Creative Alchemy

Elise M. Stone is an author who deeply considers her readers when she's writing.

She recognized early on that most cozy mystery readers are older women. Wisely, she is writing a series for exactly those readers. Her amateur sleuth in the African Violet Mysteries, Lilliana Wentworth, is an older widow living in a retirement community, somewhat against her will. ;-)

Elise also has a trilogy of faith based mysteries, which was the first series she wrote. As you'll hear, these books stray a little bit outside the Christian mystery genre conventions, which makes them unique. My author brain loved this part of my conversation with Elise because it's such an interesting subject - a little bit of inside baseball for mystery authors.

As readers, we often want stories that are unique, but we also want them to meet our expectations. For an author, it's sometimes difficult to balance those two things, especially if we are writing from our heart and/or writing to explore issues dear to us.

This episode of It's a Mystery Podcast is sponsored by the first full-length Town Called Horse novel, Horse With No Name. A historical mystery that readers have said has exquisite character development, intrigue, and complexity.

Would you risk your life simply to be yourself?

Julia Thom is new to the small town of Horse, but she's not new to trouble. When reclusive watchmaker James Hunter is beaten, but has no memory of the event, Julia vows to find the culprits. Even if Hunter hadn't saved Julia herself from being assaulted, she would still be on the case; meddling helps keep her focus off her own complicated life. Julia is fast becoming a thorn in Police Constable Jack Merrick's side and he flounders as he tries to figure out how to deal with such a headstrong woman.

Click here to download your copy for free.

You can find out more about today's guest, Elise M. Stone, and all her books on her website EliseMStone.com. You can also find her on Twitter @EliseMStone.

Click on any of the book covers to go to Elise's books on Amazon.

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher.

You can also click here to watch the interview on YouTube.

Transcription of Interview with Elise Stone

Alexandra: Hi, mystery readers, this "It's a Mystery" podcast. I'm Alexandra Amor, and I'm here today with, Elise M. Stone. Hi, Elise.

Elise: Hi.

Alexandra: How are you doing today?

Elise: I'm doing good.

Alexandra: How are things in Arizona?

Elise: Warm. It's supposed to be that 76 degrees today. I was actually going to wear something a little festive, but a long-sleeved black shirt with a felt vest wasn't going to work today. So wearing short sleeves, which is typical for Arizona.

Alexandra: Yes,

Strap in. You're about to meet the master of the short mystery.

When John Floyd says he writes short mysteries, he's not kidding! As you'll hear during our conversation, some of John's mysteries clock in at 800 words. That's just a little more than one single-spaced page.

It takes some kind of amazing talent to not only write a story that short, but to make it a mystery and solve the puzzle. I am in awe of John's experience and practice in this area, which is why I wanted to talk to him today.

I found John when I was looking for information about writing short mysteries, and found one of his blog posts on the subject. It is a thrill to have him on the show today to talk about his prolific output.

Since we're talking about short mysteries today, this episode of It's a Mystery Podcast is sponsored by my brand new short mystery, The Outside of a Horse. (This short mystery runs to about 94 pages.)

Secrets. Lies. Family.

June 1889. When Pastor Thoreson’s sister-in-law arrives in the town called Horse she immediately becomes the victim of a crime. With Constable Jack Merrick deep in the early stages of grief over losing his wife, his good friend Walt is pressed into service to try to solve the mystery. With assistance from close friends, Walt must find a way to help the Thoresons before Merrick’s superiors discover his absence.

The Outside of a Horse is part of a new series of short historical mysteries from award-winning author Alexandra Amor. A cross between the gentle rhythms and supportive relationships of Call the Midwife and the historical charm of Little House on the Prairie, the Town Called Horse stories are perfect for readers who like their mysteries with well-drawn characters and a lot of heart.

Click here to get your copy today, for less than the price of your morning latte.

You can find out more about today's guest, John Floyd, and all his books on his website JohnMFLoyd.com.

Links and resources mentioned in this episode

* Click on any of the book covers to go to John's books on Amazon

* Dogwood Press, the publisher of many of John's anthologies

* The Wikipedia page for Eudora Welty, the Pulitzer Prize winning author John mentions in our conversation

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher.

You can also click here to watch the interview on YouTube.

Transcription of Interview with John Floyd

Alexandra: Hi, mystery readers, I'm Alexandra Amor. This is "It's a Mystery Podcast," and I'm here today with John Floyd. Hi, John. How are you today?

John: Hi, Alexandra. I'm fine.

Alexandra: Good, good. Well, let me introduce you to our listeners.

Time's up, wolves.

Philosopher and award-winning author Kelly Oliver discusses how writing fiction helps her to deal with issues she's faced without getting her arrested for murder.

We touch on the evolving locations of Kelly's Jessica James series; the four books so far touch down in such different locations as Chicago academia, the wilds of Montana and Las Vegas. Kelly is keen to bring some of her research as a philosophy professor into her work while at the same time making her books fun and funny with rich characters who evolve.

Thank you to everyone last week who entered to win a copy of It's a Mystery podcast guest Matty Dalrymple's new audiobook, Rock Paper Scissors. Matty has been in touch with the winners and sent them their promo codes. Congratulations to the winners!

This episode of It's a Mystery Podcast is sponsored by the cozy romantic mystery, Love and Death at the Inn.

Born and raised on Juliet Island, Maggie Archer’s whole life is dedicated to the rustic inn her parents built. When a guest is found dead, the inn’s already precarious financial situation teeters on the brink. Maggie begins to wonder if the growing number of accidents at the inn are really just that, or if something more sinister is at play.

Elliott Simon’s life has recently gone off the rails. His stop on Juliet Island is meant to be temporary but when he finds a body floating in the ocean his plans are put on hold by the RCMP. Complicating matters is his growing attraction to the owner of the Cormorant Inn, the beautiful and headstrong Maggie Archer.

When a fire strikes at the inn, and it looks as though it could have been deliberately set, Maggie and Elliott are in a race to find the perpetrator before more tragedy strikes.

If you like character-based stories where friendship and love form the foundation, beautiful locations, and a little bit of romantic entanglement, then you’ll love Alexandra Amor’s heartwarming Juliet Island Romantic Mystery.

You can find out more about today's guest, Kelly Oliver, and all her books on her website KellyOliverBooks.com. You can also find her on Twitter @KellyOliverBook.

Links and resources mentioned in this episode

* Click on any of the book covers to go to Kelly's books on Amazon

* Kelly mentions the 'ripped from the headlines' subjects in her books. Click here to learn more about the Time's Up initiative to end sexual assault, harassment, inequality in the workplace for women.

* Kelly and I recorded this interview before Sue Grafton passed away, and we touch on her books. You can read Sue's obituary from the Guardian here.

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher.

Elizabeth Craig has the cozy mystery market almost cornered, with three different series and more books to come.

On this podcast episode we talk about her Myrtle Clover cozy mysteries, her Southern Quilting cozy mysteries, and her Memphis Barbeque cozy mysteries. We even touch briefly on her post-apocolyptic zombie novel. ;-)

Elizabeth is a prolific writer who has produced over 20 books in the last 7 years or so. I'm sure you'll find several great new books to read after you hear her talk about her writing inspiration and research, which included a trip to Memphis. Lucky her!

In the introduction I mention that previous It's a Mystery Podcast guest, Matty Dalrymple, is celebrating the release of the audiobook for her mystery/suspense novel Rock Paper Scissors. (If you haven't already done so, you can hear Matty and I talk about this book on Episode 36.) Matty is sponsoring a giveaway for promo codes for the new audiobook.

If you'd like an opportunity to win a promo code for a copy of the audiobook, send an email to info (at) alexandraamor (dot) com with the word 'Audiobook' in the subject line. I'll be making the draw on Thursday, January 11, 2018. Send your email in by midnight, January 10, Pacific time, and you'll be in the draw. I'll make an announcement on the show on Monday, January 15 about the winners.

This episode of It's a Mystery Podcast is brought to you by the brand new Town Called Horse short mystery, A One Horse Open Sleigh.

"With winter darkness and cold setting in, will schoolteacher Julia Thom, and her good friends, Constable Merrick and Walt Sheehan, be able to find a missing toddler before it's too late?"

Readers who subscribe to my newsletter received this brand new mystery for free on Christmas Eve, and they'll receive a new Town Called Horse short mystery each month in 2018. If you're not on the newsletter list, what are you waiting for? Sign up here.

You can find out more about today's guest, Elizabeth Craig, and all her books on her website ElizabethSpannCraig.com. You can also find her on Twitter @elizabethscraig.

Links and resources mentioned in this episode

* Click on any of the book covers to go to Elizabeth's books on Amazon

* Interview with Elizabeth from 2011 on The Creative Penn podcast

* Elizabeth's article on Outlining a Cozy Mystery

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher.

You can also click here to watch the interview on YouTube.

Just in time for Christmas, award-winning author Ellen Byron visits with A Cajun Christmas Killing.

Ellen is a native New Yorker, transplanted to LA, who writes about Louisiana, a part of the country dear to her heart.

And writing mysteries isn't all that Ellen is up to. She writes for television as well, and has a blog post up today at Chicks on the Case, about working with Martha Stewart.

You can find out more about today's guest, Ellen Byron, and all her books on her website EllenByron.com. You can also find her on Twitter @ellenbyronla and on Facebook.

Links and resources mentioned in this episode

* Ellen's newsletter sign-up

* Louisiana links on Ellen's site

* Ellen's post at Chicks on the Case about what it's like working for Martha Stewart (!)

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher.

You can also click here to watch the interview on YouTube.

Transcription of Interview with Ellen Byron

Alexandra: Hi, mystery readers, I'm Alexandra Amor, this is It's A Mystery podcast and I'm here today with Ellen Byron. Hi, Ellen.

Ellen: Hi.

Alexandra: How are you today?

Ellen: I'm great. Thank you.

Alexandra: Good. Good. You're not in a turkey coma yet?

Ellen: No. No. Actually, I'm starting to really kind of go like, "Okay, I've had enough turkey." But, you know, I'm still kind of...still into it.

Alexandra: Excellent. And you were telling me about pastalaya just a minute ago which is jumbalaya, but with pasta.

Ellen: But made with pasta.

Alexandra: Nice.

Ellen: It's actually, I cheated and used a Zatarain's mix. But I'm very proud of myself because I created, I'll call it, cauliflower-alaya because I made jumbalaya and instead of using rice or pasta I used riced cauliflower and that actually came out great. So I actually gotta put a recipe together for that.

Alexandra: Oh, nice. Okay. And I'm going to ask you about your recipes that are in your books in just a second. So let me introduce you to our listeners.

Ellen Byron writes the "Cajun Country Mystery Series" and, obviously, she's interested in Cajun food. In a starred review Publisher's Weekly called her new book "A Cajun Christmas Killing" superb.

"Body on the Bayou" won the Lefty Award for best humorous mystery and was nominated for a Best Contemporary Novel Agatha Award. "Plantation Shutters" which is the first book in the ser...

Amazon mystery bestselling author Mary Castillo finds a fine balance in her novels between the paranormal, historical fiction and mystery.

After a hiatus that lasted longer than I anticipated (and included a move across the country, a very bad cold, and a couple of weeks of couch surfing with some very dear -and very patient - friends), I am thrilled to be back to broadcasting It's a Mystery Podcast. Thank you for joining me again.

I've got lots of great mystery author guests lined up and I'm very excited to bring you the first of these, Mary Castillo.

Mary and I share a love of history and in this interview she talks about some of the inspiration for her Dori O paranormal mysteries, including growing up in a haunted house (!), San Diego gangsters from the prohibition era, and a nurse from WWII.

You can find out more about today's guest, Mary Castillo, and all her books on her website MaryCastillo.com. You can also find her on Twitter @MCastilloWrites.

This episode of It's a Mystery Podcast is sponsored by the free novella, Charlie Horse. This is the first book in the Town Called Horse mystery series that fans are calling witty, colourful, engaging and suspenseful.

Charlie Horse is a historical mystery with a modern twist.

This is a book that's not available at any of the online retailers where the rest of my books are sold. But, for a limited time, it's easy to get your free copy.

Click here or on the book cover at right and it will be very obvious where to click to grab the free ebook.

Happy reading!

Links and resources mentioned in this episode

* Click on any of the book covers to go to Mary's books on Amazon

* Mary mentions being inspired by Mary Stuart, who is one of my favorites from my teenage years as well. Ms. Stewart passed away in 2014 but you can still find her books online.

* Mary also mentions the influence of Daphne Du Maurier on her work. Here's Ms. Du Maurier's website.

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher.

You can also click here to watch the interview on YouTube.

Transcription of Interview with Mary Castillo

Alexandra: Hi, mystery readers. I'm Alexandra Amor. This is It's a Mystery podcast. I'm here today with Mary Castillo. Hi, Mary.

Mary: Hi. How are you?

Alexandra: Very well. How are you?

Mary: Doing good. I'm in Southern California and we're getting a heat wave for Thanksgiving. So I was really excited.

Romance author Judith Arnold has given writing mysteries a try and she likes it so much that happily for readers like us she's going to keep doing it.

I was going to use a line about kicking balls in the title of this episode but thought better of it. ;-)

Judith's amateur sleuth, Lainey Lovett, is a middle-aged teacher, a widow, a mom, and a ball-kicking soccer player.

Literally.

She uses her soccer skills to remain a member of her beloved Rockettes team, and also to take down the bad guys in these cozy mysteries.

In the intro, I mention that It's A Mystery Podcast will be on hiatus for a few weeks while I pick up my microphone and move across Canada, back to my home province of BC. I plan to be back with the show in early November. Until then please enjoy this interview with the lovely Judith Arnold.

And happy reading!

You can find out more about today's guest, Judith Arnold, and all her books on her website JudithArnold.com. You can also find her on Twitter @Judith_Arnold.

Click on any of the book covers to go to Judith's books on Amazon

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher.

You can also click here to watch the interview on YouTube.

Transcription of Interview with Judith Arnold

Alexandra: Hi, mystery readers, I'm Alexandra Amore. This is It's a Mystery podcast, and I'm here today with Judith Arnold. Hi, Judith.

Judith: Hi. Hi, Alexandra.

Alexandra: How are you doing today?

Judith: I'm doing great. How are you?

Alexandra: I'm doing well also. So, let me just introduce our listeners to you.

USA Today bestselling author Judith Arnold, knew she wanted to be a writer by the time she was four. She loved making up stories, not exactly the same things as lying, and enjoying the adventures of her fictional characters.

With more than 85 published novels to her name, she's been able to live her dream. Most of Judith's books are in Romance genre but, today, we're here to talk about her Lainie Lovett Mysteries.

Let's begin with talking about Lainie. She is a close to 50 mom, she's a widow as well. And the thing that intrigued me about these books was that, she just seemed like sort of an independent and different character. Like, being middle aged, that really intrigued me because we often think of armature sleuths, especially in cozy mysteries, as being quite young like 20s and 30s. Or, you know, the Jessica Fletchers, Miss Marple kind of era.

Tell us a bit about Lainie and how she came into your life?

Judith: Well, Lainie actually is based on the fourth grade teacher my younger son had, who was a phenomenal teacher. She was widowed actually a few years after he had her, but she had two kids and was a soccer fanatic.

He's a long way past his fourth grade experience but I just thought she was a terrific lady.

Edgar nominated mystery author Victoria Thompson has written twenty (!) books in her Gaslight Mystery series set at the end of the 19th century in New York City.

This is an author who knows her history! I was slightly intimidated to talk to Vicky, because I'm very new to the historical mystery genre. But she was a joy to chat with. You'll hear us discuss, among other thing, the parallels between the historical period we both write in and the present era we're all living in and experiencing today.

If you're wanting to sink your teeth into a series that will provide you weeks of reading pleasure, you've come to the right podcast today. ;-) And even better news, Vicky has a new mystery series that recently launched with City of Lies.

You can find out more about today's guest, Victoria Thompson, and all her books on her website VictoriaThompson.com. You can also find her on Twitter @gaslightvt.

Links and resources mentioned in this episode

* Click on any of the book covers to go to Victoria's books on Amazon

* The Sleuths in Time Facebook page for fans and writers of historical mysteries

* A list of all 20 of the Gaslight Mysteries in order

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher.

You can also click here to watch the interview on YouTube.

Transcription of Interview with Victoria Thompson

Alexandra: Hello mystery readers. I'm Alexandra Amore. This is "It's a Mystery" podcast and I'm here today with Victoria Thompson. Hi, Victoria.

Victoria: Good morning. How are you?

Alexandra: I'm doing well. How are you doing?

Victoria: Great, thank you.

Alexandra: Good. Good. Well let me give our listeners a little bit of an introduction to you.

Victoria Thompson is the best selling author of the Edgar and Agatha Award nominated Gaslight mystery series set in turn of the century New York City, featuring midwife Sarah Brandt and police Detective Frank Malloy. The 20th book in that series, "Murder in the Bowery" was published in May, 2017.

Victoria also has a new historical series launching in November, 2017 which is set in 1917. The Counterfeit Lady series features a female con artist and an honest attorney. The first book is "City of Lies."

In her spare time, Victoria is an instructor at Seton Hill University's masters degree program in writing popular fiction.

And as I was just saying before we started to record, Victoria, I'm so excited to talk to you today because we both write historical mystery novels set in the late 19th century and with strong, sort of independent female heroines. So I just feel like you and I are kindred spirits right off the bat.

Victoria: That's got to be the most interesting perio...

Bevan Atkinson is a mystery author who has made a huge, and exciting, commitment to the mystery genre.

Listen to my interview with Bevan to find out how she was inspired by the great Sue Grafton and how she's come to model her Tarot mysteries after Grafton's Alphabet series. Bevan has put an interesting twist on the idea of using an alphabetical structure to guide the process of writing a mystery series.

During our conversation, we even touch on the subject of cults (something I've written a memoir about) because Bevan's third book in this series involves a cult.

You can find out more about today's guest, Bevan Atkinson, and all her books on her website TheTarotMysteries.com. You can also find her on Facebook.

Links and resources mentioned in this episode

* Click on any of the book covers to go to Bevan's books on Amazon

* Bevan mentions Howie Long (I didn't know who that was). ;-) So here's his Wikipedia page.

* My book about the ten years I spent in a cult in the 1990s, and the recovery from that experience

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher.

You can also click here to watch the interview on YouTube.

Transcription of Interview with Bevan Atkinson

Alexandra Amor: Hi, mystery readers. I'm Alexandra Amor, and I'm here today with Bevan Atkinson. Hi, Bevan.

Bevan Atkinson: Hi.

Alexandra: How are you today?

Bevan: I'm very well, thank you. How are you doing?

Alexandra: I'm doing well, as well. I mentioned, before we got on the call, I'm just loving your background. For anybody who's watching on YouTube, they should check that out. And you mentioned it was just sort of put together quickly.

Bevan: I had an old Japanese screen, and I buy silk remnants down at Britex, which is an incredible fabric store here in San Francisco. And I normally make them into scarves, but because the Japanese screen is cat-clawed, I thought I should probably make it a little more scenic.

Alexandra: Well, it's gorgeous. That's possibly the most beautiful background we've ever had on the show.

Bevan: Well, now I'm thrilled.

Alexandra: Oh, good. Good. So, let me introduce you to our audience.

Bevan Atkinson has been a writer since receiving the Prose Award at Winchester Thurston School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She wrote business documents of all kinds in corporate environments, and was the director of retail training for Apple Computer, designing and developing the training for the most successful retail launch in history.

Ms. Atkinson is a longtime Tarot reader, and after venturing briefly into fiction, writing a children's book and then an original screenplay,

Shannon Baker has written two very different female sleuths for her mystery novels.

In this episode she introduces us to both solitude-loving Kate Fox, and rolling stone Nora Abbott.

We touch on the way that the landscape around a character can be a metaphor for their state of mind, and also on history and geography in this wide-ranging conversation.

The day I spoke to Shannon, she had just arrived back home from the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' conference where, for the second time (!), she received the writer of the year award. If you're looking for strong, confident female heroines in your mystery novels, you've come to the right place when you sit down with a Shannon Baker book. ;-)

You can find out more about today's guest, Shannon Baker, and all her books on her website Shannon-Baker.com. You can also find her on Twitter @sbakerwriter.

Links and resources mentioned in this episode

* Click on any of the book covers to go to Shannon's books on Amazon

* Wikipedia page about the Nebraska Sand Hills, where Shannon's character Kate Fox lives

* Information on Shannon's Double Booked blog tour with my guest from Episode 54, Jessica Lourey

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher.

You can also click here to watch the interview on YouTube.

Transcription of Interview with Shannon Baker

Alexandra: Hello, mystery readers. I'm Alexandra Amor. This is "It's a Mystery" podcast and I'm here today with Shannon Baker. Hi, Shannon.

Shannon Baker: Hi. How are you?

Alexandra: Very well, thank you. How are you?

Shannon: I'm great. I'm down in sunny Tucson. It's beautiful here.

Alexandra: No rain today?

Shannon: No. Yeah, we have rain like five days a year.

Alexandra: So, today isn't one of them?

Shannon: No.

Alexandra: Okay, good. So, you're staying dry while Irma is trying to destroy other parts of the country.

Shannon: That's so sad.

Alexandra: It's terrible, yeah. So, let me introduce our listeners to you.

Shannon Baker is the author of the Kate Fox Mystery Series set in the isolated cattle country of the Nebraska Sandhills. Kirkus says that, "Baker serves up a ballsy heroine, a colorful backdrop, and a surprising ending." She also writes the Nora Abbott Mystery Series featuring Hopi Indian mysticism and environmental issues.

Shannon makes her home in Tucson where she enjoys cocktails by the pool, breathtaking sunsets, a crazy Weimaraner, and killing people in the pages of her books, of course.