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Carolyn Paul Branch
I write, study history, and work the reference desk at the public library. My home in the Missouri woods is shared with Richard, my husband of 50+ years, Cookie, a little white terrier, and Sunshine, a big yellow cat. After seven non-fiction books, I finally turned to the writing I always wanted to do: mystery novels. TANGLED ROOTS, a tale of secrets, lies, and murder along the Missouri River, was published January, 2017. My next novel, THE SANITY OF STRAWBERRIES, a murder set inside a state mental hospital, will be published in 2018.
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Category Archives: Storyaday
The body – a snippet from Sanity of Strawberries
The county hospital was a low, sprawling building over on the west side, but in a town of 12,000, nothing is very far away, and I was there in less than five minutes. I pulled around back to the emergency … Continue reading
Inside Biggs – a snippet from Sanity of Strawberries
The hallway was mostly empty now, the heavy scent of hamburger and cooked onions hung in the hot humid air. That must be where they were all heading before, to an early supper. When I came around the corner at … Continue reading
Renee – a snippet from Sanity of Strawberries
I should have known William was bad news the first time he stepped up on Mama’s front porch, on account of he showed up with my cousin Ricky, and everybody knew what all kinds of meanness Ricky was into. But … Continue reading
Story-a-Day for May – snippets from my new mystery
The A to Z Challenge for April kept me writing every day. The blog posts were a good warm-up for my novel writing sessions and I made progress on The Sanity of Strawberries. Since I am a master procrastinator, the … Continue reading
An Important Job
Every house was dark when she passed through town at 3:30 a.m. This was the quietest time of the night, a little too late for partiers, a little too early for day shift workers and just right for Sarah Henderson. … Continue reading
Posted in Storyaday Tagged Callaway County Missouri, cooking, Cooks, Fiction, Missouri, nuclear plant, security Leave a comment
Jim’s Story – 2
“Are you still carrying that old rock?” Rose picked up the stone from the new dresser where he left it when he emptied his pockets to take a shower. Jim resisted the urge to grab it out of her hand. … Continue reading
Sheriff’s Car Frozen in Three Inches Ice
January 30, 1930 Fulton Daily Sun-Gazette Sheriff J. C. Owen will be without the use of his Whippet sedan for the remainder of the winter and permanently so if the June rise of Cow creek in the southeast part of … Continue reading
Posted in History, Storyaday Tagged Callaway County Missouri, Fulton Missouri, History, J.C. Owen Leave a comment
Jim’s Story
All day long he had tried not to think about the glorious fact that it was his last day in country. It would be bad luck to think about it, to count on it. But the day was over. He … Continue reading
Story-a-Day OR Scene-a-Day
This past month of the A-Z Challenge has been fun! Posting six days a week keeps my mind working and my typing fingers nimble on the keyboard. Unfortunately, my “real” writing projects haven’t progressed much in the last thirty days. … Continue reading
Posted in Memoir, Storyaday, Writing & Writers Tagged A to Z April Challenge, Fulton 1920-1960, memoir, River Rose, Snakes in the Kitchen 2 Comments
