Missing Mystery Authors … whatever happened to your favorites? Do you ever ask yourself that question? I sure do. That’s what prompted the “Missing Author” series that I launched several years ago on my blog. It always drew traffic and prompted readers to ask about their own favorites who, for whatever reason, hadn’t published in a while.
While finding information for some authors wasn’t difficult, it was for others. Fortunately, many weren’t technically “missing.” They maintained websites and were active on social media, so I could contact them. Often life circumstances put her or his writing on hold—illness, care giving, changing job responsibilities are a few examples—but some made a comeback with a new series or picked up an old one. Earlene Fowler made things easy: she wrote on her website that she retired from writing when social media started taking over and she didn’t care to participate.
Others stopped writing altogether when publishers dropped their series or their agents retired. Sadly, some passed on.
Others have seemingly vanished. Does that spark story ideas for anyone?
How did the Missing Authors series start? I was a big fan of Rochelle Krich and have read just about everything she ever wrote. In 2003, she came to Richmond, Virginia and I took off work to hear her speak at the local Jewish Community Center. She last published in 2005. I’ve not been able to learn a reason for her retreat from the writing community. I don’t hunt down these authors, I don’t pry, and don’t publish anything without their permission. I had to let Rochelle go.
The same held true for many other authors. But I made some great connections. I found and became email pals with Corinne Holt Sawyer, Connie Archer (I’m interviewing her for my June newsletter), and Judith Van Gieson (sadly, she passed away few years ago). Author and blogger Charlotte Rains Dixon, who was also searching for Gabrielle Kraft, told me about a memorable writing class Ms. Kraft presented years ago in Portland, Oregon. Charlotte details the class here. To date, neither of us has located Ms. Kraft.
Readers of my blog participated with either information on the authors, or with requests about the whereabouts of their own favorites. They introduced me to some great new-to-me authors.
You can visit my blog and read the posts. I’ll list the links below. I started the series featuring one missing author per post. When requests started flooding my inbox, I included several authors per post. But I haven’t pursued this project in recent years (you may have noticed my use of the past tense), so you won’t find current information on the authors–but if you have any, please share.
This brings me to what prompted today’s post about the missing authors: I found one! A couple of weeks ago, author John J. Lamb, who I posted about in 2014, contacted me out of the blue.
John J. Lamb was a homicide detective and hostage negotiator in Southern California before retiring to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley where he and his wife became teddy bear collectors. John also penned a series of mysteries featuring a homicide detective who retires to Virginia and collects teddy bears.
I met John several times, at book signings, when he led a writers’ workshop, and when he spoke to our local Sisters in Crime chapter. He gave me good advice about realistically depicting an amateur detective interacting with the police. He was kind, funny, irreverent, and loved sharing stories of his law enforcement career.
Then poof—he became one of those vanishing authors. He took down his website, and the email address on the card he had given me bounced.
On April 7, to my surprise and delight, I found the following message from John in my inbox (by the way, I have his permission to publish this exchange):
Good Morning, Maggie,
It’s been a long time and I hope you are well. I was taking a digital stroll down memory lane and came upon an old website posting where you wondered why I’d vanished. The abbreviated answer is:
a) Berkeley didn’t want any more Teddy books and my agent was unable to sell a standalone thriller.
b) Heart attack, from which I fully recovered.
c) Needing health insurance, I returned to work as a civilian evidence custodian at a large Shenandoah Valley PD.
d) My wife is battling Parkinson’s Disease, which takes up a great deal of my time.
I think that covers it. Anyway, I’m glad so see that you are still writing.
Take Care,
John Lamb
Excerpt from the resulting message thread:
I’m writing my memoirs of my life as a cop. I finished the first volume (Entitled: Service With a Sneer) of what I anticipate will be four books. My original intent was to make this anecdotal history available to my grandchildren, but only after they’re adults because this is definitely not cozy mystery territory. But my test readers have convinced me to try once more to get published. So, I’ve been querying agents and have actually received a couple of nice personal rejections.
Another excerpt from the thread:
Service With a Sneer covers my time as a USAF cop and deputy sheriff in the desert near Palm Springs. I’m at work on Beach Blanket Bedlam, which covers my first two years as a patrol cop in Oceanside. Next comes Bring Out Your Dead, recounting my history as a homicide detective. The final volume will be Three Stripes, Yer Out, which alludes to my terminal rank of sergeant. Not that I wanted to promote to a higher rank. I was always worried about surgical scars from the frontal lobotomy required for collar brass.
John’s books, including his standalones, are available on Amazon and at libraries.
The Missing Authors series has been fun and, as you can see, often rewarding. If there’s an author you’ve been missing, let me know in the comments. I could be persuaded to resurrect the series.
Here are the links to the series:
“Discovering a Lost Author: John J. Lamb“
“Whatever Happened to Gabrielle Kraft?“
“Whatever Happened to (Name an Author)?“
“In Memory of My Favorite Mystery Authors (And Maybe Yours)“
“Those Missing Authors: An Update“
The Writers in Residence 
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