Readers, today my guest on Help From My Friends Friday is the talented and exceptional Catherine Dilts. Whether writing short stories, full-length novels, or even a blog, she always makes me think and smile. Please welcome Catherine Dilts.
By Catherine Dilts
Most great fiction begins with a “what if” question. So did my life journey.
I fell in love with the Colorado Rocky Mountains on a family vacation when I was in high school. I had been deeply affected by the middle grade novel My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. Now I was experiencing the wilderness in person. A John Denver special playing on the television in the rental cabin sealed the deal.
What if I could live in the mountains? The problem was, I lacked the faith I could make my dream come true. A decade later, I finally made my way to Colorado. A few more decades, and my husband and I purchased several acres in the mountains.
Making my dream of living in Colorado come true was a painfully slow process. When life threw distractions at me, I struggled to find my focus. But eventually I made it. Do I wish I’d gotten here sooner? Sure. But the bumps in the road were necessary steps in my process.
My writing journey also began with a “what if” question: What if I became a published author? I wrote several novels that never found their way to publication. During a trip to Moab, Utah, friends suggested I set a novel in a rock shop. I love the dusty, cluttered collections of fossils, minerals, and gem stones.
What if a woman was thrust into responsibility for running a shop, and didn’t have a clue about the business? One gloomy day, I was startled on a favorite hiking trail by a magpie bursting out of the undergrowth. What if the bird had discovered a body? Two what if questions, and the idea for Stone Cold Dead was born.
The second book in the series, Stone Cold Case, also began with a what if question. Out hiking, I ran across a dugout shelter. The combination log cabin / sod house was being used by cattle to shelter from the weather. I imagined my protagonist running across an old prospector’s cabin in better condition. What ifa mountain man used the weathered structure to hide a fifteen year old secret?
My first trip to the Denver Mineral, Fossil, Gem and Jewelry Show inspired the third Rock Shop Mystery, Stone Cold Blooded. I imagined my protagonist setting up her table in the coliseum. What if her attempt to improve business turned into a complete disaster? What if her failure was connected to the shocking demise of her survivalist neighbor?
Running tandem with my novels, several of my short stories were published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.
In an unexpected twist, I was introduced to the world of write-for-hire. This is a topic for an entire article. I’ll keep it short, and say that I didn’t know whether I’d like doing this, but found it’s a lot of fun. I wrote two novels for the Secrets of the Castleton Manor Library series, and one for Annie’s Mistletoe Mysteries, a three book Christmas package available here. I have contracts for two more novels in a new series from Annie’s.
In the middle of all this, my stand-alone novel Survive Or Die came out. My experiences working in a factory collide with my love of the mountains. What If a manufacturing company held a team building exercise at a defunct reality television survivalist camp. It’s The Office meets Bear Grylls.
With seven published novels, and nine published short stories, you might think I’d be rolling in cash. Unfortunately, that’s not the reality for most fiction authors today. Fortunately, money is not a strong motivator for me. COVID-19 isolation revealed to me that I am a writer to the bone. I am happiest sitting at my laptop, hammering out words, in a social isolation I adopted years before fear of a virus forced people to keep their distance.
The what if is no longer about living in Colorado, or becoming published. Today I face the frustration of lack of writing time. I’m winding down my day job career. Just another couple years working in the corporate world…
And then I can answer my new question: What If I could write full-time?
Biography:
Catherine Dilts is the author of the Rock Shop Mystery series, while her short stories appear regularly in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. She takes a turn in the multi-author cozy mystery series Secrets of the Castleton Manor Library with two novels, Ink Or Swim and A Thorny Plot. Working in the world of hazardous substances regulation, Catherine’s stories often have environmental or factory-based themes. Others reflect her love of the Colorado mountains. The two worlds collide in the humorous mystery novel Survive Or Die. You can learn more about Catherine’s fiction at http://www.catherinedilts.com/ Contact her at catdiltsauthor@gmail.com.
What if? I need to ask myself that question more often going forward. Great blog.
Candy, me too. What if is the germ in which all stories start. Oh dear, I’ve been around COVID too long 🙂
I agree with you. COVID gave me time to think about what matter to me – my writing and Bug, not endless meetings.
Interesting post, Catherine. It’s great to hear the backstory for your out-of-doors stories.
Be well and enjoy that wonderful Rocky Mountain air!