I am so excited to welcome fan-favorite cozy author Vivien Chien as today’s featured author. Misfortune Cookie, the latest installment in Vivien’s Noodle Shop Mystery series, is out now. In the interview below, we discuss plotting a mystery, yummy food, connecting with readers, and more.
Connect with Vivien on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and her website. Grab a copy of Misfortune Cookie here.
Hi Vivien, it’s great to have you! Misfortune Cookie is book 9 in your Noodle Shop Mystery series, starring restaurateur Lana Lee. In this installment, Lana leaves the Ho-Lee Noodle House behind, traveling from Ohio to California to attend a restaurant convention. What did you love about putting Lana’s character in a new place? After nine books in the series, how have Lana’s detective skills developed?
Hi! Thanks for having me! Misfortune Cookie was an absolute joy to write, and a very important part of my recovery after chemo and immunotherapy. The change in location was intentional long before I knew how things would play out in my personal life. But it ended up being the perfect getaway and allowed me to revisit some fond memories of my time in Irvine, California.
Some great advice I read from another cozy series author, Nancy Cohen, mentioned in her book, Writing the Cozy Mystery, was that a great way to spice up a long-standing series is to take the characters on vacation or some type of break from the usual setting. I’d kept that advice in the back of my mind, and once I reached books seven through nine, it felt like the right time to take Lana on a little trip of her own.
I think her being away from home and having to truly depend on her own instincts and skills that she picked up along the way, really showcase the fact that she’s developed from the beginning of the series. In the first book, Death by Dumpling, she is sorta fumbling around, unsure and apprehensive to get involved. Here in book 9, we see her more at the ready and pulling from her previous experiences. Lana has become more unapologetic for being who she is throughout the series and I love to see her development.
What are your favorite parts of a cozy mystery to write? What specific challenges do you face when plotting a mystery, and how do you overcome them to create an engaging and compelling mystery story?
My favorite parts of writing a cozy are the same favorite parts that I have about writing in general. At its core, it is the exploration of self and allowing yourself to play freely in creative thinking. I never know what is going to happen at any given moment, and a lot of times, the story will change drastically from what I originally thought. And that really ties into the next part of your question about the difficulties of writing. Some good advice I’ve received in the past is that you have to get out of your own way and let your characters take over. How would they act? What would they say? Overcoming that can be difficult simply because you want to dictate what “should” happen. Usually how I get over that hurdle is to realize that I’m putting too much of myself into the story. You tend to notice this when all of your writing dead-ends and something “feels” off about what you’ve typed/written. Once you have that realization you gain the ability to scale yourself back and really let the characters shine on their own. The rest takes care of itself. And coffee definitely helps ease the process.
With the series centered around Lana’s family restaurant, food plays a big role in the books. How do you incorporate the culinary elements into the stories, and do you have any personal favorite recipes that you’ve shared with readers?
It’s now become a running joke in my series that Lana can’t cook Asian food. And that helps me play off the fact that I don’t cook Chinese food in real life. In Fatal Fried Rice, you see Lana secretly take a cooking class behind her family’s back, thinking she will finally have her day and show them what a talented cook she is. But as we soon find out, her plans are foiled and personally I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Because I am such a food lover, I believe the food descriptions are where I excel. It becomes a sensory experience, which I think is what every author wants for their reader. We want you to be there with us. And I can’t tell you how many people tell me (almost daily) that they had the extreme urge to order Chinese food while reading my books. And for anyone that’s wondering . . . I do it too!
You’ve built an engaged and active fan base on social media. Do you have a particular strategy when posting online? What do you love about connecting with readers online, or in person at bookstore events?
My strategy for social media is basically my life strategy. I don’t have one. LOL. And don’t get me wrong, I’ve definitely tried. I do take some tips from things I’ve seen or heard along the way, but ultimately, I’m more inclined to just be me. Based on my own feelings of how I want to view other authors or anybody for that matter, is…I want to see authenticity. Not everything has to be a hustle or an advertisement. I’ve found that readers (myself included) love to hear about who you are as a person and what kind of stuff you’re into that doesn’t necessarily have anything at all to do with your craft.
I am, by nature, an open book—some might say to a fault—but I appreciate nothing more than being real and for others to be real with me. I talk a lot about my cancer journey, my struggles with anxiety, and my obsession with paper crafts . . . amongst a variety of other things. And what I’ve found through opening myself up to people, is that they return this in kind. We find that there is a lot more commonalities than just the books we read.
I absolutely love meeting my readers in person and online. They’re such a wonderful bunch of amazing humans and I enjoy hearing their viewpoints on my writing or how something made them feel. The greatest honor I have received is hearing from readers who had their own health struggles and took my books with them to their treatments or procedures because it helped make them feel less alone. I know that feeling because I take books with me everywhere, especially when I’m scared, and to know that I can give that to others is truly the greatest gift. (Mind you, I wish none of us had to go through things like that, but I’m glad we at least have something to comfort us through the tough times.)
Lastly, what are you currently working on? Are you planning future books in the Noodle Shop series, and/or do you have anything else in the works?
Yes! I am happy to say that I just recently signed another three-book contract with St. Martin’s Press. I’m now working on the next book, Peking Duck and Cover, which will release in 2024. I don’t have a specific date as of right now, but it should be around summer. In the meantime, my editor and I are hoping to release an e-short—an “in-between-y” book, if you will.
I’m also gearing up to start another series with an amazing Asian female lead. She’s a little bit older than Lana and the series will be less cozy and more traditional. That’s all I’ll say for now though. I’m being pretty tight lipped about that one at the moment, but there is something in the works.
Thanks so much to Vivien for the interview. Sleuths, I hope you enjoyed it! If you aren’t already subscribed, please be sure to sign up for the Cluesletter and get author features like this alongside other mystery goodies, delivered to your inbox every other Tuesday.