LIGONIER VALLEY
WRITERS
About Alicia Stankay
Alicia Stankay is a fiction writer and nature photographer. She also cultivates a room full of plants, including African violets, trailing ivy, peace lilies, orchids, and more. Their oxygenated air
boosts her creativity to give her stories that little twist at the end.
Her first book, Between Two Bears: Short Stories on the Journey of Life, was co-written with another writer, Bruce Midkiff. The authors paired up fifteen of their stories, giving each pair a theme. The stories often surprise the reader with many unexpected endings.
Her second short story book was Tales of Twenty Women: Reflections on Love. This time Alicia focused on women and their experiences in life and love. This love includes boyfriends and husbands, but also other family members.
Alicia then wrote the Stonecliff Mystery Series. You can find her books on Amazon and Kindle.
Stonecliff Mystery Series
When Kyra Martin inherits Aunt Mary’s house in Stonecliff, she finds a letter that discloses a family secret. She decides to stay at the house for a month to dig deeper into her family history and to follow her lifelong dream of writing her novel. Brad, her husband, opposes her decision, and he returns home to Pittsburgh, planning on weekend visits.
Frightening incidents begin to happen, including broken windows and the death of an intruder as he runs away. Her husband downplays her danger and refuses to support her writing efforts. Determined to stay and discover the reasons for the unexpected events, Kyra gets help from her next-door neighbor, Sam, and her aunt’s close friend, Trudy. Then Leonardo Napoli, a mystery writer, returns to Stonecliff after living many years in Italy, and relationships grow more complicated as further secrets are revealed.
Writing her book becomes secondary as events escalate and danger stalks Kyra and her friends. The detective on the case helps and exasperates Kyra as he searches for the individual responsible for the attacks. As the suspense builds, Kyra must rely on her own strength to protect herself and others, and eventually accept the surprising changes in her life.
The last thing Kyra Martin wants to do after a summer of frightening events is get involved with danger again. As she relaxes in her home after returning from a vacation in Lucca, Italy, with her recently discovered father, a knock on the door starts another round of unexpected incidents. This time it’s two teenagers asking for her help when a disturbing letter shows up from one boy’s father who hadn’t been seen in five years.Instead of enjoying the beauty of the autumn weather and working on editing her first book, Kyra becomes entangled in the problems of the teen’s family and the mystery of hidden money at the local library in Stonecliff. When she starts working part-time at the library, her new experiences provide more excitement than she expected. Her budding relationship with the detective she met during the stressful events in June is slowly warming up, but her drive to solve things on her own causes friction between them. With settings ranging from Kyra’s neighborhood, the Stonecliff Library, and the trails of Stonecliff Forest, Kyra, her father, and friends get sucked into escalating danger as the suspense builds.
Kyra Martin can’t wait to enjoy a long weekend at Clear Creek Lodge in Grantview to celebrate her birthday with family and friends. Then, her detective boyfriend Dave called to say he had broken his wrist while pursuing a suspect, and Kyra hopes it’s not a sign of future problems.
Before checking into the lodge, they witness a vehicle crashing into an art gallery, identify a known criminal, and take part in a manhunt. Finally settling into the lodge, Kyra begins to look forward to her friend’s photography show and her father’s reading of his latest mystery at local venues. Unfortunately, Kyra quickly realizes that she and her friends are at odds with the town’s sergeant, especially after he orders them to leave town.
When they return to Stonecliff, Kyra fears the increasing possibility of a criminal gang threatening both towns, because frightening incidents continue to happen. Police, friends, and family members struggle to stop attacks by a black pickup truck’s driver and to find two missing teens. As one problem is resolved, another obstacle arises, and time is running out. Will working together with strength and determination be enough to defeat their enemies?
Coming of Age
Short Stories
