Joy York’s family, Kermit “Casey” Harris, Julia Harris (Weathersby) and Julia “Cecile” Waldrop Harris.

As a young girl, Joy York loved to spend time with her cousin. She loved visiting her so much that when she grew up, she wrote about those days spent with her cousin, Julia, in jail. Yes, jail.

“Although the characters in my book are fictitious, the inspiration came from my visits to see my cousin, Julia Harris Weathersby, when I was growing up,” said Cullman native York. “She lived in the brownstone house attached to the old Cullman County jail with her parents, Kermit ‘Casey’ Harris and Julia ‘Cecile’ Waldrop Harris.”

“My Uncle Casey was a deputy sheriff and the jailer who ran the Cullman County Jail for approximately 12 years,” she said. “He was one of the most fair, witty, and loving men I have known. He was firm, but respectful of all, including the prisoners under his care. My Aunt Cecile was truly a model woman of her time. She was strong, no-nonsense, warm and loving. She assisted Uncle Casey in the operational running of the jail, took care of the women prisoners, and planned and prepared the food for the prisoners.”

York used these character traits and the personalities of her family and the people she met coming and going from the jail to give life to the characters in her book.  

“The wonderful rural family I write about was inspired by grandparents, Mama Leavie and Daddy Tom, (Thomas O. ‘Tom’ Waldrop and his wife, Leavie Patterson Waldrop) and the close-knit Waldrop family, many whom called Cullman their home for generations,” York said.

“Although his character inspiration is not represented in this book, another one of my uncles was W.C. ‘Crant’ Waldrop who was sheriff of Cullman County for many years.”

Drawing on her memories and the stories she heard around the dinner table since childhood, York crafted a tale of murder and mayhem, mystery and the magical age where anything seems possible.

“I was blessed to have had such a loving family,” she said, “It was all rich material to invent a fun and exciting mystery.”

Cousin, Julia Weathersby of Welti, recalls those days as being full of suspense, just like the book. She lived in the jailer’s quarters from the age of three until she was about 15. “The book brought back huge memories,” Weathersby said. “Joy describes the jail perfectly.”

“There was always something going on, both good and bad, at our house,” she laughed. “I learned to be respectful, and I knew how serious some things were at a young age. A lot of the scenes in the book are true.”

Weathersby said that she was well-known for climbing out on the tree limb to better see the happenings below, just like in the book.

Set in the fictions town of Roselyn, Mississippi, in 1968, the girls in the book lived out some of the same exciting times as the real cousins did Cullman. In “The Bloody Shoe Affair: A daring and thrilling adventure with the jailer’s daughter,” York tells the story of Christi (based on herself) a shy, awkward teenager who never expected to get involved in her cousin Lily’s adventure. Lily (based on the real Julia) the young heroine, never turns down a dare, and tries to solve mysteries in a Nancy Drew-ish kind of plot.

But the girls may have gotten in over their heads this time … this isn’t a moonshiner, or a pickpocket, it’s a murderer they are following around town.

After a whirlwind week of spying, lying, crawling through tunnels and sneaking into the jail, the girls find more than they’ve bargained for.

York brings a sense of excitement and adventure to each page as the plot thickens. A chance meeting with the suspect involves new information that could shed doubt on his guilt.

When Lily sets a plan in motion to reveal the truth, you’ll be on the edge of your seat as you are taken on a roller coaster ride of risk, adventure and surprising twists. Not only do the girls discover unexpected truths about the case, but about each other.

Of the inspiration for the characters, York says, “Julia was like Lily in my book in so many ways — she was beautiful, popular, vivacious, strong-minded, fearless and personable. I was a lot like Christi, a late bloomer; I was kind of cute, tall, skinny, shy, awkward, scared of everything, and picked on by some of the popular kids in junior high school. When I visited Julia, she was always loving and wonderful, but often got us into mischief. She would sneak into the jail to play checkers with the prisoners, bring them candy and Cokes, and play in the empty cells. Her house really was connected to the county jail.”

Now a full-time writer, York resides in Trussville, where she lives with her husband, Terry. The Yorks have a son, Collin. 

Although she grew up here in Alabama, York spent much of her adult life in the Midwest. She graduated from Auburn University. She became inspired to write when she began creating stories and adventures to entertain her son when he was growing up. She is a member of the International Women’s Writer’s Guild and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, having been published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “The Bloody Shoe Affair: A daring and thrilling adventure with the jailer’s daughter” is the first title of the series.