If it hadn't been for Joyce Oscar and Don Reichardt's dogs, they might never have written their first book, "Justice on Hold."

When their paths crossed the first time, Oscar was a video journalist with WSB-TV and was interviewing Reichardt for a story. After the interview, they discovered they had a mutual interest in writing a book.

“We parted ways and it wasn’t until a few years later when we met in a Roswell park while walking our dogs that we even spoke again,” Oscar says. “He came up to me and said, ‘Remember me? You interviewed me.’ I told him I interviewed a lot of people, and it wasn’t until he said something about the book that it clicked. ‘We should write that book,’ he said. So we did.”

Thanks to a dog walk in the park, "Justice on Hold" was born that day. But it wasn't a walk in the park to write. Oscar and Reichardt met as often as they could at Café Au Lait on Holcomb Bridge Road and bounced plot ideas off one another. Neither had ever attempted writing a screenplay before – or writing a story with another writer.

“Collaborating on a book takes some getting used to, but Joyce and I hit on a formula that works. We collaborate in the planning process, go our separate ways for a time to work on the story and then come together again to edit and rewrite,” Reichardt says. “The key is that we respect each others' ideas.”

"Justice on Hold" didn’t become a book until a friend of Reichardt’s suggested that they re-write the screenplay as a novel. The story took years to write, and once it was finished, they sent it off to several agents and publishers and like most novel stories, heard nothing.

“We started querying until we finally got a bite about six months ago,” Oscar says. “We were excited because we’d never had a book published before, but after reading the contract, we decided not to sign it.”

They never found an agent, but they did find Unlimited Press, LLC, who published the book. A thriller set in Texas, "Justice on Hold" follows determined news reporter Grace Gleason and the danger she faces going toe-to-toe with a murderer. While "Justice on Hold" might be the stuff of fiction, both authors say the stories in the "Grace Gleason Files" were inspired by true events in Atlanta and Arkansas. It’s for this reason that they will be donating a portion of the proceeds to organizations committed to helping the victims of domestic violence.

“We are dedicated to giving back to the community with our books,” Oscar says.

Joyce Oscar and Don Reichardt are currently working on the second book in the "Grace Gleason Files." They will be at Peerless Bookstore on Thursday, Dec. 22, at 7 p.m. for the "Justice on Hold" book signing.