I'm C.J. Winters and welcome to my page

My fantasy life began early, through movies more than books. Star-struck, I played Western roles on my pony and kept a serial story going in my head at bedtime, naturally casting myself as the heroine. When my adult career as advertising copywriter ended, I began writing a different form of fiction--romances and love stories with a different twist than those being published at the time. Admittedly self-indulgent, I first write to entertain myself. I don't think writing is hard work (impossible at times, but not hard!), for as a man once said to me, "I've always had the idea that work should be fun."

I've always been more interested in Tomorrow than Yesterday. Then I discovered the American past offers a wealth of backgrounds for some of my stories. Combined with my fascination for the extra-normal, the discovery led to three time-travel romances, Moon Night, Sleighride, and Right Man, Wrong Time, plus A Star in the Earth, sequel to Moon Night. The Autumn in Cranky Otter series is a 20th Century American family tapestry, woven of the love stories and luminous psychic threads binding four generations. Books I and II, Foredestined Summer and Fires of War and Winter, are available now, with Books III and IV, A Dazzling Spring and Autumn in Cranky Otter due later this year. A mainstream romance, Mai's Ties, is also scheduled this year. All of my novels–-including a paranormal cozy mystery trio, Show-Me Murder--are published in e-formats and paperback by Hard Shell Word Factory.

A couple of years ago I began writing short stories for conference contests, and some of those have been published in multi-author anthologies. Beyond the Mundane: Unravelings (2005 EPPIE award winner) includes three of my mysteries, and I have two romances (one featuring mice!) in Beyond the Mundane: Flights of Mind. I also have a mystery in Mysteries of the Ozarks Vol. I, and another in Murder, Mystery, Madness, Magic, and Mayhem.

Although I live in the Kansas City, Missouri, area, I prefer rustic settings for my stories. Moon Night, Right Man, Wrong Time, and Autumn in Cranky Otter take place in the Ozarks, with Sleighride in rural Vermont. Creating intense relationships and helping them unfold through intriguing, subtle or whimsical interplay is my idea of fun. Story plotting is like weight-lifting for my brain. I collect puzzle pieces and then find places to fit them.
You can read the reviews and a chapter of my novels free at cjwinters.com