Amazon best-selling and international award-winning author Roslyn Reid started writing at 8. She stopped at midnight. (“Just kidding,” she says.) As a kid she spent many hours in her school and county libraries, emptying their shelves of books on horses, dogs, and occasionally people. She also remembers writing stories she read aloud to her fifth-grade class.
Contrary to what some might expect, she is not a 6-foot-five Black guy. So where did her main character James Early come from? As Reid puts it: “One morning I woke up and a book was writing itself inside my head. The same thing happened the next morning, and the next. At first I ignored it, then I tried to make it go away, but it wouldn’t. At some point I gave in and started paying attention to it, eventually saying to myself, ‘Hmm, this isn’t bad. Maybe I should write it down.’ It turned out to be so fascinating that I felt an obligation to make it into the novel it became—a novel which was obviously begging to be written.” What she wrote down turned into the first two books of the Early Mysteries series, with James Early and his teenage son Tikki at the center of them. Her debut novel, A Scandal at Crystalline, is about the sinister side of raku pottery, with an ending you never saw coming (and as Reid puts it, “You will never look at barn owls in the same way again.”) The followup novel, The Spiricom, is about a man who loses the love of his life in a tragic accident, then builds Thomas Edison’s electronic device for communicating with the dead to reunite with her…or is it her?
Reid lives with her Great Pyrenees, corgi, and husband in the woods of Downeast Maine where she grows vegetables and magnificent gladiolas, lifts weights, and hikes through the picturesque landscapes around her home. While attending Rutgers, she was on the staff of her Livingston College newspaper, reporting news as well as writing feature articles and reviews. The Rutgers Targum, daily newspaper of the main college, also ran several of her articles. After graduation, her author activities continued through several decades of contributions to Llewellyn's annual almanacs while she managed a modeling career. More recently she has written articles for a few of the local newspapers—some by request—and obtained her certification as a qigong instructor. She is a Most Valuable Platinum member of the Author's Guild, whose members say they value most of all the encouragement from her to keep going, head down, and blast through the obstacles. She is active on several social media platforms, including Instagram (@realroslynreid), LinkedIn, Goodreads, BookBub, and Twitter/X.
Reid supports several charities and participated in the “Authors for Lewiston” book signing tour in 2024, raising money for victims of the tragic Maine shooting. Her favorite charity is the Grey Muzzle Organization in Raleigh, NC, a national group which contributes to giving senior dogs a good environment and needed care at the end of their lives. For more information on their worthwhile endeavors, please visit https://www.greymuzzle.org/
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Title: A Scandal at Crystalline
Author: Roslyn Reid
Genre: Paranormal mystery
Publisher: Foster Embry
Book Blurb
What shocking secret is hiding in the Blood Red Glaze?
Chandler Hammond’s wife says he and his hot Iraqi girlfriend skipped their Maine town of Finderne with his company’s millions. His sister thinks his wife murdered him and hires detective James Early and his teenage son Tikkitin to find the truth. A Scandal at Crystalline follows Early and Tikki through an intriguing maze of unexpected encounters: financial shenanigans, tarot readings, two beautiful women who were sleeping with each other (and with Chandler Hammond), a police psychic, and a runaway kid in a remote mountain cabin. But things turn dark when their investigation forces them into a conclusion they never imagined could happen.
Excerpt
What the hell?
Early stood on the brakes and the car fishtailed to a stop. A dim creature was moving erratically in the gloom where the road met the edge of the woods. Bicycle? Moose? UFO?
He inched the Caprice along the shoulder, peering into the drizzle as the hazy form approached. Suddenly a jogger in a bright red Santa suit burst from the chilly mist. Early exhaled. The sight wasn’t unusual for Maine, although it seemed a bit bizarre for April. He cranked down his window and yelled, “Are you okay?”
Santa Jogger nodded, gave a cheery wave, and dashed down the darkening highway.
“Well… happy holidays, I guess.” Early drove on, bemused. Should I notify the cops? A Santa suit could be a good disguise for a heist.
Nah. If he reported a suspicious Santa to the county mounties, they would just laugh their asses off. Sure, they might say, we know about him, he breaks into houses at Christmas every year. And you’ll never believe how he gets in—right down the chimney.
Ah, the hell with it. He’d seen stranger things in Maine, and would again. Anyway, the jogging Santa didn’t have a toy sack, where would he stash the take? But then there was that fat belly…
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Author Biography
Amazon best-selling and international award-winning author Roslyn Reid lives with her corgi, Great Pyrenees and husband in Downeast Maine, where she gardens, lifts weights, and hikes. A former model, she contributed to Llewellyn's annual almanacs for several decades and has written for a few of the local newspapers. She is a Platinum Most Valuable member of the Author's Guild.
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Title The Spiricom
Author: Roslyn Reid
Genre: Paranormal mystery
Publisher: Foster Embry
Book Blurb
Voices from beyond…and his dead bride cries out for justice!
Excerpt
Early placed his hand on the table and leaned in. “Relax. We got this.”
He heard a loud plop and looked down at the table. A black hairy spider, as big as a Buick, had just fallen from the ceiling and landed beside his hand.
Early yelped and jumped to his feet. “Amber, gimme a fly swatter!”
Amber’s big blue eyes darted around in all directions. “I don’t have one.”
“This is Maine, how can you not have a fly swatter?”
“I’m sorry, Early.”
“Look out, that spider is getting away!”
The spider jumped onto the floor and headed for the door. Amber pulled it open and the spider ran out.
“Get it, Amber!”
“Why? It left.”
“It might come back. We need to get rid of it,” he said.
“All right. Let’s go.”
Early tracked the spider down the hall and into the waiting room. Now where the hell did it go?
Amber walked into the room behind him. “Did you find it?”
“I suspect the perp has concealed itself under the couch, but I can’t confirm that.”
She waved her hand at the couch. “Then get under there and look for it.”
Early stared at her. “You really think I can find a spider under that couch? Cut me a break.” He didn’t want to tell her the idea of crawling into a small dark space with a big black hairy spider scared the bejesus out of him.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)
Thank you, Roslyn, for sharing your writing journey and books with our readers!