About
Meet Cynthia Varady
Cynthia Varady is an award-winning short story writer and creator of the Pandemonium Cozy Mystery series. During the week, you can find Cynthia streaming on Twitch, where she writes, researches, and edits her projects.
Her storytelling knack came at an early age, much to Cynthia parent’s delight and chagrin. They loved receiving praise from her teachers for her imaginative tales, but disliked it when she tried to use her creativity to political ends (The Dessert Debacle of 1981 held up the dinner table for several hours).
The Long Path to Novelist
Cynthia’s love of books and stories drove her to earn a BA in English Literature, and a master’s in Library Science. Like many MLIS holders, Cynthia never worked professionally in the library field. The saturation of graduates in the job market caused some bitterness initially, but now she sees it as a blessing. She is now content to volunteer at her son’s school library, checking in books, shelving them, and occasionally helping students find their new favorite books.
Parenting is like the Struggles of Sisyphus
After earning her degrees, she contracted a horrible case of reader’s block, followed by a sharp decline in storytelling. Then, in 2013, Cynthia and her husband welcomed the birth of their son. Then, the writing fog lifted, and she took the bull by the horns and finish the book she’d talked about writing since childhood. That was easier said than done. At age three, behavior specialists diagnosed Cynthia’s with Sensory Processing Disorder, along with a speech delay. A couple of of years later, he received a diagnosis of ADHD. All those tearful days made sense, but there was more to come. At age seven, the little guy was further diagnosed with autism. Once again, she postponed the book. But all was not lost.
With all this diagnosis, help trickled in. First speech therapy followed by a special day school, then ABA, which changed the family of three’s lives for the better. Now at ten, her energetic son needs less support, freeing Cynthia to dedicate much of the week to writing. For the first time, she took part in NaNoWriMo in 2021, completing her first cozy mystery. Two more cozy mysteries followed, one in April and the next in July of 2022.
Her fist book, The Girl with the Uninvited Ghost, is available in ebook.
What Else is in the Works?
Besides writing, Cynthia loves to travel and has been privileged to visit Thailand, Western Europe, Ireland, The UK, and Central America. She would love to visit to Eastern Europe, Australia, and New Zealand someday.
This summer her family is moving to Missouri for a work opportunity. Something Cynthia never thought she’d say is, ‘I live in Missouri.’ She relishes the opportunity to explore this beautiful state filled with trees, mountains, lakes, rivers, and cave. More caves than any other state in the nation.
Cynthia is a DIY nerd who loves to hack recipes and create crochet patterns, needlepoint, and embroidery.
While you wait for The Girl with the Uninvited Ghost to be published, please visit Cynthia’s blog and projects. Her newest project, launched in January 2021, focused on fresh fiction and literary analysis with a historical twist. Some shorts appearing on All that Glitters is Prose have been published on Wattpad. These stories have been rewritten and updated. If you are on Twitch, stop by and give her channel a watch, AllThatGlittersIsProse.