Appreciations! (With Spoilers?)

I’ve been hesitant to shout-out some thanks to two folks who helped me with research for “We Are All Strangers Here,” my latest story for Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (available in the September/October 2022 issue)—hesitant because calling them out will inevitably be a spoiler of some sort.

And yet, gratitude is due.

First of all, thanks to Luci Zahray, the Poison Lady, for messages back and forth as I teased out possibilities and plans for the story. I won’t reveal exactly what we talked about (that would be a step too far!) but suffice it to say she was a great help. I first met Luci at Malice Domestic—always a joy to see her talks there—and glad to be able to lean on that friendship a bit for my own work. And be sure and catch this recent story about Luci and her work at Texas Monthly!)

After Luci and I had corresponded, I also chatted up D.P. Lyle a bit on the same subject—part of an online event with the North American Chapter of the Crime Writers’ Association. It was a small group in attendance, and something that he said prompted me to ask a follow-up question—one which helped add a little extra extra to everything I was trying to bring together.

Not too many details here, of course… but wanted to say how much I appreciated their contributions, in so many ways.

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