![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cal-transparent.png\"){kind=spacer}
<\/p>\nBecky Clark is an award-winning fiction and nonfiction author, the seventh of eight kids, which explains both her insatiable need for attention and her atrocious table manners. She likes to read funny books, so it felt natural to write them. She writes the Mystery Writer\u2019s Mysteries, the Sugar Mill Marketplace Mysteries, the Crossword Puzzle Mysteries, and \u201cEight Weeks to a Complete Novel\u2014Write Faster, Write Better, Be More Organized.\u201d Visit BeckyClarkBooks.com for free books and short stories.<\/p>\n
SunLit: Tell us this book\u2019s backstory \u2013 how did you come to be a contributor? (Or if an editor is responding: How did you choose your contributors and construct the anthology?)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Becky Clark: I\u2019m the editor of the Sisters in Crime Colorado chapter short story anthology \u201cColorado Mystery Merge\u2014Crime Fiction Collection 1.\u201d I was a contributor to an anthology a few years earlier that had a similar premise to it, but when I saw the final product, I thought about some ways to do it differently to make the book flow better.\u00a0<\/p>\n
UNDERWRITTEN BY<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Each week, The Colorado Sun and Colorado Humanities & Center For The Book feature an excerpt from a Colorado book and an interview with the author. Explore the SunLit archives at\u00a0coloradosun.com\/sunlit<\/a>.<\/p>\n The unique aspect of this anthology is what I call the merge story, which I wrote. It sets up the mystery in Denver of local celebrity Dr Dictionary, who hosts the Knowledge Bowls for kids. Then all the subsequent short stories \u2014 even though they\u2019re standalone stories \u2014 drop a clue into their stories about Dr Dictionary\u2019s murder.\u00a0<\/p>\n You know how when there\u2019s a big local news story you hear about it everywhere? That\u2019s how this is. All the stories take place in Colorado during the same week, so characters in every story hear some aspect of the investigation about his murder, whether it\u2019s on TV news, radio, social media, or just gossip among friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sisters in Crime is a national organization of mystery writers. The first 20 people in our chapter who told me they wanted to play in this sandbox were in. We range from multi-published authors to pre-published, in all crime fiction genres. When I had my 20 contributors, I doled out a clue to each of them to drop however they wanted into their stories as they wrote them. Each one hit it out of the park!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cColorado Mystery Merge\u201d <\/p>\n >> Read an excerpt<\/a> <\/p>\n Where to find it:<\/p>\n SunLit present new excerpts from some of the best Colorado authors that not only spin engaging narratives but also illuminate who we are as a community. Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n SunLit: Place the excerpt in context. How does it fit into the anthology as a whole?<\/p>\n Clark: My story, \u201cMurder at the Twelve Mooses Ballroom\u201d sets forth all the suspects in Dr Dictionary\u2019s murder and ends with the line, \u201cWhat a stupid way to die, he thought.\u201d I write cozy mysteries, which are typically funny and require a bit of suspension of disbelief. I knew I needed my characters to have memorable names and be set apart from anything anyone would be writing in the subsequent stories.\u00a0<\/p>\n The reader would need to be alerted to the fact the story they were reading was talking about the mystery merge story. Careful readers can solve Dr Dictionary\u2019s murder. The final story in the anthology is the denouement of \u201cMurder at the Twelve Mosses Ballroom.\u201d<\/p>\n SunLit: What did the process of organizing and\/or assembling this anthology add to your knowledge and understanding of your craft?<\/p>\n Clark: I\u2019m not really a short story writer. I\u2019ve published less than 10, I think. And I\u2019ve never edited an anthology, or really anything, other than my own work. I was scared \u2014 partly because I was editing my friends \u2014 but also because I knew I didn\u2019t know what I didn\u2019t know! Could I do it? Could I learn while I did it? Would I get a nice mix of genres? Would everyone truly understand the assignment?\u00a0<\/p>\n The answer to each, I\u2019m thrilled to report, was a resounding \u201cYes!\u201d I get asked about how I assembled the anthology, which always makes me laugh. The stories are alphabetical by author\u2019s first name simply because that was easiest for me. Like I said, the contributors are all friends of mine from our Sisters in Crime Colorado chapter, which by the way, after 10 years in existence, we finally named: Rocky Mountain High Crimes chapter.<\/p>\n SunLit: What were the biggest challenges you faced in writing your contribution?<\/p>\n Clark: I needed to have enough suspects and to set the stage \u2014 in 3,500 words \u2014 for at least 20 clues and red herrings. That\u2019s hard!<\/p>\n SunLit: What do you want readers to take from your piece?\u00a0<\/p>\n Clark: We would love for readers to get a sense of all the different styles, POVs, and genres involved in this anthology, under the crime fiction umbrella. If they enjoyed a story in a genre they\u2019ve never read before, we hope they seek out more. If they liked a particular story, maybe they\u2019ll contact the author or find more of their books to read.\u00a0<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfa7 Listen here!<\/p>\n Go deeper into this story in this episode of The Daily Sun-Up podcast. <\/p>\n Subscribe: Apple<\/a> | Spotify<\/a> | RSS<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Copy-of-sunlit.png\")
<\/p>\n