First-time author Margaret Mizushima, whose debut mystery Killing Trail launches on Dec. 8 (2015), talks about her path to publication and how she developed a police dog, Robo, as a major character. She also talks about a key moment at the Colorado Gold conference where she opted for patience—a moment that led to a key pitch and a book contract. After earning a master’s degree in speech pathology, Margaret practiced in a hospital and her own rehabilitation agency, and now she assists her husband with their veterinary clinic and Angus cattle herd. Her short story “Hay Hook” was published in the 2014 Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers anthology Crossing Colfax. Killing Trail earned a starred review from Publisher's Weekly.
