Ehrman, Kit 1956-

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EHRMAN, Kit 1956-

PERSONAL: Born 1956, in Baltimore, MD; children: Ray, Phil. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Catonsville Community College, A.A.; attended Wilson College. Politics: Republican. Hobbies and other interests: Horses.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Poisoned Pen Press, 6962 East First Avenue, Suite 103, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. Worked at a race track and as a groomer, barn manager, and veterinary technician on horse farms in Maryland and Pennsylvania; farm owner in Indiana.

MEMBER: Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America.

WRITINGS:

At Risk, Poisoned Pen Press (Scottsdale, AZ), 2003.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Dead Man's Touch, a sequel to At Risk; a Steve Cline mystery set at the racetrack where some men will do anything to get the right horse under the wire first.

SIDELIGHTS: Kit Ehrman spent two decades working with horses before she began writing about them. She first mucked out stalls, then became a groom, veterinary technician, and barn manager. She delivered foals on a breeding farm and also worked around a race track for a brief period. Ehrman bought small farms, upgraded them, and sold them and then bought her a keeper in Indiana, where she cares for her family and her horses and writes.

At Risk is Ehrman's debut mystery featuring barn manager Steve Cline and is the first in a planned series. Steve is the twenty-one-year-old son of a successful surgeon who has disowned his son for dropping out of college. He works at Foxdale, a Maryland horse farm that boards and trains thoroughbred hunters and jumpers. While entering the barn during the night to tend a sick animal, he comes upon a group of ski-mask-hooded men who are stealing horses. Steve is beaten but escapes to track down the thieves with the help of Detective James Ralston of the Maryland State Police. Other characters include Steve's friend Marty and the motherly farm manager, Mrs. Hill. A Publishers Weekly contributor called the cast of At Risk "memorable" and the relationship between Steve and the boarder Rachel "one of the novel's highlights. . . . With his youthful zeal and perseverance, Steve Cline makes a captivating hero and sleuth, one readers will be eager to see again."

Ehrman was drawn to writing mysteries because of her enthusiasm for the work of writer Dick Francis; in fact, the Publishers Weekly reviewer, a Kirkus Reviews writer, and the New York Times Book Review's Marilyn Stasio all noted the similarities between Ehrman's character and the typical Dick Francis hero. The Kirkus reviewer said "Ehrman's lively debut is not without its rough spots—mostly in the plotting—but the smart money could make the unusually likable protagonist a favorite in the Francis Stakes."

Stasio commented that Ehrman needs "more practice jumping those writing hurdles," but said that the country setting of the horse farm "reeks of authenticity" and the horses themselves "have personality to burn."

Ehrman told CA: "I grew up a mile from the Baltimore city line—not a likely place for a 'horse person' I suppose. I was working for the government and going to college part time when I happened to come across a copy of Dick Francis's In the Frame. Afterwards, I read every one of his mysteries I could get my hands on, quit the government job, and went to work on a horse farm in Howard County, Maryland.

"There's a lot of mental down time when you're mucking out stalls, even for me. I got into the habit of making up stories in my head, thinking about characters and plot lines, and bad guys. Today, I live on a horse farm in Indiana with my family. And even now, it's when I'm mucking stalls or mowing pastures that I find I'm most able to get into the story and think about what's going to happen next.

"When I started At Risk, I had the opening scene in mind (the horse theft) then I thoroughly developed the protagonist before I proceeded with plotting. I needed to decide what kind of person would be working as a barn manager at a horse farm. Then I developed the plot. I always know how the book will end; although the mechanics of the actual ending often changes. Then I get started writing. It's always a relief to get the first draft on paper, because I love revision. It's my favorite part of the job."