A long time ago, back when I lived in Pasco County struggling to A) find work and B) get stories published, I ran into Sarah Glenn at the various local writers groups, especially a few NaNoWriMo events in North Pinellas County. She and her partner Gwen Mayo were looking to start up their own small press (Mystery And Horror LLC), and had plans to get some anthologies going to promote their interests in writing horror and mystery works.
It was 2013 when they got around to starting their press and asking for submissions for humorous horror stories for a series called Strangely Funny. I figured my absurdist sense of humor could apply, and I put in a new work called "I Must Be Your First" for their opening volume. They didn't have to accept my submission - they had dozens - but they took it and I was officially a published writer.
Sarah and Gwen took a number of other shorts for that series, as well as stories for their Mardi Gras Murder anthology, and History and Mystery Oh My (which received a lot of acclaim).
I hadn't seen them in-person for some time - Sarah got overwhelmed caring for her ailing mom, and then moved to Albany GA with Gwen once her mom passed away - but I kept in touch with them through Facebook and just seeing in general how things were going.
Sadly, Sarah suffered a major stroke last week, serious enough that there wasn't much else could be done to recover and... well... Gwen reported that Sarah passed away on Sept. 15th.
I am forever grateful that Sarah and Gwen took a chance on me as a writer, and I am hopeful her spirit is traveling well across the great unknown. Requiem in pace... /cries
