Yoga, Puppy Dog Birthdays, Murder--and an Enthusiastic Hello

 

I’m delighted, humbled, and a little intimidated to join the fabulous authors at Killer Hobbies. After all, I’m the most junior author of the group. My first novel, MURDER STRIKES A POSE, will be published in January.

I never intended to be a writer. But then again, I never intended to be a yoga teacher. If you’d asked me in my early thirties, I’d have told you that yoga was for woo woo Gumby wannabes, and writing was for people who had more talent in their left pinky toe than I possessed in my five-foot-two-inch body.

The universe disagreed.

A car accident left me with severe chronic back pain. After seven years of suffering, I reluctantly tried yoga.  The physical healing I found was surprising, but the healing of my mind and spirit was nothing short of miraculous. I wanted to share this gift with others, so I left my management job at Microsoft, became a certified yoga therapist, and opened my yoga studio, Whole Life Yoga. I guess you could say yoga was my metaphysical suitor. It wooed me into loving it.

Writing acted more like a stalker.

Three years ago, a feisty yoga teacher named Kate Davidson popped into my head and refused to leave, no matter how much I begged her to. She insisted that I tell the story of how she found the love of her life—a German shepherd named Bella—while solving the murder of her homeless friend George. She promised me that her story was both entertaining and important.  Kate is one stubborn woman. She wouldn’t stop pestering me until I gave in

Two years and forty-three drafts later, things moved at warp speed. I signed with agent Margaret Bail of Inklings Literary Agency in January. She sold the Downward Dog Mystery Series to Midnight Ink a little over two months later. My first book, MURDER STRIKES A POSE, will be available January 8, 2014.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy learning more about the loves that inspire my writing. I’ll share information about yoga and tell stories about my own crazy German shepherd, Tasha, who turns nine years old today.  Like Bella, Tasha is a complex creature. She has enhanced and complicated my life, given me love and frustration, created unbelievable stress, and gifted me with profound joy. Tasha has made a better person—just like Bella did Kate.

Thank you for joining me on this journey.  I hope you enjoy my writing and that it benefits you in some way. Please send me questions, whether they’re about yoga, dogs, or the meaning of life. The meaning of life eludes me. I’m still learning about dogs. But after thirteen years teaching yoga, I can at least make a good stab at answering those.

I look forward to getting to know you.

Namaste

Tracy Weber

Learn more about my yoga mysteries at TracyWeberAuthor.com, and join my author mailing list for updates on MURDER STRIKES A POSE, available early 2014 from Midnight Ink!