A long-time mystery reader, schuyler kaufman began writing early, but dreamed of an acting career. After drama school, a stint with Maryland Hall Story Theater, and walk-on roles in several movies, kaufman discovered that acting is best left to those who can act. Since stumbling upon the miracle of electronic word processing, kaufman has been writing seriously in several genres, but concentrates mostly on mysteries. Tansplanted to the Appalachians of North Carolina, kaufman now teaches at the local university campus, assists in editing an international scholarly journal, and works on the next kaufman mystery.

A FEW WORDS FROM THE AUTHOR

For me, the secret to finishing a full-length novel lies not in discipline ("you MUST produce ## pages today!"), but in treating the project like a secret little sin that can only be indulged after all the day's work is done. This way, I accomplished both the work (in quick time) and the writing.

The many advantages of being a writer include being able to write anywhere, anytime that your mind is underoccupied. While you are standing in line, working in the factory, trying to get back to sleep, you can make up your story. You can refine it, play with it, go back and change the clumsy bits, get a tad crazy over it.

Then, once you have the actual tools of writing within reach, you write down all that stuff you made up inside your head when you had nothing else to do.

Nothing says that you even have to start at the beginning: the first scene I wrote in DEAR MOUSE ... was the audition scene, when Halla McKee hauls off with a roundhouse wallop that sends Matt Logan careening down the porch steps. In these days of electronic word processing, you can write whichever scene you feel like writing: the wedding scene today, the chase scene tomorrow, the confrontation the day before yesterday. You can put the scenes in order any time they fit together.

Writing need not be a chore. Enjoy it as a secret indulgence, and you'll be astonished at what you can accomplish."