragedy down to the tiniest detail. Not expected to live once my mother was taken off her ventilator, God prolonged her life for ten hours. She woke and saw her children and grandchildren gathered at her side. What a wonderful gift He gave all of us.

Do you write to escape your circumstances or to process your feelings? Or both? Please share examples.

This question is a bit more difficult to answer. My mother-in-law hasn't been gone long enough to say. But I believe it would be to escape. During the past week, I escaped into books.

What books or characters resonated with you in your time of loss?

None. The words on the page were to fill the empty time until God called her home.

You have recently published "Fudge-Laced Felonies." Please tell me a little about your book.

Summer Meadows entered church on Sunday, not to find God, but to search for a killer.

While transplanting the rosebush her church's handsome Sunday school teacher, Ethan Banning inadvertently killed, Summer and Ethan discover a hidden stash of diamonds, a rusty can full of cash, and a bloody gardening glove. This discovery sets Summer and her candy-making aunt on a search for a killer.

As Summer gets close to the truth, not only of the theft, but of her true feelings for Ethan, the diamond thief hatches a plan to hush the feisty sleuth.

Ethan's love for Summer stays buried beneath his teasing, waiting until God tells him it is time to declare his feelings. Meanwhile, Summer's quirky and daring resolve to solve the case has him acting in a heavy-handed manner in order to protect her, and almost pushes her away.

Thanks for sharing out of your recent loss, Cindy. What a beautiful testimony of your mother-in-law's homegoing.

I look forward to reading Fudge-Laced Felonies!