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Meet T. K. Sheffield – An Author!

I met TK Sheffield on Facebook through the Wisconsin Writers Association Member Group. She writes stories for readers to laugh and escape. The Backyard Model Mysteries are The Devil Wears Prada meets a Wisconsin supper club, books served with a brandy old-fashioned and cheese curds. Being originally from Wisconsin, you can tell with just one look at me I am all too familiar with cheese curds, brats and supper clubs.

Her new releases include a children’s horse story and The Valentine Lines, a screwball comedy. TK is a UW-Madison and Mount Mary University graduate, and she serves on the board of the Wisconsin Writers Association, hosts the Wispresso Cafe, which is an author chat show, and is a member of Blackbird Writers, Sisters in Crime, and SCBWI.

She is a lifelong equestrian, and TK lives in rural Wisconsin and shares glimpses of sunrises and the wildlife in her backyard. When she sent me the picture she wanted me to use for this post, she made sure to point out she was the one on the right.

Why did I have a story to tell?

I enjoyed reading as a child. If I wasn’t cleaning stalls in a horse barn in exchange for riding lessons, I was reading books, each page a galloping adventure. I couldn’t wait to write. In fact, I have the first book I ever wrote. It’s called The Farm, and it’s written and illustrated in crayon on construction paper. A gripping tale about a child spending her day with tractors, chickens, and shocking green and purple horses. Rare creatures, those. The tale ends happily, thankfully. I’ve never been one for sad or frightening endings.

What sets you apart from other authors?

My sense of humor, I think. To paraphrase Mark Twain, all you have to do to write silly is cross out the unfunny stuff. My author tagline is “stories for readers to laugh and escape.” I really mean it. My mysteries and romances are meant to entertain. They’re escapist vacation reads, getaways in a book. Stories to whisk readers away from drama and politics into a world where people are funny, the bad guy (or girl) gets caught, and justice reigns.

How do ideas for stories present themselves?

I love this question! Usually when I’m doing something else. Cutting the grass. Taking a walk. In the shower. Driving. In fact, if I’m driving and an idea hits—a story, a plot twist, a line of dialogue—I have to turn the radio down and drive in silence while thinking about it. I write in silence, too. No distractions. Perhaps it’s because of my limited brainpower as I’ve gotten older, but I prefer to think it’s to hear the muse.

What genre(s) do you write and why?

First, it was mysteries—cozy tales set in quaint small towns, places I loved and knew as a teenager. As a horse girl who traveled to and fro around Wisconsin, from one small-town show arena to another, these places became ingrained in my DNA. Their downtowns were thriving. The countryside was stunning—nothing like a sunrise at an arena in the middle of a hayfield (Albany, Wisconsin), or near a river (Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin). The books I read were Nancy Drew Mysteries and The Black Stallion. The TV shows were “Murder, She Wrote,” “Charlie’s Angels,” and “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.” There was something about solving a puzzle and British humor that intrigued me. I’ve argued that genre fiction are mysteries at heart. There’s a quest to be solved, a riddle wrapped in a narrative enigma. But it was the intrigue, puzzle-solving, and the small-town coziness—like a quilt on a chilly evening—that attracted me. I’ve ventured into children’s horse stories and romcoms, too, as my writing skills have evolved.

Besides writing, what are your other talents?

My husband says I set land-speed records for grass cutting. And I possess sorcery that curses the Packers’ passing game, turning receivers into butterfingered phantoms when I watch. On a happier note, I can ride a decent 20-meter circle on horseback. And I keep getting summoned to writing groups to teach classes about writing loglines and short descriptions. So I’ve got that going for me.

Books that had an impact on me.

The James Herriot All Creatures series. Nelson DeMille’s The Gold Coast. Herriot’s series was a glimpse into a new world: life as a veterinarian told from an English humorist. And DeMille was brilliant at funny dialogue.

Dinner with five individuals, living or dead.

George Plimpton, P. G. Wodehouse, Nelson DeMille, Secretariat, and Dorothy Parker. What fun we’d have, a night of wit and horse laughs! And the meal would be a salad—a garden of greens. Healthy choice for all involved, especially Big Red.

Are you an outliner or a pantser?

Funny. When I wrote “pantser,” it kept getting auto-corrected to “panther.” I pick panther, definitely. Between writing a tedious outline for a novel—inciting incident, story beats, midpoint, black moment, climax, denouement—I’d choose to be a panther every time. Who wouldn’t? You’re amazing, a sleek shadow. Slink around on silent paws with huge emerald eyes gleaming like jewels. Jump with the grace of a shooting star. Count me in. (But to answer: I’m a reformed pantser. I create an outline and adjust as necessary.)

Describe what you write and what a reader may discover.

I write stories for readers to laugh and escape. They’re funny mysteries and throwback screwball comedies bright as a freshly poured root beer. As for the mysteries, the funniest review I’ve ever had was from a fellow who observed, “How the characters remain so physically alluring amidst the avalanche of ice cream sundaes, milkshakes, grilled bratwursts, fried cheese curds, chocolates and booze is as big a mystery as the murder.” Hilarious—and spot on! My books are set in Wisconsin, where we tailgate when the wind blows and bake goodies only on days ending in “y.” So, readers will discover what life is like in the land of fish fries, cheese curds, and family gatherings.

Is there something you set out to do, but it didn’t work out?

Yes, publish my first mystery novel. A tapestry of wit and intrigue, surely my only bestseller. I wrote a story set in the ‘80s about a scrappy farm girl protagonist who discovers a shadowy plot to sell off water rights in her beloved small town. (Access to water is the new gold, after all.) The story was a cross between a cheeky British detective series and a Hallmark Mystery, with a heart as warm as a summer barn dance. It was “85,000 words of twists and turns through the Wisconsin countryside, with stops at a few pubs along the way.” It’s still in a drawer, awaiting an editor’s pen to polish it. Tragic that it hasn’t seen the light of day.

What tips would you give to new or even experienced writers?

Read blogs written by Joseph Lewis, of course—dive into his words like an explorer. Follow his socials, contemplate his blog posts, particularly the recent one about good and evil. Heavy stuff, but that’s what writers do. Contemplate life, distill themes into words, and reframe humanity and virtues in new ways so readers can analyze it for themselves. Then, I’d advise joining a writing group such as the Wisconsin Writers Association. Dues are cheap for what you get: access to workshops, book reviews, critique groups, a fall conference, and more. The key to writing success is finding your village. Get some writing besties and support one another along the journey. Writing is a lonely endeavor. Surround yourself with people who won’t quit you. To paraphrase a shoe company: Just Write It.

How do you handle a negative critique?

I write mysteries where skullduggery’s involved. Obvious, isn’t it?

Do you see yourself in any characters from your book?

Yes, the foil. Every main character has a counterweight, a foil that acts as a voice of reason, an antagonist, or comic relief, depending on the circumstances. The second-banana role suits me. Maybe it’s because I like bananas. Or it’s from watching too much Gilligan’s Island as an impressionable kid. I don’t know. But the jester role always intrigued me. I’m Danno to Steve McGarrett.

Tell us about your most recent book.

The Valentine Lines releases in December 2025. (But you can get a sample by subscribing to my Substack, Saddles & Stories. You’ll get a collection of sample chapters from my mysteries and romcoms.) I wrote the first half of The Valentine Lines as my master’s degree thesis. (I passed, thankfully!)

After many drafts, edits, and revisions, I finally finished it. The premise is this: The Valentine Lines reimagines Cupid—aka Bart McGee—as an underdog ditching the corporate grind of Mt. Olympus, Inc., for small-town life in quaint Mineral Point, Wisconsin. But when Bart launches a matchmaking business and falls in love with a local baker, chaos ensues as his meddling Olympus relatives crash the scene.

The book is packed with snappy banter, slapstick escapades, mythological mishaps, and thoughtful explorations of love, trust, and self-discovery. It’s “Kate & Leopold” meets “The Holiday,” a modern “Bell, Book, and Candle.” A light, literary escape for readers craving whimsy with emotional resonance. No sex, politics, foul language. The manuscript earned awards from Chanticleer Book Awards and Southwest Writers. It’s also earned 5-star reviews from Readers’ Favorites.

Thank you, Joe, for this interview. Best of luck with your writing! And thank you, readers, for stopping by!

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I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did writing it. Her books are delightful and funny as she is portrayed in my interview. I hope you check out her writing, specifically, her newest, The Valentine Lines, coming out this December.

I would love to hear what you think of this interview. Please use the form below for your comments. As always, thank you for following along on my writing journey. Until next time …

Where to find TK Sheffield (it’s like you can’t escape her! )