Author Spotlight: Sydney Abrams

I have enjoyed a lengthy career as a conservatory-trained musician, and spent the last thirty years in the recording studio, where I clocked in over ten thousand recorded song titles, ranging from solo cello to full orchestral works. But at the same time, I’ve always been drawn to literature and the arts.

Growing up, I was lucky to have a mom who immersed me in the world of imagination through reading and the wonders of the creative arts. We would go to the library and come home, giddy, with an armload of books—both of us were avid mystery readers. She was also an arts and crafts lover, and she took me on her creative adventures, including learning to develop film, making stained glass, doing silk screening, and textile work—you name it, we did it. She taught me that there are no limits to creativity, and that the art world should be a place of joy and imagination.

Those influences stayed with me into adulthood. Reading is a happy place for me, and I’m particularly drawn to mystery book series, where I can eagerly anticipate continuing the journey with the characters. I also have kept my hand in the arts. I’ve created pieces for auctions and commissions, and I’ve been part of an art group for over twenty years. This group has some amazing talent in it, but we really meet for fun, laughter, and camaraderie. I used to joke that our art group would make the perfect cast for a mystery series—and then it became a reality.

A little bit about Author Sydney Abrams…

My arts and crafts cozy mystery series is steeped in a lifetime of experience in the arts, coupled with a love for mystery books. I was immersed in both worlds from childhood, and they’ve remained a part of my life ever since. I’ve created artwork for auctions and commissions and have been part of an art group composed of both professional and amateur artists for over twenty years.

Literature and the arts often go hand in hand, but these worlds truly collided when I realized my art group offered the perfect cast of characters for a cozy mystery series. This was a running joke during our art group get-togethers until 2020, when—coping with the upheaval and uncertainty of the pandemic—a friend prompted me to start writing the book. I did, and as it turns out, I love writing about a world I want to be immersed in as much as I’ve always loved letting my imagination live in the worlds created by other authors.

I finished the first two books, and even though life was somewhat returning to normal, I found myself drawn back to the desk to write and revise. Eventually, I took the plunge and got a crash course in writing by working with a great editor. That experience was invaluable because in 2024 I was ready to submit, and I feel so fortunate that the result was that The Wild Rose Press saw something in the series that piqued their interest.

Still Life, Still Dead and A Deadly Craft are the first two books in my Arts and Crafts Mystery series. The third, An Artless Murder, releases on September 1st, and I am now focusing on the fourth book.

Due to an extensive online presence from my decades as a recording studio musician, I write under my pen name, Sydney Abrams.

This is Author Sydney Abrams writing and publication journey in her own words…

Inspiration to start writing…

My writing journey has been a bit non-traditional, as it started during the pandemic when I was absent from the studio for an extended period due to health reasons. I had a lot of time on my hands, and a friend from my art group prompted me to distract myself by starting the book we had always joked about. On a lark, I did—and I quickly fell in love with writing. I get to live in my head with the characters, setting, and storyline—which being in the light mystery genre, means it’s fun and quirky, and of course, there’s a murder to write and solve. I get to use my imagination to create an atmosphere I would want to lose myself in if I were reading it.

Over that first year, I completed two books in the series. However, I was now at a point where I knew I needed help. Decades of discipline and creativity in my job, helped me greatly, but I had no formal training in writing. After someone in the industry pointed out that having an editor would be beneficial, I took the plunge. I invested in an editor, and boy, did I luck out. Not only did she do a great job, she did it in a way where I could learn—it became an intensive course in writing. She helped me reach a point where I could submit, and that is when the Wild Rose Press took an interest in my series. I now have three books in my arts and crafts mystery series with them, and the fourth is underway.

A Deadly CraftBlurb

Alex and her artist friends from the Creative Workshop are in high spirits for the annual winter arts and crafts festival. However, the festival’s cheer could be masking a dark conspiracy. An unidentified hit-and-run victim is found dead in a snowbank, followed by the shocking murder of one of their own. When a member of her staff is framed for the crime, Alex must dive headlong into a labyrinth of clues and artfully piece together the connection between the two cases. But it will take some creative thinking to survive a deadly game of cat and mouse when Alex and her young assistant, Maggie, are stalked by the killer.

Sydney’s favourite scene from A Deadly Craft…

The rooms at the Lodge had small balconies with slider doors so people could let in the fresh mountain air. I sort of remembered the room schematic from the fall when Jack and I were searching one of the rooms, and I guesstimated where these three rooms were. Could someone climb out and exit the building without going through the hotel?

A cartoon figure of Jack sat on one of my shoulders, telling me not to do something stupid. On my other shoulder, a figurative form of my inner voice was telling me to just take a quick look around. In order to stop the debate going on between these two, I got out of the car. I’d just take a little stroll and scope things out. A happy medium.

A sidewalk ran alongside the building, about twenty feet from the first-floor rooms, and I felt a little like a voyeur. Through the sheers, I could see the silhouette of someone blow-drying their hair, and others eating at the table with the TV on. But I was not there to look in windows. I quickly determined it was unlikely someone could exit from the second floor. It wasn’t impossible, but they might break an ankle in the process. But it was possible to climb out the first-floor rooms, so I scanned the ground to see if there were any telltale signs that someone had done so.

I had moved off the sidewalk to take a closer look when I heard “Good morning, Alex.”

The voice startled me, and as I clumsily tried to get back to the sidewalk, I tripped and landed in the snow.

“Oh dear,” a voice said, and I looked up to see Oscar peering at me through his sliding door a few feet down from where I lay.

Oh crap. This was not good. Jack was going to throttle me. “Hi, Oscar,” I said, nonchalantly.

He opened his door farther and said, “Do you need some help?”

I got to my knees and pushed myself up. “No, no, I’m fine,” I singsonged, wiping the snow from my jeans.

He opened the screen door and said, “I have an extra towel. Why don’t you come get that snow off. Otherwise you’ll be both cold and wet.”

I walked a few feet over and awkwardly climbed over the railing into his room, thusly proving my hypothesis that it was possible to get in this way. While Oscar shuffled into the bathroom, I tried to come up with a rational story for what I was doing. I came up blank.