Interviews

Join me in welcoming Jennifer J. Chow for today’s featured author interview. I’ve seen tons of buzz around Jennifer’s new release, the multicultural culinary cozy Death by Bubble Tea (some of my friends on Bookstagram have already read and raved about this one!).

This series opener follows cousins Yale and Celine as they are paired together to run a food stall in the  Eastwood Village Night Market in Los Angeles. The pairing isn’t ideal—Yale and Celine are polar opposites—and yet, when a customer drops dead and their bubble tea is seemingly to blame, they must work together to find the culprit.

Connect with Jennifer on Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and her website. Grab a copy of Death by Bubble Tea from your favorite retailers here.

Hi Jennifer, thanks so much for joining! Death by Bubble Tea kicks off your new L.A. Night Market series, which follows cousins Yale and Celine as they run a food stall. Alongside the murder mystery, there are strong themes of family: Celine is visiting from Hong Kong, and Yale is initially hesitant to team up with her, especially because they are polar opposites. What did you like about incorporating these themes of family and culture in a cozy mystery?

In all of my books, I explore nuances of family. Familial connection also ties in well to my culture, including the concepts of sacrifice and filial piety. I love the theme of family because it enhances the sense of community found in a cozy mystery. Cozies are known for the intimate connections between characters; extended relatives just add another sweet layer to that community feel. 

Culture and food often go together, so it’s no mystery why cultural elements showed up in my culinary cozy.  I’m also honored to be able to offer more Asian American representation to the genre, and I appreciate how an increasing number of diverse cozies are getting published. 

You also write the Sassy Cat Mystery series, which stars Mimi Lee, a pet groomer who discovers an ability to talk to her sarcastic cat, Marshmallow. This is a lighthearted series with a lot of humor—how do you approach writing humor into a murder mystery? And/or, how would you compare writing this series with your new L.A. Night Market series? 

Humor is fascinating—and subjective. I find it hard to please everyone, but if something tickles my funny bone, I’ll add it to my manuscript. I’m grateful that Marshmallow is very clear in my mind, and his zingers often appear unprompted at my fingertips. I also run sentences by my critique group and editor to make sure the funny bits work!

Although the L.A. Night Market Mystery series is more serious in tone, there’s still a bit of humor at play, especially in the tension of polar opposite cousins, Celine and Yale. Plus, Celine does go to great lengths to satisfy her foodstagramming ways!

As a SoCal native myself, I love that both of these series are set in Los Angeles, where you live. With so many cozies set in (often fictional) small towns, what makes LA a fun setting for mysteries?

LA is such a wonderful setting for mysteries. (Admittedly, I do make the murders happen in more fictional parts of the region. I don’t want to scare anybody away!) I find writing about Los Angeles fun because I can dive into different communities and insert diverse material, whether that’s through meals or suspects or even the car culture. In the L.A. Night Market series, I also get to throw in a few hidden LA attractions because Celine is visiting from Hong Kong.   

With multiple series under your belt, what does your writing process look like, particularly for mystery? Are you an outliner, or do you like to write and see how the mystery unfolds?

For mysteries, I start with the characters. I’ll create profiles (and sometimes a family tree) for everyone in the book. I make sure to give my suspects motive, means, or opportunity (or a combination of those). For the actual plot, I do a general outline. Then I add in scenes but will often use bullet points instead of writing out every detail. I’ll let the chapters flow organically—and allow the characters to act in accordance to their true selves.  

Lastly, what’s on the horizon for you? Will there more installments in the L.A. Night Market and/or Sassy Cat series? Do you have any other exciting projects you could share?

The second book in the L.A. Night Market series, Hot Pot Murder, will be coming out next spring. I’m also working on a new series idea, and my agent is shopping around the proposal.

---

Thanks so much to Jennifer 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.

Today’s Cluesletter interview is with Barbara Graham, whose debut novel, What Jonah Knew, just hit shelves this month. What Jonah Knew is a story of loss, grief, motherhood, and spirituality. At the core of the story is the mysterious disappearance of twenty-two-year-old Henry Bird, whose memories apparently are remembered by young Jonah Pressman. Is this coincidence, reincarnation, or something more?

Connect with Barbara on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads, and her website. Grab a copy of What Jonah Knew from your favorite retailers here.

Hi Barbara, thanks for joining! What Jonah Knew spans eight years, beginning with the disappearance of Henry Bird. Not long after, Jonah Pressman is born. As Jonah grows older, it becomes apparent that he seemingly remembers a past life—Henry’s life. Where did you get the inspiration for this story?

As a journalist I wrote a lot about psychology, including memory and trauma. Some years ago I was assigned to write an article about past-life regression therapy. As part of my research, I had a session with a past-life therapist and I had a memory of a pretty gruesome life during the Holocaust. The session shook me up, but I didn’t know what to make of it. Was it real or imaginary? Not long after that, a friend gave me a copy of a book by Dr. Ian Stevenson, a psychiatrist at the University of Virginia who for decades had been studying young children who begin talking spontaneously at a very early age—usually between two and four—about a previous life. The research was both credible and compelling—and blew me away.

At the same time I was pursuing my interest in Buddhist meditation and heard various Tibetan Buddhist teachers—who were considered to be reincarnations themselves, including the Dalai Lama—talk about past and future lives as casually as last Thanksgiving or next Christmas. I was fascinated by all of it. And then one day the idea for the novel just came to me as a sort of download while walking down the street in New York.

What struck me most about What Jonah Knew is its strong themes of motherhood: every woman in the story has her own experiences with motherhood, her children, and maternal instinct. Can you speak to these themes and your decision to include them in a thriller?

I became a mother in my early 20’s and the thing that most mothers—and fathers—discover when they have children is that their hearts will forever be running around outside their bodies. Motherhood is a lifelong high-wire act, balancing fierce love with letting go. You do all you can to protect your children, while surrendering to what you can’t control. But at a certain point you really do have to let go and let your kids find their own way in the world, mistakes and all. In my view, the love of a child is the most exquisite—and sometimes painful—love there is. I’ve had no choice but to write about it.

While you have a background in writing essays, plays, and memoir, What Jonah Knew is your first novel—what has your experience been with transitioning from nonfiction to fiction? What made you want to pen a suspense/thriller?

There was a big learning curve making the leap, but writing What Jonah Knew was the most fun I’ve ever had—that is, except on the days when I felt like tearing my hair out. Seriously, the big difference between writing fiction and nonfiction is the creative freedom. With fiction, you don’t have to stick to the facts. You may include real research in your work, as I did, but then you’re free to invent the rest. Though I’ve loved writing memoir and personal essays, I always felt somewhat limited by my own experience. Fiction opens up a whole world of possibility. The wonderful writer Jessamyn West said, “Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures.”

In terms of writing a thriller, the material itself suggested that a novel of psychological suspense was the only way to go. There were so many juicy questions to ask: How would a mother react if suddenly her child announced that he had another mom? That he’d been killed in a previous life? What would happen if he encountered that other mom or, worse, much much worse, the murderer? There was no way to write this story except as a thriller!

Another strong theme in the book is spirituality: desperate to understand her son’s memories and experiences, his mother seeks explanation through spiritual sources. I was surprised (and impressed) with the level of depth and complexity of spirituality in this book. How did you research and prepare to speak on these spiritual themes?

The concept of rebirth or reincarnation is a core principle in many spiritual traditions, including the Kabbalah in Judaism, the religion in which I was raised.  It was really interesting to be able to explore reincarnation from a spiritual perspective, as well via the scientific research being conducted at the University of Virginia. What’s more, I’ve been studying and practicing Buddhist meditation since the early 90’s, and reincarnation is taken for granted in Buddhism, especially Tibetan Buddhism. It was pretty organic for me to to pull in all these different perspectives, though I researched a lot of source material to make sure I everything them right.

Lastly, I always like to ask authors—what’s on the horizon for you? Can we look forward to more novels, or do you have other projects in the works?

Yes, absolutely. I’m in the early stages of the next novel. I can’t say too much about it, except that it’s another thriller that once again will bring my two favorite topics together—murder and metaphysics!

---

Author photo by Clay McLachlan, claymclachlan.com.

Thanks so much to Barbara 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.

Today’s featured author is Nekesa Afia. Nekesa’s debut, Dead Dead Girls (Berkley, 2021) got my attention last year with its glitzy 1920s Harlem setting and fiery protagonist. Its sequel, Harlem Sunset, is on shelves as of June 28th.

Read along for my interview with Nekesa, in which we chat mysteries, book recs, and the Roaring Twenties.

Connect with Nekesa on Instagram, Goodreads, and her website. Grab a copy of Harlem Sunset from your favorite retailers here.

Hi Nekesa! Thanks so much for joining. Both your books, Dead Dead Girls and Harlem Sunset, are set in 1920s New York City. What kind of research did you do while writing, and/or is there a reason you picked this time period? If you were to put Louise Lloyd in another time period, what would it be?

Hi! Thank you for having me. 

I picked this time period because it’s been an era I’ve always been fascinated in. I’ve always been interested in history, and there was something about this decade, with the ban on alcohol, and the way it backfired, and how the time was so romanticized in literature. I always say I could have set these books now and barely anything would change. If I had to choose another decade, I think I would go for the swinging sixties, and Lou could wear mini dresses and go-go boots!

I did a ton of research. There are so many things we take for granted-clothing, food, work, travel-that we do every day. I had to figure out what Lou would do and who she would be back in the 1920s. It’s fun research, but she’s a whole person who is ninety-four years older than I am, so the research could be complicated too. Aside from the lifestyle, I also had to figure out how to be a murderer really quickly. I spend a lot of time researching death methods, which is grim.

Your heroine, Louise Lloyd, is a fiery, determined young woman—which makes for fantastic detective. What qualities do you love most about Louise? Were you inspired by any historical or literary figures when crafting her character?

I love Lou! She suffers no fools and I tried to make that evident from the first page. I didn’t base her off anyone in particular, but the greatest thing about my friend group is that I am surrounded by wonderful women who are unique in their own ways. Lou has their confidence, their maternal nature, their love of laughter and dancing. My mother will tell you I based Lou off of myself but that’s not true. She’s way cooler than I am. 

Mystery, as a genre, has historically lacked diversity, from its detectives to its victims. Dead Dead Girls and Harlem Sunset center Black and queer experiences, and to see that in the mystery space is exciting and important. What has writing this series meant to you? Why is it important to tell these stories?

I have always loved mysteries. I was always a Nancy Drew girl. But growing up, characters like me were always the side characters, and I never got to see myself as the star. Writing this series has been the greatest gift to child me. I also set these books in a time period that has been so heavily romanticized that people see it was the best time. And the prohibition was great. For straight white men. Even for straight white women. But for any other race or class, it really sucked. So being able to shine a light on a more realistic view of the 1920s has been really great. It has also been horrible to learn about the racism and homophobia and then inject it into my writing. But it’s been necessary. 

(Also, maybe this is too much to include in one question, but I’m curious—do you have any book recommendations, especially mystery, for readers looking to diversify their shelves?)

A couple of quick recommendations: My Sweet Girl by Amanda Jayatissa (and scope out her next one: You’re Invited). The Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries by Mia P. Manasala, starting with Arsenic and Adobo. I think there are two or three books in the Hollywood Homicide series by Kellye Garrett, and her newest, Like A Sister, is centered around Hollywood as well. Naomi Hirahara also writes historical mysteries, her latest is Clark And Division.

 But the best place to find crime novels by writers of colour is this database!

Can you share a bit about how you write mystery? Are you an outliner, or do you like to write and see how the mystery unfolds? What does your writing process look like?

My process is a little chaotic. It depends on the story I’m ultimately trying to tell (content dictates form), but I always try to at least have the who, what, when, where, and why of the murder that is at the heart of the story. Then I have to figure out how to get Louise into it, as she will not want to solve the crime. I try to balance the mystery with her life and relationships. I try to write in a linear fashion to keep the story going and I try to write about 1,500 words a day when I’m on deadline. 

Lastly, what can we expect from you next? Will Louise return in a third Harlem Renaissance Mystery, and/or do you have other projects in the works?

While I am working on other secret projects, there will be at least two more Harlem Renaissance mysteries! The third sees Lou make a big life change and I’m very excited about it!

---

Thanks so much to Nekesa 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.

Lastly, today’s featured author is Ellen Byron. Ellen is the author of the Cajun Country Mysteries series, the last (and final) book of which recently won the 2021 Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel. She also writes the Catering Hall Mysteries as Maria DeRico. Her newest release, Bayou Book Thief, kicks off a new series, the Vintage Cookbook Mysteries. In the interview below, Ellen talks about her past and present series, writing humor (both in mystery and for TV and stage), and author newsletters.

Connect with Ellen on Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, and her website (where you can sign up for her mailing list!). Grab a copy of Bayou Book Thief here.

Hi Ellen, thanks so much for joining! Bayou Book Thief kicks off your new Vintage Cookbook Mystery series. Just like your previous popular series, the Cajun Country Mysteries, this mystery is set in New Orleans. What makes this city a great backdrop for mysteries?

Actually, the Cajun Country Mysteries are set in Cajun Country, both north and west of the city. But I do make sure my characters get to visit New Orleans a couple of times. 😉

I think New Orleans is a great backdrop for mysteries because it’s an incredibly unique, stunning city populated by resilient and often quirky citizens. The favorite local expression, laissez les bons temps rouler—“Let the good times roll”—really sums up the Big Easy’s general attitude. But it’s not all food, drink, and music. The challenges of living in New Orleans are immense: a scary increase in crime, a shaky infrastructure, the dangers of climate change as witnessed by the increasing threats of direct hits from hurricanes. I happened to be visiting my daughter as Hurricane Ida bore down on the city and we had to evacuate. The power grid was knocked out and the city was a mess for weeks. Even the most stalwart New Orleanians began to question whether they could continue to live there, which broke my heart. It’s slowly returned to almost-normal, but we who love the city so dearly worry about the future.

Humor is a big component of your books (you even teach a workshop on the subject!). Why do you like to prioritize humor in your writing, especially with cozy mysteries? Do you have some quick tips for adding humor to a story?

Humor is a survival tool. It can lift us from the darkest of dark depths. I believe it’s undervalued in our society and culture, which frustrates me, especially since writing funny is hard. But laughter feels so good, and my goal is to give readers a chance to experience that in my books. I love when I manage to move people to both laughter and tears in a book, but laughter—or a least a smile—is always my priority. As to tips, here are two: put the funniest word at the end of the sentence so you’re landing on the joke. And avoid reference jokes because they date. Hopefully your books will have a long shelf life. Twenty years from now, no one may remember who Justin Bieber was.

You have a background as a playwright and writer for TV comedies. How would you compare writing for these different mediums to writing books? How do you approach writing for the stage or screen versus a cozy mystery?

Plays and TV are dialogue-driven. Actors HATE it when you give them too many internal emotional directions. They consider it their job to find those moments. In a way, I get to “direct” my books, using prose to share a character’s emotional life in a way I can’t in the other mediums. I also get to wax poetic about setting, which I can’t do in plays or TV. In both those cases, stage directions and setting description are there for the director and set designer to translate into visuals.

In terms of how I approach my mysteries, I do apply what I learned writing for TV in that I’m an outliner. I’ll beat out my plot through a 25- to 35-page “fluid outline,” the fluid being that I allow for unexpected inspiration while I’m translating the outline into a draft. But I have to say, my drafts are pretty tight thanks to my detailed outlines, even given discoveries I make during the draft process.

I’m a big fan of author newsletters, and yours is great. Could you share your newsletter writing process? Why do you think it’s important to write a consistent author newsletter, and how do you use your newsletter to connect with your readers?

I’m so glad you like my newsletter! I put a lot of work into it. My newsletter comes out monthly and I make notes ahead of time for what I’d like to include. My newsletters are loaded with links and visuals. Early on, I was told both of those cut down on your open rate and warned away from including them, but I decided I’d rather create the newsletter I wanted to share with my readers and take my chances. I’ve come to think of my newsletter as a craft. I enjoy a variety of crafts and I’ve found approaching the monthly creation of it from this angle makes it fun and not a chore.

One regular feature is particularly important to me. Ever since my daughter went to college and I posted a picture of her dorm room and shared my emotions about our impending empty nest, I’ve included a section I call “On a Personal Note,” where I share something from my life. Not TMI or anything! But I love giving my readers a personal connection to me.

Book two in the Vintage Cookbook Mystery series, Wined and Died in New Orleans, is scheduled for February 2023. What can you tell us about this next installment? Any plans for future books or series?

I had a blast writing it! In Wined and Died, they discover a cache of 150-year-old Madeira wine hidden under Bon Vee and decide to auction it off to raise funds for the culinary house museum. Ricki has been struggling with social media, so she’s proud of herself when her post about the discovery goes viral—until Charbonnet cousins from all over suddenly show up demanding a cut of the auction proceeds. This of course leads to murder. And it all happens under the threat of an impending hurricane.

As to future books in the series, that will depend on sales, especially for Bayou Book Thief. So, buy yourself a copy and while you’re there, pick up one for a friend! 😉

---

Thanks so much to Ellen 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.

Today’s featured author is Tonya Kappes, known for her Southern mysteries with heaps of hospitality and homicide. In the interview below, Tonya talks writing long series (her popular Campers & Criminals series is at 26 installments!), traditional versus self publishing, and her favorite ways to connect with her readers.

Connect with Tonya on Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, and her website. Find all of her books on her Amazon page.

Hi Tonya! Thanks so much for joining. Earlier this month saw the release of Blowin’ Up A Murder, book eight in your Kenni Lowry Mystery series, which is set in small-town Kentucky and features charming, quirky characters. Southern hospitality plus homicide is your specialty—what do you think makes this combination so popular?

It’s definitely the Southern style and ways incorporated with the murders that readers really love—how we Southerns like to sweep things under the rug and make insults without people even realizing it just adds a little fun to an already fun genre to read. 

Your next release is Rangers, RVs, & Revenge, the twenty-sixth (!!) installment in the popular Camper & Criminals Cozy Mystery series. What do you like about writing a long series?

I love writing long series because I truly know them inside and out, so it makes them easy to write for me and I feel like they are part of me. It’s been so much fun creating my own little world and readers feel like they are coming over to a friend’s house or coming home when they pick up the series.

I know you have experience with both traditional and self publishing. Can you share your thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of each publishing path?

I didn’t start my career traditionally published—I self published first, and writers back then avoided me like the plague. They denied me and kicked me out of their groups. It wasn’t until I sold over 30,000 copies of a book did HarperCollins come knocking and I decided to take the traditional deal. I’ve always had my foot in the self publishing arena and a tip toe in the traditional world. I have a book business and not a hobby. I employ four people so it’s become its own thing.

As an indie author with a large group of loyal readers, can you share some tips for engaging with those who love your books? What are your favorite ways to connect with readers?

I love my readers. I love going live with them on social media and I love meeting them in person. Everything I have I owe to them. When I started writing, my only goal was to help ONE person escape their life no matter what type of day they had. The ONE reader is the only person I think about daily and I’ve never strayed from that. I want them to feel like they are sitting down with a good friend every time I have an interaction with them.

You’ve got several more releases scheduled for this year—with so many series in the works, how do you plan what to write and publish next? What series are your favorites to write?

I write in four different series. Since Camper & Criminals is my most popular, I make sure there’s a book coming out in that series every other month at least. Then the others get rotated in no specific order. I do write the Holiday Cozy Mystery Series, a spin off from Camper & Criminals, just for my Patreon group then I release those later—that’s why they never release for the holiday they are about because I’m writing them for the Cozy Krew Patreon.

I don’t have a favorite. I love them all!

---

Thanks so much to Tonya 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.

Today’s featured author is Iris March, who is soon to celebrate the launch of her first cozy mystery (cue applause!). The Broken Bridge hits shelves on May 24th. Those of you on #MysteryBookstagram may know Iris as Maureen, a.k.a. @searchingformysteries. I have to say, the pen name “Iris March” is so perfect for her new cozy series about a gardening center!

In the interview below, Iris chats plants and gardening, self-publishing, writing cozies, and more. Any aspiring authors and self-publishers in the crowd? You’ll love her tips for assembling a group of ARC readers, thoughts on establishing a publishing imprint, and online resources for new publisher-authors.

Sleuths! You can connect with Iris on Facebook, Instagram, and her website. Pick up The Broken Bridge today on Amazon, Kobo, or Barnes & Noble.

Hi Iris, thanks for joining me! Your debut novel, The Broken Bridge, book one in your new Succulent Sleuth cozy mystery series, launches May 24. The Broken Bridge features succulent-savvy sleuth Molly Green, who runs an eco-friendly garden center (and, of course, runs into mysterious trouble). In your opinion, what makes for a great cozy sleuth and theme? Where did you get the inspiration for Molly and this gardening theme?

I have always adored plants and trees but am just not great at keeping houseplants alive! Houseplants have about a 50 percent survival rate in my care, unfortunately. I figured if I was going to write a main character, I should really like her and she should have some qualities that I want to have myself, including being skilled at tending plants. The Succulent Sleuth name hit me one day on a run and I knew I needed to use it for my entire series. 

I think the best amateur sleuths are the ones not looking to get involved but are just shoved into the job. They also need to have some capacity to investigate and knowledge that not just everyone has. I enjoy a cozy mystery with a unique theme and haven’t seen a garden center yet, although there are a few flower shops. I also threw in a lot of green living tips through Molly’s lifestyle choices. I’ve worked in sustainability my entire career and just can’t write anything without that stuff in it. For a while, I thought about editing them out but was told to lean into who I am and embrace it, so I did!

Where I work, at AuthorImprints, we take publishing imprints very seriously, and believe they are an important component of self-publishing. So, naturally, I loved seeing that you’ve established an imprint for your books—Wandering Ginkgo Press—as well as a logo. Can you share your reasons for creating your imprint and any tips for selecting a name and crafting a logo?

A few months ago, my husband ordered a book from Amazon and I could tell right away that it was self-published because there wasn’t an imprint logo on the spine or the back. It looked sloppy to me. I knew I wanted my books to appear as professional as possible and having that detail of the imprint and an imprint logo makes them look more polished. All sales pages also list the imprint name. I’ve already mentioned my love for trees. Ginkgos are so unique, so old, and can withstand a lot of pollution—they’re my favorite and I wanted to use them somehow. We planted one in our front yard and it’s still alive! I also wanted a verb in the imprint name and went around and around for so long about what to use. Wandering is a nice descriptor of what happens when writing a book. I’m thrilled with the name. A graphic designer friend of mine came up with a dozen different logo options and I chose my favorite. I really couldn’t be happier with the outcome. There is a Gingko Press but they do not wander, and they use the other spelling so we won’t be confused.

Another big topic for new authors is getting readers. I know that you’ve been hard at work assembling an ARC team to read and review your book before its release—can you explain how you reached out to potential reviewers, and share your experience with this process?

I found ARC readers through other cozy mystery author friends, real life friends, other bookish people I know, as well as cozy mystery readers that I found on Instagram. I put a call out on social media for ARC readers and found a few that way. Mostly, I asked people directly and very few turned me down. I knew I was asking people who liked to read the sort of book that I was writing.

I asked everyone who was interested to fill out a form so that I had all the info together. This also demonstrated that they were interested enough to do a tiny step for me online and hopefully they’d do something else in the future. I was going to make a Facebook group so that they’d all sort of meet each other, but I have since been told that being too connected with people who leave reviews for you on social media might work against you on Amazon. So instead, I’m sending group emails to all of them. I’ve got about 40 ARC readers—I have no idea if that’s too many or too little!

What have you learned as a new author? Can you share any resources and/or advice for those looking to embark on a writing and publishing journey? And/or, could you talk about how you planned the mystery and your writing process?

When I started writing my first book (see below), I struggled with knowing how to introduce characters and how much to reveal about them from the start, as well as how to pace the story. These issues got me searching online for answers and I found the ladies at Write Publish Sell. Since, I’ve attended three of their online conferences and at least a dozen of their webinars as well as their Book Launch in a Box class. I also love Joanna Penn’s podcast, The Creative Penn. Dallas Woodburn is my book coach and helped me iron out some details and figure out some of my insecurities. Finally, the info produced by New Shelves Books and their weekly Free Advice Friday book publishing Q&A sessions are great.

There’s so much to learn and do as an author (self-published or not!) and I think that the pace of writing a book lends itself to allowing authors to also learn what they need to know along the way. Certainly, I barely know enough to make it work, and have a lot more to learn.

For both of my completed books, I knew how the story opened and how they ended. The gaps needed to be filled in. I tried to outline the entire story, but as authors often say, the characters did what they wanted to and my outlines kept getting thrown out. I think having that outline still helped me at least have an idea of where I wanted to go and tricked my brain that I knew what would happen next (even if that’s not what really happened). That kept me writing. In the murky middle of both books, I keep a spreadsheet of daily words written to keep myself accountable. You have to be a bit obsessed with a story to finish it. 

In a cozy mystery, you need some red herrings and a plot twist. I knew who my suspects would be from the start and some problems Molly would face. It’s funny—I didn’t know she was a twin until I was into the second chapter and had to go back and add her sister, May, into the start. I also didn’t know who my baddie was until I was well into writing it. Knowing some of those major components of a story helped me move it forward even if I didn’t know the whole thing.

You have a second book launching in September 2022 (so soon, yay!). What can readers expect in this next story? I’m hoping you can share some fun bits about your upcoming projects!

My second book is not a sequel to The Broken Bridge but is set in the same fictional town and the garden center is mentioned. It’s the book that pushed me into being an author and tells the story of my sister’s experience of having Hodgkin’s Lymphoma while being pregnant with twins. The story is told through her fictional male nurse who becomes obsessed with an abandoned building on his running route. (I have a very similar building on my own running route but it’s much less exciting!) He ropes my sister’s character into helping him do some research and she makes phone calls and web searches from her hospital bed. It’s a story of teamwork and finding inner strength and courage. I’m really excited to publish it, but it’s not as easy to market as a cozy is. It is a clean read with a mysterious building, but it’s not a cozy mystery.I am still noodling and outlining the sequel to The Broken Bridge and am really hopeful it will be in the world in 2023. Honestly, I’m having a harder time coming up with believable suspects this time around! Molly has a lot more mysteries to solve, though, for sure.

---

Thanks so much to Iris 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.

Today’s featured author is Matty Dalrymple, who writes the Ann Kinnear and Lizzy Ballard series and podcasts as The Indy Author. Readers will love Matty’s insights on paranormal suspense, and authors will learn a thing or two about publishing imprints and podcasting. When Matty and I connected at the March 2022 Women in Publishing Summit, I was very impressed with her platform, books, and podcast—so this was an exciting interview. Happy reading!

Connect with Matty on Facebook, Twitter, and her website. Buy Matty’s eBooks directly via her PayHip store; see her website for more eBook, print, and audio retailer links.

Hi Matty! Thanks for joining. Your Ann Kinnear suspense novels feature a psychically-inclined heroine sleuth who uses her spirit-sensing abilities to solve mysteries. Book five in the series, A Serpent’s Tooth, just launched this April. Readers love the edge-of-your-seat suspense in these stories—in your opinion, what is the best way to craft a thrilling and gripping mystery?

There is lots of great information out there about creating suspense (for example, check out this tongue-in-cheek topic from my podcast, The Indy Author: Episode 043 – Twelve Sure-fire Ways to Kill the Suspense of Your Novel with Steven James). But there are two approaches I have used for the Ann Kinnear and Lizzy Ballard novels to ensure that the foundations of plot, timeline, and character motivations are firmly in place before I dive too deeply into the story.

First, to understand the story at a strategic level, I create a story “frame.” I love nautical metaphors for the writing craft and the publishing voyage, and I call this a frame because it mimics the function of a boat frame, providing a foundation to which to attach the planks of the story and the “brightwork” of detail and dialogue. I create a third-person, present tense description of the scene, with notes reflecting the plot-, timeline-, or character motivation-related reasons for various aspects.  For example, if I have a character take the scenic route from work to home, I will note the reason (e.g., “because they need to pass by the scene of the crime”). These notes remind me of the ripple effect that a change to that aspect might have. The frame enables me to tweak minor story aspects, and even to overhaul major ones, far more easily than would be possible with a novel-length draft. During the framing of Ann Kinnear 6 (about 30K words for a novel that will eventually come in at about 85K), I made several changes to the crime in which Ann becomes involved. (If you’re interested in more detail on the benefits of and approach to creating a story frame, keep an eye out for an article I penned for “Writer’s Digest” that will come out later this year.)

Another key component of crafting a compelling mystery is who-knows-what-when. To understand the story at this more tactical level, I create a spreadsheet with chapters along one axis and characters along another. Then in each cell I note what the character knows, believes, thinks, and feels at that point in the story (e.g., “Ann, irritated with the progress of the case, meets Randall, then has a conversation with Marilee (although Ann thinks she’s Lara)”). I can review all the cells on one axis to see what all the characters know, believe, think, and feel at any point in the story. I can review all the cells on the other axis to trace an individual character’s evolution through the entire story. That saves me from writing a scene that assumes a character knows something that they won’t learn until later, or of having a character’s motivations vary illogically through the course of the story.

You also write the Lizzy Ballard thriller series, a completed trilogy that, like Ann Kinnear, also has paranormal elements. What makes writing paranormal suspense and thrillers exciting for you? Can you speak to the advantages and/or disadvantages to crafting a thrilling mystery with paranormal themes?

I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of what happens when an extraordinary ability transforms an ordinary life. Tweak just one aspect of normal life and see where it takes you! Ann Kinnear has the ability to communicate with the dead. It would be a spoiler to share what Lizzy Ballard’s ordinary ability is, but it’s one that sets this naturally sociable young woman apart from the people she yearns to interact with.

In both series, the extraordinary abilities open opportunities for suspense and thrills that wouldn’t be available in a story that didn’t include paranormal elements. As long as Ann can speak with the dead, I can’t imagine running out of ideas for how that ability could get her in trouble, and how she can use it to get herself out of that trouble.

You established an imprint, William Kingsfield Publishers, for your books. Can you describe, for other indie authors who might be reading, the advantages of owning your own publishing imprint (versus publishing under your name, or simply “Independently Published”?).

Authors who consider their writing and publishing work to be a profession (rather than a hobby) have to treat every aspect of their endeavor as the business it is, and that includes presenting a professional face to your readers and to the industry. You wouldn’t open a restaurant and call it “Non-chain Restaurant”; your imprint deserves the same consideration.

Your imprint name could communicate something about your books (e.g., Joanna / J.F. Penn’s Curl Up Press), your own brand (e.g., Mark Leslie Lefebvre’s Stark Publishing), or your own background as a writer. I chose the name William Kingsfield Publishers for my imprint in honor of my father, who wrote under that pen name. His stories appeared in Collier’s Weekly (“Tobe” and “The Captain’s Counterfeit”), Cosmopolitan Magazine (“The Rut”), and Esquire (“So Quietly Waiting”).

In addition to your suspense and thriller novels, you also write nonfiction, produce a podcast, and discuss the writing craft as The Indy Author. How do you balance writing fiction with maintaining The Indy Author? Can you give advice for authors looking to expand their platform beyond fiction, as you have, into the podcasting/writing craft space?

As a full-time writer and publisher, I believe in the benefits of multiple streams of income. I also believe in paying it forward to my fellow authors by sharing the information that I and my colleagues have gained through our experiences. Those were two primary drivers of my decision to launch The Indy Author Podcast. With the explosive growth of audio, podcasting was an obvious choice for sharing this content and for building community with my listeners and viewers. (The Indy Author has a YouTube channel as well: https://bit.ly/YouTubeTIA.)

In fact, I’m such a believer in the power of podcasting for authors that I wrote a book about it, “The Indy Author’s Guide to Podcasting for Authors.” Authors who are interested in exploring this avenue can find more information, including free downloadable resources, at this link.

However, my fiction work is still my biggest income source, so I allocate my time to make sure I’m not skimping on my fiction writing. I generally work on production, distribution, marketing, promotion, and the podcast until 12:30, at which point I have an almost-daily writing sprint with two fellow authors until 2:00. After a break for dog walks, I continue working until it’s time for cocktails with my husband, and spend most evenings reading, which I believe is one of the best—and most enjoyable—ways of improving one’s writing! I read a lot in the suspense / thriller / mystery genres, but I also read outside my own genre—you never know what you can learn from great writing of any type!

Lastly, what’s on the horizon for you? Are more Ann Kinnear novels in the works, or perhaps an expansion to the Lizzy Ballard trilogy?

I’m currently working on Ann Kinnear Book 6, which was inspired by an off-season visit to a friend’s condo in Ocean City, Maryland. There’s something inherently creepy about summer destinations in the winter, and of knowing you might be one of only a very few people in a huge building . . . with no one nearby to hear you if you scream. 🙂

---

Thanks so much to Matty 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.

When I first picked up One of Us Is Dead by Jeneva Rose, I was hoping for something suspenseful, something escapist, and a good heap of drama—and it sure delivered. Told from the perspective of four women of Buckhead and rich in luxury, sex, and betrayal, this thrilling read will walk you through these women’s tenuous relationships before you discover who is the victim. Because here’s the clincher: you don’t find out exactly who died—and why—until the very end.

I chatted with Jeneva about One of Us Is Dead, plus her 2020 bestseller, The Perfect Marriage, and her tips for writing suspenseful reads, honing multi-POV narratives, and book marketing on TikTok.

One of Us Is Dead hits shelves April 26. Preorder here. Connect with Jeneva on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter, and sign up for her mailing list on her website.

Hi Jeneva! Thanks so much for joining me. One of Us Is Dead features multiple characters’ points of view as they navigate life and, eventually, death in Buckhead. What are the challenges and advantages of writing multiple perspectives?

Thanks so much for having me! The challenges of writing multiple perspectives is ensuring that each point of view is unique and that readers will be able to easily differentiate between them without having to flip back to the start of the chapter to see which point of view it belongs to. I spent a lot of time finessing each character to make them easily distinguishable, giving them quirks, differences in dialect and how they describe the world around them or one another. Each character also essentially has a ‘title.’ You have the scorned ex-wife, the young new wife, the social climber, the mother hen, and the salon owner caught in the middle of it all. 

The advantage of writing multiple perspectives is the reader gets a peek into each character’s head, and this works especially well for a novel about gossip, betrayal, scandals, secrets, and murder. So, just when you think you know what’s going on—the point of view switches and you’re given new insight from another character.

Your bestselling thriller The Perfect Marriage also explores themes of psychological and domestic suspense. What tips do you have for authors looking to heighten suspense in their novels? How do you approach writing twists and shock endings?

My thrillers, like most, hinge on major twists, surprising reveals, and shocking endings. Readers expect to be surprised when they pick up a thriller, so I have to deliver. When I start writing a book, I almost always know what the major twist is going to be. With the exception of One of Us is Dead, because I ended up changing it several times, because I felt it wasn’t good enough, and I needed to live up to the shocking twists that so many loved in The Perfect Marriage.

The reveals and twists that happen throughout one of my books usually come about during writing sprints, when I set a timer for fifteen minutes and write as many words as possible. I think when you combine the path you’ve set out for the reader which includes red herrings, clues, unanswered questions, and a writing sprint, you’re bound to let the story take you where it’s going to take you and, in my experience, it usually adds some fun twists and reveals.

What I especially loved about One of Us Is Dead is its story structure—true to the title, the reader doesn’t find out who actually is dead until the very end of the book, and instead has to understand the complex relationships between the women in Buckhead before getting to the final reveal. How did you approach writing this twisty story?

I’ve written six books and this one was by far the most challenging because of how it’s structured. There are five points of view, and it switches between past and present—with the present that of the salon owner explaining to a detective what transpired between her elite clients. The past is from all five points of view (the clients and the salon owner) detailing what happened in the weeks leading up to the murder. So the reader doesn’t know who’s dead, who killed them, nor why.

I did a lot of plotting with this novel to ensure the story moved forward swiftly without repeating what happened in a scene from a different point of view. My pantry and cupboards were covered in post-it notes for a few weeks while I worked through the plot and chapter alignment. I love short chapters that end on cliff hangers, so there are eighty-four in this book and the cliff hangers make it a ‘one-more page’ type of read. I also gave each ‘housewife’ equal page time, so the reader could get to know them as individuals and understand where they were coming from and what their struggles and goals were.

I always like to ask authors, whether traditionally or independently published, about their marketing efforts. You have a strong platform and are especially active on TikTok (with over 400k followers!)—can you speak a bit about your TikTok strategy? What do you like about the app, and how do you use it to promote your writing?

When I got the offer of publication for The Perfect Marriage from a small digital-first UK publisher, I knew it would be on me to market the book. I have ten years of social media and digital marketing experience with five of them working on major household brands at a Fortune 500 company, so I knew I could do it. I also knew if my debut wasn’t a success, I’d most likely be pigeonholed and not be able to achieve my goals of signing with a larger publisher.

I had a lot of success on Instagram early-on creating fun content and working with bookstagrammers. Even the film/tv deal was a result of me being very engaging on the platform. But I knew I had to set my sights on something else because the algorithm on Instagram can be quite challenging.

As an author, I was an early adopter on TikTok (back when it was considered “low brow” to be on that platform) and I saw a huge opportunity there to create book content. What blew up The Perfect Marriage was a trend I started on TikTok where you tell a story as if it were your own but at the end you hold up your book, explaining that it’s actually the plot of your novel. In January of 2021, I posted that video and it amassed 4.5 million views. Over 11 thousand copies of The Perfect Marriage sold in just the four days after. That TikTok made me an Amazon Charts, Publisher’s Weekly, and Barnes & Noble bestseller, and it literally made my career. The Perfect Marriage has gone on to sell several hundred thousand copies across formats and has been translated into a dozen languages.

I’ve continued to actively use TikTok ever since with a lot of success, and I switch it up between book content and humorous, everyday life content, which includes my hilarious husband and my stubborn English bulldog.

Lastly, what can readers expect from you in the future? Do you plan to continue with thriller/suspense, or do you have other genres in mind? (Future books you can talk about, perhaps?)

I can’t say too much about it yet because it hasn’t been announced, but readers can expect a lot more thrillers and suspense novels from me. My next thriller, You Shouldn’t Have Come Here, centers around an Airbnb and a fast romance that’ll surely have an outcome worse than heartbreak. It’s told from dual points of view of the guest and the host, and it’s a cautionary tale of what can go wrong when you open up your heart and your home to a total stranger. It’ll release sometime in Spring/Summer 2023. 

---

Thanks so much to Jeneva 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.

Today’s Cluesetter interview is with Camilla Chafer. Camilla has several mystery series under her belt: the Lexi Graves series and its spinoff, the Deadlines Mystery Trilogy, as well as the Calendar Murder Mysteries. She also has some dark urban fantasy books, the (completed) Stella Mayweather series.

I reached out to Camilla after browsing the new mystery releases on Amazon (as one does) and noticing that her newest book, Pied Sniper, was a bestseller, more than a week before its release. I chatted with her about this huge accomplishment and more in the interview below.

Connect with Camilla on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Bookbub. Plus, visit her website to sign up for her newsletter and learn more about her books.

Grab Camilla’s books, available from various retailers: Pied Sniper (Lexi Graves, book 15); Curated Murder (Calendar Mysteries, book 5).

Hi, Camilla! Thanks so much for joining me. Your Lexi Graves mystery series is now in its fifteenth installment (Pied Sniper hit shelves March 24—congrats!). What do you like about writing a long series? Do you have tips for authors looking to write a longer series?

Hi, thanks for having me! When I started writing Lexi, I never envisaged the series would get to fifteen books with still more to come. I love that I can write an individual mystery for each book but develop the character arcs over time. We get to see Lexi start as a temp worker and very unmotivated in life, to learning so much and developing her skills as she finds her calling as a PI. Writing a series gives me the breadth to do that.

My number one tip is if you’re going to write more, be that a sequel, trilogy or a long-running series, is start a spreadsheet and keep all your character and location info in that so you can refer back to it. I might not remember how my characters take their coffee in a book I wrote ten years ago, but you can be sure my readers will know!

Your other series include the Deadlines Mystery Trilogy (a Lexi Graves spinoff) and the Calendar Murder Mysteries, a series of standalone but connected books. How does writing the Lexi Graves books compare with the more traditionally “cozy” Calendar mysteries?

There’s definitely a difference in styles. Lexi and the Deadlines books feature racier conversations, crazier situations and I take more liberties with them. The Calendar mysteries are traditionally cozy. It’s small, quaint, idealistic living . . . so long as you don’t mind the murders! Lexi starts off as a young, single woman, but I’m trying to get a breadth of Calendar heroines to reflect my audience—from the single woman, to the mom, to the woman not living the life she really wants.

You have a background in writing traditionally-published nonfiction and working as a freelance journalist. How would you compare those two careers/writing styles with what you do now?

Writing comes with a lot of transferable skills. As a journalist I was used to writing to deadline, researching, creating a structure, keeping my audience engaged, and adapting styles to the publication. These are all skills I use now as an author, even if novels can be 90 times longer than your typical article. When I pitched my first nonfiction book, I could point to my solid resume as one of the reasons I was perfect to write the book. Being able to write a nonfiction book made me sure I could write a novel too.

You’ve built a loyal fan base that loves your books—so much so that Pied Sniper hit the bestselling mystery chart on Amazon during its preorder! How do you like to connect with your readers? What marketing strategies do you find most effective?

I was thrilled when Pied Sniper hit the mystery charts, especially as I hadn’t published for a year due to issues arising from the pandemic (homeschooling, amirite?). That showed to me how loyal my readers are and how worth it it is to build up that fanbase.

Marketing has never been my strength but early on I added an email subscribe button to my website to capture those enthusiastic readers. They’re my primary sales base and I can reach them directly. (I’ve just switched to MadMimi for my sign-up button and emails as it’s a good value and great to look at.) I have a presence on Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and Bookbub, and my readers can connect with me there. I love it when they take the time to reach out. It’s such a boost to have a conversation and know people are enjoying your work.

Marketing involves pre-order emails, Insta teases such as a cover or first-line reveal, and tweeting. Periodically I offer a freebie; it’s good to reward loyalty! It’s fair to say I’m a work in progress.

What can your readers expect in the future? Are you planning more books in the Lexi Graves and Calendar Murder Mystery series, or perhaps starting something new?

I’m currently writing the next Calendar Murder Mystery and then I’ll either write another Calendar or the next Lexi. I have a novel planned featuring Maddox from the Lexi novels—it’s going to be wild! I always have a list of ideas for novels I think I, and my readers, will find compelling.

---

Thanks so much to Camilla 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.