My new book is One Taste Too Many. It is the first of Kensington’s new Sarah Blair cozy mystery series. Should Have Played Poker: a Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery and 2012 IPPY Award winning Maze in Blue were prior standalones.
For a review of One Taste Too Many, click here.
How did you develop your character and choose your location?
When I decided I wanted to write a cozy, I knew they tended to be about protagonists with culinary or craft skills. My expertise was limited in either area. Frustrated, I realized there had to be readers out there like me – cooks of convenience. Once I decided to have my protagonist mimic my own inaptness, the character flowed. Because I wanted to balance big city and small town life for my character and her twin sister, I created a small southern community fifteen minutes from one of Alabama’s major cities.
What is a day in the life of an author like? Do you write a certain number of words, do you write in the morning or evening?
I write sporadically – fitting it in around my other life activities. When I was on the bench, I wrote on weekends and between midnight and two a.m. Since I walked away from my lifetime appointment, I thought I would write more in the day, but I tend to address social media first thing, outside activities next and write in the latter part of the day.
Do you model your character after yourself or any one you know?
My sister is a gourmet cook while I prefer to make things using pre-made ingredients or to bring take-out in. I thought it would be fun to create characters contrasting our kitchen styles. Because I am the mother of fraternal twins, I thought exploring the bond of being night and day twins would enhance the story.
If your books were made into a movie, who would you want to play the lead character?
Sarah Blair – tall, willowy, clumsy and inept in the kitchen – age 28 –younger Sandra Bullock (think Ms. Congeniality or Ya-Ya Sisterhood) or perhaps Jennifer Garner or Claire Foy
Who is your favorite author?
I read in spurts, so I don’t have a favorite author.
If you could invite five people – living or dead – to a dinner party, who would they be?
I am going to make my party all female, but depending upon what theme or mood I want for the party, my guest list would be my mother, because I miss her wisdom and wit; Eleanor Roosevelt, for all she saw and did in her own right and as the eyes of her husband; Abigail Adams, for the spunk and intellect she always demonstrated; and two, who I learned during an interview at Bouchercon, are friends because I would like to see how they play off each other: Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny.
If you could not be an author, what would like to do as a career?
Before I walked away from it to fulfill my passion for writing, I had a fulfilling legal career. I was a litigator before becoming a judge, so if I couldn’t write, that is the career I would return to.
How did you develop your character and choose your location?
When I decided I wanted to write a cozy, I knew they tended to be about protagonists with culinary or craft skills. My expertise was limited in either area. Frustrated, I realized there had to be readers out there like me – cooks of convenience. Once I decided to have my protagonist mimic my own inaptness, the character flowed. Because I wanted to balance big city and small town life for my character and her twin sister, I created a small southern community fifteen minutes from one of Alabama’s major cities.
What is a day in the life of an author like? Do you write a certain number of words, do you write in the morning or evening?
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I write sporadically – fitting it in around my other life activities. When I was on the bench, I wrote on weekends and between midnight and two a.m. Since I walked away from my lifetime appointment, I thought I would write more in the day, but I tend to address social media first thing, outside activities next and write in the latter part of the day.
Do you model your character after yourself or any one you know?
My sister is a gourmet cook while I prefer to make things using pre-made ingredients or to bring take-out in. I thought it would be fun to create characters contrasting our kitchen styles. Because I am the mother of fraternal twins, I thought exploring the bond of being night and day twins would enhance the story.
If your books were made into a movie, who would you want to play the lead character?
Sarah Blair – tall, willowy, clumsy and inept in the kitchen – age 28 –younger Sandra Bullock (think Ms. Congeniality or Ya-Ya Sisterhood) or perhaps Jennifer Garner or Claire Foy
Who is your favorite author?
I read in spurts, so I don’t have a favorite author.
If you could invite five people – living or dead – to a dinner party, who would they be?
I am going to make my party all female, but depending upon what theme or mood I want for the party, my guest list would be my mother, because I miss her wisdom and wit; Eleanor Roosevelt, for all she saw and did in her own right and as the eyes of her husband; Abigail Adams, for the spunk and intellect she always demonstrated; and two, who I learned during an interview at Bouchercon, are friends because I would like to see how they play off each other: Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny.
If you could not be an author, what would like to do as a career?
Before I walked away from it to fulfill my passion for writing, I had a fulfilling legal career. I was a litigator before becoming a judge, so if I couldn’t write, that is the career I would return to.
4 comments:
Thanks for having me today.
It was a comfort read for me. That makes it a real winner.
Terrific interview. We are so glad you turned to writing about crime instead of staying on the bench.
Billie,
Thank you. Comfort/Fun... that's my purpose in writing. Grace, thank you.... having a ball with this new career (u understand :))
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