Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Interviewing Carolyn Haines
Interviews by Sharon Chance / August 19, 2010

I am incredibly honored to introduce you to Carolyn Haines – writer extraordinaire, animal lover, and a pretty good gal all around! Carolyn writes the Sarah Booth Delaney mystery series, and her latest book, BONE APPETIT, continues the adventures of a Southern gal who is tough as nails and smart to boot, and her haint, Jitty, the ghost from Sarah’s family past. Before she began her mystery writing career, Carolyn spent nearly a decade as a journalist, qualities that she brings to her lively who-dun-its now. Now residing in Alabama, where she lives on a farm with three horses, four dogs and five cats. Did I mention that she was an animal lover? Taking a break from a summer tour promoting her new book, Carolyn was kind enough to take some time to answer a few questions. Sharon: At what age did you know that you wanted to be a writer? Carolyn: My parents were both journalists AND story tellers. I grew up in the perfect home for a would-be writer. Although the central focus was on facts and digging out the truth, writing of all types was valued in my home. Writing and reading. I published my first newspaper…

Interview Elizabeth Spann Craig / Riley Adams

Summertime means having fun, being lazy and eating lots of good food – at least it does around my house! And around my house, with four big ol’ boys to feed, we love and eat a lot of barbeque! So I was so pleased to find out my good friend, Elizabeth Spann Craig, has written a new cozy mystery series featuring – barbeque! Writing as Riley Adams, her first book in the “Memphis BBQ Mysteres,” DELICIOUS AND SUSPICIOUS, debuts this month, and Elizabeth was kind enough to stop by to answer a few questions about her writing career and her love of cozy mysteries! Sharon: At what age did you know that you wanted to be a writer? Elizabeth: Sharon, I wish I could say that I had other career options! But writing is the only thing I can do…and I found that out at an early age. Probably by second grade, definitely by fourth grade. My father is an English teacher, and so I think the writing came naturally to me. Sharon: How did you get interested in writing “cozy” mysteries? Elizabeth: Cozies, or traditional mysteries, are my favorite mysteries to read. I cut my teeth on Nancy Drew…

Interview with Lila Dare

This month, I’m thrilled to welcome the debut author of TRESSED TO KILL: The Southern Beauty Shop Mysteries, Lila Dare. Tapping into the sassy and brassy attributes of the southern belles of St. Elizabeth, Georgia, Dare introduces readers to a lively cast of gals who don’t let a little thing like murder keep them from looking good! Life in a small Southern town like St. Elizabeth, Georgia can be slow and lazy as a summer breeze, but it can also be as hot and exciting as a summer storm when a murderer is on the loose! Grace Tenhune has returned home to work in her mother’s beauty shop, just when the town diva Constance Dubois is threatening to close Violetta’s down. All over a tiny little thing like bright orange highlights. But when Constance is found stabbed to death, the police seem to think Grace’s momma is the culprit. Well, Grace ain’t having none of that, and with the help of her co-workers at the salon, and handsome Georgia Bureau of Investigation detective John Dillon, she soon begins to trim the list of suspects like a good shag haircut. Lila Dare’s TRESSED TO KILL is a full of Southern charm…

Sharon’s Cozy Corner | Author Interview with Elizabeth Lynn Casey
Interviews by Sharon Chance / April 17, 2010

Sharon’s Cozy CornerAll about the cozy mysteries: interviews, reviews, books When women have a common interest, it is a delight to gather and discuss elements of that interest with each other. Book clubs, knitting groups, and sewing circles are just a few examples of these types of groups that encourage friendship and companionship. Elizabeth Lynn Casey is the author of a delightful new series of cozy mysteries , the Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries, that features a close-knit of vivacious ladies who stitch and solve crimes when they put their heads together! Elizabeth’s first book, SEW DEADLY, came out in August, 2009 to rave reviews. Her second novel, DEATH THREADS, is due to be released in May, 2010. Elizabeth Lynn graciously agreed to be interview for this humble column as she was hurrying to the Southern Kentucky Book Festival in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and we talked about her books, her writing, and her influences. Sharon: At what age did you know that you wanted to be a writer? Elizabeth: I was just ten-years-old when I got bitten by the writing bug. And by bitten, I mean BITTEN. I was playing at a friend’s house on a rainy day. We’d run out…

Sharon’s Cozy Corner | Interview with Laura Childs
Interviews by Sharon Chance / November 16, 2009

Do you remember who wrote the first “cozy mystery” you ever read? I do – it was by the late, great southern author Anne George, who wrote the sassy Southern Sisters Mystery series. It was after enjoying her delightful writing style that I began to seek out more books in this genre. I was thrilled to discover there were “cozies” written using all types of settings – catering businesses, bakeries, flower shops – and then, be still my heart – I found a series set in one of my all-time favorite towns, Charleston, South Carolina, and in one of my favorite types of places – a tea shop! And so I was introduced to the wonderful mystery world of author Laura Childs – it was love at first read! Gerry Schmitt, who writes as Laura Childs, is the author of the Tea Shop Mystery series which features Theodosia Browning, the owner of the Indigo Tea Shop in Charleston. She also writes the Scrapbooking Mystery series, in which Carmela Betrand is the owner of the Memory Mine scrapbook shop in New Orleans, Louisiana. And if those series weren’t enough to keep her busy, Childs’ has recently introduced a new series, the…