Silver Dagger Tours – A Holiday For Homicide Tour and Giveaway! – Karen J. Mossman

I’d like to welcome Devon Delaney to my World of Stories.

Discover your next great read…

Tell something about yourself and how you became an author.

I am a mother of three and a grandmother of two, with two more on the way. I have been a computer education and Lego robotics teacher for nearly twenty years before I embarked on my writing journey. While my children were very young I fell into the hobby of competing in cooking competitions. I was quite successful and even won a writing contest involved in a cooking competition.

My winning poem was called “Ode to Pork Passion.” When our family relocated to coastal Connecticut I seized the opportunity of a career switch. I gave myself one year to knock an item off my life bucket list, writing a publishable book.

Where were you born and grew up?

I was born and grew up on Long Island. It is the location I drew from for my book’s setting.

What are you passionate about these days?

My spring/summer passions center around gardening, tennis, long walks, hikes, beach visits, swimming laps, and learning the intricacies of painting with watercolor. Oh, and delving into a juicy summer read in the evenings.

How do you find time to write as a parent and grandparent?

I don’t have young children living in my house anymore, but it turns out adult children are as demanding as mini-children. There’s always something going on. I also entertain many visits from my two granddaughters. When that happens everything else takes a backseat to attending to them. What I do appreciate is that having kids gives my daily schedule structure. I manage to set aside two hours here and there most days to write. Since it’s my routine they respect my need to keep a writing flow and it all magically works.

When did you consider yourself a writer?

When I was in the fifth grade I got the bug to write from a wonderful teacher who encouraged me. He liked what I crafted and made me feel I had some talent. It’s priceless to have that in my life. Fast forward to adulthood and I submitted some stories and essays to children’s magazines and got one or two published. The recipients were generous with comments even in rejection, and I only had a good experience with what was only a hobby back then.