Happy Tuesday, (eight days before Christmas)! I’m so pleased that Author Ann Dominguez joins me today because I was s-o-o-o curious how her story ended up in Sisters in Crime Mystery Merge Anthology. It’s safe to say I love anything Ann writes. I also think you’ll love the backstory behind her short story, Call Julie Before You Dig. Please welcome Author Ann Dominguez. ~ Donnell
Colorado Mystery Merge Anthology Provides Needed Nudge
By Ann Dominguez
Author Ann Dominguez
I wrote the original “Call Julie Before You Dig” in 2011, inspired by Illinois’s JULIE (Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators.) I workshopped it at an RMFW (Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers) conference. While I was very attached to Julie and Raj, I could not successfully swing the denouement at the end. No spoilers, but in the original story Julie’s escape was passive, and it served to kill the spark of whatever was growing in her, though I didn’t see that at the time.
When the opportunity arose to submit a story to the Colorado Mystery Merge, I pulled Julie and Raj out of the proverbial drawer to see if they could be saved. I fell in love with their friendship all over and wanted to try again. This time I asked myself what Julie needed in the bigger scheme of life instead of only what she needed in that moment, and this version of the story came together.
Like Julie, sometimes I need a nudge from my friends, parents, or coworkers. Writing, however, is a very solitary activity and I can get stuck in my routine without asking the right questions. Workshopping the story with other writers at the original conference, and then rewriting for the anthology served as the nudge I needed.
About the Author: Ann’s first book, The Match (2015), won Best Mystery/Suspense from Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. It was followed by Lost Things (2019) and The Code (2022.) Her most recent story appears in the Colorado Mystery Merge anthology (2024.) She has published in JAMA, The Christian Science Monitor, Medical Economics, The Well, and Venn Magazine. She has practiced medicine in Chicago, Denver, Haiti, Thailand and Guatemala.
To purchase the Sisters in Crime Colorado Mystery Merge:
Not only do I think your story is clever, Ann, I think Chicago naming that utility department is also! Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators. They should make you their spokesperson 🙂 Thanks for being my guest and talking about the Mystery Merge!
Thanks, Donnell! And point for Illinois!