by Lorie Lewis Ham

Today, May 29, Kings River Life celebrates its 8th Anniversary! I never would have guessed when we started that we would be where we are today-with a much more diverse magazine then I ever imagined. Not only do we cover local entertainment, animal rescue, food, charities, and events-we also have a very strong mystery section filled with book reviews and giveaways, short stories, TV reviews, author interviews, and more! And over the past year, we have added a new section called Tales of Diversity where we have shared more LGBT+ related articles, along with articles that share more of the immigrant experience, and about the Syrian refugees.

Soon, we will be launching a new adventure-a mystery podcast called Mysteryrat’s Maze Mystery Podcast! For anyone who hasn’t already read about it-it will feature mystery short stories, and first chapters of mystery novels read by local actors from the San Joaquin Valley! At this time, we are planning on releasing one a month, but sometimes there maybe bonus episodes.

Our first episode will be going up on June 5 and you will be able to find the podcast on PodBean, and soon it will also be available on iTunes. The first episode features a mystery short story by author Nancy Cole Silverman, read by local actor Cyndle Cee. Coming up this year we will have short stories by Dennis Palumbo, Neil Plakcy, Joan Leotta, Lesley A. Diehl, and more. Plus first chapters by Jeri Westerson, Kathleen Kaska, Nancy West, and more.

We also have a special newsletter just for the podcast which will come out each month letting your know about the next podcast, along with a look back at what’s been up on KRL in the past month, some mystery recommendations, and eventually some contests and possibly extra content only available in the newsletter! To sign up for that go to tinyletter.com/kingsriverlife.

I hope you join us on this new adventure! We hope to appeal to not only mystery fans, but also local theatre fans that we hope will tune in to hear their favorite local actors! Just a teaser on that note- we already have lined up Max Debbas, Paddy Myers, Casey Ballard, Thomas Nance, and Julia Reimer.

So I hope you tune in, and subscribe to our podcast and our newsletter, and join us in this new adventure! Thanks to all of our wonderful readers, and our staff and I hope we have many m ore years to go! And as our podcast announcer says at the end of each episode, we wish you a life full of mystery.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways.

Lorie Lewis Ham is our Editor-in-Chief and a contributor to various sections, coupling her journalism experience with her connection to the literary and entertainment worlds. Explore Lorie’s mystery writing at Mysteryrat’s Closet.