Callie sits down for a question-and-answer session with dru’s book musings so that we can get to know her better.

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What is your full name?
Callahan Maureen Cassidy

How old are you?
Forty-five—just a few years away from official AARP membership age, as my oh-so-sweet boyfriend recently pointed out.

What is your profession?
Currently, I am the owner and chief photographer of the Sundance Studio Photography Gallery. Prior to that, I was a convergence media specialist and investigative photojournalist.

Do you have a significant other?
I have a boyfriend, though that word still sticks on my tongue a bit.

What is their name and profession?
Sam Petrie. He owns the Snow Plow Chow café, just down the block from my gallery.

Do you have any children?
No, though I am quite close with Sam’s teenaged daughter, Elyse, and have come to consider Elyse’s half-brothers, twins Banner and Braden, to be like my sons.

Do you have any siblings?
I’m the one and only. Guess my parents knew perfection when they saw it.

Are your parents nearby?
Right down the street. Maggie and Butch Cassidy are the proprietors of the Knotty Pine Resort, and they are the best, most loving parents a girl could ask for.

Who is your best friend?
The sassy and stylish Tonya Stephens, editor-in-chief of the Rock Creek Gazette, and my bff since we were in junior high (even through twenty-five years of living in different time zones).

Do you have cats, dogs, or other pets?
Or do they have me? I live with a golden retriever named Woody (short for Woodward, after the journalist Bob Woodward) and an orange tabby cat named Carl (as in Carl Bernstein, another journalistic icon). They are the lights of my life. I don’t refer to them as pets, but rather my creatures, because…well, you’ll find out where term of affection originated when you read Negative Reaction!

What town do you live in?
Rock Creek Village, a mountainside town nestled in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies.

What type of dwelling do you own or rent?
I own small townhouse.

What is your favorite spot in your home?
I absolutely love sitting on the balcony off my second-story bedroom and watching the sun setting over the mountains.

What is your favorite meal and dessert?
Basically, anything I don’t have to cook. But if I had to choose, I’d say my mother’s chicken parmigiana with rigatoni for the meal, and Sam’s Beary Special Cobbler for dessert.

Do you have any hobbies?
No, my mother indulges in plenty for both of us.

What music do you listen to?
Give me my Billy Joel and Abba tunes! And I can always get into those 90’s boy bands. “Tell me whyyyyy!”

What is your favorite color?
Pine green

What is your favorite vacation spot?
Right now, it’s my own little village, a picture-perfect place in every season (if you don’t count the occasional murder).

Are you a morning or night person?
I’m a night owl for sure. Don’t expect to see me before nine in the morning!

What is your idea of a really fun time?
On a pretty day, no matter the season, I love taking Woody and Carl hiking on a mountain trail. Woody is sufficiently well-behaved to be off-leash, and Carl is perfectly happy to take in the views from his mesh cat-carrier backpack. I always tote a camera around my neck, naturally, and I’m constantly on the lookout for herds of elk, a family of bighorn sheep, a frisky chipmunk, or a majestic eagle soaring overhead. If Sam joins us, we might enjoy a picnic lunch from the Chow. It’s such a peaceful, relaxing way to spend a day. Heavenly.

If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
Focus on Murder

Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
Amateur. I get help from quite a few people, including my friend Mrs. Finney, who is a retired CIA agent, and Detective Raul Sanchez (though he’d tell you it’s me helping him).

What is a typical day in your life like?
I wake up, untangle the cat’s claws from my hair, nudge the dog off the bed, and get up. After coffee, a Pop Tart, and a shower, I make my way to Sundance Studio. Depending on the day, I’ll either be on the gallery’s sales floor, in the photo lab, or out shooting photos to restock the inventory. At closing time, I’ll either head over to the Knotty Pine for one of Mom’s delicious homemade dinners, or to the townhouse, where Sam is sure to deliver one of his culinary creations. Then I’ll spend a quiet evening on the couch with my boyfriend and my creatures.

When I lay it out like that, it all sounds pretty boring. But one thing I’ve learned since I moved back home: there aren’t many “typical days” here in Rock Creek Village.

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Negative Reaction, A Callie Cassidy Mystery Book #5
Genre: Cozy
Release: April 2023
Format: Digital
Purchase Link

Wedding bells are ringing in Rock Creek Village. But when a venomous villager crashes the nuptials, events take a toxic turn…

The long-awaited day has arrived—photographer Callie Cassidy’s best friend is tying the knot. With a gentle snow falling outside and family and friends gathered inside, the wedding couldn’t be more perfect. Even Callie’s golden retriever, Woody, and her tabby cat, Carl, have donned tuxes for the occasion. And the icing on the cake? Callie’s trainee, Braden, is acting as official photographer, with the assistance of his twin brother, Banner. Callie is as proud as if she were their mother.

But as the ceremony ends, an uninvited and apparently inebriated visitor barges into the Event Center. The guests are shocked—and more than a little dismayed—to see Brian Ratliff, the twins’ absentee father, who slunk out of town two years prior, leaving his teenage boys to fend for themselves. Several volatile confrontations ensue, concluding with an angry altercation between Brian and Braden.

When Brian later winds up in a coma, the victim of poisoning, suspicion mounts against Braden. Callie is incensed, certain the boy isn’t capable of harming his father. Besides, plenty of villagers despised the man—any of them might have slipped him the toxin that rendered him unconscious.

As evidence accumulates against Braden, Callie fears he will end up taking the fall. With Detectives Raul Sanchez and Lynn Clarke stonewalling her, she turns to family and friends—including the town’s feisty new cub reporter—for help. Together, can they prove Braden’s innocence—and reveal the true culprit?

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About the author
Silver Falchion and CIBA Murder & Mayhem award-winning author Lori Roberts Herbst writes the Callie Cassidy Mystery series. A former journalism teacher and counselor, Lori serves as Board Secretary for Sisters in Crime. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, as well as the SinC North Dallas chapter and the Guppy chapter, where she moderates the Cozy Gup group. Lori lives in Dallas, Texas, and is a wife, mother of two, and (gasp!) grandmother of four. Visit her at lorirobertsherbst.com.

All comments are welcomed.