Sandra Carey Cody

People always ask this and I have to admit it's a little embarrassing. I was a real late bloomer when it comes to writing. Though I've always been a lover of stories, I didn't start writing my own until after my sons were grown. What took me so long? I'm not sure. I always made up stories in my head, stories in which I played the starring role. I remember once when I was about eight overhearing my father, in complete exasperation, say to my mother: "I think she wakes up in a different world every day." He was right. But it never occurred to me write these stories down. I thought of writers as special - set apart - and it took me a long time to realize that I could join their rank.

My latest book, LETHAL JOURNAL, is a traditional mystery. It's set in a retirement community where the residents are mobile, alert, and just bored enough to want to be a part of any trouble that may be brewing - and if no trouble is brewing, they're not adverse to starting some. The protagonist is Jennie Connors, a young mother who works there as activities director. One reviewer compared the residents as Jennie's Watsons. I love that and I think it fits. When one of the residents is murdered and his personal journal disappears, Jennie, along her Watsons, is determined to find the journal, restore order to the world she loves, and see that justice is done. The story behind the story is that I love to take characters it would be easy to dismiss as "average" and show them as complex and valuable human beings. Part of the fun of the book is the interaction among the different generations - 30 year-old Jennie, her 7 and 9-year-old sons, and the savvy seniors who make up the population of Riverview Manor.