BABYSTEPS by Deborah Elliott-Upton Recently at a writers meeting, I was asked by another writer about copyrights and in particular if she could include in her book a story about an angelic encounter she’d heard from another woman. My intern Summer and her friend Madison sat on the other side of me. I thought this […]

MUSICALLY SPEAKING by Deborah Elliott-Upton Sometimes I forget how important music has been in my life, especially since I am not a musician. When I hear a certain song, there’s usually an emotion tied to it. Many times it’s a gentle tug; others it’s a gut-wrenching reaction catching me by surprise. Stories do that to […]

A GENEROUS STATE OF MIND by Deborah Elliott-Upton I’ve always thought of myself as generous. The thing is, you won’t be referred to as a philanthropist on a starving writer’s budget. Okay, so I’m definitely not starving and I don’t depending on my writer’s fees to fill the pantry. I am fortunate to have a […]

TO BE OR NOT TO BE A MENTOR by Deborah Elliott-Upton I’d chosen a table to the left of the door in the corner. It’s a good vantage point, allowing me to see before I am likely seen. Also, the door opens toward me, shielding from the cold wind a second or so later than […]

THE END OF AN ERA by Deborah Elliott-Upton Several of my friends have remarked, “How can it be almost 2010? Where did the decade go? Weren’t we worrying about Y2K just a couple of years ago?” Time supposedly flies, but isn’t that only when you’re having fun? Not always. This has been a decade of […]

When I think of Christmas, only one poem leaps to mind. I didn’t want to write yet another parody of Clement Clarke Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (so many have done it much better than I could attempt). Thinking our Criminal Brief readership would like to read an actual short story, I decided perhaps […]

Our Christmas Contest continues—check it out here. CHRISTMAS MYSTERIES by Deborah Elliott-Upton Reading specific stories at this time of year has become tradition in many homes. We know the one about Scrooge and the three visiting ghosts, the reindeer Santa depends on most, and my favorite about our how just being here touches many others. […]