Falling Into Place

Elaine L. Orr primarily writes traditional or cozy mysteries – defined as mysteries without a lot of gore that feature an amateur sleuth. She began writing Falling Into Place almost fifteen years before she published it. The story needed to feel just right.

Her Jolie Gentil cozy mystery series has ten books and a prequel. Behind the Walls was a finalist for the 2014 Chanticleer Mystery and Mayhem Awards. The first book in her River's Edge series, From Newsprint to Footprints, came out in late 2015, and the Logland series began with Tip a Hat to Murder in 2016.

She also writes plays and novellas, including the one-act play, Common Ground published in 2015. Her novella, Biding Time, was one of five finalists in the National Press Club's first fiction contest, in 1993. Elaine conducts presentations and teaches online classes on book publishing and other writing-related topics. Nonfiction includes Writing in Retirement: Putting New Year's Resolutions to Work, and Words to Write By: Getting Your Thoughts on Paper.

Elaine grew up in Maryland and moved to the Midwest in 1994. She received her B.A. from the University of Dayton and M.A. from the American University. She did some journalism course work at the University of Maryland and took fiction courses from The Writer's Center in Bethesda, MD, the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival, and Georgetown University's Continuing Education Program. Elaine is a regular attendee at the Midwest Writers Workshop and Magna Cum Murder. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Indiana Writers’ Center.