About Me

My name is Katherine Clark, and in 2008, I received my Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. My work is on the mystery genre, specifically, in my dissertation, I wrote abousmile-dr-homet the value of cozies to the mystery world. This blog is going to be about many things: writing, tips for writing when you don’t feel like it, and grammar tips that I have shared with students for over 20 years of teaching, but most importantly, it will be a blog about the process of turning my dissertation into a book.

I am about to complete the first draft of my book. I have a friend, Mark W. Schumann, who reads all the crappy drafts of my chapters. He helped me out (and that is way understated) with all the technical aspects of creating the dissertation. He is also a terrific reader and writer. After he gives his OK on my drafts, I send them to the women I call in my head and in print, The Four Readers: Barbara Burgess Van Aken, Shelby King, Kirsten Komara, and Sheila Strong. These women have amazing skills. Barbara and Kirsten are also Ph.D.s in English and writers themselves; Shelby is a former student of mine and a mystery lover, and one of the brightest people I know; Sheila is a professional editor working for a governmental body in Canada that investigates air accidents. I am so lucky to have their help and encouragement.

So what you will find in these blog posts, Dear Reader, is commentary on cozies that didn’t quite fit in my book. I’ll share with you how I keep going when I don’t feel like it, and how I intend on pitching the book to literary agents and publishers.

This blog is for novice mystery writers who want to know how to break into the cozy subgenre, and it is for mystery readers who love cozies and want to know about the behind the scenes of the mystery world. This is also for readers who are simply interested in issues of genre. And it is for writers of any genre who just want some simple (and not so simple) exercises and advice to help them with writing.

2 thoughts on “About Me”

  1. Hello, Katherine
    My name is Alan Pomiecko. I am one of the “misters” of NEOSINC. I spoke with you during one of the” Death March”breaks.
    You mentioned a book to read. Learning How To Swim. It was a great read. Kept me guessing who the real culprit(s) could be. I enjoy stories like that as opposed to others where one can figure the suspects too soon. Suggestions like this help me become a better writer, especially since one of my favorite
    genres is the mystery genre.
    Since I have just discovered your mysteryphd.com feature I am looking forward to reading your information about query letters, publishing, etc.
    What a interesting site!
    Hope to see you at a future conference. And in the mean time will like to correspond with you as need arises concerning writing especially in this genre.
    Thank you,
    Sincerely,
    Alan

  2. Hi Alan! What a terrific comment. I am so glad that you liked Learning to Swim. Did you read my blog post on it? You might find it interesting. You can put in the search box “Learning to Swim” to find it. I would love to continue talking to you about mysteries and writing. I’m so glad you found my blog. You made my day.

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