Welcome! I am a mystery writer focusing on the short-story medium. My published works:
Upcoming Stories
“Volunteer of the Year” will appear in Chesapeake Crimes: They Had it Comin', the fourth installment in the award-winning Chesapeake Crimes series. The anthology is scheduled for publication in April 2010 by Wildside Press. It is being edited by Donna Andrews, Marcia Talley, and me, with Erin Bush, Megan Plyler and Mary Augusta Thomas serving as the editorial panel. Chesapeake Crimes: They Had it Comin' will have 20 stories, including tales by Donna Andrews, who has won most major awards in the mystery field, including the short-story category; Carla Coupe, who has been twice-nominated for the Agatha Award in the short-story category, and G.M. Malliet, who has won the Agatha Award for best first novel.
Published Stories
"The Worst Noel" appears in The Gift of Murder, an anthology of winter-holiday-related crime stories published October 1, 2009 by Wolfmont Press. John Floyd is the editor. All authors in the book have donated their stories. All publisher profits will be donated to Toys for Tots! Which makes this book a wonderful holiday gift, both for yourself and others. You get a great book and you help kids at the same time.
The book is available fromMystery Loves Company(the wonderful indie bookstore in Oxford, Maryland -- Please support the indies!), the major online bookstores, and directly from the publisher at:The Gift of Murder. And if you like to read e-books, you can download the book fromThe Digital Bookshop.Amazon also has it available on Kindle.
The book has gotten great reviews, including:
"This is the perfect book for that harried, too-busy holiday season, when there's little time to devote to a novel but enough time between bouts of shopping, baking, and wrapping to devote to short crime fiction. And Barb Goffman's 'The Worst Noel' may even give you some criminal ideas about how to doctor that holiday baking so that this will be the last Christmas you have to deal with that one obnoxious relative...."
“From Earl Staggs’ heartwarming story of second chances to Barb Goffman’s tale of holiday revenge gone wrong, this book is one present to buy for yourself. You won’t be able to make yourself give it away.”
"Compulsive Bubba" appears in Chesapeake Crimes 3, the third installment in the award-winning Chesapeake Crimes series. Chesapeake Crimes 3 features 15 mystery short stories, all set in the Chesapeake Bay area. The book was published in April 2008 by Wildside Press. It was edited by award-winning authors Donna Andrews andMarcia Talley. The book features the following stories:
Chimera, by Mary Ann Corrigan
Dangerous Crossing, by Carla Coupe (Carla's story was nominated for the 2008 Agatha Award)
It Tore the Laugh from My Throat, by Meriah Crawford
Compulsive Bubba, by Barb Goffman (yes, that's me)
Pretty Fraudulent, by Sasscer Hill
The Serpent’s Tooth, by Mary Ellen Hughes
Murder at Elk Neck, by K. B. Inglee
Troubled Waters, by Peggy Jaegly
Beede and the Barefoot Body, by Clyde Linsley
Backseat, by C. Ellett Logan
The Lockbox, by G. M. Malliet
Crossing the Bridge, by Carolyn Mulford
The Tide Also Rises, by Jayne Ormerod
Inked to Death, by Shelley Shearer
Two Sisters, by Marcia Talley
"Compulsive Bubba" tells the story of a woman who endures 30 years of abuse from her husband. But when he starts having an affair, she's not going to put up with that. If you've ever been in a relationship in which you should have been treated better (men from my past, you know who you are), this story is for you.
You can purchase signed copies of Chesapeake Crimes 3 from Mystery Loves Company, located in Oxford, Maryland. Don't worry if you don't live near beautiful Oxford. Kathy and Tom are good at shipping!
You also can order Chesapeake Crimes 3 from Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com and Booksamillion.com, among with other online booksellers.
"Murder at Sleuthfest" appears in Chesapeake Crimes 2, the second installment in the Chesapeake Crimes series. Four of the stories in this book were nominated for the 2005 Agatha Award, including "Murder at Sleuthfest." Chesapeake Crimes 2was co-edited by Donna Andrews and Maria Lima. It was published by Tidewater Press.
The book features stories by:
Goodie Cantwell
Nora Charles
Leone Ciporin
Carla Coupe (Carla's story was nominated for the 2005 Agatha Award)
Elizabeth Foxwell
Chris Freeburn
Barb Goffman (My story was nominated for the 2005 Agatha Award - yay!)
Peggy Hanson
G. M. Malliet
Sherriel Mattingly
Valerie O. Patterson
Judy Pomeranz
Harriette I. Sackler (Harriette's story was nominated for the 2005 Agatha Award)
Marcia Talley (Marcia's story won the 2005 Agatha Award)
Sandi Wilson
"Murder at Sleuthfest" was inspired by the theft of one of my rings at the 2004 Sleuthfest mystery conference. I vowed to turn the bad experience into a good one, and it resulted in my first published mystery work.