Indiana mystery author wins Best Book of Indiana Award

Indiana writer Kit Ehrman’s fourth mystery book “TRIPLE CROSS” won the Best Book of Indiana Award in 2007 doesn’t mean she’s solved all the mysteries of writing. \n“I’m struggling with a bit of writer’s block right now,” she said. “For me, it only happens when I allow myself to be pressured by expectations.”\nBut that doesn’t mean she’s giving up any time soon. \n“When you’re writing, it’s time to put aside the editor and agent and reviewers and concentrate on the story,” Ehrman said. “I try to work out all the kinks in the plotting phase so that once I begin to write, I can fly.” \nEhrman’s passion for writing was fueled by her love for reading mystery stories. Although Sherlock Holmes is her favorite detective, contemporary author Dick Francis is her biggest influence. She said she was so caught up in the horse world that Francis portrayed in his novels that she was compelled to quit her job and start work in the horse industry, where she worked for more than 25 years. \nOn July 22, 1996, Ehrman attempted to write her first novel. She said that although she didn’t start writing seriously until she ended her career in the horse industry, she remembers that date because of a journal she kept. \nIn 2002, she said she was reading a novel about horses and was disappointed with the ending. She said she made the “ultimate mistake” by thinking she could write the novel better.\n“Needless to say, I discovered that writing an exciting, suspenseful ending and keeping your hero smart is difficult to pull off,” she said. “But I fell in love with the writing process.” \nEhrman’s first book “At Risk,” released in 2002, is about a 21-year-old protagonist Steve Cline, a barn manager, who is kidnapped and nearly murdered after thieves attempt to steal horses from the barn where he works. Cline tracks down the thieves himself and in the process accidentally becomes an amateur detective.\nShe said she thought of the idea for Steve Cline and the story line while working as a barn manager at a hunter-jumper facility in Maryland.\n“Dealing with a large number of animals meant that I’d occasionally walk into a disaster of some sort,” she said. “An injured or dead horse, or on a lighter note, 25 school horses running loose, and I was the only person around to keep them from getting on the road.” \nEhrman said she asked herself, what would have happened if she walked into a disaster generated by someone up to no good? From there, Ehrman created her main character. She said she wanted a male hero because she knew it would be more fun to write a male protagonist. \nAfter she developed a plot and main character, Ehrman began writing her first novel.\nEhrman said one of her best experiences as an author was winning the Best Book of Indiana Award in 2007. The award was sponsored by the Indiana Library Federation, which made it even more special to her.\n“That kind of recognition is great, but it’s also wonderful to receive an enthusiastic letter from a reader who got what I was trying to do with a particular scene or book,” she said.\nMystery author Beverle Myers said she met Ehrman four years ago through Sister in Crime, an international support and networking organization for female mystery writers. She said they have also had book signings and other promotional events together. Myers said Ehrman’s books are so well-written that when she reads them she is immediately drawn into the world of horses, a topic she knows nothing about. \n“Her love and respect for the animals is also very evident,” Myers said. “Though the protagonist of her novels is a young man, Steve Cline, I see a lot of Kit in Steve.”\nSusan Whittaker, owner of Viewpoint Books in Columbus, Ind., has known Ehrman for nearly five years. Whittaker said it is important for authors to have small, local writers such as Ehrman display their works in independent bookstores. Independent bookstores generally are more willing to stock and feature books by local authors than the chain stores, she said. \n“Every year our best-selling titles are from local authors,” Whittaker said. “When you get a local author who writes at the high level that Kit does, it works for both of us.” \nAlthough Ehrman is a stay-at-home mom, she said being a writer changes after being published. She said the promotion side of the job takes up approximately 50 percent of her time, which puts more pressure on the writing aspect of her career. \nEven though getting published is difficult and time-consuming, Ehrman said if you’re willing to become a writer, you have to go back to the basics of writing. \n“Have faith in yourself. Write for yourself, not for a trend. By the time you get someone to look at your work, the trend will have changed, anyway,” she said. “When you write from the heart, it shows.”