Author Awarded For Military Fiction

Rosalie Spielman was always interested in writing but never saw it as a viable career. First, she was in the Army, although briefly, and then traveled with her husband during his 24-year military career. The couple moved to Severna Park and Spielman started writing cozy murder mysteries in 2015.

“I had just turned 40 (in 2013). I told a friend of mine at the time I was interested in writing, and she encouraged me, reminded me I wasn’t getting any younger,” Spielman recalled. “Then, I showed what I wrote to my sister, and she loved my voice, even though I didn’t know what that was yet.”

She wrote three novels and submitted them to agents without success before switching to cozy mysteries, a book genre similar to the style of the 1980s show “Murder, She Wrote.” Unlike thrillers, cozies don’t have on-the-page violence, and the spunky sleuths always solve the case by the end. Since switching genres, Spielman has written five books in her “Hometown Murders” series, focusing on retired military veteran Tessa Treslow. “At first, Tessa was going to be a mechanic, but my late agent steered me to making her military to broaden appeal,” Spielman said. “It was the right choice.”

And a personal one. Spielman incorporates her experiences as a military spouse as well as details from her sister’s full tenure in the Air Force into that series. She set the series in Idaho, since Tessa’s fictional town was inspired by Spielman and her parents’ connection to a similar real-life hamlet in the Potato State.

Her other series, “Aloha Lagoon,” is a shared world with other authors. Together, they set the rules, and each author takes turns creating new installments. However, it can be a challenge to pay attention to the continuity of the setting and collected cast of characters.

“If one of the other writer’s characters guest stars, then we can ask them for advice,” Spielman said. “If I have Samantha the surf instructor appear, then I just contact my friend Beth (her creator) about it,” she added, although having a master document doesn’t always keep it straight. The authors once created a duplicate coffee shop in town by accident.

Spielman is also a member of the Military Writers Society of America, a group that focuses on supporting veterans with their writing. It started to assist them with focusing on journaling to work through their service experience in a therapeutic way. The organization has since evolved to foster fiction writing via an annual contest.

In 2024, Spielman submitted “Welcome Home to Murder,” book one in her series, for award consideration and won the gold. This year, the second book, “Home is Where the Murder Is,” took home silver while book three, “Murder Comes Home,” earned her a repeat gold. Spielman explained that the contest works by assessing each book at the individual level, on its own merits, and not necessarily against others within a given category.

“As a result, you can have multiple gold or silver medal winners that year,” she said.

Still, it comes as a sweet reward as Spielman has tried for a while to earn larger recognition. Since her books are put out by a small press, they haven’t always been noticed by awards committees like books that are traditionally produced by larger New York publishers.

Readers and fans can meet Spielman at the Severna Park Community Center pop-up holiday market on November 14. Fiction-wise, Spielman will complete the final book on her “Hometown Murders” contract and will write a proposal for a new series in hopes of attracting an agent. Even with new writing on the horizon, it’s likely Spielman will continue crafting cozy mysteries.

“My readers call them ‘comfortable,’” she said. “There’s no violence, sex or cursing, like a palette cleanser for them, and I like giving (readers) that comfort.”

If the medals she won are any indication, her readers like coming to her for that cozy, down-home comfort too.

To follow Spielman, visit www.rosalie-spielman-author.com or explore her Facebook community, You Know the Spiel.