Tag Archive for: Annette Dashofy

My Lifelong Passion for Horseracing

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Hi everyone, today I’m pleased to give up my blog date to introduce you to a special friend of mine. Annette Dashofy and I have been online critique partners, beta readers and personal friends since I’m thinking 2003. She’s an amazing human being who likes horses, cats, and squirrels — sometimes I fear more than she likes people. Seriously, she’s a great human, which is why I’m giving her the floor to talk about her lifelong passion for horseracing and a great novel I highly recommend. Please welcome Annette Dashofy.   ~Donnell Ann Bell 

Author Annette Dashofy

When you ask a group of mystery authors who they read when they were kids, the majority will offer answers like Nancy Drew or Encyclopedia Brown. While I may have read a few of the Nancy Drews, my passion rested elsewhere. I read every book Walter Farley wrote. Multiple times. I loved both The Black Stallion and The Island Stallion series.  

Yes, there was a movie. [https://youtu.be/kGp9u56FJKs]

The books are better although the movie was quite good.

Farley’s books played a huge role in my passion for horses. Long before I
owned a real one, I had a barn full of pretend ones. 



The horses were pretend. The barn was real, but the only livestock it
housed was cattle.


I “rode” my pretend horses, being the rider from the waist up and the
horse from the waist down. I galloped around the farm and sometimes around
imaginary racetracks. I had an equally horse-crazy, Walter Farley-reading
friend who shared my rider/horse fantasies. We’d hold “match races” for our
horses. Mine usually lost.  


My love of horseracing may have started with and been fueled by Alec and
The Black from the Farley books, but the real thing quickly drew me in. Back
then, the only races broadcast on television were the Triple Crown races: the
Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes. 



The first winner I
remember was a Venezuelan longshot by the name of Canonero II who came from
behind to win the Derby in 1971. Experts deemed the victory a fluke. He proved
them wrong by also winning the Preakness. Bitten by the Triple Crown bug at the
age of 11, my heart broke when he came up short, finishing fourth in the
Belmont. 

Two years later, a horse by the name of Secretariat won all three Triple
Crown races, the first to do so in twenty-five years. My love of the sport was
solidified. Watching the videos of Secretariat, especially his Belmont win,
still takes my breath away. 


Okay, we sold him when he was a yearling, so I never got to ride him, but
he was black and he was male, so that counts.


Fast forward again to 2021. Medina Spirit, a moderate longshot, won the
Kentucky Derby on May 1. The second leg of the Triple Crown is this Saturday,
May 15. Will Medina Spirit claim the second leg as well? If so, horseracing fans
worldwide, myself included, will be in a frenzy leading into the first Saturday
in June.


And I have the book I started in 2005 finally coming out tomorrow. The
fact that the cover is reminiscent of several of Farley’s books is total
coincidence. The fact that I’m releasing it in the middle of the Triple Crown races
is not.


Death by Equine is set in the world of Thoroughbred racing,
although far from Churchill Downs, Pimlico, or Belmont.


About Death by Equine:  Veterinarian
Jessie Cameron agrees to fill in for her mentor, Doc Lewis, at Riverview
Racetrack so he can take a long-overdue vacation. When he’s tragically killed
by one of his equine patients the night before he’s supposed to leave, Jessie
quickly suspects the death is anything but accidental. Her search for the truth
is thwarted by everyone from well-meaning friends to the police, including her
soon-to-be-ex-husband. Undaunted, she discovers layers of illegal activities
and deceit being perpetrated by the man she thought of as a father figure,
creating a growing list of suspects with reason to want Doc dead. Too late, she
realizes that her dogged quest for the truth has put her in the crosshairs of a
devious killer desperate to silence her. Permanently.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08YH164YW

About the Author:  Annette Dashofy is the USA
Today best-selling author of the multi–Agatha Award nominated Zoe Chambers
mystery series about a paramedic and deputy coroner in rural Pennsylvania’s
tight-knit Vance Township. Her latest release, a standalone, is Death by
Equine, about a veterinarian at a second-rate thoroughbred racetrack
seeking the truth about her mentor’s mysterious death. She and her husband live
on ten acres of what was her grandfather’s dairy farm in southwestern
Pennsylvania with their very spoiled cat, Kensi. https://www.annettedashofy.com/

 

 

 

 

 

Caught in the Rapids – a guest post from Annette Dashofy

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As I write this, it’s pre-dawn, I’m under-caffeinated, and I’m thinking profound thoughts about how my life is like a river. For the last few months, it’s been meandering through a long stretch of winding bends, but now it’s picking up speed, heading into a series of whitewater rapids.

Like I said, I’m under-caffeinated.

I’d intentionally taken the winter and early spring “off” from events and appearances. I had cataract surgery and physical therapy for a frozen shoulder that had plagued me since last fall. My hubby had rotator cuff surgery. Yes, we’re on a first-name basis with everyone at our local PT office.

On top of trying to get myself and Hubby put back together, I had a book to write. So I made good use of those months of staying home, drifting along the lazy river of my life.

My cat loved having her humans home with her all the time.

Then I hit the whitewater, first with Malice Domestic Mystery Convention, where I was nominated for the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel. I didn’t win, but I was able to play dress-up and have a few Cinderella days before my party dress turned back into yoga pants. I’m in the middle of a blog tour. I have a book due to my publisher the first of next month, which is placing me squarely in the middle of Deadline Madness.

And Fair Game, the eighth book in my Zoe Chambers Mystery Series, hits stores tomorrow, May 14!

We held my launch party this past Saturday at Mystery Lovers Bookshop, which is always a fabulous venue. If you’re ever in the Pittsburgh area, check it out! This Wednesday, a local restaurant is hosting a Dinner with the Author (me), and next Wednesday, a local church is hosting Coffee with the Author (me). In between, I’ll be teaching a workshop at the Pennwriters Conference while pimping—I mean promoting—Fair Game.

Did I mention, I have a deadline on June 1? There’s that too.

So, yes, for the rest of May, I’ll have my oars in the water, paddling like crazy to keep from getting dumped from my raft before I make it to the next stretch of calm.

By the way, the book has nothing to do with rafting. Nor have I ever rafted in whitewater. Like I said earlier: pre-dawn, under-caffeinated.

Seriously though, Fair Game takes Zoe Chambers to the county fair with her horse for what is supposed to be an escape from the turmoil of her recent family traumas. Instead, she’s thrown into the drama of someone else’s family as she becomes drawn to a grief-stricken father and tries to help a troubled teen with parental problems of his own. Meanwhile Chief of Police Pete Adams attempts to piece together the final hours of a young woman’s life, leading to a mysterious death that may or may not have been murder.

Annette Dashofy is the USA Today best-selling author of the Zoe Chambers mystery series about a paramedic and deputy coroner in rural Pennsylvania’s tight-knit Vance Township. A lifelong resident of Washington County (PA), Annette has garnered four Agatha nominations including Best Contemporary Novel of 2018 for CRY WOLF. She’s a member of International Thriller Writers, the Pittsburgh Chapter of Sisters in Crime, and is on the board of directors of Pennwriters. FAIR GAME (May 2019) is the eighth in her series.

Meet the Authors of the 2014 Agatha Best First Novel Nominees!

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Each
year at Malice Domestic, writing excellence is recognized by the Agatha awards.
This year’s nominees for Best First Novel are:
Circle of Influence by Annette
Dashofy (Henery Press)
Tagged for Death by Sherry Harris (Kensington Publishing)
Finding Sky by Susan O’Brien (Henery Press)
Well Read, Then Dead by Terrie Farley Moran (Berkley Prime Crime)
Murder Strikes a Pose by Tracy Weber (Midnight Ink)
Today,
the Stiletto Gang welcomes Annette Dashofy, Sherry Harris, Susan O’Brien, Terrie Farley Moran, and Tracy Weber. All are not
only skilled and talented writers, but also charming and caring people. Thanks,
Annette, Sherry, Susan, Terrie, and Tracy, for stopping by to share your work
and thoughts with us!
What was the idea or inspiration that led you to write your
nominated novel?

ANNETTE:

Years ago I happened to overhear a
snippet of conversation regarding a local political brouhaha. The person said,
“Someone should just kill him and put him out of my misery.” No one actually
did, but you can’t say something like that around a crime fiction writer and
not have it end up in a story! In my case, it spun out a bunch of “what if”
questions that ultimately became Circle
of Influence.

SHERRY:

My story is a little
different. An editor in New York was looking for someone to write a garage sale
series. Through a series of fortunate events the chance to write a proposal for
him landed in my lap. I’ve always loved garage sales and the proposal—synopsis of the first three books, first three
chapters, cast of characters, and marketing plan—poured out of me in four days.

SUSAN:

I’ve
wanted to be an author since childhood, and I’m not sure why. I don’t remember
ever not wanting to be an author! My
love of mysteries grew over the years, and by the time I was ready to write
one, I was a parent. My protagonist Nicki is a mom, and I wanted her to be
honest about the funny, overwhelming nature of parenting—while solving
mysteries that I hope parents and non-parents will enjoy. Also, I planned to
donate part of my royalties to organizations that serve missing kids and their
families. It’s almost surreal to have these dreams come true!

TERRIE:

I
wrote the book I wanted to read. If I could create my own world, (Oh, wait—I
can) I would have my home away from home be a book store/restaurant just like
the Read ’Em and Eat—all books all the time, with book-themed food served on
author-themed tables. Book clubs meet there regularly, and I wondered what
would happen if a beloved book club member was tragically murdered. In Well Read, Then Dead that is exactly
what happens.

TRACY:

A homeless lady—I’ll call her Susan—used
to hang out near the entrance to my neighborhood grocery store, and she always
had a large Rottweiler mix in a crate next to her. Over time, I got to know
them both, and I asked her about the crate. She told me that the Rottweiler
would sometimes lunge at other dogs that walked by on the sidewalk. The
crate—which she stored behind the building at night—allowed her to keep the dog
with her, in spite of its reactivity.
Susan adored that dog and went to great
lengths to take care of it, in spite of her own financial issues and living
conditions. She was as dedicated to her pet as most people are to their
children.
I started to wonder: What if her dog had
an expensive health condition as well as its behavior issues? What would she
do? What could she do? That’s when
Bella and George formed in my head. Unfortunately, Susan disappeared from the
neighborhood long before I wrote the first draft of Murder Strikes a Pose. I haven’t seen her almost two years, so I’ll
probably never know what she would have thought about being my muse. I hope she
would have felt complimented.
What advice would you give to writers?

ANNETTE:

Don’t ever give up. Keep studying the
craft of writing. And finish the book.
SHERRY:
Don’t give up and study the
craft. I have stacks of rejection letters—from back in the day when everything was still done by snail mail.
I have two and a half books written that never sold. I kept writing, went to
lots of conferences, met people, and learned. When the opportunity finally
came, I was ready. Also, I wish someone would have told me that maybe it was
time to move on from the series that didn’t sell and to try something new.

SUSAN:

If
you believe your work is meant to be published, stay positive and don’t give
up! The journey to publication can be long and difficult—yet incredibly
rewarding. Keep your options open, too. I ended up working with a small
publisher and an attorney (not an agent).
TERRIE:
My
best advice for every writer is: Trust your own judgment. Keep on writing.
Submit. Don’t wait to hear back. Write something else. Submit that. The more
you write, the more comfortable writing becomes until you can’t imagine your
life without pounding the keyboard or picking up the pen.

TRACY:

Don’t give up, and don’t procrastinate. Write every day. Write
what you love. If you spend every day working on what you love most, even if
you never get published, you’ll have had a good time. That’s what matters most.
For the Agatha banquet, what kind of shoes would you (or if
you prefer, your protagonist or a character from your story) wear? [This is,
after all, The Stiletto Gang!]
ANNETTE:
This is such an appropriate question
since it’s one I’m currently pondering. I bought a great dress, but it’s white
and all my dressy shoes are black or dark brown. I was thinking of getting
taupe pumps, but lately I’m considering getting crazy and going with ruby red
or animal print pumps!

SHERRY:

Ah, lovely stiletto wearing
folks of the world, I envy you but I gave up heels a long time ago. I will look
for a pair of snazzy flats! However my protagonist Sarah would wear something
with a peep toe and a three inch heel.
SUSAN:
My
protagonist Nicki and I are both uncomfortable walking in high heels. (Her next
adventure actually relates to this topic!) Honestly, I wear orthotics, so I’ll
probably wear my only pair of dress shoes—with a moderate heel—that
accommodates them. If you see me, please understand! Thanks!

TERRIE:

Shoes!!
Having grown up in the era where a lady’s shoes and purse must match, and heels
were worn every day, I once owned stilettos in half a dozen colors. (We also
wore white gloves on the subway, but that’s a story for another time.) Due to
an ancient softball injury, compounded decades later by a broken ankle, I will
be wearing a pair of very low-heeled pumps to the Agatha Banquet. But, never
fear Stiletto Gang, I still have a pair of gray suede three-inch heels in my
closet that I cannot bear to give away. Sometimes I put them on and hobble
around the house, with my cane in hand for safety. They still look fabulous and
I feel fabulous when I have them on my feet. Alas, my left ankle wobbles if I
try to walk in them.
TRACY:
Given that Kate and I are both yoga
teachers, we would really prefer to go barefoot. But if that won’t work, a pair
of comfy Birkenstocks will work quite nicely!