About Adair

I never planned to be a writer. I thought success in life was defined by social status and money. At least that was the lesson I learned at my parents’ knees. So, I did my best to marry well, ignoring the warning voices in my head. As one might expect, my personal life took some pretty serious hits although to those of you looking from the outside all would have seemed just fine.

A second marriage and a decision to stop drinking (my response to not liking the things that had happened to me as a result of some really bad choices I had earlier made) started me on a spiritual, not religious, path. It’s been over 30 years now, and while life certainly has presented me with challenges, the call to continue on the path has remained strong.

So, what does any of that have to do with me being a writer?

By 2008, a year after my father died, I had spent many years peeling the onion of my life and the affects of my decisions. At the urging of a close friend, I decided to tell my family’s story - the story of generational dysfunction, how decisions we make affect our children, and how healing and reconciliation can occur. Biologically Bankrupt, published in 2010, is the book that tells that story. I also created a website, adairsanders.com. where I began to post essays about life, and three years later, in a writing class I had decided to take at the Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, Allison Parker, the protagonist in my current Allison Parker Mystery Series, introduced herself to me. The books in that series are: As Sick As Our Secrets; What Comes Around; Ashes to Ashes; Suffer the Children, Wolf, The Games We Play, and And So It Ends. In the summer of 2018 I published a collection of essays, Out of the Ashes, selecting some of my favorites from the hundreds I had written between the publication of my memoir and the first book in the mystery series. Then, in 2022, I published From There To Here And In Between, a second book containing essays that I thought had been lost, but were “rediscovered” out on the cloud.

I have believed all along - ever since I wrote Biologically Bankrupt - that that first book was in response to a spiritual call. And I now believe that the Allison Parker books, which are pure fiction and FUN to read, will somehow introduce Biologically Bankrupt to a larger audience. I don’t understand how it works, I just know it does.

Anyway, I hope you will read all of my books. They are on Amazon in Kindle, paperback and Audible. They are also available at Highland Books in Brevard, NC, Malaprops Bookstore in Asheville, NC, The Book Loft on Amelia Island, Florida, and Star Line Books in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

In addition to writing, I’ve been drawn to painting in the medium of pastels. I started this other kind of creating after confronting a terrible writer’s block while working on Suffer the Children, book 4 in the mystery series. To my surprise and delight, working another part of my brain helped with the writer’s block and after an 8 week pastels class I returned to my writing and finished that book. Just recently, struggling yet again to birth a new mystery, I found myself dealing with another bout of writer’s block, but this time I knew exactly what to do. The result was three pastels of family pets and a pastel of a country church. I’ve posted pictures on my portfolio page if you care to take a look. I’ve also created some pretty cool Folk Art note cards from three of the paintings. You can check out my Etsy store PastelsByAdair for those.

Since then I’ve added three more books to the mystery series: Wolf (book 5) and The Games We Play (book 6).

I guess my summary of all of the above is this - the Universe is full of surprises. Who knows what’s coming next? Whatever it is, in remembering that I chose this life for the lessons it holds for me this time around, all I can do is wait in expectant anticipation. And enjoy the ride.

Blessings,