Hello friends, and welcome to my website. Let me introduce myself. I am a native Rochesterian and have spent many years in the Rochester City School District as both a student and a teacher. While growing up, I lived in Rochester and graduated from #28 School and East High School, but I also spent a great deal of time at my grandmother’s farm in Orleans County. I attended SUNY at Albany for a BS in math education and then taught in RSCD for 25 years. I also have a MS from Nazareth College. I now live in Walworth, Wayne County, and I am an unapologetic booster of both Rochester and all of New York State.

Although I have always loved math, I have also always been a reader. I especially enjoy reading mystery novels. It was while I was reading a series of mystery books by Margaret Truman Daniels, which are each set in a different location in Washington DC, that I had a strange thought. Why doesn’t someone write books like that about Rochester? My next thought was even stranger. What if that someone was me? I had no trouble choosing a location for the first book. My friend and colleague Carol Riesenberger is a big promoter of the Charlotte Lighthouse, and she is always talking about it. So, I knew that I wanted to write a story about the lighthouse, but I didn’t know what to write. Then I went to the library and did some research. I found out about Cuyler Cook and learned some Great Lakes’ history. At that point I sat down to write, and the result was The Ghost of the Charlotte Lighthouse, which led to Theft at George Eastman House, What Stinks? An Adventure in Highland Park, Lost at Seabreeze, STORMED, and most recently, Fire in Genesee Country.

Students, I hope you enjoy the stories and learn something about the places where they are set. STORMED is set at the Rundel library, the Rochester Public Market, and the Seneca Park Zoo. Fire in Genesee Country is set partly at the Genesee Country Village and Museum and partly in Rochester of 1901. I also hope you’ll learn a little bit about Rochester and its history. Above all, keep reading.

Teachers, I hope you will download the study guides provided and consider using any or all of the books as part of your classroom instructional program. Above all, keep reading.

I have also written a book of poems for children about places in New York State. The title is There Are No Buffalo in Buffalo, and I’m happy to report that it won first prize in a Writer’s Digest writing contest several years ago.

I have recently co-authored two books with two different people. Peer Luck is the memoir of Frank Peer, a Wayne County entrepreneur who was a leader of agricultural reform in the late 1800s. Palmyra historian, Beth Hoad, and myself edited and enhanced this original manuscript, which is my only adult book. We have a limited number of copies available. Email me If you are interested.

The second collaboration was with Jane Plitt on the life of Martha Matilda Harper, who was a contemporary of Frank Peer. I had been fascinated with Martha ever since I first heard her story and saw a picture of her and her beautiful floor-length hair. Plitt wrote an adult version of Martha’s life, and we collaborated on a mid-grade/young adult version.

When I’m not writing I enjoy spending time with my family: my husband Gary, my adult daughters, Kristen and Robyn, their husbands, David and Tom, and my five grandchildren. I also like reading, quilting, and solving puzzles of any kind. I admit to being hooked on Sudoku. Please sign my guestbook. I’d love to hear from you.

Sally Valentine Steinmiller